“Uh…Enis?”

  “I never thought I'd hear that cursed name again.” Risel said, staring at her hands, Yvlena noticed the tremble in the girl’s hand and was overcome with guilt.

  The apothecary’s atmosphere darkened as Risel's mood soured at the mention of the name. At once the sounds surrounding Bloom Haven were muffled, Yvlena could hear nothing else and as such her sole focus was Risel.

  “I'm sorry Risel I didn't mean to bring up something so sensitive, it's just that I saw-”

  “You saw the corrupter of waters!” Risel shouted. Her ears pulled back like a scared forest creature and Yvlena's guilt grew.

  She didn't know what to do, would it be wise to tell Risel what happened or keep it from her to spare her feelings?

  “I think you need to calm down first of all.” Yvlena said patiently.

  Risel nodded, loosening her stance and resting her shaky hands on the counter.

  The sounds around her returned, Yvlena could hear NPCs bustling around the corner and even a few figures passing by the window.

  It was amazing how the game made it feel like a movie sometimes, the unease that hung over Yvlena lifted.

  She breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Let’s start at the beginning, who or what is Enis?”

  “She's an evil god, a god of water but one that pollutes it.”

  ‘But I thought the gods of Moon Valley were dead.’ Yvlena thought, but kept that to herself, it might be sacrilegious to bring that up now.

  “That explains the Swamp and the Verdant Lake.” Yvlena said. “They were signs.”

  “Yes…I believe so.” Risel said, her voice sounded far off and she seemed to stare past Yvlena as she thought.

  Whoever this god was, it seemed Risel had a bad personal history with her, and even more terrifying, if Enis could turn people into monsters, did that mean something could have happened to Risel’s brother?

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  ‘I’m just paranoid. I'm sure he's at the other side of the barrier waiting for his sister.’ Yvlena thought.

  “Don't worry Risel, we'll figure this out together.” Yvlena said to her friend.

  Risel shot her a bright smile and nodded.

  “I'm sure we will. Didn't you say you had to go to the library?” She reminded her.

  “Yeah, I'll see you later, Risel.” Yvlena said heading out the door just as another customer was walking in.

  The blonde elf didn't lose the far off look in her eyes as she spoke to the customer. Yvlena guessed she must have been shaken up.

  ---------

  Yvlena hurried to the library hoping to catch Laurent before he headed out to the Town square to help with the decorating.

  The elven girl passed the statues and ran straight into the lobby where she found the librarian categorizing his books.

  “Laurent!” She called.

  [Affinity with Laurent increased +2]

  [He's pleased to see you]

  The game told her.

  “I see you've solved two big problems for our small town Yvlena, as expected of the Harvest Guardian.” Laurent said, placing a hand over his chest and bowing.

  Yvlena grew flustered by the respectful display and jumped to wave her hands frantically.

  “There's no need for that. I'm only doing my job, my calling to my mom- er I mean the goddess Selendriel.”

  “Truly as nature is our mother after all.” Laurent replied.

  Yvlena smiled, knowing he didn't fully understand that Selendriel possessed the face of her mother. To him, she was simply a faithful servant of the nature goddess and her kin, Vaelindor.

  She wondered if any of the goddess's patrons would be able to see the resemblance.

  “The Gods of Moon Valley book, it's been updated right?”

  Laurent lifted a blonde eyebrow incredulously.

  “I didn't know you were on top of trends in the library, but you are correct. Do you remember where it was?”

  “Uh…”

  Laurent shook his head fondly.

  “Second level, 22nd shelf, row 18 G for Gods.”

  “You're the best Laurent!” Yvlena cheered, she ran off before she could see the smile appear on the blonde man’s face.

  It was hard to believe that not so long ago he couldn't stand the sight of her in his library.

  It wasn't long before Yvlena found the book she was looking for. Previously, it had only been a small, slim book not even the width of a pamphlet, now the tome was wider and with a noticeable heft once Yvlena pulled it out of its slot.

  [The Gods of Moon Valley pg.5

  xxx

  Amongst the gods of Moon Valley not all of them coexist harmoniously. Others seek to spoil what unity exists amongst the gods.

  These evil gods can exist in any alignment of Order and Chaos, thus they are judged solely by their actions.]

  Yvlena flipped the page and continued reading, hoping it would shed some light on the god that had attacked her.

  [The Gods of Moon Valley pg.6

  Amongst the evil gods are four in particular who seek to quell the chaotic beauty of Nature.

  These four gods rest in the alignment of Order and as such their main mission is to quiet the world of its ephemerality amongst others.

  Once weak gods of rot, these pollutant gods have taken advantage of the war of the gods to corrupt and draw power from the Miasma.]

  “That's horrible.” Yvlena whispered. “Doesn't that make them the natural enemies of Vaelindor and Selendriel who are nature gods of chaos?”

  [War of the Gods 7% completion]

  Yvlena gasped softly as her reasoning once again panned out, so Enis was one of four gods who had a reason to hurt the patron gods of Bloom Haven.

  “And the Miasma only strengthened them, Bavga said the Miasma was born from a god fall, so what happens if I kill Enis?”

  “Aiming to kill a god?” A creepy voice said from behind her, Yvlena jumped spinning around to come face to face with Dominique, the creepy librarian from the basement archive.

  “O-Oh, Dominique. You scared the hell out of me.” Yvlena said, in the light of the library's window she could see the older woman's sickly pale complexion better, along with her bird-like features.

  She really needed to step out into the sun more.

  Yvlena didn't know what to say as the woman currently towering above her, she wanted to get back to reading about the evil gods who might be obstacles to finding out what happened to Rael.

  “How are you enjoying the preparations for the Bloom Festival?” Yvlena asked politely.

  Dominique scoffed, pushing her glasses up the lengthy bridge of her nose.

  “It's incredibly noisy and disruptive, don't change the subject. I've seen you around this library investigating old things, buried things.” Dominique said, narrowing her eyes at Yvlena.

  “Just what is your purpose here girl?”

  Support me here and read ahead