After the King finally fell asleep, Mahnu escaped his grasp and got dressed. Her plan was clear, but her heart was completely the opposite as it was rendered into a state that Mahnu had trouble moving around.

Fighting herself, she breathed in and briefly wrote a note to leave on the table.

Without turning back, she left the tent, feeling like she had lost some part of her soul.

But…She knew if she didn’t get out now, there was absolutely no chance of her leaving at all!

Never having been so close to another, whether they be human or God, Mahnu was desperately struggling inside. She felt like she deserved to stay and experience this great journey and be with Richard…Yet, she knew that it was best for everybody if she was to leave and do as she had intentionally had thought of before…For the sake of the human lives, the slaves, the future…The best thing would be for her to sacrifice herself and her powers to entrap the God’s.

Knowing that it was only two God’s, instead of close to a hundred, Mahnu did hope silently that she would be able to stay, she hoped…Yet, could not afford to dream of this, she did not want to rely on it and give it a chance. If she had told the King of the small chance that it may happen, he may get his hopes up and if it weren’t to happen?

…So, that was why she didn’t say anything, she did not want to lie, as she didn’t know…

She just hoped, hoped for a second chance, for a life with her loved one…

 

 

There were some knights that were on guard, but they had no way to defend against her, as a God. Nonetheless, she tried to stay out of combat as she didn't want to hurt anybody anyway. The biggest reason was, if one of them saw her, they would probably make it known to either Marcus or the King and her plans may even fail!

Sneakily, she roamed in between the tents and used the trees nearby as well. It wasn’t like Havlish though, where trees were everywhere, so sometimes, she had no other option but to be on foot.

Finally, she found the box in Marcus's tent, as he was sleeping right beside it. And silently, Mahnu crept over to it, wondering if he'll wake up.

The box went into her hands easily and Mahnu left the tent, quickly jumping into a tall tree before being seen by a knight.

Mahnu knew that what she was doing would hurt Richard but how could he ask her to do it? Even some of the other humans thought it best that she do this but didn’t have the courage to ask…

Her hand patted the chest with respect as it would help her accomplish her last act as a God. This small item was going to end all God's on Kralaide.

Mahnu held onto it tight as she jumped further and further away, from the camp full of knights...And closer to the two God's inside the town of Brackan.

 

***

 

The King awake to noise just after dawn and got up, noticing straight away that Mahnu wasn't there.

Before he could wake up completely though to that realization, Marcus rushed in, "Your Majesty! The box is gone!"

King Richard took a few moments, before adding, "So is Mahnu."

"Could that mean..." Marcus stopped midway, seeing that the King's face dramatically changed. The fact of the King being naked, only having a blanket to cover his bottom half was not something Marcus questioned, especially at this time!

"Dammit!" The King yelled, throwing an unlit candle stick at the tent. He then put a hand to his head in frustration.

Of course, he thought, of course she would do this! Why didn't we guard her and the box better? Oh...I am such a fool!

"Your Majesty, there's a note here."

The King raced to Marcus, completely disregarding his lose of any type of clothing, and took the small parchment from him.

 

'My dearest Richard, By now you have probably found that both the box and I have disappeared. I have it and I will end all God's. If you see the box again, assume it contains us and hide it very well. Through over a thousand years, you have made my existence worthwhile. For that, I am more thankful then you will ever imagine! Yours Eternally, Mahnu'

 

King Richard wanted to tear the letter apart in anger, but he loved it too much. How could I get rid of evidence that she was here, and especially when she had written, 'Yours eternally.'

...I will not accept that you don't exist!

"Marcus..."

"Yes, Your Majesty?" Marcus answered, unsure on how to act.

"Mahnu has the chest, we are going after her! Wake the men! We are going back to Brackan!" The King yelled as he started getting dressed.

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Seeing that he had placed the clothing on backwards, the King cursed and roughly changed to wear the clothing properly. He wasn’t in the mood for this! Nor did he have the time!

 

***

 

Half an hour after they had found Mahnu's note, the army of the knights and the King entered a disheveled town.

The people looked dazed and when asked if they were all right, they looked skeptical. "I don't know. I feel like...I've been sleeping for a long time."

When the King saw the evidence of a small fight, it became certain that the God's were no longer here. Not only because the slaves seemed to have reawakened…But the damage caused was not something men could do…An entire brick wall had a big hole in it and some dents had been made on the tiled floor. It was once an opened area not too far from the Governor’s place where students would gather to be taught…Now, it looked like a few dozen men had come to spend all day to rip it apart…

King Richard put his hand against the broken wall and closed his eyes, "Has the box been found?"

Marcus answered, "No, Your Majesty. I had even got the men to look for the two God’s that they had seen the day before, but no one has seen them. The people…The people have also returned to normal, but…They can’t remember what happened while they were a slave."

The King turned around and sat against the leaning wall, looking up at the sky. "Shut everyone's mouth. It is to be kept a secret."

Even though the King had been vague on his words, Marcus understood. The God’s had to be kept a secret, so they will have to come up with another reason why the people felt this way…

King Richard put his head in his hands and sighed. "Calm the people down and search the area for Mahnu. I'll...Be in my tent down by the river."

Marcus ordered his knights to make sure that they all knew all of His Majesty's commands and went to be at His Majesty's side.

 

 

King Richard read and re read Mahnu's letter. How could she leave me! No one had agreed to this outcome! Did last night mean nothing as you gave yourself to me?

The King sadly laughed, no, it was, and is obvious, that she was saying goodbye.

"Your Majesty?" Marcus stepped into the tent.

"Did you find her!?" Automatically, King Richard asked this in high hopes.

"…No, Your Majesty. We didn't find her or the box."

Earlier, they had already come up with an idea to calm the people down. Anything was better then the people being scared of immortals that took slaves and didn’t die, so they had stated that people had been sick instead and that they finally found the cure.

It was obviously something that could be questioned, but this was all that any of them had said to anybody that asked and they did not give any more information. In another day or two, the King will personally gather everyone and help to rebuild Bracken to its former glory. Already, he had been told about some misfortunes, so he was trying to come up with ways to help the people overcome what has happened by implanted a few more doctors and inserting a temporary Governor…As…They had no idea where Zachery was at this moment!

Even the army was to stay for an extra month or two to help and give the people a sense of safety.

 

The problem was, the King was having trouble concentrating…Always waiting for someone to rush in and state that they had found Mahnu…Yet, no one ever came to utter these words…

The King sighed loudly to his frustrated heart.

"Your Majesty...How long do you want us to search for her...It's been half a day and nothing..."

Interrupting Marcus, the King yelled, "Forever! Never stop!"

King Richard stopped. What was he going to do if he couldn't find her?

"Sir?" A voice was heard outside the tent.

"Yes, William."

William came inside, the King couldn't help but hope for good news, "Have you found her?"

"...No, Your Majesty. But, please, allow me to search for her...Even if I spend the rest of my life doing so. I won't stop until I find her."

 

The King smiled, looking at William in hope. "You will...Search for her?"

He couldn’t help but stand up from his temporary desk and walk over to William.

William went down on one knee, putting his hand over his heart. "Yes, Your Majesty."

"Can I put all my faith in you finding her?" The King knew he must look pathetic at the moment, but he needed someone who would do this, put their life down for hers. To find…His home…

"Yes, Your Majesty. I will not stop believing that she is alive. I will never give up."

Breathing out, the King smiled. "Thank you, William. You have my royal degree to go look for her and use whatever means necessary. I will await your good news."

William got up and walked out of the King's tent with the King’s token in his hands. With this token, he will be able to get whatever he needed, whether it be an army or a bed or food. He could also use a person to directly go to the King with a letter, which is probably one of the biggest reasons why the King had given him this token.

He wanted to find Mahnu as well, since finding out that she was a God, William has been curious. In his life, he has followed tradition and lived the way he was supposed to, but now he was excited of what he could find out! He had to find her!

She was a living history chronicle!

 

***

 

2 years later

 

Giving the reigns of his current horse to the stable keeper, William sighed. He hadn't been in Brackan for a year, but it was time to start his search from scratch again.

Staying two months, after the disappearance of Mahnu, William had decided to widen his search and after he had searched Cental, Conrella and Nowell, he had returned back to Brackan, only to find nothing once again. After that, William had set out to search for Mahnu in the remaining parts of Kralaide.

Obviously, there was no such luck…

There had been people that he had stopped to look at, because they had a similar feature to Mahnu, but they ended up being somebody else. He followed two rumours of ladies but, again, nothing had come out of it. The roads were mostly always empty, but he stopped to search them as well. It had been a tedious long journey that seemed to show more and more signs that Mahnu was no longer living.

But…

William couldn’t shake a feeling that something was amiss. Considering that the box has also not been found, he felt like there was no possible way that he could stop his search for Mahnu.

Even though it was a tedious journey, and finding Mahnu was always his number one priority, William could not also shake away his curiosity from being in places that he had never been to before.

He did not go out of his way to enjoy any type of scenery, but he did look around and try out some different foods when he could. So, to him, the journey was not at all tedious! In fact, if it took another two years to do the exact same thing…He was willing!

 

Sitting down at a dumpling business, William ordered a meal and then turned to the busy streets of Brackan. Brackan had gotten back to normal the last time he was here but William hadn't been able to watch, as his priority was Mahnu. Seeing it now, while he was having his first meal of the day, he let himself look around at the change from the last time he remembered being here.

Since all the streets had already been cleaned and that they still were, he was not surprised at seeing carriages being used once again. The people looked better though, as they had taken some time to get over what had happened.

He had already thought about it earlier, that not knowing what you had done for so many days and what not, would just about scare anybody!

 

There were a few incidents that William wasn’t even aware of, but the King knows of them well enough. A few prisoners in the prisoner cells had been let lose and had to be found. A few maidens had come to crisis too, as they found themselves not pure anymore or with someone that wasn’t their husband…A total of three women killed themselves, and then another twenty or thirty needed further help, whether it was because they were shocked or scared…Or pregnant…

The King wasn’t even sure where the Governor Zachery was for a few weeks, stating him as missing!

But, a lot of information was withheld, and the laws did stretch for a certain period in Bracken, so that people were able to move on better from what had happened.

Cental, Nowell and Conrella was a lot easier to sort out, because there was a lot less ‘slaves’ that had been there…

The trades where back, perhaps even better now and Bracken seemed a tiny bit more friendlier, as he saw some young children run around in a section, in the distance from where he was. It really had been wrecked, but now, it was like people had been able to move forward and live once again…It was…Good.

 

Nearly finished taking his meal, William sighed and thought about how he should start searching for Mahnu here.

His quest might have been abanded by others by now, but William found that he got more and more involved as time went by, especially because he didn’t feel bound to just being a knight! He felt freer and preferred to travel and learn new things…He even wished that after he found Mahnu, he might be able to travel again and learn some more…Except, after he thought that, he also realized that he might learn more from Mahnu and decided it might be better to just stick by her side instead! He couldn’t deny his want to know more about the history of Kralaide, it was always something that excited him ever since he knew that there used to be prophets in the past!

Feeling that seeing the King personally, to tell him where he's been, only made William feel like he would be wasting time. He hasn't seen his leader either. Even looking for the box had been too much of a bother after the first two months! Using the token only twice to send a letter, to state where he had been and that he had not found Mahnu yet, William had used it more for beds, food and horses instead.

…It was time to search again, William thought, getting up from his seat and stretching.

 

***