Night Riders (Magi fanfic; Third Book)

~ Fourteenth Chapter ~

She hurried quickly off the bed and jumped to the floor. She took her staff. She turned it in her hand and returned to bed. She sat on her feet. She laid the staff horizontally and closed her eyes.

She focused on rukhs; their heat, their whisper that she never understood, their lips wings, their path. She felt the life and light that passed through them, which made them alive. All these souls gave her some new strength she had never felt before, even when she practiced with Aladdin and Yunan. It was a whole new feeling. It traveled her hands and her whole body.

Through closed eyelids she could see how the light of rukhs strengthened. At the head of her light up the eight-pointed star. The heat spread through her body.

"Solomon's Wisdom." she said, and rukhs hit their wings powerfully.

She was silent for a few moments and sat in silence as the sensation slowly evaporated. It got out of her hands. The heat followed it, and at the next moment it was normal. Still, she took a deep breath. She has lost a lot of magoi.

"You did it." said a male voice.

She opened her eyes wide. In front of her was a man with crossed legs. The blue hair was tied to a long braid while on his forehead was a crescent moon. He was wearing a traditional royal robes. And the eyes... The same blue eyes she saw in her reflection in the mirror. He was smiling at her with gentle smile. By its looks, she would say he was about twenty-five years old.

"Dad?" she asked in a low, silent voice.

"In the flesh." he said, spread his arms and widened a smile.

One and only Solomon was sitting in front of her. Son of David. Her and Aladdin's father. Her staff fell out of her hand, and her hands instinctively covered her mouth. Shocked, she looked at him as he gently smiled. His hands cupped her cheeks and gently pulled back a strand of hair behind her ear.

"You grew up." he whispered.

She could not answer anything. She just nodded her head as her vision blured from tears.

"Hey, do not cry." he said. "What did I say to you? Do not destroy your face with tears."

Avalon shook her head.

"Dad, from the moment Chaz showed me whose daughter I actually am, my memories have returned to all the things I've been through." she said, her voice breaking. "It is so hard..."

Solomon looked at her, his smile subsides. He laid his hands on hers.

"What do you remember?"

"I..." ahe paused. "I remember that night when there was a storm. I was afraid and I came to yours and mum's bed."

"What else?" he asked now, smiling.

"Well..." she smiled and imagined. "When mum was pregnant, I asked if she had eaten Aladdin." she chuckled briefly. "Then when you read to me at bedtime and telling stories about faraway places and kingdoms. And when mum and I went every morning to the market to buy groceries. Oh, and the festival..." she said, now excited like a child. "I was dressed in a beautiful dress. And I danced in front of everyone. I was nervous before that, but my mom told me that I should not be afraid. I remember when I danced with Ugo." she giggled.

Suddenly she stopped. The smile waned. She bowed her head and let her hair cover eyes. She sniffed and blinked several times to remove tears that she gathered in her eyes.

"You were beautiful then." a gentle voice came out.

She raised her head suddenly and saw the pink-haired woman. The pink eyes gently watched Avalon. She smiled at her.