“Am I interrupting something, my dears?” A blank expression clouded Trixan’s creamy white face. It was impossible to tell what she was thinking.
“Nope.” Narvari dragged herself out of the bed. What the hell was the Elder doing here? Did she even understand the concept of boundaries?
“There’s an emergency meeting in thirty minutes,” said Trixan. “You should get ready.”
That’s why she came all the way here? To tell them there was a meeting. Narvari sighed. “Okay.”
“I was talking to Pheera, my dear. You on the other hand are coming with me.”
Narvari froze. “Um, okay.” She smiled apologetically at Pheera. “I’ll see you later?”
Pheera nodded with a smile.
----------------------------------------
Trixan sighed, as she gazed at the young woman sitting before her. She couldn’t help but feel nervous about what was slowly building between Narvari and Pheera. She had a nagging feeling this would cause more complications between the Dragheins and Zoleris. It didn’t matter if Narvari was not a Draghein — the Zoleris Family would never accept her as long as she was part of Draghein School.
Perhaps she was overthinking things. These two were still young and as harsh as it may sound, whatever going on between them might not even last. Besides, Pheera was no longer under the control of her family and they couldn’t decide for her who she could or could not be with. But why wasn’t Trixan completely convinced?
“Trixan, what’s going on?” Narvari’s voice suddenly snapped Trixan from her thoughts.
Trixan paused. “It’s about Erasmus Shar, my dear.”
Narvari’s eyes lit up immediately. “Really? Did you find anything?”
She shook her head. “There was no vanquisher by that name.”
Narvari leaned back in her chair, the smile completely gone from her eyes. “I really thought he was a vanquisher.”
“Who was he?”
“My grandfather.”
“Oh,” Trixan whispered. “And why do you think he was a vanquisher?”
Narvari shrugged. “Didn’t you say the only reason I awakened in the first place was because I may have ancestors from the Inner Sphere?”
Always using my words against me. Trixan smiled. “I did say that. But your ancestors are not limited to your grandparents. They also trace back several hundreds of years. A great… great grandparent, perhaps.”
“Maybe. But my grandfather must have awakened too,” said Narvari stubbornly.
Trixan cocked her head, waiting for an explanation.
“I always thought stories about him were far-fetched for an ordinary man,” said Narvari, “but now that I think about it, I guess he was far from ordinary. All the stories about him say that he was a man of incredible physical strength. Plus he also introduced Ntunomi to the Kirriba.”
Trixan raised a brow. “Ntunomi?”
“Gun Combat. It’s very similar to Sacred Combat. But instead of savaz, we use guns.” Narvari paused. “Ordinary guns. There’s no sacred energy involved so it’s a lot easier than Sacred Combat.”
“I see.” Trixan nodded. That must explain why Narvari knew how to fight like that.
This wasn’t too strange though. Just because outies were generally ordinary didn’t mean they couldn’t have extraordinary skills. Some outies had incredible fighting and excellent marksmanship skills and this had nothing to do with awakening sacred energy. Vanquishers were indeed far stronger than people of the Outer Sphere, but there were also ordinary outies who had trained their bodies to incredible heights. Erasmus Shar might be one of them.
Nevertheless, Trixan would not dismiss Narvari’s opinion of her grandfather. Maybe Erasmus Shar was a vanquisher who did not train with any of the Twelve Schools. That would explain why his name was not in any of their records. Or maybe, though he was from Agon, he might not have been a vanquisher at all. Not everyone with sacred energy was a vanquisher. Trixan explained this to Narvari and the girl nodded in understanding.
“Honestly, it doesn’t really matter anymore,” said Narvari. “I only wanted to understand why I suddenly awakened. Everything makes a lot more sense now.”
Narvari’s soft brown eyes held a faraway look. The girl usually acted like an unshakable mountain but Trixan knew exactly what was beneath that exterior — a child who despite everything, craved the love and attention of her loved ones, most especially her father.
“How’s the search for your father going?” Trixan asked.
“About that,” Narvari bit her upper lip, avoiding Trixan’s gaze, “I don’t think I can find him on my own.”
Trixan chuckled. “My offer still stands if you want it, my dear.”
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
Narvari’s mouth curled up in a smile, her eyes finally on Trixan. “Really?”
“Of course, my dear. You are my student. Someday I hope you’ll understand that I care for all my students.”
Narvari nodded slowly. “I think I already do.”
“Good.” Warmth surged through Trixan’s heart. “So what’s your father’s name, my dear?”
“Yabaga.” Narvari laughed. “No last name. Just Yabaga.”
Trixan slightly narrowed her eyes. Yabaga? No last name? She stared intently at Narvari’s brown eyes. She’d always thought those eyes looked familiar. That mischievous glint, the intimidating aura, and yet playful smirk — it had always reminded her of someone. But to Trixan, that was nothing but mere coincidence. Now, however, she wasn’t so sure anymore.
“Trixan, are you okay?”
“Yes.” Trixan cleared her throat. “Yes, my dear. I’m sorry.”
“Do you know anyone by that name,” Narvari asked. “You seemed to have recognized it.”
Trixan kept an expressionless face. This girl was too observant — it would be pointless to lie, so Trixan said, “I knew someone with that name a long time ago.”
“Oh. Who was that?”
“My dear, what’s your date of birth? It will help me find your father more easily.”
“Um, 18th June, 2004.”
“You’re eighteen?”
Narvari nodded. “Yes.”
Eighteen years. It doesn’t add up. It can’t be the same person. Didn’t Narvari say her father had left her six years ago? There was no way they were the same person. Even if by some miracle they were, how could she possibly tell Narvari that the Yabaga she knew was already dead?
“I’ll look into it and let you know when I find something,” said Trixan glancing at her xuul. “It’s time. We better get back to the Conference Hall.”
----------------------------------------
She’s hiding something.
It was the only thing Narvari could think about when she left Trixan’s office. She had never seen the Elder so shaken and uncertain before. It wasn’t as obvious, but Narvari had known the woman for about three months now and she could easily tell the slight change in her expression. The name Yabaga triggered a subtle shocking look in Trixan. Who did she know with that name?
“Is everything alright?” Pheera whispered by her side, caressing her left arm.
Narvari gazed at Pheera, suddenly aware of her surroundings. She forced a smile and nodded. All this thinking had made her forget that she was in the Conference Hall with every other vanquisher in the school.
“I wonder what this meeting is about,” Yanvirrak said. He sat to her right. This had become a routine now — they always let her sit in the middle. Well, as long as she got to sit next to Pheera, she wouldn’t complain. “First a meeting in Rhodine and now this.” Yanvirrak shook his head. “I have a bad feeling about his.”
The Conference Hall was large enough for several hundreds of vanquishers, yet it was practically empty even with everyone here. Trixan’s voice brought Narvari back.
“Thank you all for coming under such short notice.” Trixan paused. “Let me start by saying there’s no need to panic.”
Narvari exchanged nervous looks with Pheera and Yanvirrak. Oh, god. We are definitely going to panic.
Trixan continued, “Four schools have reported increased activity of greater demons and lowblood royals in their jurisdiction.”
Murmurs arose in the hall.
“Royal demons?” Yanvirrak paled. “I knew this was bad.”
“Greater demons and lowblood royals. I think it’s worse than bad.” Narvari bit her lower lip.
She had not been able to defeat a ninth-order demon so how the hell was she supposed to beat eleventh-order demons if they suddenly attacked their jurisdiction? So much for not panicking.
Silence returned as soon as Trixan raised her hand. “We are not sure yet what their motive is but I have reason to believe that this has something to do with Bezvaros’ Crystal. The demons are working closely with the Vessels of Bezvaros to recover the crystal and we can’t let that happen. For the sake of the Outer and Inner Spheres, we need to do our duty and be on guard at all times.”
A young man with dreadlocks raised his hands. Narvari recognized him as Chase, one of the class four vanquishers like Azmel.
“Yes, my dear.”
“Will Rhodine transfer senior vanquishers here? We are way too understaffed to handle royal demons.”
“If it’s necessary, senior vanquishers will be temporarily transferred here,” said Trixan. “But it’s unnecessary for now. Draghein School has enough senior vanquishers for this mission.” Her intense green eyes swept over the room, looking at each of them meaningfully. For a moment, Trixan’s gaze stopped on Narvari before shifting elsewhere. “I trained many of you. Your training is by no means ordinary. Believe me, I made sure of it.”
Narvari inhaled deeply. It was true that her strength had surged by leaps and bounds ever since Trixan began to train her. But that did not mean she could suddenly vanquish royal demons. She had almost been killed by a greater demon only about two weeks ago and now they were talking about royal demons. Didn’t Trixan warn her to stay away from royal demons? Why was she talking otherwise, as if prepping them to go to war with one?
“To increase our efficiency, however,” Trixan continued, “We will reshuffle our teams so that there is at least one senior vanquisher in every team. Zemeron will handle that later. Any more questions?”
No one raised their hands.
“Good. Then that will be all.” Trixan dismissed them.
Everyone began shuffling out of the room.
On their way to the Junior Quarters, Narvari asked her friends, “What’s Bezvaros’ Crystal?”
“Honestly, I thought it was destroyed a long time ago,” said Yanvirrak. “Why is it still here?”
“What exactly is it?” Narvari was getting impatient.
Yanvirrak sighed. “Legend has it that Bezvaros created the crystal to help him travel across worlds.”
“Travel across worlds?” Narvari raised a brow. “You mean from Bezvar to Earth?”
“Not just the Outer Sphere, Narvari,” said Pheera. “With the crystal, Bezvaros can cross over into all domains and realms of the Inner Sphere too.”
“Damn.” Narvari’s gaze widened. “That sounds like a catastrophe.”
“Oh, that catastrophe happened all right.” Yanvirrak nodded. “A long time ago, Bezvaros conquered the Outer Sphere and the Central Domain. After a long war, the Order recovered the crystal and confined Bezvaros to the Lower Domain. The crystal had been in the custody of the Order for thousands of years until twenty years ago when the Vessels recovered it and tried to summon Bezvaros… Again.”
Damn. “How the hell did the Vessels even get it?”
Yanvirrak shrugged. “No idea. Vessels are a strange lot.”
“Well, it’s a good thing they don’t have it anymore.”
“Yeah. Hellstorm’s death would have been in vain.” Yanvirrak nodded. “All this time I thought the crystal was destroyed.”
They halted in front of Yanvirrak’s dorm. Before he opened the door he said, “I can’t believe demons attacked our school because they thought it was here.”
“Maybe it’s here,” said Narvari. “I mean, Trixan wouldn’t tell us if it were, right?” Trixan did care about her vanquishers, but she was the Elder after all, and some things were meant to be shouldered alone by leaders. Narvari would know. She was once captain.
“You may be right,” said Pheera, “but I don’t think it’s here.”
“Why not?”
“Among all the Twelve Schools, Draghein School is currently the most vulnerable. I don’t think the Order will keep something this important here.”
Narvari nodded, seeing Pheera’s point. So why did the demons and Vessels think Bezvaros’s Crystal was in Draghein School? Something strange was going on.
“Whatever the case,” said Yanvirrak, “I hope the Vessels don’t find the crystal. That could literally be the end of the world.”