Ellie's cheeks flashed a light shade of red for a moment as the smaller girl called her 'pretty'. [b][color=f9ad81]"Oh my. Nobody's ever said that to me before. Usually all I get is 'Wow you're really tall'."[/color][/b] She responded with soft laughter. It made her a little sour though, that nobody had ever said that to her until now. It's not like she cared very much about her appearance, but a compliment like that was more than welcome. She playfully smirked at Evelyn, [color=f9ad81][b]"Making you feel a [i]little[/i] shy? I thought you were being shy the whole time~"[/b][/color] The smirked turned to a smile when the girl expressed interest in moonlight. Moonlight was something that Ellie loved. She felt like she could stare at the moon for the whole night and all of her worries would just fade away.

[b][color=f9ad81]"I suppose it's a 'lazy' that I can tolerate~"[/color][/b] She chuckled as the dragoon fell asleep. The yawn was contagious, causing Ellie to yawn as well. She hadn't expected the dragoon to be so comfortable around them, but she assumed it was natural since they were brought together by what some would call 'fate'.

She was about to speak again when she heard shouts from outside, hearing 'Stafford' among the shouts. She hastily got up saying, [color=f9ad81][b]"I'll be back in a moment."[/b][/color] before rushing out of the library. By now it was late afternoon and the sun was beginning to lower in the sky. It was one of the messengers from the barracks, he looked exhausted. His eyes met Ellie's and he promptly ran up to her in relief. [color=39b54a][b]"Ma'am, we have news from the scouts."[/b][/color] Ellie couldn't believe her ears. [b][color=f9ad81]"From the scouts? We sent them out months ago. They were assumed to have perished."[/color][/b] She responded in disbelief. [b][color=39b54a]"One of the scouts survived.. almost. His last words were.. 'Rock Beasts.'.. Apparently they're headed toward the kingdom. I was told that this was urgent news for you, Captain."[/color][/b] Thankfully, there were no bystanders to listen in on their conversation.

Perhaps this is what they were meant to fight? That can't be right. However the sighting of these 'rock.. beasts' was alarming and it sounded as though they were heading straight for the kingdom from the mountains. Such creatures shouldn't exist, but the strange magic readings had a clear connection to them. Perhaps they were Golems? But those weren't meant to exist anymore with the disappearance of the deities... Or so the history books say.

[b][color=f9ad81]"Prepare the troops for an incoming attack. Be on alert for the next few months, we don't know when they'll strike, but I'm sure they will. I will be taking a small task force with me in order to intercept them, if you do not receive a messenger pigeon from me within a 5 months, assume I am dead and increase the kingdom's defenses facing north. Also.. Try keep this under wraps for as long as you can. We don't want the citizens to panic."[/color][/b] She ordered, before letting the messenger go back to the barracks. She stood there in the open for a while, contemplating how she was going to go about intercepting the monsters.