Chapter 6

After flying for about a few hours Saria, Solara and Ava had arrived in a city called Noswell. It was located a few miles outside the kingdom of Astria.

The city of Noswell was built on the bank of a natural harbor. Behind the city was an expansive forest and a large valley of mountains.

It was a port that transported goods overseas to other lands as well as brought a great deal of business to the city.

Saria was looking around as she waited for the mana core on the ship to be recharged. Solara waved goodbye as she dragged Ava down the street to a healing center she saw when they got off the ship.

Ava's wound wasn't as bad as it was last night, but she was still in pain. The wound kept opening back up despite Solara's efforts to use her magic dust to prevent that.

They entered the healing center greeted by a Terran who watering plants was. Terrans were a race of beings that were practitioners of nature magic and excellent healers.

When she noticed Ava, she frowned as she placed her watering can down and rushed over to Ava and Solara.

"What happened?" The Terran questioned as Solara looked at Ava with concern. Ava winced in pain as she started to speak.

"I was stabbed with a dagger made from an armored dragon's scales." She said in pain as the Terran frowned as she helped her down the hall.

She pushed open a door to a room. She placed Ava on the bed and walked over to a cabinet that had vials of potions. The potions were different colors and created using different substances throughout the world. She grabbed a vial that contained a gel-like substance in it.

"The scales of an armored dragon are comparable to metal and weapons made from them leave shrapnel in wounds. This can cause the wounds to grow irritated and lead to infection. Also, it makes it difficult for healing magic to have a meaningful effect." The Terran said as she placed the vial on a table next to the bed. She began to grab tools in order to pull out the fragments of bone in the wound.

Once the shrapnel was out then it would be easier to use a healing spell to speed up the recovery. The Terran placed on a set of glasses and began to operate. She gently spread the strange gel substance onto the wound before she began to start pulling out the fragments.

Ava squealed in pain as the Terran began digging in the wound with a pair of tweezers. Solara cringed as she stood by and watched. The Terran began placing the tiny fragments of dragon scales in a small container.

It took about twenty minutes before all the fragments were out. She sighed as she wiped a bit of sweat off her forehead. She then waved her hands as a small magic circle appeared floating over the wound.

A radiant grassy green light began to glow off the wound as it slowly began to close. When she was done, she sighed and slowly stood up. "I'm going to require you to stick around for a bit so I can monitor you a bit. I'm going to check out these scales to make sure it doesn't have any harmful enchantments.

Ava nodded as she watched the Terran leave the room passing by Solara as she left. Solara sighed as she rubbed her fingers through her long curly fiery colored hair.

"Well, I'm going to try to buy some supplies, so you just rest for a while. I'll be back soon,okay?" Solara said, causing Ava to nod slowly as she leaned back and closed her eyes.

Solara bit her lip as she began to wonder what they should do for there would be consequences to come if they went to the kingdom of Astria. If the quest they interfered in was one requested by the queen herself, there would be dire consequences.

Solara left the room leaving Ava alone where she tried to sleep. As she began to fall asleep, she could feel someone breathing over top of her. She began to tremble as she became afraid, but she kept her eyes closed for fear of who it might be.

"I'm not here to kill you so calm yourself." A deep voice said, causing Ava to slowly open her eyes. Vesryn was standing over her with a serious look on his face. He's wearing a long fur jacket that came down to his knees.

He was wearing armor under the jacket and on his belt are vials of potions and two pouches that both contain something. His shoulder length wavy hair is hanging low covering most of his face. Ava hesitantly sits upright but winces as she does so. Then she looks around the room hoping for help to come but no one else is around.

"If you're not here to kill me then what do you want?" Ava asked nervously as Vesryn stood silently as he stared at her. Ava was utterly terrified of Vesryn and she's always felt uneasy about him since the day she met him. Being alone in a room with him was the last thing she wanted but she knew he's not someone you can run from.

"Did you know about the demons invading our land?" Vesryn asked, causing Ava to shake her head slowly.

"I stay at our guild house in Astria and haven't been home since I had a falling out with my family years ago. Taegan never really told me about home because I never asked...which I regret now." Ava said with a tone of shame as she looked away from Vesryn.

He grunted as he turned away from her to think something over. He then waved his hand as a portal began to slowly open.

"You're going to take me there so I can see what we're dealing with. Also, if I'm lucky I can maybe steal the sword back." Vesryn said as he looked at Ava with a serious look.

She hesitated for a moment before realizing she had to go with him, and she had no choice.

"I thought you can't open a portal anywhere you haven't been." Ava said, causing Vesryn to roll his eyes as he pushed his hair back.

"We're going to use a ship. I had to purchase one of my own since I'm no longer welcome aboard Saria's." Vesryn said as he slowly made a gesture to the portal causing Ava to get out of the bed.

She staggered over to the portal trying to prepare herself for the venture before her.

****

Ky was alone wandering in a foggy desert. He was confused and in a daze unsure of where he was going. All he knew was that he didn't feel anything except for what felt like peace.

As he continued to walk the vast hills of sand a blackish green cloud began to form. Slowly, A pair of strange green eyes were the first thing he could see inside the cloud.

Eventually, he could see a figure coming out of it and then he realized it was Thana. She floated around him as the strange cloud followed her and spiraled around him.

"I'm dead, aren't I?" Ky asked as he lowered his head and began to look at his hands. He saw that they were badly damaged at the fingertips. Slowly the wounds disappeared which surprised him slightly.

"You are merely in a stasis within the astral plane. I was returning you home so you could be taken care of when you slipped into the stasis." Thana said as she seemed slightly bothered by something.

Ky looked up at the sky to see a pair of clouds swirling together at a single point. The sky was painted with shades of blue and purple and he saw a crescent moon in the distance.

"I wish to ask you something." Thana said slowly, causing Ky's attention to be drawn back to her.

"What is it?" Ky asked as he turned toward her when she stopped flying around him.

She looked sad and it was strange to him for he didn't expect the goddess to show much emotion. In the stories he read about her, she was often depicted as being stoic.

"I have a gift that allows me to see a person's memories, sometimes. At least, I'm capable of this if the person walks a thin line between life and death." Thana said as trailed off and began to think.

Ky was unsure of what to say as he slowly began to scratch his head. "You've been lost since your family was taken from you." Thana said as Ky remained silent as he turned away.

His mind wandered off as he began to see the face of his two beloved siblings. He bit his lip and clenched his fists as he remembered seeing them lay lifeless next to him.

Ky held his head as he started walking away from Thana. He didn't understand why she had to remind him of them since their dead bodies were all that he ever saw.

"Throughout your memories I've noticed you've taken many careless risks putting yourself in danger." Thana spoke as she floated in the air before him. He turned away from her and started walking.

"They didn't deserve to die...I shouldn't have survived that night." Ky said with a tone filled with guilt. His heart was shackled to that day and he had never been able to move on.

It was most likely why he always went into things without considering his chances of survival.

"Your careless ways are quite selfish young man." Thana's voice echoed behind Ky as he continued walking. "A deity chose to intervene and saved your life years.m ago." Thana's voice echoed again causing Ky to stop in his tracks. He turned around but nothing was there for the world he saw seemed to be crumbling.

He started looking around confused as he began to see the world falling apart. Then he began to sink into the sand causing him to panic and began trying to get out of the sinking hole.

Unfortunately, his efforts were futile and he was slowly swallowed up and once again surrounded in darkness.

His eyes shot open and he sat up breathing heavily. He was sweating uncontrollably as he tried to wipe the sweat off his face. It was then he noticed he was chained up to a bed.

He began to look around and realized he was in the medical quarters of the castle in Astria. He knew it was his current location because he's been here many times before but never chained up.

The chains had a binding symbol on them so that he couldn't gather his mana to cast spells. He looked at his hands to see they were bandaged up.

Ky looked over toward the large window that allowed him to see the rest of the kingdom.

He could see the tall towers and homes that spanned for miles out. Ships were flying everywhere in the sky. On the roads that he could see below he saw carriages being pulled by four legged creatures.

The creatures had long tails, long slender legs, muscular and deep torsos built with thick long necks. On their backs were scales that were said to glisten in the moonlight. Resting at the top of their heads were antlers.

As Ky looked beyond the kingdom he saw beautiful mountains and forest of purple and lavender colored trees.

"Ah, you're finally awake." A voice said, causing Ky to turn his head with surprise. At the door stood a young woman around his age with long black curly hair. She wore a dark blue dress that was fitting for a princess.

She had deep golden eyes that had a certain allure to them. She smiled at Ky as she walked over to him.

"Princess Syndra..." Ky trailed off as he tried to bow his head but she stopped him when she heard him wince in pain. Syndra was one of Saria's twins.

They weren't identical twins so they didn't look all that alike but their resemblance was fairly close.

"No one thought you'd wake up...considering your injuries." Syndra said gesturing to Ky causing him to see his chest was also completely bandaged up.

Using mana blaze was a dangerous technique due to the repercussions it had. Improper use could lead to more than just damaged mana veins.

He saw the image of his burned fingers and realized he developed mana burn. It was another side effect of using mana blaze.

"I didn't really consider the severity of the risk." Ky said as he began to stare off into space. Syndra sighed as she hesitantly sat on the bed.

"Listen, you're chained up because I didn't want you trying to use magic and cause more damage to your body. Also, I wanted to make sure you didn't leave so I could question you." Syndra said as she looked at him with a serious look on her face. Ky was confused and was growing uneasy.

"Question me about what exactly?" Ky asked nervously as Syndra bit her lip and turned her head.

"Where's Vesryn and my sister?" Syndra asked as she glanced over at Ky. His eyes widened with surprise as he became unsure of what to say. He began to stumble on his words as he struggled to speak.

"I thought they'd be here." Ky said worriedly as his mind began to race. Did Taegan get to her? Okay as Vesryn unable to beat Taegan if he did go after her? His mind became cluttered with questions until Syndra gently tapped him on the face.

He became focused again and slightly calm. He knew worrying would only make things worse. His biggest worry was what he should say at this moment.

He doubted that she'd believe Vesryn tried to have him killed and hired someone that betrayed him. He realized for now maybe he'd have to avoid the truth a bit.

"We were attacked when we got to the dungeon which was actually located under a shrine of summoning. Anyway, I stayed behind to make sure Vesryn got Saria back to the ship. Also, we were unable to retrieve the sword." Ky said nervously as Solana looked at him suspiciously.

"Who exactly attacked you all? Also, why would you be the one to stay behind when Vesryn is stronger and had a guild with him?" Syndra asked in a serious tone. Ky could tell she wasn't buying into what he was saying but it was somewhat true.

"We were attacked by fiends and Elec was killed. Ava and Solara were injured so they left with Vesryn and Saria. Taegan stayed but he ended up fleeing with the fiends." Ky said, causing Syndra to look at him silently before standing to her feet.

"That's quite a story you have there. We found you outside the castle three days ago and the queen has made a decision. If her daughter doesn't return in the next few days you'll be put on trial. If not because of her daughter then for your constant stealing from the kingdom." Syndra said in a cold tone as she walked away.

Ky was frozen with shock as he tried to utter words but nothing came out. He couldn't believe that Saria didn't make it home. Not only that but three days had passed. Although, if something did happen to her then he was willing to accept the blame.