Diavel Melchor's Story

Diavel Melchor

Shades covered the forest floor. A dark figure walked silently through the seemingly endless mass of trees. Spiky brown hair reached to a sharp jawline from under a black cap. A blank expression sat upon a tanned face.

Diavel Melchor stopped as he noticed the forest become significantly thicker. The hatted sorcerer looked up at the evening sky. This had better be the right place. He quickly added another thought, If not, I'm going to burn the whole forest down and find the destination the easy way.

The sorcerer reached out with his left arm. His left hand and half of his forearm were pure black--almost as if his skin had been eaten by the shadows themselves. A purplish aura flared around the darkened skin as Diavel lay his palm on the elk tree beside him. He blinked slowly. He opened his eyes to slightly different scenery.

The sun drifted high in the sky, no longer was it setting in the western horizon. It was midday, perhaps, or just a little later. The forest was an emerald shade of green. Birds were chirping and many woodland animals were trudging through the forest, the sound of their footsteps echoing through the trees in a symphonic sort of way.

A foreign sound drifted to Diavel's ears. It was the sound of wind blowing against ones ears. The tanned man turned his gaze skyward just in time to see a woman--her hair as green as the forest--fly overhead. Following her were four other people, an elderly man balancing on a walking stick, a younger fellow reluctantly carrying a winged girl on his back, and a tall man wearing a red suit of armor. A cruel grin crept to Diavel's lips. Emrys. He felt his left hand, still held against the tree, twitch in excitement. So, the knight had survived after all these years...

The group trudged out of sight and the scene shifted.

The sun was lower in the sky now. Another troupe of humans, led by a blue haired man marched through the forest. Diavel's eyes rested on a single person, ignoring the rest. A dark haired and pale-skinned slinked with the other members of the group--he moved differently than the others, almost in a snake-like fashion. Without warning, the man glanced in Diavel's direction as if he could sense the sorcerer's prensence. His lips curled in a cruel smile. Perhaps he could.

Diavel rolled his eyes at the thought, taking his hand off of the tree and returning his mind to the present time. It was an insignificant thought and Diavel had just seen all that he needed to see. They were in the right spot. A devilish grin turned the sorcerer's face ugly.

"Tarean!" He called. "It's time!" The darkly clothed man rubbed his hands together. Time to have some fun. He held out his left palm and a ball of purplish light flickered to life, hovering in the air above his hand. Diavel took a deep breath before proceeding to blow on the purple orb causing flashing sparks to fly off the orb and into the shadows of nighttime forest.

There was an inhuman growl as several bloodred circles appeared in the shadows. The eyes belonged to creatures that could not possibly fit in the area that they appeared to be present at...

Aarynn Fletcher

Flynn was in awe. Between the ancient air of the Shrine of Aridea—which he had only caught a glimpse of during his travels—and the sheer aura emitted by the gathering of some of the most powerful beings in all of Lastra, the Protector found it slightly hard to keep his mouth from being caught in a gape.

The first thing his eyes had caught sight of when the Fire Troupe had entered the clearing of the Shrine of Aridea was the red. A woman, probably around his age, with forest green hair and sky blue eyes, had been clad in a red mini-dress and had been observing the entire group as they entered. The Princess of the Winds was as pretty as rumors had said—though, the stare of her eyes was cold and distant.

Beside her stood a large man, suited up in full set of red armor matching the princess’ dress. The stare that he received from this man was much colder—this man clearly didn’t like him for some reason. Flynn thought about it for a moment. Had he ever done anything to upset this man? The samurai had never seen the man in his life. Then again, Flynn had a horrible memory. He just hoped that this wouldn’t end in some sort of confrontation.

While he had been busy contemplating his possible relations with the knight, the Earth King and his Protectors had marched into the clearing. The King betrayed little emotion as well as little word before going straight to business, convening the intended meeting. The Protectors were to wait outside while the Kings parleyed.

Very quickly, Flynn had found a soft spot of grass to lie on. None of the other Protectors had approached him and so, he found himself observing the evening sky. Small puffs of clouds drifted overhead forming ambiguous shapes. Hazel eyes caught what appeared to be a man running, running from something large. Two smaller figures formed behind the running man—the figures were also running. The reddening sky suggested a fire blazing all around the three forms, enclosing them in the same area as the larger cloud. The four clouds flew in close to each other, specks of moisture being exchanged. The larger cloud had just begun to consume the two smaller clouds when a voice snapped Flynn back to the present.

“Haunting memories?”

It was the knight from earlier. From up close, he seemed much larger and intimidating. Not that he needed the accentuation. He carried a large white shield and it appeared as if his sword, a typical straight sword, was sheathed into the shield. The man’s expression was grim and emotionless—there was no contempt at this time.

Flynn got up and brushed the grass of his armor and clothes. “Nah, I was just—”

“There is no need to lie, Master Fletcher.”

For a moment, Flynn was confused. How had this man, who he had never met before, learned his name? The moment passed over with a shrug. It didn’t really matter anyways. “You’re right. I’ve been cursed with recollections that trouble me.”

“Memories are not curses.”

He eyed the knight. The man wasn’t looking at him; he was staring off into the distance as if looking for something that wasn’t quite there. “What makes you say that?”

“It’s something you realize when you lose your memories.”

Celeste MacAvelia

The King of Earth hadn’t turned back—the Princess of the Winds’ hopes for a united Lastra had been delayed, again. Quite frankly, Celeste was a bit upset—she had been a fool to have hoped that the path to unity would be easy. On the other hand, she had made a gain. She wasn’t the only one who was upset.

The Fire King drooped in a sigh and he turned slowly to look at her. "I don't think he's truly left us, Celeste. Let us try to believe that he is still our ally, no matter what he may say. Until he completely proves that he's declared war against us and comes after our lives... only then will we think him our enemy."

Those are words of a benevolent king—a beloved ruler, Celeste thought. Benevolent and beloved but naïve and lacking in forethought… If one truly wanted to win, the first move was an essential step—a defense by reaction was difficult and a victory with only reactions was impossible.

Celeste’s thoughts were interrupted by a movement in the direction that the Earth King had left in. The princess looked on, inquisitively. There is no way he is coming back…

She was right. Unless Byre had taken on a couple hundred pounds and the complexion of a boulder—which Celeste supposed was possible—the creature that burst through the dense forest meant trouble. It was followed by several other beasts composed of various wilderness components. There was clearly some denomination of Earth magic involved. Byre…

Celeste was immediately out of her seat, her right hand flying to Amalthea. She pulled out two glistening black knives. A haze of green flickered to existence around the princess. “Siya, I’m going to need you to—”

The King of Fire had already exited the Shrine and was drawing his sword to face against the creatures.

Celeste cursed and launched herself into the air, currents of wind lifting her into the nighttime sky. This was more trouble than she had been willing to bargain for.

Celeste, Emrys and Flynn

The armored butler had been confused when the King of Earth stepped out of the Shrine without the other Kings. His confusion turned short of panic when he dragged the hateful Lare, Hebi, away stating, “Let us leave. It is time to prepare for war.”

“Well, that was really a jerk move,” the red-haired Protector beside the butler noted. “I think I’ve just decided that I don’t like him.”

Liking the Earth King was the last thing on Emry’s mind at the moment. Celeste. She hadn’t walked out of the Shrine. What had he done to Celeste? The butler’s heart only settled when he heard the Princess’ voice, layered in emotionless and foreboding warning, echoed out of the Shrine. The butler spoke grimly, “I’m not sure what exactly is happening, but it certainly isn’t anything good.”

Flynn shrugged. “Eh, it’s nothing big. Even if he is serious about leaving, there’s nothing that can touch us if we were to be in an alliance—The Earth King wouldn’t dare attack us.”

A firm hand grasped the samurai’s shoulder. “Be careful Master Fletcher. You speak to soon. Look!” Emrys pointed in the direction that the Earth king had exited the clearing. Trees shifted and moved as if they were reeds being brushed aside by animals. The first beast burst into the clearing, an earthen creature crawling on four legs. Red eyes blazed on a rock-like head. An assortment of other creatures, all formed of different things, stepped out of the forest depths.

“Now, that is just plain dirty,” Flynn commented. Then, he grinned, catching the pun that he hadn’t intended. “Literally!”

The remark had brought no smile to Emry’s face. The knight drew his sword and readied his shield just as the figure of the Princess of the Winds dropped to the ground beside him in a crouch, two knives unsheathed in her hands. “Are you all right, Milady?”

“I’m fine, Emrys,” came the cool reply. “I'm simply not liking the forest's excretions.”

"Excretions," Flynn reiterated, chuckling and unsheathing his katana. A red flame crept up the black blade. "Maybe, it's having indigestion—I doubt Byre and Hebi tasted good."

The forest haired woman eyed the samurai inquisitively. Such a strange Protector, joking at a time like this.

The butler stepped in front of Celeste. “Please stay back Milady, you need not deal with this rabble.”

Apparently, the beasts didn’t like being addressed as “rabble”. There was a collective roar from the creatures—one that caused the ground around the Shrine to rumble—immediately before the assortments of dirt, rock, and tree parts charged forward towards the Shrine, tearing up the ground as they ran. Several of the creatures, being formed of light-weight tree vines, were faster than the others. Within a matter of moments, this first wave of forestry was upon the Kings and their Protectors. Two creatures broke off from the main group and launched itself at the the trio, their hard rock claws flying through the air.

One set of claws were deflected by blur of red and white. The first creature lost it's balance and toppled over.

The second creature lashed out from the side and was met by Emry's tower shield. The sound of rock smashing against steel echoed through the clearing. The creature snarled in delight from under a mess of roots and tree-vines. It's second claw flew out from behind the knight's shield.

There was a scream. Not one of agony but one of combat.

A mass of forest landed on the ground beside Emrys. The creature's arm had been severed. Furthermore, the creature was now on fire. It howled in rage and agony as a red-haired samurai plunged a flaming sword into its side. The creature rolled to its feet and tried to shake the Protector off. Holding on tightly, Flynn took a deep breath and muttered an incantation. Then, he blew out, straight into an opening in the creature's side. At first, nothing happened. The creature roared and lashed out at the man on its side. Flynn had hardly the time necessary to extract his blade before being pummeled by a tree branch. The samurai landed on the ground beside Emrys with a grunt. He collected himself and had began to brush the dust off his clothes just as an explosion destroyed the forest creature. He looked at the knight with a grin. "Impressive, huh?"

He was answered by a swift movement and barely evaded the shield which flew over his head. There was growl as the first creature—which had earlier been deflected and knocked over—crashed into Emrys' shield. "You'll have your compliment after this is all over." The creature slid off the shield and ran off in a different direction. It was running towards where Celeste was fighting another creature. Emrys cursed and called out, "Celeste!"

The Princess of the Winds heard the call just as the mass of vines and stones pounced at her. Within two seconds she had impaled her daggers through the paws of the creature she had been fighting—anchoring it to the ground—and ducked, sliding straight under the attacking creature. The two creatures collided in a mass of forestry.

She turned to see her butler's horrified expression. The princess gave him a smile and mouthed a 'thank you' before launching herself back into the air. The two knives, glowing green shapes flew back to her hands. “Siya!” Celeste called out, “We are going to have to work together on this one if we are to avoid casualties! We need to stick together in a group, if we try to fight individually we’ll just end up being picked off one by one!”

Emrys turned to the man beside him, "Master Fletcher, I believe you should go and tend to your King."

The samurai nodded before running off.

The knight, in turn, ran after the Princess of the Winds, calling out to the other Wind Protectors as he did so. "Freece, Aeraki! Join forces with the Fire Protectors—take out those rock creatures! They pose the greatest threat!"

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Maybe she needed to start learning better hobbies than totally staring down one person. Who was being dragged out by the hot Earth king dude. Hey, Aeraki was pretty sure the guy was probably a part-time model, more than likely, posing nude in front of other artists. Why wasn't she invited? Her skills were obviously cause for envy within the whole entire kingdom, of course. She could depict life itself and bring it to being! It was pretty absurd that she hadn't been summoned for such sessions in the first place. So what if she came from a different kingdom? Her talents were sought out by the most prestigious of rich, stuffy-pants. Ohhhh wait a minute... Had... that guy just been talking about war? That was a... bad thing... yeah... She scratched at her head, now wondering why the heck everyone was in a panic. Honestly, paying attention to all these fast paced events was going to wreck havoc on her good senses.

There was a lot of iffy movement going on in the forest and as she turned, she saw a large creature make its way out of the forest. It was obnoxiously misshapen and offensive to look at, hell, she wouldn't draw it even if it were a life or death situation. Which strangely enough, it always seemed to be. Seriously. Someone was always dying or at risk of dying or being kidnapped... The kingdom really needed to get that "damsel in distress" thing accounted for. Those girls were always getting whisked off by big, ugly monsters--particularly girls in pink dresses. There was one with blond hair that got kidnapped last week by some dragon. That kind of sucked, she guessed. Wait, oh, there were more of those ugly things stumbling about. Ew. Were they reproducing by some form of mitosis...? Maybe asexual reproduction. Hang on, did rocks even have that sort of capability in the first place?

Aeraki was drawn out of her rather horrifying thoughts by a loud shout from Emrys, who had somehow gotten many meters from her... how had that happened? "Freece, Aeraki! Join forces with the Fire Protectors—take out those rock creatures! They pose the greatest threat!" Oh grossssss, she had to do stuff now? She lazily stopped her idle floating and glided over towards the scene with a wrinkle of her nose. Might as well get this over with. The fire kingdom's protectors seemed to already be involved in their nonsense, and Fleece was doing some... shouty thingy over on his end. One of the creatures spotted the fae and made to swipe at her, the girl fluttering her wings faster to give herself some altitude. Okay, hovering so close to battle probably wasn't the best of ideas. She raised herself up several meters into the air, casually holding her pen-brush in her hand. With ease, she made light strokes in the air, the water droplets shimmering with many distinct hues. Given that she had just been thinking about dragons, it seemed to make sense for her to choose that as the model of what she would paint.

Her lines and curves were made with acute precision, well-practiced hands and keen eyes making quick work of her drawing. With the outline completed, she gave a flick of her brush, causing it to change color and quickly shaded in her new creation. Now the last step. The best part. With a deep breath, Aeraki blew across her pen-brush, the air scattering about over the form of the dragon. At first, nothing happened. Wait for it... wait for it...

With a sudden roar, the colors seemed to vibrate as the water molecules came together to give the dragon physical form and the creature was released into the air. She gave a laugh of delight as her creation glided down at the earth creature that had previously attacked her, claws slicing into the rock and cutting it in half. She directed her dragon with her pen-brush, leading it around to the various golems here and there and swiping each one off with a yawn. Honestly, these creatures were such a... Then she paused, narrowing her eyes. Hold a fae wing, were those...?

Instantly, she stopped her offensive tactics and relaxed her wings slightly to allow herself to fly a bit closer to one of the fallen creatures. As she came to hover over it, she peered closely between the gaps of it's torso which had been recently sliced open. There were faint wisps floating about, translucent and fading just as soon as they hit the air. But she knew that appearance very well, she knew the feel of this type of magic. This wasn't earth magic at all, like everyone else would've been prone to think. No, it carried a tinge with it, one that had to have belonged to...

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The han'ruun was currently hanging upside down in the air, legs crossed and hands behind it's head. Its mismatched eyes were partially closed as it regarded its companion through half-lidded eyes. It had what appeared to be a straw between its lips and was making quite obnoxious noises as it drew in air through the item. To others, it would just appear as if the green-haired being was trying to be a bother, for the straw was not submerged in any liquid and was just poised in front of the creature's face. But for the han'ruun in question, the straw was providing a delicious treat indeed. Indeed, for such a creature, the air was rife with emotions to feed off of. Especially from Diavel. Tarean had adopted many feeding methods over time but this one was always the most entertaining. It glided a bit closer to him, slurping through the straw quite loudly, right next to his ear. It kept its face very composed, waiting for it, waiting for that one...

It was just a flash, just the smallest flash of annoyance but Tarean caught it. Quite literally speaking. The han'ruun "happily" grasped at the newly, tangible emotion and let the refreshing taste wash over its tongue. Mmmm, now that was the frosting on top of the doughnut. Not that it had ever had frosting or doughnuts--han'ruun didn't exactly need to eat food. But it assumed both had to be delicious, because that Freece character loved to banter on and on about them. Personally speaking, Tarean sort of thought they were gross and squishy looking and not at all appetizing. If it was going to even consider food, it wouldn't choose a doughnut first.

It turned over in the air, levitating next to Diavel--straw dissipating into the air. The straw had never really been in the physical realm to begin with, having been summoned to physical form by Tarean from the dream realm. He was still doing his ridiculous chanting, really quite the one for theatrics, it would give him that. With a yawn, the han'ruun gave a lazy sweep of its hand to add its magic to the glyphs. "You seem to be enjoying yourself," It commented as it decided it had become bored of its position and went back to its previous one. The world looked a tad more enticing when it was hanging upside down. Truthfully, Tarean had no need to care about the world itself and the physical realm was nothing compared to the dream one. However, it did need the beings that resided on this particular plane if it wanted to retain a tangible form here. Semantics, really. Annoying little things.

"Though I was wondering..." It began offhandedly, placing its crimson and azure orbs upon Diavel. "You know not all the protectors and their kings are as retarded as they've led us to believe, right?" It said with oozing amounts of sarcasm. The han'ruun did not think much of the kingdoms whatsoever, or the man that had approached them. He was the most foolish of them all and it would be funny to see his plans crumble. Actually, it was always fun to see someone's world fall apart around them because that desolation was probably one of the sweetest emotions to feed on...~ Mmmm, ah, it would get a watery mouth if it thought about this too long. Tarean did not feel the need to expand on its thoughts, for it had intentionally kept out the one party in all of this that knew of its existence. The distasteful greenery hair-shrub of a fae. It did not believe she would be causing any problems--in fact, knowing the twat, she would keep her mouth shut and thoughts to herself. So there was little point in even mentioning their previous interactions. It was not that it was protecting her. Nah. But having information that others did not always proved to be the wiser course of action.

"... corruent coram vobis. Prodiit, qui obscurus est terra. Tolle forma, resurge, et fac sicut vos es iube!"

A tree shriveled up and withered as the last words departed from Diavel’s purple tongue and drained the tree of the last of its mana. It collapsed into a heap of bark, vines, leaves and branches. Twenty-three, an inauspicious number, the sorcerer thought to himself with a smile. The pile exploded as an earth elemental doppelganger formed itself and raced off to join its brethren at the Shrine of Aridea.

Diavel had to resist the urge to run off after the beast. In the distance, the sounds of combat could be heard—the pinging of rock against metal, the cries of war, the bass of explosions. Part of Diavel—a really large part—wanted nothing more than to go and join the chaos but the other part of him kept him back. It is all part of the greater plan. We must cooperate with Hebi to accomplish our ultimate goals. The sorcerer felt a wave of annoyance crawl up his throat. About a month ago, the dark-haired Protector had approached Tarean and Diavel with the proposal and plan to obtain the four elemental orbs. The Protector had acted as if the idea had been solely his own. Diavel snorted at the thought. Such a pathetic arrogant fool. The fate of the orbs had been decided long ago—long before even the Aridean civilization.

The sorcerer gritted his teeth and had just been about to summon another elemental when, suddenly—with a slurp—, his feeling of annoyance was gone. In its place was an emptiness—void of all emotion. He found that he actually missed the feeling.

There was a yawn from beside him. “You seem to be enjoying yourself,” Tarean noted.

Diavel shrugged impassively. He was still feeling the numbness of having one’s emotion sucked away.

“Though,” the han’ruun continued with a tone of sarcasm, “I was wondering: You know not all of the Protectors and their Kings are as retarded as they’ve led us to believe, right?”

“Oh, I am very aware,” the sorcerer answered with a cruel laugh. “It’s no fun having an experiment with stupid test subjects.” He turned to the sky, looking at the stars. “Come Tarean, I believe it is time that we went hunting for the next Water King,” Diavel said with an enthusiastic tone. It had been a long time since they had seriously been hunting for anyone. Perhaps the next few months would be interesting ones.

From the Shrine of Aridea, a screech echoed through the night signaling the death of another elemental. Diavel scoffed but, even as he did so, a hateful upward curl crept onto his dark lips. “Intelligent little rats.”



There was the pinging of rock against metal as Emrys dashed in front of the Princess of the Winds to deflect another attack from an Earthen Elemental. As the collision pushed him backwards, the butler got a good look at the creature. This one had the figure of a bear and the complexion of a tree—sharp rocks formed razor like claws and long branches made up the creature’s rib cage. Between the branches of the rib cage, the knight caught a glimpse of purple—a activated rune. “Princess Celeste,” he called, “there is a rune on the Ele—.”

“Already on it,” came a reply from directly behind him. Two knives layered in a greenish aura flew out and curved towards the bear-like Elemental’s chest. One cut a branch in half before flying away and the second slipped straight through the opening into the Elemental. There was a sound like shattering glass and the purple glow from the Elemental’s chest disappeared. The lifeless heap of mana-less nature fell to the ground with a crunch.

Seventeen, Emrys counted. Of that seventeen, he had fought a total of eight and slain four of the eight. He glanced around the battlefield with stoic eyes. A dragon—smaller than what one might expect of a dragon—sped through the air, cutting down an Elemental not too far to his right. Aeraki was floating nearby, paintbrush in hand, directing her colorful creation. To his left, there was a flash of green and red as Freece smashed through a rock elemental utterly pulverizing the beast in the process. From the corner of his eyes, Emrys could see the Fire King crouching over his young-looking Protector who had taken a beating during the battle. A pang of pity pulled on the butler’s heart. Then, he noticed the black-haired Fire Protector walking over towards the group.

“Emrys!” Celeste called. The collected group of the Fire King and two Fire Protectors had caused a huge opening in their lines. Already, two Elementals had found the opening and were dashing through.

The butler was already sprinting towards the collected group. There isn’t enough time!



Fortunately, Flynn had seen the opening as well and, unlike Emrys, had been much closer to the two invading Elementals. The fiery haired Protector raised his left hand and swiped it through the air in one fluid motion. Two ovals of yellow whistled through the air towards the rock and wood creatures.

Unfortunately, the Fire Protector’s mana had been running low and the first oval had taken most of his remaining spare mana. The first missile struck its target in an explosion of orange and yellow—obliterating the Earthen Elemental. The second wasn’t nearly as effective. It splashed against the wooden creature with a flash of flames but did nothing but ignite the creature. The Elemental didn’t seem to notice the fire and continued straight towards Flynn.

The Protector groaned wearily and readied his sword for another direct engagement. Much to his relief, the Elemental didn’t make it into Flynn’s melee range. Two knives, glowing with a green aura, shot past him and struck the Elemental square in the chest. The creature fell apart before it could even touch the ground.

In an instant, the Princess of the Winds and her butler were standing beside Flynn, making sure that none could reach the Fire King and the other Protectors. Flynn looked over at Marsaili, who Siya was holding closely. Personally, he had never been too close to the other Protector and had even, at times, found a distaste for her. Seeing her like this, though, made him see her in a slightly different perspective—despite being a demon, she was also a child.

“What were those things, Siya? And why did they wanna hurt us?” she asked softly.

The Fire King sighed, as he attempted to heal her. “I don’t know Marsaili…”



The Princess of the Winds stood quietly over the group. She was taking in whiffs of air, trying to identify the aura of the Elementals. They were Earthen Elementals—it was all too easy to simply place the blame upon Byre and his Protectors. Celeste shook her head. There was only one thing that she was certain of: “It wasn’t Byre and his men. There are absolutely no traces of their scents on these Elementals. The person—or persons—who did this is pretty smart, trying to set us upon each other’s throats.”

Standing beside her, the Fire Protector, Aarynn Fletcher, nodded in agreement. “It must be the people who already have the Water Orb.”

Upon the topic of the Water Orb, Siya turned to look at the other Protectors and Celeste. "I don't know what you plan to do, Lady Celeste, but I still plan to find the King of Water. I have a feeling that no matter what enemies may be following us, they may already be several steps ahead of us in finding him. If we find him, we can protect him until he's given his orb. There's no way we can find the orb, we've not the power to do that. Only the Water King can. I'll be on my way once Marsaili has been healed in the village not far from here. If you wish to accompany me, I'll gladly welcome you and your protectors. I could use all the help I can get". His eyes betrayed a stubbornness and refusal to listen to other reasoning. Without another word, the Fire King and his Protectors stood and began to walk in the direction of the aforementioned village.

Aarynn looked back at the Princess of the Winds and her Protectors with a smile. The Princess kindly returned his smile and Emrys gave him a nod of approval. With a thumbs up, the Fire Protector turned and walked off.

Just then, Kanan walked up and dropped to one knee, bowing to Celeste. The princess shook her head and bade him to stand up—the time for formalities was not this time. War was at hand. She raised her gaze, looking around at the destruction wreaked upon the sacred grounds of the Shrine of Aridea. The Shrine itself was untouched. “This alliance is important, but I am unsure if we can risk leaving our kingdom with Byre preparing for an attack.”

“A good defense provides for a good offense,” Emrys noted. “Perhaps, we should pull back and organize ourselves before making our next maneuver.”

“Time is of the essence now. We must decide our next move now.”

Kanan spoke, slightly surprising the Princess. “My Lady, forgive me, but I think that Lord Siya is correct in going after the Water King. We should find him first before Lord Byre or anyone else does. Offering him protection is, in my mind, the best course of action.”

For a few seconds, there was no response.

The butler looked at Celeste, “Princess?”

Slowly, but certainly, the Princess of the Winds nodded. “You are right, Kanan. Whoever was responsible for this attack is sure to be going after the potential Water King as we speak—his safety is of the utmost importance.” Turning to Emrys, she grinned. “I believe it’s time we began the next phase of our goal.”

The butler nodded with a slight curl to his lips. “Freece, Aeraki,” he called. “It’s time to go, we will be accompanying the Fire King and his Protectors to the nearest village—following that, we begin the search for the potential Water king.”