Chapter 2

He stopped at a large tree and got off his horse. He made his way to the tree and stepped between two poison ivy bushes. He walked up to the tree and knocked on it three times, snapped five times, and clapped once. A faint green light emitted from the spot he knocked on and the small area opened up the tree to reveal a door. He opened the door and stepped inside.

The door led to a big room full of books and lab supplies. The room was so tall it looked infinite... Suddenly, a voice came from one of the ladders. "Novius? is that you? oh my! it has been such a long time!" the voice came from a young man around his age. The young man came down the ladder with a smile. "Darius... I need your help..." Novius said with a frown... Darius noticed this. "Novius, what's wrong? what happened?...." Darius asked, concerned.

Novius explained everything, starting from the odd meeting with the cloaked person up until now.

Darius had a horified look on his face... "A type of plant growing on your chest?.." Novius nodded. Darius thought for a moment before going to a bookshelf, frantically searching for something. Novius saw this and started to get worried "What's going on? what are you looking for?". Darius didn't respond and just kept looking, Novius knew he couldn't bother him right now. Darius suddenly slammed a book on the desk and started flipping through the pages

"Aurecarpus sapling" Darius suddenly said after pointing to a page in the book. Novius walked up to him and looked at the book as well. "Aurecarpus sapling? what is that?" Novius asked Darius. "the Aurecarpus sappling is a vampiric plant. But instead of sucking blood, it sucks the magic of the person its attached to. Try summoning your arrow" Darius said, turning to Novius. Novius took a step back before trying to summon his light arrow. Only a few sparks were in his hand as he tried to summon his arrow. Novius was stunned.. "What... Where's my arrow?..." Novius asked Darius, clearly worried. "The sapling stole your powers... But the sapling went extinct thousands of years ago... Where could that person have gotten it..." Darius said as he turned back to the book.

Darius flipped through some more pages before speaking up. "It says here that the sapling will shift into a bracelet once it has magic embedded into it. The magic will be given to the person who wears it, all you need to do is break the bracelet and your powers will return to you" Darius said, reassuringly. Novius was glad he could get his powers back, but he was concerned of one issue... "What if the original holder of the powers... has passed away" Novius said, worried again. Darius' eyes widened at the realization... "Right... you were born human.."

Darius started flipping pages again, but sighed. "It doesn't say anything about that... you need to ask someone who has experienced this before" Darius said. Novius got confused "Someone had gotten their powers stolen by the sapling before? I thought you said they went extinct thousands of years ago. How could anyone be alive for thousands of years?". Darius just smirked. "I believe you forgot one species that could live for hundreds and thousands of years". Novius thought for a moment before a light bulb went off in his head. "Of course! the elves of the east!" Novius said with a smile.

"You must find someone by the name of "Helios". He is rumored to have survived the war thousands of years ago" Darius said. "War? What war?" Novius asked, confused. Darius was stunned, then sighed. "Right... you were homeschooled"

Thousands of years ago, a war broke out on Eldpoisle. The nine nations falling from union and into war all thanks to one witch... Her name was Gwyneth. Witch of the underworld. She had fooled the Kings and Queens of each nation and set them to back-stab eachother. Gwyneth had all the Kings and Queens wrapped around her finger.. She posed as royal advisers, heroes, and generals to each nation.

Years into the war and the rulers of each land noticed odd things about the start of the war... everything was too perfectly aligned... They planned a secret meeting to discuss the reason behind the war and found that everything, all the reasons of war, were a lie... They discussed the person telling the lies and had realized it all revolved around Gwyneth...

After more discussion, they decided to banish Gwyneth to the underworld, where she belonged. But as she was summoned to their presence, she vanished.. never to be seen again.

"Rumors went around saying she was killed by the hero "Kessem". He was known as the warrior sent by the heavens to protect Eldpoisle, but history said no such person exists" Darius said, finishing the story. "So... this "Gwyneth" could still be alive and roaming the land as we speak" Novius said with a frown. Darius nodded with a grim look on his face.. "I see..." Novius said, looking down.. "There's one more request I'd like to ask of you" Novius said as he looked up to Darius. Darius just tilted his head. "Do you have any spells that could locate my parents?..." Novius asked, sounding desperate... Darius thought for a moment, putting his hand on his chin. "There is one.. but... I've never done it before... I've only seen my master do it..." Darius said with an unsure tone to his voice... "Could you please try?..." Novius sounded really desperate after hearing there was a spell. Darius sighed before agreeing. "I'm only doing this because you are one of my best friends. But never again will i do this." Darius said sternly. Novius nodded. "I will be in a subconscious state. Ask me questions and I will answer them. If I stop answering, wake me up by shaking me" Darius said as Novius nodded again.

Darius set up a circle of salt and sand before the both of them sat in the circle. Darius started to mumble some words as he closed his eyes. Novius sat in front of Darius in the circle, his anticipation rising.

"What do you see?" Novius asked. "I'm... in a forest?.." Darius said with a confused tone. Novius wrote it down on an empty journal just in case. "I see light... The forest comes to an end here.. I'm going to the end" Darius said, his eyes still shut. "Alright.." Novius said as he wrote it down.

A few seconds pass and Darius' face scrunched up. Novius got worried. "What's wrong?.." Novius asked, skeptical... "What is this... This isn't right..." Darius said, starting to clench his fists. "Describe it.." Novius said, getting worried... "It's all... Dark... It feels like I'm stepping on corpses..." Darius said. It was obvious he was getting scared... Novius wrote it down in the empty journal. Darius suddenly went silent.. "Darius?..." Novius asked, getting scared... Darius didn't reply... "Darius. Say something" Novius said. After Darius didn't say anything, Novius started to shake him aggressively. Darius suddenly opened his eyes and fell on his back, breathing heavily. "What happened???" Novius asked, clearly worried. "Something's wrong... I checked around the entire place I was in... Everything was blocked but one entrance... I went in and... everything was dark... I stepped in corpses everywhere I went... Blood pooled everywhere..." Darius said with a look of horror on his face..

Darius suddenly stood up and went to a bookshelf, searching for something... He brought out a book and rapidly flipped through pages. "Illusion reading!" Darius exclaimed. "What?" Novius asked. "Whoever is behind this in experienced in magic. They put up an illusion to prevent anyone from doing this spell and finding out what they're doing..." Darius said with a frown. "Wait- so we don't know where my parents are?" Novius said, extremely worried. Darius nodded. "There's nothing we can do to locate your parents.. But you can start by finding information on the Aurecarpus sapling" Darius said. "Will you come with me?" Novius asked. Darius was slightly taken aback with his request. "What?..." Darius asked with an unsure tone... "I said, will you come with me?" Novius asked as if nothing was wrong. "But... I have no skill in combat.. plus, I need to take care of my home" Darius said, trying to argue. "You can learn how to fight, and I'm sure your master will take care of the place" Novius argued back.

Darius went silent for a moment... Then he sighed in defeat. "Oh alright.. but if I die, I'm coming back to haunt you.". Novius chuckled "I'll make sure you wont die, don't worry" Novius said reassuringly. Darius just sighed again. "Alright then, let me get some of my stuff and bid farewell to my master before we leave" Darius said before leaving to a room behind some bookshelves. Novius was really happy. The two of them hadn't had an adventure together in such a long time.

And soon, they set off on their horses to the first realm. Ellemond, the realm of the elves.