Memories: My Kingdom

Chapter 27: The Human Land

“Thank you very much, Fish-Tailed Dragon!” Mhir said and waved at the beast that swam away. Then, she turned and looked at Leui who was expressionlessly picking up his bags. When he saw the vine that bound him lying on the shore, he kicked it back to the water. Mhir shivered in fear when she saw Leui’s cold eyes as he stared at the water, as if he was looking at Tinum who’s on the other side of the river. “Leui…” she called.

Leui blinked and the coldness in his eyes disappeared. He turned to Mhir and forced a smile. “What a heartless elf.” He said and marched away from the shore.

Mhir just nodded and followed him, picking up the remaining bags on the shore and then left. “Leui…” she called. “What’s your plan now?” she asked as she moved her short legs to catch up to Leui.

Leui waved the wet map to whisk away the water soaking it. Then, he looked at the map. “Since Tinum doesn’t want us, then we’ll go forward without him.” He frowned as his brows knit while he looked at the map.

Mhir wanted to laugh. Leui is just mad at Tinum for leaving them alone. But, she held back her laugh since Leui is in a bad mood. “Where are we now?” she asked as she looked at the map.

Leui took a deep breath to calm his raging emotions. Then, he studied the map. They just reached the other side of the wide river. But, even if they reached the human land, there's nothing ashore. The foot of the mountain is still far from where they are. The nearest human community is about half a kilometer away. He then saw that there are rivers in the human kingdom connected to the wide river that separates their land from the other races. Guess Loheiruchel is still sane to leave a water resource to his race for them to not go hungry when the time comes.

The river nearest to them is on the direction of the northwest, which leads them to a forest. On their right side are the plains. “Which way do you want to go?” Leui asked Mhir as he pointed on the map.

Mhir also saw the forest, and she crossed it out. “We’ve just come from a forest. Let’s go to the plains.” She answered.

“Alright.” Leui said as he folded the map and kept it. He tightened their bags and they resumed walking.

Not far from them, on the river, the head of the Fish-Tailed Dragon came out of the water and stared at their backs fading in the distance. The Fish-Tailed Dragon blew out air on its nose, disturbing the water, before it swam to the opposite direction.

Elven Forest, Mirror Lake.

Tinum watched as the water nymphs happily played on the crystalline water of the Mirror Lake, not creating ripples on the surface of the lake despite their disturbance on its water. “This cannot be called a Mirror Lake anymore. This is just an ordinary lake now.” He muttered as he waved his hand.

Suddenly, the calm surface of the lake rippled. A drop of water flew out at the heart of the lake and floated in the air. Tinum rose from the boulder on the shore and walked towards the water. As his foot stepped on the water, the ripples on its surface disappeared and the lake became calm once again. However, the water nymphs on the water didn’t dare to play again as they watched Tinum walk to the center of the lake and touch the inconspicuous droplet of water in the air. When his slender and jade-like finger touched the droplet of water, the surface of the droplet rippled like it was shaken. Then, a bright light came out of it and shot towards Tinum’s temple.

The moment the light touched his skin, countless images flashed in Tinum’s mind.

“Would you look at this – such a beautiful lake!” a man’s voice exclaimed, delight in his voice. “Such a shame Filur went back to save his brothers from the Rainbow Swamp… hey, Tinum – “ the man turned to him. He has the same face as – “Let’s go have a bath? No need to be shy! We’re both men!” he said as he immediately took off his clothes, leaving only his thin pants covering his body. “Hey, Tinum! Why aren’t you taking your clothes off? It’s too hot today. Don’t you feel sticky because of sweat?” he asked before he dived down the water.

“Tinum.” He heard Filur called behind him. Some knights were standing behind him, wounded. “Why are you alone? Where’s Loheiruchel?” he asked when he saw Tinum was standing alone on the shore.

“He’s in the water.” Tinum answered.

Filur, a handsome young man with a heroic air around him, turned. “… don’t you know there’s a man-eating fairy in the lake?” he asked and glanced at Tinum whose expression changed from being indifferent to panic.

Before Filur could react, Tinum immediately dived on the lake and searched for Loheiruchel – only for his waist to be caught when strong arms wrapped around his thin waist and pulled him towards a strong male body. “Gotcha!” the man’s clear voice said followed by a hearty laughter echoed in the lake when they came out of the water.

“Loheiruchel!” Filur called from the shore.

The man turned to Filur. “The water’s safe.” He told them. Only then did Filur and the knights move near the water.

“… you tricked me.” Tinum said.

“Who told you to be naïve?” the man chuckled as he swam to the shore carrying the light Tinum. “Are you mad?” he asked. “Were you scared? Do you now care for me?” he asked as he poked Tinum’s cheek. He has always tested the male elf’s patience and emotions. As expected, the male elf didn’t answer him. “I’ll ask Filur, then – “ he said.

Tinum’s face finally turned red from embarrassment and anger. “Scared.” He answered.

The man was taken aback after hearing an honest answer from the male elf. He looked at Tinum, his expression serious. Then, he leaned down and kissed him.

It was their very first kiss.

Tinum snapped out of his memories and he placed his finger on his lips. It’s as if he can feel the warmth and softness of the man’s lips on his lips. “Loheiruchel…” he muttered as he felt his heart beat wildly while the mark on his nape burned. However, he ignored it since the pain on his chest is more painful. “Loheiruchel… Loheiruchel…” his tears fell on the lake. His tears turned into ice and fell into the water, making the lake frozen. The water nymphs immediately swam away to escape. However, Tinum continued to silently cry, turning the warm air around cold. The clouds exposing the sun moved and covered the sun, making the area around the lake dark.

The elf in the middle of the frozen lake fell on his knees and continued to silently cry.