Second In Command

After dinner I pulled Melody aside, "Markus is hiding something. He looked at my ring and got all nervous."

"Hmm, let me guess. You want me to help you find out what he's hiding?"

"Exactly, so here's the plan-"

"I never said i'd do it for free."

I sighed, "Ugh, fine, what do you want."

Melody smiled mischievously, "I want you to teach me how to do what you did in the exam."

"It's impossible for you to do it right now."

"Why? What do you mean?" She put on a pouty face.

"Air Block takes a decent amount of mana to cast and it takes even more to make it move. Your mana core is not fully developed yet so your core only makes so much. You'll be able to make it move eventually but as of right now you can only make it appear."

"That's fine, for now just teach me how to make it appear."

"I'll teach you after we find out what he's hiding, deal?"

I stuck out my hand and Melody shook it, "Deal."

"I have an idea, follow me."

Melody followed me to the bathroom. I laid down and I put my ear next to the crack under the door. Melody used Sound Tunnel to communicate, 'What are you doing?'

'I'm reading his thoughts.'

'What!? That's insane! How!?'

'Stop yelling would you? It's song magic. I'm basically listening to his inner voice or thoughts. As far as I know, only I can do this spell.'

'W-whoa. What's he thinking?'

'Hold on, let me listen.'

[I have to report this to the king! Why did it have to be Nova of all people? Is she really the Interpreter? I have to go now!]

Suddenly the door opened and Markus looked at us with nervous eyes, "H-hey guys, did you need something?"

Melody looked at me with pleading eyes that were asking for help.

"Markus, you're going to see the king aren't you?"

"H-how-?"

"Don't worry about it and take us with you. I have business with the king as well."

Markus smiled, "You never cease to amaze me."

"I love you too dad. Let me just get my bag from my room and we'll get going."

***

We went into town and got in a carriage heading for the royal palace. Once inside I explained to Markus how I knew he was going to see the king and what he thought to Melody. Markus was exasperated that such a spell existed.

"So i'm going to guess you are close to the king? Otherwise you wouldn't just rush into the palace like this."

"It seems that I owe an explanation. I was the king's right hand man. He took care of political matters and I took care of military matters."

I chuckled, "Does that mean you're powerful? I'll have to duel you later."

"Unfortunately, not so much anymore. I didn't age well and my magic declined. I decided to resign as to not hold the king back. He set me up with a place so I can settle down and have a family without any intrusions from abductors or attackers. That's where we live now."

I became deep in thought, 'That would explain why we live far from the village and why no one ever comes to our house.'

"Do you know what this ring is then? You seem almost terrified of it."

Markus started sweating again, "I-I'll let the king explain. He knows more of it then I do."

"Hmm..."

Markus broke my concentration, "By the way, why did you both want to come with me?"

I answered for Melody, "I figured you'd need to show the king this ring and I'll pitch my invention to him."

"You mean the-"

'Don't say it out loud!' I used Sound Tunnel to tell him this. 'We will not discuss this in front of others,' I glanced in the direction of the driver and released my spell.

The carriage stopped and the driver opened the door for us, "We're here so you'll have to deal with the suspense for now." I winked at them and tipped the driver.

Looking at the palace was a spectacular sight. It was larger than the guild hall and took on the appearance of a medieval castle. There were many guards patrolling the grounds for any intruders and two of them stood at the gates for identification.

Markus took out an I.D. card and gave it to the guards. They looked at his card then him a few times then let us through. the inside was even more grand than the exterior. A chandelier protruded from the main hall and two grand stair ways led to the second floor on each side of the room. The walls were littered with artifacts and ancient weapons that seemed to old for this regal palace.

A man dressed lavishly greeted us, "I heard I had a visitor, little did I expect it to be you Markus." The man had deep blue eyes and blond hair that reflected light in a way i didn't even know was possible.

Markus replied formally, "I'm glad I could see you again Your Majesty."

"You know how much I hate being called that. I told you to call me Vex. Who are the two cuties with you?"

"This is my daughter Nova and her friend Melody."

King Vex came up to me and grabbed my hand. He kissed the back the back of it, "Fine maiden, would you like to go on a date with me."

Melody's eyes became saddened as she heard this.

I smiled, "Thanks for the offer but you're not my type."

I could almost see the arrow pierce his heart as he become sulky.

Markus laughed, "Still getting rejected I see."

King Vex regained his pristine-like appearance, "Yeah, yeah. So what brought you here?"

Markus became nervous again, "My daughter is the Interpreter."

King Vex's smile was immediately replaced with a serious expression that implicated he was deep in thought.

"So the prophecy is finally coming true..."

I interrupted, "Would you both like to elaborate?"

King Vex smiled sympathetically, "Ah, yes. five hundred years ago there was a horrific battle. For the first time in history, the five races teamed up to ward off the Abyssal Dragon. The Abyssal Dragon led an army of undead and ravaged our lands with many casualties on all sides. We managed to weaken it but it wasn't enough until the Five Dragon Knights showed up. They casted a spell to seal away the dragon but in doing so, sacrificed their lives in return. Only one of the five survived but no one knows where he went. In the end, he predicted that the seal would not hold and the indicator for this was the five dragons being selected as companions by five powerful mages. The rings indicate a Dragon Knight."

Markus looked at me with wide eyes. I stared back with an awkward smile, "Surprise! I was going to tell you but I kept getting busy. My bad."

Markus just sighed and pinched his nasal bridge. I looked towards King Vex, "You said there are five dragons right? I thought there were only four."

"There are only four in our dimension. One dragon gets chosen for each race, this is how it has been for every time they were chosen as companions. The fifth lies in a place called Earth and is not specified to a certain race."

My mind shook as it heard him say Earth and I fell to one knee holding my head with my left hand. I started shaking and sweating like It was taking my full strength just to stay conscious. Then, a vision appeared in front of me. It was that boy in my old body again. I could sense mana radiating off of him like a waterfall. The fact that he's on earth and this powerful, is he the fifth?

The vision passed and I could hardly kneel. The others were concerned, "What happened?"

"Are you alright?"

Melody helped me stand, "I'm fine. I can't faint before I present my invention to King Vex anyway."

King Vex looked intrigued, "An invention you say? I'll be glad to hear about it and see if we could have a contract signed. I'll get my inventor to hear it as well so I can have a professional opinion. For now you should rest. I'll be back soon with him and a glass of water."

He ordered a servant to fetch us a glass of water and went to get the inventor he spoke of.

I sat in a fancy chair while I waited for him to come back, 'Looks like it's almost show time.'