This Chapter took me long to write! God, writing the letter without giving things away was hard, and I wanted to write it in a way that would make a person feel something without knowing much.

So well, here's the chapter. Enjoy! Be sure to leave tons of comments!

>>Amber

I never knew Hael could read so fast. He was flipping through the book like a speedster and in the meantime I looked around the place.

In the round table were books about the Heros of Aurelia, mostly their autobiographies, or the autobiographies of their friends and groupmates.

The world has suffered many disasters that could have crushed civilizations but at the same time, heroes and saints were born to fight these disasters. These people who saved the world left behind their words.

These books that were present here were original copies, encased and enchanted carefully. The round table had a clear case that protected the book inside, half of that was removed for the time being, probably for us.

Many of these, although not all, are copied and are available in public libraries. Many have been altered in the form of novels to be read as heroic tales. Many made into plays and so on.

I turned around to look at The Tower Master while I stood near a wall shelf.

But the book Hael had in his hands, it seems like it's the only copy there is. Thus the reason why The King brought us here in this concealed place.

I wonder why though? Why keep this book here, concealed from the rest of the world. Is it because it talks about the rift? Or Hollow Woods?

I watched him flip through pages.

Hael had told me about bonewraiths emerging from the rift and going back in it. The elves who saw that wrote that the rift seemed important to them.

Well, if they come and go into the dark rift, there must be something there. I watched him read the last few pages of the book as he remained standing by the table while the King, who had taken a seat on a two-seater couch nearby, silently stared at Hael.

When he was reading the last page, the king chose to speak, "I had a feeling you'd know the language,"Matthias smiled, "You are full of surprises, after all." Hael hasn't told anyone about him being half elf and I honestly think he doesn't want anyone else to know either. We both glanced at the King, "So?" He folded his arms, "What's written in it?"

Hmm?

The King has no idea what's written in it? Yet he's keeping the book here? Or he knows what's written in it and he's testing Hael.

But this is elvish, does the king know the language too? Or did he have someone translate it for him?

I can't tell.

King Matthias is a mystery.

I looked at Hael, his slow gaze was stuck on the book. He flipped through the pages from the middle. Then stopped. Then flipped through some more and stopped again.

I walked back to him as I noticed he looked a bit defeated.

"What's wrong?" I asked. He had finished the book, so why was he flipping through pages again?

"There are pages missing here." He raised his head to look at the king while I went and stood right beside him, "There's nothing written here about Hollow Woods."

"What?" I frowned, "There's nothing?"

"Nothing important," He replied as he put the book down on the table, above the clear case, and pointed at the page on the left, "This is where the story of Dark Woods starts from."

Dark Woods?

His finger was on an ending paragraph, "And then," He glided his finger across the book towards the center, right where the pages are attached,

And I clearly saw a number of pages that were torn off. Matthias didn't stand up from his seat. He was sitting at an angle from where he could clearly see the table and what Hael was pointing at.

...

"And then this here." He pointed at the page on the right, "This is where it ends and the forest is referred to as Hollow woods."

???

"What?" I was only getting confused.

"And lastly," He flipped to the last page, "Are words written in the form of a riddle."

"A riddle?" I looked at him, "What does it say?"

"Not a riddle, but the words are puzzling because we're missing a major portion of the story."

He looked at the King and I turned to look at him too. Matthias sat there quietly but when he saw us looking at him, "It's a letter," He pointed at Hael, gesturing with his hand, "Go ahead, read it."

A letter?

Hael's gaze dropped back to the book, at the very last page, that seemed like it was attached separately

"One that resides in the darkness of the forest, deep under the ground, must remain in the dark.

If that thing is put in that dark place, there is a reason for it.

For if released, the world would know nothing else but chaos

And for the rest of the world, I have betrayed my world.

I broke myself for that others may live

I breathe but my heart doesn't beat

For all the power I had, I had not enough

I give myself away, but each night I suffer more

I made promises I couldn't keep. And I find myself astray

I think about it, and I wonder if I'll be free if I fall into darkness myself

Dear friend, I am lost. I cannot forgive myself and neither can I forget

I hear the screams, they echo in my mind whenever I am alone

I fear if I don't go, I will lose my mind

I am loved my many but my heart doesn't fill

Am I broken?

Have I failed?

Was I lied to?

I can't tell anything apart..." He finished reading but his eyes remained on the words for a few moments.

Woah

The letter seems a bit heavy. For some reason, it made my skin stand up.

"There's this thing." Hael kept his eyes on the last page, "The writing on this page is different from the rest of the book."

"Really?" I stepped closer to him and looked at the last page. Then flipped a few pages but I didn't need to look hard to notice the clear difference in writing. I looked at Hael, "Do you know why it's different?'

"The book was an biography of a hero," He said

"Which Hero?" I asked

"Valenor," He stated the name quietly.

I frowned, "Valenor?" I whispered the name and thought about it, "Valenor," I had heard of the name before. I tilted my face around in many directions.

To the left

Above,

To the left again

And the more to the left,

Then straightened it up, Tilted it right and then straight again.

"Wait!" It suddenly hit me, "Isn't Valenor the name of the first king of Aurelia? I glanced at Hael, but then immediately after I looked at King Matthias.

"That's right," He said, "Valenor Aurelias was the First King of Aurelia. He started this kingdom." He pointed at the book, "And he had an elvish friend," Hael and I both glanced at the book, "This book is written by Valenor's friend. That's why it's in elvish."

Valenor had golden hair and is said to have a very soft look. He looked like someone who wouldn't even hurt a fly. His smile was like sunshine. The royal family today still retains his features.

"But, what about the last page?" I asked

"That's the letter Valenor wrote to his elvish friend, Vaerion, the writer of this book." Matthias let out a soft sigh, "After Valenor grew old and suddenly disappeared one day, Vaerion came to visit Aurelia. He gave this book to Valenor's son, Virgil, who was ruling the country then, and Vaerion attached the letter in the book too, at the very end."

"I see," I sort of got it, but also sort of didn't, "I get that Vaerion gave the book to Aurelia because it's a biography of the founding king of the kingdom, but why are the pages in it missing?" I stared at the king, "Well, rather than saying 'missing' it would be more appropriate to say they were ripped off."

Matthias shook his head, "I-nor my forefather have any idea who ripped the pages off or why? But there is one speculation that has been made in the royal family for generations."

"And that is?" I asked

"Hollow Woods became a thing right around the time Aurelia became a country. And Hollow Woods is mentioned in the biography. There's a big chance, King Valenor and his companions knew how it came into being and they also knew what was in the rift that's in hollow woods."

"Why wasn't the biography of King Valenor made public. He was our first king, shouldn't people get to know how he lived his life?" I was curios

King Matthis looked down and nodded his head slowly, "There are other stories of King Valenor, his heroic tales, but he never wanted his life to be made public, that's why this book remains in the personal royal library."

"Yes," Hael said, "Vaerion wrote about in the book that King Valenor did not want other people to know how he lived his personal life."

"Why?" I asked, genuinely curious, "Is there something bad in it?"

"It mostly talked about Valenor's early life, he had a childhood sweetheart, Persephone ,they were childhood friends who eventually became lovers when they were fifteen. And then it talks about how he got chosen as a hero to fight a war against 'The Bringer of Chaos'. It describes his training, how he became friends with Vaerion, and the other members of his party."

"Does it describe the war?"

"No," Hael replied, "I don't think there was a war." He looked at me, "Do you know of any war that King Valenor fought against some great evil?"

I thought about it. My eyes wandered as I wracked my brain for it, "No..." But I couldn't recall anything, "Was there really no war?" I stared at Hael, "He was chosen as a hero though!"

"You only know he was chosen as the hero because I told you, otherwise, you only know him as the first King of Aurelia, and a man who had done heroic deeds."

It was a blow, "You're... right..." I blinked in confusion, "Then, why was he chosen as a hero?"

"In the biography, Vaerion wrote that Valenor was chosen as the hero to save the world against a great evil that would take over the world and destroy everything, but King Vaelnor was so capable, he finished the war that never even began." Hael looked at the book, his hands sliding across the missing pages.

I stared at Hael's side profile in more confusion.

"I don't get it," I shook my head, "It doesn't make any sense," I looked at the king, "How can he do that?" I moved my hands to express myself, "How could he stop a war that never started?"

"That's the most crucial part of the book." Matthias said

"But all those pages are ripped off." Hael answered and I looked at him, "He and his party went into Hollow Woods, but here," He pointed at the last paragraph, "The name of that forest is dark woods, it was a normal forest then but it immensely dense, so much so that even sunlight didn't filter through it." And then his finger slid across the book, moving over the torn pages, "A lot happened here," And then he went to the page of the right, "And after everything is done, Vaerion called the same forest, 'Hollow Woods', because the place started to become inhabitable, started filling with poisonous fog, started killing the animals there as well."

We all stayed silent for a second.

This must also be why The King didn't doubt the news that came from the neighboring country. And the possibility that Miasma was coming from Hollow Woods

"And soon after Valenor came back and founded his kingdom, Aurelia." Matthias said and we both looked at him, "The missing pages makes one suspicious that Valenor and his party might be the ones who did something and created Hollow Woods."

A shiver ran down my spine as the words King Valenor wrote in his letter came back to me.

"Because they put something in the rift?" I asked, my voice coming out a bit squeaky.

"The name of Hollow Woods wasn't mentioned in the letter but it does seem like that Valenor was talking about the rift in there."

"Or they found the Great Evil or whatever it was, in there, and they chose to seal it there, or something along those lines." The King sighed, "We never got to know. All the rest is just speculation. And it remained as assumptions for years."

"But not anymore," Hael said, "It can't remain as mere speculation because whatever is in that rift is important." He let out a sigh and looked back at the book, "The most crucial detail of who the 'Bringer of Chaos' was, whom the war was fought against, and how it ended. All of it is missing." He closed the book

"But with how things turned out. It's safe to assume that the 'Bringer of Chaos' might just be in that rift." Matthias said, "Sealed away."

I felt chills go down my spine, "That's a safe assumption." And I had this very strong feeling that our assumption was right.

That King Valenor had found this great evil that was going to bring Chaos to the world and he chose to take care of it before it got out of control.

And thus Hollow Woods came into being.

Anyone who could read this book, would make this same assumption. But why did King Valenor seem so heartbroken in his letter to Vaerion?

Is it just me?

I feel like the words he wrote in his letter were full of hurt.

"Is there no mention of Bonewraiths in the book?" I asked and Hael shook his head

"None,"

"I believe that whatever is in the rift made these things..." The Tower Master said, "this is just a theory but since bonewraiths came out of nowhere and there has been no mention of them anywhere before. So it is safe to assume that that's the only possibility we have."

"That they were born or made in the rift in Hollow Woods." I whispered

"There's nothing else in the book," Hael picked the book up and placed it back in the table, "But it's clear that the rift in Hollow Woods is important." He looked back at Matthias, "When we go into that forest, we'll need another team that's ready to go down into the rift." He turned to look back at the King.

Matthias nodded, "It seems so," He stood up, "There is definitely something in the rift and I believe that is what King Valenor wanted to remain in the darkness."

"I agree," Hael nodded, "Your Highness, I would like to perform some experiments on the bonewraith that was brought from the forest."

Oh? So they retrieved the monster?

"You stole the words right out of my mouth." The King smiled, "I was going to ask you to come and see what you could do with it."

A team of knights went in and got the monster out of the forest.

Currently it's being kept in the dungeon.

"I want you to gather every light magic user as well." Hael demanded and the King nodded.

"I'll put out the command right away." He said, "We'll need to arrange everything fast. The Miasma has picked up speed. I don't think we have long before it reaches us."

Oh

The King's words were heavy

It seems that we are reaching the end. The end that I keep seeing in my dreams. I still have those visions in my dreams. The miasma clouds take over everything, the bonewraiths roam around freely, eating all the people like an open buffett.

A shiver ran down my spine

But most importantly,

There's something else I recently saw in my dream

I saw someone singing