[The Everbloom wants to guide]

  At the sight of the notification, Yvlena took the potted plant out of her inventory and held it in front of her carefully. Risel tiled her head gazing at the petals of the Everbloom curiously.

  “Yvlena, is that what I think it is?” The blonde elf asked with a soft gasp. “Is that the Everbloom?”

  Yvlena nodded to her, allowing the flower to guide them forward, the petal shimmered with a small golden light Yvlena had come to know meant they were getting close to a barrier of some kind.

  The elves remained silent as they walked, trying their hardest not to step into any of the dangers on the road. It didn’t take long before they reached it.

  The Miasmic barrier before them was unlike the previous ones Yvlena had seen before. The Miasma had the appearance of a thin film of skin hanging over the path they needed to pass through, Yvlena poked it, finding it’s texture to be a membrane of some kind.

  It clung to her fingers and she quickly shook it off before it could do any damage to her. She unpotted the Everbloom and placed it into the Miasma affected soil. It’s roots grew thicker, plunging into the ground as it’s petals opened to begin siphoning the Miasmic barrier into itself.

  It didn’t take long for the path to clear.

  “Wow.” Risel said in awe, she had never gotten a chance to see the Ever Bloom in action but now, the flower created by the previous Harvest Guardian was just as amazing as Yvlena who understood how it worked.

  Yvlena picked the flower up again, understanding that there must have been more ahead of them.

  “The wall was properly a new one, it was still pretty weak and sticky.” Yvlena said to Risel.

  “Agreed, the other barriers were more like solid walls no one could pass through, I’m sure with enough force we could have broken through this one.” Risel said with a small laugh.

  “That must have been how Twyla got through the Eastern path.” Yvlena said in realization.

  [Beatrice's Daughter 9.5% completion]

  “Beatrice's daughter right? The one you’re looking for?” Risel asked. Yvlena nodded.

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “She didn’t head towards the Verdant Vale, she went towards the Eastern path.”

  “The caves.” Risel muttered. “I hope she managed to get through it.”

  “She did, a traveling merchant said he saw her, she was was looking for the Harvest Guardian.” Yvlena explained. The two of them began walking again, Yvlena placed the Everbloom back into her inventory until the next time she needed to use it on a barrier.

  They were in deep now and who knew what they would find on the way to the Verdant Vale. So far the party had only seen the thick trees that covered the area, barely allowing any light to penetrate the canopy of leaves.

  Yvlena stayed cautious as anything could be hiding amongst the trees, she had grown stronger but there was no telling what levels the other creatures were. The elven girl didn’t know if she had just been lucky so far but she counted her blessings.

  “I have a feeling the I won’t like what I see in the Verdant Vale.” Yvlena said. The other town did not have the blessings of the gods that kept it safe and running and the path to the Verdant Vale so far had been plagued with death and danger.

  She feared that Freude as well as the townspeople would have all been corrupted by the Miasma, but if that were the case then why did Rael head towards that town instead of going to the big city like Alquisia or the like? Did he go there with the Everbloom to help them?

  Questions swirled in Yvlena’s mind but she pushed them aside to focus on her worries about the town.

  She carefully pushed a leaf out of her face and allowed Risel to go ahead of her towards their destination. In the distance she could make out a speck that seemed to indicate she was getting closer to the town.

  Yvlena breathed a sigh of relief, the journey would soon come to an end and Risel would be reunited with her dear brother.

  A sudden stab of pain bloomed at Yvlena’s side as she felt something pierce her. She saw Risel’s face twist in horror at the sight of her.

  “Yvlena!” Risel screamed, hurling something at her.

  Yvlena watched, frozen as the bottle exploded against a figure she had not even noticed had crept up behind her and stabbed her through her side. The figure wrenched it’s weapon back, trying to put out the flames cause by Risel’s potion.

  [Sprite Cast Cure (05MP)]

  [Sprite Cast Cure (05MP)]

  [Sprite Cast Cure (05MP)]

  As Sprite worked to cure Yvlena of her critical condition, Risel and Rabbit Knight rushed to pull her out of her daze, the summons didn’t stay to fight now that their master was injured and Yvlena didn’t have a chance to stare at the creature or person who had caused her harm.

  The being moved, bringing the heavy sword down on the ground where Risel and Yvlena had once stood. The blonde elf looked behind her so see a figure in rusted golden armor and his sword wedged in the ground.

  As they ran a voice soon began calling out to them in desperation.

  “Travelers over here! Over here! Hurry before he catches you.” It was the voice of an old man beckoning them into a stone building that slightly resembled Corr’s inn but was a lot smaller.

  The building was on the verge of falling apart from disrepair, its roof riddled with holes and smashed windows didn’t seem like it would offer any protection from the creature outside but it was all they had for now.

  Risel didn’t hesitate, bringing Yvlena into the house along with the summons. The man shut the door behind them and peered through the window for the figure with massive sword. The being hefted the sword over it’s shoulder and once again began patrolling the area.

  “That was pretty careless of you.” The old man said turning to the two elves, rabbit, fairy and doll. He squinted and thought about how odd the party was. “Now how the heck did you wind up here? The path’s been blocked for years-”

  “What was that?” Risel yelled, blurting her own question out before the man could even finish speaking. The blonde peeped outside the broken window and watched the figure lug around the giant sword.

  It moved slowly along the perimeter.

  “You don’t know about the guardian of the Verdant Vale?” The old man asked.

  Risel and Yvlena exchanged glances, it had been too long since Risel had been there to tell them anything and the last time she had visited there hadn’t been any one known as the guardian of the Verdant Vale.

  Yvlena recalled her summons and faced the old man who she wanted to start from the beginning.

  “Let’s start slowly, I’m Yvlena and this is my friend Risel. We came from Bloom Haven, might I know your name.”

  “You can call me Cedar. I’ve been a resident of the Verdant Vale for a long time, Long before the Miasma came to be. But as elves you’re probably even older than I am.” he said with a laugh then turned grim.

  “Now tell me just how you were able to make it all the way from Bloom Haven?”

  Read next chapter