SUNSET AT THE COVE
“Any news Gryff?”
Hydia’s voice was curious and distressed as she spoke to the man who arrived from Mossley a few minutes ago. Two people inside the meeting room were waiting impatiently for the agent to speak and wondering if he came with any good news about the missing ones. The dim light colliding with dusty air inside the pinewood room was demonstrating everyone like motionless statues in the mist. The sky turned flame red as the sun was about to set. The last rays of the sun were glittering through the wide-opened window and was lighting the part of the room where Nephilius was sitting beside Hydia. He also turned his looks towards the door eagerly by hoping to hear good news, as the long waited agent came inside.
It has been nearly six days since Davina and Stannia left the Cove to go after Rien. Everyone worried and was wondering about them since they supposed to return to the Cove long ago. Hydia already sent her agents to Mossley three days ago for investigation and the captain of the agents who has just entered the room, was not looking like he came up with any good news either as it was obvious on his dull looks and in his hopeless voice.
“I am sorry Lady Hydia, but we couldn’t find any trace of them”. The man answered her question by bowing down his head contritely.
“Did you consult our men at docks, Gryff”. Hydia asked again.
“Of course my lady. I and my men interrogated everyone. The ones at the tavern, workers, beggars, pirates and the shop keepers but none of them had seen them since they headed to the east coast after they landed at Mossley. We searched everywhere as well as the east coast itself my lady, but there were still no traces of them.”
“I can’t believe this really! You and your rangers assigned for searching about two people for three days and you are telling us that you couldn’t succeed to get any information about even only one of them!?”
Nephilius shouted out to Gryff’s face by rushing from his chair with disappointment. As he kept walking past him and he continued angrily;
“We are talking about Davina and Stannia here, which are, two of the most powerful fighters of the cove. While we were trying to figure out how they went missing, and you, the captain of the rangers came up with nothing! I really wonder how didn’t you gone missing there too with that incompetence of yours!”
“Stop speaking like you don’t mind but we are also talking about one more person that gone missing too Nephilius. .. Rien…. who is the actual reason for your preposterous attitude”. Hydia interfered Nephilius’s scolding with an unexpected argument.
“What? How can you say that Hydia while we are …”
“Silence…”
Hydia’s unfaltering voice ended Nephilius’s speech sharply and she stood up by leaving her velvet shawl over her chair and walked close to the window by scattering her hair with an uncaring posture. Nephilius was frustrated and lowered his eyebrows over his angry blue eyes by Hydia’s interruption. He was about to counter Hydia’s contention but he decided to suppress his anger and keep his silence as she skip past him by ignoring his disappointed looks, and began to speak with the ranger;
“Captain Gryff. Did you search the druid’s hut? ”
Gryff was looking glad about Hydia’s intervention and started to explain;
“Yes, my lady. I was coming to that part.” He continued by looking at Nephilius with a blaming stare.
“When we went to the east coast, we searched it, too but unfortunately, we learned that Enzo was not at his hut since five days. The strange thing was when we asked the fishermen around they said that they didn’t see him leaving his home. Because of that, I sent one of my men for searching inside his hut but he found nothing unusual or suspicious too”
Hydia’s indigo colored gown was shining like a jewel among the dust blurred air. She was staring at the setting sun motionless. Her silky white hair was flooding like a silver rain by the soft breeze blowing through the half-opened window while the reddened lights of the sunset colliding through her pale silhouette. Her thoughtful voice tingled like a whisper inside the room;
“I am not surprised that nobody has seen the druid while he was leaving his hut”
Hydia left the window and slowly walked near the oaken table in the middle of the meeting room. Her red eyes started to gaze over the region map that stickied wide open on the table, as she spoke the ranger;
“Thank you for your efforts Gryff but we have many things to do other than finding our missing comrades. First of all, I ask you to strengthen our watchmen at Foulglade Pass. There may be intrusions through there in a recent future by Rochdale forces since our spies at Rochdale informed us a few days ago that a group of pioneers moved out from the city to seek out our base. It is vitally important for us not to make them pass beyond Foulglade. Besides, I want you to maintain one or two of your men at Mossley for further intelligence in case of getting any news about the missing ones and Rochdale activity there”
Everything Hydia instructed to Gryff had the highest importance for the society. The main base of the society called as “The Cove”, was hidden in the middle of Gloomwood Forest which was accessible via Foulglade Pass. The pass was several hours far from Caelfall which was the closest town to Rochdale.
The Cove was located in the middle of Gloomwood peninsula which was surrounded by sharp rocks by the sea and was preventing any boat came close to the shore. That’s why the only proper access to there; Foulglade Pass had to be secured perfectly. The Gloomwood was an unexplored dense forest and infamous with its quagmires, dead end pathways and dangerous animals lurking inside which cause everyone hesitate to travel inside. This place was hiding the society since years and successfully guarded by the coven’s elite rangers who are led by Gryff. But with the rumors that spread recently, made Rochdale army to take action on revealing the exact location of the hideout which they were investigating for a while.
Hydia moved to the bookcase near the table and took out a full pouch from the drawer and continued;
“Take this Gryff, this will be enough for your further operations and for paying the villagers around Foulglade for their assistance. Since these people are on our side already, they will surely accept to deceive the Rochdale forces. If you need any kind of support or anything else, ask Gilda and get everything you want. Now you may leave, I will be waiting for your news”
“As you order Lady Hydia”
Gryff left the room immediately
Hydia went back to her seat at the table and while examining the region map, she asked Nephilius, who was pacing up and down nervously inside the room since Gryff left;
“What is wrong Neph?”
Nephilius stopped instantly as he was already willing to speak after he has been silenced and started to complain to Hydia;
“You asking me that what is wrong? Seriously are you kidding me Hydia? You just humiliated me in front of a mere inferior ranger a few minutes ago and now asking me about what was wrong?”
“Noone is inferior among our ranks Nephilius”, Hydia again cut Nephilius’s speech but with an unexpected anger this time;
“Even a villager, a beggar, anyone who is helping us is vital for our existence and is never an inferior. I forbid everyone to underestimate the people who are working for us or with us. That’s why; do not make me repeat my principals just for you Nephilius”
She stood up by trying to soften her tone; “I wouldn’t let you spit your venom to Gryff who is the leader of our rangers before you start an unnecessary and spiteful argument because of your inexpedient anger while we have more important concerns to deal with!”
Nephilius hesitated to speak more, after the last sentences of Hydia. She usually was a calm woman and it was a very rare experience for anyone to hear her voice that loud and witness her anger since everyone knew the consequences of angering her with an inappropriate reason. But he was still wondering why she was that unconcerned and neutral about the missing comrades and of course…the mercenary
Rien…
Nephilius was strangely wondering more about Rien than his comrades which gone missing after her. He couldn’t even confess this to himself that this fact was making him feel extremely ashamed. Rien was not someone he knew for years like Davina and Stannia but he was still feeling a strong pain at his heart whenever he thinks about her pretty face and the reality that she has gone missing. Nephilius felt like he was exposed. It was obvious that Hydia noticed his feelings about Rien already. He knew that she probably had something in her mind about this matter. Just at this time Hydia spoke like she was reading his mind;
“I wonder about her too, just as much as you do Nephilius”
Nephilius astonished with Hydia’s words as she came near him and hold his hand with a warming smile on her face and spoke softly;
“Did you really think that I would miss the way you look at her, Neph?
Nephilius felt relieved with Hydia’s smile and her understanding about his feelings. He was still confused about how she already figured out what he thinks and feels about Rien. Hydia’s cold hands were strangely cooling his heart which was burning with sorrow since the time he learned Rien was missing. But it was Hydia speaking there, the ruler white witch of the coven. If she wanted her, she would surely find a way to get her, that’s how Nephilius knew Hydia. That was what she always did about anything she had desired. As he understood that he was wrong with his attitude caused by his stressful thoughts he apologized;
“I am sorry Hydia…I overreacted, but I am just feeling anxious that we still couldn’t find anything about them and it is killing me to wait here by doing nothing. But please don’t ever think that I am not worried about Davina and Stannia’s fates. You know they are like my real sisters to me. I really wonder what happened to them more than everyone in the cove”.
Hydia walked and spoke;
“Don’t feel sorry son. It is perfectly normal for anyone to feel stressful about the people they care, just as I feel the same way on all of you. It also keeps me nervous to wait but any action we are going to take has to be at a proper time. I am waiting for one more thing to take action that’s why”
“And what is it Hydia?” Nephilius was curious what was Hydia waiting for since everything they did to get information about the missing comrades were futile.
Their conversation interrupted by the sudden entrance of a young man without knocking the door.
“That is it Nephilius” Hydia pointed the young man with her eyes and she was looking grateful with the sudden interruption which happened just in right time.
He was in a hurry and quickly removed his tattered robe and his headscarf which was hiding his face and armor. Nephilius recognized the young man immediately from his silver colored hair and the shining Rochdale officer armor he was wearing and greeted him warmly;
“Its been a long time Savion, where have you..”
“No time for chatting Nephilius, I have urgent news and very little time”. The silver haired young man was looking very nervous. He quickly cut Nephilius’s greetings not to waste his limited time and turned to Hydia immediately. He took a paper from his pocket and started to speak in a hurry by walking close to Hydia;
“Hydia, they already know about Rien and they probably found her. Here check this”
Hydia quickly took the paper, Savion handed to her and started to read everything carefully;
“Commander Liam, our special squad failed on their mission at Mossley. We found their dead bodies on Crescent Bay. As we search the corpses we realized that our men obviously killed by a sword but the warlocks body was shattered and burnt, likely caused by a powerful spell. The mercenary and the assassin was not there and we are still searching them. We suspect that it was the society who killed our squad but we couldn’t find any trace of them yet. I am sending everything we found here with this message. I will explain further details with my report personally when we arrive Rochdale as soon as we are done with our investigation and destroy all evidence about what happened here“
“Sergeant Mobren“
Hydia’s face became colder while she was reading the unexpected message. She turned to Savion as she finish reading and asked;
“When did this message arrived at the Rochdale Castle Savion?
“Last night a courier from Mossley brought this message. I couldn’t acquire it at that time since it was for Commander Liam personally. I was able to steal this from his personal room along with the other items sent with this message when he went out on a patrolling mission.This is the reason why I am that late, also, I brought the items delivered with the message. Here they are”. Savion took out a small red ribboned package from his bag and handed over Hydia;
Hydia asked Savion as she was carefully untying the ribbons;
“Savion, has anyone see you while you were getting these?”
“Do you seriously think anyone could? There is still nobody in Rochdale who can catch the lightning Hydia?” Savion answered Hydia with a smirk
Savion was the society’s best secret agent who also was a ranked officer at Rochdale Royal Army Base. He was an extremely talented agent despite his young age. His abilities and secret ways about espionage were still unknown by nearly anyone at the society. The mystery about Savion had started on the night he had been brought to the Coven years ago by the rangers of Gloomwood when he was a little kid. It was winter and they have found him unconscious and shivering inside a small cavern in the forest. He was terminally ill and tongueless that everyone had worried about this child and thought that he would die in a few days. But Hydia had taken him out the other night and didn’t come back for days. When she had returned to the Cove after three nights out with him, the boy was sane and healthy but his hair turned to silver. Hydia had never spoken about how she had cured him and where she had been for three nights.That’s why he was called as “Hydia’s Prodigy” by the people of society after the day he returned to the cove.
Except urgent and extremely important issues, Savion was never going out from Rochdale and visit the cove. Instead, he was always sending his reports and messages indirectly with his own ways and most of them were to Hydia or Nephilius personally. Now this was one of these rare times he visited the heart of the society which means he brought exceedingly important news.
Hydia’s expressions changed instantly as she saw the four pieces of a shattered stone inside the package. She was still examining the stones carefully without speaking. Savion and Nephilius were wondering about the explanation curiously that Hydia was going to make as she was still looking at the package like she was frozen. Eventually, she hardly spared the words from her lips slowly with a hidden sorrow;
“I was not wrong since the beginning. They really found one…This is Zoaphan’s Runestone”
“What do you mean Hydia?”. Nephilius asked but his main concern was not the runestone but the message. He was dying to learn what made Hydia’s face bitter while she was reading the message Savion brought from Rochdale. Suddenly Hydia handed over the message to Nephilius and started to speak quickly;
“Nephilius check this, I think they are alive. Rochdale already revealed our plans somehow and sent a special squad to capture Rien. But it seems they failed when Davina and Stannia interfered. Unfortunately, this is not changing the fact that they are still missing and as the message says there was one more person there alive…”
“That assassin.”
She especially emphasized when she was saying it like she was suspicious about that assassin’s identity. Then suddenly she turned to Savion;
“And Savion I would like to keep these stones but the absence of this gathered information would cause a strong suspicion among the Royal Army Authorities which may affect your situation there in a negative way, too. I can’t risk that.”
“I will be going in a few minutes but I want to ask something Hydia…What is this Zoaphan’s Runestone you spoke of? It sounds like it is something that really bothers you”. Savion postponed his depart to learn about the story behind this runestone.
“It was bothering me, but the person using this stone bothers me more than the runestone itself now. This is an ancient runestone which had been used for evil incantation rituals ages ago and doesn’t belong to our time. I already predicted that Rochdale was seeking for a relic like this when I heard about the expedition of mages, marched from Rochdale to the ruins of Klangarde. I was already informed by our agents that the royal wizards were departed to ruins to unearth and bring an ancient thing from there.But, dealing with ancient magic and ancient relics was not something Rochdale wizards or Magicians Guild would handle. But still, I had to trick Rien to cast an ancient spell on her as a precaution for protecting her from anyone who would manage to find out and cast the ancient spell they were looking for at ruins which was still an impossible thing for the royal wizards to achieve. Fortunately, I was not wrong with my decision about casting the protection spell on Rien. At first, I thought such an ancient relic wouldn’t be much different than a simple piece of stone at the hands of the people who have no ability to use it.”
“But I was wrong, at this part….”
Hydia answered and started to explain her concerns;
“At the message, it’s been mentioned about a warlock in Rochdale squad. I am almost sure that this warlock was the one there who knew everything about the runestone and had the ability and wisdom to use it… But, since the runestone shattered to pieces this means “Minfala’s Soul” spell I engraved on Rien’s arm activated itself and by using runestone on her, that warlock caused his own death since he wouldn’t predict she would already being shielded with another ancient spell”
“So that means all the effort for tricking Rien and engraving the ancient spell on her worthed, Hydia. But why do you still wonder about the warlock? Since the runestone was shattered and the warlock who used the stone died already, the only thing we have to worry about is to find Rien and others I think”Nephilius spoke as he was looking relieved and delighted after he read the news about the message that the missing ones were still not found dead.
“It is not that simple Neph. The greater threat is they had someone who is able to activate this. Because this person doesn’t belong to our age either. If the Rochdale expedition that went to the ruins, managed to summon someone from ancient times and capable of using this runestone , it means we are in grave danger”
Hydia was looking more serious than they ever witnessed before. She was in a mood like she is preparing to face with something that buried inside her deepest memories so many years ago. She wore her cloak and prepared to move out as she turned to Savion and Nephilius, with a sharp voice;
“Nephilius prepare the horses and ready yourself, we are moving. And you Savion; return to Rochdale immediately before the Commander realizes the absence of the things you brought, I will be waiting for your information about their plans”.
“Where are we going Hydia?” Nephilius was disrupted with Hydia’s hurry and started to prepare for the travel as Hydia answered him ;
“We are going to the ruins of Klangarde, Nephilius. Rochdale wizards did something there that they should have never interfered. I have to go and see myself if my assumptions are true. I think they are preparing to find and destroy the “Aggra Seal”.
Savion and Nephilius froze and shocked with the last words Hydia spoke. It was obvious the legend of Aggra Seal was not something mentioned only in children’s tales as she was seriously determined and was already preparing to move out for it.
“Stop fooling there, we need to go now”
They left the hall with Hydia’s order.
Heaven and Earth 