It was already night-time, stars shined down, and the moons wandered over the roofs of Athylia. The streets were empty, and only guards could be seen patrolling in the darkness. While the city residential area was peaceful, the palace was plunged into chaos. In the evening, the archer's brigade returned from their expedition to check the infection of the central forest. The horrible news brought back by the captain was enough to immediately ask for a meeting with the king and other important figures of the kingdom.

Some of the captains had already gathered in a large hall with white walls. Gold in beautiful patterns adorned the corners and walls, and a large chandelier hung from the ceiling, its candlelight illuminating the whole room. The window cloaks were already closed by nightfall. Slowly but surely, the hall filled up. After 15 minutes, the wait was finally over.

"Now please greet His Highness, King Edward, and Bishop Oswyn." All the knights of the nobility rose and awaited the arrival of the king. With heads held high, they both slowly entered the room. A lustrous crown sparkled on his brown hair under the chandelier light. Dressed in white and red robes and gold ornaments, the king went to his seat. The bishop, with a red robe and golden ornaments, sat next to the king with the help of another person because of his age. His bishop's cap mostly hid his white hair. After the King and Bishop had sat down, the order was given for the rest to sit down.

"Sighsten, you had asked for an important audience that could determine the fate of my kingdom. What exactly is it that worries you so much?" asked the king in a dignified tone.

"Your Highness, our recruits went to the central forest two days ago to gain their first battle experience. Unfortunately, something unpredictable happened, and only 20 made it back alive." He stopped to take his breath, took out a map, and presented it on the table.

"Hjalmarr informed me that something had infected the forest. Armies of monsters overran his training brigade. Due to this event, I've ordered a more thorough investigation. Neo was leading this investigation, but his unit had to withdraw after the monsters noticed them. Neo, I would ask you to share your experiences with us."

Neo nodded and took out a stick to better show locations on the map.

"As you can see here, we marked the infection on the map with magic arrows."

Points became visible on the map and started to form a circle in the forest.

"The infection has probably spread further as we speak right now. The problem is the number of monsters that are lurking in the forest. In and of themselves, the monsters weren't all that dangerous, but the sheer mass and poor fighting conditions made up for the disadvantage."

Neo saw it first-hand, fighting equally in their territory was nearly impossible. Everything could be a trap.

"We don't know for sure, but we assume the bigger the infection grows, the more monster will be born from it. If the infection reaches our city, crops and fields will wither away. So I suggest we eradicate it before it becomes a horrible problem."

The king was listening carefully because he had to make the decision later. The danger also appeared to be significantly worse than he had originally thought. Now that they had discovered a threat, they would have to decide which actions to take.

"How likely is it that they will attack us in the future, and do you think it would be possible to destroy them with our current army?" Asked the bishop. He addressed the commander of the knights directly because he was concerned for the future of this kingdom.
He also served as the leader of the church, and as such, he detested anything that was not a creation of God.

"That's hard to tell. We only have the information provided by Hjalmarr and Neo's brigade. I believe we can obliterate them with enough preparation, but we can't assemble our entire army currently; due to the problem in the Grigorios mountains."

The Grigorios Mountains are located on the east side of the city. They extended into the clouds and hundreds of kilometers to the east.

"I understand; if we moved our army to the south to clear the forest, the ghosts and undead of Duriboris would take the opportunity and overrun us," said the bishop, and lowered his head. With the holy book the gods had given him, he would normally lead the army to victory, but he had grown too old for that.

"But if we do nothing, the infection will lay doom on our kingdom," exclaimed Hjalmarr, only to get glares from the higher-ups. It was not his Authority to speak.

"Your Highness," Sighsten started. "I would suggest we ask for reinforcements from the elves or dwarves. This is a danger that does not only affect us. Should we fall, their kingdoms will be next."

The king slammed his hands on the table and glared at Sighsten.

"We are proud citizens of Athylia, the city founded by gods and lowered from heaven for us," shouted the king.

A city supported by two hands and suspended in the clouds made up Athylia's coat of arms. When the kingdom was founded, the gods brought it down to earth and provided a place for the populace to live. He didn't like asking other kingdoms for help for this reason. They represented something unique and superior in his eyes. A request for assistance from his kingdom would only serve to highlight how vulnerable and powerless the gods' mighty state had grown. He couldn't allow that to occur. Therefore, they needed to come up with a strategy to buy time until the other kingdoms realized the threat and began taking protective measures.

"Can we apply some measures that could slow down the monster's advance?" asked King Edward after carefully about their options. Murmuring broke out, and the mood in the room became restless.

"I might have an idea if you would give me permission to explain," said a clear, loud voice. It became silent again, and those present turned their heads. The person who said those words had open brown hair and a spiral and curlicue obsession. She looked into the crowds with blue eyes before bowing deeply to the king. Her dress' sleeves and hair both hung to the side. She accessorized with a silver earring, a golden necklace, and a red dress. She had a touch of elegance in her posture and every movement.

The king announced, "Kanah Olenor, you have permission to speak."

She got up and started talking.

"I know this will be a big undertaking, but I think it would be the best option to stop the monsters for now." Her voice had the confidence of a knight's captain. 

"I would offer my service as the captain of the elemental mages to erect a wall to separate our land from these evil creatures." After she said that, she bowed again and sat down.

"That could work, your highness," said Sighsten. "For now, the monsters only attacked when someone entered their territory. They might even spread east toward the dwarfen caves if we can block their path."

It became silent again. Everyone was looking at the king. Kanah had presented them with a good plan. It would take a while to implement, but from his estimation, it would take the monsters another week to come close to their kingdom.

The king raised his voice and began to announce the verdict.

"I have decided; because the situation is so unknown, we will do everything we can to prevent this danger as much as possible.  Kanah, you will travel to the central forest tomorrow and try to isolate it as best you can. In addition, send back information on the status of the situation regularly." His voice trailed off, and shortly thereafter, the meeting was dissolved. For now, the Kingdom of Athylia had a plan. But due to the unknown threat, it was impossible to say how fast the situation could change. They had never seen monster hordes like this, and everyone was worried. Outside the hall, Kanah, who was the first to leave the room, waited for a person to arrive. There were still unclear things she wanted to ask about.

It didn't take long for Hjalmarr, Neo, and Sighsten to walk through the door.

"Sighsten, I would like to speak with you for a moment, but only if you have time." He was thinking for a moment.

"Sure, what can I do for you?"

"As you heard in the meeting, I am going to the forest tomorrow and would like to know if there is something I should keep in mind?"

"Yeah, there is something you should know. I didn't bring it up during our meeting, but we have no clue what those creatures are, where they come from, and what horror their leader is."

"Horror, I feel like you have to illuminate me a little," said Kanah. She put her hand on to her chin and look at him with a beautiful, forced smile.

"We don't know much about them, but from what Neo told me, the leader isn't something we can take on. As a small team entered the infected forest to take some samples, a mighty roar shook the entire area. The two survivors from the team had suffered extremely hard. After more detailed examinations, their souls were damaged. I would advise you to keep your distance and not provoke them."

Kanah, who could hide her face under a mask of fake emotions, made a complicated expression. There were a lot of things she didn't want to happen when she executes the mission. She frowned as she realized, that they knew nothing about the monsters that threatened their kingdom.

"So you would advise me to retreat as soon as the hordes of monsters storm out of the forest?" she asked, to which she only received a nod.

"Thanks, I will keep that in mind." They said goodbye, and both went their ways.

It was cold and dark outside. Kanah made one last visit to the barracks to inform her brigade about tomorrow's mission. As expected, not everyone was excited. They still had to prepare provisions for tomorrow.

 

***

 

Luna was looking over Jannet's training with a warm smile. They had already eaten dinner. Jannet had tried to move the leaf for two hours, but sadly no progress was made.

"Maybe you should continue tomorrow. It's no shame to struggle to learn a new skill. And magic can be challenging. Just do it every day, and you will be fine." Luna tried her best to cheer Jannet up, who failed time and time again. Her control over Mana became better over the hours, but it was still not enough to create a simple breeze. After her next attempt didn't produce the desired result, Jannet threw the leaf away. In frustration, she sat on the log and was covered in sweat.

'She is pounding like a child, but it's kind of adorable to see.'  Jannet had no idea what Luna was thinking, but she could imagen it was nothing good due to the evil grin.

"How long did you need to learn magic?" Jannet asked curiously.

"I don't know; it's been such a long time since then. But I think you will learn it better and faster than others."

"Why do you think so?"

"Your body was recently forced to transform, and evolution always helps creatures adapt to their surroundings as best they can. I'm trying to say that your body probably adjusts to Mana in the best way possible. Fortunately, you had not yet been affected by any specialization. I'm not sure how much magic is genetically transmitted, though. I'm aware that it has an effect, but I'm unable to estimate how much it will have on you."

"What you're saying is that my bloodline is extraordinary?"

Luna began shaking her head, trying to clear the misunderstanding.

"I won't deny that bloodlines affect your magic affinity. But it isn't absolute."

Luna was again silent, trying to figure out how to formulate the next sentence.

Sigh

"Bloodline is good and so on, but don't let it go to your head. Learning and understanding your field is ultimately what matters. But it's still great to have." Luna tried to cheer up Jannet's mood. 

"If you ever meet someone, who brags about their bloodline, then he is most likely an idiot. And I can guarantee you that we meet someone in the human city."

Sadly, even after a long conversation, Jannet's mood was not improving.

"What do you have on your mind? I can feel that something is upsetting you, so if you want to talk about it, I am there for you."

It became quiet again.

"Do you think the monsters will get us?"

"That's nothing to be concerned about. The monsters won't arrive for a while. I am sure they are busy with the human kingdom.

'I hope, at least.' Luna thought and got up. It was already late. The moons were shining down on them, and they had to sleep.

"We should go to bed; tomorrow, we will have a long journey ahead of us." Jannet nodded, and they went into their shelter for the night.