Blood In The Soils

When the light dimmed down, Kies found himself standing on a small patch of grass surrounded by water. There was no one else with him. A dense fog enveloped the area, making it impossible to see any further than what was directly in front of him.

"Is there anyone here?" Kies called out to the others, hoping to get a response. No one answered back. Kies sent out his winds to find the others but there was nothing but empty space all around him. He couldn't detect anyone with his magic either sense the lake itself was emitting so much magic that it was blocking out everything else.

Kies scooped up some of the water with the winds and brought it up to his face. There were tiny specks of blue floating in the water which was the source of the magic.

Since the rest of the cave was empty, there was only one place Kies could check to find the others. Without any preparation, he dived into the water and swam down to the bottom. The lake was only a few meters deep and it didn't take long to find it.

Unlike it was above the surface of the water, everything was visible under the water. Kies didn't know if the magic particles in the water had anything to do with it, but the clarity allowed him to see the full cave.

On one of the ends of the cave was a hole that looked big enough for Kies to fit through. Kies swam over to it and looked through it to see if it was safe to go through. Deeming it safe, he went in and went through to the other end of it. Once he did, he immediately swam up to the surface and popped out of the water. Here, he found a whole new part of the cave. Upon breaking the surface, a sleek object penetrated his face, only to be shredded into nothingness.

"I told you not to fire!" Nyana's voice angrily shouted. It was so loud that it echoed through the walls of the cave.

"Sorry…"

Kies swam in the direction of the voices as it was too foggy to see anything and found land. He exited the water and was met with several blurry figures.

"It was you… Good thing arrows don't do anything to you," Nyana said, relieved. Kies didn't know which one of the elves had shot the arrow at him but he didn't care. If anything, he was more impressed than angry since they managed to find and hit him through all of this fog.

"Anyway, why were you in the water and not with the rest of us? Did the teleportation circle malfunction?" Nyana questioned Kies.

"Probably. So, this is the rumored lake?" Kies asked. It really didn't look at all that special. Yes, the concentration of magic particles in the water was high, but could it really slow down aging?

"Yes, this place is sacred. You can't exactly go dipping in the waters here. If an elder was here, you'd be killed on the spot," Idril told Kies. Though, none of the elves seem to care that he had been in the water. If they were, Kies couldn't tell because he couldn't see any of their faces.

"There is a hole under the water that leads to another part of the cave. I was teleported there," Kies explained where he just was. He gestured in the direction behind him and said, "It's right there, where you shot the arrow at. But there's nothing in that place other than a small island."

"Well, there's nothing here either other than for this small island," Nyana pointed down beneath them. Other than the water and the small patches of land, there was nothing else in the cave.

"If there is nothing up here, then is there anything down there? Aeos, what did you see when you were in the water?" Idril asked Kies.

"Nothing. The only interesting thing I found was the magic particles in the water. There are so many of them that it's suffocating," Kies told everyone.

"Magic particles in the water?" Nyana walked to the edge of the small island and scooped up the water with her hands. She looked into it and saw a reflection of herself in it. Focusing her eyes, she looked past the reflection and saw what Kies was talking about.

"You're right, the water is brimming with magic. So this is what extends one's lifespan..." Nyana poured the water back into the lake where it belonged. "I can see why the culprit would want this... But are you sure that this is what the poisoners want?"

Idril shrugged her shoulders. "I don't see any other motivation for why they want to kill all the trees."

"If you think so, then we will just stake out here. So, how do we leave this place?"

"That? I'm not sure," Idril admitted. "I've actually never been down here. I only stood guard at the teleportation circle to make sure no one else interferes."

"So, we're stuck here?"

"That depends. Selphie, you've been here before. Do you remember how you got out?"

Selphie thankfully knew the way out and nodded her head. "Yes. There is a teleportation circle here as well but it's invisible. I think the activation phrase was-" Some words came out her mouth that was too quiet to hear all of a sudden, the patch of land they were standing on glowed and enveloped them in a bright blue light just like before.

When the light died down, Kies found himself back in the forest, but it didn't look familiar at all. The sun was still high up in the sky which meant not a lot of time had passed. Again, he was on his own with no one from the group with him for some bizarre reason.

Kies propelled himself onto the treetops to scout for the others and heard some distant voices. He followed it and found his way back to the ruined village that was surrounded by thick vegetation.

However, just before he could spot the elves, a ray of light shot through the air and nearly hit him in the face. "Really...?" Kies let it slide the other time because it was on accident but this doesn't feel like an accident anymore. One of the elves in the group seem to really dislike him and he had something to say to them.

Kies vaulted over the trees and saw the clearing. Arrows and magic were flying everywhere. Kies spotted the elves taking cover behind a large tree stump. In front of them was a band of assailants whom he did not recognize. He couldn't match their magic veins to anyone he had met before.

So, it looked like the culprits behind the poisoning were indeed looking for the lake.

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