"Halt!" one of the cloaked figures stepped forward and as he did so I noticed that a water whip floating in the air was connected to a hilt in his hand.

Spellblade.

All on their own, they are unable to cast even the simplest spell and once were even labeled 'crippled mages'... but that's long in the past. Today, spellblades are known as the most formidable warriors in the world.

The origin of their name is actually this water whip they can create from any source of water.

Because of their body condition, even with the gift of magic, a special tool is necessary to do that, but the 'blade' part really couldn't be more fitting. When my father was still alive I once saw him at the training yard cleave a fully armored dummy in half... with a single strike.

Judging from the length of his whip, the spellblade in front of us was only slightly weaker than my father... mmm, grandfather. I still can't get used how turning into a child of my own body has changed even the way I have to address my parents. It's so confusing!

"My my, such a warm welcome..." mother giggled as she stopped ten or so steps away from the group.

"Who are you?" the spellblade asked with caution, "How do you know about this passage?"

But before she could even answer another cloaked figure stepped from the group, "Celina?"

"One and only." mother replied with a chuckle, and it was probably to make fun of me, after all, not so long ago the name was mine.

She quickly glanced at the others and when her gaze returned back to the man who called her by the name she introduced herself with a slight curtesy.

"Celina Darkmoon, the second daughter of Duchess Amelia and Duke Erson Darkmoon gol Tanus, the heir of Darkmoon House."

"It's her?" the spellblade asked with a surprise in the voice.

"Yes," the other man replied while stepping even closer and then removed a hood from his head, "I'm glad you made it out alive."

Human, long golden hair, blue eyes... even with dirt on the face, I recognized the prince immediately.

"Mmmm ... not bad," mother's voice suddenly sounded in my mind and her gaze started to wander all over his body, "a bit of muscle here and there would be nice but overall a fine specimen."

"Mother!" I complained through our bond and she returned her gaze to his eyes. 

"I don't know if you remember..." the prince continued, "but we have met at the Palace during my seventh birthday. I'm Prince Alistair Goldmor es Raldus the first son of King Bael Goldmor the Third..." 

The others in the group slightly relaxed, but the spellblade remained vigilant even now. Judging from his yellow, slightly glowing in the dark, eyes, he wasn't a human.

"This is Captain of Royal Guards, Leo Kaiser ad Norus," continued the prince and with his words the spellblade removed his hood.

He was old. His beard and all hair on the head were white as snow... even his ears at the top of his head... He really wasn't a human, most likely kashir - a race with the bloodline of a cat.

"... and this is my cousin, Lady Gabrielle Goldmor es Marland..." continued the prince and with his words, another member from their group reveal the face.

Just like Prince, Gabrielle had bright golden hair, but her eyes were different. For one, they were bright green in color... but what really caught my attention was that her pupils reminded those of a cat... or kashir. I quickly looked at her ears but they were just like those of a human.

Only one of her parents must have been a human.

"And the rest are members of the royal guard," continued Alistair, "Ace..."

With his words, another man from their group removed a hood and nodded his head.

A completely human-like face, dark hair... and triangular in shape ears at the top of his head. For a moment I thought that he was kashir, just like that spellblade. Even his eyes at a certain angle were glowing in the dark and were yellow in color... but I then noticed that the pupils of his eyes lacked a vertical split.

Lycan.

They might look very similar when you look only at their head, but it was an entirely different race, one with the bloodline of a wolf.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"Lars," the prince looked at yet another member of their group.

This time it was a human, brown eyes and brown hair.

"and... Jade." the last member of the group was yet another lycan, but this time a woman.

If we don't count Alistair and Gabrielle, who were clearly members of the royal family, then Lars was the only human among the guards. Then again, our Raldus Kingdom has never discriminated by the race and even among aristocrats humans numbered only sixty percents at best.

"You probably already heard about my father..." in the meantime prince made a pause in his speech, "I can only hope that my mother hasn't met the same fate..."

"I am sure she is alright, cousin," Gabrielle stepped closer to the prince. "we have managed to escape at that time so she should be able to do so as well."

"I am afraid I have bad news," mother joined the conversation, "On the way there I learned that she is dead. My condolences..."

"I... I should have known," Alistair grimaced in pain.

"... but stay strong," mother continued, "the ones who did it are already dead and it's our duty to make sure that the rest pay the price as well. It might be hard, and it might take time but that day will come."

With each of her word, lightning on her body started to dance with ferocity, quite often striking at the walls nearby, fracturing some of the rocks in the process or even completely shattering them.

"Yes, you are right," prince raised his head with determination, he then looked to the wall where lightning just hit and turned his head back to mother, "This is something I wanted to ask for a while, but... what is this... lightning? I don't remember reading any reports about you catching a curse like that. Is this some kind of enchantment?"

"Aww... such a cute lad," mother's voice sounded once again in my mind, "hasn't even realized that just admitted spying on us." 

"This is Little Thunder," she replied aloud, "a spirit of lightning that has saved my life. In the darkest hour of my need, it answered my cry for help and offered a deal. I am now its vessel, a home where it can grow stronger... but in return, the power over lightning is my to command."

And with her words, a part of lightning dancing on her body reached her hand and really started to look like a living being, a little snake made from lightning. For a while, its head looked straight at the prince, then it probably got bored and after a quick look at the others returned back to its previous lightning form arcing all over mother's body.

"I never heard or seen anything like this," the prince exclaimed in an astonished tone, "Is it dangerous? It will not attack us on its own... or while you sleep?"

"Our emotions are connected now, so I wouldn't advice scaring me even as a prank, but no, if there is no ill intent directed towards it or my body, it will not attack on its own."

"Your majesty," the spellblade who was silent all this time eventually decided to speak, "If what she said about your mother is true then we have to leave. That earlier explosion most likely means that they already found the entrance, if we don't rush now it will be soon impossible to escape."

"Ah, about that..." mother started to play with a dirt on the ground with her toe, "It was me... I kind of blew up a part of the tunnel on the way there." 

"That changes very little, just from the sound they can..." Leo then halted in his speech and looked at mother, "wait... what did you just said?"

"That I blew up the tunnel?" mother replied, but the eyes of spellblade just continued to stare at her so she quickly added a few more words with some exaggerated gestures in the mix.

"Boom, and the tunnel was gone... and then... I ran very very fast so the same couldn't be said about me... speaking of which, I really wouldn't mind a moment of rest, using lightning on your own muscles isn't very good for the body. I now feel even worse than that time when brother persuaded to join his training for a week... "

As soon as she has finished quite a few from the group chuckled here and there, even prince was among them.

"You are different from what I remember," Alistair eventually said, "I think it suits you... but he is right, we should move. They might allow for some people to escape to spread the news..."

"Why would they do that?" mother asked playing confused.

"Our defeat there will more than likely force the remaining Houses to surrender..." before the prince even had the chance to open his mouth his cousin replied in his stead, "So it's in their best interest that the others learn about what happened there as soon as possible... but that doesn't mean that they will turn a blind eye to us."

"Then it's settled," the spellblade turned around and started to walk away, "Make your preparations while I scout the situation outside. Hopefully, the mounts are still in the vicinity. Jade, you with me."

"Wait." mother then suddenly stopped him and walked closer, "You plan to use detect for scouting, right?"

The spellblade nodded.

"What is the range of your device?"

"Two bo," he answered and pulled out an orb from within his cloak.

Bo was a length unit that is mostly used by the nobles and its origin is actually a game with the same name popular at the Academy. I never had a chance to play or even watch this game personally but I know that it's sort like a duel. Mages proficient at wind magic compete with one another... and because of the spells used, there is practically no risk of seriously harming the other party.

Somehow thanks to this activity a distance the sound can travel in a second is now also called bo... which by the way is over a thousand feet.

"Let me take a look."

And before Leo could even answer mother snatched the orb from his hands. The spellblade stared at his now empty hand for a while and his mouth was wide open. 

Just as before mother pointed her finger at the orb and lightning started to engrave weird markings on the surface.

"And... done," she then tossed the orb back to spellblade. "It should reach up to nine now."

"What?!" almost everyone shouted in unison.

"... but be careful to not overcharge with mana," mother continued while ignoring their reaction, "It should be safe, but it's better to be safe than sorry..."

Yes, it's just that your orb will probably explode if you do that. I added in my mind when was reminded what happened with the one she used before.

"Ha ha ha ha ha" Leo started to laugh, then stopped and faced us again, "Can it really reach up to nine bo?"

"Yes, though it will now use twice as much mana." mother answered with a smile, "Can see it for yourself once start with your 'scouting'."

And Leo, with Jade right behind him, quickly rushed to do just that.

"How you did that?" Gabrielle asked after Leo has left, "I never even heard those enchantments reaching more than three bo."

"Magic," mother chuckled.