A Promise to the Princess and The Elven Kingdom.

Claire's eyes widened as she approached Uravis, her gave was fixed on the scroll in his hand. "The Elf Kingdom? What happened?" she uttered the moment eyes landed on the Elf King's signature.

"He needs me there," he rolled the scroll up and put it in the cross bag around his waist, 'I really have to be quick with all this stuff. Find the Void Serpent, defeat it and I have to find my way back to the grand hall. Maybe I could find Arkeia and make her take me home,' he told himself as he turned to Claire.

"Create the chambers and send them all there," he said and cast a side glance at the eagle, "Stay hidden in the sky and report everything you see," he mouthed to it and watched as it flapped its wings and ascended into the sky, leaving the other nine.

Uravis mounted his scorpion, a low grunt escaped his mouth when he got on it, "I'm changing my travel plans, we head to the elf kingdom first."

"The Elf kingdom is not too far from here, just five hours or twelve at most," she said as she mounted the crocodile. "But what is wrong with the Elf king?"

"I know about how long it takes to get there, what I don't know is what sickness the king is afflicted with, the scroll did not say," he stated and received a nod from her.

Then she put her palms together, mumbled some random incantation and clapped twice, then the beasts vanished, leaving behind a white smoke. Uravis smiled and hit the side of his scorpion gently, urging it to move.

"Don't be too far away from me, and Don't get distracted," he said to Claire, who grinned and also urged the crocodile to move.

With a roar, the crocodile charge forward, its powerful legs propelling it forward, following the scorpion closely as it's tail swished back and forth.

As they departed, the manor's ground seemed to shrink, the wind whipped through their hair as the sun shone down on them. However within it, was the invisible eyes of the Void Serpent's servant, watching them.

_______

Miles away from the Kingdom's massive gates, Claire stopped beside Uravis who had also stopped earlier.

The breathtaking view in the distance had made Uravis stop, the towering spires of the Elf kingdom and how they were designed, caught his attention.

"Should we stop to rest?" Claire asked moving her gaze to him, "We can get there after an hour or so."

Uravis nodded absentmindedly and alighted the scorpion, he walked over to the crocodile and opened up his arms from Claire, "Jump."

"I am not a kid," she defended and climbed down the back of the crocodile, when her legs met with the ground she flinched and shuddered from the sensation that went into her, a mixture of chilly and a spark, "Strange," she whispered and made her way to Uravis.

"I still wonder how they got to know about you, You haven't spent close to thirty days here and yet you managed to grow popular," she paused and smiled, "Sorry, I meant Drakonis, managed to grow popular."

"Tease me all you want, I am still Drakonis and that's all that matters," he responded and turned to face her, "I wanted to ask, If we got separated or if you went somewhere else, would I still have access to my beasts?"

"Yes, all you need to do is say the word and they'll appear, like a password but others have access to it," she replied, her tone low as she thought of something. What she felt earlier was not normal and she knew it. It felt familiar.

An hour passed, they continued their journey, this time without slowing down, but Claire was deep in thoughts through out the ride and Uravis didn't seems to notice.

On arriving before the open gates of the Elf Kingdom.

The first structure they set their eyes on, was the King's palace, positioned at the center with a wide path leading to it.

The palace was even more than what they expected. Uravis imagined a castle like ones he saw in his games, towers lined up against each other with different sizes and tiny windows for air and those who want to see what was outside the palace....like Disney castles.

While Claire imagined a fortress, with a drawbridge, surrounded by a river or so, with spears carved at the top of the palace to protect it from invaders.

But instead, what stood before them was a modernized style of the both combined, the towers built on both sides of a manor, with spears carved on them and the Kingdom's flag placed at the top of the manor.

Surrounding it was a fence constructed with iron rods and the king's guards roaming the area with stoic expressions on their faces.

Uravis switched to Drakonis before anyone could see him then he pulled the mask over his face and raised his head, giving the guards a signal that he had arrived.

When the guards noticed they marched up to him, gave a small bow and asked for his belongings.

"Thank you, but I can handle my things myself. Is there I place to keep my beasts?"

They nodded and led them to a larger structure, where snarls, hisses and low growls came from within. Uravis alighted his scorpion and handed it over to them. Claire did the same.

"Where is the King please?" she asked politely after shushing Uravis because she felt if he asked it would come out rude, considering how he looked at the guards

"Follow me," A voice came from behind him, Uravis could tell it was a noble because of how calm and calculative the man's voice was.

As he turned around, his gaze settled on a silver haired man, with a silver plated armour and two swords on both sides, his expression did not waver and so did his dead crimson eyes, that seemed to see through Uravis body and into his soul.

Uravis give a slight nod and with Claire by his side, they followed the strange man into the palace, then he suddenly vanished, leaving them in the grand palace halls

. The interior was a tapestry of crystal and silver, with intricate cravings that seemed to dance across the walls ,

The Elf king, elegant, ethereal and wise, sat on his throne, his hazel eyes down with a terrible fatigue. A smile appeared on his face when he saw Drakonis.

"Drakonis," he called, his voice barely above a whisper as it was slowly getting weak, "Thank you for coming, I am honored."

Uravis eyes locked on the king's, then he frowned, "With all due respect your majesty, You are not supposed to be out of bed. Have you seen yourself? You look Terri..."

"Shut up," Claire interrupted and kicked him, "Forgive my lovely brother, your majesty," she glared at him and turned to the King, "What he meant to say was, You are not supposed to be out of bed in your condition."

The King chuckled softly and rose to his feet, "I understand, but it would be disrespectful to not welcome my guest," he smiled and approached Drakonis, his steps slow and weak, but he managed to stand tall. "I called you here because of this same reason..."

"Father, Your meal is ready....." The girl who walked in trailed off, her eyes landed on the duo that stood before the king, One with a polite expression, the other looking displeased. Then she frowned, "Father is anything the matter?

"Not at all my dear," he replied and stretched out his hand to Uravis. "Drakonis and...."

"Claire," she replied still having her polite smile on her face.

"Yes, Drakonis and Claire, meet my Daughter, Princess Elyria....She has been the only reason I am alive." He stated. "But I am afraid only have a few days left to live."

Elyria sighed sadly and walked over to his side, she patted his shoulder as she smiled at him and then turned to Drakonis and Claire, "Like he said, Only a few days left and he might look strong, but believe me, the sickness is eating him up from the inside."

"I understand," Uravis said sincerely, "It would do me some good if you tell me what caused it."

She nodded, "You wouldn't mind if we go some place to talk, right?"

"Sure," he replied and turned to Claire, "Don't wander off and be observant, Okay?" he said and she nodded, "Good," he turned to Elyria, "Shall we?"

"Absolutely."

Drakonis and Elyria arrived on the top of the King's palace, she led him to the edge where a wide expanse of grasses stood below, and if one was to jump off, there was a slight possibility that person would survive the fall.

"You are on a quest to find the Void Serpent and defeat it, right?"

"Yes," He answered without hesitating, since there was no need hiding something that everyone already knew about. "Your father, Does it have something to do with a plague or..."

"I wish," she cut him off, her tone was laced with worry and at the same time anguish for what the future holds. "Few months ago, during the Kingdom's annual Grand Market, The King met with some men that offered life cores from beasts and some mages that they defeated, in exchange for the scroll that had secrets associated with Shape shifters and their connection to the Void Serpent."

"He refused like a responsible person should and they left peacefully. No one thought of anything till the day the Grand market ended. They started a fire,, to distract everyone and cause chaos, then they went for the palace. He tried to stop them, I did too but I was unfortunately knocked out. When I woke up the king was in a terrible state, and the guards who saw what happened, told me they placed a curse on him."

Drakonis nodded slowly, letting the information sink in, then he spoke up, "How would you rank the curse?"

"Grade G," she replied with a raised brows, seeing no reason why he would ask that.

'Ranking in an ascending order, Just like the game, Nice,

Uravis thought and smiled, "It is not extremely bad, but it might be Impossible to find a cure."

'What am I even saying? I have no idea what the curse is about, I don't even know anything about lifting curses!' he screamed within him, still putting on a positive expression.

But as he saw how worried she was he sighed and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Do not worry, Your highness. I promise to find a way to lift the curse before he runs out of time," he said, making a vow to her and he meant it.