Chapter 21: The Boy And The Hare[2]

After Alice finished she walked towards Xior and the guard escorting him. With each step he felt more and more familiar, she gulped and resisted saying Xior.

“I was not told of a human visiting us, today.” Alice questioned the guard.

“Yes Chief but his arrival was sudden and he wears the clothes of the Wolf Tribe and also has the bone necklace.”

Alice looked at Xior again, she sees a bone necklace around his neck and turns towards him.

“I’m Alice, the Chief of the Rabbit Tribe. For what reason did the Wolf Tribe send a human here?

And it seems you’re trustworthy enough to be given the bone necklace only their Chief and Vice-Chief have.” Alice asked.

“Chief Tharnak sent me, Alice.” Xior replied.

His voice pierced her ears and she thought her mind was playing games on her. She took another step forward, her head almost touching Xior’s chest. She looked up into his black irises, the same irises of the boy who once protected her, the boy she thought had died.

Every type of emotions surged inside her, her breath came slowly as tears formed in her eyes. She raised her hand and caressed his cheek.

“X-Xior?” She said as the tears flowed down her face.

Xior grabbed her hand and bent down, got on one knee and bowed in front of her showing respect.

“Yes, it’s me Alice.”

The confirmation was the final nail in the coffin as tears flowed out of her eyes as if she had held a flood inside.

She had blamed herself for his death, for the last five years she had been keeping it all in. She hated herself when she failed to protect the innocence of the boy. She couldn’t even imagine what he had been through to have changed this much.

*****

Xior sat across Alice inside her office. It was simple yet effective, a brown table behind it a chair for herself and on the opposite side another chair on which Xior was.

On the right side was an armor stand with a silver armor on it and a spear next to it and one the left side was a big bookshelf full of different books.

“I never thought I would see you outside of that place.” She said.

“I thought the same about you. I had only hoped that you would’ve made it out of the gateway to The Abyss.”

“Yes, I did. My people found me in front of the entrance full of wounds and barely alive.

I woke up inside the hospital, my whole body was in casts.” She said as she arranged the pages in front of her.

“What about Elara?” He inquired.

“I do not know. My assumption is that she was also transported to her home, The Elven Kingdom on the floors 11 till 20.

What about you dear? Where were you these past five years?”

“I was trapped in The Abyss….

For the past five years I’ve killed thousands upon thousands of demons to survive and find a way of The Abyss. I eventually succeeded some days ago.

I struggled in the start but I never gave up, because someone never gave up on me.”

Alice looked at him, he was just a powerless boy trapped in The Abyss all alone. But that was not enough to break him, on deaths door he understood the value in living.

A smile formed on her face, he was about the same height as her five years ago but now he towered over her. He had grown a lot, more than she did.

Just then two people enter the room, both of them are old and felt similar to the Wolf Tribe elders. They were the Councilors of the Rabbit Tribe.

“Xior, you can tell them the proposal yourself. They are our councilors.”

With a nod Xior turned towards them and said, “Greeting councilors, I’m here as a representative of the Wolf Tribe on behalf of Chief Tharnak.

The Tiger Tribe is causing us a lot of loss on top of the Dragon Tribe terrorizing all the tribes. My proposal is for the Chief of the Rabbit Tribe to write a letter for the Tiger Tribe urging them to release our people. I will take the letter to them myself.

And finally, we want to form an alliance against the Dragon Tribe. Higher floor entities are interfering and causing chaos.”

The councilors think for a bit and Xior goes out of the room to give them time for coming to a decision. He walks outside the building, the sun has started to set as the horizon turned red. He wondered if Elara was alive or not.

Seeing Alice reduced one of his concerns. After some time Alice came out of her room with the councilors behind her. In her hand she held a letter.

“Here, take this letter to the Tiger Tribe dear. I’ve included everything you mentioned to me.

Just know the alliance will only be formed if either they agree to let go of the prisoners or in the events of them resisting you taking care of them.” She says while handing him the letter.

Xior nods and turns to leave but Alice pats her shoulder. He turns around Alice put a small token made up of wood which is carved into a carrot in his hand.

“This is for good luck.” She says as she turns to leave.

Xior looks at her and then at the token, it felt cute to him and so a very slight slime formed on his face. As the seasons changed so did he.

He was indifferent and wanted to die, then he found meaning in living and now he had found people for whom he wants to live.

Xior put the token in his pocket and walked out of the Rabbit Tribe. His next stop was the Tiger Tribe but before that he had to go back to the Dragon Guild and check up with Becca.

In the night he ran through the forest arriving at the base of the humans on the tenth floor but in the distance there were faint roars as if the Tiger Tribe knew he was coming.

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