❝Never. You'll never be a 𝘧𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭. You'll always be a 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰. You weren't the first, but you're the most memorable.❞
No wonder a cape-and a midnight bet-can bring two people uninterested with romance together.
🏆 ᴍᴏꜱᴛ ɪᴍᴘʀᴇꜱꜱɪᴠᴇ ʀᴀɴᴋɪɴ...
Aiden's eyes blinked slowly as the morning sunlight hits them, the sounds of waves crashing gently against one another ringing in his ears. Soon, he met the fierce gaze of the water spirit. Fear befallen on his face, but he noticed the frightened expression that stayed on the water horse.
That wasn't a good sign.
He gently shook his wife awake, Elsa suddenly sitting up sleepily and rubbing her eyes. Soon, she was fully awake and she smiled at her husband, giving him a quick kiss on his lips, whispering a greeting. Aiden kissed her cheek, then motioned to Nokk who still looked disturbed.
Cyra had been long awake, perching on the boulder silently. Her amber orbs drifted to the sandy shores they are sitting on, until a small blue blur caught her eye walking weakly on the sensitive texture of the sand. She squinted slightly, only to find out that the blue blur is a creature.
The water spirit galloped to the small blue blur the fire bird had seen, gently pushing it with a wave of water closer into the couple.
Elsa's striking blue eyes widened in terror to find her dearest reptile friend weakly crawling to her, his drooping eyes directing to her palm.
She opened her balled fist, scooping up the weakened fire spirit onto her palm. She gently caressed Bruni's body, hoping that it could make him feel at least a bit better. The little reptile coughed, a tiny flame puffing out from his small mouth.
"B-bruni.." She whispered in remorse. The little reptile desperately nuzzled her thumb, resting against it, as if making it a pillow.
Aiden frowned as he watched the commotion that went around on Elsa's palm, leaning closer to see if the mentioned fire spirit is alright. His wife's face was pain stricken, maybe a few tears stinging her eyes.
Elsa patted Bruni's small head gently, caressing his limp body. She turned to her husband sadly, "He lost his powers. He's not usually like this."
"B-but how?"
"I do not know. Maybe we'll find answers once we reach the hidden city." Elsa then turned to the water horse, asking carefully, "Nokk, we need your help. We need to reach somewhere way past Ahtohallan. I do not know if you know the city itself, but we need to reach it to find answers."
The water spirit nodded affirmatively, motioning to his back for them to ride. Elsa and Aiden exchanged looks, and mounted on the majestic spirit, Cyra resting on her master's shoulder, thrilled to see how this goes.
Nokk started with a trot, steadying himself. Then, galloped to the sea in a very high speed, almost going to the point where its hooves no longer touch the water. The blue horse found its ground again, then hopped occasionally as if the sea is an ongoing trampoline.
They have began their voyage smoothly.
Aiden smiled in enjoyment, letting the sea breeze touch his hair and swept it away; Elsa's arms around his waist making it ten times better. Cyra grinned on Aiden's head, spreading her wings and began to fly on her own accord. She gave a squawk of thrill, twirling as she glided her wings along the fresh air.
"Ignaera won't be too far from the glacier." a deep, masculine voice spoke. Aiden turned to the horse's head in surprise, "You speak?"
Nokk nodded, smiling, "I haven't spoken in a long time, not until now. After the rest of us," he referred to the other spirits, "Were calmed down by your wife, we have agreed to be more open towards others. Especially the Northuldra. If it wasn't for the fifth spirit, our muzzles should be shut by now."
"That's nice to hear, Nokk. But I do have one thing to ask you, if you don't mind." The fire king favored.
"I presume it's about the kingdom I have mentioned earlier?"
"You read my mind."
"Ignaera is the name of the hidden city you're about to discover. I might as well give you some facts and precautions about it."
"Go ahead, since we'll need it."
"Alright. Ignaera is not your average kingdom, since its residents and citizens are not regular people at all. Most of them are like you," He motioned to his palm, "They have the power to summon flames. Some of them merely has empowered levitation, but I do know that ability is more useful. They are also protective of their culture, and they are also very defensive towards insults directing to their special abilities."
"Woah..."
"So defensive that they'll imprison the one that said the insult, and their dungeons are no joke. It is a cell that melts the prisoner because of the bars' inflamed heat."
"... They sound like people not to mess with." Aiden nervously stammered.
"I'm sure they won't take a dislike to both of you. I trust that answers are the only things you seek, if I'm correct?"
"Yes, very much so."
"Then there won't be a problem, I assure you. They also have lots of magic charged artifacts, but some of them have been thrown away to far away lands since some of them are very dangerous, and contains dark magic. You can browse more about them in their Tower of Tomes."
"... Tower of Tomes?"
"Yes, keep that in mind. It is a tower filled with ancient parchments and old books filled with their native people's discovery about sorcery, their history and the foundation of their culture."
"Education at its finest, eh?"
"But I suggest for you three to focus more on the artifacts, since I have a strong urge that one of them has something to do with Bruni's condition."
"Which one?"
"It's an amulet. It looks like a regular jewel, alike of a garnet that has an attached silver chain so the user can wear it around their neck. Its magic is contagious, since its main goal is to tempt, hypnotize or fool people, and absorb nearby power."
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"Does it have a name of some sort?"
"Yes... Temptatis Exitium." ____________________________________ A/N: Hello fellow readers! I just wanna share something with you all about the hidden city/kingdom's name. "Ignis" is the Latin translation of "Fire." I combined it with the word "Era" hence, the kingdom name Ignaera is born.
Temptatis Exitium means "Trying to ruin" in Latin.
Anyways, thank you for reading this A/N and see you on the next chapter. Things will get crazier and more information about Aiden's powers, Helena's past, and Ignaera will come in your way.
