Towerlot

Queen Rapunzel nearly had a heart attack, watching her son scrambling amidst two griffins and a two-headed sea monster. If she knew this was going to happen, she would have never dared to bring out the carpet. Even when Nanji landed on the carpet thanks to Airna’s hair, the stress of it was simply not worth attending a baby shower.

Lir had never seen anything like what Airna did with her hair. He grabbed hold of her arm, making sure that she didn’t fly off the carpet while Nanji swung on her locks.

Once Nanji was on board, Rapunzel full-sped ahead on the carpet, leaving the struggle between the hydra and the griffins far behind. The mainland of Faecleir spread before them, and Rapunzel recognized the finger-like peninsula of southern Spindewas. Her twins were calling for her to land, and she cringed at the pain in their voices.

“I can’t land! Not now, while we be over Spindewas! It’s enemy territory now, if we land we’ll be captured by t’e Empire!” Rapunzel cried. Her breath was heavy and strained. “Hold on, my children, just until we reach Towerlot!”

Spindewas was a blur as Rapunzel urged the carpet as fast as it would go. The magical threads glowed brightly, casting flecks of light on its riders. Lir looked behind them and saw a charred landscape. Spindewas was ugly now that it had been conquered by the Empire.

Thanks to cloud cover, the speeding carpet was not sighted by Contalabutte’s air patrols. Rapunzel veered the carpet to the East, riding over the border between Spindewas and Oglotta. She followed the Rudin River, until finally Towerlot came into view. She apologized repeatedly to her children, and hoped they understood that landing right now was out of the question.

Once they were over Towerlot, Rapunzel told the carpet to descend and land. It dropped steadily in elevation, bringing them to a soft landing in the middle of an unpopulated field. As soon as they were on the ground, Rapunzel turned to the twins and embraced both of them fiercely.

“By ta Goddess, was I scared!” Tears sprung to her eyes.

Lir shook his head when Ainra asked him if he was injured. “No. But I would rather it was my hand that was hurt, and not your brother’s.” He looked at Nanji with a sympathetic eye. Meanwhile, Rapunzel gingerly held Nanji’s hand in hers and was inspecting it closely. Before she could administer any aid, though, a pixie messenger came buzzing towards them. But it was not only a message delivery. This pixie was followed by three more pixies, which looked to be armored and of the fighting sort. After the pixies flew an important-looking Fey carrying something. He was accompanied by two more fey on winged horses, all of them armored. The group was completed by three hippogriffs.

Lir leapt to his feet, regarding the Aerial force as a possible threat. He sorely wished he had his spear back, the one he had thrown at the griffin. Rapunzel rose too and held out a hand to keep him at bay. She recognized the party as hailing from Effledus, as they had armor unique to that kingdom.

“Queen Rapunzel, Highness,” the Fey Captain greeted with an elegant bow as he landed before them. “We were sent by King Lufgaw to lead you to Effledus.” His swift eyes darted to look upon the Towerlot Twins and the Mer. “My Queen, I do not believe your companions are on the guest list, however.” The pixie messenger took a tiny scroll out of his belt pouch and glanced down at it to check.