Chapter 14: The Cunning Pack of Magic Wolves
However, the speaker had no intention, while the listener had their thoughts.
Hela immediately pictured their Majesty the Queen camping out in the wilderness.
This thought made Hela frown slightly, feeling a bit dissatisfied with Linis within.
But after some inner contemplation, she decided not to voice her concerns and instead changed the topic, saying, “Your Majesty, it’s getting late. You should rest soon; we still have to continue our journey tomorrow.”
“Mm!”
Airael nodded slightly and stepped into her designated tent.
Watching Airael enter her tent, Hela nodded at Celia and Aurora, signaling them to stay here before heading towards the Royal Palace Guards squad leader not far away.
“Hela-dono!”
The squad leader respectfully called out when he saw Hela approaching and gave a slight bow.
“You must be on high alert tonight. The pack of magic wolves we encountered this afternoon might take the opportunity to ambush us.”
“Hela-dono, rest assured, we have set up magic arrays for perimeter protection, and with soldiers on constant patrol, those magic wolves won’t stand a chance if they dare to come near.”
“Excellent!”
Hela nodded in satisfaction before departing.
After Hela left, the nearby Royal Palace Guards grumbled to their squad leader, “I can’t believe those magic wolves have become a significant threat outside. We’ve got our work cut out for us now.”
“What can we do? We have to protect her Royal Majesty! If anything happens to the Queen, we’d be in deep trouble.”
The squad leader sighed helplessly.
Realizing he’d inadvertently said something to dampen morale, he quickly patted the Royal Palace Guard on the shoulder with a smile, saying, “But there’s no need to be so pessimistic! This gives us a chance to shine in front of the Queen. If we impress her, we might just shave off a few hundred years of hard work!”
Upon hearing their squad leader say this, the Royal Palace Guard’s eyes immediately sparkled with longing.
Not to mention the Royal Palace Guard’s beautiful fantasies about the future, inside the tent, Airael wasn’t able to fall asleep right away.
She sat on the relatively soft bedding, resting her chin on her hands as thoughts about their upcoming journey crossed her mind.
At their current pace, they could reach the location of the Tree of Life by tomorrow night or the following morning.
Once they arrived at the Tree of Life, she’d need to seek out those reclusive treemen and persuade them to come forth to help the elves against humans.
Airael felt a little anxious about this.
She worried that her eloquence wouldn’t be enough to convince those treemen.
Besides that, Airael also had great curiosity about her own origins.
If that massive, thick tree was really the Tree of Life, it would mean her existence in this world might be connected to it.
Is she truly a product of the Tree of Life as legends say?
If her body is born from the Tree of Life, how did her soul come to this world? Is it also tied in with the Tree of Life?
These were all questions swirling in Airael’s mind.
She couldn’t dare share these thoughts with anyone, instead burying them deep inside herself.
In the late hours of the night, Airael finally succumbed to her drowsiness and fell asleep.
Outside the tent, it was Celia’s turn to guard Airael’s tent. Not far away, the Royal Palace Guards were patrolling in shifts.
Suddenly, a striking red magical light appeared from the distant woods.
“Incoming, quickly protect the Queen!”
This immediately alerted the Royal Palace Guards.
Celia quickly woke Hela and Aurora, and the three stood guard at Airael’s tent.
The awakened Royal Palace Guards rushed over and took up defensive positions around the tent.
“Ow-ooh!”
In the distance, a loud wolf howl raised their alertness to the highest level.
Those damned magic wolves were really following us all along.
Hela’s expression darkened considerably.
She resolved that when they got back, she would persuade Lady Linis to send troops to completely eradicate those magic wolves.
No matter how tough it was, these creatures must be wiped out!
Inside the tent, Airael groggily woke up.
Rubbing her eyes, she asked, “What’s happening outside?”
Hela replied, “Your Majesty, we are being attacked by magic wolves, but please don’t worry; we’ve spotted their ambush.”
Airael stopped rubbing her eyes at that instant.
Thinking of the ferocious magic wolves they had encountered in the afternoon, her sleepiness vanished completely.
Although she was awake, Airael found herself somewhat at a loss sitting on the bedding.
What could she do?
Right now, she felt as though she could do nothing but accept the protection of others.
This feeling was utterly terrible for Airael.
She didn’t plan on being a pretty vase or a good luck charm.
But the problem was, she could only choose to be a vase at the moment.
After a brief moment of panic, Airael composed herself and continued asking, “What’s the situation now?”
“The magic wolves haven’t made any further movement yet…”
“They’re testing our patience.”
The squad leader suddenly interrupted Hela.
Hela looked at the squad leader with some irritation but was more concerned about what he had just said.
“Who spoke?”
Airael inquired from within the tent.
She found the voice familiar but couldn’t pinpoint who it was, so she could only ask.
“Your Majesty, that was Iis, the squad leader responsible for protecting you during this journey.”
Hela shot a glare at Iis, who was about to respond, and replied.
Iis knew he had overstepped and could only reluctantly return to directing his subordinates to heighten their vigilance.
“Keep your eyes wide open, enhance your senses, and don’t overlook a single movement of the wind. Those cunning magic wolves will creep closer under the cover of night and strike decisively!”
Inside the tent, Airael took note of Iis’ words and memorized the name of this elf.
Time slowly passed, with the Royal Palace Guards and the lurking magic wolves staring each other down.
Facing the hidden magic wolves, the Royal Palace Guards didn’t dare let their guard down for even a moment.
“Ow-ooh!”
Suddenly, another loud wolf howl rang out.
Then, the Royal Palace Guards heard the sound of the wolves moving around them.
The sounds grew fainter and eventually disappeared.
“Don’t lower your guard; stay alert for tricks!”
Iis called out a warning.
Thus, the Royal Palace Guards continued their tense standoff with the empty air for a long while until they once again heard the sounds of wolves moving in the vicinity.
Those despicable, cunning magic wolves!
Many elves cursed inwardly.
Included among them was Hela.