Morning whisked by like a breeze as the sun cast its shine from up above. There was a strange silence masking the air as Soren, Myrin and Candice watched the horizon from the deck of the skyship. The marble buildings below shone brightly like jewels covering the earth.
Soren held on to his cone hat as he watched the crew going from one place to another to man the ship. Up above in the crow’s nest, a young man yelled out navigation directions. And to where the helm was positioned, a rough looking, bearded old man could be seen steering the ship with one hand while the other was busy holding onto his smoke pipe.
The Unending Horizon. It was one of Celestine’s best skyships, powered by a crew of wind affinity magi. Their captain—who was at the helm—was rather famous in the newspapers as a pioneer of the runic mountains. His na was Baratheon.
“You sneaky little elf!” He yelled out from the top of the ship as he spun the helm hard to port. “You owe big now! Do you regret it?!” He laughed heartily.
Myrin glanced up at him and smiled. “Why would I? I am grateful for your assistance.”
Soren smiled as he watched the altercation play before him. Indeed, he too was grateful to that bearded old man. Mount Celestine was no joke to navigate. While the city sat at its top, navigating down it was no easy task. Especially not during this ti of year where mountain thieves roaming the lower districts were as nurous as fish in the oceans.
“Then how about it,” the old man suggested while stroking his beard, “join my crew and I’ll have your debt settled in no ti!”
Myrin shook his head. “Joining a legendary crew like yours would be my honor, but I have business to attend to at the mont. Maybe in the future!”
The crew laughed, “Legendary crew? Hey, hey, don’t you dare stroke that bastard’s ego! It’s already too big!”
“Shut up you dimwits! Go back to your stations!”
The crew mbers frantically scattered back to work. Seeing this, Myrin chuckled. “I might not be able to join you all, but I can sure try to lighten the mood while I am still here!” He pulled out his Soul Weapon and began to play another song.
Almost instantly, relief and joy washed over the tired n and won. An air of comfort reached every corner of the ship. The skyship's crew were once again full of energy—so even danced to the tunes while completing their tasks.
Soren watched the spectacle in awe as he leaned against the wooden railing. Candice stood by next to him, enjoying the new festivities. However, it was obvious that the both of them had things to say to each other and yet they didn’t know how to start. The awkwardness grew by the second.
Fed up with the silence, Candice decided to go first:
“Don’t worry about Cassia. I am sure she had everything planned out from the start.”
Soren nodded slowly. “Indeed.”
The silence grew louder between them again. She sighed. “A week ago—when you disappeared—soone unexpected visited the guild.”
“Soone unexpected?” His brows furrowed. This was the first ti he was hearing this.
She nodded, “Yes… It was soone you might have seen once before in the past… I heard you witnessed her do sothing on the streets of Celestine.
“The Silver Valkyrie, Ilythia.”
His eyes widened. A shiver ran down his spine.
“She had co to the guild to investigate you.” The words rang loudly in his mind. Candice continued:
“After your altercation with that freak, The Whispering Dream, the knights who serve the Silver Valkyrie testified to seeing you with the perpetrator on that horrific night. Ilythia had co to our guild to interrogate you.
“Luckily, at the ti, you had sohow vanished from the guild. Even the powerful Search Mystery she deployed had no effect in finding you. Without anyone to interrogate, she quickly left the guild, but not before saying sothing to Cassia that confuses even now…
“Your ancestral ho is an eternal pillar, she said to her. And that she should seek out what remains for the answers she was seeking.” Candice stroked her hair as she said those words. Soren, however, remained frozen like a statue.
This hint… it was indeed crucial!
Candice continued, “When I asked her about it, Cassia refused to tell … I have no idea what this ancestral ho is nor do I know its location… But I am sure of it!” She glanced at Soren resolutely. “I am certain that girl was planning on traveling there! She even told she had plans of leaving the guild a week earlier, but I never expected her to leave without even saying goodbye…”
Stolen story; please report.
“Thank you for telling this.” Soren bowed toward her. “I am now certain of where she is planning on heading. In fact, it is sowhere in the sa direction we are heading—North.
“Truly… Thank you for informing .”
Candice frantically shook her head, “D-don’t be! We’re still family, rember? Even if the guild is disbanding… All of us share the sa goals…”
Soren’s lips twitched slightly. He was about to reply but decided not to.
All it took was a single evening to reach the port at the bottom of the mountain—sothing that would have taken them more than a single night if they had planned on journeying down the slope on foot. The path downwards might have been straightforward for a normal mountain, but Celestine was anything but normal.
It was a mountain that had been purposefully carved into a city. Buildings and debris from a rather ancient past lay there to this day, forsaken and abandoned. Navigating such treacherous terrain would have certainly been a hassle.
Baratheon and his crew certainly ca in clutch…
Soren watched the sun slowly set over the horizon as the skyship drew closer and closer to the ground. Left of where they were landing was a large gathering that flickered in the golden light of torches and lamps.
Camp Sebastian.
An old dungeon town that was built during the 3rd Relic Rush three hundred years ago. Once a ho to greedy explorers, now a place of study for archeologists, historians, and scholars alike. However, it was completely owned by the Aelloran governnt. Unauthorized access was disallowed.
Luckily for them, Star Fate Guild still had permission to enter as they pleased. The only caveat was that they needed to report their findings directly to the camp’s Headmaster.
However, this didn’t really bother Soren and Myrin. They were not planning on returning to the camp at all.
“So this is where you guys went when you started the expedition?” He glanced at Myrin questioningly.
Myrin glanced back at him and nodded while cleaning his flute. “Indeed. Look above!” he pointed. “It's kind of hard to see from here, but notice that strange terrace? That's the backside entrance to our guild! The one you greeted us from!”
Soren squinted his eyes. It took him a second but he finally noticed it.
“Fascinating…”
After landing, the trio of ex guild mbers thanked Old Man Baratheon and disembarked. As they headed in the direction of the camp, he watched the skyship lift once more, drifting away toward its next destination.
“Where is that old man going next?” Soren asked in wonder.
Myrin smiled. “From what I know, I believe he’s plotting out a route toward the Eclipse Moor.”
“The Eclipse Moor?” Soren frowned. “Isn’t that too dangerous?”
They walked ahead toward the campsite as Myrin chuckled. “Danger and thrill co hand in hand—you know that yourself, don’t you? Don’t worry too much about it, that old man might look like a slouch, but he isn’t your average skyship captain.
“I heard one ti, he dove into a dragon’s nest while navigating through the Runic Mountains. How he escaped—I have no idea…”
Soren shook his head. “You believed such a story imdiately? He probably imagined the whole thing while being drunk!”
Myrin chuckled, “Right, that could be the case.”
“Whatever the case may be, it’s great that he was willing to help us.”
Myrin glanced at him and smirked, “Are you finally seeing the benefits of including in your expedition?”
Soren rolled his eyes with a click of his tongue, “Right, right. It was all thanks to your highness, the great elven prince. How may I ever repay thee?..”
Hearing this, Myrin grinned from ear to ear. “Praise more…”
Candice giggled to herself as she watched them bicker from the back. Eventually, they reached the gate. Two ard knights stood at either side, holding silver spears.
Next to them stood a man in his early thirties. His tanned skin glowed in the light of the lamp as he held his top hat to his chest. His silver hair shifted in the wind ever so slightly. Candice noticed him as her eyes widened in shock.
Myrin turned to her and smiled, “The lovebirds finally reunited! Oh how I wish to have a partner of my own soday…!~” He clasped his hands in prayer, “O Holy Maiden, may you bless thee…”
Candice, however, didn’t pay attention to this and imdiately ran up to her husband. They embraced in a tight hug.
Soren shot a brief glance at Myrin—a retort forming on his tongue, but he decided to hold back on saying anything. He was a gentleman, after all, and this wasn’t the ti to interrupt.
Let them have their mont… Knowing that your partner was actively participating in exploring a dangerous dungeon without being able to see him for a while must have been hard on her.
After a while, Nicholas glanced at them and smiled. “Myrin, I didn’t expect you to be back here so quickly…”
He chuckled, “I didn’t either, but plans have changed… Also, how were you aware of our arrival? I don’t rember us notifying you…”
Hearing his question, Nicholas frowned.
“The Silver Valkyrie’s knights inford .”
“What?” Soren’s eyes widened. “He looked in either direction suspiciously, before the middle aged historian interrupted him:
“Don’t worry, they have already left… I am not sure how exactly they knew of your plans ahead of ti, but they did. At first, I didn’t even believe them, but it seems they were right all along. You three are really here.”
Myrin stroked his chin. “Do you know where they left from?”
Nicholas nodded. “They headed North from here. I believe they are planning on crossing the checkpoint at the border back to Staterra.”
“I see now…” Soren’s voice drew all of their attention. He glanced at each of them faintly then nodded.
“It seems my hypothesis was true. Cassia is traveling with that Silver Valkyrie.”
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