The End Of A Journey

It was more than remarkable how after all that talk, neither of the two have yet to give him any explanation at all. The demoness and the Aeos expected him to pick their sides when he knew nothing of their situations or intentions.

Messa was trying to convince Kies not to trust the Aeos, while the Aeos had been trying to convince Kies to slay everyone present, and now they were asking him to pick a side.

The other Aeos' goals were different than his, so it wasn't a good idea to work with him. However, he knew a lot of things that he didn't know, and Kies really wanted to pry open his head and take what was there. As for Messa, she was trying to tempt him with information, saying how that she would give it to him if Kies helped her. As for the two royal guards and Nyana, he would receive two fragments in exchange for helping them.

The offers were all on par with each other. Information to cue him in on the current situation of the war or fragments that he will need to increase his power. However, Kies already knew which one he needed more right now.

He wasn't about to turn his back on Otane, not after all he did. Not only would that be morally wrong, but it would also mean that all his efforts would go to waste here. It was an improper way of settling something but he had no real attachment to anyone here, so he chose to go with the side that made the most sense right now.

With everyone's attention on him, Kies declared, "I'm not going to betray my allies."

The Aeos' face hardened, hearing an unpleasant answer. Messa was equally as dismayed by it but she already knew that this was going to be his response. She hoped that it wouldn't be the case.

"Let's see if you will change your mind in the near future." The Aeos sounded very disappointed by Kies' decision. Deeming that it was impossible to change his mind at the moment, he vanished with a soft breeze. Standing in his spot was nothing but sand.

Messa closed her eyes and procured something from her sleeves. Nyana saw her hand moving and summoned a magic arrow in her hand. However, she didn't get the chance to shoot it. A gentle purple hue formed around her hand and spread to the rest of her body in nearly an instant.

Thinking that the demoness was going to attack, Lentis constructed an earth barrier as the dark magic went off. A small explosion blasted occurred and when everything settled down again, Lentis retracted the earth to discover that the demon was gone.

Rui approached the small charred circle in front of them and looked down. "She escaped," she informed the others.

"Teleportation," Nyana muttered as she lowered her bow. The magic arrow in her hand crumbled into particles, returning back to where they came from. The elf slung her bow over her shoulder and turned to the crumbled city.

Without saying anything, the elf left. The two royal guards nodded their heads at Kies and followed after her. Kies was the last to leave. There was a lot to fill everyone in on, but it wasn't the time for that right now. The great catastrophe that befell Otane was over, but there are still many matters to take care of.

***

Otane used to be an empire in past and while some people still called it that, the truth was, it was no longer considered one. It had lost so much land due to wars against fellow human territories that it was reduced to a small piece of land, turning into a small kingdom. all the hardships and everything that it went through, it survived and thrived. Even so, misfortune found a way to bring down Otane further.

The dragon's attack lasted but a mere few hours and yet it reduced Otane to such a depressing state. The kingdom had suffered a great deal, but the survivors would live on. They had no time to mourn and started reconstruction straight away. The bodies were placed in closed caskets and sent away along the river. A tribute to the blessed waters that made it possible for them to live in the cruel sandy wasteland.

Most Otanians never had the chance to leave the desert and see the other parts of the world. For them, all they would ever know in life were the golden grains of sand, though beautiful, would eventually be what claimed them. Many of the inhabitants here believed that the river flowed to the ocean and that they were liberating the dead of this vicious prison they called home, that they were finally free to explore to see what wonders awaited them out there.

Though people believed that, no one had followed the river far enough to see where it led. For all they could know, they were sending the bodies to nowhere. There were a few that wanted to find out where the river ended and followed it, but none returned from their journey. It was more likely than not that the river carried the bodies to some lake or small hole in the ground, or even a place more ruthless than here, nothing like the paradise they wanted to think was real.

Kies watched patiently as the people of Otane rebuilt their foundations, their homes, the wall, and the palace. The process was not a short one, but it didn't take as long as Kies thought it would take. Unsurprising, the people that lived in the desert were tough and could adapt to anything. They were some of the most hardened people in the whole world.

The buildings were sturdier than before, the walls, taller and thicker. Months blew by in the blink of an eye. The seasons changed but the desert stayed the same. Otane recovered and the kingdom persisted.

A year. That was how long Kies waited. He could have taken the fragment from Iris and left considering that he had long fulfilled his promise already but he chose to wait. Nyana wasn't too happy about Kies' decision but she waited alongside him too. During this time, Otane suffered no attacks at all. Kies really wanted to know just what the demons were thinking, leaving the kingdom in a vulnerable state and not destroying it when they had the chance to.

After one year passed, Otane was back to its former glory. The streets weren't as crowded as before, but business was booming as usual. A lot of the outer parts of the kingdom close to the walls and beyond were abandoned to compensate for the diminished population. It was a wise choice as there weren't enough personnel to watch and guard such a large area.

Many lives were lost that day and Kies was glad to see that everyone he knew was still alive. Even the old farmer that he helped had rebuilt his farm.

The day came when Kies was summoned to the new palace to celebrate the full recovery of Otane. He, with Nyana, and the two royal guards were hailed as heroes that defended Otane.

There was a memorial for all the soldiers who lost their lives etched into the wall behind the throne. Carved on it was each and every brave soul's name. There were also broken weapons and dented armor pieces lined up across the walls of almost every room. In a sense, the whole palace was built as a memorial for the fallen soldiers.

The celebration was a long one but Kies finally obtained the information that he had so badly wanted all this time. For starters, Siegfried had perished in battle. It wasn't Kies' intention to learn about this, and he surely didn't ask about it either, but he overheard Lentis and Rui talking during the party. When they saw the memorial and his name on it, they both became saddened.

A little while back, before Kies stepped foot in Otane, Siegfried led a small expedition to hunt down the ones that were responsible for destroying Silverfield. Time passed and hearing no word from them, Lentis set out to discover the fate of his fellow commander and close friend. He traveled for months only to learn that everyone in the expedition had died due to an encounter with demons.

Moving onto the topic of demons, Kies was told many things by Lentis. The details were vague as demons were careful to not leave traces of themselves nor their activities behind, but piecing together the information provided by him and Nyana, they were able to deduce that the demons had been fighting against the beast people and the elves all this time.

The dwarves had gone into hiding while the war raged on between the three forces. It was no wonder why the demons didn't send their full army to Otane. It was because they couldn't afford to. It also explained how the traitors obtained elven arrows.

Nyana was shocked when she learned of this and immediately proposed to Kies to leave with her immediately, worrying that her people might be in danger. She had no idea that the other elven tribes had been fighting all this time. Her tribe was left in the dark and knew nothing.

Kies agreed to leave when the celebration ended since he still had some digging around to do, and though reluctant, Nyana agreed and stayed for a bit longer. She was anxious to return but held it in and waited a few more days.

Soon, the end of the celebration came and Kies prepared to leave.

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