Re: Elf Prince—A Degenerate's Second Chance-Chapter 98. A Truly Inescapable Situation

98. A Truly Inescapable Situation

As the next day came the prisoners were notified that they would undergo the trial of fire heart and nothing more was said. This left them to wonder what might have been the case but there was no way to know. The three of them all sat at a separate corner of the cage all in deep thought on what the day would unfold to them.

Elise the cautious healer was filled with deep dread with her situation, she never expected to be imprisoned for doing the right thing. In a way she believed it to be retribution for all the evil she turned a blind eye to in the nameless head party.

Eryndor was busy plotting his escape if things went south, he could summon the ice fang dagger and fight his way out. With his magic and his allies it would be easy to escape but one thing still kept him there, it was his magic staff and sword. They were keepsakes from his uncle and he could not leave without them, if things went poorly he could kidnap one of them and ask them to take him to his stuff.

Ash only thought of one thing, what the trial of fire heart meant. If it was some type of challenge against the beast people he had no doubt that Eryndor would pass but the same could not be said for the blue haired healer. But he doubted it would be a type of physical challenge since he believed both he and Eryndor were strong fighters so it had to be something like a truth test, if so then he would be at a disadvantage. If things did not go his way he was prepared to kill everyone in the village and leave no witnesses.

A few hours passed with the inevitable dawning on them when a figure came walking towards them, the figure had bright orange hair and fox ears, she had huge orange eyes and a short orange tail that swung behind her. Eryndor noticed her tail to be much shorter than the beast girl he knew, even her eyes were slightly smaller.

Ash’s face brightened as he walked forward and said in a charming voice. "The flower princess comes to visit me yet again, I wonder if you came to bid me farewell."

The figure was Elze, Merylin’s twin sister. She wore a light yellow gown and was bare feet as she stopped just a few feet before the cage her eyes fell on Eryndor who was already up on his feet and looking right back at her. His beauty made her speechless for a few seconds before she finally spoke and turned to face Ash.

"You know I am not here for my own reasons, especially not after how we left things off last time." Her voice failed to hold back a distant rage.

Eryndor’s interest was piqued so he asked. "Last time?"

Ash gave him a side glance and smiled innocently. "I managed to break out last time and I used her as a hostage I’m still surprised she hasn’t gotten over it."

Now Eryndor was confused more than ever, he believed that if Ash managed to step a foot out of the cage his escape was all but assured. He wondered if there was a problem wrong with Ash’s magic when he unsealed it, and he suspected this to be the case. If not there was nothing that could hold him down.

Eryndor turned and looked at Elze who he found looking at him with strange interest, he remembers maids looking at him in a similar manner in the past but that was because he was a cute chubby child then and now he was twelve. He was sure he was anything but cute especially after all the harsh battles he had experienced. "And who are you?"

Elze bit her lower and thought for a moment before saying out loud. "Elze granddaughter of the village chief and twin sister to Merylin. I came here on her behest since the elders would strictly be watching her. I came to explain to you what the trial of fire heart ritual is all about."

The next question came from Eryndor and it permeated the air with a sense of confusion and pure stupidity. "Who the heck is Merylin is that like the great mage from books."

Ash gritted his teeth and barely suppressed a laugh. "You really are an idjit aren’t ya?"

"What did I say?" Eryndor asked.

Elze who was short of time started to explain the rules of the ritual. "This tree is called the world tree as it is connected to the natural law of magic in our world. There is a special ritual we beast kin perform, under the light of the trees judgement if your heart is clean of the accusation you will live and if not you will suffer a great loss. According to the books the penalty is a damage to the mana core making the user unable to use magic."

Eryndor was not afraid of the trial since he believed he was clean, the only problem he would have was what he would be accused of. If he was accused of violating the wolf girl then that would be a problem, otherwise he felt things would work out well. Elze was also in the same condition, she was afraid what would happen if the nameless head party was brought up. Ash on the other hand kept his thoughts to himself, a flinch could be seen in his eyes as his fingered twitched repeatedly giving Eryndor the intention that he did something really bad.

It wasn’t that they were innocent it was that they did not know what they would be accused of. This brought different thoughts to their minds, even if they could lie perfectly enough to pass the trial there was no assurance that they would be prepared for the questions that would be asked. If they would be charged with more than one charge there was no way to lie for them all and convince yourself and fool the tree that it was true it was a truly inescapable situation.