As the Sun Rises in Summervale (Zer0ic)

[eCCioE]

As the sun rises in Summervale
eCCioE & Zer0ic

As the sun rose in Summervale, Elena stepped out of her little house and looked around. The morning was beautiful. Birds flew around and sang their songs, little animals like rats, squirrels and even rabbits just ran around and did their own stuff. It seemed like a perfect day for Elena. As the Madame Alerva, she had to help people around the town and that's why she went to the town centre.

She immediately saw a homeless person, a drunkard, coming towards her. Yesterday, she had given the man some money to buy something he really needed. But it seemed like he had just decided to buy more alcohol. As a wealthy family, Alervas never had any problems with alcohol nor with being homeless. And that's the reason the Alerva women never truly understood these people. But since it was Elena's job, she walked to the man.

"What did you do with the money I gave you?" she asked quickly and even a bit angrily. But the man didn't answer. He just took another sip of alcohol and looked at Elena with a quirky smile. But Elena hated the smile and so she took the bottle from the man and threw it to the ground. It was logical, that it had to break according to the power the woman used. And it did break.

"You know, you are a sick old man. Why did you even start drinking? Why do you make your life so hard? What... is... wrong with you?" she asked furiously, but when the man came closer to her (most likely to punch her), she stepped back and used a little bit magic to push the man away from her.

[Zer0ic]

   The homeless drunk had played his role in his plot nicely. He was absolutely distracting her like he had planned and now would be the time to strike.

   Dovanthis appeared from behind her and created a blade of ice, putting it to her throat. "Thank you old man," he said throw a bag of coin at the drunkard's feet. "Now, leave before I decide to kill you." In one swift motion the man snatched the bag and ran.

   "You, Elena, put your hands behind your back," he instructed. "You're valuable to me, but if you so much as struggle. I will send your mother your lovely head removed from your body," he informed her with serious intent.

   As he waited for her to follow his command he thought to himself, "The client better pay me the other half of my 50,000 gold coins." He wasn't a cheap assassin, but for a simple kidnapping he decided 50,000 was fair. He knew the client would make more on the ransom, but he wasn't patient enough to try that himself.

[eCCioE]

"What?" Elena asked. She was totally confused when a man tried to kidnap her. She tried to get free, but the man was too strong for her, so she just decided to stand still and try to fight against the man with words. Like her mother always told her, words are more powerful than anything else. It might have been true most times, but in this situation, it seemed like words are useless.

"I am Madame Alerva! You must let me go! When my mother hears about this, she will kill you!" Elena shouted, even though the man was really close to her. People around the town centre just looked at Marianne and it was totally awkward. She had lost her honor because of the stupid situation and so she just decided to shut up. "My mother will kill you, you stupid bastard!" she whispered.

Elena put her hands behind her back and waited. There had to be a chance to stand against the assassin or whoever he was. She just had to wait for the perfect moment to strike.

[Zer0ic]

   Once she placed her hands behind her back and he started freezing them together with his ice magic. "Your mommy couldn't have me killed. I am already dead," he said in a stern voice.

   "To bad I have a client, because I would love to sell your loud mouth to a slave trader in Adela. They'd treat you the way you truly deserve. By the way, who gives homeless men money without them following through with a request first," he ask, questioning her reasoning. He could tell this was going to be a long day.

   Pushing her softly, he said, "Please, start walking out of town. Or, should I freeze your feet together as well and ice slide you out?"

   Dovanthis shook his head in grief. He hated outspoken women, because they always had a more-superior-than-thou attitude.

[eCCioE]

"What do you want from me?" Elena asked as the man ordered her to get out of the town. She decided to not move until she gets a serious answer from the kidnapper. To be sure the man does nothing bad to her, she was ready to use some magic to defend herself, though she didn't know how powerful the man is. The woman understood that the man liked using ice, but she wasn't sure if that's the only power he can use.

So Marianne stood there, without even looking at the man and waited for the answer. She didn't say anything, just looked at the town. It would've been too dangerous to show off her emotions, but she was somewhat angry and a bit happy at the same time. Madame Alerva was as sly as her mother was. Like the Alerva Queen, she didn't give up easily and tried to stand against everyone who questioned their honor, even if she had to die because of it.

[Zer0ic]

   "Seriously, I just said I have a client," he said profoundly.

   He was surprised she could comprehend she was being kidnapped. "You family is wealthy and your alive. What I want from you is to listen to my commands, follow them, and you'll soon be back with your mom."

   A warrior in town noticed her being restrained. He knew who she was and decided to save her. "Unhand her you bastard," he yelled, charging full speed with his sword. He swung his sword at Dovan, yet the blade past through him and the sword trailed with smoke.

   "It's futile. If you value your life, I recommend you quit now," Dovanthis said in a stoic manner.

   "Never," screamed the warrior. He begins slashing many times and many times it passes through Dovan. "I will save you milady," he told her.

   "I warned you," Dovanthis said quickly placing his right hand's index and middle finger to the man's forehead. Then, he dropped dead. The air around them got misty quickly and the young warrior's body began to shrivel like a raisin.

[eCCioE]

Madame Alerva looked at the whole situation without doing anything. She was thankful for the guard for trying to save her, but she felt like it was completely useless. The kidnapper seemed too powerful. Possibly he had trained for many-many years, according to his confidence and great fighting skills.

As the warrior fought with the man, she tried to think of a useful spell, but she wasn't sure if she was powerful enough to do these things. Of course setting the man on fire would've helped, but these spells take too much energy. Channeling your own energy into fire was really hard. She had tried doing it a few days ago, but she couldn't make a single fireball. Setting the kidnapper on fire would've been suicide.

The magic Elena used was hard. If the user used more energy than they they had, they would've killed themselves. And that's what Elena didn't want. That's why she thought using air is easier and less dangerous. At the moment, when the man put her fingers on the warrior's forehead, she quickly breathed in, waited for a moment and then breathed out lots of thick fog. After a moment, she didn't see the man anymore, though probably the man was still near her.

Then Elena started to run. While running, she did the same thing. Breathed in, waited for a moment, breathed out fog. She hoped it was enough to escape to the woods. She was already halfway there.

[Zer0ic]

   Fog quickly filled the town and his target vanished, but not so easily. He was extremely skilled in magic as he dedicated most of the past 13 years to honing his craft. He took his left wrist with his right hand and sucked up the fog into his left hand forming a ball of water. He could see her darting towards the forest. So, he threw the ball of water to the ground, turning it to ice, and sent the ice traveling all the way to her. He watched her slip on the ice.

   He used his smoke form to travel instant to her. "Please, don't make this any harder for the two of us," he said placing a hand out to pick her up. With the other hand he released her from the ice shackles with a simple gesture of his hand.

   Helping her up he said, "I am going to leave you unbound, break my trust and plan on being a human icicle."

[eCCioE]

"What is wrong with you? I asked you, what do you want! Who's your client? What does he want from me? Why would someone want me?" Elena asked from the man. She looked into his eyes, waiting for the answers. Probably he wasn't allowed to do that, but she still wanted the answers. It seemed a bit weird, that someone wanted the Madame Alerva, not the Alerva Queen. Or was it the plan?

Indeed, capturing the Madame Alerva meaned, that the Alerva matriarch lost a successor. Maybe they wanted to kidnap Elena's young sister too? If they did so, their mother would be left without a heir and the Alerva family would fall.

[Zer0ic]

   "Nothing, I just liked getting paid," answering the first of her list of questions. "The client, I am not sure. Maybe you know him. He is about this tall, has brown hair, blue eyes, and is a half-elf." Dovan paused to think if he could provide more information. "Maybe, a ransom for money or to secure a high political position, personally I don't care," he continued. "Well, do I have to state the obvious? You're the Alerva Queen, are you not," he asked sarcastically.

   To his surprise she should her head no. "You are Elena Marianna Alerva, the Queen of the Alerva family." She continued to shake no. Maybe he was a fool to think the drunk gave him the right information.

   "Well, if you're not the Queen, I am selling you to a slave trader," he said while trying to hide his smirk.

[eCCioE]

"How much do you want?" Elena asked. It was all. She replied to the man with a single, short sentence. Their family had money. They had land. They had everything. And she just needed to know, how much does the man want.

[Zer0ic]

   "Nope, you are being sold," he reinforced.

   "You're not the Queen, so to cut loose ends I will sell you. Then, proceed to snatching your mother." He took in a long deep breath and said, "You only have one other option. And, I am being serious. I'll drop you off in the Serha Plains instead of selling you. If you can tell me how I can get your mother."

[eCCioE]

"You can't. My mother is too busy helping those who need help. Even I don't know where she is at the moment. Probably she's wandering around Summervale or maybe even around the whole Serendipity. I don't know," Elena told to the kidnapper. Maybe someone would've thought she is lying, but she actually told the truth. The Alerva Queen never stayed in one location, because otherwise, the rulers of Serendipity would've seen their kindness and wealth and most likely would've granted them nobility.

"If you really want to find my mother, you will have to do it yourself. It may take years and maybe she dies before you find her and then I get the throne of Alerva. I don't know. But I am not helping you." She was really stubborn and didn't want any troubles to her mother.

"Where are you from?" she asked instead of telling the man any more information.

[Zer0ic]

   He picked her up over his shoulder and answered, "The grave, but if you really must know, I was born and raised in the Draconi Forest." He took off out of the town.

   She was extremely light. It was effort less carrying her. He wished every body he had ever picked up was this heavy. She made a pillow seems cumbersome. "You need to eat more," he said jokingly.

   "Hope you like slaving Adelan men. They can be rough sometimes." Like right now thought, considering he was Adela citizen. "I think you'll make a fine mistress in Ketra. Or, maybe you could be a prostitute at a local brothel. The possibilities are endless," he rambled on.

[eCCioE]

"Why do you think I will do it? You are all such idiots. Now I get it why my mother hates men. He married Viktor just to get children. She'll probably kill him soon," Elena said as she did something with her hands. It didn't seem to be magic what she did, but it might have been. Just... nothing happened.

"Why does he need my mother? She is not even important to the nation. She is just a woman. Just a simple woman, who helps people. Is that forbidden?"

[Zer0ic]

   The garrulous little woman would not stop talking. He was surprised she could even breathe during her rants. "Why her," he thought. Wishing she was a mute. The talkative girl was starting to piss him off, but he never showed it to be so.

   "Hey, quiet. Your fate is sealed," he told her.

   She attempted an escape with magic and he shook his head. "By the way, you suck at magic," he stated. The only thing she had been capable of so far was simple fog.

   "You remind me of me trying to cast my fire magic years ago. Couldn't do it anymore, but I learned other techniques just as powerful," he said, trying to start a conversation to prevent her from ranting and stop his ear from bleeding.

[eCCioE]

"Fire magic... who needs it anyway? We have so much other stuff to channel our energy to. Earth is very powerful, doesn't need that much energy... Air is really easy. Well, water is hard to use, but... We don't need fire at all," Elena argued. She had given up at using fire and now concentrated on other magic.

"Why do you want me to use magic? Do you want me to escape?" She didn't sound confused. She was sly. And she had a plan.

[Zer0ic]

   "I need fire magic. It is the life blood of my clan. And, I shame them by not being able to release fire. It is the magic of beauty and respect. Not that you would understand. You probably can't even cast fire as it is the hardest for humans to learn," he said spitefully.

   "Honestly, I wouldn't mind a challenge, but you won't be able to provide me with one. Lately my missions have been boring," he started to explain to her.

   Suddenly he remembers training in fire magic with his father. He hasn't been able to remember anything in the past 13 years and she caused something to click, but what was it? What did they just do or say to cause some memory to come back to him.

[eCCioE]

"Well, I don't like this magic. It's too strange," Elena commented. "I have never learned how to use fire. I have never made a single fireball. I can only heat up myself to huge temperatures. And nothing else. My mother thinks I should only use basic magic I'll get myself into troubles." She sighed and tried to make a ball of fire. She didn't succeed. And she was tired. Tired from the fog-making she did before and tired of shouting, ranting, trying to escape.

[Zer0ic]

   He felt sorry for her. "Hey, it's your lucky day," he said, stopping to placing her on her feet. "I am going to teach you how to truly use fire," his eyes lit up with excitement.

   "First, never insult the magic. Second, ignore your mother's comments." He took one of her hand and said, "In order to produce fire you need to feel your rage and focus it all into the center of your palm. You must show fire your courage and since air magic comes easy to you apply it into the spell to feed the fire, making it somewhat easier to cast."