"Teh, damn it if we become enchanted beings here there's no blaming anyone ah!"
Complained Nadja to Annie. The group of friends agreed to go hiking in the mountains of Laguna. The mountain was very dense and the path steep.
"Baby don't be noisy, I should be the only one to fall in love with you not the enchanted ones."
"YIEEEEE, WITWIW!!!!"
Mark said with a grin. The group of friends shouted while noisily climbing the steep path. Nadja's face turned red in irritation and she just kept quiet. Annie could not stop feeling kilig for her best friend who was NBSB. It was Nadja's first time agreeing to be courted.
Mark belonged to the same circle, for Annie. Mark was okay, as a best friend she approved of him because Mark was kind and had no cheating issue in his past relationships.
The group of friends decided to rest for a while in a somewhat flat place on the mountain they were climbing. By a tree, Nadja and Annie sat there. While the others climbed the tree to rest there.
"Girl, are you okay? My groin is so itchy… " Annie was like a worm scratching her body and asked Nadja for water.
"Nadja my girl, I need to pee somewhere ah just let me borrow some water." Nadja handed her the water in disgust and she went a little farther from her companions.
In the dense part of the forest she hurriedly sat down to release what she had been holding in her bladder. Her eyes almost rolled in relief.
Afterwards she immediately opened the water bottle to wash.
"Gosh, finally I can breathe properly— Ay damn!!" Annie screamed in shock when a child appeared before her. The child had long very curly hair and pointed ears.
Its appearance was strange. Its skin was smooth and fair. It wore a white robe down to its feet and its green eyes stared at her gently.
"Wh-who are you!?" Annie asked trembling and afraid. She tried to look brave in front of the child but the child in front of her only stared gently and remained silent as if examining her.
"E-even if you of-offer me—" The air in Annie's body thinned because of intense fear. A fear hard to explain and her whole body was trembling holding back terror.
"Do not worry I am not like my kin, I do not eat flesh."
The word "EAT" pounded in Annie's ears so she could no longer handle what happened and she completely lost consciousness in the dense forest.
A strong slap on the arm woke Annie when she felt a mosquito bite her arm.
When she regained awareness she sat up in panic and turned pale when she saw strange beings surrounding her and in front of her was a large blaze of fire and the surroundings were already dark.
All of them resembled the child she saw in the forest.
"Please, have mercy I-I'm not tasty to eat." she pleaded with them. But they only watched her in confusion because she was moving strangely and her speech was also strange.
She knelt and began to cry.
"I'm not healthy to eat. I love junk foods and every month I get gluta drip. I'm also a graduating student at PUP… Please don't kill me." she begged all of them. All were silent and puzzled by her speech.
"It is abominable to take the life of an innocent being like you."
Hesanis approached her and handed her a bowl made of gold containing a gray leaf.
She accepted it in confusion and shifted her gaze back and forth between the bowl and Hesanis.
"Surely like us you are also hungry. But our kingdom has fallen and there is severe hunger among beings like us who live here." Hesanis' voice was gentle and every word she spoke was emotional and complex for a child like her.
She looked at the beings surrounding her. They wore clothes made from animal skin. She realized she was inside a cave and she could see a small cave opening from outside.
She was amazed when she saw three blue moons.
"Hesanis, winter is approaching. Yet none of the Royales have returned, years have passed. We no longer have hope."
The eyes of each one were sad, there were children crying and elders sulking in one corner and weeping.
Though their appearance was strange they seemed familiar to Annie because she had seen them before in pictures, movie characters and games.
Oh my gosh! Are they related to Miya and Estes?
"Hesanis, right?" Hesanis paused and looked at Annie in confusion.
"How are you related to Estes and Miya?" she asked jokingly. But the innocence and lack of awareness could be seen on Hesanis' face regarding the question.
She just scratched her head because for her what happened was awkward. She looked around to find the bag she was carrying. When she saw that the bag had been used as her pillow she quickly grabbed it and rummaged through it.
She sighed in relief when she saw the food inside was complete.
She felt like a very bad person if she would not share the food she had with the beings with her.
She deeply sighed and took out the food that was supposed to last her three days for their camping with friends.
Speaking of friends, where are Nadja and the others?
"Hesanis, I know you brought me to your enchanted kingdom. But I want to know where my friends are?" she asked worriedly. In her mind they were already looking for her and she had a feeling they had gone down the mountain to seek help from the local police.
"Your friends were captured by our enemies. They are nearing the passage to the kingdom of Meteo, the general himself captured them. If only my power were strong I could help them…"
"Ha?!!"
Annie could not believe what she heard and she almost fainted from what she learned.
"Then how? There are many of them it's impossible that Mark and the others didn't escape—"
Annie was not able to finish what she was saying when Hesanis used her power to return to the past event.
Annie stood watching the events. Hesanis held her hand and used her power. Hesanis' hand had a small light and a circular star-shaped symbol floated above it.
On the other side the rumbling of the earth could be felt because of the march of war soldiers.
The soldiers in war attire were led by a man riding a black horse. That horse was not ordinary because it was twice the size and had no feet as it floated in the air.
Whenever it ran, its speed was triple and its breath emitted poison. Any being it passed would die. It was once called in the first part of hell Osancrus which means escort of death.
The bearing of the man riding Osancrus was gallant. He wore war attire. But it was not the same as the soldiers who went to war.
The warrior was clad in a majestic armor seemingly born from the light of the sun and forged by the fire of the heavens. His helmet was closed and tall in shape, with sharp peaks like the crown of an appointed king. The front part was smooth but had intricate carvings of sun symbols and ancient marks of power.
His shoulder guards were large and wide, carved with wing shapes and blazing suns, as if signifying his divine duty. With every movement, the mixture of silver and gold shimmered as if it had its own light.
The chest guard was meticulously crafted, filled with delicate lines and engravings that seemed to tell of wars won. Its lines were like flowing rays, giving the armor the appearance of not only protection but a vessel of magical strength.
Behind him hung a long and majestic golden cape. It seemed woven from the rays of morning, embroidered with ancient symbols and shapes of fire and stars. When the wind blew, it gently danced as if alive and united with the power of its wearer.
His hand guards were thick and also carved like those on the chest, and whenever he held the sword the steel seemed to shine. The guards on his legs and feet were layered, sturdy and noble, and with every step the weight of honor and duty could be felt.
At the center was his sword long, straight, and bright in blade. Its hilt was covered in gold and had a jewel in the middle shining like the heart of the sun. When the sword was planted on the ground, light seemed to blaze from beneath as if sanctifying the land he stood upon.
The entirety of his attire was not merely the armor of a warrior, it was a symbol of light, honor, and power sent to stand against darkness.
It was as if she saw an Angel descend from heaven to wage war against humanity to eradicate evil.
The entire surroundings turned cold even if she did not witness those events directly she felt the fear of her friends.
Mark, Jay and Nadja were held by soldiers wearing golden armor. Their feet were tightly chained. Meisha and Ard were inside a cage though they were fighting back and struggling.
She could not hear what the terrifying general said. But she felt his heavy aura. But after a few moments she almost ran out of breath.
"Annie, we are leaving…." She heard Hesanis' voice but when she looked at Hesanis and herself they were no longer there.
She felt cold sweat and she was slowly panicking.
Her chest pounded fast when she realized the soldiers and her friends were gone. Annie was almost deaf from the rapid pounding of her chest like a drum repeatedly struck. She strongly felt the cold and terrifying gaze whose source she could not determine, she felt someone was watching her.
"Hesanis, bring me back!" she pleaded desperately.
"Hesanis huhu help me oh, help me!" she prayed in panic hoping for her luck to survive. She just closed her eyes. After a few moments she heard an arrow hit the large willow tree and it was deeply embedded. At the end of that arrow was a tied red string.
She sat down in fear almost unable to stand. She nearly lost her sanity because of the strange events she had never experienced before.
"Annie! Annie!" She suddenly felt dizzy and felt her shoulders being shaken and she returned to her senses. She was sitting again surrounded by the Onymfa.
"What happened, why did you not immediately return to yourself?" Hesanis asked her worriedly. Fear and concern were visible in Hesanis' eyes.
"He knows I was there." she answered blankly and absent-mindedly.
"What did you see?" she asked gently.
"Th-the general you mentioned and the—" she sighed and hugged her knees together.
"An arrow, th-there was a red mark on the arrow, I thought I was going to die." She felt everyone freeze and her words became heated and interesting.
"Did you hear? Someone has made a sign!!!" Hope, bitterness and sorrow were evident in Hesanis' voice.
"Arda is alive!" Hesanis said almost hoarsely and she was filled with hope.