The War Of Gemstone: Owl & Flower
CHAPTER 1 Ch.04 Wise King and Witch of Fear

After hearing the stories circulating, and got news of residents and foreigners who are missing or found with unhealthy conditions. The Third King of Aruindale Kingdom, Andria Asternia, felt that these things happened not by chance, but rather the existence of a mysterious power that existed in the middle of the forest. The king then intends to make a ban on anyone entering or doing any activity in the forest. This was also true for the entire royal army, as well as the noble families not to disturb the forest. The forest will be designated as a Forbidden Area by the king, meaning that no one can enter the forest and even touch the trees and animals there on the king's orders.

The royal witch, Saulmandria, disapproved of the king's decision. He assumed, the power can be used for the kingdom, if something happens then he will be responsible. But the king did not want to face a power that he did not even know about. According to the king, leaving the forest untouched was more profitable than using it. Although he did not know whether the power was in his grasp or in the grasp of the enemy.

Once, the royal magician was curious about the power residing in the forest, he underestimated the power that made the king decide not to disturb the forest. The witch believed that her greatness and magic power could not be defeated by the power of the forest. He tried to look into the forest with his long-distance vision magic.

In his study, located in the tallest tower in Fengarium, Saulmandria cast his magic and then the color of his glowing eyes turned purple. The man looked at the picture of the forest directly like he himself was inside the forest. At first Saulmandria only saw dense trees that even sunlight was difficult to penetrate the forest floor. Suddenly his vision led to a deeper corner of darkness from the Baratrum-deep, dark chasm containing monstrous creatures.

The more he looked directly into the darkness and tried to penetrate it, but the darkness was endless like being in the void. There are no living beings, no light, no existence at all. A pair of blue eyes emerged from the darkness and looked back at Saulmandria which caused him to crash and affect his entire senses, forcing the magician to undo his magic. Saulmandria was thrown against the wall of the room very hard which made him faint instantly.

The royal guards found the witch lying on the floor and reported her to the king. The king was shocked and hurried, he was worried about losing his greatest magician.

When he reached his room, Saulmandria woke up and pulled the body of the king close to him with his cold, trembling hands, he whispered, “I saw him! I saw it, my King! The darkness I can't reach!" Saulmandria fell asleep for a week.

Saulmandria was a great sorcerer, who helped the First King in the Battle of Synthetics. One of his most famous stories is when he defeated a giant fire salamander, from which he became known as Saulmandria. He decided to serve in the Kingdom of Aruindale. Not surprisingly, King Andria was so worried when the witch who had helped his kingdom for many years, lay in bed for a week.

When Saulmandria came to his senses, the king asked him what had happened. Saulmandria says that there is a mysterious ancient magic that covers the entire forest. Unable to see his true form, Saulmandria suspects that the magic belongs to an evil ancient sorcerer awaiting his resurrection to rule the world. Saulmandria still felt the darkness that haunted him, he always had nightmares every night until he was too afraid to close his eyes. He also found it difficult when making potions or taking down documents because his hands never stopped shaking, he even used healing magic on his hands but only lasted a few moments. This is the result of his own arrogance that makes the witch suffer. It would take a long time for the witch to return to her prime condition.

After the event, in the town square, the crowd of citizens were confused and curious after the king wanted to announce something to them. A number of soldiers stood guard around the pulpit, some of them defused the crowd and told residents not to pass through the barrier from the iron fence that had been prepared.

The king walked gallantly into the square, escorted by his trusted soldiers who were ready to protect the king. The king of Andria stood on the pulpit, instantly, the entire crowd became silent, waiting for the figure they respected to speak. At that time, the king announced and inaugurated to all royal citizens the prohibition of any activity in the Owl Forest. Because life in the surrounding towns and villages was sufficient, so there was no problem for them not to enter the forest. In addition, the citizens put their trust in the king regardless of his decision.

To prevent the fear of the citizens, the king kept the events of Saulmandria secret to his citizens. No one disputes their king's decision or may fear speaking in front of the king, and when they are done they immediately return to their activities so as not to cause harm.

The rules and strictest care can not prevent human curiosity. There were still some citizens who foolishly broke the king's ban and entered the forest. Somehow they got past the guards around the city. The Andrian king, who thought the situation was safe and back to normal, received a report from the guards who found a number of residents who were found unconscious and spread on the Aruindale Plain. Like the previous case, they all lost their memories upon entering the forest.

The king of Andria once asked Saulmandria if there was any way or type of magic that could restore their memories. Saulmandria once used magic to recover their memories, but there was no effect at all. They still do not remember a single thing about the forest as it does not have such memories.

It has been 400 years since the announcement of the ban on entering the forest. The Kingdom of Aruindale was currently led by their Thirteenth King, King Arthemyar. Although his inauguration was too early, King Arthemyar was a brilliant and respected figure. Under his policy, the Kingdom of Aruindale became more prosperous, even though the age of the kingdom had reached 500 years.

King Arthemyar made the variety of flowers as their main trade item. The food, the fabrics, the embellishments and the most famous is the perfume. Can Snake Flowers extracted and mixed with Aromelis Flowers that have an incomparable sweet aroma create a perfume known to the farthest end of Alderia, this perfume is called Snake Flower Perfume. Although the aroma lasts long enough, but because there is a Snake Flower content in this perfume gives an itchy reaction that is very unpleasant if in contact with the skin continuously.

One of the kingdoms that established relations with Aruindale was the Kingdom of Barain. The kingdom is located east of Livadia, a mountainous region of Arian, far adjacent to the Owl Forest. Because of its location surrounded by mountains, the source of their wealth comes from precious stone and mineral mines.

The Barain Kingdom was also famous for their powerful and sharp forged weapons. A bit of weight but the strength exerted in a single swing was strong enough to cut through the armor. One of their famous swords is the Mountain Sword of the King of Barain. The thigh-sized sword of an adult human was said to glow in the darkness due to its blade made of Ausor metal. King Arthemyar even always ordered weapons and mineral rocks from them. The difficulty that the king experienced was only in the delivery of goods. If only the delivery of goods can go through the forest, then the delivery process will take faster.

After the death of Saulmandria, the position of the royal witch was replaced by that of her student, the young sorceress named Terenna Heliaphymia. She is a brunettes witch who is braided to a firm but gentle waist and is always excited when she discovers new things. Terenna always wears a brown robe and a pointed brown hat. While doing his work, he also always carries Saulmandria's wand, the Scepter of Azaryaha. Most of his time, he spent in his study to solve the mystery of the Owl Forest. To date, he is still conducting research to recover the memory of the victims.

Terenna is an expert in plants. He concluded that the Owl Forest had an older lifespan based on the trees and plants that grew around the forest. According to him, this forest grew before the First King built a kingdom on the Aruindale Plain. The magic energy that enveloped the forest felt extremely ancient and powerful. Even the darkness Saulmandria had written in his document records was very mysterious.

King Arthemyar was a little afraid when he saw Terenna who was too focused, he also did not forget to remind Terenna not to overdo the research and suggested to help him make the kingdom better than taking care of the forest. However, no matter how deep the buried treasure will be found. Perhaps this is the phrase that Terenna believed. The forest must have stored a natural resource or a new source of magic that can be used by him and the kingdom.

The mystery behind this forest comes from a figure that is far away inside the center of this forest. The place where the magic energy center that the Witch of Saulmandria fears. The place where the owls hummed the melody of the night for him. The place where the figure with a black robe that enjoyed the song of an owl sat all night on the branch of a tree with moonlight that washed its delicate face amidst the darkness of the forest. It is this person who has all the answers he wants. Only those chosen by the White Owl were accepted by him. And the unelected will have a very bad dream. This figure did not care about the story of himself circulating in the city. He enjoyed his solitude in the middle of the forest while looking at the moon.

Maybe someday the secret of the Owl Forest will be revealed or maybe not at all and remain a legend of this plains. A secret that has kept records for hundreds of years untouched by humans.