Elowen couldn't believe that he was doing this. It was the middle of the night, yet he was sneaking around like a common thief, holding a stack of small pastry boxes. lina and Sienna were by his side, keeping a vigilant watch on the town as they sneaked their way closer to the gate.
Despite the late hour, they still saw the white and black robes of the priests as they wandered the streets, seemingly aimlessly like ghosts. But they were definitely watching what Sunglowers were doing, so Elowen and lina couldn't waltz through the main street. They stuck to side alleys and dirt roads used only by locals.
When they reached the gate, the guards let them through quietly, without a word. The Guildmaster had already instructed them to let lina and Elowen through. They did, however, give a strange look to the boxes they were carrying. The obviously sweet aroma coming from them wasn't helping.
"Whatever you have in there, Miss lina, I hope to try it out too," one of the guards said.
"Don't worry. It'll soon be available at the bakery. Do pay us a visit," she replied with a brilliant smile.
The guards seed to lt, nodding fervently and grinning from ear to ear. Elowen suspected that lina didn't even realize what kind of effect she had on human n.
While Elowen was no expert when it ca to matters of human courtship and relationships in general, it was clear even to him that lina had beco the most desirable partner in the whole town. Normally, no man would do even so much as show his attraction. After all, Sinclair would surely bury anyone who dared to look at lina the wrong way.
But since he's been gone for a while, the n of Sunglow seem to have forgotten that lina was, as humans call it, taken. No matter, they would rember it soon enough when he returned. For all of their sakes, Elowen hoped Sinclair returned soon. Ti was running out, and they needed every ally they could get.
Getting to the passageway proved to be easy enough. Elowen could hear monsters from a great distance and avoid them without much issue. What he hadn't expected was for two burly-looking n to be standing by the passageway.
"There's sobody guarding the passageway," Elowen whispered to lina, before they could alert the two mysterious guards.
"The Church must have sent so System users to guard it. Don't worry, I have this," she said, and with a swift movent conjured flas in the form of a phoenix.
She sent the fla construct so distance away from them and then swerved to fly at the guards. As it drew closer, both System users startled but drew their weapons, ready for a fight. lina kept her phoenix flying above their heads, occasionally launching an "attack" on them. Although, quite frankly, it was basically harassnt. Had she learned this from Remi?
It did get the desired effect. Guards chased after the fake phoenix as it flew into the forest. In the anti, Elowen, lina, and Sienna safely slipped through into the passageway. The misty corridor was empty, and they hurried through before the guards returned. Only once they were through to the other side did they relax.
"Success," lina cheered, and looked around them with a smile. "And it's dayti here. Even better."
"I don't think dayti alone will be enough to help us," Elowen said.
"Better than wandering through the dark. I'll take it as a good sign," she said, and handed the two boxes she'd been holding to Elowen.
"Are you sure it's alright to leave you here alone?" He asked dubiously. Sienna also looked nervous about this plan.
"I am a step away from the passageway. If anything happens. I can just hop back into the Human Realm. But it's dayti, so I doubt anything will happen. My good friend, the guardian, is also nearby. I doubt anyone will try to pull anything with him around," she said, pointing to the figure of the bug-like guardian who was eagerly scuttling over in their direction.
"I still can't believe you tad the passageway guardian with pastries…" he said, watching how she reached into her dress pocket and pulled a paper packet. Out of it, she unwrapped a small shimrtart, presenting it to the bug-like creature.
"I didn't ta him. We just ca to an understanding," she said as the monster took the pastry and began nibbling on it eagerly.
"I suppose you'll be fine then…"
"Yes, I'll be fine. But if anything happens to you, then you signal Sienna. Be sure to touch her so I can teleport you both out," lina warned. "If, for so reason that fails, then pour mana into the stone I gave you earlier. That will help find you."
"I got it. Don't worry. If things get dangerous, I'm getting out as soon as possible," Elowen confird.
"Just be sure to leave the macarons behind," she warned.
"Yes, yes," he said with a sigh. Elowen highly doubted that the Monster Lord could be swayed with a pastry. He doubted he would even eat it. But lina insisted that anyone who tried her new macarons would be more positively inclined towards her.
It was a ridiculous notion in his opinion, but there weren't many options at the mont. They had to grasp at every straw they had if they hoped to have any chance at all against the Church. Relaying the information that they were trying to obtain sothing in the Monster Realm should be valuable in its own right.
"I have your back," lina said, putting her hand on his shoulder.
Elowen nodded in acknowledgent and ran off. Sienna ran with him, keeping close. He was grateful for the wyrm's company. Facing the Monster Lord alone seed daunting, especially with their relationship as strained as it was. With Sienna at his side, he felt much safer, especially since lina could observe everything through the eyes of her familiar.
The path to the Monster Lord was already well known to him, and as they got closer, the familiar presence of drow surrounded them. This ti, they didn't fully hide themselves as Elowen could occasionally catch them standing by one tree or another, watching him run past. Thankfully, they showed no signs of hostility and let him continue.
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Once he reached the infamous tower, the Monster Lord was once again standing in the clearing before it, looking none too pleased. "You're starting to test my patience, elf. Do not think that you can just co and go here as you please, summoning like I were your servant."
"My deepest apologies, my Lord," Elowen said, bowing low. Sienna bowed her head, too. Judging that her eyes had turned blue, lina was observing the whole situation. "But I carry news regarding the Church's expedition."
Monster Lord's expression tensed. "What news? Speak."
"They have brought a vast number of priests to Sunglow as well as a large number of System users. We don't know their levels or abilities, but I believe it is safe to assu that they are not newbies," Elowen began. "We also know that they want to obtain sothing from the Monster Realm."
"Obtain sothing? What?" The Monster Lord asked impatiently.
"We don't know. We only know that they plan on splitting realms apart again, and by obtaining this item, they'll be able to supposedly prevent the disease and famine that spread through the Human Realm afterwards."
The air around the clearing grew heavy, and Elowen could see magic radiating from the Monster Lord in visible, if faint waves. He could feel the powerful wave of mana as it reached him, doing his best to remain calm. But the feeling was far from pleasant, and even Sienna flicked her tail in response. But they both remained still.
"Damnable humans want to destroy us all, and grab everything from our world before doing it," he growled in anger, a strong wave of mana hitting Elowen so hard that he nearly lost his breath. "We should destroy them all before they can destroy us!"
"Not all humans wish us harm. In fact, people of Sunglow are working hard to repel the Church as best as they can. Many are silently working to sabotage their plans, and I was able to relay this information to you only due to their efforts," Elowen said, forcing himself through the overwhelming mana waves.
"Humans did?" The Monster Lord asked dubiously.
"Yes. They wish to work together with you for a solution," Elowen said, and then presented the box of macarons to the Monster Lord. "In fact, this is their show of goodwill. A gift for you."
"You take for a fool? These are poisoned, aren't they?"
"I'm willing to eat one to prove that they are not," Elowen said. Sienna eagerly took a step forward, clearly offering herself up as a taste taster as well.
The Monster Lord regarded them dubiously, then motioned at one of the nearby drows. The drow walked up to Elowen and took one macaroon from the top box and another one from the box below. Elowen took it and just popped it in his mouth, knowing full well that lina wouldn't resort to such underhanded tactics as poison.
Sienna nearly bit off the arm of the drow, eager to get to the treat faster. She swallowed it whole, a blissful expression on her face.
As Elowen chewed, his eyes went wide in surprise. What was this flavor? The sweetness from the cookie was sothing out of this world. As if a small galaxy was swirling in his mouth. Strawberry galaxy, to be precise, as he tasted the wonderful, fresh filling of the macaron. The most important, however, was the feeling, like warm sunlight shining down during a pleasant morning.
The Monster Lord and the drow stared at him, almost expecting him to drop dead. Elowen composed himself and nodded. "It is very tasty."
Everyone looked at him dubiously, except for Sienna, who was reaching her snout out towards the boxes, eager to eat more macarons.
"My Lord, allow to test them," one of the drow offered.
The Monster Lord gave Elowen another suspicious look but nodded at the drow. He took one of the macarons, taking a careful, small bite of it. The drow's eyes widened in surprise, and the other drow tensed, reaching for their weapons. But the taste tester drow raised his free hand and put the remaining macaron in his mouth. "It is very, very good!"
"Allow to try it too, my Lord!" Another drow offered. Then another. And another.
Around ten drow went through this cycle, each pronouncing the macarons to be incredibly delicious.
"Very well, bring one!" The Monster Lord ordered.
One of the drow took one of the boxes and brought it before him. He looked at them suspiciously, but seeing the urging of the drow to try it, he caved and took one. The Monster Lord took a careful bite of the treat, and his star-filled eyes went wide.
"D-Did a human really make this? It contains luminfruit, does it not?" The Monster Lord asked.
Sienna nodded in agreent. Elowen was a bit ashad that a wyrm knew the ingredients of the macarons better than he did. But then again, Sienna was lina's familiar. Who else would know her recipes if not her?
"Yes, my Lord," Elowen confird.
"Where did the humans get it? How did they manage to so masterfully incorporate it in this tiny cookie without overwhelming its natural effect? The flavor is so pronounced," the Monster Lord marveled.
"I'm afraid I don't know. You'd have to ask the one who made them," Elowen replied, and took a step closer to Sienna.
"Who made them?" He asked.
"It was lina," Elowen said, putting his hand on Sienna's shoulder.
"The accursed Archmage?!" The Monster Lord said, staring at the macaron in disbelief. Then his expression changed into that of pure anger.
"As I have said before, she has changed. She is a baker now," the elf tried to reason.
"This is all a part of her sche, and you've fallen for her tricks!"
"There are no tricks. She truly wishes for our two realms to coexist. She never wished to cause destruction and harm. You should give her a chan—"
"Silence! Capture him!" The Monster Lord roared.
This was their cue to leave. He sent a small bit of mana into Sienna—it was their designated signal. The wyrm let out a loud roar, and before any of the drow could react, Sienna and Elowen were back at the passageway. lina was breathing hard, sweat on her forehead.
"Did sothing happen?" Elowen asked nervously, worried she might have been attacked.
"No. It's fine. It was just harder to pull both of you back than I anticipated. I've teleported objects from long distances before, but never living creatures," she explained, her face turning pale then slightly green. "Sohow it's more nauseating than teleporting myself."
A mont later, the woman lost her stomach contents in a nearby bush. "Let's not do that again."
"Agreed. We delivered the ssage and even managed to get the Monster Lord to eat one of the macarons. Although he went livid when he found out that you made it."
"That's fine. As long as he tried one, he should understand," lina said, getting on Sienna's back.
If Elowen hadn't eaten lina's macaron, he wouldn't have understood what she ant. But since he had, she understood that these macarons weren't just a simple treat. He still had a pleasant, warm feeling in his chest. The feeling of hope. The feelings that told you that everything was right and that everything would be alright.
"How did you even make those macarons? It's like you've baked hope itself into cookie form," the elf asked.
"I didn't do anything much. My grandfather was the one who taught the recipe for these delightful macarons. All I did was change the recipe to incorporate the luminfruit. The delightful feeling cos from that," she explained, clutching onto Sienna, still pale.
All Elowen could think of in her response was that she once again underestimated herself. She didn't realize that she might have created a food that might turn both realms on their head.
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