Lakshman used the Phoenix Portal spell and he designated the destination to some place near the capital entrance. It was, actually, easier for him to travel by flight, but because Sonia Angloid was a princess, they should travel through comfort. As such, he, Atem, Sonia and Natasha arrived near the entrance of the capital before the portal closed behind them.
Sonia looked around with a puzzled expression and asked, “Uh… Is the capital in this forested area?”
The reason for her question was due to the projection of a forest, which was projected by the Phoenix Sanctuary barrier spell. Atem and Natasha were also confused because they believed the capital would be in an open space, not inside a secluded area like a forest.
Lakshman, without looking at them, raised his voice and called out, “We need an escort!”
In an instant, ten Phintex Rajas appeared, out of nowhere, and stood around the four of them. Natasha, instantly, moved to the defence of the princess in fear of an attack, but Sonia calmed her down by placing a hand on her shoulder.
The Phintex Rajas faced towards Lakshman and knelt down in servitude before they said, “At your command, your majesty.”
With a serious expression on his face, Lakshman began to move forward as he said, “Let’s go!”
The Phintex Rajas, quickly, rose to their feet and formed a ring around the four of them. Atem, Sonia and Natasha followed behind Lakshman.
They walked a few meters and just as they were about to enter into the forest, they felt a strange sensation pass over their bodies as they entered the barrier. They were surprised because it felt like an invisible curtain that was strange to the touch. The moment they entered into the barrier, everything became clear and the capital came into view.
There was rising smoke from several places of the capital and shouts of people in deep stress could be heard from different parts of the capital. People were out in the streets with shocked expressions on their faces as they saw the destroyed buildings and many injuries that people suffered.
At that moment, they saw their king walking by with three unknown people while being escorted by the Phintex Knights. They, immediately, rushed towards him and began harping him with their cries of pain. Lakshman looked around at the distraught expressions on their faces and the multiple wounds they had suffered.
“It seems that a man called Shenzen attacked these people while trying to find information about where you lived,” informed a Phintex Raja that was walking a little next to Lakshman. “The guards attempted to stop him, but he took care of them very easily and injured them greatly.”
“I see. So, that’s how he discovered the whereabouts of my house,” said Lakshman and he nodded once in understanding. He made a serious expression on his face as he said, “It’s unfortunate that the people got, unnecessarily, involved in private matters that involved my wife’s family.”
Lakshman thought for a moment before beginning to instruct the Phintex Raja on what they must do.
“Begin assisting the people as much as possible, rescue them from danger and evacuate them from buildings. Use Healing Scrolls to, quickly, heal the people, especially on those that immediately need it.
“Yes,” replied the Phintex Raja and he bowed his head once.
“While you’re at it, find out the amount of damage incurred, the number of casualties cost and the amount to compensate for everything that’s happened during my absence. I must have all that information in two hours’ time!”
“As your wish, your majesty,” replied the Phintex Raja and he bowed to him before vanishing instantly.
Sonia and Atem watched Lakshman, from behind, with an expression of surprise on their faces as he ordered the Phintex Rajas. Very soon, a very large number of Phintex Rajas have appeared in the area and began assisting with healing the wounded or carrying the seriously wounded to the hospitals. Many focused their energies on stopping buildings from collapsing and recued people that were stuck in there.
“Incredible,” thought Sonia in amazement as she looked around at the work of the Phintex Rajas. “He, truly, is the king of Floria Kingdom and the ruler of the Phoenix Clan. They are obeying his every command without question.”
Just then, Natasha leaned towards her ear and muttered, “Please, compose yourself, princess.”
Realising that she had her mouth open slightly, she closed it shut and looked towards the back of the Phoenix Titan. Atem was, also, doing the same thing and he had an expression of deep admiration for the Phoenix Titan.
After walking for several minutes, they reached the castle and Lakshman entered it very quickly. This surprised Atem and Sonia while Natasha kept up with the with the rest of the Phintex Rajas. They walked for a few minutes in silence with their footsteps making sounds on the hard pavement.
As they turned a corner and arrived near the entrance into the king’s chamber, they found a woman standing outside the closed doors. She held a staff with her right hand and wore a strange assortment of clothes, which gave her the appearance of someone from the High Elf race. She had both her eyes and mouth closed and stood there as if she was waiting for someone.
“Ah. You came,” said Amaranda Lefrity, the Magic Titan, telepathically said once she sensed Lakshman’s presence approaching her.
“Where are they?” Lakshman asked seriously without indicating whom he was talking about.
Amaranda, not needing to ask whom he was referring to, nodded her head once and turned around to walk away before she telepathically said, “This way.”
As they began following her lead, Sonia turned to Natasha and inquired in a low voice, “Who is she, Nana?”
Natasha replied in a low voice by saying, “She is Amaranda Lefrity, also known as the Magic Titan and a member of the Nine Pillars of Power.”
This piece of information alarmed Sonia and she, quickly, turned around to stare at the back of the Magic Titan with widened eyes. The only member from the group, that she knew of, stationed at the kingdom was the Sword Titan, Dominic Rutherford. Knowing that the Magic Titan was also with them took her by surprise because, she believed, the Magic Titan was living in the Bazaraka Continent.
They walked for another few minutes in silence before they arrived at, what appeared to be, a hospital. The Phintex Rajas, stationed themselves around the entrance as guards to shield them, in case, something was to happen. Meanwhile, Amaranda, Lakshman, Atem, Sonia and Natasha entered the room to see two of the ten beds inside to be occupied.
Atem, Sonia and Natasha hung back with looks of concern on their faces as they realised, by watching Lakshman walking towards the beds, that the occupants were friends of his. Lakshman stopped at the end of the beds and looked down at the battered and beaten forms of Darian Ronald and Rumble. Darian, appeared to be, sleeping peacefully and the same applied to Rumble, but four wrappings appeared in the middle of his arms and legs.
Noticing that his limbs were intact, Lakshman frowned as he muttered, “His limbs are fine, but why did Ondine say that they were ripped off…?”
“They, indeed, were severed,” said Amaranda telepathically as she walked to stand next to him. “I, simply, reattached them back and did, what I could, to make sure they are functional again.”
“You did?” Lakshman asked with a look of surprise on his face.
Amaranda nodded her head once and telepathically said, “It is easy to regrow limbs, rather than reattach them, however, the pain of regrowing limbs is severe, so I opted to reattach them instead.”
Lakshman looked at her with increased respect and sincerely said, “Thank you very much for helping my friends! I, really do, appreciate what you’ve done! It means a lot to me!”
She made a small smile on her face and telepathically said, “Do not mention it. I did what was right and necessary at the time to save them, not as your friends, but as living people in need of help.”
“I see. Has Marilia come to visit them?”
Amaranda nodded her head and telepathically said, “She has, but collapsed due to seeing Rumble in the state he was in before I reattached his limbs. She is, currently, sleeping in a different quarters and is kept company by Shalany and Mariana.”
“Oh,” said Lakshman shortly and he clenched his fists in anger. Feeling very angry at himself for not being present to stop this disaster, he said in a quiet voice, “Dammit!”
“Stop that,” said the Magic Titan telepathically in a firm voice. “You are not at fault and they will not blame you either.”
Lakshman gritted his teeth for a moment in anger, but managed to calm himself down. He took a deep breath and breathed out smoothly before he turned to smile at her.
“Yes. Thank you,” replied Lakshman and the two smiled at each other like friends.
As the two of them exchanged smiles, Sonina became a little irritated and stepped forward to speak with the Magic Titan.
“Excuse me,” she said and caused the both of them to turn and face. “Don’t you think it is rude to speak to someone with your eyes shut? It’s not the proper thing to do in giving and taking respect, correct?”
“Ah,” said Natasha lightly as she realised that Sonia made a mistake, even if the princess did not know it yet.
Atem, who had been thinking along the same lines as the princess, suddenly realised something. He thought, for a moment, about the way the Magic Titan had her eyes and mouth closed and used telepathy to speak. It did not take him long to figure out the reason for it, causing him to grit his teeth in frustration at the mistake the princess made by asking her such a question.
Lakshman blinked at her in surprise as Amaranda, still wearing a small smile on her face, telepathically responded by saying, “I’m sorry to inform you, young miss, that I am unable to see and lack the ability to speak. As such, all I can do is use telepathy to communicate and use the flow of energy to see.”
Sonia’s eyes widened with shock at being informed of the Magic Titan’s condition. She, instantly, regretted asking such a question and became a little flustered as she wore a guilt ridden expression on her face.
“I’m sorry,” said Sonia apologetically. “I’m really sorry for not realising that, Magic Titan.”
Amaranda shook her head lightly and telepathically said, “It is not a problem. Do not blame yourself as I do not expect an angel to know the condition of the Magic Titan."
Sonia and Atem widened their eyes in surprise and she asked, “How did you know I’m an angel?”
“The colour of your aura,” said Amaranda telepathically. “White, as it was dictated since ancient times, is the colour associated with the angels for their pure untainted power. Seeing the flow of energy from you, it is obvious to guess what race you belong to, young miss.”
Sonia smiled slightly and said, “I’ve been found out. My name is Sonia Angloid and I’m the princess of the angel race.”
“I see,” replied Amaranda with a slight nod of the head. “I am Amaranda Lefrity, one from the High Elf race and I am called the Magic Titan. It is quite an honour to be in the presence of an Angel Princess. It does make me wonder why you are here in the first place.”
“I came to observe what kind of man the Phoenix Titan is,” said Sonia in a calm voice with a firm look on her face. “This was because he had an incident that caused the angels to become upset and wanting to avoid war, I came as their representative to observe him and decide.”
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Mmm…” said Lakshman under his breath and he appeared a little upset by her words.
“Oh…?” Amaranda asked telepathically with a sceptic smile on her face. “Do you, honestly, believe that you can wage war against the Phoenix Titan and the Phoenix Clan?”
“Of course. If the Nine Commandments of Light were serious, the Phoenix Titan and the Phoenix Clan are no match for the might of the angels!” Sonia said fiercely.
“Very confident, aren’t you?” Amaranda asked telepathically in a sardonic voice.
She smiled at the Angel Princess and caused the girl to clenched her teeth in annoyance. At that moment, Natasha moved up to her and began whispering into her ear in a stern voice.
“While you are here as the representative, please remember your main objective for being here, princess.”
“I know that,” replied Sonia in an irritated voice, “but that woman is getting on my nerves.”
“She is, purposefully, goading you into showing your anger,” stated Natasha and Sonia blinked in surprise. “Please, remain calm, cool and relaxed. That way, you wouldn’t be giving them an opportunity to say something back.”
Sonia looked unhappy for a moment before nodding her head slightly in understanding. She turned back to face Amaranda and saw the Magic Titan wearing a smile as if she knew what Sonia and Natasha had discussed.
Wanting to change the topic, she turned to Lakshman and asked, “I am quite surprised to see the state that your kingdom is currently in.”
“It would be when a warrior of the Emperor Rank attacked them and the guards, most definitely, could not fight warrior of that calibre,” stated Lakshman with an unhappy expression on his face.
“Oh,” said Sonia shortly and she blinked at him in surprise. “Even so, I expected powerful warriors to be present, in case such a threat did happen. For that matter, where is the newly appointed Phoenix Emperor? I believe, he’s the one that’s supposed to handle the protection of the kingdom.”
“You are correct,” said Lakshman and he nodded his head at her in agreement. “Unfortunately, he is not present at this moment because I assigned him another task to perform. That is also why the Sword Titan is not here because he has a task to complete that I had given to him.”
“Oh. That makes sense then,” replied Sonia and she nodded her head in understanding.
Lakshman turned around and looked one last time at his sleeping friends with a concerned look on his face. Then, he turned to said that he will be visiting Marilia to see how she was, to which Amaranda nodded her head in understanding.
With the conversation done, he turned around and quickly walked to the exit of the hospital room. As he exited the room, he noticed that the number of Phintex Rajas escorting him have increased by one. For a moment, he thought that one of them was the one he had instructed to find the details of the destruction, however, he quickly ruled it out because it would take much longer than a few minutes to obtain that information.
“Your majesty!” One of the Phintex Rajas said as he knelt down in front of Lakshman. “The Phoenix Emperor has a message for you.”
“Huh?” Lakshman asked with a confused expression on his face. “How did he know that I returned so fast?”
“Master wanted to know the moment that you returned,” replied the Phintex Raja.
“Oh, okay,” said Lakshman and he nodded his head in understanding. Then, in a commanding voice, he said to the kneeling Phintex Raja, “Tell me!”
“Sir! It seems the Ashtra Kingdom King and Mardana Kingdom King wish to have an urgent meeting with you,” said the kneeling Phintex Rajas.
“What?!” Lakshman exclaimed in surprise because he did not expect something like that to happen. He, instantly, wore a serious expression on his face and asked, “When is it?”
“In two days’ time.”
“In two days, huh?” Lakshman slowly said and he placed a hand on his chin as he thought about it.
“I can’t really say that I didn’t expect them wanting to meet me, but this soon? Here I was, hoping to spend some time with my wife, sisters and my family mainly. At the same time, now that the last Destiny Queen is here, I might try my luck with making her fall in love with me, although, things look difficult.
When I asked why she was here, she stated something and it was a total lie thanks to my Elemental Sense. So, now, I’m curious as what she really came to do by getting involved with me. Anyway, discussing with my family about my plans would be helpful and wouldn’t leave them in the dark.”
He was, abruptly, brought back to reality when the kneeling Phintex Raja asked, “Sir! The Phoenix Emperor wants you to send him a message about confirming whether you are free tomorrow or not.”
“Mmm…” Lakshman said as he paused for a moment to think about it. Deciding to plan his schedule with his wives, he looked down at the kneeling Phintex Raja and said, “Tell him that I will inform him later after discussing my schedule with my wives.”
“Very well, your majesty,” replied the Phintex Raja and he bowed his head slightly before vanishing instantly.
He turned around and looked at Sonia, Natasha and Atem, who were standing behind him with curious expressions on their faces. They were intrigued by what they witnessed happening between the kneeling Phintex Raja and the Phoenix Titan.
“It seems the Ashtra Kingdom King and Mardana Kingdom King wish to speak to me in two days,” informed Lakshman with an apologetic tone in his voice. “I might be away to attend that meeting in two days and I don’t know what your plans are…”
Sonia looked hesitant and she turned helpfully to Natasha, who stepped forward to speak on her behalf.
“That is not a problem and actually, we would like to attend the meeting with you as your guests. This is in order to witness your character and interaction with the kings of the other kingdoms. That is, of course, if you are only okay with it.”
Lakshman looked at her in amazement because of the way she, carefully, worded her statement. She, basically, was stating that they would come, regardless of whether he was okay with it or not. Atem, who stood next to them, was also nodding his head in agreement to their words.
“Very well. I’m sure it will be fine to bring along guests, but please make sure not to expose yourselves to be angels. I don’t really know what the other kings will do, so it would be safe for you to remain incognito,” suggested Lakshman with a hopeful smile on his face.
Natasha nodded slowly in understanding and replied by saying, “That is reasonable and we have no problems with it. Is there, princess?”
“Ah! None at all!” Sonia said in a slightly distracted voice because she had been staring intently at his face. “We have no problem being your guests undercover, so long as you ensure we witness what you do.”
Lakshman smiled and said, “That will be taken care of.”
As Sonia returned to smile, Natasha looked at the darkening sky and said, “It is getting late and we must leave. We will return tomorrow morning, so please be ready to greet us.”
“Of course,” replied Lakshman with a pleasant smile on his face.
Natasha nodded in satisfaction and she turned to Atem before she asked, “Will you return with us now or later?”
Lakshman was surprised and Sonia was taken aback by her asking such a question to an escort angel. ATem, however, smiled sadly and shook his head before responding.
“No, I cannot. I am here to observe the Phoenix Titan and be his escort, which was the job given to me there and I plan on fulfilling it.”
“It’s your choice,” replied Natasha with a slightly hesitant look on her face. She turned to Sonia and said, “Let us leave, princess.”
“Have a good evening,” said Lakshman and he smiled widely at her.
“I wish you the same,” said Sonia and she beamed at him happily and surprised her.
She and Natasha walked into the open space where the soldiers train during different sessions. Natasha lifted her hand into the air and fired, what appeared to be, a small white beam cannon. A few seconds later, a blinding flash of light descended from the sky and surrounded them in a bright glow of light that caused everyone to hide their eyes. A moment later, the ray of light went skyward and disappeared, taking Sonia and Natasha with it.
Lakshman stared up at the sky and blinked with a startled expression on his face because he did not believe what just happened. Just before the ray of light could hit the two women, Sonia glanced towards Lakshman and gave him an affectionate smile that he had only seen from his wives. So, it startled him for a moment and made him feel confused about why she had done that to him.
“Phoenix Titan,” said Atem in a firm voice and he brought Lakshman back into reality. “Can I stay at your place while my mission to be your escort and observer remains active?”
Lakshman chuckled and said, “Yes. You have a job to do and you are my guest, so feel free to stay in our castle or in our house if that is more convenient for you to stay near me. As for my wives, don’t worry because I can convince them into letting you stay at our home if you want.”
“Thank you. I’d really appreciate that,” replied Atem with a smiling face, confirming the suspicion of Lakshman’s that he wanted to stay at their home.
Chuckling to himself, he turned around and began walking away as he said, “I have some business I need to attend to.”
“Okay,” replied Atem and he, quickly, fell in step behind the Phoenix Titan while escorted by a group of Phintex Rajas and together, they headed towards the king’s chamber.
***
At that moment, somewhere far away, Dominic Rutherford breathed a heavy sigh and said, “Finally! Here at last!”
He found himself standing in a deep forest that was dark on every side that he could see. It had already gotten dark by the time he had gotten to his intended destination and he sat down on the tree roots while breathing a heavy sigh.
“I don’t believe we can do anything more in the night,” said the voice of a Sacred Spirit called the Destiny Sword, which was the sword hung at his waist. “Let’s continue from tomorrow morning.”
“You’re right,” agreed Dominic and he nodded his head in the darked forest. “Besides, I have no idea what will happen here or what kind of monsters will wander in the night. So, the safest decision to take is to make shelter here and sleep for the night.”
“You’re right,” replied the Destiny Sword telepathically in agreement.
Dominic placed a hand on the hilt of the Destiny Sword and said, “Wall of Blades.”
In an instant, swords began to materialise out of nowhere and took a few seconds to form a wall of swords around him. With the shelter created, Dominic loaded the backpack he was carrying down onto the floor made of swords and began to make a miniature bed for him to sleep on. It took him a few minutes and once it was complete, he fell on it and rolled up the blankets before, quickly, falling asleep.
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Author's Note
Hello my dear readers and thank you for readhing this chapter. I have decided to change scenes and see what the heck Dominic is doing elsewhere while Lucky is dealing with his problems. Next chapter, you see Dominic in his full might as he shows off his awesome skills against an army of enemies that he had not fought before. After all, the terrotory he entered belongs to that of the Dragon Clan! Oops! I better end my note before I go spilling too many spoilers! Anyway, I hope that you liked this chapter and will read the next one as justice reigns supreme! :D