One Last Knight. A Series of Short Stories.

Young Elves are often too curious for their own good, contrary to what the world at large would have you believe. 

They are typically seclusive and detached in adulthood, yes. But several known tribes have embraced a more nomadic lifestyle, and thus their offspring clans have grown to be quite knowledgeable when it comes to the geology and geography of Enverdolmal and its varied Kingdoms and Queendoms. 

Elves, unlike humans -and even their Dwarven counterparts- find both joy and fulfillment in the inherent dangers that come with the exploration and charting of strange and undocumented places, especially while in their youth, thus it is they who are most often hired to take on task that would require one to travel to or through lands that are not so known or familiar to the average denizen of Enverdolmal. 

Such expeditions and outings are typically taken on by experienced teams of three to six Adventurers and have been known to bring about such sought-after and coveted things as unchecked fame, unending material fortune, and/or most importantly to most Elves, endearing and enduring reputation. 

The mission that a young Elven girl by the name of Celia Yor and her hand-picked team would be tasked with, would be one such expedition.

One that would potentially bring all of the above and more.

If all went well.

I will tell you here and now, It did not.

It all, in fact, went the polar opposite of what one could consider "well" from the very beginning, starting with the weather being in a rather foul mood that day. The day's sun was obscured by the ever-present, thick, and grey clouds that blanketed the midday sky. The rain had been falling around them in heavy and pounding sheets as they stood in a small group at the Western edge of the great swamp, their feet slipping and sinking more and more as the seconds turned to minutes.

Celia Yor was an Expeditionary Scout, a tribal Elf through and through, and the leader of her four-man Expedition Team. 

Exploration was as much in her veins as was the Elven blood that flowed through them with every beat of her heart, and she had proven herself and her abilities to herself and the L.H.C.M. (Lustrian High Counsel of Mapping.) time and time again. 

She was one whose path -like most from her family's bloodline- would see her traveling far and wide as was typical of her profession, and to places that most travelers would more than just shy away from, but avoid like the plague. 

But she was not like most travelers.

She was in fact, not like most Elves.

She was a Yor and one of the most purest blood at that. 

Known for their unparalleled skill in Martial Arts and Forest Monk studies and teachings, the Yor of the Impala Opus tribe were one of the few Elven tribes that would venture to sell their services without reservation.

They were also one of the few living beings in general in all of Enverdolmal who were well suited and educated enough in their disciplines to brave the wild and untamable stretches of dark, rank forest, and shallow, creature-filled waters that were the Enfresecca Swamplands. 

Celia felt as if she had been born for this mission.

It was very much up her alley, and she had the utmost confidence in not only herself but the three other Elves she had chosen to accompany her for the week to come as well.

Each was also born of the Yor clan, yet all were raised and trained in different parts of the world and varied fields of study. Two of the three were only half-blood Yor, but a Yor was a Yor to Celia.

Just as long as they could get the job done when the time came, she cared little for their lineage. The pure-blood aspect only mattered when it came to hand-to-hand combat and the knowledge of the forest around them. She was as pure as they came, so as far as she was concerned, she hadn't the need for another.

Nonetheless, two was greater than one, and having him around could possibly make her life and this expedition just a bit easier.

She and her team would breach Enfresecca's Western border, trek to its mysterious, and century-long relinquished center, map the entire experience including any unknown plant life, insect, aviary, or monsters that they may encounter, and then make their way back out by the same route that they had taken in.

Nothing too complicated!

Not for an 80-year veteran Adventurer/Monk like herself. 

At just under 170 HLS, Celia was just old enough to have many of the world's best and brightest Human Journeymen and quest-takers beat when it came to flat-out experience, and outside of her pure-blood male Yor Cartographer (whose name was Jesten), she had with her a veteran female Monster Slayer -a crude and often uncouth counterpart to a Ranger who went by Kleave- from Lumaleza, and a Theodoran Mage who's list of magical accolades was just as long as both his beard and his pride. This last one's name was Lerick. 

Celia's clan was nothing if not well-rounded, and with this range of talent, skill, and ability, this mission should be as easy as they came, and completed within a month's time. 

Little could they all know just how difficult of a task that this would come to be, made all that more difficult by the fact that one amongst their number had nothing to offer the group but ill intent...

This expedition was commissioned by the standing king of Theodora in collaboration with the Kingdom of Lustria, and any discoveries made here would not only benefit both kingdoms greatly but help in forging a stronger political relationship between them as well. The success of this mission had a lot of weight behind it, and Celia was not one to take that incredible responsibility lightly. 

On day one, they had breached the mysteriously shimmering beige and green veil of evil, tainted Blight Aether that hung like a thick curtain in the air, marking the border of where Enfresecca began and the rest of the world of Enverdolmal "ended."

They one and all knew that once they crossed into the breach, there would be no turning back until they reached the core. Each of them had come prepared to risk life and limb for the cause, and so they had made sure to bring all that they could possibly need. They double and triple-checked their gear, readied themselves and their Aether for whatever was to come, and fell into place.

Celia gave a nod and they all were off, stepping as one toward and into the strange and lingering wall of magic. She took the lead, spearheading the formation by just a few steps as the Expedition Leader. Jesten at her back, Lerick to her left, and Kleave to her right, The last with helmeted her head down and one scar-covered eye shut. A massive and intimidating great sword slung over her right shoulder. 

As Celia and the rest of the group made contact with the veil, it began to vibrate softly, seeming to shiver with glee at its newfound host of travelers.

It's new group of residents.

----------

She felt the small group penetrate her web...

It had been quite some time since anything new had dared come her way...

She beckoned them nearer...

She could remember the taste of that Elven blood...

It was flowing through their veins...

Their sweet...fizzy...airy Aether, bubbling up and gathered around them in fickle little wards and spells. 

It would keep them safe for only so long...

She was patient...

But her children?

...

A dozen tiny mouths nipped and nipped and nipped.

A hundred tiny eyes blinked and blinked and blinked.

A hundred tiny legs clicked and clicked and clicked.

----------

The palpable sensation of isolation and hopelessness that pervaded the heavily enchanted swamp before them began to assail the group's Aetheral defenses almost immediately. 

That soft vibration that was once almost pleasant, soon became quite the violent series of shakes, before suddenly becoming a fervent vacuum effect and just as suddenly sucking all four of the team members into the swamp before them, depositing them into an unceremonious heap of Elves, armor, robes, weapons, and backpacks on the opposite side of the barrier.

The rain that had pounded their heads and shoulders but a moment ago was no more, replaced now by a stiff and unmoving fog that seemed to emanate from the ground itself.

The pile of Elves was slow to react at first, their senses being jarred so.

But with Kleave on the bottom, getting up was made that much quicker.

The muscled Elf braced herself before performing a single and mighty push-up, one that caused the other three to roll off of her back, tangled arms and legs now free, and flailing about.

Lerick landed facedown in the mud, his beard now slathered in thick and stubborn muck.

Jesten landed on his back with a huff, a huff that became an OOF as Celia tumbled onto him ass-first, Her butt slamming into his stomach and blasting the air from his lungs.

Kleave stood, shook the mud from her arms and legs, then crossed her arms, turning her back to the others as she did. 

Celia was annoyed at how disorganized and unprofessional this all had been...

While no, they could not have known about the suction, Kleave didn't have to just shove them all off like that...

Monster Slayers were nearly insufferable, which explained why they were so hard to come by and even harder to efficiently employ. 

This branch of the Yor bloodline was often more akin to their Lustrian-bound brethren: more standoffish and unapproachable by nature. 

Celia would give the Elf a pass this once. Kleave was young and still quite arrogant...

Although many of her feats and slayings had justly earned her that arrogance, it did not sit well with those around her who had to deal with it daily. Kleave would learn this with a bit more time Celia thought, until then, it was an inconvenience that would have to be ignored until after this expedition was completed. 

Just as long as it didn't get in the way of all that they had to accomplish.

Celia tucked the slight from the Monster Slayer into the back of her mind and quickly pulled tight the straps of her backpack before extending a hand to both Jesten and Lerick in turn. 

After making themselves ready once again, the group took a moment to have a look at their surroundings. They hadn't moved but a handful of yards into the swamp in the initial confusion that their unforeseen entrance had sown, but from where they now stood, the Blight Aether barrier appeared to be more than a mile off into the distance behind them.

"Impossible...we only fell but a few feet." 

Celia spoke first, thinking aloud what the others had been processing as she raised her hand and took a step towards what should have been the wall.

Before her foot could make landfall, Kleave's hand shot out and latched onto the Scout's belt, yanking her to a halt and causing her to stumble backward and into Jesten who had been about to stop her as well. 

The two tumbled backward and onto the ground again, but this time both reacted with enough grace and skill to spin and land favorably. Celia was just a bit thrown off nonetheless, standing and dusting her robes off before whipping her head around to confront the Slayer.

"Dumping us all on the ground was one thing, but tossing me about is a whole different game sister, what gives!"

She spat before she could cool herself, her suddenly-balled fist heating faintly and glowing a pale green as both her anger and Aether flared. 

Kleave didn't flinch, the Scout's magic didn't intimidate her in the least. The Monster Slayer turned her back on Celia, her right hand moving to the hilt of the sword that was strapped to her back.

Before Celia could register her own level of irritation, Jesten placed a calming hand on her shoulder and pointed in the direction from which they had come. 

The muscles in Kleave's right arm bulged for a split second, and her mighty blade flashed from its sheath, slashing out at the empty air before the small group in a clean and measured arch. The fog split in two in a smooth tear that seemed to hang in the air before them all, it was more like a portal, as the world outside of the swamp was suddenly visible through the newly rent hole in the barrier.

Celia was both stunned and confused, the tear wavered for a second longer before snapping shut just as fast as it had been sliced open.

Kleave's sword crackled with otherworldly bolts of green and grey Aether before the Blight Aether barrier seemed to call it home, using that displaced energy to further "repair" the sliced segment. Within the blink of an eye, the illusion was complete once more, and the "wall" seemed again to be off in the distance.

Lerick spoke this time, voicing what most of the group had been thinking just as Celia had but a moment ago:

"And now we know how the wall works." 

He said with a shrug and a wry grin. He went on, gesturing towards the back of Kleave who stood before them, arms crossed once again. 

"It would also appear that this one's rudeness may just well be worth forgiving."

Celia could do nothing but swallow her now obviously irrational anger and put her pride to the back of the stage.

Kleave had effectively saved her life.

While she appreciated it, greatly even.

She hated it...

She turned on her heel in the mud and began to make her way off into whatever was to come.

They had a job to do, and Celia was almost over it already...

She would have to let the irritation burn off.

She was deep-seated that way. 

She hadn't asked to be saved.

She spoke back over her shoulder, assuming that the rest had begun to follow her lead.

"Yeah, well thanks for that...good goes around."

She said.

If Kleave heard her, she did.

If not?

Celia wasn't inclined to care.

Maybe they had just started off on the wrong foot? 

Maybe Celia really didn't care?

Maybe it was just this damned swamp and its intrusive magics? 

They would find out with time.

Till then?

They would find somewhere to make camp.

They needed a base camp and with magical, shifting walls about?

This place was as good as any. 

-------------------------

Hey!

Welcome back to the gates of Enverdolmal!

I hope that that was enough to keep you all sated till next week!

The pieces of the puzzle will start to connect more and more as we head deeper into the world of Enverdolmal!

Stay tuned!

I love you all, and I hope that you are and remain well and healthy between these chapters.

I will see you all again soon enough folks.

Safe travels.

And as always:

Stay safe.

 Stay healthy.

 Stay vigilant.

-Redd.