Legon came along side his wife; seeing her hurt tore at him, he closed his eyes sending healing spells her way. She yelped in surprise and he opened his eyes, seeing that there was no longer a scratch on her. She looked at him in amazement, never before had she seemed small to him, but she did now.
"Are you ok?" he asked, still concerned.
Her thoughts were warm, "Yes, I am now." She paused, looking at him, "Look at you... I've never seen a class eight before." She was silent for a moment. "Did you see him?" she asked.
Legon knew she was referring to the White Dragon. "Yes, and you were right it was truly sacred, he spoke to me..."
She stopped him. "You don't have to share that."
"I want to; you have the right to know."
Legon played her his memories of when he spoke with the White Dragon, how he'd confirmed that Legon was indeed the Everser Vald. She was silent for some time, he became concerned. "Are you ok?" he asked.
She shook her head. "Yes. So it's true you really are the Everser Vald, I mean I always believed you were, but knowing..."
They turned out to sea and Legon heard thumping of wings in the distance. He looked to see formations of Ascended heading towards them, as they drew close he started to hear them. Roars and bugles of celebration as Opes and Sydin drew in next to him and Iselin.
Sydin looked him up and down. "We need to confirm it, but you're an eight. How does it feel?" he asked.
"How does what feel?" Legon hedged.
"Being Ascended," Sydin said.
Legon took a moment to think about it. How did it feel? "Amazing, I've seen and felt through Ise's eyes and controlled the bodies of birds, but never like this. The wind in my wings, the feeling of power..." he looked over at Sydin and without warning headed towards him. Sydin dodged him with ease.
"Whoa, sorry about that," Legon said.
Sydin and Opes laughed, as did the growing group of Ascended around them. "Flying is natural,” Opes said, “flying with confidence and skill, on the other hand, is not. We are going to a Carrier. I am sorry Un Prosa we just can't risk you being in Noris."
Legon didn't understand his apprehension. "OK, is there something I should know?" Iselin's thoughts of you have to land gave him a clue. Carrier landings where supposed to be hard to master with the ship moving and all, but Legon thought he had it. Iselin did it all the time and he was connected to her.
"I wouldn't hold your breath love," she said and then corrected, "actually, maybe holding your breath is a good idea..."
"Please, I'm not going to fall in the water. Come on guys, I got this. How hard can it be?" Legon said confidently.
Sasha piped up. "I don't know, I mean look at how small that thing is," she said thinking of the Carrier in the distance.
From far out it did look small, but he knew it was massive and built to hold a class eight; he'd be fine... he thought. The ship came closer and Legon didn't think it was looking all that much bigger.
“Not so cocky now, huh?” Iselin thought.
"Aren't you supposed to be supportive?"
"I'm your wife. In what way does that obligate be to be supportive? My job is to tell you when you screw up."
"Fair," he said.
Sydin broke in, "OK, now Legon when you come up to the ship you need to slow down, it's going to come at you fast. You need to almost stop mid air and then touch down with your back legs, got it?"
The ship was coming up a little fast, "Yeah, yeah I got this, don't worry; easy."
He could see Elves in the dragon hold he'd be landing in; they were looking at him with pride and excitement.
"Legon, you want to slow down now..." Opes said.
"Right, right... slow down..."
The Elves on the ship didn't look so excited anymore and he thought, are they running? The ship was closing in fast. How was he supposed to slow down? He thought he heard screams from the ship... it was right in front of him now. He reared up, opening his wings wide, slowing rapidly. He was going to make it right in the opening, he wobbled in the air. A swell came, the ship moved up with it and WHAM!
Most of Legon hit the hull of the ship with a dull thud, his upper body hit the floor of the hold, while Elves were screaming and running around. Legon dug his claws in the floor trying to keep from... SPLASH! The water felt good, he wasn't going to lie; but his pride? Not so good. He could hear the thoughts of every Ascended in the area laughing or trying not to laugh, most found it inappropriate to laugh at the Head of a House but he just flew into the side of a ship. Everyone's nerves had been on edge with the battle, nerves that were now releasing; at least you helped with morale. The water around him glowed with black and red magic from Sydin and Opes as they hoisted him up to the dragon hold. Legon clambered inside. He was so thankful that scales didn't show blushing.
Legon stood in the hold trying to retain what little dignity he had left. A quick spell dried him and the area.
Iselin was in her Elf form walking up to him, so were Sydin and Opes. Sasha followed Iselin. Up to this point no one had noticed her, but people were starting to. The Elves grew silent as she passed them. Opes and Sydin turned to look at her.
"Sasha?" Sydin asked looking dumbstruck.
Sasha wasn't covered in scales that hid a blush, and seeing everyone look at her she turned red with embarrassment. "Yes it's me..." she said timidly, a tone in her voice Legon knew all too well. His heart sank; it was the same tone she used to the people in Salmont when she knew they were talking about her.
Opes approached her with a crystal that would test for magic. She took it not looking him in the eyes; it lit up.
He spoke to the hushed room. "Class six in a fully Ascended form, Elemental. Only someone in their Ascended form can score this high, but you look like an Elf now," he said flatly.
Legon could feel her emotions, her fear. "I'm a freak?" she asked almost like she was going to cry.
Opes raised his brows and the Elves in the room looked amazed, Sydin spoke, "Not a freak, a miracle."
She looked up at him, "How is that, how can you think that?"
Legon spoke so the whole room could hear him, "Because the White Dragon doesn't make freaks. Think about what he told you, does he think you're a freak?"
Her head lifted and she smiled a bit. "He loves me."
"And so do we," one of the Elves in the hold said. Sasha looked around the room as if seeing the Elves for the first time and smiled.
Legon noticed Opes next to him. "Legon?" he said holding the crystal. Legon bent his neck and touched the stone, it lit bright green. Opes exclaimed in a loud voice, "Class eight, Biologic!" The sound on the ship was deafening, the dragons in the air roared and word passed from vessel to vessel. Magic flew in the air bursting like fireworks. For the first time in two thousand years the Pawdin Empire had a class eight Ascended.
* * * * *
In the Capital city of Seeon, Edis sat with his wife Laura waiting to hear any news they could about their children. They had listened to the broadcast about the battle and then were told by one of the house care takers that Sasha and Legon were missing. Now they sat waiting for information, a worried looking Rachel with them.
A bronze haired Elf came running up to them, where they sat on their terrace. "Un Prose, Sasha is a class six Elemental and the Everser Vald is a class eight Biologic!" the Elf crowed.
They were what and what? Edis asked what she was talking about and if his kids had been found.
The Elf apologized. "Yes please forgive me; they made it to a Carrier. Your son Ascended and that is why we lost contact with them. Your daughter was close by and is now, from what we've been told, an Elf and is a class six, but she is still in an Elf form."
Edis was happy but confused, "Elf form?"
"Yes, you see dragons are most powerful only when in their Ascended form; but your daughter isn't a dragon, she is just like any other Elf woman but she has the full power of a class six in their Ascended form!”
Edis was still confuse
d. "Is she ok?"
The Elf looked a little exasperated, "More then, she is an immortal now and one of the most powerful ones in history at that!"
It took a moment for what Edis heard to sink in, he looked at his wife. "Our kids won’t grow old and die," he said. It was just then he heard the excitement in the city. "What is that? Are people yelling?"
The Elf laughed, "Yes the whole of the empire is being told!"
Edis looked out in the streets, seeing people running out of their homes hugging each other and waving house Evindass banners in the air.
Chapter Two
Fallen
"It isn't until we see the effect on the living that we truly understand the loss of the dead."
-Excerpts from The Diary of the Adopted Sister
"Ankle, Tony, John and Seth take teams up the gate towers and clear them, we will have supplies and civies coming in soon, I don't want any problems. The rest of you on me, we need to check the walls’ defenses to make sure we aren't going to get any surprises. Who knows what the Iumenta left behind," Barnin said to his men. They rose and started on their way. Noris had fallen but that didn't mean it was taken. Barnin looked to the north seeing blue and green magic by the cliffs.
He called Heath over to him. "I thought we were told the north cliffs were clear."
Heath's eyes went out of focus, "We haven't gotten word otherwise; but that magic is over the water, it has to be Ascended fighting."
"Great," Barnin grunted.
Dragons weren't his problem, what was his problem was losing six men in the fight for the town. Six wasn't a lot of losses for taking a major city, but he also lost Josher on the flight in and wouldn't be getting replacements for some time to come.
Around him was a city in disarray, most of the buildings by the town’s entrance were on fire, along with most of the town’s defenses. When Barnin and his men dropped in, the Elf Dragons started taking out structures that would slow down troops hitting the beach. This, he had to admit, saved a lot of resistance lives but made for a mad house presently. The four teams he'd sent were busy making sure the two towers on either side of the gate weren't booby trapped.
"Sir, do you really think there will be traps in there?" a man asked.
"The Iumenta aren't dumb, they must have figured there was a strong chance of losing Noris. I don't see them leaving it in pristine condition for us." Barnin said.
As if to enforce his point there was a loud boom in the distance, they looked to see fire and smoke rise. Barnin looked back at the man, "Step light."
Barnin started down a road that ran the length of the city wall. There wasn't a lot of damage to the wall, but all of the buildings around it were rubble. Barnin could see men and women covered in black ash and grime trying to dig around the wreckage of buildings. He spoke to a man in his group, "Do we know anything about this city? What part of town are we in?"
The man looked at a map and told him that they were in a light commercial and residential district. So a bunch of homes and shops he thought. For being the type of area it was there was a surprisingly small amount of people; most of the bodies they were passing were men in armor, charred by dragon fire.
The area they were in cleared into what looked like a small park, but where children once played there was a trebuchet, or what was left of one. Behind it were ordinances that the enemy never got a chance to use and a smattering of bodies.
"Ok let’s check it out! I'd wager that not everyone here was killed, check the buildings see what you can find, stay in groups. Heath, make sure there is nothing here that can be used," he ordered.
A few men stayed to help Heath as he made sure that weapons were collected and that the ceramic balls filled with flammable oil were either piled up for teams to collect or destroyed.
Barnin felt heat as some of the balls were lit on fire; he turned to look at them. Heath and the two others with him were taking the downed men’s weapons and placing them near the fire. Good thinking Heath, no one will be able to take those while they’re hot he thought. He knew there were other teams with carts collecting every weapon they could find, not that the resistance was running low, but rather to keep locals from being able to arm themselves and push out the resistance.
Barnin walked up to an elderly man who was poking around in rubble. "Did you see anyone leave this area that was military?" he asked.
The man looked him over, "No I was in the shelter along with the bulk of the town when your lot attacked; which is up the street a ways, out of the range of siege weapons."
"Ok," Barnin said pulling out his own copy of a map of Noris and looking around. "I don't know where anything is, can you help me out at all?"
The man frowned. "You burn our city, kill our people and you want help? Why should I help you?" the man asked angrily.
Why should he help Barnin? That was an easy question, "We have ships with healers, food and supplies that need to land. They can't come in and help anyone out until we clear the area. Now, based on what I'm seeing around me, you could use some food and shelter tonight. If you help me out I'll make sure you're one of the first to get assistance, you and the people living around you."
The man looked angry, but then looked around at the groups of people picking through rubble, "How can you do that?"
"I know people, but it’s first come first serve with aid; whatever gets cleared first gets help first, you got me?"
The man’s head bobbed, "Yeah I got you. OK, come on I'll show you around. Can you help me real quick? I'm trying to find something for my wife," the man asked.
"Yeah that's fine," Barnin said walking over in the ruins of what he presumed was a house. "What are we looking for?"
"A jewelry box, it's been in the family for years. We don't want to lose it."
Barnin huffed; he didn't really have time for this. Some of his men followed him over, "Keep looking around, once we find this box we'll help you out," Barnin said to them.
The men left and Barnin began moving beams around looking for the box. "So how long have you lived here?" Barnin asked trying to make conversation but not really paying attention.
The answer came from close, too close. "Not long," the old man’s voice rang cold. Barnin spun just in time to avoid getting hit in the head by a hammer. He stumbled, falling back; the man yelled and came at him. The man’s head snapped to the side with a crack and he fell to the ground.
The sky darkened as Umbra glided down landing in the street. "This isn't going to be like when refugees come in Barnin. These people think you're the enemy; they will try and kill you," she said agitated.
His heart slowed a bit and he stood, "Yeah... guess I forgot; we are the bad guys to these people."
She eyed him, when she spoke again her tone was softer, "They have been influenced for years by the Iumenta. It will take our Ascended time to break that cycle of thought."
He nodded, "What can I do for you?"
She told him about Legon and then Sasha; his mouth hung open by the time she was done. "We need to go find Arkin and Stacy, no one has been able to contact either; it’s likely that they were killed before Legon and Sasha were attacked. We think that maybe Stacy's contact that they were going to see was compromised. Legon wanted you to go because you knew Arkin."
Arkin hurt? Barnin didn't buy it, wouldn't buy it, he yelled to Heath, "Heath, get everyone up here on the double we are going on a trip." Then back to Umbra, "How do we get there?"
"The two other Ascended you came in on will take you, as will I. Legon and Sasha were attacked by Ascended so we don't know what's in the area," she informed him.
* * * * *
Umbra scanned the area with her mind and senses. She couldn't detect anything amiss, but that didn't mean there wasn't anything wrong. The load of humans on her back was lighter than before; she didn't know most of them very well, just Barnin and Heath. She felt bad for the death of Josher. It wasn't her fault, but she still felt guilty. Had she not been engaged in a fight with that other
Ascended, he would have lived, she could have saved him. That was neither here nor there she told herself, what was done, was just that, done.
She flew out over the beach of Noris soaring above the open water rising as she went. Her group was joined by a brown dragon from House Evindass, who was to find and extract Emma and Mage.
The cliff tops were still socked in with dense clouds and she resigned herself to having to stick close to the ground. The cliffs passed below her and she flew over a charred patch of trees with two figures and three familiars.
"Shouldn't we go down and make sure they're OK?" Barnin asked worried.
"Legon healed them both and that brown is going to pick them up. Our mission is to find Arkin, Stacy and if possible their contact to find out what went wrong," she explained. She could understand his desire to go and help Emma; after all they had been childhood friends.
They passed over a monastery at the top of the cliffs and she landed, dropping off Barnin and his men. "Look around, I will stay connected to you if you need anything."
She took off again and started circling around the cliff tops; the other two dragons were doing likewise but weren't finding much. Other than a few townspeople that were running from Noris, everything looked to be clear; but then she smelled something. It was blood and a lot of it. Umbra turned following the scent. She was still having a hard time with the fog, so she came in close to the ground when she saw it. On the ground was a group of humans, bodies littered everywhere. She landed, instructing Barnin where to find her. On the ground was a group of men in black, in the center of which was a badly injured brunette girl that fit the description of Stacy. Her chest was barely moving. Umbra glanced around more and found the form of another person on the ground. He was blonde with long hair; he wasn't as tore up as Stacy but was obviously dead. Arkin's body did not look peaceful; his face was a mask of sorrow. That's an odd look Umbra thought.
Legon Restoration Page 2