The Last Flame - Crystal Bow

Chapter 5

Saphaer found himself in the throne room once again, massaging his temples after scolding two particularly mischievous fauns who had decided to steal from his sister, Saurena. His youngest sister was quite possessive of her belongings and would have killed the two on sight, but Saphaer was not like his sister, and he knew that the two were young and barely knew better.

 Saphaer tightened his grip on his chair as the steward came in, saying, "Urgent news from Hawken and Tolei." 

"What is it?" Saphaer sighed.

"The village of White Bridge has burned down." The steward said, loud enough for everyone to hear but quiet enough to match the message. Saphaer frowned. "How? I understand that human villages are quite flammable but don't they have their...mages to help them?" 

Saphaer flicked a wrist in distaste. He'd always disliked mages; dark wizards using the magic that they had stole from magical creatures to do what they wished. All mages had to draw blood from another to do their spells, used incants to summon up what little magic that they had inside of them; only barely much more than a human's.

All creatures contained magic, though only a few-including fae-had enough magic to summon up, which was why among humans, the blood of any magic-wielding creature was priceless. Elves, once human, also had magic, though of a less quantity than fae. They used a special elf crystal to boost their magic. Any creature who attempted magic when they don't have enough would end up killing themselves, but the spell's power would amplify enough to bypass any shields; including a fae's.

"Bring them in." Saphaer sighed. He didn't have time for this today. The steward nodded and brought Hawken and Tolei in. Hawken, a faun with bright green eyes, walked forward. His lower, goatlike half was white with brown and black spots and he wore a white tunic with a lemon pattern woven into the design. Elegant horns curled from the top of his head and under his pointed ears, framing his face quite nicely. Something about him reminded Saphaer of her.

Meanwhile, Tolei was a gryphon shifter with elegant, eagle-like wings and a feather tucked behind his ear. He was currently in his more humanoid form, as it was easier for him to talk-gryphons usually communicated through images and emotions, but Tolei had refrained from doing it when the whole court was present, as the many emotions at once were often confusion and scared the court. Saphaer allowed the scout to communicate with him natural on his own, however.

"'Afternoon, your highness!" Hawken's voice was slightly high in pitch and strangely boyish, as if he's grown up but his vocals hadn't quite yet. He and Tolei bowed and Saphaer sighed. "Rise, you two. Tell me what happened."

Saphaer had put Tolei and Hawken-two polar opposites-together because he knew that, while they had opposing views, they both understood and respected each other, and Tolei often treated Hawken as his child. 

Hawken shivered. "We had been scouted nearby as assigned when we saw what looked like fire raining from nowhere. Tolei flew up," Hawken use a thumb to point at the Gryphon shifter, "And when he came back down he told me that he thought...well, he said he thought it was a dragon. We were both doubtful so we went to the village, and..." Hawken trailed off, frowning.

"Fire rained from the sky. There was screaming everywhere." Tolei's face was grave, his expression shadowed with a mixture of horror and fury. "Every single house was on fire. We thought that nobody had survived when we saw a boy running out of the fire with what looked like everything he owned."

"And then he looked up and shook a fist at the sky." Hawken shuddered. "There it was, clear as day; a dragon with brown scales. They're back."

"They are?" Saphaer had only been twelve when the dragons were banished, but he remembered it clear as day; the Dragon King storming into the thrown room demanding support, his father's cold laugh as he denied him. The entire throne room wreathed in flame. Screaming filling the air, and then, green magic had wrapped around the dragons in coils, forcing them to shift and dragging them away. Saphaer suppressed a shudder and frowned. If the dragons had returned from banishment, there was no doubt that they'd want revenge after his father's past mistakes. Saphaer cursed under his breath. What was he to do?