The Crown of Humatora

The First Dungeon (Part 4)

“This sure isn’t a walk in a park.” Said Riftan, when we saw a huge cliff with thorny bushes in front of us.

“I don’t understand, why you wouldn’t allow Riftan to fly and for me to transform, it would be easier for us, to reach the top.”

I was asking Josiah, whom the latter is wandering around nearby, trying to find the safest route for us to climb. He took a glance at my face and smiled.

“We could climb without any efforts, of course, but, it beat the purpose of finding the answer by hurdles, I have studied Shakira for a while, she never helped any elven who climbed to the cliff by their power.”

“That means, they wanted us to suffer first,” I mumbled.

Riftan and Josiah share a glance and then laugh while shaking their heads. After a while, he spotted a trail where there are fewer thorny bushes.

“Someone uses this path, before us, we got lucky.” Said, Josiah.

“What is lucky, mean?”

“Lucky means fortunate.” Answered Riftan.

“You do know quite an amount of human words.”

“Josiah’s taught me some of the human words, so, I knew a few.”

“You should teach me, sometimes,” I said to Riftan with a smile.

“I know that the two of you are mates, now, try to lower the romance tone, okay?” Mumbling Josiah, while he was trying to climb a small hill.

“Oh, shut up, you were just like us when you finally mate with Grace.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

“Oh, you’re just mated with Grace? I thought for sure you’re with her for more than a hundred years, already.”

“No, young wolf, I’ve met with Grace, twenty years ago, mated about ten years ago.”

“I see, I can see how much you’re in love with her.”

I saw Riftan’s face becoming gloomier, I think he doesn’t like Grace that much. After three hours of the yellow sun, Josiah suggested for us to take a rest on one of the big trees with a huge stone. We sat and enjoyed the scenery with the box of food from Grace.

“Wow, so this is how Humatora looks like, never imagined something beautiful like this,” I said with awe.

The scenery is indeed beautiful, the landscape from above, not to mention a rainbow color mist, and the scent of flowers blooming in the area. I feel sleepy and all of a sudden have an urge to close my eyes.

“Wait! Sabine, don’t you dare close your eyes!”

Riftan is in the middle shaking my shoulder, opened my eyes abruptly, because of how hard he was shaking my body right now.

“Wha… what? what happened?”

“You got caught on the K’nel fog, if you inhale it too much, you’re going to be lost in the dreamland, possibly forever.”

Josiah explained my situation, while I look around in a daze. Riftan looked at my face with a concerned look.

“How are you?” He asked me, his hands are busy wiping my face with cold water.

“I am fine, a bit dazed, but that was it,” I smile, to convince him that I was fine, I turn my face to Josiah, “How do you know that I got caught by the fog?”

“You have been quiet, even when we called your name, several times.”

“Oh, so that’s how, but why were the two of you aren’t affected by the Knel fog?”

“K’nel fog, it is because we are concentrating to breathe by our mouth, not by our nose, so the effect is not severe.”

Furious, I kept hitting on Riftan’s back. “You should have told me about this?!”

“I thought you were aware of K’nel fog?! Warrior survival education, you should have learned about it, it was the basic education.” Riftan tried to defend himself by stating the obvious.

However, he doesn’t know about the fact that I have to beg my step-father to be allowed to hunt like a warrior. Nervously, I look at the two of them. “I was Gandor’s warrior, but I have never received the proper training, I was the one who volunteered to become one.”

“Why? I mean, I see that you’re a fit she-wolf, even stronger than most of them, why do you have to ask to become a warrior?” Josiah asked, with a curious intonation.

“Because, Gandor never accepted any she-wolves as his warrior, he wanted us to become the breeder only.”

Riftan and Josiah share a glance, my mate then talking at me, his voice is soft, almost like a whisper. “That’s why you were the only she-wolf warrior on his camp, I never realized that Gandor would do such a thing to his female.”

“She-wolves were indeed rare, nonetheless the healthy and fertile females.” Said, Josiah.

“But it doesn’t justify how Gandor could control his camp! He made the she-wolves as his breeder and kept it inside all the time.” The objection came from Riftan, I could feel how angry he was.

“Yes, you’re right, I am sorry it happened to you, Sabine.”

I smile bitterly, looking at the blue sky above, “I hope, someday, Humatora could become a prosper kingdom, where everyone lived happily without any fear of the civil war.”

“Maybe a pipe dream, but I hope you could succeed in making the kingdom that we are hoping for.” Said, Josiah.

“Pipe dream? Another human word?”

“Yes, it means an impossible hope.”

“Sounds hopeless, I hate the words.”

Riftan and Josiah just smiled and after my mate is convinced that I will be fine, we begin to continue our journey.

“Remember to inhale the air with your mouth, the K’nel fog will be dissipated soon, so, don’t worry.”

Nodded at Riftan's instruction, I pace myself while climbing the cliff. It was hard climbing without the full power of my wolf, thankfully my body was already used to the harsh training as one of the warriors in Gandor’s camp.

We pace through every hurdle, and finally, reach the top of the cliff within an hour of the yellow sun.

“I must say, this is not a cliff, it is a mountain!” I said, glaring at Josiah.

Josiah just gave me a smirk. “Oh, you’re right, it is a mountain.”

“How come, I saw it as a cliff, earlier?”

Josiah then wiggled his fingers. “ Bit of white magic, to make sure you see the mountain as a cliff, instead.”

My mouth pried open, no wonder I felt it was longer to reach the top. Josiah tricked us, a very mischievous trick from a white sorcerer.

“Wait, before the two of you berating me, I just wanted to say, that it will be hard to reach the top if you see the original shape of the mountain from afar. Shakira likes to make sure, that there are fewer elven who could reach the top of the mountain.”

“Guess, she has her own reason. Does the oracle live here, alone?”

Josiah is answering my question, while he pointed at a very bright red hut in the middle of a forest. “No, she has two apprentices right now, one of them is a werewolf.”

Before we reach the hut, two young women appear, they are wearing a very weird tunic, a long sleeve with a bright red color, and their hair is neatly tight in a different shape, I have never seen the shape before.

“Welcome, travelers, the oracle will see you now.” Said one of the girls.

We follow the two of them to a small room beside the red hut.

“Please take a rest inside the room, we are going to call you, as soon as the oracle is ready to see you.”

Riftan opens the door to the small room, there’s another elven inside, a man, with short hair and bronze skin, he looks at us and a smile came to his face.

“You! What are you doing here?!”