In Sylvania, the weather was just right - if we omit the days when the queen was angry, well angry enough to alter the weather of the kingdom, which was more or less frequent - : optimal temperature for each species that lived within the shell walls of the kingdom since thanks to the magic of the columns put at the top of them, each individual lived according to the atmospheric conditions that are specific to his species, if you came from the marshes, you will feel as if you were still living.
A great demonstration of inclusiveness for all species, right?
Well, I can tell you that despite this, the Hero was ultra hot after his fight in the arena. However, he hadn't lost, it's not as if he had broken the promise he had made to his protégée.
Was it the Nemesis(es) that made him sweat?
Absolutely not. These scoundrels had not appeared since the day of the fight between the queen and the hero.
So the cult? I don't see how the Faerics could question the integrity of a man who survived a nuclear reactor, a three hundred meter fall or the killer leaf beasts and statues of Monkipur.
But we are getting closer.
The Hero having finished his fight was taken to task in the maze of the arena by Mananélia Diasirée who tackled him against the wall, brandishing a tight fist in his direction:
- So you too have played Jacob.
- Stop Lady Diasirée!" Al-Ryanis held her back, "It's not her fault.
- Stop talking about me, there's no one there.
- We are in the compound in an official building, I cannot afford not to. And let go of the Hero, it's not his fault that Jacob is in this state.
She brought her fist down and pushed the Hero against the wall.
- You and Mina are the same..., the fairy spat, cowards hiding behind their father.
As she was leaving with her champion, the Hero, looking at the ground, said:
- This is not what happened...
- So why are you unable to heal yourself if these rays didn't scare you?
The Hero did not answer. He simply left, with his tail between his legs, under the disdainful glance of Mana Diasirée.
Once out of the arena, the Hero could not help but run. Running without ever stopping. Screaming at the top of his lungs in the streets of the Upper Town under the frightened eyes of the inhabitants. He didn't know where to go or what to do, the only thing he could think of was that cursed sentence he had said to himself so many times:
"Here we go again!"
The queen could hear his cries and his despair, his thoughts were transmitted to her, but she could not intervene or intercede on his behalf: he had won at the same time as this strange opponent.
The Hero headed into the Woods of Oblivion and ran into its mist. He gave himself over to extreme violence as he struck the trees. Compared to his current pain and his usual suffering caused by his illness, both were far less than the pain they felt from the two burning, still-vibrant holes made by the man who had messed up Jacob and the other opponents.
What was that thing? What was that shooting? I've never felt a burn like that! DAMN!" said the Hero to himself.
Nothing made it, this pain did not want to disappear in spite of the shocks that he put himself, he started to beat his head against the trees, but that did not work, this burn devoured him tirelessly the flesh and the skin.
Taken by a sudden access of violence, he almost drove a branch in the heart, but he is stopped in-extremis by Sawyer who was looking for him.
- What the hell are you doing? Drop it, go!
- I can't take it anymore... Here we go again...
Because of the intense pain he was feeling, the Hero had difficulty expressing himself intelligibly.
- What is "starting over"? Finally, you'll tell me later, for now, I have to take you to the underground hospital. Sleep in the meantime.
He grabbed it and put it on his back. He walked in the direction of the entrance to the kingdom, he continued in that direction, but the more he walked, the further away the entrance became. Was he caught in the forest's curse? He looked around and saw the Spotted Stag.
It is said that it was very rare to meet him, both the inhabitants of Sylvania and the intruders, he took each person to his place, either inside Sylvania, or outside the woods and outside the kingdom.
- O holy deer," Sawyer addressed the guardian of Sylvania, "let me join my people in the kingdom.
- I can't let this destructive spawn into the kingdom," the sacred animal replied.
The voice of the deer was heard beyond speech, it did not need to open its mouth to be heard, it made the branches of the trees move, had the effect of several voices combined in one. Its majesty shone in the middle of this forest of deciduous trees and mist.
- Why is that? He is the protégé of the queen of Sylvania. He is no longer a stranger to the kingdom.
- It is because the queen wanted it inside the kingdom that I did not intervene...
She wanted to? thought Sawyer, Ah, maybe when she asked the people in that prison to bring her humans for the parade.
- ... but there is no doubt that he is a danger to this kingdom... as is his protector.
- You have already had this discussion with my father about Rosalina, the one I am the champion of is called Audiselia II.
- Naming her after your mother, who was otherwise a fairy of non-noble blood, will not change what she is. There is no guarantee that she will always be one of us with that unholy blood she carries.
The leader of the Queen's Holy Knights turned to the beast and said with a look of arrogance - which was more than a little disturbing and different from his inner nature:
- Do you remember what you and the people of Sylvania have been saying to me ever since my father Torn died? Since Audiselia and Elena defeated the two-headed dragon that nearly destroyed Sylvania? Since I gave Stelenincia to Elena? Since she hurt us with it? That "I am not worthy to be the descendant of this great hero, that I was far too weak." Now look what I have become. So this also applies to my protege and, at the same time, to her adopted son.
- Still as resentful as ever, I see... You are angry with me for having expressed fears towards you and towards "Audisélia" as you like to call her, as if they were not justified? Yet, when this Elena came back, you didn't take revenge even though you hate her for what she did to you and what she took from you, you even helped her to leave. And now you take care of her offspring. And are you sure you know what you're doing, son of Torn?
- Yes," said Sawyer, "I'm more than sure. I know Audiselia, as I like to call her, much better than you do. I grew up and learned her notion of "love," and unfortunately for you, jealousy is no longer one of my faults, so don't play on that to betray, my queen. If you didn't hate the Great Feline so much, I would question your non-involvement in the current events.
- What could I want with a fairy without wings who had the misfortune to suffer the whims of a child who refused to grow up?
- We can conclude that we have nothing more to say to each other, O Spotted Deer. Now let me out of here," Sawyer begged.
- Didn't I tell you I wouldn't let you go home with that child on your back?
- How annoying you can be...
Sawyer grabbed the air, then pulled what he had just grabbed, an ominous screech was heard and he tore through the space to open a "door" leading inside Sylvania's hospital.
- Sorry for the noise, I did it on purpose.
- Always so incorrigible. But so be it! Do as you please, but know that your end doesn't look much better than your father's.
- Since when do you play divination?" mocked Sawyer.
- Since Fate spoke to me.
- Well, instead of talking to Fate you'd better do your job as guardian of these woods, so I don't have to console fairies who have their wings torn off, former kings of Sylvania," Sawyer said in a scornful tone.
- Fate, Sawyer, Fate. What about the thirty or so trees he destroyed?
- I'll send peasants to replant them, or you know what, O majestic creature of the Misty Woods? I'll plant them myself. Now I must leave you, I have more pressing responsibilities than to face you and the Guardians in the Mist.
Sawyer went inside the door and closed it. He asked a nurse if there was a room available for the Hero, and she told him which room the Hero was assigned during his medical visits.
He laid him on his bed and sat down on the chair next to him. And for a few moments, the two men said nothing, the only sound that could be heard was the grunts of the Hero from those whimsical burns.
- You really can't treat yourself?
- I dare not. It's the first time I've... been burned by such a fire. Imagine, it stays with me.
- I'll grant you that it's not very enviable. But I can assure you of one thing: it's not magic fire.
- That's reassuring... No, but what do you want it to do... to my situation, Sawyer?
- Haven't you been taught that magic heals everything?
- So why should I doubt... that truth... that seemed... general?
- Because it is not true. There are only nobles and civilians who have not known war. You cure them a cold, they think that magic is the Nectar of Life. Go heal a leg that is missing half of it and see how simple it is. And I don't even know why people continue to perpetuate this lie, he reproached them, all because of ancestral magic. But hey. It is politics and politics, it is the domain of Audisélia with its ministers, and the rest of the world, I am only charged to protect it, he finishes the glance in the vague one.
The Hero watched him from the corner of his eye. This discussion with the Beast of the Misty Woods had not escaped him, he too had prejudices about the Queen's guardian, even though with some techniques he had been impressive, the Hero had always considered them tricks that it would be good to learn for his own quest, he had never considered him a great warrior. But with the words he had said to the Spotted Deer, he understood that Sawyer himself was aware of his own reputation as "weak".
This being the case, one should not think that the Hero would denigrate him because he was weak. It is true that he admired the strong - especially among women - but he had no superiority complex towards those who were weaker or who seemed weaker to him - unless they were enemies of his Destiny. However, he had no regard for his strength as a hero of legend, he even found himself weaker than many others.
It often happened to him to say to himself...
- Boy," said Sawyer, "are you going to tell me what the wooden creature whispered to you?
The Hero turned his back to her and stared at the wall, then changed his mind because of the burning wounds that were rekindled in that position.
- You only have to ask the queen... to tell you since she can hear everything that speaks... and everything that thinks... in the kingdom, he answered her aggressively.
- This creature does not function with electrical connections in the brain and it does not emit any waves or vibrations with its mouth so the queen could not hear anything. It is rare that she finds herself confronted with this kind of situation.
- So... you don't know what it is yourself.
- To be honest with you... this is the first time I've ever encountered anything like this.
- Well...
The Hero screamed in pain, twisted in all directions, leaned on the wound on his ribs with his left hand while his right hand pressed on his left shoulder. The pain was so intense that he was drooling, pinching his lower lip with his teeth until he almost tore it.
- Well, I'll talk about it later, but for now I'm going to get a doctor because it's starting to get worse.
Sawyer ran off in search of a doctor or mage-lord available to stop the spread of these burns. He finally found the doctor who was taking care of the injured participants during the day's fight, he saw Jacob who was being treated by a troop of nurses and mages, they seemed to be very careful about his case, it seems to be the one who was the most impacted, at the same time, he was the only one who persevered in the face of the attacks of the creature to protect the Hero.
Why did you do this anyway?
- Ah! Sir Vanguard! To what do I owe your presence among us?" asked one of the doctors.
- I brought back the fourth fighter, the Human.
- Nalo-vace? Very well, maybe he will allow us to heal the others without tempting the Demon. Flora and Iris, come with me since you already took care of Nalo-vace.
So that's what they called it?" thought Sawyer.
The doctor followed by the two other therianthropic nurses followed the head of the Queen's Saints to the room of the Hero who was curled up on himself.
- Nalo-vace, called the doctor, I am the doctor Hyurin Mioleves. I am the one who will take care of you. Knowing your immortal state, do you allow us to test some things to help heal the other champions.
- Do... what you have to do.
They all went into action and Flora approached the boy and whispered in his ear.
- Don't worry, we'll do everything we can to get you through this.
Then they told Sawyer to stay outside, and he stood there staring at the door. He stood there for a moment, before realizing that he had something else to do than watch a patient's door. When no one saw him, he reopened a passageway leading out of the hospital and went back to the barracks to think for a while.
What they witnessed was different from all the weapons they had seen around the world, this heat that came from this creature was different from luxinite, magma, lava, fire spell or simple flame, it was closer to light...
Once Sawyer left, the doctors used all their expertise to treat these strange burns. They gave the hero a stick to bite on while the pain passed. And through a few cries of pain, inaudible words came out of his mouth, where if you listened carefully, you could hear him cursing like in the Forest of the Mists of Oblivion, repeating the same sentence: "It's happening again! Why am I such a failure? How could they play me?
~~~~~~
The day after Samarin's, at nine o'clock sharp, the fighters introduced themselves to each other, performed the pre-fight ritual - with modifications for the Hero was giving glory to his one and only God - and the tournament went on as expected. The Hero and Jacob teamed up to face their opponents, but strangely, one of those they faced remained alone turning the match into a 1v2v2: human and nelf against centaur and fairy against the creature made of wood - they were assured it was not a Treeman.
During the confrontation, the creature stood aside while the other two duos fought, which was a good tactic: wait for the fighters to exhaust themselves before fighting. However, the four inhabitants suspected the tactics of the fifth fighter, so they did not intend to let him rest on their laurels.
- How slow can you be?
The creature's body transformed, wooden circles with a blue background formed all over its chest, and rays shot out of it and into the combatants. The champions managed to dodge them as they fired randomly, the mages in the stands managed to erect a transparent barrier over and in front of the audience.
- But what is this thing?" asked the centaur.
- It looks like a turret manufactured by Dr. Gear-O, commented the Hero.
- Would you know how to beat him?" asked Jacob.
- A turret, yes. This creature is not a product of human technology. You tell me if you can magically deactivate it.
- There is no magical essence in it," the fairy replied, "just like you.
- Interesting," said the Hero.
The Hero charged at him and tried to attack him, but suddenly the arms of the tree metamorphosed into a cannon and shot at him, the ray was blocked by a magic shield that made by Jacob at a distance, the centaur and the fairy used this opportunity to take the wooden creature by surprise, but they were caught off guard as above his shoulders forged wooden ray cannons and shot at them, they spread out at his feet. The Hero prepared for a counterattack, but Jacob, having a bad feeling, stood up as a shield in front of the Hero.
- What are you doing?
Jacob didn't have time to answer when another root cannon formed on the torso of the wooden creature and fired a huge beam of light that broke Jacob's magic barrier and clashed with his shield, then their opponent fired hundreds of light shots from all parts of his body, gradually destroying the young elf's defenses and turning his shield to dust.
At the end of the barrage of shots from the wooden creature, the Hero received two shots, one in the shoulder and one in his ribs, but this was insignificant considering the sorry state Jacob was in.
The elf collapsed on the ground dead of exhaustion.
The Hero looked at his friend, depressed by the situation. It had been barely thirty minutes since their fight started and they were all down. Of course he had finished fights much faster, but that was with the abandonment of these opponents, but here they were technical knockouts. And it seemed that this "thing" had even less mercy on these opponents.
In less than thirty minutes, he had found himself completely ridiculed in the eyes of everyone, he had found himself being defended when he was the Hero of the legend! Why had Jacob taken this trouble?
Mad with rage, the Hero shouted:
- You! You! You'll pay for this!
- Bring it on, faiyera-terrarian weapon!
The Hero charged at him but was stopped by Caesar's whistle, which announced the end of the match.
- What do you mean?" asked the Hero.
- We received the information that one of the fighters of another pool could not fight, explained Caesar, which makes you two winners of the match.
- shouted some spectators in the stands.
Then murmurs were heard in the stands, many people seemed suspicious of this announcement. Even the Hero could not believe his ears. He had in many of the fights that took place in the arena people who did not feel well going into battle despite their injuries or poor health.
- I don't want it to end like this, declared the Hero, let me reduce this son of a bitch to a bonfire...
- What did I just say? The fight is over. Go back to where you came from and get ready for your next fight next month.
Men came with stretchers to carry the wounded and take them to the hospital, one of them wanted to take charge of the Hero but he sent him waltzing in anger before apologizing to him. The wooden creature approached the Hero and congratulated him for the mutual victory.
- I would not have wanted these useless people to hinder us in our confrontation. The duels will start soon and I hope to see you in all your splendor.
- What are you babbling about?
The creature leaned toward the Hero and whispered:
- Don't be so arrogant. What I have just done is a simple warning from the Envoys of the Felonne to you that we are not only after you, I think that the message we gave you with Thoosa did not get through to you: neither you, nor your relatives are safe, with or without the Queen. And we know about your secret. Don't ever think you're smarter than us.
Then she left.
The Hero had just taken a blow to his ego. He who had thought he had everything planned had forgotten this element, at the same time, he had acted as if he was still in the Wastelands, but here they had made more than close friends, and these people knew them. Because of the queen's mission and her own shenanigans, they had put them all in danger.
He fled the arena as the Fairy came to see him and found himself in the halls, trembling all over. How could he, the hero of legend, be threatened by mere mortals? They had to be sure of themselves to threaten him.
It was at this very moment that Diasiree caught him.
At the hospital, all the doctors' experiments had no effect on the burning wounds, so they decided to use the lake at the bottom of the giant turtle's body to transport them.
- It's exceptional what we do, so be glad we can give it to you," said the doctor.
Flora brought a vial of dark blue water and they poured it on the Hero's wounds, which, as expected, faded away. Now the Hero could regenerate without fear.
- What is it?" asked the Hero.
- This is one of the elements of the Miracle Bath that we use to heal the most sick or wounded, normally it should not be used pure, but this time we will break the rules. Come on, give some to the other patients.
The Hero was able to get out of the hospital in no time. This time he would not wait for his heroic automatic regeneration to finish, he will force it and find something to take away that weight he had on his stomach.
But before he enters the royal elevator, Flora warns him that someone is waiting for him at the "entrance" of the hospital.
- "The entrance"? Is there a main entrance?
- Yes, it's true that during an emergency nobody uses it, but that's where all the visitors normally come in, and since you are never a visitor...
- I got it. Thank you. I follow the white stripes in the opposite direction of the arrows and I find this entrance.
She nodded and pushed him towards the exit to see this unexpected visitor. From the look on his face, the Hero expected to see the Fairy, but finally, the word "unexpected".
- Of all the people I could have thought would want to see me, I would never have put a coin on you, Beneltig.
- We need to talk.