The King's Beloved

A lot of questions ran into Elliot's mind. But then, questions they'll remain if he just kept thinking. Finally, he decided to stop pondering and just do what he felt like doing - and that was to help the poor Griffin.

In a flash of green light, he quickly healed himself and cleaned the dirt on his clothes. Then, he jumped towards the Griffin and stopped mid-air, just a few feet away from it. He aimed his hands on its forelegs to cast wind and remove the arrows from its legs. He managed to lift them by a few inches but the Griffin felt pain again and lunged towards Elliot to attack him. Good thing Elliot was quick enough to evade the Griffin. But it didn't stop there, the Griffin kept on attacking and Elliot was left to evade since he didn't want to hurt it. He couldn't use a barrier too since his barrier has a counterattack ability that would also hurt the Griffin.

Rania tried to help Elliot by stopping the Griffin. However, it moved too quickly for her to follow and aim to. Luna tried to help, by using vines to trap the Griffin's uninjured legs, but it was too strong and simply lifted its feet to break out of the vines.

"Elliot, if you can, try to stop it!" Rania shouted to him.

Upon hearing her, Elliot nodded and looked for a chance to do so. The Griffin lunged towards him and raised its claws to scratch him. Elliot teleported behind it in an instant, aimed his hand on the back of the Griffin and "Stop!". Finally, the beast stopped and remained fixed in mid-air. Not even a howl or a roar came from its mouth.

"Agh," Eliot sighed in relief. "You're one rowdy beast".

"YAY! We did it!" Luna cheered and jumped in joy.

"You barely did anything, though," Ducis teased her.

Luna was angered, "Compared to you, I helped!"

Rania and Elliot glanced at Ducis. They were also curious why he didn't help and just stood on the sidelines.

Ducis breathed heavily before answering, "I … I can't help you inside the other Guardian's dimensions".

"Care to tell why?" Elliot asked.

"As I mentioned before, I am the First Gate, and only by 'me' shall anyone traverse the depths of space - this means I can help you travel through different realms and dimensions. But as the First Gate, it is also my duty to be your guide in this journey of travelling through the twelve doors. And as a Guide, I will remain. I cannot help you in any trial or adversity you may face inside it".

Elliot remained silent for a few seconds. "I still don't know why we should go through all these doors or gates at all. But I trust you have a good reason for this - when the time is right, of course".

Rania and Ducis smiled upon hearing his words.

"Of course," Ducis nodded. "When the time is right".

Elliot scratched his left cheek with his forefinger. "It seems … Rania is rubbing off on me, too".

Rania gently laughed. "I'll take that as a compliment".

Elliot smirked and turned towards the Griffin. He gently controlled it and laid it down on the ground with his magic. The others gathered towards the Griffin's forelegs.

"That's a reeeaaallly big arrow," Luna commented as she stared on the silver arrow stuck on the Griffin's legs.

Rania furrowed. "Yes, it is. And it must have hurt a lot, too". Rania glanced over Elliot to check on him. When she peeked over, her eyes widened. Unsure if its was just because of the enchanting forest, or it was really Elliot himself.

Elliot always had a way with beasts and creatures in the Forbidden Forest - even the monsters. Back when he was still a child, since he had limited places to go to, he would often wander inside the Forbidden Forest. Ideally, a child inside a forest with lots of monsters shouldn't be happening, so Ducis would always worry when he noticed Elliot was gone for he knew very well where he would have wandered off to.

But then, even as a three year old child, Elliot … was never harmed by the creatures of the Forbidden Forest. At first they would try, but as soon as they laid their eyes on him - stare at those gentle and innocent aquamarine eyes … they would all stop from attacking him. Then Elliot would close his eyes, and the creature would too. They would bow on each other, lean their foreheads on each other to touch, as if trying to communicate with each other.

And that same event was happening right now. Elliot stared at the Griffin and the Griffin stared back at him. Only a few seconds passed and the once fierce golden eyes of the Griffin tamed into a gentle and warmer one. Then their foreheads touched each other as they closed their eyes.

"What is this feeling?" Rania thought to herself. "Somehow, there's this … warm and fuzzy feeling inside. Is this what the Griffin is feeling too? Is this because of him?"

Rania wasn't the only one who noticed. Suddenly, the birds that were flying above them before, all gathered towards Elliot. Even the wisps, too, and the fishes in the creek. Luna and Ducis, too were drawn to him. And somehow they all looked … happy? And also, somehow, Elliot seemed to be … radiating a gentle golden glow all around the area.

Rania stepped forward, closer to Elliot, and the closer she got, the warmer she felt. She then reached out towards Ducis, wanting to know what was happening.

"D-Ducis," she softly called out while clenching her heart. She shook her head and asked, "What … is this feeling? What's happening?"

Ducis gave a warm smile towards her. "I'm not really sure what it's called but he's always been able to do this since young. All my time as a Guardian, and I've never seen anyone with the same ability …

An ability to tame any creature or monster …

Probably how he managed to win over me as well".

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