The Nymph and the Dwarf

Terrence was in the church, kneeling before the statues of the Five Deities.

When he looked up at those giant, armor-clad men and women, he felt a sense of security and wonder. Even if these were just sculpted likenesses of the gods and goddesses, it felt like they were looking down on their worshippers from the heavens.

Beside him, Mai had a look of anxiety, with her tail and ears twitch erratically.

“Do you think they see everything we do?” She said quietly.

“Hard to say…” Terrence said with uncertainty. “Is something the matter?”

“It’s just…I haven’t been the best sister to Mea, so I wonder if the Five Deities would forgive me. If I died, would I…become a Demon? Would that mean I was a bad person?”

His tone and expression became more firm. “You aren’t a bad person, Mai. You’re doing the best you can to be a good sister for her.”

She looked down. “But even so, I did run away from my responsibilities as a royal…To the Deities, that must be unforgivable.”

“But you’re still here, helping in your own way. Mai, you are a good person, don’t doubt that.”

After a moment of hesitation, the Cait Sith smiled softly and nodded, then closed her eyes as she continued her prayers. Terrence relaxed as he felt relieved, but there was still the lingering worries on his mind. So as he lowered his head, he spoke to Bjartbrandr in his mind.

“I hope she’ll be alright, when we eventually embark on the Pilgrimage…”

“I’m sure she’ll be fine.” Bjartbrandr said in assurance. “She’ll still have the palace staff and King Randolph to keep her company.”

“Even so, we’ll be gone for over two months. We’ve never been that far from each other for so long…”

___________________________________________

When they stepped into the palace’s entrance hall, they were greeted by Patricia, who bowed and stepped aside.

“Lord Terrence, they’ve been waiting for you.” She said politely.

The people in question were Lorica and Mea, along with a Nymph and a Dwarf. Almost immediately, Terrence realized who they were.

“The other two Heroes of Arum.” He said in awe.

The first to greet him was the fin-eared Nymph, who seemed to be a lady about Lorica’s age, with an effeminate slenderness and soft face, and dazzling blue eyes and hip-length sea green hair. Even his attire was feminine, being a pure white dress that fell just above his finned ankles, with a blue sash around his left shoulder. But even his voice, which was also quite gentle, didn’t betray that he was a young man.

“It’s-um, nice to meet you, Prince Terrence.” He said, his green-tinted cheeks turning a bit red. “I’m Prince Aquare IV of the Nymphs, the Guardian of Water.”

Next was the Dwarf, who was just a little taller than others of his race as he stood a couple of inches below Mai. His black hair was little more than stubble, and his skin had a dark tan. He wore a bronze breastplate over a white shirt, with a red sash around his right shoulder, and black shorts. With his chiseled looks and muscular physique, he seemed a little older than Lorica and Aquare.

“Heyah!” The Dwarf bellowed, grinning widely. “The name’s Hearthstone VIII, Prince of the Dwarves and the Warrior of Fire! Good to meet ya, Terrence!”

Terrence chuckled nervously. “It’s an honor to meet you both.”

Lorica smiled and crossed her arms. “Now that we’re all here, we can start getting ready for the Pilgrimage. But first…”

She gave him a pointed look, and he straightened up and nodded.

“Right, my Trial of Power. It’s time for me to prove my worth as the Hero of Light.”

Hearthstone smirked and punched his palm. “Hold on a sec, my friend. You can at least spar with us first, right?”

Aquare inclined his head. “We want to see if you are ready for this, if that’s alright.”

Terrence was taken aback, but he was quick to nod. “O-okay, I accept your challenge. I’ll give you my all!”

Lorica became more amused. “In that case, let me have the third round. The four of us will test your mettle.”

She turned her head to Mea, who was somewhat turned away from everyone else.

“You will be joining us, yes?”

The Cait Sith Princess sighed. “You can leave me out of it. I already know how this will end.”

Mai glanced aside as she hesitated for a second, then stepped forward and spoke to her sister in an earnest manner.

“Mea, could I speak with you somewhere private?”

Mea narrowed her eyes, but nodded. “I suppose…Come on.”

With a sweep of her cloak, she turned and walked toward the west wing. Mai took a small breath for composure before hurrying after her.

_________________________________________

In the training hall, Terrence and Aquare stood on opposite ends of the sparring circle, their weapons summoned as they were ready to fight. Before they started, Terrence took a moment to eye his opponent’s’ Sacred Treasure.

Aquare’s Treasure was not a weapon, but rather a musical instrument. A silver lyre, with a design similar to a wave of water and studded with sapphires. Its crystalline strings glowed with the same divine power as all the other Treasures.

“The Guardian’s Lyre, Symphonia.” Terrence muttered. “I wonder how an instrument can be a weapon…”

Meanwhile, Lorica and Hearthstone were off to the side and speaking quietly to each other.

“Do you think he’s ready?” He said with a little skepticism.

She hummed and crossed her arms. “We’ll see how he fares against Aquare. I did send him up first because he’s our physically weakest member.”

He grinned in amusement. “And also our most magically gifted. This should be fun to watch, either way.”

They fell silent as Aquare began to speak, looking rather timid with how he lowered his head and hugged his lyre.

“Just so you know, Prince Terrence, there’ll be no hard feelings.”

Terrence rubbed the back of his head in an awkward manner. He wasn’t sure how to feel about this…Aquare didn’t look like much of a fighter. Still, it would be rude to drop this match.

“Alright…” The Human muttered, taking a stance.

The two stared each other down for a moment…then Terrence began to dash toward the Nymph, readying Bjartbrandr for a strike.

The Guardian of Water hummed in a thoughtful manner, bringing his webbed fingers to the lyre strings.

“Try to match my tempo.” He murmured.

With a sweep of his fingers, he played a quick tune, and a silver wave of energy spread outward. Terrence stopped in surprise and dove aside to avoid the blast, and upon getting up he looked at Symphonia.

“How did-” He began to say.

Aquare immediately answered. “When I play Symphonia, I can channel her energy into magical attacks. Like so…”

With a finger, he strummed his Treasure’s strings, creating a mystical line of notes in front of himself. Then with a wave of his hand, he sent them to hone in on Terrence.

The Hero of Light leaped forward to avoid the flying notes, and only stumbled a little as he dashed toward his opponent. With the distance quickly closing, he made a lunging downward slash, aiming to knock Aquare’s lyre out of his hand.

The Nymph did a quick twirl as he hopped aside, and retaliated with another harmonic soundwave. Terrence turned just in time to block it, but its power was enough to break his guard. So as he stumbled back, Aquare strummed Symphonia’s strings in rapid succession.

An upbeat melody rang throughout the hall, buzzing with divine power. Energy gathered around Terrence, and his eyes widened in shock.

“This is her Harmonic Waves…” Aquare chanted softly, closing his eyes.

Then with one final flick of the middle string, his Treasure’s power was released. In a silver flash, the energy around Terrence exploded, and he shouted out in pain as he was blasted upwards. He hovered in the air for a few seconds before he fell on his back, which made him cough out loud.

Aquare dismissed his weapon, then went to kneel by Terrence and give him an apologetic look.

“Sorry for being a bit rough.” The Nymph said softly, bringing up a hand.

He cast healing magic over the Human, enveloping him in a sparkly emerald glow. Terrence groaned as his pain subsided, and Aquare helped him onto his feet.

“Symphonia is powerful…” Terrence muttered.

Aquare nodded, hugging his Treasure. “She can even amplify the power of my own magic. But she does have her limits, so I try not to push her too hard.”

Hearthstone walked over to them, with an eager grin on his face.

“That got me fired up!” He declared, pounding his chest. “Ya ready to face me now, Terrence?”

Terrence sweated a little. “I guess so…”

“Ha, don’t worry! I’ll try not to break your bones!”

That was hardly assuring, but the Human nodded and went to stand at one end of the circle, while Hearthstone took the other. Meanwhile, Aquare went to join Lorica, and spoke to her in a concerned manner.

“This won’t end well, will it?”

She chuckled. “Not in the slightest, but it should still be interesting.”

Terrence frowned and glanced at her. “I’m just entertainment to her…”

“Just focus, and you’ll be fine.” Bjartbrandr said soothingly.

He nodded and took a deep breath, then got into a fighting stance and focused on his opponent. Hearthstone raised his hand, and his Sacred Treasure appeared in a flash of light.

He now wielded a golden warhammer, which had silver etchings along its pole and cylindrical head. One side of the head was wide and flat, while the other narrowed into a single spike. The head had two rubies embedded in the center, one on each side.

“Let’s see if you can keep up with me!” He boasted. “Give me your best shot!”

Terrence hesitated for a moment, then let out a yell as he charged at the Dwarf and swung down on his shoulder. However, there was a loud clang as Hearthstone effortlessly deflected the attack with an upwards swing of his hammer.

“Iotun and I are the mightiest team!” He roared.

Terrence grit his teeth as he stumbled back several steps, the heavy impact leaving both Bjartbrandr and his arms shaking a little.

“A-are you alright?” He asked her, wincing a bit.

“I’m okay…” She said with a little strain. “Master, we need another approach. Try casting magic like you were taught.”

“But I haven’t had much time to practice…”

“Even so, you’re at a disadvantage in close quarters. Just do your best.”

Terrence nodded, then took a deep breath as he began to concentrate. He felt warmth flow through his body as he charged magical energy, gathering it into a light in his free hand.

At the same time, Hearthstone dismissed his Treasure and aimed his palms behind himself. With a chuckle, he quickly charged Fire magic and released it as small explosions, which had enough force to propel him. He soared in an arc, quickly getting up to Terrence’s surprised face.

“As if I’d let you!” The Dwarf bellowed as he delivered a punch.

Terrence yelped as he dove and rolled away, narrowly avoiding a hit to the face, and Hearthstone flew past and landed heavily on his feet. Terrence barely retained focus on his Light magic, and managed to give it the form of a small sphere.

“Lux Orb!” He shouted, tossing it at his opponent.

The ball of light curved through the air, coming to strike at the right side of Hearthstone’s head. In a show of brute force, he swung up his right hand and smacked the magical ball, shattering it into particles.

“Not good enough!” He roared. “Let me show you real power!”

He clenched his fists and raised them skyward, gathering Fire magic above his head. It morphed into a swirling sphere of flames, which grew to the same size as its caster.

“Pyro Bomb!”

He threw it over towards Terrence, who quickly turned and ran away. The flaming ball exploded in midair behind him, and the resulting shockwave sent him tumbling across the floor. He groaned as he slid to a stop, just at the edge of the ring.

“Do you give up?” Hearthstone said with a triumphant grin.

“N-no…” Terrence groaned, staggering to his feet. “I can…keep going!”

He charged towards his opponent, readying a horizontal attack. However, as he came close, Hearthstone raised one of his heavy legs and stomped hard on the floor. It rumbled from the force exerted on it, and it was enough to make Terrence stumble.

As he tried to regain his balance, Hearthstone stepped up with a clenched fist and delivered a punch to his stomach. Terrence coughed as he was knocked back by the blow, and landed flat on his back. That had taken the wind out of him, and so he laid there in a daze, unable to get himself up.

With the match settled, Bjartbrandr appeared at his side and knelt down. As she placed his head on her lap, everyone else came over to check on him.

“Here, I’ll play my Soothing Melody.” Aquare murmured, beginning to strum Symphonia.

He played a soft, pleasant tune filled with his own healing magic. Sparkling green energy, combined with little silver sprinkles of divine power, restored Terrence’s stamina and healed his wounds. He sighed wearily as he got back on his feet, and gave the others an apologetic look.

“I’m far from ready…” He muttered. “If I took the Trial of Power now, I wouldn’t be able to succeed. But I don’t have time to keep training here.”

“You’ve made some progress since I first met you.” Lorica said thoughtfully. “Still, I don’t think it’ll be enough to defeat the Sacred Dungeon's Holy Knights…”

“Are you still sure you want to take it?” Bjartbrandr inquired, looking worried.

Terrence sighed. “It’s not a matter of wanting, it’s just that I need to. I don’t have time to keep preparing myself.”

Suddenly, the voice of Captain Lucius cut into the conversation.

“Excuse us, Lord Terrence.”

The Heroes of Arum looked to see him and two others approaching. One a middle-aged lady who wore red lipstick, and had back-length black hair with golden streaks. The other a somewhat older man who wore gold-framed glasses, and had curly green hair with streaks of gray.

Terrence raised an eyebrow. “You two…are the other Royal Knights?”

The lady smirked and flipped her hair. “Obviously. Captain Levene, of the Fifth Cohort.”

“And I’m Captain Ventus, of the Fourth Cohort.” The older man said with a bow. “A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Prince Terrence.”

The Prince nodded. “Likewise. So why are you all here?”

Lucius looked serious as he crossed his arms. “A scout from the Central Border reported the appearance of Wyvern riders. Based on how they were flying, they may be trying to swing around and go south. With the reported size of their forces, there can only be one place they’re heading.”

Lorica narrowed her eyes. “You don’t mean…the Oasis City of Nirvana?”

Ventus adjusted his glasses. “If they attack the Sacred Tree and destroy it, then all hope for humanity will be lost. But we know you are not ready to embark on your Pilgrimage, so we Royal Knights will do our part and intercept the enemy.”

Levene put her hands on her hips. “We’ll defeat them before they even reach the Radiant Desert.”

Lucius smiled confidently. “With the three of us, it should be no problem.”

Terrence tilted his head, now perplexed. “What about the other two, Captain Rubrum and High Captain Taurus?”

“They'll remain here, in case this assault was really a feint to lure our best knights away. Anyway, just focus on your training and leave the fighting to us, for now.”

The Second Cohort Captain held out a hand, and gave the Hero of Light a proud smile.

“Do the best that you can do, milord. It may not seem like it, but we all believe in you.”

Terrence hesitated as he looked at the offered hand, then smiled slightly and grasped it with his own.

“Thank you, I'll keep trying with all I got. No matter what, I’ll prove my worthiness of being the Hero of Light, and Bjartbrandr’s master.”