"Up and at 'em," A light kick to Noble's stomach brought him back to the real world. He had been sleeping so good in between Raja's paws and his mane, just like that one night in the barn. Raja was such a good blanket, Noble didn't want to escape this grasp. Mylo persisted though, "Come on, hot shot, we're almost there."
"Who says?" Noble huffed out in a raspy voice. His voice was lower than usual, suddenly aware that he now had stubble on his face. What the hell? Noble cursed to himself, then realizing again the dragon's words. The closer you are to the source, the more powerful you become.
"I said," Lily lifted her younger brother's paw and with a struggle, she managed to pull Noble's heavyweight from under Raja, "Two hours run from here. I smell it, and Raja does too. I can hear water from a river not far, and it is sure to lead there."
"Whatever you say, mom," Noble sighed groggily, closing his eyes from the light entering the forest. Sam had enough with this and decided to march her little body over and slap him, which definitely got him to keep his eyes open.
"As the princess, I demand you to get your butt up, so we can finally have a bed to sleep in! My back hurts, Noby!" Sam, the lovely little princess, shouted. Noble complied and lifted himself with his arms to his feet. Raja decided to finally wake his own self up and turn into a human to help Noble up. Noble noticed that he was almost as tall as Raja now, maybe an inch or two off.
"Dear Luna, you're such a force of nature, aren't you Sammy?" Noble chuckled tiredly to himself and held his arms out to her. She happily accepted and wiggled in his tight grasp.
"Well, someone has to play princess until we get mommy back," Sam grinned mischievously.
"You don't have to play it when you're already one," Raja joined, surprising both Noble and Sam. Raja gathered the little princess in his arms before hugging her tightly, "I'm sorry about yesterday, so how about you ride with Noble, huh? On my back?"
"REALLY?!" Sam gasped loudly before squealing like an excited hog, "Can I, Noble? Can I? Can I?"
Noble turned his silver gaze over to the white lion, who was already staring back. He winked one of his cerulean orbs. Looks like Raja was playful this morning, Noble pointed out, breaking his serious facade for the few minutes. Raja's smile was certainly something that made the beast tamer's heart go crazy.
Noble chuckled before responding, "Only if it's okay with Raja to have two people on his back, then I have no problems with it."
"Just hold onto her tightly," Lily informed, "And make sure you don't lose Mr. Bear. She went ballistic once she realized that that bear was in the saddle pocket and not in her arms." Lily patted her brother's shoulder for a split second, gazing at him intensely until walking over to her own mount. She opened the saddle pocket to give Sam her stuffed bear.
Before Raja could quickly change back, Noble grabbed the lion's face and lightly brought his lips to his for a small, brief kiss. Raja's face grew red under Noble's fingers before he backed away with a small smirk of victory. Noble nodded before Raja could finally, with a little bit of trouble, turn back into his full glory.
"Alright, Lovebirds, let's get a move on." Mylo broke the silence while he slid onto his own unicorn named by the Princess herself. He guided it next to Raja's side where they were eager to start traveling for the day.
Noble lifted Sam onto Raja first as she giggled and tightly held into his silver mane. When he felt she was secure enough, then he pulled himself up without much of a hassle. He scooted his body up to his sister's before wrapping both of his arms around her, knowing full well that he wasn't going to break his balance whatsoever.
"Set off, friends," Noble laughed. He tapped the side of his foot to the side of Raja, and the lion set off in a fast sprint with two unicorns following behind him. Let's just say Sam was screaming with joy the whole time through.
*
The sudden bang of the cell walls forced Anazella and Jonah out of their semi-comfortable slumber. Jonah had offered to be the Mistress of Midnight's temporary pillow for the night, so naturally, they were found holding each other for much need warmth. Her head hurt tremendously, and the loud noise of metal hadn't helped either.
"Wake up and get to your feet! The emperor wants to speak with the three of ya'." The guard hit the bars of Tarto's cage, rudely awakening him too. The purple goblin half-breed wasn't all too happy with the rude wake-up call, but he silently complied. The guards opened the cell, unchained from the floor and chained his rough hands together. The guards were all too annoyed to find Jonah fully healed but still malnourished.
"Ye' keep doin' that, and yer' eventually gonna stabbed of rage by the emperor," The second guard had pointed out, "It'd be useless though. Yer' gonna be on the noose in a couple days."
Jonah kept quiet, knowing this kind of situation to be fused with explosions of anger if he spoke a word. Anazella caught on to what he was doing, kept quiet, obey. She was supposed to be wise, able to catch details of the smallest attention. Her teacher had taught her well after she had passed on her nineteenth birthday, three years before Noble had fallen into her graces, literally.
The three of them were taken past the filthy halls of the dungeon and up a level. Many of the King's soldiers glanced in curiosity as the three prisoners were taken through the soldier's sleeping quarters. Even the ex-empress could hear the mutters of the soldiers talking about their former ruler in secrecy, curiosity, even some in disgust. Anazella hadn't regretted it, she never would.
The red, gold, and silver tapestry of the throne room entered the prisoner's sights. She couldn't say she was surprised, but Tarto was certainly. He didn't even try to hide it either. He was amazed by the decor and the wealth this awful man radiated. How gold was easy as water to the emperor, thanks to brother Taurus' gift to Leo for eternal wealth underneath the castle. Valider was a pathetic excuse, non-deserving to be of Leo's descent.
"Perfect, set in the middle, right in front of the steps," Valider instructed, and the guards roughly followed their emperor's orders. All three Jonah, Anazella, and Tarto were forced to their knees, almost in worship, but Anazella refused to go any further. Never again will she bow down to someone as this piece of Phoenix dung.
What hurt more was Daley standing right next to the throne with a grave expression on her face. She was the perfect example of regret of betrayal.
"It's good to see you again, dear Anazella," Valider hid no reason to insecure. He sounded confident, amused. It left a bad taste in Anazella's mouth, "Too bad to see you this low, darling, you use to be so beautiful when you weren't running off with my children."
"He was never your child, you disgust me!" Anazella snapped back, "You only kept him around for your own selfish needs!"
"Ah, ah, ah," Valider shook his head, "You got me all wrong. All I wanted was the best for poor Noble before you ripped him out of my arms. We were going to make such a powerful king to success me and my greatness!"
"You knew who he was!" Anazella screamed at him. The soldier pulled at her hand chains, forcing her to the ground like some obedient dog, "You knew that night where I prayed to Luna, she sent down a shooting star! You knew it was Leo the first second you laid eyes on that poor baby, and I was never going to let you kill him for your own gain in power!"
"Is that true?" Daley suddenly questioning, her arms over her chest, "You told me that if I joined you wouldn't suck him in for power! Just kill him!"
"Now, why would I tell you anything?" Valider shooed her off before returning his gaze back to the three below him, "You know that I am his descendant, do you not? I am his blood, so it is only a worthy cause to gain power from the source from long ago! Killing the baby peacefully was the only way to obtain his blood to make mine pure!"
Both Tarto and Jonah stared in disbelief while Anazella spewed tears down her dirty face, "You would kill a child? Kill Luna's own child for the power you could never get? You knew full and well if you killed Leo, then you would have disrupted the cycle of rebirth! Which you did ruin it! You have done a grave mistake, Valider!"
"Well, I don't need him any longer. Daley here is going to take care of him for me." Valider smirked proudly, like he had figured out the secrets of life itself, "Wouldn't kill him, but it will kill the dragon, it will kill his inner self, so he's just a shell. I'll be able to officially kill him once I slice his neck with his own sword." He lifted himself off the throne while his red cape followed behind him with every step, "I already have my source right here."
Jonah tried to avoid the cold hand of Valider, but he somehow successfully rubbed his hand across the teenager's cheek. He shivered of both freight and coldness. His hands were so cold. They were almost ice even. It was always like this. Every time he was strapped to a chair, Valider would cut him open and drain him. It only proved his point further when the glass in his available hand had contained what scared Anazella the most.
"I'd like to present you someone special, someone you probably already realized, my darling Anazella," Valider then snatched his arm, roughly pulling the malnourished teenager to his feet, "May I present Aquarius, the third oldest of Luna and Hesperides and the twin of Capricorn, the fourth oldest."
Of course, it made sense, didn't it?
"His blood is sourer than poor Leo's, and in due time, I will be a full-blooded god, replacing Leo and every damned child that was birthed by that whore!" This wasn't the man that Anazella married. This was someone else entirely. He was not human or the royal descent that had successfully ruled this kingdom Leo had created long, long ago.
With so much evil in Valider's face, no human or guard or even royal would have expected a hand to come out of the shadows behind them. When Valider turned his body to drag Jonah up the stairs, the very same hand pulled Tarto into his own shadow below him. He was about to scream, but he had no chance to before being sucked into the floor.
The guards were too stupid to even realize what had happened. They stared at the power-hungry emperor with fright, abusing their duty to watch the prisoners. Had they thought the shackles would leave them obedient? Foolish men are what they were acting like. However, they were smarter than this, were they?
Anazella had a couple seconds to glance at one of the guard's face. His face bore a lifeless expression, and his shadow was nowhere to be seen behind him. She felt her shackles be yanked into the ground, and she prepared for an impact that never came. When she opened her eyes from what felt like an eternal free fall, she spotted Tarto with a scared expression while a dark haze of smoke filtered behind him.
A black hand escaped the mist, but seemingly disappeared until a nub or an arm continued in its path. A man stepped out with pitch black hair, a stubble mimicking said hair, and silver eyes. The man only had an arm and a half, but with his only able hand pulled Jonah, somehow bloodied and beaten.
"I apologize for the fall," The man spoke formally and held onto the beaten boy, "Time seems to pass more quickly here than the physical world. It's worth the wait though, dumb emperor put up a fight, but I pulled him down in time."
"What just happened?" Tarto breathed out worryingly.
"I know it was sudden, and it was my fault. It was a last second plan, but I'm glad it worked." The devilish man sighed with relief before rubbing his head. The boy knew invisibility wards, Anazella pointed out because no one can hide horns that sharp and long without powerful magic, "Mycarlo asked for this request, but I cannot stay here for long. They will suspect that I am gone."
"Mycarlo?"
"I have no time to explain, Miss," The man grabbed Anazella's and forced her palm into the air. Three small objects were placed in her hands, and when glanced down at her dirty palm, three ruby gems and one odd stone, texture like a pearl, with a familiar symbol on it, "I want you to blow on each Ruby for each person and think of the Aquarius Lake. There is the resistance."
"May I ask for your name before we go off?" Anazella requested while she stole Jonah from the man's grasp. She handed one of the rubies to Tarto and helped Jonah grasp one in his own hand.
"Well . . . uh," The man flushed a light pink before shaking it off, "As soon as you arrive, show that pearl to the leader, she will recognize it." The man paused while he rubbed the small stubble on his chin, "You may call me Idos, but you may recognize me as Cancer."
The falling began once more, almost feeling like forever until the hard ground the forest was beneath them and the birds were singing.
*
"Fools, all of you are complete and utter fools!" Valider raged, pushing everything in his path that blocked him. His blood was boiling, literally. Because of Aquarius' blood still in his system, he had shown more than enough destruction in the throne, now in a complete disarray. He just didn't want to admit that he was the fool, to let his guard down in front of a guard. Who knew Cancer was there?
His hand immediately grasp the grip of his sword, his ancestor's sword, and slashed everything in sight, priceless gold that was still here at the time of the first cycle. His bloodlust was on a high that would calm down when the blood of the gods was stained into his skin.
Valider had traveled far into the courtyard where the statue of Leo was presented in his full glory. Raising the sword above his head, he used the immense power of a sun god to destroy every inch of the cursed rock. He hated it, God he hated them so damn much.
The memories of rejection of Lunar churches entered Valider's head. The starvation he had suffered until the royal family had realized that they had a son, a bastard son with Lunar Royal blood in him. An abomination they called him, but their only hope to continue the long line of Lion Kings of Lunis. They were all fools to reject him! He was going to be the last king to rule this kingdom. He was going to be immortal and rule of this plane like the gods acted like they were.
Valider was going to be the last man standing with every drop of Luna's blood in his hands.