It was long past noon, and Alix and Valeria had been waiting at the stables for almost two hours, both growing increasingly impatient. It had been more than long enough for all the joy that Alix felt at Leon’s awakening to have died down.
Letting her frustration get the better of her a little bit, Alix asked, “And you have no idea where he went?”
“No,” Valeria coolly replied. “I’m still getting the hang of using magic senses, and he very quickly moved outside of my limited range, anyway. He just went and ran into the forest.”
Alix sighed. “I suppose if he’s busy with other things, I can get back to brushing An—”
Before she could finish, Valeria’s head perked up and she almost cried out, “I can see him!”
Alix’s head whipped around in the direction Valeria was looking in, and for a moment, all she could see were the crowds that were coming and going in the compound. But only a few seconds later, she saw Leon, and relief flooded her body. Two hours was long enough for fear to have settled into the pit of her stomach about what happened to her friend, despite Valeria’s insistence that Leon was fine.
More surprising was the sight of a bronze-skinned, buxom, gorgeous woman running just behind him—a woman that Alix recognized as the same river nymph who had saved all three of them when vampires attacked Leon’s villa during their housewarming party.
Naiad.
Alix didn’t overly like Naiad, but she didn’t hate the river nymph, either. More like, Naiad had always been too aloof to allow the friendly Alix to build much of a relationship with her.
Still, Alix knew how powerful Naiad was, and she was happy enough to see her in these times, especially after the river nymph left Leon almost half a year ago.
“Sir Leon!” Alix called out as Leon approached. “It’s good to see you up and about, Sir!”
Leon smiled back at her with an uncharacteristic amount of warmth. “It’s good to be up and about,” he replied. “I apologize for taking so long.”
“I don’t mind,” Alix replied. Valeria silently nodded her head in agreement, though both Leon and Alix noticed that her eyes had barely left Naiad. Hoping to defuse any tension, Alix asked Leon, “How are you doing?”
“I’m fine, all things considered. I managed to ascend to the seventh-tier, and I think that’s why I took so long to wake up.”
“The seventh-tier?!” Alix almost shouted, and Leon could see even Valeria suddenly look to him in shock, which confused him until he realized that he hadn’t told her about his ascension, yet, and as a fifth-tier mage, she hadn’t enough power of her own to have found out without that explanation.
“Yes,” Leon replied.
Alix looked dumbstruck, while Valeria’s surprise quickly vanished. Leon was the descendant of the Thunderbird, and the silver-haired woman knew that he would probably be quickly gaining power through that connection. For her part, Alix knew that Leon had some advantages as the last living heir of House Raime, but a seventh-tier mage at the age of twenty wasn’t something she had ever thought possible.
After a few moments of silence during which Leon let them both process the news, he glanced at his river nymph companion with a questioning look on his face as if she’d just said something strange, then quickly made some reintroductions. “You both know Naiad—Naiad, you know Alix and Valeria. Naiad will be accompanying us. I hope that isn’t a problem?”
“Not for me,” Alix immediately responded, though her facial expression seemed almost stuck on ‘surprised’ after Leon’s reveal of his ascension. She couldn’t even bring herself to mention her own ascension to the fourth-tier.
Valeria took a few moments to think, both her and Naiad staring at each other. Naiad had a proud, almost provocative smile on her face, while Valeria’s face remained stoically neutral. After a few moments, though, the silver-haired woman whispered, “Shouldn’t be a problem.”
[It’s a pleasure to see you two again,] Naiad whispered into their minds, startling them a bit. Her tone was fairly imperious, but not quite as dismissive of them as she had been when they’d met. Despite that, it was fairly difficult to tell if she was being serious or not, but both Valeria and Alix gave her the benefit of the doubt as Naiad added, [I look forward to fighting at your side.]
“Good to hear,” Leon said before he cut their introductions and reunion short. “Let’s get Anzu saddled up and ready, we’re burning daylight and I’m hoping to catch up with Prince August before sunset.”
Alix and Valeria agreed, and the four proceeded into the stables and made their way over to Anzu’s cell. The griffin was overjoyed to see Leon back on his feet and began scratching at the cell door so furiously that the door seemed like it was about to be torn from its hinges. When Leon laughingly unlatched the door, Anzu burst through and almost barreled him over in his attempt to nuzzle and cuddle with his human.
Leon spent a few minutes playing with Anzu before getting back to work. Anzu was saddled up and half an hour later Alix and Valeria were both mounted up and ready to fly. Anzu wasn’t thrilled at carrying them instead of Leon—Valeria even less so, considering their recent history—but he was starting to get used to the situation and trusted Leon enough to allow it.
Naiad, meanwhile, would travel overland. In the southern wetlands, she’d be able to move just as quickly as Anzu could in the air. For his part, Leon would rely on his flight suit.
Once all the arrangements were made, Leon checked in with the commander of the camp as a courtesy, to ensure that the Legate knew that he was awake and moving on and to get Prince August’s rough position, and then the group set out.
There wasn’t much conversation during their flight. They stuck fairly low over the trees, but at the speeds they were going, trying to talk to each other would only slow them down and wouldn’t lead to much other than frustration.
Leon was more than happy for that, for he was able to completely focus on refining his flying skills. With his new seventh-tier power, he was able to more finely sense the magic around him, which also neatly translated into a great amount of control and finesse with his magic power. All in all, he found flying to be much easier and even more enjoyable.
His flying skills had advanced so much, in fact, that he spent much of the latter half of the flight musing over improvements he could make to his flight suit, in addition to what weapons he might be able to make to complement it. After all, if he were to use his wind magic to aid his flying skills, then he couldn’t at the same time use his lightning or fire, meaning he’d need to either use wind attacks with his own power, enchant an item to add onto the suit that would expand his airborne capabilities, or rely entirely on the suit’s enchantments to fly and give up the power that was now making it so easy so that he could use his lightning or fire as he flew.
He was leaning towards the second option, for having a diverse magical skill set was one of his greatest advantages.
Leon put these thoughts out of his mind for the time being, for after several long hours of flying, during which they crossed almost two hundred miles, they finally came within sight of the rear of Prince August’s marching column.
“Make for the ground!” Leon shouted to Anzu, and the two went into a dive, softly landing in the wide path that the army had made through the forests as they marched. Alix and Valeria nimbly hopped off Anzu’s back, while Naiad materialized out of a small nearby stream.
[Why not go all the way by air?] Naiad asked as she approached, projecting her voice to the other two in a show of courtesy.
“Last time I did that, we got held up for a little while by the Prince’s guards,” Leon replied. “I don’t want to spook them into attacking us, even if that possibility is unlikely. Better to make the final approach on foot. Besides, I think they’d definitely attack you if you were to just appear in the middle of the marching column as you do.”
Naiad frowned, but she said nothing more about it.
The group began walking toward the rear of the column. They didn’t hide or try to avoid attracting attention, and as such, after about fifteen minutes, about a dozen riders peeled off from the main column to investigate their appearance. It didn’t take much for Leon to prove who he was; the riders took one look at Anzu, recognized Leon as ‘the White Griffin’—much to Leon’s consternation—and then escorted him and his group to the column.
The back of the column was mostly devoted to the baggage train—after they got past the units assigned to guard it, of course. Most of the critical supplies were kept in the soul realms of higher tiered mages, but there were a lot of things that just weren’t worth transporting that way, such as camp materials and the personal effects of the soldiery. Plus, it was risky to have all supplies kept in a storage manner that could disappear if the mage keeping them were to unexpectedly die, so some of their food was also kept on wagons in the baggage train.
More relevantly, though, were the messenger horses that were also kept back there. These horses were light and fast, not trained for war but only to carry their riders as far and as fast as possible. The most expensive of these horses could travel almost two hundred miles in a day without rest. Two of these horses were lent to Alix and Valeria, while Leon took his place astride Anzu. Naiad was offered a horse, but she refused, instead taking her place behind Leon on Anzu’s back, where she could wrap her arms around him and hold him tight against her. Anzu, surprisingly, had no problems with allowing her on his back.
Once everyone was mounted up, it was easy enough to ride along the edge of the marching column, passing soldiers marching in formation, horse-drawn wheelless wagons and carriages, and the more disorganized levies and noble retainers. The marching column was long, but after about two hours, the group reached the front where most of the leaders could be found. Camp had already been made, so they were shown immediately to August’s command tent where August himself, Roland, Marcus, Alcander, the Duchess of Vesontio, and Gaius were waiting.
Notably absent was Marquis Aeneas and Gratian, Gaius’ brother and Duke of Lentia—but this wasn’t a meeting of the higher-ups in the army, so Leon was hardly expecting everyone to welcome him back.
Roland was the first to greet Leon upon his entrance, rising from his seat and extending an arm to the younger man as he exclaimed, “Sir Leon! Wonderful to see you up and about! Absolutely wonder…”
His voice trailed off as he began examining Leon’s aura and found that he could no longer accurately identify how strong Leon was. The younger man’s aura was completely opaque to him, defying his attempts to perceive Leon’s power other than ‘stronger’.
“… You ascended?” he asked in disbelief, stunning the others who were about to offer their own greetings.
“Wait, what?” Marcus asked.
“Sir Leon?” August asked, his eyebrow cocking in surprise and elation, a hopeful smile spreading across his face.
“I’m now a seventh-tier mage,” Leon confirmed.
“By the Ancestors!” Marcus shouted as he leaped to his feet, his face one of disbelief and abject shock. “How did you even do that?!”
“Sir Leon, please, you have to slow down,” Alcander said, his voice shaking as he rose from his seat as well. “You’re making the rest of us look bad…”
Vesontio maintained a dignified silence, though she nodded to Leon in recognition.
Gaius’ reaction was a little more subdued. He stared at Leon unable to truly process what he had just revealed. So surprised was he that he barely even registered Valeria walking in right behind Leon.
“Congratulations!” Roland said as he clapped Leon on the shoulder. “I think that has to be a new record! Seventh-tier by twenty years old!”
“Indeed, Sir Leon, that’s spectacular! Truly admirable!” August added. “Now, with Brimstone, we have two seventh-tier mages we can bring to the field instead of just one! We can match my brother tit for tat.”
“Indeed,” Leon said, turning to Marcus and Alcander. Both had, like Alix, ascended during the previous battle—and she walked in just as he was thinking about her, so he glanced at her to make sure she knew that she was included in what he was about to say. Gaius was the only one among them who remained a third-tier mage. “Congratulations to you three, as well, for your ascensions.”
“Thanks…” Marcus murmured, hardly sounding happy about his achievement in light of Leon’s.
Alcander’s attitude was a little better, but he still sounded remarkably unenthusiastic as he thanked Leon, too.
Alix smiled and waved, feeling awkward as all the hells and not feeling like there was much to celebrate with Leon completely overshadowing everyone.
Only a moment later, Naiad walked into the tent. She made no attempt to hide her aura, proudly letting it radiate from her without a care in the world. As Roland and the other sixth-tier mages in the room laid their eyes upon her, they went deathly quiet, and the sudden change in atmosphere affected even the others, who all began staring at Roland and Vesontio on one side, and Leon and Naiad on the other.
“… Ah, and who may you be?” Roland asked, his hand subtly reaching for the sword hanging from his waist.
Leon frowned, as he could detect that Vesontio was also preparing herself for a potential fight, judging by her aura.
“This is Naiad,” he said. “She’s my lover. She’s not a threat to you.”
“Wait, ‘Naiad’?” Vesontio suddenly asked, standing up in alarm. “Are you saying that she’s a river nymph?!”
Once the others processed her words, they began to stare at Naiad in fear, with those standing slowly backing up and reaching for weapons. All trace of celebratory mood in the air following Leon’s reveal had vanished in an instant.
Before anything could kick off, however, Leon quickly stated, “Yes, she’s a river nymph, and she’s my woman. She won’t harm you, and anyone who harms her will have to answer to me—assuming of course, that they survive her retaliation. Other than that, so long as you leave her alone, she’ll leave you alone.”
“You say that, but river nymphs are notorious maneaters!” Vesontio protested.
“Indeed,” Roland agreed. “Sir Leon, river nymphs have been hunted down to near extinction for a reason…”
“Naiad is no threat,” Leon coolly insisted, his voice taking on a hard edge. “In fact,” he continued, turning his gaze to August, whose face remained passive though his cheeks had turned rather ashen and his eyes constantly flitted between Leon and Naiad, “if you would allow her, she’d fight with us against Prince Octavius. With her, we’d have three people of seventh-tier strength or higher on our side.”
“What do you mean, ‘or higher’?” August calmly asked.
Leon simply smiled in response.
August stared at the younger man, searching for any signs of hostility or duplicity. He didn’t say a word, and the others took their cue from him, especially as Valeria and Alix took their places at Leon’s side, making it clear which side they’d be on if a fight broke out.
“… I am going to choose to trust you, Sir Leon,” August finally said. “I will trust that you know what you’re doing and that Lady Naiad will not be a threat to us or the people of this Kingdom.”
“Your Highness—” Roland whispered before being immediately cut off by the Prince.
“Sir Roland, whatever you have to say can wait. I’m sure Sir Leon and his retinue are tired, so let’s let them rest. We can talk about the rest later.”
“… Yes, Your Highness…” Roland muttered.
“Sir Leon, I’ll have some of my adjutants show you to a suitable tent for you and your retinue,” August said, quickly ringing a small enchanted bell that could be heard outside of the magically sound-proofed tent. “Please, feel free to get some food and rest. We’ll talk more tomorrow morning.”
“Yes, Your Highness,” Leon replied, the corners of his lips twitching as he suppressed the instinct to smile. He had to admit that they had discovered what Naiad was a lot faster than he’d expected, and while their near-violent reactions were within his expectations, he was quite grateful that August had made quick moves to keep the peace.
A moment later, Leon and his retinue were escorted from August’s tent to a tent of their own, leaving the others alone in August’s tent.
“Your Highness!” Vesontio almost shouted once the tent flap had closed, sealing them off from the outside world once more.
“I’m going to stop all of you right there,” August said, though only Roland had looked like he was about to speak up, too. Marcus, Alcander, and Gaius had all remained silent as their elders started hashing this out amongst themselves. “I understand your concern. This ‘Naiad’ is of a race of being that is notorious for eating people. However, did you actually look at her? That woman had eyes for no one but Leon, I don’t think she even glanced at anyone else while she was in here. There wasn’t a hint of killing intent to be found in her aura, and given her obvious strength, if she wished us harm then I daresay we would’ve been harmed most grievously!
“As I said to Sir Leon, I’m going to trust him on this. He isn’t the most… steadfast of supporters, but if anything, that makes me trust him more. If he says that Naiad is no threat, then I will not regard her as one.”
Vesontio sighed, returned to her seat, and said, “If that is Your Highness’ will, then so be it. But I shall keep my eye on that monster, and if she tries anything, then I will do everything within my power to stop her.”
“As will I,” Roland whispered as he, too, took his seat. “Still, now that Sir Leon’s a seventh-tier mage, Duronius at the very least is now practically ours. Should we move ahead with our plan?”
“Yes,” August replied. “We’ll let Sir Leon rest, and then we’ll move in the morning. We can’t let Duronius reach the coast!”
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