Azar flew back to Tolemac after encountering the Red Mist legion. The survivor was right; at this pace, Tolemac would face their doom within 6 days.
When his feet touched Tolemac’s soil, the sun had risen, and the city was half empty. For the most part, only strong adult humans male and Avalon’s soldiers remained behind. However, there were some familiar faces behind.
“But sister, I can help. Don’t you remember, I can control magic !”. Azar recognized the voice and the face. The little freckle on her nose, the big brown eyes, and long straight chestnut hair, she was the little girl living under Sasha’s church.
She, along with sister Mary and the rest of the church children, was still there. But not for long, by the look of things. A carriage packed with food and other essential items was ready to depart. And another familiar face was there as well.
“I know Leona, I know” Sasha patted the little girl gently on the head and told her, “That’s why I need to take care of sister Mary and the others, alright ?”
“But Sasha please ! I want to help !”
“Leona listen to your big sister ! You have to go with them !”
The little girl, Leona, refused to let Sasha go, not until both Sasha and sister Mary forced her to. And even on the carriage, Leona still called out to Sasha, begging Sasha to stay with her.
Sasha's eyes did not waver, ordering sister Mary and others to leave immediately. But the moment the horses started running, tears began to fall.
It was meant to be their end. Sasha and the others knew that it was very likely to be the last time they saw each other. However, Azar caught a quick glimpse of Leona's eyes. Those rebellious and intent eyes made Azar think otherwise.
When the sight of sister Mary and the church children was lost behind the walls, Sasha wiped away her tears. And only then did Azar make himself noticed.
“Sasha …” Azar softly called out to her, giving her enough time to ready herself.
She turned back to him, and even though Sasha managed to wipe off her tears, she couldn’t hide her red eyes.
“Azar ?”. Sasha sniffled a bit before regaining complete composure. “You’re still here ? Munir said he couldn’t find you last night. I thought you had already fled the city.”
“Yeah, I got a little busy last night. But that isn't important right now.” Azar casually said, “... wait, does that mean Munir had already left the city already ?”
Sasha nodded her head.
“Damn, so the little guy still ran away and left the princess behind huh. Not every prince-charming of him.” Azar smirked.
“He doesn’t have a choice. Last night, his father commanded Munir to leave along with the rest of the Desert Falcon merchant guide.”
“And what about you? Why don’t you go with your family ?”
“Have you already forgotten? I have a job to do.” Sasha answered him with the eyes of someone that had accepted her fate. “I have to defend this city. I have to buy them enough time to get to safety.”
“Sasha …” Azar looked at her in the eyes and said, “Can you at least look at me in the eyes and mean what you said”
Sasha tried her best, but she couldn’t. “I don’t have time to feel weak, Azar ! I have a duty to fulfill !”
“You know that this is a battle you can’t win, don’t you ?” Azar asked.
“Anything is possible, Azar. If a little boy could have carried me for hours through a torturous wood to save my life. Then anything is always a chance.” Sasha turned away.
Azar sighed deeply, then asked Sasha a decisive question.
“Sasha, do you want my help ?”
Sasha stopped right on her track. The moment of silence lingered for the longest time before she faced Azar and gave him an answer.
“No, I want you to leave.”
“You don’t think that I can help you ?” Azar asked.
“No, I know that you’re a strong fighter. And you will no doubt be a tremendous help.”
“So why _.”
Sasha cut him off immediately. “I don’t want you to die.”
Sasha looked into his amber eyes and sincerely told Azar
“You saved me, Azar. You give me a new life … This time, it’s my turn to save you.”
“Sasha …”
“Go, Azar. Please … I’m sorry that our reunion is so short. If there is an afterlife, I hope we get to see each other again.” And just like that, Sasha walked away.
*********************
Azar made his way to the castle. However, it was blocked. No one was coming in or out without their permission. Luckily for Azar, he could easily sneak in without getting caught with his power. He only needed the aid of night to his favour, just to make sure.
When the moon held high, Azar made his move. None of the guards suspected that someone could just easily fly and land right on top of the castle. After that, he entered very carefully, moving silently, floating through the chambers like a phantom.
Soon, Azar reached his desired destination. Azar calmly and casually knocked on the door.
“Azar !!??”. And who else but the princess of Avalon, Elizabeth Leon, to open the door.
“Hey there Elly, mind if we have a little chat ?” Azar smiled and waved his hand cheerfully.
“Wait what the … how the … why the … ?” Elly was visibly confused as to why and how even Azar managed to get in front of her room at this time.
However, Azar was just as comfortable and casual as humanly possible. To the point that he did not even wait for Elly’s invitation, Azar just let himself in her room like it was his own and comfortably took a seat with a clear view of the city.
“Azar !!!!” The princess shirked. “Do you even know what you’re doing !?!”
“Uhmm … having a nice conversation while getting a great view of the city,” Azar shrugged.
“You just barged into the princess's room in the middle of the night !!!”. Elly stood in front of Azar, crossed her armed and stared at him with a raging fire in her eyes. But then she felt the chill of a passing wind from the balcony, and Elly suddenly realized the even more awkward situation she was in. She had forgotten that she was just sleeping just a moment ago and was wearing nothing but a thin nightgown.
“AAA !!!” Elly quickly turned her back against Azar and got back into her bed. “You pervert !!! Why didn’t you say anything.”
Azar just looked Elly dead in the eyes and made a familiar gesture. He put two fingers near his mouth and faked a sound like he was about to vomit.
“ERK !!!” With a disgusted, almost to the point of utter disrespect look on his face, Azar told Elly, “Please, don’t flatter yourself _.”
But before Azar could finish his sentence, a pillow flew straight at his face.
“Turn away !!!” And a couple more pillows flew toward Azar.
“Oh, come on! Can you just please hurry up! What’s the point of this _” And a final and hardest pillow hit Azar in the head.
Elly put on a long white robe and stood in front of Azar.
“You better have a damn good reason for this or I swear !” the princess grunted.
“Do you know the plan of defense against the upcoming battle ?” Azar's face turned dead-serious. Which caught Elly off guard a little. He used to tell her that he always wondered how she could change her personality so quickly. But compared to Azar, she was just an apprentice.
Elly gracefully took a seat next to Azar.
“I thought you must have already left the city like the others ?”
“You can’t scare me off that easily.” Azar coldly and dryly answered, “So how about you answer my question ?”
The princess sighed deeply. “It’s looking bad, Azar. We have called for an immediate reinforcement from every nearby city but none of them could get here soon enough.”
“So Tolemac will have to stand on its own.” Azar said, “How many troops do you have on hand ?”
“I don’t know, maybe somewhere around 10000 to 15000 including the new volunteers.”
Azar closed his eyes, remembering the true power of the Red Mist legion, then shook his head.
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“I’m afraid that won’t be enough ….”
“How can you tell? We are strong, and Tolemac had never before fallen throughout history …” the princess argued, but the slight trembling on her lips was more than enough to show how she truly felt.
“Elly,... Why are you still here ?” Azar sincerely asked, “Shouldn’t you and the rest of your family make a run for it as well….”
“To where Azar ?” A single drop of tear fell down her cheek. “This is my home. This is my country. Where am I supposed to run to? This is my family duty. As the rulers of this nation, we will have to stay and fight for it, to our last breath.”
And just like Sasha, Elly had the eyes of those who had accepted her fate.
Azar wiped away the tear on the human princess's cheek and warmly told her
“Don't cry. You’re a princess; never show anyone your weakness.”
The princess swiped Azar’s hand away and asked him, “Azar, can you promise me one thing ?”
“You want me to stay and fight for you ?”
“No, … I want you to run. I want you to live your life to the fullest ….”
“What !?!”
“This is not your war. This is ours. There is no reason for you to stay here and sacrifice for nothing. You have saved my life once. That’s a debt that I can’t ever repay you in this lifetime. But, I hope that I will have the chance in our next ...”
The moment of silence haunted the atmosphere. The princess tried to force herself to smile, to hide her true emotion, but her tears gave it away. Azar felt torn. He came looking for more intelligence, hoping to get a sign from God telling him what he should do.
And in a way, God did speak to Azar. Munir ran away, leaving who he was supposed to love behind. Sasha asked him to leave, and so did the little princess. And after listening to Liam Leonidas’ backstory, the reason behind his doing gave him even more reasons not to intervene. Everything was telling him to leave it be and let the humans decide for themselves … But he did not feel satisfied with that answer for some reasons.
“Azar ?…” Elly broke that unbearable sound of silence.
“I’m sorry, I have to go …” Azar stood up and walked to the balcony.
“Ah … yes, of course …” Elly tried to swallow her tears. “Farewell then … my guardian angel.”
Azar gripped his hand tightly when he heard those words. Then he jumped down the balcony. The princess gasped and ran toward him.
“AZAR !!!” She looked down from the balcony … but no one was there. Azar was gone.
*********************
Azar’s inside felt like it was torching with fire. He felt like he was not in control of anything, even though he had so much power. He flew toward the highest mountain nearby and shouted toward the North Star.
“Come on !!! Just talk to me !!! Tell me what to do !!!! Tell me that I’m making the right choice !”
But of course, no one answered him. Azar did not want to admit it but … He had got all the hints. Everything was showing him to stay out of this… It was just that he felt like he didn’t want to. Liam deserved his vengeance, and Azar had no right to stop him from that. But on the other hand, Sasha and Elly did not deserve to suffer because of something they did not do.
“Why do the children have to pay for the sins of their parents !?! How is that fair !?!?” Azar shouted and shouted. But his voice only echoed throughout the starless sky and got lost in the darkness.
That night, Azar slept under the shadow of a giant tree on a mountain, hoping that God would call upon him. Again there was nothing. He woke up the next morning frustrated and angry. And then it kicked him. That feeling was exactly the same back when he was still a dragon. Sitting back and doing nothing, only to watch everything crumbling down. That feeling of helplessness had not left Azar. But he was different now, and he had learned his lesson. He had to do something, at least to protect the one he actually cared about. And with his head held high and rebellious eyes, Azar flew back to Tolemac.
Azar had made up his mind. True, all signs told him that he should not intervene. And by that, Azar would follow. He would not aid Avalon in this war. But that did not mean he could not save at least some of them.
Five days before disaster struck and everyone in Tolemac was in a hustle. Building and reinforcing the city’s walls and defenses, sharpening their weapon, and preparing more arrows. Upon the watchtowers and stone walls, mages could be seen teaching each other how to fight, which spells to cast. Everyone was busy. However, Azar did spot something quite strange. Time after time, some soldiers would walk toward a sword whose blade was seemingly stuck inside a stone. They all tried to pull it out but failed every time. Azar watched over that specific spot and counted. From morning to evening, there must have been hundreds who tried to lift the sword, but none of them succeeded. The sword did not look like anything special to Azar. However, Azar noticed that it was kept in a rather special position, in the middle of the castle’s garden. Everything around it was kept spotlessly clean, even at times like this. And when night came, and no human was grading the garden, Azar made his way to the sword.
“Durandal .”It was engraved in front of the stone.
“Alright ?” Azar tilted his head. “Let’s see what is so special about you, Durandal.”
Azar tried to lift the sword with one hand … and it didn’t even budge. Azar was astonished. He could understand if humans could not lift the weapon, but even he couldn’t ?!
Azar wasn’t about to let it go. This time, he went in with the utmost seriousness. Azar called upon his strength, and with both hands, he pulled the sword. The resistance was strong, almost as if some mystical power prevented him from lifting it. But Azar did not take no for an answer. He took a deep breath and gave it all he got …
SCHWING !!!!
The sword was finally unsealed from the stone. Azar’s arms were getting tired. If the sword could just hold on for another 10 seconds, he might have even given up. However, when Azar looked at the sword, he felt … utter disappointment.
“Come on ! REALLY !?!”
The sword was nothing special. There was something scribbled along the blade, but Azar did not recognize the language. Other than that, it was a normal long sword. He could not figure out why everyone was trying so hard to take it.
Azar sighed, shaking his head and putting the sword back where it belonged. However, he realized something.
“Oh shit ! I think I broke it !”.
Azar tried to put the sword back into the rock, but it did not work. Whatever was trying to keep the sword in its place was gone, and Azar could lift the sword with relative ease.
“Ah the hell with it !” Azar shrugged and walked away. “It’s just a stupid sword, who cares !”.
The next morning, everything was happening exactly the same. All of the humans were dead busy and worked to their bones. They desperately tried to build up their forts before the Red Mist came. However, Azar knew that it was only a matter of time before one of them tried to lift the sword. And although Azar knew that the sword was nothing special, he was still curious about who would be the lucky bastard to take it. By the standard of how he left it, any human with semi-good strength could lift it. But it was not until noon that someone found their way to the garden.
“Oh shit !!!” Azar gasped at the human walking toward the sword. “SASHA !!!!”
Sasha was proudly making her way toward the stone. And right behind her, a small rally was formed. However, they weren’t shouting such kind words.
“Don’t even bother yourself Sasha ! The prophecy said that only a man with incredible strength and a pure heart will be able to lift the sword !”
“Yeah, and you are missing on all three categories !!!”
“Give it up Sasha ! Not even the royal-blood could not unseal it. Peasants like us shouldn’t dream that big !”
It was all discouraging, to say the least.
“Wait … What was that about the prophecy !?!” Azar asked himself.
“Please God, give me the strength to protect those who I love !” Sasha whispered to the sword.
“Uh oh …” Azar shook his head.
With both hands, Sasha held on to the sword. She called upon all the strength in her body, and then … The sword almost flew out of the rock due to the force, and Sasha almost lost her balance. But she was still standing, with the Durandal sword in her hands.
“WHAT !!!”
“OH MY GOD !!”
Everyone around her shouted while Sasha remained in shock. And upon the faraway tree, Azar put his hand on his beardless chin and nervously said
“Welp … I hope I didn’t just screw something up….”
The words of Sasha lifting the legendary Durandal sword spread like wildfire, and within an hour, everyone in the city had heard about it. Their spirit was lifted to cloud nine, as for the first time since they heard about the upcoming battle, they had hope.
Azar heard those humans say something like, “The sword has mystical power,” “The one who possesses it will never lose a battle.” or the most common phrase, “She will guide us through !”
However, Azar knew for a fact that it was not true. Even if the sword had power, Sasha was not the real person to lift the sword out of the stone. She was just lucky. And now, everyone was looking to her for inspiration, guidance, and strength. It put even more pressure on the poor little human’s shoulders. Azar could see it in Sasha’s eyes, the look of disbelief. She looked happy but confused, almost as if she knew she was not worthy of having the sword. However, good things could only last for so long, especially in the land of humans. And for Sasha, the honeymoon period could end before it even started.
Sasha was quickly summoned to the royal family and presented them with her new sword. Azar snuck into the room, disguising himself as one of the servants, and spotted another red flag.
“Greed and envy …” Azar could clearly see in the eyes of many humans in the room. He might not understand what was the point of that sword, but he understood that it was something important, and the more valuable an object was, the more threatened the owner’s life became. If a lifetime of bloodshed and hardship had taught Azar anything, it would be that humans would stop next to nothing to get what they wanted. However, it still amazed Azar; even in such a dire situation, even if they did not know they would live to see tomorrow, those humans sitting in that room with Sasha still filled their hearts with greed and ambitions.
But one face gave Azar the most irritation out of all, the king of Avalon himself. Everything that was happening, all of the death and destruction of his people, they were all because of him.
On the night of such a monumental occasion, the whole nation of Avalon should be celebrating, music should be playing day and night, and everybody should be partying till morning came. However, on that night, there was only work and more work. Even the woman of the hour herself, Sasha, was burying herself in her duty. However, there would always be one that would never have to lift a finger. The human king was treating himself nicely with a cup of red wine, strolling through the castle’s garden. And Azar planned to spoil his mood.
Everyone was busy, and it was clear that the human king wanted a moment alone, so there was no guard around him at the time. Azar left his hiding spot and snuck his way toward him. With his extraordinary pace, no human could catch a glimpse of him. The most they could see was a blur or a shadow. Azar easily got close enough to the king and decided not to cause a big commotion by sitting on a bench in the garden rather than stepping right up to him.
“WHAT !?!” The king dropped his wine. Needless to say, he wasn’t expecting to find someone else in the castle’s garden. He was about to call for the guard when
“No need to scream, if I’m really here to harm you then I wouldn’t show myself like this” With a calm and husky voice, Azar spoke to the king.
“Who … how can you be here !??!” The king shouted and pointed his finger.
Azar stood up proudly with a faint smile. “How could you have forgotten about me already .”His voice was light, almost like teasing the human king.
“You !?!” The king’s eyes widened. “How did you get here !?!!”
“It doesn’t matter how I got here, the question is why am I here ?!” Azar stepped forward.
The king instinctively took a step back. “One more step and your head is mine !!!” he threatened.
“If so then they will all hear about the true story about what you have done 25 years ago. What really happened to the Leonidas family. And you wouldn’t want that, would you !?” Azar smirked, taking another step forward.
And just like he thought that king did not shout or take another step back,
“What do you know about them ?”. The human king, Leon Henry, stepped forward and asked.
Azar wasn’t expecting that. He couldn’t sense fear from the human king, not a hint. Even though Azar was threatening him with what was supposed to be the deepest, darkest secret he had.