Dawn- An Age Of Darkness

I was amazed, thrilled, and above all, relieved. When the old man told me that she was missing instead of being a corpse I had a fleeting hope that she could still be alive, yet I couldn't believe my eyes.

"Oh Biteria," I grabbed her and hugged her tightly.

The others were staggered but looked relieved as well.

Biteria purred and gently clung to me: She jumped on my shoulder and stayed there.

"It's a miracle," the old man said.

"There are no such things," I said. But I definitely appreciated this one.

"How'd she-"Alisa couldn't finish.

"I don't think we can know that as she can't talk." I cuddled Biteria with one finger and she looked back at me.

Please don't bite.

"Miracle or not I'm glad she made it," the old man said.

"Yup!" Alisa jumped.

But those eyes… Biteria, you-

Her eyes were trembling and the air was crippled with grief.

I'm glad you survived but how would I tell you that she's dead? And you ended up-

Biteria looked around and she glared at Alisa for longer than she looked at the others. But she didn't show any hostility.

"I'll make breakfast," Jowy said. "We can't hunt in the sacred forest, so we're limited to the bread."

"Seriously? More bread!?"

Cooked or not bread was bread. I couldn't stand for more of it.

There goes the idea of a hearty breakfast.

What the heck was wrong with the elves- that was the question I was asking myself but I had to give in. There was plenty of food that taste better with time but not bread; it tastes horrible after a period of time. Combine that with bad quality bread and you have the aftermath of a tongue disaster.

Breakfast was long and cruel. After breakfast, we decided to continue. The forest wasn't thick and there weren't any monsters. However, there were plenty of animals here and there. The deers in particular were quite beautiful: they were golden in color and had white polka dots; perfect for a delicious breakfast. I wanted to savor their meat. I was desperate for food other than bread. My saliva might have drifted past my lips and poked out. "Jowy, do you think we could-"

He didn't even give a chance to finish. He was dead set on keeping us from hunting. "No!"

"I didn't even finish!" I said.

"You two don't get distracted. We need to move quickly or we'll have to spend another night in this forest." The old man was intent on getting out of the forest. After what he'd said, I felt the same way.

Another night! Better run!

I ran. I ran like I meant business, which I did. Jowy was up in the trees and he easily kept up. But the same couldn't be said about the old man and Alisa. The old man was old, Alisa was a child, but that wasn't an excuse for moving like turtles. My meaty lunch- I mean our food depended on our speed.

My mood got significantly better. It wasn't that I had forgotten about Brenda, but Biteria's comeback strengthened my will and resolve. I was sad yet my heart didn't grieve and my soul moved on. We needed to look into the future. Besides, I was yet to uncover the secrets behind the prince's motives. And not to mention I had a frigging evil demon to contend with.

I couldn't stop now. And I had no intention of it.

With the speed boost, we reached Alfeim in a matter of hours. We got there just moments later in the afternoon. It wasn't evening yet. We even skipped lunch just to make it. So I was glad we did. But it had more to do with the lack of food than the lack of speed.

"WoW!" That was my initial reaction. I had seen a lot of towns and read a lot of history but what I saw transcended everything. My brain couldn't keep up with the details my eyes provided. "What is this?" I asked in awe.

The city was blessed with beauty. From the houses to the roads, everything looked wondrous from the hill we were standing on. There were massive trees in among the houses and a palace was in the middle of the whole town: a palace made of glass or something similar.

"Welcome to Alfeim, the capital city," Jowy said.

My jaws dropped.

Did he say the capital!

"Weren't we supposed to first reach- I think- Veneheime?" It took a lot of willpower to keep that name memorized.

But the capital straight away?

Jowy narrowed his eyes and looked sideways, crossing his arms. "Why would you want to go there if you can get here quicker?"

"I had no idea you could come straight to Alfieme." The old man chuckled.

"There's a lot of things men don't know and I hope it stays that way." He looked at us as if to say, 'this is a secret between me and you'. We all nodded. Jowy didn't waste time explaining. "Anyway, this is where we part. Thank you for everything, all of you."

"Thank you as well," I said. He was still a bit suspicious in my book but maybe just maybe, I trusted him a little more.

"Take care young man." The old man went closer to Jowy, spreading his hand forward.

"I'm still older than you geezer." Jowy grabbed the old man's hand and shook vigorously. Elves were sensitive about their age, no doubt.

"Farewell, Mr. Jowy," Alisa said.

"I know I shouldn't say this but I'll say it anyway. Alfeim isn't what it used to be, so refrain from doing anything stupid." Jowy warned us. That was polite of him to do so.

But he should have figured it out that we weren't going to stop just because of a warning.

"See you around Jowy." I waved. He gave me a faint smile and waved back. For the record, all of us waved.

The farewell was simple and we separated with smiles.