"Zarino!" Arius greeted as he walked over to where Zarino and his elven soldiers were dismounting from their guardians.
It was a norm in all four vassal countries to have a guardian animal. They usually obtain one as they reach the ages three to five. Since old age, it is considered an ill omen if you got yours at a later age. Such citizens were deemed incompetent, which eventually leads to them being treated as social pariah (shame) or a slave if they were born of common blood.
This was because failure to obtain your guardian at such an early age means your magical affinity is weak-adding the fact that most of those who do usually either get small or hideous weak guardians. This is not always the case because there are a few rare cases where these allegedly vulnerable beings could summon beasts born from demons. That is why they were considered ill omen.
Instances like these happen when the conjurer cultivates dark negative feelings deep inside their hearts, and demons feed on it...crave it even.
It is why the Gods never gave the humans the gift of summons. Save for the royal bloodline, humans were much too fragile from human emotions that the Gods feared the imbalance of good and evil.
"Ah Arius, my dear old friend!" Zarino greeted back with a manly hug. Though of a different race, both men were stunning.
Zarino, with his tall stature, elongated ears, long platinum braided blonde hair, and sharp and beautiful features, emanated an air of elegance befitting the Elven royal that he is.
Whereas the Fae king, with his long red locks, well-sculpted features, and a natural glowing aura from his Fae origins, is the picture of a true, noble warrior despite his kingly position in the fae court.
"I heard of your plans from Seraphina, and I'd say that's an excellent strategy from you and Kygo." Arius complimented. They were both walking on their way to the made-up barracks.
"You have my thanks, Arius. I could say I learned from the best." Zarino replied with a sly smile directed at the latter. True enough, Zarino and Kygo have been friends with Arius for a very long time.
"Don't mock me, Elven king," Arius replied humoredly but then continued, "Any idea why any of our attacks, magic or not, don't seem to work on that thing?"
"We have yet to uncover the reason for that. But I think the beast queen colluded with those shady human mages. Nothing is set in stone yet, but I'll make sure to investigate this as soon as we defeat this evil. We can't have that evil witch run rampant with her fake court, can't we?" he grimly replied.
"I've had suspicions about that since the attack on the royal family. I mean, how else could she amass so much power to usurp a strong family in such a short time?" Arius then supplied.
"Then that would mean she's been planning this for a long time." He replied, disgust dripping from his voice.
"I guess that's a topic for later discussion. So how do we go about this plan of yours?"
"A few of my chosen soldiers and I will be the ones to bait the monster into a clearing where there is no vegetation to prevent further damage. Then with your help, Seraphina will create a portal leading to Terriona right just about the entrance to the infinite forest where Kygo is waiting to open up the gates and finally push that monstrosity right in where it belongs." Zarino explained.
"That works. I'll be off to my post then. Well, good luck in your endeavor, my friend. And don't get hurt."
With a small reassuring smile, Zarino replied, "So should you."
---
With their thorough, detailed plan and cooperation, putting the criminal Golem behind bars, or in this case inside the Infinite Forest, or Titania's version of impenetrable prison, became easy and was done very fast.
After the grueling job of luring the criminal inside the cursed forest gates, a number of the earth elemental druids and fae folks, nymphs, and water pixies were sent to Zephyra to rebuild the areas that were affected by the beast Queen's cleverly planned attack.
Most of the affected citizens also helped the restoration the moment they were allowed to return from the refuge that they were able to finish it at a faster pace.
Now that the ordeal has somehow been mediated, King Kygo, the tribe leader for Terriona or the Earth Tribe, called for another council meeting with the other Tribe leaders. Only he, Zarino, and Seraphina attended. King Gunther of the Fire Tribe's lack of presence caused the recent council meeting a great deal of tension.
"I know that these situations may nurture distrust for some of us but let us remain standstill and believe the oath we gave. I believe that this recent ordeal was carefully planned to sow distrust within this council. To have us fight with each other." Kygo stated in a serious tone.
"Perhaps, I still have apprehensions, but I decided to trust your judgment King Kygo, just as I trust for you to do the right thing when he does otherwise," Seraphina uttered with a promise.
"I know. That is why I sent a few spies inconspicuously to set for Affira. Since portals are not an option at the moment, they will be flying back and forth. Perhaps, a fortnight till we hear from them. I'll call for a conference then." He explained rather calmly.
Both Seraphina and Zarino nodded in understanding.
"I have also started an investigation regarding Uriah's connection with the dark human mages." Zarino started, "That, and I got a tip from my source, regarding the frequent visits our Beast Queen have from her mage friends."
Both Kygo and Seraphina frowned. Zarino could almost imagine the wheels in their heads turning.
"Hmm... It seems that our problems are far from over," muttered Kygo, the other two silently agreeing.
"That...I agree." Both replied.
Author's note:
Happy weekend!
How are you?
I would like to ask for understanding for future confusion. I'll be making a few changes here and there.
Anyway, here's 17, ya'll!
- Beast Queen and Uriah are one person.
- Empire of Titania's vassal kingdoms are:
*Affira/Fire tribe
*Terriona/Earth tribe
*Zephyra (not Aetheria... forgot to edit) /Wind tribe
*Aquilica/ Water tribe
*Zoran / Dragon Island