Chapter Three
The Eternal Master
Richard's eyes shot open as a stinging pain scratched at the back of his head and bore straight through his skull and at his brain. Above him was a brilliant canvas of twinkling stars that were dwarfed by two massive moons that hung over them and bathed the area in a nice and bright glow. They were the first things he noticed, besides the pain, and the sight of those two massive orbs above him sent a shiver down his spine as he realized he was back. He had returned home.
Both Daiya and Lythia were stirring now as well, with one on each side of them. Together they all climbed to their feet and looked out over their surroundings, find a small wooded area that looked extremely familiar to Richard in that moment. The large and fresh smelling trees were separated evenly in nice lines, and the grass under his feet was well trimmed and sparkled with dew that had gotten his backside wet when he had been laying in it.
“Are we dead?” Lythia asked in a groan, holding the sides of her heads in her small hands as she spoke.
“No,” Daiya answered, and her hair was matted with sweat and clinging to her face and neck, “we're home.”
“Where are we?” Richard now asked softly, even though he was sure of the answer. “The palace?”
“Why don't you take a look and see for yourself, Richard,” Daiya giggled softly and now pointed behind him.
Turning around Richard felt his heart swell in his chest by what he saw. It felt like it had been an eternity since he had last seen the Royal Palace, and seeing it all lit up through the trees was like a soothing balm to his tortured soul. The white marble material the entire palace was made from, with the many balconies and massive towers reaching into the air, lifted Richard's spirit far more than he thought it would, and he was anxious to get inside it once more.
“Let's go,” Lythia now said and pushed her way past Richard, heading in the direction of the palace. “I'm hungry and I want some real food! And I'd like to sleep in a real bed!”
Daiya quickly fell in behind Lythia and followed her, a new bounce in her step that hadn't been there before. In fact, now that he thought about it, she seemed to be a lot happier than she had been in quite a long time. After he had pushed her away after they had gotten engaged, he really hadn't seen her smile all that often. Besides their duel; because she had smiled quite a bit during that. But that was mostly due to her kick his butt like it was the easiest thing to do in the world.
Not wanting to be left behind, Richard dashed after the two women and caught up. They quickly reached the end of the wooded area and now approached a large side door leading into the palace interior, and it was only now that Richard noticed that there were no guards around. With what had happened to this place the last time he had been here, he had figured that security would have been beefed up a lot. But he couldn't even see a single guard patrolling the grounds, and the three students were even able to enter the palace without being seen.
“Where is everyone?” he wondered out loud, his shoes echoing off the smooth stone floors as torches lit up their way through the wide and beautifully decorated halls.
