Sinb was onto her immediately, terribly disturbed by the news, “What do you mean she’s missing? I was with her just a few hours ago!”

“We have no idea as well…!”

“You can’t expect to believe that. Yerin wouldn’t just disappear without any trace for no reason.” Sinb folded her arms, breathing in deep as she tried to calm herself down but it was obvious to everyone around her how agitated she was. It was taking up all her willpower to stay where she was and not rush off to look for the nymph.

“Excuse me.” Eunha intervened, stepping up seeing that Sinb wasn’t in the right state to be asking proper questions. With how much turmoil her mind was going through, as what Eunha could sense, it would be better if she did the questioning, “She was to meet the Queen today wasn’t she? Perhaps she’s just at the Great Tree?”

“N-no, she has long finished her audience with her majesty.” the oread replied shakily, “And she merely walked off after. After that, she had some duties that she needed to fulfill so we set off to find her but the entire region has joined the search until now she is still nowhere to be found.”

“Sinb’s right. Yerin’s never the kind of person who will shirk her duties like that.” Eunha mumbled, her tone grave as she realized how serious the situation was.

There was a long standing ritual amongst the nymphs, way before Yerin’s mother declared herself Queen, that the leader of their region was someone chosen by all of their kind. And that chosen nymph was said to be the life of the entire region.

The duties that the oread spoke of was the ritual wherein Yerin has to make an offering to the land for the land to provide them a good harvest in return. It affected not only the land of the nymphs but also that of the others, so the nymphs were actually a large asset to the entire realm.

With Yerin missing, it would mean a missing monthly offering and the longer it continued meant the impending loss of bountiful harvest and a slow and silent death of their land.

Yerin was an extremely responsible woman and the last thing she would ever want to do was put her people in danger. And thus, abandoning her duties that involved the entire realm was very unlike her.

“Sinb, we need to do something about this.”

The elven army leader didn’t need to be told twice, calling over all elves and giving orders without skipping a beat, “I want all of you to search every nook and cranny of our region. The nymphs have already handled their side, so focus all your search towards the other regions.”

“Have you checked the Great Tree?” Eunha asked the oread who nodded.

“We’ve searched everywhere, even asked the oracle’s help. But the oracle merely said that she is nowhere amongst the nymphs.”

Eunha stared in surprise upon hearing that they actually asked the help of their oracle. Given this was a serious situation, she shouldn’t be wondering, but the oracle’s words were as accurate as Sinb’s arrows are, and the price for each consultation was paying half of your life just for the answer to one question.

It goes to show just how important Yerin is to them and how grave the situation was.

“What were her exact words?” Eunha asked.

“I– I remember her saying, ‘Your leader is no longer with her kind’.”

“And she didn’t say anything else?” Sinb asked, disappointed when the oread shook her head.

“You go and join the search Sinb, I’ll go ask for Sojung’s help.”

“Right. Thanks Eunha.”

With a bright flash, the fairy was gone, Sinb averting her eyes from the light. After giving her people further orders, she watched as they scattered, heading towards various areas while the rest went off to inform the other elves concerning the matter.

“Hey.” Sinb called for the mountain nymph’s attention, who immediately responded to her call.

“Yes?”

“Allow me passage to the Great Tree.”

The oread seemed surprised at the request, “B-But we’ve searched every place and milady was nowhere to be found.”

“I heard you the first time.” Sinb said, beginning to walk forward, “That’s not the reason why I asked in the first place.”

The doors to the throne room burst open as a strong gale pushed forth within the room. The tapestries hanging on the walls were ripped off from the walls and thrown out of their positions as the wind reached them, scattering them everywhere.

Despite this, the Queen remained unfazed.

Instead, her gaze focused on the figure marching towards her with a bow in hand and her eyes glowing silver, a showcase of the power that she held.

“For the elven army leader to grace me with her presence… To what do I owe this pleasure?”

“I’m not here for pleasantries.” Sinb nearly growled as the winds around began to pick up once more, “Where’s Yerin?”

“I do not kno–”

“There’s no way you don’t know!” she yelled, angrily clutching the bow in her hand, “Where’s Yerin? Where did you take her!?”

“No matter how many times you ask me, elf, I do not have the answer you seek.” she responded calmly, even with the winds already getting close to being strong enough to tear their skin.

“You’re lying.”

“I don’t expect you to believe me.”

Sinb grit her teeth, raising her bow as she pulled on the string. In response, a silver arrow materialized in Sinb’s hand and in silent rage she let it loose, the arrow embedding itself on the spot a mere inch away from the queen’s face.

“Where’s Yerin?” Sinb spoke, “And you better answer because this will be your last chance to do so.”

She didn't even flinch over Sinb's stunt, “It’s not like you to miss your target.” the queen merely smiles down at the elf in a smug manner, further angering her.

Sinb pulled the string again, the arrow immediately loading itself as an answer to her call, her tone grim as she spoke, “I won’t miss this time then.”

“Okay! That’s quite enough.”

Before Sinb could comprehend, a hand was gently placed atop hers that held the bow, motioning her to put it down. She gazed to her right and saw Eunha looking back at her and seemingly begging her to do as she asks.

But Sinb didn’t want to.

“Don’t even try to stop me Eunha. I’m sure she knows where Yerin is!” Sinb exclaimed, pulling the bow string further.

“And I’m sure you know she won’t tell you if she did.” a new voice spoke and soon Sojung came within her sights.

The mage approached the throne where the queen sat.

“Put down the bow Sinb.” Sojung said.

“But Sojung…!”

“Put. It. Down.”

Sinb knew that tone anywhere. There was a reason why Sojung was the leader of the council after all, and that meant her powers were unmatched and her orders were absolute. Though Sinb’s never seen her fight for real, she heard rumors that their leader put down the witches without breaking a sweat, causing the conflict with the coven to end.

Sinb begrudgingly followed but her gaze still trained on the nymphs’ Queen sat on the throne. She knew something. Sinb just had to force it out of her, so why was Sojung stopping her!?

“I apologize for my comrade’s rudeness.”

The elf watched in surprise as Sojung bowed in apology, further adding to the smug look the queen had. Sinb wanted nothing more than to wipe it off.

“You really have no idea as to Yerin’s whereabouts?”

“I’ve said what I said, Council Leader.” the queen replied, as calm as she ever was, “I know nothing.”

“I see. Then we shall take our leave.”

“Sojung!” Sinb was quick to object, “Sojung, she must know something. Yerin can’t just disappear like that and I know that she’s involved in this somehow!”

“And what’s your proof to support your claim, Sinb?”

The elf took a step back at this, “I don’t…”

“Then this case is closed.” Sojung walked past her, “Let’s go.”

“We can’t just-!”

“Sinb.” Eunha spoke this time, “Let’s just go…”

“Eunha, we can’t. Please… Yerin’s out there somewhere…”

“I know.” Eunha held the elf’s hands gently in hers in a gesture of comfort. She could sense the number of emotions plaguing the elf’s mind like a dam suddenly exploding at the pressure, “I want to find her too, but let’s trust Sojung on this. Okay?”

Sinb shook her head, refusing to abide to Eunha’s requests. She just knew that the Queen was hiding something from them. Why else would Yerin disappear after having an audience with her? What did she do to her?

It took a long while of convincing until Sinb finally conceded, the elf could only hang her head in despair and nod to the fairy in consent before allowing herself to be led out with Sojung waiting for them by the door.

The mage watched as both fairy and elf exited the throne room and waited until Eunha had transported both of them out of the place before closing the doors behind her.

“Queen Ayla .” the mage turned to the throne once more.

“You’re still here Council Leader?”

“I’m sure you know I’m not here for pleasantries either and if I was given a choice, I would have let Sinb do what she planned to do earlier. But I will leave you with a warning instead.” Sojung said, her eyes beginning to glow a dark shade of red, “Yerin is a precious comrade, and if I hear of you being involved with her disappearance, then I can promise you that this won’t be the last time you will hear from us.”

Without bothering to wait for a response, a magic circle manifested underneath the mage’s feet and soon enough she was out of sight, but not before hearing the words that the queen spoke before she left.

"That child of mine... She is better off just accepting her fate."

the story's just about to get started ^^