Memories: My Kingdom

Chapter 24: Faith

When Leui reached the shore, he found Mhir and Tinum standing beside the log, staring hard at it as if a laser would shoot out of their eyes and carve the log. However, it is impossible to happen… isn’t it? He thought and remembered that this is a magical world. Anything can happen. “Let’s have dinner.” He said as he placed his backpack and other bags on the ground. “Now that we have the log, we can start making a canoe at dawn. There’s no need to hurry.” He told them as he picked up some branches to make a campfire.

“Yes!” Mhir said and helped him gather branches around. Meanwhile, Tinum sat cross-legged on the log. He will light up the fire later.

“We only have some fishes and crabs left for dinner.” Leui said as he gathered the branches. “We need to find more food for tomorrow.” He told the two.

“Is it possible to fish in the lake?” Mhir asked as she looked at the Mirror Lake.

Leui also looked at Mirror Lake. Then, he turned to Tinum who was silently sitting on the log.

Tinum saw Leui’s gaze and he spoke. “The fishes on the lake were all eaten by the water sprites.” He answered. It goes the same way for the other animals on the lake.

Mhir had to give up her thoughts. “Then, we can only find some rabbits and pheasants to eat.” She said,

Leui nodded and didn’t say anything. “Tinum. The fire.” He called.

Tinum raised his hand and a ball of fire appeared on his palm. Then, the fire flew towards the branches and the branches burned brightly. “Great!” Mhir exclaimed. “Tinum is really convenient!” she laughed.

Leui smiled. “We can also hang our clothes to dry them.” He said and hung his clothes on the clothes rack he made using the branches.

“Good idea!” Mhir raised her thumb to him. Then, she took off her coat and hung it on the clothes rack. Leui also hung his waistcoat.

Tinum saw what they were doing and some vines appeared bringing his cloak. Then, the vines made a clothes rack, higher than the clothes rack Leui made. Leui saw this and didn’t bother with it. He started to cook the fishes and crabs, along with the clams left over the fire.

Mhir went to the lake to wash the dirt off her limbs. “Hey, Tinum.” She called and looked back at Tinum who was silently watching the food be cooked over the fire.

“What?” Tinum’s deep and melodious voice answered.

“About that light earlier – “ Mhir said as she turned to look at the lake, thus, she didn’t see Tinum’s shocked expression. Leui, who was silently turning their food over the fire, had his head lowered, but in the corner of his eye saw Tinum’s expression. “ – was it your doing earlier?” she asked and turned to Tinum who has now recovered his expression.

“Yes.” Tinum answered.

Mhir’s eyes and mouth turned into circles. “So it was you?!” she said, shocked.

“Why?” Tinum asked and became puzzled by Mhir’s reaction.

Mhir’s face fell and she touched the smooth surface of the water, creating ripples. “I thought it was Lord Loheiruchel’s doing…” she muttered in a low voice.

But, Tinum still heard it. He doesn’t know what expression he should make. Should I have answered ‘no’? He thought and looked at Mhir. Elves are born from nature. Thus, if they would lie from their heart, their heart would turn black, causing them to be impure. 

Just like the fairies of Mirror Lake. They did bad things like trapping people in the Dream Lake instead of returning them to the surface. Tinum doesn’t know why the fairies would keep the people inside the Dream Lake. However, if he wanted to know the answer, he had to touch the fairies’ essence, which is impossible since they turned impure. If he touches an impurity, he will be contaminated by the impurities. Thus, even if he wanted to know the reason why the fairies kept Leui in the Dream Lake, he could only give up. 

The fairies became impure. So, he could only take Leui away and kill the fairies to clean the impurities in nature. 

“Loheiruchel – “ he said and felt his heart throbbed, at the same time his nape burned. He held his chest and felt his heart thumping loudly against his chest. He looked at Mhir. “Why do you believe in him?” he asked.

Mhir turned to Tinum. “You’re an elf… well, forget it. You don’t have your memories.” She said, “Lord Loheiruchel is the savior of Heiruche.” She started. “Before his appearance, the continent still had no name and all the races were tearing at each other wanting to own the whole of the continent and rule. If the wars continued, all the races would definitely disappear after they all killed each other.” She explained. “Fortunately, Lord Loheiruchel appeared and ended the wars. Peace and order fell upon the land.” She said, then smiled. “He saved us all.”

“You saved us all.”

Tinum blinked when he heard a voice inside his mind. What was that? He thought, puzzled, as he held his head. He felt the words were familiar.

Leui noticed Tinum had gone silent. He raised his head and saw his face was pale, and he had a shocked expression on his face. His brows knit. What happened to him? He thought.

Mhir, on the other hand, didn’t notice Tinum’s reaction and scooped up the lake’s water. She knew that the lake’s water would show one’s desire. Thus, she saw Leui’s face on the water. She felt her heart skip a beat and she blushed. She immediately dropped the water back to the lake and held her chest. She had always liked the human race, contrary to her race and other races who hate humans. Her love of the humans stemmed from her idolization of Loheiruchel. She could clearly remember her grandmother who told her of Loheiruchel’s legend.

A lone human who defeated all the races despite coming from the weakest race. Mhir started liking the humans, became fascinated by their race and awed by their might. Thus, when she found Leui five years ago, she immediately liked him. She doesn’t know how Leui ended up in the other races’ territory, but she took care of him along with her father who only wants to exploit Leui as his compensation for them saving him. Leui really did give them money, but her father refused it, telling Leui he was just kidding when he said those words. Leui kept the money, and helped them whenever he had time. Thus, Mhir became closer with Leui.

“The food’s done. Let’s eat.” They heard Leui’s voice.

Mhir and Tinum turned and saw Leui took a fish and ate it. The aroma of the food wafted in the air, evoking hunger in their stomach. Mhir and Tinum immediately joined Leui on the campfire and took their share. They immediately ate it, feeling their hunger disappearing.