Chapter 13 - On Wings of Suprise

I awoke the next day to find Ivan and the others gone. Lilah handed me a note and a bag when I shot her a questioning look. I slowly read the note as I felt the bag in my hand. It made a clicking noise and I quickly realized what it was.

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Dear Nathan

We apologize for leaving without telling you, but your boney friend wouldn't let us near you, so I decided to leave you a note. We once again thank you for the rescue and we left a bag of coins as a gift of gratitude. It isn't much, but we hope it helps you in some way.

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I felt a smile tug at the corner of my lips as I read the note. It was always nice to be thanked and even nicer to get gifts. I stored the bag of coins after a quick look inside. It was just a few coppers, but it was still coin. I turned to Leone and Gible and woke them up, or tried to least. It took far longer to wake Leone up as she pulled me into her chest when I started asking her awake. Her eyes finally opened when I started shouting, and she gave me a confused look.

"Time to wake up," I said, getting back to my feet and brushing the dirt off my t-shirt. I really needed to get some new clothes. I stored Lilah and me, Leone and Gibel had a quick breakfast after that. Me and Leone eating some of the rations provided to us by Dornand, Bread, and dry meats, While Gible ate 2 baffles corpses.

I stored Gible after breakfast and headed out of the cave, and into the bright morning sun. I swept my gaze over the forest. I hadn't examined it yesterday as I had to focused on other things, but looking at it now, it realized just how peaceful and beautiful looked. The trees were tall and green with the occasional leaf, and mildew slowly falling down to the forest floor. A floor that was covered in undergrowth. I could see Ferns, moss, brambles, and large bushes around me, and I spotted the fallen tree that had been felled by Domino's power. Everything was so green, and the light that filtered in through the treetops made it look like a scene that would be used as a wallpaper or in a nature ad. It was stunning and the smell of pine and damp earth went right along with it.

"We going?" yawned Leone, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Yeah, just let me use the summoning token I got yesterday," I answered. I had thought about waiting but didn't see any real reason to. I had my summons storage, so size didn't matter.

[1 Common Token Used]

[Summoning Entity]

The brief flash of white light came and went.

[Summoning Complete: Winged Kuriboh(Yu-Gi-Oh)]

To say I was disappointed wouldn't have been an overstatement. As the winged, brown, and ball-shaped furry creature peeped and stared at with its two large oval-shaped eyes, I wondered if my level had anything to do with my chances of summoning. Kuriboh wasn't that bad, but the chances of getting the exact other cards that matched with Kuriboh to make it stronger were abysmal, and even if I used a special request token, there will thousands of cards in yu gi oh. The creature peeped once more at me and I felt the urge to coo at it. It might not have been that useful, but it was cute as hell.

"Eden does my Level affect my summoning," I asked, holding Kuriboh in my hands, and stroking his fur causing him to let out happy peeps. Even if he wasn't that useful I would still treat him as best as I could.

[The higher level you are, the higher your chances of getting stronger summons]

[You should also be aware that some entities won't have a chance to be summoned until you are the sufficient level, so don't expect to get a god-level entity at level 3]

I would have really preferred if she would have told me that before I used my summoning token, but it was too late now. Should I save up all my tokens and then use them at higher levels? But what if I need more strength and power at my side.

"Do you recommended anything," I asked, wanting to know Edens's opinion on the matter?

[I recommend the host doesn't use any more tokens until Level 5]

[Host should also take care when using a situation token]

[Be aware it will get harder and harder to level, but the rewards will get better with each new level]

[This is as much help and advice as I can currently offer you on the matter without breaching my restrictions]

"That's plenty. Thank you, Eden," I said. I really wanted to ask why level 5, but I didn't think she'd be able to answer. Perhaps level 5 held some sort of significance? In any case, thinking about wouldn't do much more good and I wanted to get to capital as quickly as I could. I still didn't know how I would get into the meeting, so I wanted to arrive beforehand and figure out a way. With my goal firmed in my mind, I stored Kuriboh, summoned my Rathalos, and a minute later Me and leone were soaring through skies on Raths back.

Rath flew quickly and Leone and I talked about various events that had happened in her past. Even though I saw her as a real person hearing her talk about her past and the emotions that she showed reaffirmed my view. We spoke like that for a few hours until I was interrupted by Eden.

[Incoming mental message. would you like to accept?]

Mental Message? I hadn't even thought that was possible, but then again magic and kor existed in this world, so I shouldn't have been as shocked as I was. What I should have been shocked by was Eden intercepting it and allowing me to choose whether to accept it or not. I was definitely happy about it and sent a silent thanks to Eden. The idea of people sending mental messages into my mind without my permission sounded awful.

I shook myself from my musings and spent a long minute looking at the notification before accepting it. I didn't think it would cause me any harm, as I didn't think that Eden would allow me to accept it if it did.

{Wanderer, on behalf of my queen, I ask that land your beast upon the edge of our camp. Our queen wishes to speak with you}

Camp? Queen? Where the hell is this voice coming from?

"Erm... Nathan, you might wanna look down," said Leone in an awed voice.

"Down? What's down..." my sentence trailed off as I stared down, wide-eyed at the scene before me.

There was now a visible dirt road in the forest and at one point it split into two paths, one of which led to a wider dirt path which lead into a very large grassy clearing that was filled with tents and people. Hundreds of tents and probably thousands of people.

I could see men and women in armor and robes pointing at us and shouting. I felt a pang of worry when I spotted archers and what looked to be mages preparing to fire on us, but luckily they just held still, as if waiting for an order. I didn't know how much damage Rath could take and I wasn't fond of finding out with us on him. The tents were mainly silver with other colors mixed in and looked like they all served different purposes, but I wasn't able to make out much detail at the distance I was at. Flags rippled in the wind all around the clearing, each emblazoned with a symbol of some sort of silver bird-like creature with large wings and prominent talons.

{Please land at the edge of our camp. We will not ask again}

I didn't know how to respond, and I didn't want to get blown out of the sky. Maybe I could just fly away? I shook that thought away and gave the mental command for Rath to descend. I didn't know what the people below me were capable of.

"I'm gonna store you Leone, ok?" I asked her, and when she didn't respond immediately I thought she would refuse but a moment later she nodded into my back, "Be careful," she said in a worried voice." I stored her away and felt her grip on my sides disappear, leaving me with only Rath. I wanted her to stay with me, but I didn't want them to know what I could do or what I had up my sleeve.

"To the edge," I commanded Rath, and he dipped his large head slightly. Despite the number of tents and people, there were a few clear spaces left in the clearing. Rath was descending on a part of the edge that was clear of anything and a decent distance away from everything else.

As we descended, I was able to see things better, and I quickly noticed the wide-eyed stares and glares that were shot at me and Rath. We landed at the edge of the large clearing, and I got off Raths back but didn't store him or move away from him. I wasn't taking any chances, and If they attacked me, then Rath would protect me and retaliate immediately.

I looked to the camp and saw that a large procession of people was headed my way. All I could see were men and women dressed in armor, but I did catch a glimpse of people behind them. As they neared I got a closer look at their armor and weapons. It was blue and silver. A mix of Chainmail and steel plates that fit together nicely. There were also elegant blue and silver patterns across their shoulders, breastplate, vambraces, and leggings. They all had silver spears in hand and swords at their waists. All in all, they looked beautiful yet effective.

The armored soldier or knights? I didn't know which they were, stopped 10 feet away from me. One of them, a woman stepped forward and cleared her throat loudly. She held her spear in her right hand and tapped in once on the ground with it.

"I, Talonknight Thena present to you the rightful queen and ruler of the Larra Kingdom!" her words were loud and boomed out. I was actually startled by the volume of her voice and at first, didn't take in her words, but then the armored knights parted in the middle, to allow a group of three to walk up.

"Adarra Talonore Larrain, first of her name and true heir to the throne!"

My mind had completely forgotten about the knight and was focused on the woman in front of me. I felt shocked and surprised in equal measure, and oddly a bit vulnerable. The words had sunk in and I had realized who the people in front of me were and where I was.

Three words echoed in my mind as I stepped forward to meet them.

The princess faction.