STAGE EIGHT: The Prince of Runerich

Sitting on a windowpane high up in the top floors of the Runemasters' tower, a blonde, fair-skinned seventeen year old boy solemnly gazes at the clear blue sky. With his slender fingers, he combs his short blonde hair to one side, and lets out a weary sigh.

The tower houses the biggest archives in history and runes in the world. But among all these treasures, this young man loved one book the most—a children's fairy tale book, which he read every single day. And each time he would, a smile never leaves his face. To him, the imaginary heroine of the fairy tale is the closest thing to a 'friend' he ever had.

"Princess... when are you going to come for me?" He mumbled, his crystal blue eyes glued at equally-blue sky.

~o0o~

After 2 days of travelling by foot, Kirin and Freyja finally found themselves at the gates of Runerich city, the city housing the renowned Runerich Library, the seventy-floor high stone tower built by rune masters centuries ago, created and decorated with the best rune infused materials from all over the world.

But Freyja, had disappointment written all over her face. Since she collapsed, Kirin took the training bracelets back. She failed the second task. "It's not time yet." Kirin said, reading her thoughts. "If you rush something that's not yet meant to happen, you'll risk losing it completely. We have a job to do, stay focused." Freyja nodded.

Looking around, Runerich really is a city like no other. There's not a lot of people, but almost all of them are either levitating, riding flying boards, doing something Freyja hasn't seen in the past cities they've been to. She even saw this woman wearing a long dress on fire! And she seems not to feel any burn at all. Everyone is acting like it's a normal thing, even Kirin.

After spending a couple of hours in a local inn, resting, Kirin finally went out when it's dark. "Let's go Freyja."

"Why are we going there at this hour?" She couldn't help but wonder.

"Because I'm going to sneak in."

"WHAT!?" She quickly covered her mouth. "But why? Can't we just knock and ask them to let us in?"

"Of course they wouldn't. I told you this before, didn't I? This library tower belongs to the Runemasters' guild. You need to go through a long and troublesome process just to access a few levels. And even If you do get permission, the most important documents will still be off limits for sure." He explained, the two of them quietly walking through the quiet streets of the city.

"Besides," Kirin added, "If they see me, they'll kill me right away. And same goes for you since you're with me. So stay where I tell you to."

Freyja fell silent. An elite, world-renowned guild will surely know Kirin's identity. She knows that Kirin's clan is some sort of underground bigshot, he probably knows how to go about it than she does.

The city was way quieter at night. In just a couple of minutes, they found themselves standing near the gates of the library tower.

Freyja looked up, her neck almost hurting. It's even higher than she imagined up-close. Its walls are thick, it barely had windows, especially at the lower floors. Knowing how much precious documents and texts it houses, she's surprised there's not a single guard at the gates.

"Be careful." Kirin whispered. "From here on, will be hundreds of traps."

"Traps?"

"Yes. And they're not your ordinary traps too. So you need to stay here, and wait for me to come out. If after three hours and I'm still not here, I want you to head straight to the gate and run to the port. Leave Cewon and head back to Lunchian. Do you understand?"

"But why? I'll go with you Kirin! I need to look for Astrid!"

"I'll do that for you. Stay here."

"But Kirin!"

"Listen! What is this?" He asked, holding his hand up.

"Um... a hand?"

"You can't see it. As long as you can't see aura, you will die. Just now, I'm seeing twelve traps laid out at the entrance." Freyja squinted her eyes, but she can't see what Kirin was talking about at all. "You'll just slow me down."

Freyja sighed in defeat. "Alright. I'll stay here. Three hours" Kirin nodded and headed off to the entrance all by himself.

~o0o~

A small orb, the size of a palm, glowing radiantly with dark-purple light. "This is...." Mage Cliff, a six-foot tall blonde runemaster and high ranking member of the Runemasters' guild of Runerich, couldn't believe what he's holding in his hand. In his forty-six years of existence, this is the first time he's seen a 'soul orb.'

"As expected, from the next guildmaster." Another man, clad in dark purple sorcerer's robes appeared behind him.

"A soul orb. Its production has long been made taboo, even within the guild. You constantly infuse a part of someone's aura sample in this thing for many, many years until it becomes 'alive,' evolving into a specimen exactly resembling the aura structure of that person. A series of special spells must be casted through the years of its creation--- how many lives have you sacrificed to make this thing?" Mage Cliff is horrified, but his thrill overpowers anything else. Until now, he's not even sure such thing can exist.

"Guess who's soul orb that is?" the other chuckled.

"You're a servant of the Aethelmaer clan, aren't you?"

"That was quick."

"Then this has to belong to some demonically strong guy. For you to even resort to using soul orbs, this person must be really, really strong and almost impossible to control." Cliff squeezed the orb tight. He's wearing the best heat protection gloves and yet he can still feel the orb almost burning his palm.

"Correct. A fragment of that orb has been planted into the owner's body since he was a child. We hate to resort to this, but my master is pretty desperate." The purple-coated sorcerer explained. "His second son, Lord Kirin Aethelmaer must be returned to Hawsdark as soon as possible and we received reports that he's with the Lenfiare. I'm pretty sure we can all tell what he's up to."

"Astrid."

"Exactly. They'll be here soon. And we need your help to capture the two of them. That boy is very, very dangerous. So, what do you say?"

"As long as you keep the end of the deal, I'll do it."

"Of course we will. We never back down on our words. But I'll have to warn you, even with that orb, the young lord is very, very dangerous. I wouldn't let my guard down if I were you."

~ o 0 o ~

Three hours passed already. Still no trace of Kirin. Freyja waited for another twenty minutes, breaking her promise, he's still nowhere in sight. Freyja clenched her fists. She should run. She should follow Kirin's orders, she promised she would. But she's getting a strange feeling. She's suddenly afraid and uneasy. She knows how strong Kirin is, but she can't bring herself to take a step away from the spot where he left her. She still can't see anything at the entrance. And she knows that Kirin is not joking when he said she'll most likely die with her lack of aura sensing skill. Freyja started trembled, conflicted. She wanted to run, but she also wanted to chase after him. She doesn't want to die, but she felt that if she did run, she won't see Kirin ever again. Tears started rolling down her cheeks, still unable to take a step. "Kirin..." She called. "Kirin, please return already!" It frustrated her even more, remembering how she failed Kirin's second task. She's weak. Her weakness is the reason why she can't move.

"Freyja Lenfiare. What do you want to do?"

For a second, she thought she heard something again. Freyja looked around, no one was there, but she was sure she heard a voice. And she's sure it asked her what she wants to do.

"Alright." She took a deep breath, grit her teeth. She decided. Freyja closed her eyes and ran straight to the entrance. She closed her eyes, and just let her body move. "To hell with the traps." She thought. Surprisingly, the moment she opened her eyes, she's already at the tower's main door. But it won't open. She looked around for a switch or a doorbell, but found nothing. Until, the doors opened.

Freyja has no time to wonder why, she rushed inside and as expected, was quickly caught by a patrolling guard. Ignoring him completely, she ran as fast as she could away from him, running around, looking for stairs or an elevator. Finding Kirin is all that she have in mind.

"HEY! COME BACK HERE!" The guards were all alerted, and chased after her. She's lucky to be small, that she managed to stall them by crawling through tight and small spaces. But there's more and more of them, she's bound to be caught at this rate. Now hiding among stacks of crates, Freyja desperately thought of other strategies. But she can't think of any. She'll have to turn herself in and explain herself. Just as when she's about to step out, a young man, around Kirin's age pushed her back into hiding. His short hair is blonde and neatly combed to one side and his eyes are deep blue, just like the color of the clear afternoon sky. He's wearing an all-white ensemble of pants and shirt, and a cloak with embroidered gold linings, which very much resembled the typical outfit of the Runemasters in Runerich. To Freyja, he looked as if he came out straight from a fairy tale book.

"Shhh..." He whispered. "Relax. I'll help you."

~ o 0 o ~