Chapter 14: Time For Action

Inside the corridor of the chief elf's tower, there was murmuring that could be heard from afar. The voice of the three elder elves could faintly be heard whilst the Keeva was leaned against the hall's wall, deeply Immersed in thought. 

"I can't believe that they have to think about this so hard. What even is this test gonna be? There's no way that Sir Winstes is going to take it easy on me either. Ugh! Why couldn't they just pick anyone else?"

Just then the door had clicked open and it was the elder elf Winstes that had arrived for her.

"Are you ready for your assessment, lady Keeva?"

Caught off guard, Keeva took it upon herself to stand up straight out of respect for the elder. Since from this point on he would be the barrier between if she does or doesn't hunt the dragon she's after.

"Ack, yes sir!"

Whilst they were walking down the hallway and enduring the awkward silence, they soon reached a large entrance with a heavy set double doors that were still ripe and green, compared to the rest of the dilapidated tower.

"Can I just say one thing, sir Winstes?"

The elder elf looked back, still carrying the same indifferent and cold gaze in his eyes.

"You may."

"I know that we got off on the wrong foot. But I was only speaking the way that I was because, like you, I want to help keep the elves of this village safe. If all things go well in this assessment. I look forward to serving next to you on the battlefield."

She extended her hand for a handshake and although the elder stared at it briefly, he soon took the gesture in stride as he shook the hand of the younger elf with a warm smile.

"I'm glad that you feel that way, lady Keeva."

The double doors opened as the elder gestured for Keeva to enter.

"We'll begin your assessment now, please step into the chamber."

Trying to contain her excitement. Keeva eagerly stepped into the area, only to find that it was an ordinary, plain looking room. There was a washroom, a bed, folded laundry for clothes her size and some food in a neatly organized pantry. There was nothing in this room that resembled battlegrounds or testing facility at all. Keeva was sure that this was unintentional.

She quickly turned around to explain.

"Uh, Sir Winstes, I think that there's been a mistake. This doesn't look like a-"

Slam!

The sound of the two doors shutting in her face made her heart pound, quickly accompanied by the clicking sound that she was sure signified that they had been locked.

"I'm sorry lady Keeva. But due to your grandfather's orders. You are to stay out here until further notice. Perhaps we could fight on the battlefield some other day."

Keeva heard the sly undertone of mischief in Winstes' voice, it infuriated her. She began to bang on the doors, smashing her fists into the surface.

"Wait! Stop it! You have to let me out of here sir Winstes!...Winstes!"

But the elder elf was already making his way from the room, grinning ear to ear as he walked down the hallway. The loud thumpings from behind him now we're fading into background noise. He fondly remembered the face Keeva made before the doors were shut in her face.

"That felt good! Finally, some peace and quiet without that brat."

He opened the door to Lucious' office to find him and Cornelius waiting expectantly for his return. The chief elder appearing to be in worse condition than before as his soaked handkerchief was now being used to wipe the red droppings that stuck to his chin, he attempted to stop anymore blood falling from his mouth.

"The deed is done, master Lucious."

The chief elder nodded his head before letting out a deep sigh.

"Thank goodness, I'm so relieved."

"Sir, aren't you at all worried about your grandchild bearing serious resentment towards you because of this?"

"Given the current situation, it can't be helped. But she'll be able to understand one day that what she was asking for was absurd. Once everything is said and done, she'll be doing nothing but laughing about how stupid she was."

"Understood, though I must mention. Given the current state of the tower and the structural integrity of the village since to the mother tree's declining power. Are you sure that this will keep her for long?"

"It doesn't have to, I'm not going to be able to hold this cage for long anyway. At best I only have three more days left in me. We need to find and kill that dragon as soon as possible. I'm going to be counting on you two to search every inch of this village until then, got it?"

The two elves preformed a bow before master Lucious as their words had came out in unison.

"Understood!"

§ 

Soon, three days passed.

From that day onwards, the elves began to cut down on anytime that was spent beforehand for the purposes of sleeping or rest and had fully dedicated their efforts to finding Krieus and Areon. They asked villagers and used any sort of information they could to attempt to locate the highly sought after fugitives.

Inside of the depths of the valley, Areon was continually getting dropped to the ground and fighting to get back up again. He would scrape the blood from his body back onto the ground only to fall back down once again. He grew to have a very intimate knowledge of what the taste of dirt was like. But there was a single thought that motivated him.

"I won't give up! I won't let someone run away from wars like that…! Not if I can do something!"

But also during this time he figured out how to lean on his bodies instincts for battle in order to dodge attacks that he otherwise wouldn't have enough time to consciously react to. Through practicing his abilities hundreds of times he had significantly increased his potency of attacks as well. Overall, while Areon had gotten stronger, the elf's forces had only gotten weaker.

Towards the end of the third day Areon was left huffing and puffing on the ground. His face was devoid of any expression. Too tired to move, too tired to talk.

Mister Puff Puff laid down beside him, anxiously checking if his companion was still alive.

Krieus saw the defeated look on the boy, he was well aware that despite his efforts as a father to push him to rest and take his time. His reckless ambition had pushed his body to the point where his adrenaline and willingness to endure couldn't save him anymore. The dark dragon approached the nearly lifeless boy and pet him on the head with his tail in an attempt to console the boy.

"You always surprise me, Areon."

The boy didn't reply, he just chuckled and nodded his head.

"I thought you would be more lively. You finally managed to complete the sixty seconds."

"...Yeah, just barely but I managed to do it. Hehe. I don't think I could celebrate right now, even if I tried."

The dragon gave a knowing nod.

"Still though, it was quite impressive of you. That technique you were talking about earlier ended up working in the end. It's not really a formulation technique, very different from one in fact. But it was interesting to see how you took something you saw and made your own unique tool out of it."

"Thanks pops, I don't think that I'll pop that one out though, unless if things get serious. It takes up a lot of energy."

"Ideally I wanted to have mastered the explosion fist by now, but I'll take what I can get."

Areon began to pick himself up from the ground, dusting himself off once again.

"There's another thing that I'm curious to know about though, pops."

"Ask away."

"The elves are no doubt searching for us up there. And they have powerful wind users above too, like Lucious flying around. So how come we have been able to train here and everything without so much as getting interrupted. I thought that they would find us by now."

Krieus nodded his head before pointing upwards. Areon tilted his head towards the sky and saw a faint fog that was coating the surface.

"I don't get it. That mist has always been here right?"

"This, Areon, is the same trick I used to conceal us when we were in the woodlands. It's a little hard to explain since I haven't been teaching you about wielding the elements for that long. But in simple terms, that fog can wipe the memories of anyone who encounters it of ever coming across it, if I wish. That's why no one has found us."

The boy's jaw dropped.

"What! Such a crazy ability exists?"

"It can also be used to create illusions for people who step inside of it. Anyone who steps inside of that fog is also immediately known to me, by their exact appearance, location, scent and level of vitality."

"You can do all of that with just one technique!?"

"To be frank, I wanted to see if the underground tunnels were still here, since this is still technically an old dragon training ground. I was interested if we could use them, but the entrance is probably buried by now. Digging it up would have complicated things. So using this makes things pretty convenient."

"Pretty convenient? It's outright cheating!"

Krieus caught a glimpse of Areon's befuddled face and held back his laughter.

"It's not as complicated as you think. Once you master things like the explosion fist and other techniques I'll gladly show you how to do it."

"...Darn."

"Don't worry Areon. It is no lie, when I tell you that with enough training, you will eventually surpass me. I'm sure of it. Now let's focus on what you already have accomplished."

"Hehe, after that I'm not sure how to."

"Do it by staying on the present. What time do you want to pay Lucious a visit?"

"Probably tomorrow, since his cage is still up, he's still using energy. If I can catch him when he's the most drained, that's to our advantage. The less able Lucious and his guy's are to fight, the better."

"Good thinking."

"Hehe, I guess It's settled then. First thing tomorrow we'll head over to the elves and save their mother tree!"

"That's the spirit."

Mister Puff Puff barked in agreement as the group was officially galvanized and ready to go after Lucious.