Volume 3 Chapter 19 Descendants of Dragons

Chapter 19 Cervidians

I

Seven days later

It was a after Riding a cart, the four were walking towards the palace of Fungruus together. Since they were travelling on the main road, their trace had been found by Reauneian government several times and they had encountered some soldiers on the road.

Luckily, those soldiers were no match for them. The only one in Reauneia that could possibly beat them was Fungruus. However, Fungruus must be guarding Cuore Celeste in his palace right now, and thus the four were safe temporarily.

Aisling always looked up to the sky and zoned out.

The destiny of death was waiting for her ahead. She used to be afraid, but now she was peaceful. There was only a week left in her life right now. She had no time to worry about death. The only thing she needed to do was cherishing her last days with her friends.

She wouldn’t run from it. She had no choice. She might not be brave or selfless enough to sacrifice herself for the whole world, but she had no choice. If she didn’t do it, she would live in endless solitude after her friends left her, after all, the life of an elf could last for centuries.

Soon, the dusk came and after the last rays of twilight disappeared in the western horizon, the world drowsed into the night.

When they drove to a fork in the road, a guidepost caught Floria’s attention, on which there was a row of unknown script: 鹿族村.

“Is that Reauneish script?” asked Floria, looking at that guidepost.

“No, Reauneish script doesn’t look like this,” Yanni shook her head.

“Wait, I know. It is the Cervidish logogram! My mom once showed it to us, remember? There was a peaceful race called Cervidians who could speak Cervidish,” revealed Stasha.

“Yeah, I’m impressed. The Farseer said that Cervidians are friendly to Normanians, unlike Reauneians. They may be have some connections with Luschina, the titaness in the legend. I think we shall follow that guidepost. My gut tells me to do it,” proposed Floria.

“Agree, but what if they can’t speak Normanish, Elvish or Desertish?” queried Yanni.

“If there’s a language problem, we’ll leave there,” replied Floria.

The four turned right and headed towards direction that the guidepost pointed to.

After around half an hour, they arrived on a patch of green grassland with some lash trees. Flowers of miscellaneous colours were blossoming on it, and there were some fireflies flying around, dissipating the darkness of the night.

“Greenness,” whispered Aisling

Reauneia was a world of weird purplish weeds and rocks. Therefore, this patch of grassland was like an oasis in an endless desert.

Soon, a village came into their sights. Coming out through the windows of the village houses were rays of warm lamplights.

Each Cervidian villager had a pair of antlers on her head, and besides that, they were no different with normal humans.

A villager saw them and waved to them. She was a middle-aged woman with dark skin and long black hair.

“You four are from Normania, aren’t you?” asked the woman in Normanish.

“You can speak Normanish. Bravo,” exclaimed Stasha.

“Yeah, I am the matriarch of this Village of Cervidians. My name is Reisima, nice to meet you,” the woman introduced herself.

“Nice to meet you too,” returned Floria politely.

“The government of Reauneians is Hunting you, and you have become four of the most notorious criminals already. I know that fate will make you and us meet finally. How much do you four know about us Cervidians?” queried Reisima, the matriarch.

“We only know that you’re a mysterious race. I know a lot of legends and stories in Normania, but the myths and folklores of Reauneia are pretty foreign to me,” answered Stasha.

“Don’t worry. You must have been tired. I’ll get you some tea. I’m the only one in this village who can speak Normanish. Therefore, I’m sorry that other villagers are not able to communicate with you four,”

II

The architecture of the Cervidians was generally similar to Reauneian style. However, the houses of Cervidians also had their unique characteristics.

All houses had at least two floors. The first floor of the houses had no walls and it was only built for ventilation. Besides, the rooves of the houses were black and the walls were as white as marble.

There were also neat terraced rice field around the village.

Now, the four were drinking tea at the second floor of Reisima‘s house.

“ᛒᛚᛁᚱ ᛑᛂᛐ ᛁᚿᛐᛂ ᚵᛁᚠᛐᛁᚵ” [Won’t it be poisonous?] Aisling asked Yanni in Elvish.

“It won’t,” answered Reisima with a smile.

“Wow, you can speak Wood Elvish too … That’s … Embarrassing,” murmured Aisling.

“Even if it is poisonous, you have the power of Sylvana and thus you’re immune to all kinds of poison and radiation, right?”

“That’s right,” Aisling nodded.

She began to drink the tea. It wasn’t sweet or delicious, but it was warm and comfortable. Nothing was better than a cup of warm tea after a long journey.

“What do you feel, Aisling. Your name is Aisling, right?” asked Reisima.

“Yeah … I feel … It’s hard to describe. Sadness? Peacefulness? I don’t know. Everything has messed up inside me. Life, death, love … Everything has become a dollop of unreal mist and … It’s like a dream. My life is like a dream. After the life is over, I will wake up,” sighed Aisling.

“It’s a strange feeling. We Cervidians love to research philosophical things. We research the balance of the world. We study the secret of life and death. But this feeling of waiting for the fatalistic death is … I don’t know how to describe it … No one wants to experience this feeling, but it is a path to the final wisdom,” explained Reisima.

“Final wisdom?” asked Stasha.

“Yeah, a wisdom of seeing through life and death, which was a ultimate mystery of all creatures on earth,” Reisima nodded.

“Well, do you have some connections with Luschina, the deer titaness?” queried Aisling.

“For sure. The ancestor of us Cervidians is Tenguia, daughter of Luschina,” answered Reisima.

“Tenguia …” whispered Aisling.

“Follow me. I will show you to a place,” commanded Reisima.

Reisima took the four to a small pond. It was about ten metres in diameter and the water was pretty shallow. Moonlights were shining upon the pond, bathed in which, everything was quiet and peaceful.

“It was called the 淚之池, the Pond of Tears, by us Cervidians,” revealed Reisima.

“There must be a story behind this pond,” guessed Stasha.

“You’re right … There was a story,” Reisima nodded.

Vividly, Reisima began to tell them the story .

Tenguia is the daughter of Luschina the titaness of herbivores. She was a beautiful young lady with a pair of antlers on her head. One day, she went out of the forest where she lived because she had become bored of the immutable life as an elf. She wanted to adventure in this immense world.

In the world outside the forest, she fell in love with a human boy. After transforming into human form, she married him and had three babies.

However, as the days went by, Tenguia found a cruel fact that her lover was getting older quickly, while she was forever young.

The youth was a curse to her. Soon, her lover passed away and was buried in a tomb. When he died, even their children had begun to look older than their mother.

In sorrow, Tenguia kept crying because this sadness was an eternal torture to her …

It was said that the tears of Tenguia, who was the ancestor of all Cervidians, gathered into this Pond of Tears.

The Cervidians would always remember who their ancestor was.

They were the children of Tenguia, an immortal titaness’ daughter who fell in love with a mortal man …

III

Aisling and Yanni were walking on the grassland beside the Village of Cervidians. The air was brimming with the fragrance of the blossoming flowers. It was a tranquil night, and everything was quiet, bathed in the silver moonlight.

The two didn’t say anything to each other. Sometimes, emotions didn’t need words to express and silence was the best language, because it meant both nothing and everything.

Arm in arm, they were walking aimlessly in the grassland of Cervidians and enjoying the cool breeze of the night. Cicadas and birds were humming quietly, while some fireflies were decorating the dark sky.

Their travel was about to end.

Every story had a ending … It was inevitable … Fairy tales were not real. They couldn’t live happily together ever after. They would be separated in the end.

Both Aisling and Yanni were not so good at expressing their feelings, but they could always feel what each other was thinking about.

Now, they were both thinking about the ancestor of Cervidians, who fell in love with a human, but the good ending was never there waiting for her … She had to be faced with the eternal separation after her lover died.

Looking up to the sky, Aisling could see the bright moon. Wood elves always considered the moon as a sacred celestial body. Sunlight brought photosynthesis and growth of the life, while moonlight brought the magic.

In the religion of the wood elves, magic came from the moon, and all the energy manipulated by elves was the manifestation of the moonlight.

Whether this theory was true or not, bathing in the moonlight could help an elf recover her or his mana. Therefore, moonlight was comfortable to elves and bathing in the moonlight was an ultimate enjoyment for elves.

Aisling lay down on the grassland, enjoying the moonlight while Yanni sat down beside her. The outlines of Yanni’s muscles were sketched by the snowy moonlight. She could feel her desire for him, and Yanni could see the curves of Aisling’s body too. Under the moonlight, her skin was like white jade.

Both of their faces were turned red by their unstoppable libido. They wanted to melt into each other’s body and became a part of each other forever.

Aisling closed her eyes. She could feel her skin merging into Yanni’s skin, like the sugar sprinkled into water …

Slowly, the moon hid behind the grey sea of clouds, and the world became dark. Trembling slightly. Aisling hugged Yanni tight and buried her face in his arm. She was trying her best to make her mind empty and enjoy this moment. She could hear Yanni’s heartbeats … She could also feel his breath as if they were integrating into one.

IV

Floria and Stasha were sitting on the hammock in the guestroom of Reisima’s house.

Aisling and Yanni were taking a walk outside the house, while Stasha was sleeping in a hammock in the guestroom of Reisima's house and Floria was looking at her, in a daze.

Slowly, she walked up to Stasha and looked at her.

Moonlight sneaked through the window and poured on Stasha's snowy skin. She was so beautiful.

Floria's heart began to thump. She always wanted to tell Stasha how she felt about her ... But ... Her love was forbidden …

If she told Stasha her true feeling, Stasha might consider her as a monster and leave her forever.

She feared that ...

Involuntarily, Floria bent over, her eyes fixed on Stasha's silent face. She was far more beautiful than those so-called perfect marble statues, because she was real, while the statues were fake without emotions. She had a real soul ...

Quietly, Floria put her lips on Stasha's.

This was a secret kiss ... Stasha wouldn't know. A surge of warmth filled the veins of Floria …

Suddenly, the door was opened.

It was Aisling. When Aisling saw what Floria was doing, she screamed in astonishment.

Stasha woke up.

“What happens? What is happening? Why are you screaming? Aisling?” asked Stasha blankly.

“No … Nothing …” trembled Floria. She stormed out of the door and slammed the door close.

“Are you just kissing her? That’s weird. OK, I won’t question your action. It is human culture, right?” asked Aisling quietly.

“No, it’s … You shall not tell her … Don’t tell Stasha … Oh my … I regret so much,” muttered Floria.

“I’ll explain it. Let’s go, Aisling,” whispered Yanni.

Aisling nodded. She and Yanni left the scene while Floria went back to Stasha’s room.

“What happened?” questioned Stasha.

“Um … This house … Uh … Maybe this house is haunted …” stuttered Floria.

“Haunted? Wow … That’s exhilarating …” commented Stasha.