The airship could not land directly on Haia territory. Freyja, Kirin and Alaric were dropped off the nearest town and from there, they had to travel by foot to the Kingdom"s borders. It took them almost a day of walking, before they reached the grand gates of Haia.

About a hundred ironclad guards were lined up in front of the enormous stone walls and iron gates.

"He is the Lord Runemaster his majesty is expecting." One of the guards whispered to the other. "Yes, and the other one is Lord Kirin Aethelmaer." While Freyja was expectedly unrecognized, Kirin and Alaric were identified right away. The guards welcomed them inside, after thorough inspection.

The moment they stepped inside, tension filled the air. "Something"s not right…" Freyja thought looking around the ghastly city. There is almost no living creature on the streets, and the ones outside are all wearing uniform red robes. They looked so creepy that it reminded Freyja of the creepy cults she used to see on TV. The skies too, are unusually dark despite having the noontime sun out. But what bothered them the most is Alaric"s strange behavior ever since the airship was attacked by the phreinian. Mustering up the courage, Freyja asked him. "Alaric, is there something bothering you? You look pale, are you ill?" Freyja felt his forehead with the back of her hand.

Instinctively, Alaric slapped her hand away. "Don"t touch me!" His reaction surprised the two. This is the first time he"s ever acted like this. Now they"re sure that there IS something wrong with him. "You b.a.s.t.a.r.d!" Kirin grabbed his hand, about to twist it, but Freyja stopped him. "Stop it Kirin!"

"I"m… I"m sorry, I"m just feeling a bit sick, that"s all. Sorry I took it out on you. Let"s get going." Alaric ended the issue with an insincere apology, before walking ahead. "Sorry Alaric, I must be really nosy, right?" Freyja shrugged it off with a laugh, but her worries escalated. Kirin and Freyja kept a closer eye on Alaric from then on.

~ o 0 o ~

The king sent a carriage for the three of them. In about an hour, they reached the castle of Haia, where the King Laike and his only son, crown prince Saike are staying. The castle grounds is about a fourth as big as the Aethelmaer Manor, simple, a few draperies and stone statues and not much decoration considering it is the residence of a king. The lack of lighting and ornaments gave the castle its eerie and abandoned atmosphere. After pa.s.sing through dark hallways, they finally reached the throne room, where they were welcomed by a loud argument between father and son.

"But Father, the people are dying! We can"t let this go on!" The sixteen-year-old prince of Haia, Prince Saike Harain shouted, earning him a crisp slap on the face. The king even pulled the prince"s short chestnut hair before mercilessly throwing him to one side.

"Silence, boy! As long as I am king, you have no right to order me!" yet again, he delivered another slap on the boy"s already bleeding face, as if they are totally devoid of any bond. "Please listen to me Fath—" The King didn"t even let his son finish. He ordered his men to drag the prince out of the throne room, and into the dungeon to receive his punishment for shouting at him. Freyja"s eyes followed the prince, her fists trembling in anger. She was about to run after the prince, but Kirin grabbed her arm. "Don"t do anything reckless." He reminded. "I know, I won"t." She sighed before the three of them paid their respects before the King of Haia.

"So, you are the amba.s.sador from the Runemasters guild? Master Arphad"s son, I see." The king"s maids wiped the sweat off the king"s soggy face and they combed his long chestnut hair.

"Yes, your majesty."

"I suppose you are tired from your travels. I want to rest as well. It"s a shame you had to see that." The king pulled a long, thick rope hanging from the ceiling and rang a loud bell that called more servants to his side. He ordered them to prepare rooms for the three guests. The servants bowed before rushing to do the king"s orders. Before leaving, the king eyed at Kirin and Freyja secretly. The two of them gave off an awfully familiar scent which he found displeasing, to say the least.

It"s night time and they were given three s.p.a.cious but rather simple and empty rooms. As soon as Freyja was led to hers, she began exploring each and every corner for traps. She didn"t find any, but she found all the things in that castle creepy. "Haia is supposed to be the center of all runes and spells, but I"ve never seen any rune-like thing anywhere. And even in the castle, it"s too dark and gloomy. So unlike Alaric"s place!" And then, the phreinian. "That phreinian on the airship, could it possibly be that they reached this world too?" Freyja was terribly disturbed. The phreinians, despite their long history of strife and rivalry against celestials, are supposed to be unable to traverse worlds by themselves. Unless of course, a celestial cracks the dimensional barriers and then they can go through. And even among celestials, only a handful has the ability to do so. As far as she knows, she is the only one of celestial lineage in that world. This leaves only for two possibilities: One, she is the one who caused the crack in the dimensional barrier, and two, there is another celestial who did it. For now, the former is the most plausible.

"It"s my fault. When I forced the portals open using the core of Celestia inside me, I succeeded in returning to this world, but it also created cracks in the dimensional barriers between other worlds. And the phreinians are now strong enough to exploit that crack and traverse this world. By any chance, does it have anything to do with Haia and that weird King?" Freyja thought, looking at a faraway town from the window. "There are too many guards outside the room. But I don"t think they can follow me from here." She looked out of the window, and then down. Her room is at least a hundred feet from the ground, and that"s something she can totally manage.

"AVICE!" Holding her medallion out, Freyja summoned the celestial guardian Avice to borrow his wings. She can summon a pair of wings for herself, but just like how one loses the ability to walk after not using the legs for so long, so as the ability to fly to a celestial.

A stream of aura gushed out of her medallion, forming a young teenage boy with long, platinum-blonde hair and matching yellow eyes clad in short, plain white robes.

"Lenfie!" Avice cheerfully shouted, hugging the girl. "Where will we go this time? I was worried you forgot about me already!" Freyja just smiled before stating her command. "Avice, can you take me to the dungeon? The only person who can answer me is that prince. Please keep it as quiet as possible… can you?"

"Anything for you Lenfi!" Avice"s body dissipated to a white stream of aura and encircled Freyja"s body. Then, wing-shaped aura formed on her back, giving Freyja the ability to fly, but controlled entirely by the guardian.

From the window, she jumped down, used her aurwings to fly around. She covertly searched for the entrance to the dungeon and alas! She found the dungeon"s entrance from the castle gardens. Only three soldiers were guarding the gates, making it easy for her to infiltrate unnoticed. Freyja pulled her short sword out, reinforced it with a bit of her white aura and swiftly attacked the guards with the sword"s blunt edge. She had to strike them a couple of times before they all fell unconscious. Freyja searched the guards and found rune-infused keys which she used to unlock the dungeon gates. She ran inside and found the wounded prince with his hands chained to the stone wall.

"Prince!" Freyja gasped, seeing him badly beaten that he couldn"t even stand. Freyja ran to his cell and used the celestial sword to break the rune-guarded bars. "Oh, my goodness, what did they do to you?" She took his pulse and held his forehead. ���We have to get out of here. At this rate you might die!"

"It"s you… the guest from before? Why are you helping me? My father will…" The prince weakly asked, chasing after his breath. Freyja cut the chains off with her rune blade before a.s.sisting the prince to walk. As soon as they escaped the dungeon though, the guards were alarmed and Freyja had no choice but to call Astrid to knock them off, and summon the flying dragon Avice to escape. Avice appeared, this time in the form of a translucent dragon-like beast with enormous wings. Freyja and the prince mounted on Avice"s wide back before he hurriedly fled away.

"The prince escaped! Someone broke the cells!" The guards were frantic, running around the castle. "He couldn"t have gotten far! Search the castle!" Unfortunately for them, they didn"t know that Freyja"s flying dragon Avice actually took them back to Freyja"s room high up in the castle, where they least expected the prince to hide. Guards were deployed to search the nearby towns under the king"s orders.

"Kirin! Come with me quick!" She ran to Kirin"s room first thing, and he immediately followed the girl to her room. She ran to Alaric"s room too, but he wasn"t there.

"Hold still Prince, I"m going to heal you. This might hurt a bit, but bear with it." She took his pulse, and quickly examined his wounds before doing anything. Although her aura"s capable of killing bacterial infections, she"s still careful in treating normal humans since they cannot tolerate her healing aura the way she could. She summoned Aria.

Yet again, a stream of aura escaped her medallion, encircled her hands, granting her the power to close wounds and mend broken bones. The prince winced as he felt his bones and muscles forcefully come together. Freyja began sweating quite a lot as well, as this feat is the one draining her aura the most. After minutes of healing the major injuries on the prince" body, the prince is finally out of mortal danger.

"Freyja, that"s enough." Kirin grabbed her wrist, instantly stopping her. "What are you girl? How did you do it? How did you break the rune-protected barrier?" The prince was too surprised to thank Freyja. But of course, Freyja went straight to the point.

"The truth is I want to ask you something. Please answer me honestly, can you promise me that?" She asked, looking straight into his eyes. The prince nodded, and she began.

"Was Haia like this before?"

"My father IS a very strict man, and he always wants things to go his way. But lately, he"s been overboard, that he orders such punishments even to his own son."

"Since when did he become "overboard?""

"If I remember correctly, a few years ago, I think. What really concerns me is that he"s been using the Haine Crystal for some spell. He"s even using living humans to speed up the casting! He"s forcing everyone in this country to help with the summoning of some… portal thing no one really knows about."

Kirin and Freyja looked at each other, wide-eyed. Then, Kirin began asking questions too. "Care to explain the details? I know it"s hard to trust total strangers but we"re here to help. Even our companion is acting strangely."

"The Haine Crystal is the source of all runes in Haia. It is the powerhouse of this kingdom. But, two years ago, my father suddenly ordered all rune activities to be halted, in place of a grand spell that will supposedly change the kingdom for the better. That spell, I heard, is a spell used to open a portal to another dimension. I don"t know why, but he"s using Haia"s Haine crystal, along with the lives of all the sorcerers in this kingdom as catalysts." Tears started rolling down the young man"s cheeks as he continued. "As the prince, I must do something… but what can I do against my father? You saw how I was thrown like garbage. I want to save the kingdom, but I am too weak!"

Freyja sighed loudly, cutting off the prince. She tapped the prince"s shoulder and smiled. "What a coincidence, we"re the same. Don"t worry, we"re here to help."

"Come to think of it," Kirin interrupted, "Why is it that only sorcerers and rune masters are used and not normal citizens?"

"Probably because of the difference in aura? WAIT—" Freyja stopped, realizing what Kirin was trying to say. Kirin nodded. "The ones who must be careful should be US, more than anyone. You, me and Alaric."

Kirin and Freyja had the same thing in mind, the reason why they were invited to Haia is probably because of the King"s interest in Alaric"s aura as a catalyst. Alaric is a renowned Runemaster, Kirin is the son of the Aethelmaer clan and just in case the King of Haia knows, Freyja"s white aura is legendary. They sheltered the prince in Freyja"s room that night, as they patiently waited for Alaric"s return. However, morning came and the young man was nowhere to be found. The prince insisted that he be allowed to return to talk to his father once again leaving only Freyja and Kirin behind. Again, they searched the castle and even the capital city, but Alaric was nowhere to be found.

"Alaric… where are you?"

~ o 0 o ~