Now that Devastrigon had fled, still inflicted with the greatest wound it had all those years, the Flash guardians could rest easy… for now. As usual, Dreyagon the Dragonslayer was far from the campsite as he laid back on a tree, slumbering in peace.

While the father and son were at the cliff, Erik and his team were resting on their specific spot, surrounded by tents yet had an open spot in the middle where they were minding their own business.

Jorken was doing his usual one-thousand push-ups. It was the toughest flight he had ever done along with the other griffins. Even the glorious winged beasts still needed rest till this day- but Jorken, in the heat of battle, was all fired up as there was no need for soft Jorken in a time like this.

Willy, as a hardcore/good-natured elf, played a soft melody with his pan. There was nothing better to fill up the charred part of the forest’s ambiance than a calming tune as a contrast. He couldn’t be more thankful that they had survived yet again for another time.

Beside the elf was Hugo meditating- quite beneficial as a calm mind was a complete must to summon and control powerful storms. It was impressive how his equanimity training had made it this far- considering his powers must always be of use in a dire situation like yesterday.

Yrlin walked in front of a four-foot-tall purple tent and placed a bowl full of crackers as she knelt. “Here you go, Kitty,” she sang before a black cat appeared from the shadows inside the tent. The Flash Guardian witch smiled as she enjoyed watching her precious pet indulging in the meal.

At the top of the tree, Nisr was leaning on the trunk while not forcefully pricking his finger on a dagger. The feeling when seeing at great distances when using a telescope and an awe reaction would come out, that’s how Nisr reacted at first. But seeing the black area far away from camp made his blood boil.

From a large crimson tent came out Commander Eric Vortecse and Giuseppe Stargayzer. Jorken lifted himself by the time he hit the one thousand push-up mark, Willy stopped playing his tune. Hugo opened his eyes from his meditation, Yrlin stood and turned to them, and Nisr came down flawlessly from the tree branch. “Great news,” Eric said to his team. “The stealth owl drone we deployed yesterday had sent analysis to the Grifforth.“

Giuseppe then exhaled, “It seems Devastrigon is still severely damaged. So far it is still flying far east of the sea. In other words, the three-headed devil won’t be threatening the world anytime soon. If we can maintain a safe distance while having it monitored, there’s a chance we may see the Darken clan- or better yet, the Dark Superior himself.”

After a short pause, Nisr asked. “So what’s our next move?”

Eric began to cross his arms. His eyes turned to the cliff where the father and son went out of the tent. “Well, for now, let’s take our time and leave it to them.”

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Wayde looked at his son. “I got some extra clothes you can wear.”

“Hm?’ Xabe looked down at his outfit and soon realized. “Oh… uh… speaking of wear, what happened to the clothes I wore yesterday?”

The father’s mind immediately thought of Xabe’s clothes at the lab tent where they were analyzing the remaining traces of the boy’s powers that were off the charts. “Ah, yes, those. Luckily for you, they weren’t burned or anything. Even washed and cleaned.”

“Is it okay if I wear them?”

Wayde hoped the guardians had results. “No problem, kid.”

They straight up went down into the camp and went inside the lab tent. The first thing Xabe saw was his clothes were folded nicely and neatly on a table which was coincidentally placed right at the middle. He observed that the Flash Guardians wearing long white coats were studying their notes and checking the contents of the holograms.

Xabe couldn’t comprehend what those moving pictures and words meant, but it wouldn’t matter as he couldn’t wait to wear his clothes again. The Flash Guardians stopped to take a good look at the father and son. Wayde nodded to them. “Greetings fellas,” he addressed as awkwardly as possible. “This is my um… my son.”

The son automatically responded by giving them an awkward smile with a weak wave of his hand. Even Red the pileated woodpecker chirped to greet. “You can wear them inside another tent next to here.” Wayde gestured to Xabe to fetch his clothes.

Xabe nodded, “Okay.”

The boy watched as he watched his father quickly go outside. Right, we’re chasing time alright. After Xabe grabbed his clothes, he turned to the guardians one more time, nodded with the same weak smile, and went straight out.

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Red was nestling on top of the tent where Xabe was to change. It didn’t take a while for him to come out though. He still wrapped his red scarf around his neck despite the warm energy of the sun.

Xabe began to ask, “Are we going to see Commander Eric Vortecse before we head out?”

“If you want his autograph, son.” Wayde placed both of his hands beside his hips. “Sorry to say you won't be meeting the one in charge of Code Crimson anytime soon.” The father chuckled as the son frowned in disappointment. “Now that you’re dressed, we’re ready to go.”

“Are we going to ride a griffin to Yardsville at least?” Xabe asked.

“MaXabiere, I may be a Flash Guardian, but owning a griffin is quite a hassle. That’s why I called him.” As Wayde pointed his thumb over his shoulder, a man wearing a violet coat, mustard pants, and brown shoes walked toward them. The man lifted his black hat while presenting his friendly grin behind his mustache.

Xabe gagged from the sight, “Mr. Carry?”

“Hey, kid,” Mr. Carry nodded.

Wayde then said, “I hope you’re ready, son.”

By the time Xabe followed the woodpecker as it landed on his shoulder, he turned to his father and responded with a nod.

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There was silence as the father and son sat quietly inside the carriage. Inside were two couches placed in parallel. Wayde sat close at the front while Xabe sat at the rear, and so the two faced-to-faced.

Everything escalated too quickly for the boy- now that he felt like a normal human being, he knew by the time his enhanced senses had slightly diminished for a while. Xabe thought of settling down his thought by watching the trees as they passed by until it was the right time to speak his mind.

“I forgot, I haven’t asked you about the weird old lady.” He turned to his father.

“She was held in custody by the Flash Guardians for now. She’ll be fine,” Wayde explained. “And to be honest, she kept her tracks clean.”

Xabe then asked, “And Mr. Dreyagon the Dragonslayer?”

“In his alone time as usual.” Wayde leaned his arm at the opened window. “And you can stop calling him ‘Mr. Dreyagon’, he’s not really into formalities.”

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

“Right, right,” Xabe nodded.

There was silence again, though the only thing they hear was the sound of Brenda the brown horse’s hooves, the ground getting churned from the wheels, and a faint whistling tune from Mr. Carry. Wayde felt that he had so much owing to do when the Berrygrewd family finally reunited, but due to such circumstances- uniting to heal will take a while.

“The Darken seer,” Wayde spoke. “Had she been to Yardsville before?”

Xabe shook his head. “No, she said ‘society is society’. I even told her to join the Meadows Orphanage, but she dislikes children.”

Wayde scoffed, “Of course… I was hoping she could live for once in a while, you know?”

“Oh she's living all right,” Xabe nodded. “Just settled alone in the Wooded forest with Red before I came into the picture.”

“Huh, that sounds exactly like her, alright.”

“Yup,” Xabe said, “Oh, and by the way.”

“Yeah?”

“Do you know her name? Because it doesn’t seem fair only for her to know just mine.”

“Is that so?” Wayde lifted his eyebrows. “Well… in that case, to tell the truth, son, she has forgotten her name ever since she started seeing these visions.”

“I’m surprised how you and Dreyagon trust her so much. Also, like, I can’t call her ‘weird old lady’ for the rest of my life… or her life.”

“Trust me when I say this.” Wayde raised his finger. “The three of us go way back even before I met your mother.”

“That’s so much to think of.” Xabe tossed his hand.

“And I’m about to say the same with you.”

“I don’t know,” the son shrugged. “I sensed nothing harmful of her. And besides, her whispers were… as if they were speaking through me.”

“Good thing you didn’t encounter a witch who lives in a house made out of sweets and put you in an oven.”

Xabe laughed at the thought. “Nah, and aside from that, Red seemed to be a gentle bird- minus the pecking.”

Wayde pursed his lips, looked down for a moment, and looked at Xabe’s eyes once again. “Aside from meeting with the weird old lady… how’s life…? How are you all holding up?”

Xabe noticed the awkwardness had never been this high, but the question was for the sake of thinking his family would be putting together again. The son at least didn’t think of the father as such a pain, after all, he worked hard enough for six years. “Well, couldn’t say everything has gone worse,” Xabe replied. “Mom and Holly volunteered at the orphanage- Mom as the teacher and Holly as home service. Meanwhile, the three of us were having this online class for the past few months. Just stayed home and had these…”

Wayde watched as Xabe made a square shape motion with his fingers repeatedly but couldn’t say the word, so the father said it for him instead. “Holograms?’

“Yeah, holograms, it’s cool and all, like how our technology had come this far despite what’s happening in Enchanteria. It’s like a book… but alive. Our school work was even recorded to the teacher’s holograms too.”

Wayde raised an eyebrow. “Wait, I thought you said you haven’t seen anything like those in Yardsville.”

Realizing it, Xabe scratched his head out of embarrassment. “Hehe, what I meant back then is that I haven’t seen more complex holograms compared to what we have. And also I haven’t seen anyone in the town uses one.”

“I’m so glad that you kids still attending your classes,” Wayde nodded.

“Uh-huh. The online part just started in junior high, so the three of us were stuck in our rooms. Typical high school life, but very distant.”

Wayde asked, “But back in the offline days, no one’s messing with you so far?”

Xabe chuckled, “They wish.” But truth be told, the boy was a quiet kid. He had never talked to anyone unless a few things: he had a mood to speak, considering when and when not to use the early stage of his powers, and anger got the best of him sometimes. Though, there were times he almost caused an injury to one of the students at elementary- but best to forget about that.

“And the girls?” The thought of imagining his little girls grown to be fine young women was a sight to see for Wayde.

And the thought of what it’s like to be the only man in the house was… one hell of an experience so far for Xabe. “Oh, they’re good, no problems.” Xabe’s nose slightly twitched. “Holy became like mom, but much bossier, but mom’s authority is respectable just so you know, heh. Rose got into this crotchet business- the first thing she made was a horrific doll that can haunt your nightmares. She even tried to sneak pesky critters into our house; wild cats, filthy rats, grizzly bears, she even called birds, rabbits, and a reindeer- god that caused a lot of mess. And Pansy wanted to pick up fights with the boys and pull hair strings with the girls- nowadays, she became so moody.”

Wayde nodded in silence. “Yup… they’ve grown up too alright.”

“You said it,” said Mr. Carry from the driver’s seat. “Sorry ‘bout that, couldn’t help but agree. Oh, and by the way, we’re almost at Yardsville.”

Wayde turned over his right shoulder. “Right, go to the town first to ride on to the orphanage. By the way, Carry, has the Meadow Orphanage changed?”

In the driver’s seat, Mr. Carry couldn’t help but continue smiling. “Well, it’s both a yes and a no. Dunno if you’re gonna love the new kids or not, but I hope you get along.”

Wayde turned to Xabe and asked, “The new kids?”

“They’re… all right,” Xabe nodded while trying his best not to flinch. “Despite the weird old lady calling them ‘nasty little beasties’.”

The son saw the father’s smirk. It was indeed quite unusual when you were like a stranger to your once peaceful home. Even just this moment- no, just a few more days would be enough to set things right, by that, meaning to see them again would be enough to keep moving forward.

“I wish…” Wayde tried to forcefully put the words out of his mouth. He leaned forward so the conversation will be just between father and son. “I wish I can apologize. I mean, I want to apologize.”

Xabe narrowed his eyes while shaking his head. “For what?”

“This. All of this. I wanted to ask you before everything goes down when we meet them: do you know what’s coming after this? I know I said Elowahs works in mysterious ways, but if only He could straight up tell you the truth. Why not let Dreyagon do everything? Why not let someone else take such a burden.”

Xabe initially thought of combusting, but he was way past that. The boy just sighed but reassured with a smile and made sure to use the same lower tone to keep this between them. “I remember the time when you told us bedtime stories about past heroes and saving the day. Sure, there’s greater danger awaits, but the heroes knew it, At the start, they trusted themselves, as you said to us in a heroic tone.”

The boy chuckled at the thought before continuing. “And what comes next is up to them, whether it's destiny or prophecy. The stories were real and inspired the whole world, but I didn’t mind it as much because I thought my life will be just another day- another normal life in Yardsville. But as soon as ALL of this is happening, I couldn’t help but… accept that one day I’ll be part of one of those stories, Dad.”

“You seemed to be… excited,” Wayde said.

“Dad,” Xabe dropped his eyes. “We’re living in a world of magic, dragons, heroes, and villains, and I just met a living legend yesterday. What’s there not to be excited about?” The son looked at his father’s eyes. Xabe thought that his father may be thinking of him not taking this seriously. “Dad, I already know the truth. If my powers are back, I won’t be seeing another normal day unlike before. I can’t go back to things as they were, I have to move forward as we are about to. Though, I’ll miss eating the nice bread at the bakery.”

“I see,” Wayde slightly nodded. He looked straight into the boy’s eyes, there was determination in him. “You’re beginning to have a strong mind, son. Keep it.”

Xabe nodded back with assurance. He turned to the outside world of nature.

Wayde had to be patient. If only things from the past could be less harsh than it is now, he thought.

Fortunately, it was quite a peaceful cruise in the carriage. Wayde’s memories were flashing before him as they passed the busy town of Yardsville. He remembered the simple times… though it was short-lived.

For Xabe, it was understandable that his father was researching Devastrigon- but he didn’t imagine it would be something like this. Wayde Berrygrewd, a Drakoroarian Flash Guardian, had been working alongside the Dragonslayer and the weird old lady for six- no- for many years before he even met Elise.

Finally, things may have been turning the tides against the three-headed dragon and the Darken clan. Dreyagon’s role would soon bring a much bigger impact on Enchanteria than his previous deeds. The weird old lady’s vision would soon come to play. Wayde’s research would be realized right before his very own eyes. All of this will begin with the Berrygrewd family.

Speaking of family, the real mother’s duty will be driven in action, and Dreyagon **must stir the wheel once again.