Astír held Adia tightly as he silently wept.

She wanted to pour life energy into him, to vitalize his body but she chose not to. At least, not yet.

As she held him, in the dark of night, Astír thought about his relationship with Zuri.

She had always found it odd but she could tell, even after first meeting the two, that they cared for each other.

Astír had grown up with a foster parent but even then, she could not imagine the feelings she would have if she had lost the man who played the role of her father.

She eventually let go of Adia and looked into his reddened eyes.

“Look at me.” She said prompting the boy to weakly raise his eyes.

“Zuri will come back to you but, for her sake, you must live as you would if she was still here, alright?”

“But she isn’t.”

“I know. That is why you must stay strong and healthy. I do not want her to return only to find you’ve starved yourself. So eat something.”

Adia didn’t respond.

“Please.”

A moment passed as she looked into Adia’s big brown eyes.

“OK.” He wheezed.

Astír nodded before standing and offering Adia her hand.

He weakly accepted it and silently followed her out of the room.

The two then made their way to the kitchen and Astír gestured that Adia sits by the kitchen table while she prepared some food for him.

Using space magic to multi-task, she poured some fresh orange juice into a glass cup and floated it towards Adia, who drank it while she prepared him a sausage and egg dinner.

Astír handed Adia the plateful of food and watched as he ate.

A certain thought then crossed her mind.

She sensed that Caligo was no longer in the palace and although she was focused almost entirely on Adia, she wondered what he was up to.

Her thoughts returned to Adia as he finished eating.

She then took the plate, washed it and accompanied Adia to the royal bedchamber where she gestured that he sleep.

“I will watch over you tonight.”

Adia weakly nodded before laying down to rest.

Astír let out a sigh before sitting on Caligo's chair which she had turned so that she could face Adia.

She waited until he fell asleep and sent out a bit of life energy into him and although he was revitalized, he let out a low whimper in his sleep that made Astír’s chest ache painfully.

She then looked up and out of one of the many high windows and prayed for Zuri’s safe return.

.

..

Time, for Astír, changed shortly after she became a Helma.

Years and even decades passed but to her, they were all just moments that passed in the blink of an eye.

However, after more than five hundred years of existence, she finally felt just how slow time could be.

She had spent the entire night watching over Adia and waiting for Caligo’s return and every second crawled by anxiously.

The Sun was now up and it gently bathed Adia in its light.

Astír tapped her chin and wondered if there was anything she could do to help him.

An answer came but it also came with a question?

Where are the other boys?

Astír silently teleported to the courtyard to find that it was empty.

She then teleported to Mt. Nuru and asked the Hands there if they had seen Lham.

They told her that he was camping with the boys in the Kivuli forest below and so she teleported above the forest.

Her eyes scanned the low-lying Plane of greenery for a moment and her eyes narrowed upon spotting a thin pillar of smoke.

She teleported to its source and saw, sleeping on makeshift beds, the boys.

“Oh? Hello.” Lham greeted from behind Astír.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

She turned around to find him sitting on a moss-covered boulder which sat in front of a line of trees.

“Hello. Could I ask that you bring the boys back to the palace for a bit so that they can keep Adia company?”

“Mmm… I’d much rather he came here but that might not be for the best.” Lham said as he stood up.

“Alright.” He said while walking towards the boys.

“Rise and shine, gentlemen! We have a comrade to visit!” Lham yelled waking up the boys.

They all let out various groans but awoke nonetheless.

They then packed their things and placed them neatly by a certain boulder.

Lham gathered the still-sleepy boys around Astír who teleported them straight into the bathroom.

“Adia and I will await you all in the Bedchamber.” She said before leaving the mud-covered boys with Lham.

She returned to the bedchamber to find that Adia was still sleeping.

She gently crawled onto the bed and gasped lightly upon seeing that, even as he slept, tears had fallen from his eyes.

Astír gently placed her hand on his head and although she knew she could heal his body endlessly, nothing could be done about the wound in his heart.

It's here that Astír realized that, if everything Sagathon said was true, both Caligo and Luno would-

Her racing heart jumped as Adia slowly awoke.

She took a deep breath and moved her hand, allowing him to sit up.

He stared at her for a moment and lowered his eyes shortly after.

Astír patted her lap, gesturing that he come sit and he complied.

The two then sat in a silence which was broken by the periodic yelling by Lham and the boys upstairs.

The boys eventually burst into the room, clad in white silk gowns, and they all jumped onto the bed. Their eyes filled with concern.

“Are you alright?” Penari asked as Lham stood by the side of the bed. He, as usual, was half naked, wearing only brown pants.

“Of course, he’s not.”

“Why didn’t you come to train yesterday?”

The boys all asked but Astír softly shushed them.

“One at a time.”

They all nodded and it was Penari who spoke first.

“I know it won’t help much but if you train with us at least you can keep yourself from hurting too much,” Penari said before lowering his eyes.

“I… I like to read whenever I feel sad and even though it doesn’t make me wish I had a mom and dad any less, at least it keeps me busy.”

Adia looked up and watched as tears fell from Penari’s eyes.

“Aww… don’t cry.”

“Yeah, we are supposed to be worrying about Adia.”

The others said before gathering around Penari.

They then joined in giving him a big hug.

However, after the hug concluded, Penari looked up at Adia and spread his arms.

Adia then, without hesitation, leapt into Penari’s arms and the two held each other.

Astír saw that a few of the boys had also started crying and so she teleported to Lham’s side and gestured that she follow him out of the room.

He followed he out of the room and remained silent as she led him out of the palace.

“I cannot imagine a world without him.” Astír muttered.

“Mmm?” Lham sounded and Astír explained everything she had learnt from Sagathon.

“My goodness…”

“Indeed. I… I do not know what to even think in this moment.”

Lham’s eyes shook as a cold wind blew by.

It brought with it something that made Astír raise her brow.

“Hello, Astír.” The woman who held the title of Grandmaster greeted after suddenly appearing a few meters away from Astír and Lham.

“Good morning, Ferraya.”

“Err… good morning, Grandmaster. Is there anything we can help you with?” Lham asked as Ferraya walked up to him and Astír. She, like Ferrum before her, wore uniform which was purely white and hanging from her shoulders was a long coat. Her brilliant grey eyes turned to Lham and narrowed.

“I want to discuss a few things with Astír, although I would not mind if you joined us,” Ferraya said with a near undetectable smile.

“Oh? Is this about what we discussed with the King?” Astír asked.

“Yes.”

“Alright, then please, let us discuss this inside.”

Ferraya nodded and promptly followed Astír into the palace where she was then taken to the dining room.

Ferraya was gestured to sit on the foremost chair by Astír who sat to her left.

Lham sat to her right and it was he who asked what it was Ferraya had come to discuss.

Ferraya explained everything before looking at Astír who thoughtfully tapped her chin.

“And what is it that you came here to discuss specifically?” The Helma asked.

“I would like Lady Zuri, if she is found before the ritual takes place, to bare the prince’s child.”

Astír’s eyes flashed temporarily.

“You would have her birth an heir?” She asked with furrowed brows.

“Yes. However, I would also like to incorporate the suggestions from everyone else. The heir could rule the kingdom but only as its head. He would be advised and share administrative roles with a council made of three Primair knights and-“

“Three High Lords?”

“Exactly,” Ferraya said.

Astír looked up in thought. She very well understood that everything Ferraya said was reasonable if not practical but…

She looked down at her own body, her belly specially.

She then sighed before looking at Ferraya once more.

“Alright. I stand by your idea. When do you plan on presenting it to the King and prince?”

“I actually wanted to do it today but it would seem as though the king is preparing to leave this world for a while. Sagathon explained that it is important that they retrieve the host of darkness, wherever he may be.” Ferraya explained.

“And the prince?”

“He is currently seeing his father off. I will detail everything to him once the King leaves.”

Astír nodded.

“All that being said…” Ferraya’s eyes fell to Astír’s shoulder.

“How are you feeling?”

“I… do not know. Ever since the prince awoke my thoughts have been in a constant state of uncertainty and confusion. Defending the prince from dragons was simple. This… the ritual, the Haneem-“

“Lady Zuri?” Ferraya smirked.

“Y-yes. I honestly do not know how to even feel.”

Ferraya nodded before patting Astír’s shoulder.

“There, there. Take comfort, at least, in the fact that things were indeed simple for almost a millennium. Our age will soon come to an end and the sooner we accept that the easier it will be for us to deal with our feelings.”

“Hehe. I suppose I should have expected you to say that.”

“One does not stare into the eyes of death without eventually facing the truth of their inevitable demise. We, knights and all were never immortal. We have just been stalling for time-“

“Alright, I understand. Although I wonder, how are you feeling, Ferraya?”

The Grandmaster scoffed and crossed her arms.

“I am determined to face the present and prepare for the future without hesitation or doubt.”

“Spoken like a Black Scribe.” Astír rolled her eyes.

“Hehe. I am what I am. Oh- what about you Lham?”

“Oh- well, everything is alright, I suppose,” Lham said while trying his best not to smile.

“What?” Ferraya asked.

“Well, I suppose it would be an understatement to say that I am blessed. Here I am, sitting in his highness’s palace, speaking with a woman I have the highest respect for and waiting for me above are those who will lead the kingdom towards a bright future. I am nothing, if not truly blessed.”

Astír and Ferraya stared at Lham for a moment.

Then they looked at each other before giggling.

“If only some your optimism could rub off on Astír.”

“I think we should focus on just how strongly he feels about you.” Astír said with a grin.

“I’d rather we changed the topic of our conversation entirely.” Lham awkwardly laughed.

“I agree.”

“Suit yourselves.” Astír chuckled.

A moment passed as the three sat.

“I dearly wish for Zuri’s safe return.” Astír said and although Ferraya and Lham didn’t respond, she knew they wished the same.