Zephyrus Elway’s P.O.V

I was once again walking in the lonely hall to the throne room. The summons was unexpected and last minute, which left me a bit curious.

Pushing open the large, cold throne room doors I was greeted with a pleasant surprise. All the big names were here.

The three other High-Knights, Oden Marice, Cera Trel, and Verla Osborn all stood in uniform, waiting for the meeting to commence.

Looking up I saw the king sitting on his throne, Apollo standing at his side.

The biggest surprise, though, was the two individuals standing behind the king in the shadows. Audrey Froston and Vincent Froston.

They were two of the Nine Worthies, the strongest mages on the continent. Each king possessed at least two mages that were in their ranks, the Thezmear Kingdom being an exception, possessing three.

“Come, Zephyrus. We’ve been waiting for you.”

Nodding, I went to stand on the other side of the king, opposite of Apollo.

“So glad that you could join us, Zephyrus.” Apollo Whispered, as I made it to my spot beside him.

Smiling, I ignored his remark and looked at the King, “King Stellar, what's the mystery summons about? I was quite surprised seeing the Worthies grace us with their presence.”

“Speak to the king with manners and respect. Your arrogance will not slide in the presence of a Worthie.” Vincent called, as he stepped into the light.

“Pipe down now, Vincent.” I smiled, “Remember, you only have the position because I declined.”

I saw his face contort into anger and he was about to say something, but didn’t get to, as the king spoke.

“Quiet.” The king waited a moment for silence, then spoke again, “And very good question. The meeting is about the coming up summit. The new laws that we kings have implemented have been seeing positive results faster than we expected and we've decided to move the summit forward to continue with our next steps.” He stop speaking, letting his words sink in.

“Instead of a year from now, it has been moved ahead six months. I’ve called you all here to discuss the roles you will be playing when the time comes. As you know all royalty must attend, as well as the Nine Worthies. So I’ll be leaving, the High-Kights, with the exception of Zephyrus, to guard the castle the week we are gone.”

I raised my hand, “Why am I the exception?”

“Because we need all the information we can get on the coming topic, and I’ll need you there in attendance.”

I shook my head, and the king continued.

“This will be a full-time task, which means you three will be alternating guard twenty-four-seven.”

The three other High-Knights nodded in understanding at this information.

“I'm trusting you three.” His serious tone relaxed a little, “High-Knights are excused.”

As they all started walking to the exit, I began to move with them, thinking we High-Knights were done here, but the king stopped me. “Zephyrus, you stay.”

Halting my step, I watched as the throne room door closed behind the others.

“There’s still more to discuss.”

At his words, I saw every other individual in the room start to listen in, as if moving would hinder their hearing.

“Now that they have departed, I can get deeper into detail. Every individual in this room knows about our situation and how grim the future of this continent looks, correct?”

We all gestured in agreement.

“Those next steps that I mentioned earlier is the official announcement. We’ll be letting every citizen of Lotia know the truth.”

Every looked shocked at the information, some even gasping.

“Has it already been decided by the kings?” Audrey Froston asked, her normal cool facade faltering.

“Yes.”

“This will cause an uproar all around the continent, the way of life as we know it will change,” I said.

The king let out a calming breath, “You're correct, it will change our way of life, but it must be done. We can’t keep this to ourselves for much longer. We must prepare.”

We all seemed to carry on in our own thoughts in silence, thinking of the ways of the world now, and the way it will start to change in six months.

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“I need you four to keep quiet about this until the summit, I just thought that you should know, since the other kings have told their Worthies as well.” King Stellar added. “You’re now dismissed.”

We all slowly began making our way to the throne room exit.

“Shoo now,” King Stellar called, flicking his hand, “hurry up now so I can get these nobel's meetings over with. They’ve been breathing down my neck for the past few weeks.”

His words caused us all to put some pep in our step and we made it out, the throne room door closing behind us.

“It’s rather shocking the king is allowing you to attend, Zephyrus,” Vincent said, crossing his arms.

I smiled, “That makes two of us.”

“Vincent, stop it with your childish antics, and let’s go.” Audrey said, sending a glare at her brother.

The two siblings were from a powerful family; royalty in fact. The queen of Vintess was their aunt.

With this being the case, as they grew up they were nurtured and pampered with the best resources and training one could receive, eventually, both being granted the title of one of the Nine Worthies.

Audrey was a rare talent, yes, but her brother wasn’t all that special in my eyes.

Even though he was a white-core mage, his skill wasn’t up to par, and I knew he was no match for me or Apollo.

“What do you say Zephyrus, it’s been a while since we had a sparring match, don’t you think,” Vincent, egged on, stepping up to me so that we were eye to eye.

My smile only grew wider.

“Don’t you remember what happened last time, Vincent? He made you look like a fool.” Audrey said, stepping between us.

I never really had a problem with Vincent, but he had the mentality of a competitive child, and me being me, loved to mess with him for it. Which is probably why he hated me so much.

“You know, she’s right. I wouldn’t want to embarrass you again, and besides, your sister would be a much better sparring partner for me. I’ll even go along with the other type of ‘sparing’ if she suggests.”

Vincent's face contorted into his normal anger at my comment and I heard Apollo snicker from my side.

“How dare you-” Vincent began, but Audrey cut him off with a raised hand.

“It's one thing to mess with my brother, Zephyrus,” Audrey began, her tone cold and her aura began to build, mana swirling around her like an icy tundra, “But I will not take kindly to your sly remarks. Watch your tongue.”

Audrey was a rather serious person and always had been since I met her. In my opinion, it only added to her mysterious charm.

Who doesn’t like a serious woman, I thought, as I held my hand in a make-shift salute saying, “Yes ma'am.”

Audrey had to almost pull her brother by the collar so they could leave, but eventually, they did, leaving only me and Apollo.

“You know, Vincents a Worthie now, don’t you think he deserves a little more credit?” He asked.

“Nah, he’s still a kid in my eyes.”

We both laughed.

“Well, now that that's over, how about we get our mind off the grim topics for now, there's something I want to show you. Then after, we can get some drinks.” Apollo said, gesturing for me to follow him.

“Sounds like a plan.”

Apollo ended up leading me to one of the castle's many training grounds. Entering I was greeted with tropical trees and the soothing sound of a waterfall. He led me through the many trees and bushes until we finally made it to where he wanted to take me.

We were standing in front of a pond. Two waterfalls on opposing sides of each other supplied it with water.

Directly in the middle of the pond, though, was a flat stone rock, giving the illusion that it was floating.

Sitting on the rock, though, was Hanz. And directly across from him, was his wyvern.

He’s grown, I thought, as I watched him.

He was in a meditative state, his legs crossed and eyes closed with a translucent aura surrounding him. Studying him further I couldn’t sense the aura’s attributes, and I looked over at Apollo to ask what elements the boy possessed.

He, like always, seemed to read my mind, though, and answered before I even said a word, “His elements are fire and lightning.”

“Two of the most offensive natural elements. Interesting.”

My eyes flicked back to the wyvern. It had grown along with Hanz and I could sense that they had now become one. It wasn’t the small winged lizard it used to be. It now was the size of a large bird, its navy scales shining like individually polished gemstones. Its wings were long and extended at least two times the size of its body, and the wyvern's claws, which were attached to the wings, were sharp and fierce, reminding me a bit of Vael.

“Which ones the wyverns attribute?” I asked.

“Lightning. It’s already learned to use it to a very impressive degree.” Apollo added, “They even managed to pull off a couple of combo spells during a few of our sparring sessions. Hanz being only at the light red stage of his mana core, though, makes some things stand out. For example, his mana manipulation and enhancement could use some work. He’s a martial mage, but has the tendencies of a caster.”

“That’s normal early on, I’m sure he’ll learn as he grows. Hell, at the speed he's going, it won’t be long until he catches up to us. I mean reaching the light-red stage in a year is nothing to scoff at. Not even we achieved that at his age.”

He nodded in agreement, “I suppose you’re right.” He turned to me, “What about you’re Falyn? I haven't seen the boy in a while, and I know you’ve been training him well. What do you say we set up a sparring match between the two?”

I laughed, “Sounds interesting, but I'm afraid Falyn is out of town.”

“Oh? Where to?” Apollo asked, genuinely curious.

“Do you remember when we were younger and you ran away from the castle to join me on my vagabond journey?”

Apollo’s eyes widened, “Don’t tell me…”

“Yes, he’s on one of those.”

“Are you insane sending a child out like that? He’s no older than Hanz.” Apollo's voice seemed to raise slightly, disturbing Hanz out of meditation.

From afar, I could see Hanz notice us from his rock and he began to make his way over to us.

“Calm down, we did the same thing when we were kids. Don't you think you're overreacting a bit?”

“Zephyrus, we were seventeen. He’s ten. What is wrong with you?”

“What's going on?” Hanz asked, now only a few feet away from us.

Apollo and I stayed quiet at Hanz’s question, the only sound that was audible was the wyvern’s, “Ryrr.”

I took a breath and looked Apollo in the eyes. So he knew this was what I truly believed and knew that I had no doubts, “I wouldn’t have sent him if I didn’t think he would make it back here safe, I’ve trained the boy for four years and I know what he is capable of, trust me on this, Apollo.”

Apollo stayed quiet for a moment, his gaze staying level with mine. Finally, he spoke, “When you put it like that, I guess I have no reason to doubt you.”

“Are you guys talking about Falyn?” Hanz cut in, “How strong has he gotten? I haven't seen him since I awakened.”

I had promised my nephew I would hold my tongue when it came to questions of his level of power, so I came up with the quickest response I could.

“Your brother and I were just about to set up a sparring match between you two. I’ll let you find out then.”

Hanz smirked, “From the way you two were talking it seems he’s out of town. When will he be back?”

Both of the princes looked at me, waiting for an answer.

“One year.”