I approached the cottage with

  Isabella and Aria flanking me, unsure what to expect from this

  mysterious Elder Thorne. The doorway was small enough that we had to

  duck slightly to enter, revealing a surprisingly cosy interior.

  Inside, a single room served as

  kitchen, bedroom, and living space all at once. Dried herbs hung from

  the ceiling beams, their earthy scent mingling with wood smoke from a

  small hearth. Shelves lined the walls, filled with worn books, strange

  artefacts, and glass jars containing various substances.

  In the centre of it all sat an

  elderly elf in a simple wooden chair. His face was a map of deep

  wrinkles, silver hair flowing past his shoulders like a river of

  moonlight. Despite his obvious age, his emerald eyes remained bright and

  alert, studying us with unmistakable intelligence.

  I found myself wondering just

  how old he must be. In Professor Tiamatha’s biology class, we’d learned

  that elves could live for thousands of years—so long that they rarely

  died of old age. It wasn’t that they couldn’t age; it was simply that

  their lifespans were so extensive that most met their end through

  accident, violence, or disease long before time claimed them.

  For an elf to show such pronounced signs of ageing… he must be ancient beyond measure.

  “Welcome,” he said, his voice

  surprisingly strong and melodious despite his frail appearance. “I am

  Theron Silva, though most here call me Elder Thorne.” He gestured to

  three empty chairs arranged before him, as if he’d been expecting

  company. “Please, make yourselves comfortable.”

  Aria immediately claimed the

  chair to my right, turning it around and straddling it backward, resting

  her arms on the backrest as she faced the old elf with unabashed

  curiosity.

  Isabella took the seat to my

  left with characteristic grace, crossing her legs and arranging herself

  with the perfect posture of nobility.

  I sat in the middle chair, hands resting on my knees, back straight but relaxed.

  “Welcome to our humble

  village,” Elder Thorne said, smiling gently. “It’s not often we receive

  visitors from the circles proper.”

  Isabella raised a single eyebrow, the subtle gesture conveying volumes of surprise and suspicion.

  “Aren’t you afraid of us?” Aria

  blurted out, leaning forward on her chair. “I mean, we’re demons. Three

  succubi just walked into your village, and everyone else ran screaming.

  But you’re sitting here like we dropped by for tea.”

  The old elf’s smile deepened,

  crinkling the corners of his eyes. “And why should I fear you? You’re

  not here to cause any real harm.”

  “How can you be so sure?” Isabella asked, her voice cool and measured.

  “You released Elowen, for one,”

  he replied, gesturing toward the door. “You could have kept her as

  leverage, or simply for amusement, yet you let her return to her

  family.”

  I felt a strange twist of discomfort at his words. “Aren’t you angry about what we did to her?”

  Elder Thorne regarded me with

  those ancient eyes, somehow seeing more than I wanted him to. “Are you

  angry at the wind for breaking trees? Or rain for causing floods? Why

  should I be angry about demons acting according to their nature?.” He

  leaned back in his chair, hands folded in his lap. “Besides, you came

  here to satisfy your curiosity, did you not? Not to inflict suffering

  for its own sake.”

  The three of us exchanged

  glances, momentarily at a loss for words. How had this elderly elf so

  easily read our intentions? And more importantly, how was he so calm

  about it all?

  * * *

  “This place exists as a

  fragment—a shard, if you will—of my home, Arborea,” he said, gesturing

  to the small window where we could see the bioluminescent plants

  outside. “When the great war between elves and humans tore our realm

  apart, several fragments were cast adrift in the spaces between

  dimensions.”

  “And you maintain it?” Isabella asked, her tone sceptical.

  Elder Thorne nodded, his silver

  hair catching the light. “Through spirit magic. I’ve formed bonds with

  the elemental spirits that still reside in this shard. They help me

  sustain the environment, keeping it habitable for my people while we

  wait.”

  “Wait for what?” I asked.

  “For this shard to reconnect with Arborea,” he replied simply. “Eventually, this fragment will find its way home.”

  “So that’s it?” Aria threw up

  her hands dramatically. “This whole thing is only a result of some holy

  war in some mortal realm? Baaah!” She stood from her chair, stretching

  her arms above her head. “I thought it was going to be something

  interesting. Come on, let’s go continue our mission in the Second

  Circle.”

  Isabella rose gracefully, smoothing her clothing. “Agreed. We’ve wasted enough time here.”

  I hesitated, still fascinated

  by the old elf’s story. There was something about his calm demeanour and

  ancient eyes that suggested depths of knowledge beyond what he’d

  shared. But our mission to investigate the dagger was time-sensitive,

  and we still had to reach Glacius.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “I suppose we should be on our way,” I said, standing reluctantly.

  As we turned to leave, Elder

  Thorne reached into a small pouch at his belt and extended his hand

  toward me. “Before you go, young one.”

  In his palm lay a small

  amulet—a polished stone of deep blue, wrapped in intricate silver

  wirework and suspended on a simple leather cord.

  “What is it?” I asked, accepting the offering cautiously.

  “Just a trinket,” he said with

  that same enigmatic smile. “Something to keep as a memento of your

  visit. I have a feeling it might come useful one day.”

  Isabella scoffed quietly beside me. “Do not try to curry favour with us, old one,” she said, already moving toward the door.

  I slipped the amulet into my

  spatial ring, nodding my thanks to Elder Thorne. As I followed my

  friends outside, I couldn’t help wondering what was his real motivation.

  There had been something in those ancient eyes—a knowing look that

  suggested he saw more than just what was in front of him.

  The village remained eerily

  quiet as we made our way back to the path that would lead us to Glacius.

  The elves watched us from behind partially closed doors and windows,

  their fear palpable even at a distance.

  “What a waste of time,” Aria

  muttered as we left the village behind. “Though I suppose the look on

  that elf girl’s face when I threatened her was worth it.”

  I said nothing, my thoughts

  still on Elder Thorne and his strange gift. Something about him had

  felt… significant, though I couldn’t articulate why.

  * * *

  As we left the village behind,

  the bioluminescent plants cast shifting patterns of light across our

  path. I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something more to

  Elder Thorne and his community than met the eye.

  “Does anyone else think there

  was something strange about that village?” I asked, glancing back over

  my shoulder. “Not just the obvious fact that it exists here at all, but

  something about the elder…”

  Isabella nodded, her silver

  hair gleaming in the ethereal light. “I sensed it too. His aura was…

  unusual for a mortal. And this entire pocket realm shouldn’t be possible

  without significant power maintaining it.”

  “He claimed it was spirit

  magic,” I said, fingering the spatial ring where I’d stored his gift.

  “But I don’t think your typical spirit magic would be enough to maintain

  an entire ecosystem.”

  Aria rolled her eyes

  dramatically. “You two are overthinking this. It’s just a bunch of

  mortals who got caught in some interdimensional accident. Happens all

  the time.”

  I raised an eyebrow at her. “Since when are you an expert on interdimensional accidents?”

  “Since never,” Aria replied

  with a flip of her black hair, “but I have a talent for sensing what’s

  boring and what isn’t. And trust me, a village of terrified elves is

  definitely boring. Unless we’re planning to enslave them, which

  apparently we’re not.” She shot me a pointed look.

  We continued walking through

  the jungle, the path gradually becoming visible again as we approached

  the continuation of the transition zone.

  “I still think it’s worth

  checking out more thoroughly,” I said. “We could come back next week,

  after we’ve dealt with our business in Glacius.”

  “Ugh, fine,” Aria groaned,

  throwing her hands up in exasperation. “But I still think it’s a waste

  of time. There are a thousand more interesting things we could be

  doing.”

  “Like what?” I challenged, a smile playing at my lips.

  “Like literally anything else,”

  she countered. “The Pleasure Dome, the fighting pits, even studying

  differential equations with Professor Vox would be more stimulating than

  talking to more terrified elves.”

  “Tell you what,” I said,

  nudging her with my shoulder. “If you’re right and this turns out to be

  boring, I’ll let you decide our next outing. Whatever you want.”

  Aria’s purple eyes lit up with mischievous delight. “Really? Whatever I want?”

  “Within reason,” I amended quickly, suddenly worried about what I might have just agreed to.

  “No, no,” she grinned, wagging her finger at me. “You said whatever I want. No backsies.”

  Isabella chuckled softly. “You’ve made a dangerous bargain, Lily.”

  I sighed, already regretting my offer. “Fine. But only if the village truly turns out to be as mundane as you claim.”

  “Deal,” Aria said triumphantly.

  We finally emerged from the

  jungle, the bioluminescent glow fading behind us as we stepped back onto

  the spiralling path of the Transition Zone. Ahead, the passage narrowed

  and began to slope more steeply downward.

  “This is where it gets

  interesting,” Isabella said, her voice becoming more serious. “The

  temperature will start dropping rapidly from here. We should prepare

  ourselves.”

  I nodded, feeling the air grow

  noticeably colder with each step we took. The obsidian walls of the

  passage began to glisten with a thin layer of frost, sparkling in the

  dim light of our magical orbs.

  “How much farther?” Aria asked, rubbing her arms as the temperature continued to drop.

  “About an hour more,” Isabella

  replied, her breath now visible in small clouds. “The transition becomes

  more dramatic the closer we get to Glacius.”

  We walked in silence for a

  while, the only sounds our footsteps echoing against the stone and the

  occasional drip of water freezing mid-fall. The path widened

  occasionally into small chambers before narrowing again, always leading

  downward.

  When we finally emerged into

  Glacius, the temperature had plummeted enough to make me shiver

  slightly, even though I knew intellectually that the cold couldn’t harm

  us. The landscape before us was breathtaking in its stark beauty—endless

  fields of ice and snow stretching to the horizon, punctuated by

  towering spires of crystalline blue that reached toward the dark void

  above.

  “It’s beautiful,” I whispered, my breath forming a substantial cloud in the frigid air.

  “And deadly,” Isabella added.

  “But, unless there’s a blizzard, we’ll be fine, though I suggest we

  change into something more suitable.”

  Aria grinned, producing a

  bundle of clothing from her spatial storage. “I came prepared,” she

  announced proudly, distributing the garments between us.

  As we changed into the warmer

  clothes, I couldn’t help but marvel at how cold it truly felt. The air

  had a biting quality that seemed to penetrate straight to the bone,

  despite my body’s resistance to temperature extremes.

  “I don’t know how you do it,

  Aria,” I mumbled, examining my new outfit. “Somehow these clothes are

  still warm despite being…” I trailed off, looking down at the revealing

  ensemble that hugged my curves while leaving significant portions of

  skin exposed.

  Aria beamed at me, taking my words as a compliment. “I know, right? I have a gift.”

  Isabella smirked, adjusting her

  own ice-blue ensemble that matched her hair perfectly while doing

  little to conceal her figure. “Leave it to Aria to prepare clothes to

  ‘blend in’ that aren’t exactly letting us blend in.”

  “Hey!” Aria protested, twirling

  in her purple outfit that somehow managed to be even more revealing

  than ours. “There are some succubi living in the Second Circle. We’ll

  fit right in!”

  “The place we’re going to isn’t

  exactly known for its succubus population,” I pointed out, though I had

  to admit the clothes were impressively warm despite their minimal

  coverage.

  Aria waved her hand dismissively. “Details, details. Besides, we look fabulous.”

  With a collective sigh that

  Isabella and I shared, we set off toward Frostheim, our footsteps

  crunching in the pristine snow as we left the relative shelter of the

  Transition Zone behind.