The Rider’s Legacy: Chapter 7

“How is she Nico?”

Dawn and Lily stood together in front of a long white bed with red covers and a veil surrounding the bed itself. The bedroom itself was sparse, with few decorations still standing. Much had fallen or broken during the attack itself. A door hung open, overlooking the forest, the balcony itself in pieces.

The moonlight filtered in from outside and there was some sort of bird song coming. It had been some hours since the attack and nature was not affected by what had happened to Agrentum that day. Maybe confused by the sudden darkness but not perturbed beyond that. Not aware of the danger that had presented itself to those lands.

A man was sitting on the edge of the bed, wearing a white jacket over brown clothes. His skin was pale, not nearly on the level of Dawn or Madeline but still very light. He had sharp features almost like a fox and low cut hair that bordered on the purple side of black. He looked back at Dawn and Lily and then at the occupant of the bed.

Madeline lay in the bed, the covers pulled up to her neck. Her eyes were closed and there was a lost luster to her skin. Where before her pale skin and hair held a glow to them like a pristine white, now she was a soft grey. Nico waved his hand over her, a soft golden glow on his palm, and then reached for his necklace.

He placed the necklace against Madeline’s neck and it glowed. The light faded and he retrieved it. putting it around his neck again. “I would say that she was in a coma but this isn’t quite like that. If I had to hazard a guess, I would say she’s hibernating.”

“Hibernating?” Lily repeated. “Like a bear?”

“That’s one comparison,” Nico replied. Normally he would smile after such a comment but at the present, the weight of the situation killed the humor. “But this is more severe. I don’t know what’s caused it and I don’t know when she’ll be awakening.”

The door to Madeline’s room opened and Francisco walked in quickly followed by Alastor. Francisco’s distress was visible in the lines on his face and the green of his eyes. He shut the door behind him and tried to steady him but his eyes settled on a gentle sea green. He walked quickly to join the trio at Madeline’s bed. His eyes alit upon Dawn and he lowered his head low.  “Your majesty. I have spoken with our guards. Casualties were able to be kept low. Our people are safe though very shaken.”

“That’s the best news that I could hear,” Dawn said softly and shut her eyes. She squeezed Lily’s hand tightly and glanced at her mother.

“Glad to see you’re okay sis,” Alastor came over hugging her.

“How did this happen?” Lily asked hugging him back.

“We were careless,” Francisco said tersely.

“No. This was a coordinated attack.” Alastor said glancing at the faerie. “The nil were just a diversion.”

“A diversion? Then what was their real goal? Why attack the castle?” Francisco asked.

Alastor motioned toward Madeline and then toward Dawn and Lily, “Whoever the enemy mastermind was, his goal was not the castle. It was Nero. More specifically the Sword of Ten Souls.”

“The sword? The sword was destroyed at the end of the nil wars,” Nico said glancing at each of them.

An uncomfortable silence stretched between them for a long moment before Lily shook her head, “No. It wasn’t.”

“Is this information I should have?” Nico asked raising his hands. “I know I’ve patched you all up for years but I’m just a doctor.”

Dawn shook her head, “It was kept a secret since the end. I wonder if that wasn’t a mistake.”

Francisco looked at them, “When I asked of the remains of the sword her majesty was never direct. I assumed it to be a sore subject and never pressed further.”

Dawn sighed, “The sword was broken during the final battle of the war. Nero used it to strike down the head of the nil nest when we were in their dimension. It nearly killed Nero and Silver gave her life to stop his from being absorbed into the sword itself. After the war, even broken, the sword was dangerous. So Nero volunteered to be the keeper of the sword. Rather than seal it in another crystal or hide it in some remote corner of the world, Nero let himself be the keeper. Tied to his soul.”

“What?” Francisco said his eyes wide. “How is that even possible?”

“A carefully woven spell,” Alastor said grimly. “It was risky. But the fact that part of Silver’s soul is within the sword helped immensely.”

“Could the sword ever be removed from Nero?” Nico asked.

“I don’t know,” Dawn said. “It was a failsafe to prevent us from using it again. Nero’s been unable to properly summon since we did this. Or do magic. Just basic spells are all he can manage. He’s hated it.” She said bitterly and Lily squeezed her hand.

Dawn looked up at her and they both remembered the long nights of anguish Nero spent trying to do what he loved. There was no way to help him, unfortunately. It was just not there. Dawn leaned against her closing her eyes, “It’s a choice no one else would have come up with.”

Silence stretched over them as they let the information sink in for them. The sword was a terrible weapon but without it they may not have stood a chance in the war. A weapon of legend for a time of legends. But Francisco looked at Alastor and then at Dawn and asked, “How many people know about the sword?”

“The people standing in this room plus Sehren and Olivier,” Lily replied. “Which begs the question, how did he learn about it. And what does he plan to do with a broken sword.”

“I don’t know,” Alastor said. “But it just proves how dangerous that man truly is.”

“How did he do this to Madeline?” Lily asked. “Was it related to that black light in the sky?”

“Yes,” Alastor stared at Madeline and frowned hard. “When the light struck her majesty created a barrier to protect the castle. I and some of the guards did our best to help her but she took the brunt of the damage. When the eclipse ended, we were still standing, she wasn’t.”

“If her majesty hadn’t created that shield that light would have surely killed us,” Francisco closed his eyes and then looked to Alastor. “Does this mean that our enemy planned for her majesty to be able to protect us?”

“Planned? No. But I believe he bet on what her power could produce,” Alastor folded his arms. “Dawn do you remember when we saw him?”

“You saw him?” Lily asked sharply.

Dawn nodded glancing at her, “I ran into him during the beginning of the attack. But he wasn’t solid. It was like one of Al’s clones.”

“Precisely. He didn’t commit himself to the attack. You ran into him at the plaza. That’s not that far from the castle. If Nero had truly been his goal, he was flexible in his approach once he figured out where Nero was. And once he had that, that was when he brought that black magic down on us. If Nero had been here, I imagine things would have gotten worse on our end.”

“So that begs the question, what does he know about the sword. Does he know the sword is inside of Nero?” Nico asked.

“I don’t think so,” Lily replied. “Just from how he was talking he seemed to think we hid it but no idea as to where.”

Alastor nodded, “Then that means Nero isn’t in any immediate danger. He won’t know what he’s gotten his hands on just yet.”

Dawn visibly relaxed for a moment but shook her head, “That means we need to hurry and find them. And to make matters worse, our rings haven’t been working.”

Lily and Dawn both looked at their rings and shook their heads. “I can feel Dawn here now but I can’t even remotely feel where Nero is. For all we know he could be in another dimension.” She glared turning away but Dawn kept her arm on hers. She forced Lily to look at her. It was as if Dawn was reading her mind and Lily was reading hers.

“So, for starters, we figure out how to track Nero or that man,” Dawn said looking between them.

“I’ll reach out to my friends out there. I’m sure this isn’t going to be an isolated incident,” Alastor narrowed his eyes. “In the same breath we should warn the other kingdoms of our attack. Let them know to be on guard.”

“There’s also the pressing situation of the kingdom,” Francisco said. “Our kingdom has been attacked and our people scared. Our queen is comatose. We need a leader now more than ever. We need you Dawn.”

She made a line with her mouth because this wasn’t something that surprised her. In all honesty, she knew this would happen once she learned about her mother’s condition. But she had been in no hurry to get to this point. And now that it was vocalized in front of her, she couldn’t ignore it.

“I know. Tomorrow. For now, our people need to rest and sleep. Tomorrow I will. I will address them. I will address everyone and we’ll figure out our next step together.”

“Yes, your majesty,” Francisco lowered his head.

“I’ll come by later tonight,” Alastor said. “After I’ve had a chance to think. I’ll brainstorm something.”

“Alright Al. Hopefully the kids are asleep by then,” Lily said giving him a small smile. “But keep the visit short alright?”

“No problem.”

With that, an unspoken order was heard. They went their separate ways, Dawn, Lily, and Nico leaving last. As they closed the door behind Dawn looked at Nico and asked straight, “My mother. What do you think her condition will become?”

“Unsure. If she is hibernating as I think then she is healing and that is a good thing. She will wake up but this early I cannot say when. But I’ll be here to see after her every day.”

“Thank you,” Dawn smiled at him forcing it and he nodded.

“I’ve helped you all through injuries just as, if not more, severe than this. Your mother is strong. I’m sure she will recover soon.”

“I appreciate your words and I’m sure she does as well.”

He bowed his head and walked down the hallway leaving Lily and Dawn alone now. Dawn almost fell over her legs going weak. Lily wrapped her arms around her tightly, keeping her up. Her face crumbled as she shut her eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m just.”

“Baby please. I know. Trust me I know,” she helped her to stand and turned her around. Dawn reached up and touched her cheek. “I miss him too. So damn much. But we’re going to find him. I know we are.”

Dawn stared at her and let her tears run down her face. Lily pulled her into a tight hug resting her head on hers. She held her, her own tears falling and dripping gently into her hair. Neither one wanted to be the first to move but they both knew they couldn’t just stand there. Dawn looked at her and kissed her chin lightly, “Come on.”

“Yeah. Silva and Sefirin have to be missing us by now. I just hope that they’re still asleep. At least resting. Sefirin was so scared,” Lily said softly.

Dawn nodded quickly, “He was so brave when things were happening but I know he was terrified.”

“That’s our little man,” she smiled. “Being brave for his mom and little sister.”

“Mmhm. Let’s go give Suzy and Light a break.”

They left making their way to the stairs, taking them down to their room. The fourth floor of the castle was just this side of out of the way and managed to avoid the collapsed roof section. Most of that damage was to the dining hall and the meeting room. They circled their way down to their floor.

When they arrived, they went to the kid’s room and Dawn reached for the door but Lily grabbed her wrist gently. Lily put a finger to her lips and pointed at the door. It was slightly open and both could feel a breeze from within it. They looked at one another and instantly their heartbeats doubled.

They both threw the door open and stepped in. The room was the same mess that it had been before. But Light and Susan were both missing. Instead, a man in all black stood over Silva’s crib. Dawn’s orbs appeared around the pair of them, casting light to fill the entire room. “Put. Our daughter. Down.”

The man turned around slowly and his face was shrouded in a cloak. His face was covered in darkness but Silva was still asleep in his arms. “She’s just precious, isn’t she?” he asked.  “Calmer than her brother but so young. Seffy’s full of fire. I can’t possibly choose. I think I’ll take them both.”

“Try it and you won’t leave this castle alive,” Lily growled her staff appearing in her hand.

The man raised his hand and they both tensed ready for a fight. Ready to steal back their daughter. But the man just grabbed his hood and pulled it back and both women froze their eyes going wild. “Come on babe. Is that any way to talk to your husband?”