Chapter 21
“Are you hurt?” Kyle asked, his breath still trying to return to his lungs.
“No,” Luna answered softly as she gazed into his eyes.
“What happened?” Kyle wondered.
“A demon stag rammed me,” Luna explained. Her body ached nearly unbearably, not that she would admit it to him, and she had a strong desire to curl up and go to sleep. Her eyelids closed, and she snuggled into his warmth.
Kyle grunted in discomfort, but wrapped his arms around her protectively. Two things happened simultaneously; Zira screamed Luna’s name, and Kyle felt her exhale without inhaling.
Idiot! Kyle berated himself for not noticing how seriously injured she was, and cast a healing spell. The spell caused Luna to take a breath, but she still seemed on the verge of death.
Amadea was still nearby, and she rushed to reinforce Kyle’s healing spell. Kyle felt a golden fire descend upon Luna and himself, and suddenly realized how much pain he had been in until Amadea’s spell took away the hurt.
Luna’s eyes opened to see Kyle still under her. She blushed, and brushed his hair out of his face. She felt a powerful urge to kiss him, but was prevented from doing so by Zira, who was solid enough to pick her up and squeeze her tightly.
“Don’t you dare die on me!” Zira commanded.
“Look who’s talking!” Luna snorted.
Zephyr strode up to them. “Looks like we’re done here. Is everyone okay?”
“Yes, but it was a near thing. If I had not been right here, Luna may well have died,” Amadea stated.
“It’s not your fault!” Luna protested. “I’m the one who stood there like an idiot while a demon stag rammed into me!”
Amadea gave a wry smile. “True.”
*******
Later that night, they made camp at an abandoned hot spring outside of the town they had defended that day. Zephyr cast a protective circle around it in case any demons were still in the area.
The five of them took their time getting clean, and couldn’t resist the temptation to splash each other playfully. Luna was just contemplating kissing Kyle, when they were surprised by visitors.
“Zephyr, Amadea, will you let us through your barrier?”
“Notus? What are you doing here?” Zephyr inquired as he created a doorway in the barrier.
“Boreus and I decided to come help you, since you’ve already cleared most of the demons from our kingdom,” Notus answered.
“Good to have you along,” Zephyr greeted as Amadea smiled in welcome.
Boreus exchanged introductions with Kyle and Luna, and joked about how his woman didn’t want him out risking his neck, and would never agree to risk hers like Luna was.
“Oh! Luna and I aren’t…” Kyle stammered.
“I’m Zira’s sister,” Luna explained.
“So that’s why you look so much like her!” Notus nodded as if he had just solved a puzzle.
“Of course!” Zira puffed out her chest. “Beauty such as ours has to be a family trait!”
“Zira!” Amadea laughed. “You say the weirdest things at times.”
“I can’t help it that it’s true!” Zira defended. The two resumed their splash fight
Meanwhile, Notus kissed Luna’s hand as he introduced himself.
Luna blushed. “I know who you are.”
“You do?”
“Of course, I recognize you from the meeting between the Empress, her advisors, and all of the individual rulers,” Luna smiled at him shyly.
“I hadn’t realized you were there.” Notus gave a sheepish smile. “Please forgive my oversight.”
“Of course,” Luna replied. She was just a country girl, and had no idea what to do in the presence of royalty.
“Oh, stop flirting with my sister!” Zira demanded. “You’re turning a perfectly lovely evening all mushy!”
“Would you prefer I flirt with you instead?” Notus challenged.
Boreus stared at his brother in awe. Notus was not known for flirting with anyone. He did not realize that it was because Notus usually felt duty bound to act kingly at all times, but he had already learned to relax around Zephyr, Amadea, and Zira.
“Aaah!” Amadea sighed. “As wonderful as this feels, perhaps we should all exit the hot spring, and get some sleep.”
“I agree,” Zephyr yawned.
Everyone complied, and soon they were all wrapped up in thick robes that had been in a small supply shack next to the hot spring.
The next morning, Amadea lingered in her nice warm bundle of blankets as she listened to the rest of her companions chatter while they completed their morning chores. Something smelled delicious as it cooked over a campfire, and Amadea wondered if they had brought bacon with them. Zira sat down next to her, laughing softly as she witnessed Amadea’s grin.
“Just like old times, huh?” Zira asked.
“Yeah, a bit,” Amadea agreed.
“No wonder you seemed to love traveling with us so much, you had probably never had a real conversation in your life prior to that,” Zira remarked.
“I wouldn’t go quite that far, but it is hard to have a decent conversation when it’s obvious the person speaking to you just wants you to do something for them. Except for servants, who are always eager to do something for me, but it’s their job to be nice to me, so how can I truly trust them either?” Amadea rhetorized.
“Yet, out here, we are all friends and equals,” Zira added.
Kyle heard that, and frowned. “How can you say that? It’s simply not true.”
Zira looked up at him. “You don’t consider yourself our friend?”
“Well, yes, of course I do, but I am definitely not anyone’s equal,” he replied with a shrug.
“Of course you are!” Amadea laughed, sitting up finally. “You are here because you are equally certain that you wish to fight monsters!”
She stood, and pointed one finger to the sky. It had been a long time since she’d been this fired up. “All of those who love justice are brothers and sisters! We all do our best to protect innocent lives from evil! How can you say that you – a brother in the name of justice – are not equal to me? Does your heart not long to destroy monsters? Would you prefer to fight on their side?”
Zephyr glanced at Zira, and they both smirked. “Oh, he’s done it now,” they murmured at the same time.
Amadea continued on in this manner, rhapsodizing on the wonders of justice, until their camp had been packed up, and breakfast was ready to be eaten. Kyle stared at her in shock and awe, wondering if she was actually crazy. Finally, Zephyr said the magic words to end her rant about love, justice, and the fate of innocents everywhere.
“Oh my! It looks like I will get to eat all of this delicious food all by myself since there is no one looking my way,” he winked at Zira.
Amadea immediately stopped pointing at the sky, and pointed at her husband. “How dare you try to eat my breakfast?! That is cruel bordering on evil, and I shall have to punish you!”
“Mmm, this bacon sure tastes good,” Zephyr commented as his companions gathered around him.
“That’s not fair!” Amadea squealed, and pounced on him. “You are supposed to share!”
Zephyr laughed, and handed her a plate he’d dished up just for her. “You certainly seem to be in a good mood today.”
“I am! I remembered why I love being alive, and why I love traveling,” Amadea grinned.
Zephyr nodded, and teased, “I know, to spread love and justice… and to kill as many bad guys as possible!”
“Hey!” Amadea protested. “That makes me sound too much like Zira!”
Zira stood behind Amadea, and leaned over her menacingly. “And just what is wrong with being like me?!”
“I er um, n-nothing…” Amadea stuttered, and quickly shoved her mouth full of food. “mmm mmmk, mmmt mmmk.” Oh look, can’t talk, my mouth is full of food…
“I didn’t think so,” Zira stated emphatically.
Zira sighed, and sat in between Zephyr and Amadea. “All joking aside, I’m concerned. This all seems just a bit too easy.”
“I know what you mean,” Zephyr agreed.
“I don’t,” Luna nearly cried out in concern. “What do you mean too easy?”
Zira repeated her deep sigh. “How to put this… sure we’ve fought some pretty tough monsters so far, but we haven’t come across any higher ranking demons, and not once have we all lain on the verge of death before ultimately winning the battle, and…”
Zephyr nodded, “And if we do, how are we going to defend ourselves? You were the only one that could cast the really big spells.”
“I hadn’t thought about that,” Amadea commented. “You’re right though, we all died practically every other month at the hands of a powerful demon or two… or three. That hasn’t happened in a while… but it doesn’t matter, because I have always been right!” She grinned brilliantly. “For a heart that loves justice, and a will that never wavers – there will always be a way to defeat evil!”
Luna and Kyle exchanged surprised and worried glances with Notus and Boreus. Were they being serious about the demons? None of them had ever seen a demon, and actually thought they were probably myths.
Zephyr was not surprised by her words in the slightest, he was used to them by now. “You say that, but…”Go To Chapter 22
Thank you! I hope you liked what you read :-)
ReplyDelete