The Rider’s Legacy: Chapter 3

They finished breakfast and their next task became very apparent. Madeline needed all three of them present for the meeting and they still had a pair of dozing toddlers that required supervision. As their dishes were cleaned and put away Sefirin stifled a yawn and his eyes drooped. Silva on the other hand was not even trying to stay awake and had her eyes closed.

Dawn stood slowly and picked her up, balancing her against her chest while keeping her tail balanced carefully against her arm. When she was asleep the tail always hung like dead weight. Nero picked up Sefirin who was just conscious enough to grab onto him.

“What are the odds that they can take care of themselves for a few hours?” Alastor asked looking at his niece and nephew.

“Not a chance,” Lily replied checking on Sefirin as he finally fell asleep. Smiling gently she stepped back. “Oh he’s going to be up late tonight. I can feel it.”

“Yes he is,” Nero made a face. “Depending on what Madeline has to say maybe I can try to tire him out. It’s been a little bit of time since we’ve done anything dragon related.”

“I’m more worried about Silva than Sefirin. She’s already going down the path of fire breathing,” Dawn said bouncing her slightly. “And I’m not sure how much we own is actually fire retardant.”

“Nothing a simple spell can’t solve,” Alastor said mid thought. “And as for finding someone to watch the kids why not just let me put an illusion on them?”

Lily turned to face her little brother, the resemblance showing in the eyes and hair more than anything else. She put her hand gently on his shoulder and smiled, “Al. You know I love you. But if you ever put my children under an illusion, I will launch you out of the castle from the observation tower.”

He threw a smile onto his face but retreated away from her and nodded. “My mistake Lily. Won’t suggest it again.”

“I know you won’t,” she continued to smile as Alastor took a step back from her. “But that doesn’t solve our problem.”

Adjusting his shirt Alastor raised his finger, “I do have another idea that doesn’t end in me getting thrown off the castle.”

Lily folded her arms, “Go on.”

“Lightning. He loves watching the kids,” Alastor suggested like it were obvious. And to a degree it really was.

“That’s not a half bad idea,” Dawn agreed. “However, I do not want to take them down to his room. God knows what state his room is in. And getting my lela and ola to bed is already hard enough. I want them to sleep as long as they possibly can.”

“I second that,” Nero agreed and nodded toward Alastor. “Send a clone over to Light and let him know to go to the kids’ room. We’ll meet you in the meeting room.”

“Course,” Alastor waved at everyone and walked out of the dining hall and for a moment Nero was sure that he was seeing double of his friend. Rubbing his eyes, he shook his head and glanced at his girls.

They gave him a nod and they walked together back the way that Dawn had come. Taking the steps gently one at a time so as to not jostle either of them. Outside of the door in their own room, there was a door to their children’s room from the hallway. Lily went to the door first and waved her hand in front of the knob leaving a shimmer of her magic behind it.

It clicked and they stepped inside slowly. It was a dark room at the moment but the curtains were drawn since the children woke up earlier than their parents would have woken them up for the day. There was a small lamp atop their clothing dresser that would magically be lit during the evening.

Across the floor were toys, stuffed dragons and little carts to play with. But there were also small very simple puzzles that they had left around for Sefirin to get into when he was feeling curious. And he was often curious though he was fond of attempting to combine the puzzles instead of solving them as they were meant to be done.

Nero and Dawn walked them to their beds, a thin small crib alongside a small child sized bed. The moment Sefirin was down he rolled to the side stretching his wings out wide. As he did he turned to face his sister’s crib. Silva stretched out getting comfortable, likewise facing her brother.

Dawn took a step back, beginning to leave but she looked at the two of them and covered the smile breaking out on her face. “Look at them. Luzo. Luza. They’re little angels.” She fought a squeal before she could make it and felt both Lily and Nero wrap their arms around her. She looked over at them both her eyes a blend of pink and white.

“When they’re calm and sleeping, they do look pretty cute,” Nero admitted.

“I think we did good with them,” Lily said kissing Nero’s cheek and then Dawn’s forehead.  “But if we keep going like this we’re going to get yelled at by Madeline. So let’s get going yeah?”

Sparing one last look at their children they backed away closing the door softly. They then swapped over to their own room and changed their clothes. Nero wearing a pale grey vest and brown pants and boots. Lily wore a button up red shirt and baggier pants and shoes. Once they had changed, they let Dawn lead the way to the meeting room. Walking around the circular hallway they went back to the staircase but instead they went up them. There were only so many floors to the castle and this was close to the top.

The floors themselves got narrower the higher up they with fewer individual rooms and all paths led them to a door near the center. There were a pair of large wooden doors, two guards standing in front, wearing simple armor and wielding spears. However, upon seeing the trio they stepped aside and opened the doors for them.

The meeting room was sparse, a routine of six guards at points along the room. In the center was a large round table with several chairs. Though there was a clear head of the table with a single high backed chair that towered over the rest. The table itself was smooth with some markings along the edges. Along the far wall was a large balcony but was currently closed off.

As the three of them entered there were two others waiting. The first was an average height woman with short dark blue hair, tied back in a pony tail but long bangs in front of her face. She had soft brown skin, a blockier face with hazel eyes, and earrings lining her ear. She wore a short sleeve tunic and knee length skirt. Around her neck was a long metal necklace with various beads along the cord. She turned to look at the pair of them she shouted spreading her arms.

“Lils, Dawn, Nemo! It’s been way too long!” she shouted. “Ages.”

Dawn went forward first and hugged her tightly, “Suzy. You look as good as ever. I feel like I haven’t seen you in over a year at this point.”

“It hasn’t been quite that long but I have been all over the place. I swear the other kingdoms are on the brink of falling apart every time I go to see them. But the peace is being kept and I get to travel so I think that’s a win win for me. If only I knew where Sehren was. I’d be able to get more done.”

“Probably out there discovering some ancient magical symbol that can travel through time,” Nero said smiling after giving their friend a hug.

“You guys are so cute together,” Susan said looking at the three of them beaming. “Wait where are the kids. I want to see my little godson. And how big is Silva now?”

“They’re both asleep now and no one is waking them up right now,” Lily said smiling. “After we’re done here we can go see Light and get together like old times.”

Susan folded her arms, “Pfft Lightning. He’s a big child himself but I guess who better to take care of the two them. They love him.”

“That they do. Though knowing you, you brought them some sort of souvenirs that’ll be the bane of our existence for the next few days,” Dawn sighed already imagining how difficult bedtime was about to become.

“I definitely brought souvenirs and I promise you they are much better than those noise makers from Jigour.”

The other person there chuckled, holding a hand over their mouth, “You are all as energetic together as you were when you students.”

Susan turned to face him and wagged her finger, “Come on Francisco you liked having us all as students back then.”

He stood tall, a little taller than Lily. He wore a white tunic and pants, lined gold. His hair was long locks of blonde with a braid around his forehead like a crown. His eyes were a pale blue, his features sharp, carved from marble and when he smiled it was picturesque. Similar to Dawn, Madeline, and many of the people in the castle.

“You six were always a handful as students. Between myself and Sehren I’m surprised we managed to instill anything in you when you weren’t traveling across Reditus, getting into mortal damage,” he gave them all a wry smile.

“I believe it was called saving the world,” Nero grinned back at him.

Francisco looked at the three of them and smiled, “Perhaps so. I can only hope that I will have the pleasure of teaching little Sefirin and Silva as well. And I hope they are just as talented but perhaps a little less gung ho as you would call it.”

“We can make no promises,” Lily replied and stepped forward. She motioned toward the table around thinking, “It’s a big table for just us. Even with Madeline and my brother. I wonder just how high the severity of this is.”

“Considering what some of the rumors in the other kingdoms have been I have a few ideas,” Susan said rubbing her jaw. “But it’s just rumors. Unless something concrete happened.”

Francisco shook his head, his blond locks shaking, “Her majesty is likely divulging it all very soon.”

“Indeed, I will,”

They turned back toward the door as Alastor and Madeline walked inside. She all but glided forward circling around to the head of the table. Francisco bowed his head to her and there was an almost familial resemblance to the pair of them. She waved for him to stand nodding her to him.

Susan’s eyes lit up and she moved to hug Alastor as well. Alastor winced under the strength of the hug but he returned it happily. “It’s good to see you Suzy.”

“Likewise. I mean, it is you right?” she stared at him closely pinching his cheek.

He waved her hand away, “Yes it’s me. No illusions.”

“Good. I almost wish Light was here. Almost.”

“Heh. If this meeting isn’t too excessive, I don’t see why we won’t be able to.”

“Everyone take your seats,” Madeline said breaking up their conversation and sitting in the highest back chair. “We have much to discuss.”

They all moved around the table and sat down leaving three open spots left. When the table was entirely full it usually meant a catastrophe was looming in some regard. But even with the amount of them present it was still startling.

“Thank you all for being here today. I recognize that this call was short notice but then, so was the report.”

“This is our lovely home Reditus,” She raised her hand, fingertips glowing, and tossed her hand forward. The table glowed in resonance with her magic and then shapes rolled across it. First at the corner closet to Madeline was a spiraling castle. It shot into the air like a peak. At the highest spire was a bridge leading to a single tall tower adjacent to the castle itself. “Our home Agrentum.”

In front of the castle was a sweeping forest going as about as far as the eye could see normally but, in this instance, it barely went halfway across the table. As the trees parted into uneven ground it spread to the north leaving the lush green behind and becoming harsher with short rough grass and sharp rocks.

The land sloped upwards toward a mountain range and against that range was a castle that seemed to be floating in the shadow of the mountain. Built into the mountain like the interior of a clock tower, floating spires held aloft by only a bridge, and perhaps unforeseen magic. Running underneath the castle was a large river cutting its way across the mountain. “Our neighbors in the mountains, Kyrix.”

The river ran its way down, curving its way like a snake across the land straight into the massive body of water that covered the western border of the country. Across the water were three islands, interconnected by floating bridges. On each of them was a massive city with a single tower in the middle. Each housing a light that glowed brightly but all in one direction. However, the lights shot in the direction of one another, creating a glowing triangle for any wayward ships returning home, “The Izarious on the ocean.”

“And finally, the jungles of the Jigour,” The entire other half was covered in tall grass, thin flat-topped trees. It kept going like this until the trees began to grow larger and thicker, going almost to the sky. And through the thick canopy of their leaves were buildings built from the trees themselves, interconnected and expansive just as big as the cities on the water.

Nero leaned forward staring at the map and smiled, “I never get tired of looking at this map.”

His eyes searched through the forest just outside of Agrentum and pointed at a spot within it. The trees parted and a light appeared with Leos written in scrawling script. It was several miles away from the castle but it was one of many villages in the vicinity of the castle. Not far from the academy, a building that rivaled the castle for beauty and where he met his wives and best friends.

Glancing at Madeline he realized she was staring at him and he lowered his head smiling. “Sorry. Continue.”

She raised an eyebrow at him but did just that. Pointing a finger toward the edge of the Jigour territory a light appeared. “Two days ago, I received a report of a sighting of nil traveling across the savanna. They tried to follow them but they disappeared without a trace around here,” Madeline pointed to a location a little beyond the first. “As you know this isn’t the first time this has happened.”

“I remember a report similar to this,” Lily said and pointed toward the border between their forest and that of Izarious. She traced along the river nodding slowly. “They were following the river and then at this bend they suddenly vanished.”

Susan sat forward pointing toward the mountains, “That lines up with what I’ve heard from traders near Kyrix. They swore they saw what they believe to be a nil traveling down the mountains. But when we investigated them, the nil were gone but the traces were there.”

“That’s three. That’s too many to be a coincidence,” Dawn said.

“Even more than that look,” Francisco pointed dragging his finger forward from all of the locations. “They’re all coming from different places but they were all seen going in the same direction. He pointed to a spot just on the edge of the forest of Agrentum. “Their paths all indicate they are converging here.”

“But what is there?” Nero asked. “Like what’s there to even remotely get the nil’s attention?”

“That’s the question,” Alastor said thinking hard and scrunching his eyebrows together. “It could be nothing but it could be also be everything.”

“That’s what concerns me,” Madeline pressed her fingers together. “Three years ago was the peak of the war with the nil. We managed to win but we also lost much.” She looked at Nero who glanced away and felt both Lily and Dawn squeeze his hands. “The nil have been quiet since then. Pockets of them appearing, some needing to be actively destroyed while others are quieter. But this is more movement than we’ve seen from them in a long time. Like you said lela, this is more than a coincidence.”

“Then let’s go investigate it,” Nero said leaning forward. He pointed at the spot where the nil had supposedly been gathering. He stared at it and shook his head. “That place isn’t anything special. Just some old ruins. We went there a long time ago remember?” Nero asked looking at Susan and Alastor.

“I remember,” Alastor said. “It was one of our training arenas leading up to the tournament. “Moss covered arches and crazy staircases. But it wasn’t some super-secret gathering place of magical power.”

Nero pointed at him, “Exactly. So a few of us go check it out. If the nil are there we back off, call for help, and get them taken care of. Easy in and out.”

“You make it sound so simple Nemo,” Lily chuckled and he grinned at her.

“It should be,” he said and then looked at Madeline. “Unless you think something else is going on?”

Madeline looked him head on and then glanced at her daughter, “Potentially.”

“You saw something una.”

“Indeed lela. The sky opening up and unleashing a black ruin upon my kingdom.” She shuddered pressing a hand to her head. “It could be a simple premonition or a vision of things to come. I do not know but I won’t take the risk of doing nothing.”

“So, it’s decided then,” Nero stood up glancing at everyone. “Susan and me can scope it out. And if anything goes wrong, you’ll hear from us. No problem.”

“No problem he says,” Lily shook her head looking over at Dawn. “But I can’t complain. It’s not the worst plan in the world.”

“No, it’s not. It just,” Dawn paused looking down. She then turned her eyes onto Nero and they melted into a green slurry. She took Nero’s hand, lacing her fingers through his scaled fingers. She pressed his hand against her mouth and kissed it. “Be careful.”

“Come on princess. You know me,” he flashed her his classic smile.

“You’re right. I do know you. And that’s why I’m concerned,” she said narrowing her eyes at him.

Nero closed his eyes slowly and leaned forward pressing his forehead against hers. Her anxiety faded back into the pink that flushed her face when she looked at him. “Coming home to you all is my priority above everything else.”

“I’ll just go with you.”

They both turned around to look at Lily, her lip quirked up into a smile. “It’s been a while since we all got into some trouble together. I just hope that you’ll be alright with the kids while we’re gone.”

“However will I manage without you both at my side,” Dawn put a hand to her head and chuckled. But she grew serious again and turned toward her mother. “Una what do we do if this turns out to be more than just nil gathering like a pack of wolves.”

“I fear what they may cause but we’ll face that once we have a confirmation. And we will be ready.”