Volume 1 Chapter Finale

Chapter Finale

I

It was at dusk when the four arrived at the Camp of Wildshadow Tribe. Everything looked peaceful and beautiful in this camp of a barbarous tribe. Some birds were flying gently in the air, singing delightful birdsongs.

In the distance, the sun was going down. Soon the world would be wrapped by the veil of the night once again. Some small blurry stars were showing up in the sky. They were glittering in the remote corners of the universe.

Aislina was waiting for them at the gate of the camp. The reddish twilight was flickering on her elegant azure hair, which was dancing softly in the breeze. There were some tears of joy swelling in her eyes when she saw her friends coming back.

“Aislina!” greeted Yanni upon seeing her, “thank heavens. I thought you wouldn’t come back. What happens to you and Blightess?”

“We have blended into each other once again. That’s a long story,” answered Aislina, smiling sweetly.

“Then do you still possess her power right now?” pursued Yanni.

“No, she used all her power to beat Master Mortis, and now her power had gone,” explained Aislina.

“All is well that ends well. It’s a surprise that you’re back. How is the life in our camp?” queried Floria.

“Bravo!! They love my magical tricks. I always perform for the bonfire nights of the tribe,” replied Aislina.

“Seemingly you have a rival now, Starsha,” giggled Floria.

“Yep, an epic rival,” admitted Starsha, patting on Aislina’s shoulder.

“So, the Grey Factory has gone and we’ve finished our journey. What will we do next?” inquired Aislina.

“We’re going to find the Sanctum of Life,” answered Floria.

“The Sanctum of Life …The Farseer told about that with me once. She said that she recently read a book called Saga of Cuore Celeste concerning the middle ages when elves from all around the world were migrating to a place called the Sanctum of Life secretly for an unknown reason. However, no one knows where the Sanctum of Life is though this name frequently appears in legends, myths, epics and fairy tales,” muttered Aislina.

“What a mysterious place! So are we going to be some kind of adventurers searching for the hidden Sanctum of Life in the future?” questioned Yanni.

“Yes, we will find the Sanctum of Life and help Aislina find a home where she can live with other elves,” Floria nodded.

“But where shall we start searching?” asked Starsha.

“I have no idea now, but we will find out that answer together,” answered Floria.

II

The four had a simple dinner at Floria’s tent. They were chatting happily about everything during the dinner. Their adventures had ended but their friendship would never cease.

When the dinner was finished, Yanni walked up to Aislina.

“Aislina, we need to talk,” whispered Yanni briefly.

Aislina nodded and both of them went out of the tent.

Bathed in the moonlight, they could see each other’s face clearly.

Yanni looked gently at Aislina’s watery blue eyes. There was a complicated world in her affectionate eyes. Yanni wanted to explore this world, but something was stopping him. Perhaps it was the words of the Farseer.

He saw into the future, where he and Aislina were walking together, side by side. However, he was an old man but Aislina was still a young girl. Aislina looked like his granddaughter.

Time went by and Yanni saw another scene, in which Aislina was weeping softly in front of his tomb. He had already turned to rotten cremains, while she was still young and beautiful, looking like a little girl, as if the power of time hadn’t affected her at all …

He shook his head. He suddenly realized that their romance would never have a good end. When their passions passed, they would face the cruel reality that they were too different and they belonged to different worlds.

Aislina had noticed Yanni’s drastic emotions. She took hold of Yanni’s arm, cuddling it affectionately.

“I remember what you said to Blightess …” purred Aislina.

“I know … But I can’t … We can’t, Aislina …” murmured Yanni.

“Why?” queried Aislina, looking confused.

Silverish moonlight was washing the vast land of wilderness, bathed in which Yanni suddenly hugged Aislina tightly. Yanni was hesitating. He had to make a hard choice but he didn’t know how to explain everything to Aislina.

“I know that you elves can live for centuries. If we two really get together, I will become old, but you will be always young and …” explained Yanni.

“I don’t care whether you will grow old or not. I don’t care at all,” expressed Aislina.

“No, it’s not that simple … Aislina, I like you, heartedly … It’s just, I cannot see the future … You need someone who can always stay with you, care about you, and accompany you through the whole of your journey of life which will last for centuries but I … I cannot do it …” stuttered Yanni.

“I said I don’t care, Yanni …” repeated Aislina.

“But Aislina … I know you’re being emotional right now, but … Our future is not a bright future. We’ll face a lot of problems if we really get together and …” stammered Yanni.

“So everything between us two really doesn’t have a future? …” breathed Aislina, lowering her head.

“It’s cruel, but it’s true,” answered Yanni, lowering his head.

Aislina didn’t say anything. She buried her face in Yanni’s arms and the latter sat down on the ground gently. She was hugging him tight, as if stopping him from going away. She started to sob tenderly and the feeling of solitude commenced to haunt her heart once again.

Her veins were burning in confusion as well as sadness …

Gently, Yanni stroked Aislina’s long cerulean hair.

“Will we really find the Sanctum of Life?” queried Aislina quietly.

“We will, Aislina, and you’ll find your true love there. You will also live there with your kind for your whole life of centuries. The Sanctum of Life will be your true home,” responded Yanni.

“But … Yanni … I will never forget about you, even after a thousand years … I will never forget about you. You will live … You will live in my heart, forever …” muttered Aislina.

III

Aislina lived in the tent of Floria and Yanni now. The tent was as big as a house, containing several rooms, including three bedrooms. One of the bedroom belonged to Yanni and Floria’s father and the other two belonged to Floria and Yanni respectively.

The father of the siblings was struggling in the abyss of dementia right now. He had even forgotten Floria and Yanni’s name …

Floria’s bed was big so she can share a bedroom with Aislina.

“Do you want to take a bath, Aislina? I’ve gotten a whole tub of hot water,” inquired Floria before they went to bed.

“Yes, for sure,” Aislina nodded, her eyes as empty as the void of the outer space.

“Do you elves often take showers?” pursued Floria.

“Yep, we do. We love to keep ourselves clean,” answered Aislina.

The girls took off their clothes and climbed into the big bathtub. The hot water inside the bathtub kept vaporizing and turning into some kind of white mist.

After entering the bathtub, they kept staring at each other. It was embarrassing …

“So what did Yanni say to you?” questioned Floria, breaking the dead silence between the two girls.

“That’s complicated, but … I wish that I were a human too so that we can share our lives with each other. We can age together, and … Anyway, those beautiful things only exist in my imagination. Fate is cruel, Floria, isn’t it?” narrated Aislina.

“Yeah, fate is cruel …”

After finishing bathing, the two girls went to bed. It was nearly midnight at the moment but they were not sleepy at all, so they commenced to chat.

Floria told Aislina those horror stories she once read. Whenever she talked about a fearsome ghost or demon, Aislina would say that she could slay it within one second. They kept chatting and laughing until 2:00 A.M when they had become too tired to keep talking.

In the dream of Aislina, she was searching for something in a land of vast wilderness but she didn’t know what she was actually looking for. She just kept searching, searching and searching, but ending up in vain …

Conquered by fatigue, she sat down and rest, the world of dream began to shake and collapse. The space started to fracture and through crack, she could see the infinite emptiness that was waiting for her …

She started to run, but she wasn’t fast enough. The tidal waves of hollowness was swallowing her. She tried to struggle but failed, though she didn’t’ give up until being fully devoured.

IV

When she woke up, it was already 11:00. Floria was still deep in her dream. Talking in her sleep, she was uttering some blurry unknown words.

Aislina walked outside of the tent and saw the sun high on the sky.

It was a brand new day …

Yanni was taking a walk outside the tent. When he saw Aislina, he waved to her.

Aislina walked up to him, stretching and yawning lethargically. She looked at Yanni. He was a little thin and his face was not that handsome. Besides, he seemed a little immature … He was not that good and he didn’t worthing feeling sad or lovesick for.

With those self-soothing thoughts, Aislina began to titter slightly.

“What’s so funny?” asked Yanni.

“Nothing, really,” giggled Aislina.

“Floria is so lazy. It’s 11:00 now but she is still sleeping. By the way, Starsha invites us to eat the lunch at her tent. I am going to help her out. When Floria wakes up, bring her to Starsha’s tent please,” requested Yanni.

“OK,” Aislina nodded.

Quietly and briefly, the two looked at each other. They didn’t say anything about their romantic conversation yesterday. It was too embarrassing and emotional. They’d rather forget it and erase it from their memories.

12:00, The four gathered at Starsha’s tent, eating the lunch.

The Farseer was eating with them too.

There were a big bookcase filled with ancient books in Starsha’s tent. Clearly, the Farseer loved reading, and through reading, she could get to know a lot of forgotten knowledges, like the relationship between elves and the Sanctum of Life.

It was a brief lunch with traditional tribal foods. They finished the lunch quickly and started to talk about their plans in the future.

“I know that you four are going to search for the Sanctum of Life. There are no clues about where the sanctum is, but I know where to find the clues,” said the Farseer.

“Where?” queried Floria.

“The elder vaults. They’re hidden dungeons built by ancient humanoid races. They are more ancient races than humans and there may be some important knowledges hidden inside the elder vaults. Those races must have some sort of libraries containing the information they know,” answered the Farseer.

“So new adventures are waiting for us. It is exciting! ” exclaimed Starsha.

“Anyway, elder vaults are dangerous. Those humanoid races in the elder vaults are said to have a longer history than humans, dwarves and even elves. No one knows what they are capable of. You four need to be careful,” reminded Farseer.

“We know. We’ll be careful, mom,” promised Starsha.

“Aislina, I know that your life is not easy, and one thing I do believe in is that you will find where you belong to. You will find your true destiny finally, but it will not be an easy journey. Life is full of uncertainty, Aislina. It is my motto and it may apply to you too,” drawled the Farseer.

“Thanks, Mistress Deane,” expressed Aislina gratefully.

One journey was finished and another journey was beginning. In the distance, in a corner of this earth full of the unknown, the Sanctum of Life, where other elves might live, was calling them. They were helping Aislina to find her home, her fated abode.

The circle of the earth kept turning and the Dream Forest was regrowing. From under the scorched soil burnt by the necroplane, flowers were still trying to bloom, though Sylvana had already died.

Though buried deeply at the bottom of the Pandora’s box, hope would still find a way.

“...” [The End of Volume 1]