Chapter 2: The legend of three warriors
“This way”, the short creature said to the trio, waving her clawed hand as a sign for them to follow. She began to walk through the village and the three beings, still confused about the world around them, figured that their best option was indeed to follow her.
Wherever she was taking them, they didn't get far when one of the people in the village got the mole-like creature's attention by gesturing her to stop with his free hand; the other one was occupied as the man was carrying a bucket full of water.
“Got some new recruits, huh, Nial?” the man said to her with a sly grin on his rather handsome face; he was a young man with a stubble beard, dark eyes and black messy hair, dressed in a simple and quite shabby tunic and pants.
“No, not exactly”, the escort of the trio replied and the tone of her voice gave away that she had no idea what was going on with the three strange beings. She shook her head. “Lady Ihtiriekko found them lost in the woods.”
“Wow”, the man whistled. “In the Forest of Cursed Cries? They had been really lost, then. Like, how's it even possible?”
“Well, at this moment, nobody knows”, the short creature admitted and shrugged her shoulders. “I'm taking them to the manor. See you around, Markon.”
“To the manor? They must be really exceptional guests in that case.” Markon raised his hand in the air. “Well, I'm not going to waste more of your time. See you, Nial.”
He walked past the group, continuing on his way. But the three creatures gave some last curious glances at the man. However, soon they focused on their new acquaintance again.
“So, your name is Nial?” the black cat asked.
“Oh, sorry that I didn't introduce myself earlier!” She seemed a little embarrassed and smoothed down the pleat of her dress. “But yes, people call me Nial. Though my name is actually Flamenial.” Then she instantly looked like she had already got over her embarrassment and smiled brightly. “Pleasure to meet you!”
“What did that friend of yours talk about?” the white raven asked. “About recruits?”
Flamenial waved her hand again signaling for the trio to keep moving. Once the group was on the move again, she responded: “This is the Village of Newfound Hope. This is a place where criminals can get a second chance in life. Most folks are human, like Markon, since their laws are different than with other races and can be… well, less severely punished for their crimes. But here are some other races too.”
“Like you and Ihtiriekko?” the black cat asked.
“Well, I'm a dwarf and come from a faraway northern land. Most of my people like to remain within mountains where we have built our homes. I'm the only dwarf here, which is quite understandable if you know my kind.” Flamenial paused for a brief moment, focusing only on walking. It seemed like she wasn't sure how to word her next sentence. “Lady Ihtiriekko, she is an overseer. Her kind are one of the most powerful people in this world. In fact, they try to keep our world safe and they have the closest connection to gods than any other race. Lady Ihtiriekko is the one who's responsible of this village.”
“Are you a criminal, too?” the raven boldly inquired.
“Oh, of course not!” Flamenial denied immediately. “I'm just lady Ihtiriekko's assistant.”
The three creatures were attempting to grasp all the information they had received. The world around them was still a confusing but also a very intriguing place. And maybe Flamenial would help them further to understand where they had ended up – and maybe even why, if they were lucky. So far their existence had been a strange one, like they had literally come to life at the moment Ihtiriekko found them from the forest. Knowing nothing, it was like they were little children that were unaware of the world around them. The only thing they were sure about was the connection between each other, like they had the same origin. It was an odd but also comforting link they shared and even though they were clueless pretty much about everything, at least they had each other.
Flamenial continued to guide the trio through the village and they were able to take a better glance at the life of the settlement while walking through it. They came across a handful of humans, both men and women, young and old, and the three creatures weren't the only ones giving curious stares at people. They also gained curious looks from the villagers, something that Flamenial noted as well.
“We are a close community”, she explained. “Everyone knows everyone. People are just interested in you, I hope you don't mind.”
“It's alright”, the deer-like creature assured. “We are interested in the people, too.”
“Well, you can certainly explore the village later”, Flamenial said. “But first, I want to talk to you a bit. And that is the best to do with a cup of tea.”
As they continued to pass through the village, the small group could eventually see a large building peeking from behind other houses and a neat line of trees. It was different from the rest of the buildings in the village, its window sills and roof were decorated with delicate and beautiful patterns. While the other houses were mostly white, this one was purple. There was a balcony on the second floor that would give a perfect view at the village. It had a grand veranda where the entrance lay; black double doors were standing tall. It clearly was a home to someone important or rich – or both. This was, of course, just one more wondrous thing to the three creatures and they looked at the manor with awe.
“This is where I live with lady Ihtiriekko”, Flamenial said brightly with a smile. “And I guess you can, too. I'm sure lady Ihtiriekko won't mind.”
Once the small group had reached the doors, Flamenial pulled them open, and this looked a little heavy task for her tiny body. She let the trio in before she shut the doors behind them.
They had come to a grand hall. Right in the opposite direction from the door there were stairs leading to the second floor. A beautiful chandelier which had sparkling crystals in it was hanging above the hall, the sunlight that was percolating from the huge windows made them gleam in a magical way. The whole place was decorated with portraits of important people of the past, forever guarding their home from their frames. Ornamental objects were also doing their job at brightening up the place, ranging from vases to statues of animals and mystical beasts as well as decorative weapons. There were two corridors going left and right and soon Flamenial started to guide her guests to the left one.
“Come here, please”, she said as she headed deeper into the manor.
The three creatures continued to follow her and their surroundings just kept fascinating them. All of this was so strange and new. Eventually Flamenial took them to a hall where a dark and tall wooden table was placed in the center of the room, numerous chairs surrounding it, and a couple of silvery candelabras standing on it. The table was well kept as its surface was shiny and one could see their own reflection from it. This of course intrigued the trio since it was the first time they could see their own faces. All three of them spent a couple of minutes looking at their own reflections and all of them felt like there was a stranger staring back at them. They were so occupied by this that they didn't even notice Flamenial was gone.
“Just… who are we?” the deer-like creature muttered with a low voice, but the other two could hear him. They could ask the same question.
Then Flamenial appeared back to the hall, but her return went pretty much as unnoticed as her disappearance. She was carefully carrying a silvery tray with four cups on it, containing hot beverages. She noticed how curious the three strangers were about their own reflections, being a bit confused by this behavior for a second, but then realizing the situation.
“You have never seen yourselves, am I right?” Flamenial asked as she walked closer with the tray.
The trio exchanged looks with each other, then nodded. The dwarf placed the tray on the table and sat down on one of the chairs.
“Please, take a seat. You can sit wherever you want”, she said with a smile.
Her guests decided to all sit on the same side of the table, next to each other – maybe they instinctively felt safer that way. Once they all had sat down, Flamenial shared the hot drinks with everyone. The three creatures stared at the contents of their cups and sniffed the drink. It smelled pleasant, it had a sweet scent that reminded them of a forest. The black cat dared to taste the beverage at first, taking a sip and licked her lips. The flavor was a little bitter, but it seemed like it had been sweetened by something. The other two soon followed her example and tasted the drink as well, all coming to the conclusion that it was fine.
“What is this?” the black cat asked after another sip from her drink.
“It's berry tea with a hint of honey”, Flamenial replied, seeming pleased that the beverage she had prepared was liked. She drank some of her tea before she started to talk again: “So… You three know nothing at all?”
“No”, the white raven said and all three of them shook their heads. “It's like… we came into existence only a while ago.”
“I'm sorry, but I just don't understand how you ended up in the Forest of Cursed Cries”, Flamenial stated, more as a pondering for herself rather than saying it directly to the trio. “It just… doesn't make sense. The whole place is cursed and it's filled with soul-devourers. One simply doesn't get lost in that forest.”
“Well, we don't know how we got there”, the deer-like creature said. “Our consciousness began to work only after Ihtiriekko woke us up.”
“Huh, is that so…” Flamenial looked very thoughtful for a moment, even her whiskers trembled a bit. “I suppose lady Ihtiriekko may know something more since she was there.”
“Why don't we ask her?” the black cat inquired. “Where did she go, anyway?”
“I… I think it's best to not bother her right now”, Flamenial responded, seeming a bit nervous all of a sudden. “She's probably meditating currently and shouldn't be disturbed. It's an overseer thing, I can't really explain it. But I'm having a hunch that finding you from the forest has stirred something within her. You're not ordinary beings.”
“Not ordinary, huh…” the deer-like creature said quietly, staring at the contents of his cup as if he could find some sort of revelation from there.
He wasn't sure what "ordinary" even meant. He and the other two had no idea what could be considered as regular in this world. The white raven and the black cat looked at him, probably sharing the same kind of thoughts as he did. None of them spoke for a while, they just drank their tea in silence.
Flamenial remained thoughtful for a moment as well, but soon decided to steer the conversation to a different direction. “You know, you sort of remind me of an old legend.”
This piqued the interest of the trio and they looked at her, eager to hear more. Their attention made the dwarf glad.
“There were once great three warriors”, Flamenial started to tell the story. “Mengkai, a powerful warrior monk from the east, Kelith, a magnificent spellcaster from the north and Raiica, a fierce blademaster from the west. They joined together in order to annihilate a demon lord Pheleos that attempted to take over a human kingdom in the north, planning to spread his influence from there. Now, demons can be very powerful and dangerous, they don't have souls so they try to steal them from others, even the weakest demons are doing this. But Pheleos was mightier than most of his kind, making it hard to defeat him. The humans had an army that fought against his dark forces, but to take him down, they needed someone powerful. That's where Mengkai, Kelith and Raiica came into picture. Bravely they rose against him before he would become too powerful and managed to vanquish him. They became celebrated heroes in the region and even to this day, young warriors visit their graves in hopes of getting their blessing. Like I told you before, I come from the north so this story is well-known there. But in other regions, it's not that popular. I guess every place has their own heroes, though.”
Flamenial paused for a moment, sinking into her thoughts. The three creatures drank their tea and waited for her to speak again.
The dwarf tilted her head slightly as she examined the trio with her big green eyes. “You don't have names, right?”
All three shook their heads.
“Well, how about I name you after the three warriors in the legend?” Flamenial asked as a smile conquered her face again.
The trio exchanged looks with each other, this time with clear excitement. If they had names, they would be a step closer to becoming someone. They all shifted their gaze back at the dwarf and nodded.
“Great!” Flamenial exclaimed. “Let's see… You, green one.” She pointed at the deer-like creature. “You're the only male of your group, and so was Mengkai. I think the name suits you. And then…” Flamenial was bouncing her gaze between the raven and the cat. “I think Kelith would be a great name for the raven. And so, the cat can be Raiica. What do you think?”
They all had names now. It was an empowering feeling for the trio who had entered this world without knowing anything, without being anyone. But thanks to Flamenial, they had got a piece of identity.
“Thank you, Flamenial”, said Kelith. “I think I speak on behalf of all of us when I say that you have given us a great gift and we appreciate it.”
Mengkai and Raiica nodded. Flamenial couldn't contain her joy and was wearing the most radiant smile the trio had so far seen on her face. But it didn't last long and started to fade slightly.
“I'm terribly sorry, but I don't really know how to help you further”, she said apologetically. “I think only lady Ihtiriekko knows what to do. I'll consult her later. In the meanwhile… How about you get familiar with the village?”
“We would love to”, Raiica said, being sure that the other two were on the same wavelength as she was. So far they had just been following someone around, first with Ihtiriekko and then Flamenial, but now they could have a chance at exploring the world on their own.
“Great!” Flamenial drank the rest of her tea and stood up. “I'll prepare rooms for you. We don't often get visitors, so there's a few guest rooms available.”
The trio followed the dwarf's example by guzzling down the remaining contents of their cups so Flamenial could take the empty ones back to the kitchen. She picked them up one by one and placed them on the tray and began to walk away.
“I think you know the way out?” Flamenial yelled from the room where she had disappeared to.
“Yes, we do!” Mengkai responded as all three were preparing to leave.
While the trio was retracing their steps back to the entrance of the manor, they could hear a loud bang of metal from the room where Flamenial was. All three stopped on their tracks for a brief moment, exchanging confused looks. Was the dwarf okay? But they could hear, although just barely, low muttering with a colorful language. The three creatures assumed that she was fine and continued their journey out of the manor.
The bright daylight welcomed them as soon as they passed the double doors. Mengkai, Kelith and Raiica were all glancing in different directions, overwhelmed by the many possibilities they could do. They could feel a tender breeze caressing them, like it was greeting them to this world, whispering their new names. Perhaps they didn't have a past, or identity, but they were real and existed. Their fates were somehow intertwined, but they wanted to figure out who they were as individuals. And from there, their journey of discovery would begin, in the small Village of Newfound Hope.
