ELYSIA

chapter 13

The sun rises, casting a warm glow on the inn. Elysia slowly opens her eyes, her long black hair tousled from sleep.

"Good morning, Raven", she muttered groggily to Raven who was perched in what seemed like a coat hanger

Raven cocked her head and let out a melodic caw, as if greeting Elysia. She stretches her arms and legs, fully awakening her senses. Her gaze wanders to the open window, revealing a view of the tranquil garden.

Elysia gets up, freshening up then donning her outfit.

She walks across the room, careful not to disturb the maps and magical trinkets scattered on the wooden table when a knock on the door echoes through the room.

Elysia opens the door, revealing the kind-faced Inn Owner

"I thought you might need someone to take you to the courtyard" the owner says

Elysia nods eagerly, "it's great you are here, I was about looking for you to guide me there, Thank you"

The owner chuckles and smiles as if there was something he knew she didn't, which might be true considering how old he is, but she still got a weird feeling from it.

Elysia follows the Inn Owner through a maze of corridors, their footsteps blending with the murmurs of conversations from other guests.

They finally reached the Eastern Courtyard, an enchanting place with blooming flowers and a huge fountain.

Across the huge fountain in the middle of the courtyard was a stout looking old man, he seemed to be in a daze until the inn owner snapped his fingers and the old man finally noticed them

"Ah I see" the old man exclaimed, we have some visitors"
"I assume she wants to hear about the kingdom, don't you missus?"

He asked looking straight at Elysia.

Feeling his questioning gaze on her , she nods.

"You see dear", he begins without a thought, speaking in a montonous voice as if he had done this a thousand times

" Evandrake and his supporters have always lingered in the shadows, spreading their treachery throughout the Wizarding kingdom. Corrupting minds, manipulating the powerful, and plotting the kingdom's downfall."

Elysian listens intently, her face scrunched up in a thoughtful manner

"But how did they come to hold such power? And why does nobody fight back?" She asked

The old man sighs heavily, "they thrived in chaos."

"It was a gradual process, spreading seeds of greed and discontent through bribery and manipulation. Slowly, they infiltrated the council, the court, and even the stronghold of the magical creatures."

"But what about the prohecy?, Did they not believe in it?

She asked

Bitterly the old man muttered something incomprehensible

"That's the saddest part.
The chosen one never arrived. As the years passed without any sign of hope, the people lost their faith, their hope. It was as if the prophecy was nothing more than an empty promise."

Elysia furrows her brow, her fist tightens, unable to keep the thoughts herself, she excused herself and was about returning to the inn when she saw the old man standing behind her.

She thought he had left, but surprisingly not, with a look of concern he asked her, "Is dear something wrong dear"

"Nothing is wrong" she replied immediately, "I remembered there was something I had to do and it can't wait" she replied in a hurried manner that would let her go quick.

"Okay" he replied then went towards the story teller starting to discuss something while Elysia went into the inn.

Upon reaching the inn tavern, she asked Raven to meet up with her outside, and after a few minutes waiting, the Bird was coming towards her, she asked in concern if anything was wrong, she quickly told her what she learnt and what they had to do next.

The information given to her by the storyteller was relatively common information you could easily get, what she needed was news of their activities and what was best place to get such information.

A pub....

Raven hearing that in her head, squawked in agreement

"But firstttttt"  Elysia says dragging the t in the word out, "we need money", she groans in exasperation

"I used the little money I have to rent a Room for one night but we need more, although I saw a store when we were looking for the inn, they accept beast carcass in exchange for coin, so lets go hunt some beats" she said merrily

Raven seeing this, squwaked out again, but this time it seemed like she was laughing .

   "What's funny", Elysia asked in confusion, Raven replied in her head

"Where do you know you're going too, do you think we're just going to see beast roaming around in the kingdom. We need more info and we could get that from the inn owner"

Elysia hearing this, knew Raven was right and they both went back into the inn.