Episode 16

Ephesus was a high elven kingdom, and strangely the ruler was not an elf but was Vulpine. It's a subspecies of Elves and lives quite longer than other species. It's said that the current ruler has lived over 108 years and still looks astonishingly young. Being in the high mountains, Ephesus mostly was mostly covered in snow throughout the years. It was hard to march on such territory and thus had been out of wars for quite a while. But the main reason for them to not get involved in wars was their strength. It was well known to everyone that the beast-men were the mightiest in terms of the strength, but when it came to knowledge and magic, elves were the most powerful. In the many previous wars, many kingdoms used to seek knowledge of the high elven people, it was said that they held a formidable amount of information. But the ruler of Ephesus was the wisest known to anyone in the history of The World. After the fall of gods, the world saw a lot of chaos, in recent years it was at its peak. Due to the combined efforts of the ruler of Ephesus, Jason, and Evan along with one more Ruler; they were able to establish a peaceful territory. It'd been years since any foreign kingdom dared to go against these four, but these times were different.

As the convoy closed in, a shadow suddenly appeared at the front. "State your business intruders, if you wish not to be reduced to ashes." It was a high elven guard. "Inform Athena that her allies, Evan and Jason has arrived and the issue is quite grave," Evan replied to the guard right away. Hearing this the guard stumbled a bit as he was replied by the Ruler of Arboria himself. But when he saw the wounded people in the carts, he immediately realized it was a rather grave situation. He vanished before everyone's eyes and the carts started moving once again. In the back, Merida and Vivian were still sleeping as they were completely exhausted, even Jason was still unconscious, it looked like his injuries were quite grave. Theodore was talking to Nicholas who was helping people in the cart. It was getting cold outside, it seemed like they were getting nearer to Ephesus. Evan now came back to the cart where Theodore and others were. "Something is off, I've never seen High Elven Guards patrolling here. I hope everything is fine." He spoke to Nicholas in a lower tone. It was really suspicious as High Elven Guards were quite powerful individuals and they usually patrolled the inner regions. These guards being at the border was not a normal instance. "It'll be alright father, they must have gotten some information about the invasion causing the increase in security." Nicholas tried to comfort his father. "Perhaps, you should rest awhile, father. I'm currently feeling a bit better, let me go in front. I'll take it from here." Nicholas stood up saying this to his father. "Yes father, you should rest, we'll manage from here." Theodore also tried to join Nicholas but was interrupted. "No, Theodore, you should keep looking at them. They need you here right now. And Nicholas you are still not recovered, I am still fine and can lead us to safety. I'll be in the front. You stay here and do stay alert, report if anything happens." Saying this Evan stepped out of the cart to head to the front.

After a while, they reached the entrance of the capital city of Ephesus. It was a rather well-managed kingdom than a huge one. Every inch of the space was utilized to its fullest. The streets were lively, but today it was a bit different. There were few people on the streets and almost no shops were open. It was odd as usually, this would be the prime time for businesses like tavern and restaurants. Even the guild house was shut early. As they moved through the main streets, they could feel people's gazes. After a few minutes, they were already at the gates of the capital. To their surprise, there were already a few camps set up. There were a few people who seemed to be waiting for them. It was now really odd as they saw a huge crowd already being settled in the camps. "What happened here?" Evan asked one of the in-charge in a serious tone. "I really have no idea your majesty, but I have a message for you." "For me?" He was rather curious as he hasn't sent any notice notifying his arrival. "Yes, you along with your family as well as the Ruler of the Great Lake City and his daughter are invited. That is all that I know." Hearing him Evan was startled, not only that she identified who was coming but in much greater detail. He looked in the cart and turned to ask the person-in-charge but was interrupted, "Don't' worry about your people, princess Diana along with royal knights are already here to help them get settled, we are sorry as we couldn't make any better arrangements." Hearing him Evan relaxed a bit, "Umm-hmm, what you are doing is more than what I can ask for, I'll make my way to the Queen right away." Hearing him a few guards helped people to step out of the carts. After Checking on his people, Evan ordered his trusted knights and elders to keep it together and manage their people until he returned. After settling these matters, he along with others headed to the palace.

As they arrived at the palace, Vivian woke up. The first thing she saw was that she was lying on Theodore's lap, throughout the journey. She jumped with a cherry-red face only to bump in the roof of the cart and fell back from where she had jumped. Seeing her get up Theodore asked her, "Looks like you're up. We have arrived at the Ephesus, the Queen demands to meet up. Are you okay? Your face is all red. Maybe you should rest more." Saying this he placed his palm on her forehead to check whether she had a fever or not. This made her even self-conscious. "H… Hey! What are you doing? I… I'm fine okay! See?" Vivian pushed herself saying this to Theodore who seemed confused by her actions. "Relax Vivi! Your father is doing fine as well. The Royal Guards took him just a moment ago. They said there are some great healers here who will be able to heal him up in no time, we should help Merida to get there." Hearing this she realized the situation. They stepped out and along with two more guards carried Merida to the Healing chamber. Nicholas was accompanying them as well, he was insisting to stay with Evan yet he told Nic to rest and get better before he joins in.

After everyone entered the palace, Evan walked to the main chamber only to find out that Athena, Ruler of the Ephesus, Queen of High Elves, was already waiting for him. "I was worried to death when I got the news. How are the kids?" She asked him in a worrisome tone. "We are alright, but we had to run while leaving many people behind." Evan grabbed his fist. "It couldn't have been helped. We have a very grave problem waiting for us Evan." Saying this Athena led him to the chamber. As they entered the chamber, Evan's eyes widened. "Chloe? What the hell happened?"