Chapter 778 - APRICITY RIVER

"Apricity river?" Raine said, she immediately recognized this place and took a notice of how murky the sky right now. "Are we going back to the past?" she looked around her, yet it didn't seem they were in the past now.

This was village of angel, but in recent time. The last time Raine was here, was when Torak met the vampire.

"We are in Red River city?" Raine tilted her head to look at Serefina.

"Yes," Serefina replied curtly and then she talked to Hope. "Is this the place in your dream?"

"Yes, this is…" Hope watched the frozen river. "This is the place in my dream."

"The river is frozen again," Raine murmured she remembered this was the second time she saw the river was frozen. The first time was when she went to the past for the first time and met Aeon.

Raine grimaced. His name still left a big regret in her heart and a painful memory about what happened if she was not capable enough to protect the people, who dear to her.

"I don't even know that this place is real," Hope spoke in disbelieve and then she looked at the witch. "Why we are here?"

That was the same question that Raine wanted to know, even Lilac didn't know that Serefina would bring them to this place after what she told her about Hope's dream.

Lilac and Serefina couldn't be said they were in good term, there were many complications that mixed in their relationship, but at the very least, they had the same goal and it was very clear that they had to work on it together.

They had too many enemies out there and from within, thus they didn't need to add more between themselves.

"The Apricity River only ever froze once and that was when the war broke out. However, from what I have heard, but I can't prove the authenticity of the news, this river had frozen long before that time."

"You mean before the first war?" Lilac asked Serefina. She walked closer to the riverside.

"Yes." Serefina nodded.

"It meant there was another war before the great war between the lycanthropes and the devils?" Lilac crouched down and tried to take a better look of the frozen river.

"It seems so…" Serefina murmured. "Just like what I said, I can't prove the authenticity of the news."

"Where did you get this news?" Hope asked. She walked closer to Lilac and squatted down beside her.

"Old script from here and there…" Serefina said. This kind of information that she had been gathered since she left the realm centuries ago and this was also what Lana had been trying to find for her all along.

"Wait…" Raine frowned. "In that case… Is it also the lycanthropes, who have fought against the devils?"

"No, based on what I have got, the war occurred before the lycanthropes or any other creatures existed in this world," Serefina said thoughtfully, she touched her chin.

"Then, who fought them?" Hope stood up and walked toward Serefina, while Lilac turned around and stared at the witch, waiting for her explanation.

That was right, if the war happened before the lycanthropes or any other creatures existed, then who had fought the devil then?

Serefina answered with a low and deep voice, as if she was not really certain with her reply. "The gods and goddesses."

"Wow…" Hope was surprised, yet her voice lacked with enthusiasm. "Things only become more complicated now."

Silence fell among them while the sky let out a deafening roar, indicating that rain was about to fall.

"Torak once told me that this city was called Red River City because the river from Apricity was once red," Raine said. She looked up the sky and frowned.

"That is true…" Serefina said. "After the war, the apricity river turned red, it happened for a few years before the color of the water turned back into normal."

"It means something connects this river and the war that has occurred," Raine concluded.

"That's right, added to the fact that Hope kept dreaming about this place," Lilac murmured. "What are you doing?" she asked when Hope inched closer toward the frozen river.

"I heard something…" she said absentmindedly. "Don't you hear that too?"

"Hear what?" Serefina strode hastily and pulled her back before Hope could touch the surface of it. "I don't hear anything."

Hope frowned. "A whisper."

"A whisper?" Lilac knitted her brows. "I don't hear anything." Lilac looked at Raine, but she shook her head, indicating she didn't hear what Hope heard.

"But, I am sure something is whispering from down there." Hope pointed toward the river. "Why is it only me who can hear it?"

"What the whisper said?" Lilac walked closer toward Hope and stood next to her while staring at the glistening frozen river. Above them, the sound of thunder resumed.

"I don't know… the voice is not coherent." Hope shook her head and tried to listen more carefully, but she still couldn't catch the words.

Meanwhile, Raine, who was standing a little bit far from the three of them, caught something from the corner of her eyes.

She didn't believe what she saw, thus without a second thought she walked away from Serefina and Lilac, which focus was on Hope.

The silhouette of this person disappeared behind a pile of empty barrels not far away from where Raine was standing.

Raine approached it cautiously, her brows knitted tightly and her heart beat very fast.

"Dorian?" Raine gasped. She didn't believe she would meet him again now. "You are still alive?"

Dorian was leaning his back against the empty barrels, his eyes met Raine's and he scoffed. "Hello again Raine. Yes, I am still alive."

"But, how…" Actually, Raine did not see Dorian die during the attack on the village of angel, but still, seeing him alive like this was quite a shock to her. "Why are you here?"

Right at that time, Raine remembered what she had seen during the attack.