Elder Vyom stood beneath the largest tree at the center of Sylverin, waiting patiently for any sprite to bring him news. The ancient tree above him allowed faint rays of light to pass through its branches, scattering soft golden patterns across the ground. The warmth of that light touched his aged skin as he looked upward for a moment, lost in quiet thought.
Suddenly, the ground trembled slightly.
For a brief moment everything around him shifted from its place. Elder Vyom's feet staggered as the earth moved beneath him, but the old mage remained calm. Slowly he bent down and placed one hand upon the ground, as if trying to feel what had disturbed the land itself.
Far away in the forest, Maisie was struggling for her life.
Several dark sprites filled with corrupted energy had surrounded her. Even with the help of her six remaining sprites, she was barely able to keep control of the situation.
Maisie drew both of her long, slender swords and poured divine energy into them. With swift movements she began cutting through the attacking sprites. But it was not enough.
Every sprite she cut apart simply formed again moments later.
Maisie loved the sprites of this land. Even now she could not bring herself to truly destroy them. Because of that hesitation, she was unable to use her divine power properly.
A group of wind sprites suddenly gathered together and created a violent storm of air. The powerful vortex threw Maisie from her wolf sprite and sent her crashing into a nearby tree.
She grabbed the trunk desperately, trying to stabilize herself, but the wind was too strong. Her body was lifted into the air and thrown away again. Her sprites followed her, trying to protect her.
Maisie crashed through several branches before managing to regain control of her body midair. She activated her gravity magic, slowing her fall considerably. However, her specialty was fire magic, and her control over gravity was weak. Against the raging storm, it was barely effective.
The violent storm tossed her like a helpless leaf. No matter how hard she fought against it, the wind kept pushing her farther away from the forest.
She was about to collide with the rocks below when her wolf sprite suddenly appeared beneath her.
Because of that, Maisie avoided serious injury.
Even so, her body was covered with scratches and wounds caused by branches and violent winds.
Maisie spat blood from her mouth and struggled to stand. Her mind was filled with questions she could barely process.
"These sprites… they belong to our village. I have fed many of them with my own hands…"
She looked at her hands, remembering how she had struck several sprites while fighting. By pure luck none of them had been destroyed.
"I swore I would protect the sprites of this land… so why can't I save them today?"
Maisie suddenly began slapping herself repeatedly. With every slap she remembered each sprite she had attacked. Perhaps they had become like this for some unknown reason.
She should have saved them.
Not raised her sword against them.
Lost in these thoughts, Maisie completely forgot why she had come to the forest in the first place.
She had entered the deep forest searching for Lucian.
The deeper she had gone, the darker the sky had become. Sprites that normally never left their hidden places were now attacking her with terrifying hunger.
As Maisie continued blaming herself, a voice suddenly spoke.
"Maisie… what you are thinking is not wrong."
The voice was calm.
"But this is the wrong time."
"Here it does not matter who you strike… what matters is who you fight for."
Maisie froze.
She recognized the voice.
"...Maya," she whispered.
Her wolf sprite spoke again.
"You must regain your senses. The village is in great danger. We must capture Lucian somehow. I know where he is."
Maisie immediately snapped out of her shock.
"Where is he?! And why didn't you tell me earlier?!"
She grabbed the wolf sprite's face firmly and stared into its eyes.
"If you had told me before, I would have stopped him already! The village wouldn't be in this state!"
The wolf sprite looked calmly at Maisie's furious face.
"I know you are angry. But I could not tell you before."
"That place is far too dangerous for you."
Maisie froze.
For a moment she could not speak.
"What…?"
Then she shook her head violently.
"No. Don't say anything else."
"Dangerous or not, protecting this village is my duty."
She glared fiercely.
"And if you ever hide something from me again… I will kill you myself. Do you understand?"
"Now tell me."
"Where is Lucian?"
Her anger was overwhelming, even to herself. But Maya understood her better than anyone. She had been with Maisie since childhood and knew every emotion in her heart.
So she remained silent.
Maisie pulled the wolf sprite closer, angrily shouting at her.
"Child… I never taught you to use such words."
A calm voice suddenly spoke from behind them.
"And who shouts at their own sprite like that?"
Maisie froze.
Her eyes widened as she recognized the voice.
"Elder Vyom…"
The old mage stepped forward, brushing dust from his clothes. Maisie looked at him carefully.
His robes were torn.
His body was covered with wounds and blood.
Yet he still stood calmly.
Maisie's shock quickly turned back into anger.
She released the wolf sprite and rushed toward him.
"What are you doing here?!"
She shouted.
"Don't you know what is happening?! The sprites are attacking everything! The entire village is losing its magical energy! Even the barrier has weakened!"
Her voice trembled.
"I don't understand anything anymore!"
Tears filled her eyes as she spoke.
The place she had always called home was slowly collapsing into darkness.
Elder Vyom reached out to calm her, but Maisie slapped his hand away.
"This is all your fault!"
Her voice broke.
"You knew something was wrong with that Ravencrest prince! You knew he could become a threat to our village! Yet you never sent him away!"
Her eyes were empty as she continued.
"You watched him. Sometimes through sprites… sometimes by yourself."
"You even sent a small sprite into his room the day you called me to meet you."
"You risked everyone's lives just to learn what made him different."
Maisie collapsed to her knees, crying uncontrollably like a broken puppet.
Elder Vyom slowly approached her and sat beside her.
He gently pulled her into his arms and rested her head against his shoulder.
Only one sentence left his lips.
"Child… you saved your home."
Maisie had already fainted from exhaustion.
Elder Vyom lifted her carefully and placed her onto the back of her wolf sprite.
"Take her outside the village," he ordered.
The wolf sprite immediately began carrying Maisie away.
Behind him, another sprite appeared.
It resembled an crow with four wings.
Its voice was serious.
"Elder… the tree at the sealing site has completely turned into a source of evil spirits."
It paused for a moment before continuing.
"That tree is the true cause of everything happening here."
The sprite lowered its head slightly.
"Forgive us, Elder. Something like this has been happening for several days… but none of the sprites noticed it."
"And today… the change became terrifying."
Elder Vyom immediately understood what was happening.
Without wasting a second, he summoned his eagle spirit. Raising his hand slightly, he signaled the spirit to fly toward the underground chamber.
The sprite did not hesitate.
With a powerful beat of its wings, it launched into the air. Dust and loose leaves were thrown into the wind as the eagle spirit shot forward, flying rapidly toward the great tree in the distance.
That tree had once been the very thing that kept the sprite sealed away, its divine energy acting as a barrier for countless years.
But today—
That same tree had become a part of the evil spirit itself.
As the eagle spirit flew closer, the dark aura surrounding the tree grew heavier in the air. The closer it approached, the harder it became to breathe.
Corrupted energy began to creep across the spirit's body.
The darkness was already trying to consume it.
Before the spirit could reach the tree, Elder Vyom spoke again from below.
"Stop."
His voice carried through the wind.
"Go and help the children escape. This dark aura will slowly corrupt the entire village. If they remain here, none of them will survive."
"Go. Now."
The eagle spirit did not argue.
In the next instant, it changed direction and vanished into the sky, flying towards the village to rescue the remaining children.
Elder Vyom continued forward alone.
He had been flying before, but the dark aura in the air had grown too dense. Even he was beginning to feel its pressure.
The old mage landed on the ground.
Using wind magic to strengthen his movement, he began running toward the tree, moving faster than any normal human could.
As he ran, a heavy realization settled in his mind.
No sprite could help him here anymore.
The dark aura spreading from the evil spirit was too strong. Any spirit weaker than it would be seized by that corruption and turned into another evil sprite.
That was exactly what had already happened in the forest.
Elder Vyom continued running, his thoughts racing.
For now, the corruption had only taken control of the areas surrounding the underground chamber. Because of that, most of the village spirits were still safe.
But the spirits that lived deeper in the forest—
The ones that wandered alone—
They had already been completely corrupted.
And they were not weak spirits.
If this continued, the corruption would slowly spread until the entire village fell under its control.
That was why the children had to escape.
He could only hope the spirits and the remaining guardians managed to get them out in time.
Elder Vyom's eyes hardened as he pushed his speed even further.
"And today…"
"…I will seal it again."
"This is my responsibility."
A responsibility that had been passed down to him by every elder before him.
And he would not allow Sylvarin to fall.
With all the strength left in his aging body, Elder Vyom continued running towards the cursed tree.
Towards the guest house, where this darkness had not yet spread but had now blossomed, its changes were visible.
Lyra held the dragon book tightly against her chest with trembling hands.
Rainer was watching her from a distance. There was deep concern in his eyes for Lyra, but he knew why she was so worried. Still, considering the current situation, there was nothing he could do.
As soon as they reached the entrance of the guest house, the noise of the children around Finn grew louder. No one understood what was suddenly happening. Ever since they had been brought here from the meditation grounds, a strange heaviness had filled the air.
"This is all because of that Lucian!" one boy shouted. "He suddenly disappeared, and look what has happened to the village!"
Several other children quickly agreed with him. They believed that Lucian being "cursed" was the reason behind this disaster. The glow of the surrounding trees flickered strangely, rising and fading as if they were taking their final breaths.
Finn looked at the frightened children and spread a careless, reassuring smile across his face.
"Hey, you're all scared already! Look, this village is magical. The weather here can change in a moment. When I was little, I used to get scared like this too," Finn laughed, though there was no real cheer in his voice.
Even so, the fear had already settled somewhere in the children's hearts.
But Lyra was thinking about something else.
Her brother.
Ever since she had left him behind, a quiet worry had been growing in her chest. Lucian always seemed calm about everything, but Lyra knew the truth. Her brother Lucian was different from the others—he had no magic, no power.
What if he was trapped somewhere in this darkness, all alone?
The thought shook her heart.
She clutched the book a little tighter.
What if something had happened to him?
Just as the group was about to step inside the guest house—
Suddenly, the earth gave a terrifying jolt. At first there was a small tremor, and then—
BOOM!
Several children stopped walking.
Then the shaking grew stronger.
The ground began to split apart like paper. Deep, jagged cracks appeared across the earth. The sky, which had been blue only moments ago, had now turned pitch black.
The lush trees around the guest house withered in an instant, becoming like lifeless skeletons. Dark energy spread through the forest like poison.
"What is happening?!" one of the children shouted.
Panic spread instantly.
The children were terrified.
Some ran in different directions. They didn't want to scatter, but the cracks tearing through the ground forced them to move wherever they could.
Others grabbed their friends and tried to pull them toward the guest house.
"Stay together!" Finn shouted, but chaos had already begun.
His voice was firm, yet even he was struggling to stay balanced as the ground beneath his feet continued to shake.
"Everyone, calm down!" Finn shouted again and again, but in the chaos no one was willing to listen.
The children, terrified, began summoning their weak sprites.
Tiny spirits flickered into existence. Some earth sprites tried to close the cracks in the ground, but the dark aura absorbed their magic like a sponge. The sprites the children had summoned were not powerful at all—they were the weakest spirits in the village.
Even so, the little sprites were doing everything they could, lifting the children into the air and pushing them toward Finn, trying desperately to keep them safe.
The guest house was sealed and protected in a way that no attack from outside could affect it.
Yet somehow—
No one was able to enter it.
Finn clenched his fist.
A loud crack of lightning burst beside him as his powerful Thunder Reindeer Spirit appeared. Blue electricity flashed along its antlers.
Finn instinctively grabbed the creature's reins.
"Help me keep them safe," he said.
"Protect them!" Finn shouted.
The thunder spirit struck the ground with its hooves, sending bolts of lightning crashing into the earth in an attempt to push the dark energy back. But even that power was weakening.
The air had grown so heavy that Finn could barely breathe. There had still been no contact from Elder or Maisie.
He quickly began pushing the children toward the guest house, trying to get them inside as fast as possible, but the dark aura had already weakened the sprite's magic.
Rainer was trying to save the children who were about to fall into the cracks in the ground. It felt as if death could arrive at any moment.
Even so, with the help of some of his friends and their sprites, Rainer was trying to do whatever he could.
Finn could feel it too.
The atmosphere had become incredibly dense.
Even breathing felt heavy.
Something was terribly wrong.
And he had no idea what it was.
Neither Elder nor Maisie had contacted him yet. The strange anomaly had started ever since they had gone after Lucian.
Finn gritted his teeth and cursed to himself.
"Fuck."
Someone please tell me what the hell is happening to the village's magic energy, where everyone else is, and why I'm stuck here with all these kids.
Damn it.
Just then, a child was about to fall into a crack in the ground. Finn's sprite grabbed the child and threw him toward the guest house, saving him at the last moment. But several other children were still in danger. They had been carried too far away, and the smaller sprites were struggling to reach them because of the dark aura.
"Damn it! Where are Elder and Maisie? What am I supposed to do here alone with all these children?!" Finn's frustration had reached its limit.
In the middle of all that chaos, Lyra made her decision.
She had grown up in the comfort of the palace.
She had never truly faced fear before. But the love she had for her brother was stronger than the fear in her heart.
Lyra was trembling.
She knew what she was about to do, yet she couldn't abandon her brother.
The sky above had now turned completely black, and the violent shaking of the earth made it hard to even stand.
Fear filled her chest.
Lucian…
Her brother was somewhere in the village.
Alone.
And he had no power to defend himself.
Lyra swallowed hard.
While Finn was busy saving a child from falling into a crack in the ground, Lyra quietly stepped back and then ran toward the dark forest.
Finn noticed her almost immediately.
"Lyra! Stop!" Finn shouted, but she didn't stop.
Finn muttered to himself in frustration.
Is this girl crazy? What does she think she can do in a situation like this? She might be a prodigy, but right now she's just a child. Damn… what am I supposed to do? My tension is only getting worse.
The elder should have stationed more people here to help us. Right now there are only three of us who can even understand a situation like this—me, Rainer, and Maisie. And now Maisie is nowhere to be found… What the hell am I supposed to do?
Finn was completely frustrated.
He watched Lyra as she jumped over rocks and ran deeper into the dense forest—the very direction from which this strange disturbance seemed to be coming.
He shouted after her several times, trying to stop her.
But the girl was already too far away.
Finn was filled with anger and helplessness. He couldn't abandon the other children and chase after her.
He snapped his fingers, summoning a sprite that looked like a swarm of glowing fireflies.
"Follow her! Don't lose her!"
The small firefly sprite flew into the dark forest, becoming a faint light as it chased after Lyra.
Finn turned back toward the terrified children.
But he knew one thing.
The real trouble had only just begun.