We led the Goblin army away from their target as planned. It also took a lot longer for us to lose them. Their tracking abilities were uncanny, at least they fell for our trick. By morning, we were finally able to lose them and circle back to where we had left the targets.
Ezryn knelt beside the tracks we had found and studied them; "it looks like they are heading this way." He deduced as he pointed upstream.
Nodding, Mohan and I followed as he led the way. Eventually, the tracks led to the river.
“What now?” Mohan asked, slightly annoyed.
“We can assume they went upriver and look at the banks and travel upriver as well, and hope we find their trail again.” I suggested.
“If that doesn’t work, we can always come back here and do the same the opposite way.” Ezryn shared.
“Okay, it’s settled.” Mohan agreed.
We headed upriver scanning the banks for tracks. A few miles up, we found what we were looking for. Heading in that direction, we zigzagged back and forth through the forest, having trouble finding their tracks. Eventually, after what felt like hours, we came to a small clearing beside a creek. We fanned out and searched the area, looking for clues.
Tired, I leaned up against a rock that had vines on it and fell through, landing on my ass. I stood up and looked around. I had fallen into a small cave that had been occupied recently by the looks of it. Remnants of a fire sat in the center and footprints we scattered around in the loose dirt.
I knelt beside the fire as Ezryn, and Mohan came into the cave. The embers were cold. They were here but hours ago.
Sighing, I stood up and dusted my hands off on my pants. “Looks like we missed them. Did you find anymore tracks?”
Ezryn nodded. “Yeah, I think I know which way they went.” He motioned for us to follow him.
He led us back into the forest. Around noon, we stopped for a quick bite to eat before continuing on our journey. “How had they gotten so far in so few hours?”
“Maybe they are fast, or maybe we are just slow.” Mohan frowned as he moved a branch out of the way.
“Shh.” Ezryn mumbled; I hear something.
We stopped moving and could hear movement in the trees beside us. Bracing ourselves, we quietly pulled out our weapons, no sooner had we armed ourselves when three Goblin soldiers launched themselves at us.
A scout team no doubt, I surmised as I blocked the first blow, Mohan and Ezryn fighting beside me.
I barely blocked the next blow, as he went to take my head. Quickly I ducked down and, slipping a dagger from my sleeve, I stabbed the soldier in the stomach. His eyes widened in surprise as he sank to the forest floor.
Mohan had defeated his assailant without issue, Ezryn had just blocked what would have been a fatal blow, as he attacked, lopping off the soldier's arm and quickly beheading him.
“Bloody Goblins are a menace.” He hissed as he spat on the Goblins' face.
“If they are sending scouts, the army isn’t too far behind.” I concluded. I looked at Ezryn, “I need you to go to the King and report back, request the aid of his army. Tell them that the Goblins are after the sisters of the prophecy. Hopefully, it will be enough to sway him.”
“I can’t leave you here, sire.” He replied, looking both torn between obeying my order and his duty to protect me.
“It’s an order. Mohan and I will continue to track the sisters and try to buy some time. The direction the sisters are going in is towards our kingdom. With any luck, they will beat us there.”
He nodded and sheathing his sword; he started running toward my father's kingdom.
Mohan and I quickly hid the bodies and erased our tracks before following the sister's trail, covering any tracks we could along the way.
“Hopefully, this will work.” Mohan muttered as he ducked under a low-hanging limb.
“It has to. If the sisters from the prophecy die, the Goblins and their allies will take our realm over.” I frowned.
They allied with the Drow. The Drow were dark elves whose signature trait was blue grey skin and white hair with black eyes. They had red tattoos that looked like claw marks on their arms. My Grandfather had banished them to the under realm, but the Goblins somehow helped them back to our realm. They could make a person feel despair and make them relive their worst nightmares if you got too close to their dark aura. The best way to kill one was from a distance.
They reveled in hunting down our people and seeking revenge for their banishment. I hope the Goblin army didn’t have the Drow with them. It would complicate matters. They seemed to be working separately at the moment, receiving orders from the Goblin king and heading out to complete them.
The Drow were attacking Elf villages while the Goblins were attacking the Pixies and Fairies. The Goblins seemed intent on wiping out the pixies allies.
The way things were going, the entire realm will be at war with each other and it would be a bloodbath.
“We should stop here for the night.” Mohan suggested as he studied the small clearing we had come to. “I can go scout out the Goblins and see how far behind they are from us.”
“Sounds like a plan. Once you find them, report back. We will need to plan our next moves according to the time we have available.”
“Yes, sire.” He replied before disappearing into the trees.
The chill of the morning dissipated as the sun reached its zenith. We had been walking for around two hours when Ari broke the silence that enveloped us. “Do we even have a plan? Where are we going?” Ari snapped, annoyed. “Simple, we are going in… this direction.” Huricana laughed, pointing in front of us. “I’m more concerned about putting distance between us and the big green if you know what I mean.” Sunama whispered, worried. “They could be right behind us.” “Big green?” Huricana spat with laughter. “We should head toward one of our allies. We need an army if we are going to stop the Goblins.” I suggested casually. “An army?" Ari stared blankly, "What do we waltz up to an allied king and say?" Making her voice high pitched and whiny she said, "Please king sir, give my sisters and me control of your army so we can fight the nasty goblins and fulfill the prophecy." Her voice returning to normal, she glared. "They’ll laugh in our faces and lock us up." “Do you have a better idea
The nymph had just finished shifting when a spear flew by Ari’s head, her eyes turned orange and she accidentally the nymph on fire. The nymph shifted back in a rush as she let out a blood-curdling scream and frantically tried to put the flames out. Sunama, with her eyes flickering turquoise from her power, doused the fire with water that she called up from the earth. “Great, you gave away our position?” Ari yelled as smoke rose from the nymph. “No, the smoke from the nymph did.” Sunama yelled back, “Because you set her on fire!” I walked over to the nymph who was lying on the ground and helped her up; she was already healing. “Stay away from me.” She snapped, getting up off the ground. “This isn’t helping matters!” Gia spoke calmly, as an arrow flew past her nose. “That’s it, I’ve had enough.” Her eyes turned emerald, green, and she tried to create a void in the ground, but ended up creating a small crack. Sunama was holding her stomach as she laughed hysterically, Gia slapping
After the Goblins left, the elf man turned to face me. “I am Tyr. Did they hurt you?” he asked after he introduced himself. I shook my head. "No, they didn’t. I’m Akasha and these are my sisters, Ari, Huricana, Sunama and Gia." Each of them nodded as their names were spoken. “It’s nice to meet you all.” A man from the elf army walked towards me his dark brown hair was long and braided down his back, but the sides of his head were bald, he had the same high cheekbones and pointed chin that Tyr had but he had broader shoulders and was a few inches taller than Tyr his eyes were a pale blue that almost looked white. “This is General Moon.” Tyr introduced him. “Call me Frey,” he smiled at my sisters and me. “Why are you running from the Goblin army?” Tyr asked me. What harm would it do to tell them who we were, after all, we're trying to get help from their king? “They burned down our village and we are the only ones that made it out. Or at least I think we are.” I replied as Tyr mad
The soldiers were relaxing, visiting, and joking amongst each other, that is aside from the ones on guard duty. After recreating the anchor with Ela and Karm, I walked around as my sisters rested in the tent, all except Ari, who had seemed to vanish. Karm and Ela went to search for her on the outskirts of the camp while I was walking around the camp looking for her, a little worried because she wouldn't just up and leave. I was about to give up on my search and return to my tent to get my other sisters to help when I heard Ari yelling about fighting tactics, following her voice, I found her and Frey behind one of the tents. “I’m just saying strength trumps speed any day.” Frey boasted as he smiled down at her. "Typical man saying that, I know for a fact speed would win." She argued, crossing her arms. “Are you guys really fighting about this?” I laughed as I walked towards them. They turned to me, “Well?” Ari asked angrily. “Well, what?” I asked, hoping they wouldn’t drag me in
I was glad we had found Akasha. I didn’t realize the extent of her abilities, but everything I discovered about her made me want to know her more. She was beautiful, but not in the normal sense. Her long white hair flowed to her waist and shimmered in the most dazzling ways, like diamonds lined every strand and her bright blue eyes were full of wisdom, yet I could see she had another side she didn’t show people. She’s the oldest of her sisters, yet short and petite with graceful curves and the white and gold peasant dress she wore just accentuated it. Half the damn army couldn’t keep their eyes off her and she seemed oblivious to it. She had the telltale characteristics of a pixie with her little claws and petite pointed face with pointed fae ears the stars that lined her neck and shoulder proved just how much power she held, her and her sisters had many tiny stars of differing colour I’m assuming to match their elements. I escorted them to the fire where dinner was being served a
My sisters were sleeping by the time I got back to my tent, I looked at their sleeping forms and moved around them to my spot, trying not to wake them. I quickly changed into a white nightdress, setting my sword on the ground beside me. I sat cross-legged in my spot and went into a meditative state. This way I could rest my body while guarding my sisters, when we reached the kingdom, I would get a better sleep. It also helped prevent the nightmares I had been experiencing of late, some of them being my visions recurring over again and others of the goblins killing those I love most. My sisters. In my meditative state, my body could rest while my spirit observed my surroundings and communicate with the spirits that were around, usually they were more than willing to help. I had to be careful though because evil spirits were dangerous; they were like a poison that could corrupt those around them, there are ways to protect yourself, or cleanse the poison away, but it was a lot of work
We were still a distance away from the Elf kingdom, but you could already see the tall castle. It was made completely out of white marble and, as we approached; it seemed to grow in size, looming over everything that surrounded it. As we got closer, you could see a large moat surrounding the exterior castle walls, as we walked over the drawbridge, I glanced in the water seeing different types of fish and creatures swimming around. Everything was amazing, it was like the whole place sparkled, there wasn’t any dirt or mess to be found, it made our village look so small in comparison. As we walked through the village leading to the main part of the castle, I looked at my surroundings all the homes were made from white stone. The roofs were thatched, and in behind each home were vegetable and herb gardens. Every house looked exactly the same. Where there weren’t cobblestone pathways or roads, there was lush green grass, flower gardens, and trees. It looked as though the scene had been
I entered the throne room and approached the King, bowing at the foot of the stairs leading up to the royal seats. Surprisingly, my brother and the Queen were not present. “Were you successful in your mission, son?” he asked. “I was sire, they are waiting on the other side of the door.” I answered him. He nodded at one of his guards, who left the room in a rush. What was going on? I thought as my father spoke again. “Are you sure they are the sisters from the prophecy and not some wenches that have tricked you?” he accused. “The Goblins believe they are, and to be honest, they have the abilities that the prophecy speaks of.” He nodded as he stroked his long black beard in thought, his blue eyes sparkling as ideas formulated in his grotesque mind. His hair had random braids in the front and fell loose in the back. “What abilities have they shown you?” He finally asked. “They have each demonstrated their abilities to some extent, control of fire, water, air and earth was witness