I was rather pleased that overall, everyone thought I looked good. I was ecstatic that Saphryn thought I looked amazing.
Anyhow, I didn't get a lot of time to rejoice, because Lady Iva grabbed a massive sword and handed it to me. "What am I going to do with this?" I asked as I took the surprisingly light sword from her.
"Just a prop," she said, helping me attach it to the belt around my waist. "We're trying to create an image, here."
"You want me to look like my grandmother?"
"Precisely," she said. "An image that will keep you safe, to some extent, at least."
"That's brilliant," Vairyn said.
Lady Iva smiled. "The sword won't give you any trouble. Weapons of the Ahar clan are often very light and made of simple metals. They had no need for physically strong and heavy weapons because they mastered the art of fusing their vahri with objects. It's the vahri that makes their weapons strong. You've probably seen this with her mirror."
I nodded. "Makes sense."
She then attached another, smaller, knife to the other side of me. "This one is actually a useful one that you could use."
I chuckled.
After pulling away, she looked at me with a smile before turning to the boys. "Meet me back at the estate," she said, before taking my hand. "I have a little more to do with her before I send you off." With that, Lady Iva held her hand up. "Close your eyes, dear. You may get dust in your eyes if you don't."
I hesitated, but I did.
I felt odd for a moment, as if I was on a rollercoaster. My stomach rose into my throat and I felt a big gust of wind against my skin.
"We are here."
When I opened my eyes again, we were in the King of Warrior's mansion. "How..."
Lady Iva winked at me. She walked over to her desk and pulled out two things. It was eyeliner and lipstick. "Your grandmother always wore this strikingly dark red lipstick," she said as she held my chin up. "You don't mind, do you?"
I shook my head and let her apply the lipstick. I do know that my grandmother likes her dark lipstick. She always wore very dark red lipstick when she went out.
"And, she always wore thick eyeliner. She claimed it made her look meaner."
I chuckled as Lady Iva lined my eyes and winged them out. "Now," she said, "frown a little?"
I frowned, for rowing my brows.
Lady Iva stepped back and nodded with a short laugh. "You really are her granddaughter," she said, placing the eyeliner and lipstick into one of the pockets on the belt.
I smiled, a little embarrassed.
"Did she have any daughter's?" Lady Iva asked.
I shook my head. "Only boys, like my dad."
She nodded. "I know she always wanted a little girl," she said. "From her own sons to Saphirian, she's always been a mentor to boys. She always wanted more girls in her life. It's no wonder you two became so close."
I smiled, another thing I did know about my grandmother. "She always made jokes about how she was so unlucky for not having any daughters."
Lady Iva laughed.
"Were you close to her?" I asked.
"She was a good friend," she said. "She helped me a lot and I never got the chance to thank her."
"I'm sure she knows... but I'll tell her if you want."
She smiled. "Nyla," Lady Iva started, "I know it troubles you to think that your grandmother has told you so little about her past... but something you must understand is that her past was not particularly a happy one. It's highly likely that she chose not to tell you because she wanted to forget it."
I nodded, remembering that her family was killed.
"She... was under a lot of pressure for almost her entire life here. As a youth, she was the only child of the head of the family. After the murder of such an important family, she was the only one left and a lot was expected from her," she said. "She only really ever found happiness when she met the man she fell in love with. A regular human."
"The exile... she was happy with it."
"I don't think she ever wanted anything more than that."
I felt sad.
"The woman you know is the woman she is. She did not lie about the important things. Remember that."
"I will," I said with a smile. "Thank you."
Lady Iva then proceeded to give me some instructions. Her instructions were unsurprising as all she was pretty much telling me was to stay out of trouble, let Saphryn handle any trouble, and not to try to be the hero.
Saphryn and Vairyn joined us while she went on about safety, and after passing the rant off to Saphryn as well, we were met with two masked warriors, a male and female, along with Nile.
"Nothing?" Lady Iva asked.
The handsome Nile shook his head, but only after raising a brow at me. "We know he's going east but that's about it."
"You couldn't catch up?"
"We did," a masked warrior said, "a battle ensued between us and him and his partner, who is definitely one of our warriors."
"But he was able to escape," Nile finished, his green eyes looking annoyed.
"Who helped him?"
"We are unsure," Nile said. "But we believe it's Royan."
Lady Iva was frowning. "Go look for Royan, Kil. See if he's in the village."
"Yes, my lady," one of the masked me said. He put a hand over his chest and bowed before vanishing.
"Nile, I need you to go after the King with Daya," she said.
"The King?" Saphryn asked.
"She needs to know what's going on," she said. "We have people from within our forces turning on us. Besides, there are a few things I'm suspicious of, particularly the True Kings recent interest in the jewel."
Vairyn raised a brow.
"I apologize, Vairyn," Lady Iva said, "I must ask... do you know why your father was interested in the disappearance of the mirror?"
He crosses his arms. "My father has men who keep an eye on Saphryn," he started.
Saphryn groaned and rolled his eyes, "still?"
Vairyn nodded. "My father came because he was informed of Saphryn relationship with Nyla," he said. "It's only a rumour there that she's Lady Meera's granddaughter. He wanted to see her for himself, as you know my families conflict with the Ahar clan. I tagged along to make sure there is no trouble."
Lady Iva frowned. "I suppose he won't be pleased to hear of her presence. He also was probably unhappy to see the two holding hands."
I felt my cheeks flush.
"Is there anything you need me to do?"
"Just make sure your father understands that Nyla is just a normal human. She doesn't need any trouble."
"Right," Vairyn said.
"Are you sending Saphryn and the girl after the mirror?" Nile asked
"Yes," Lady Iva said. "He's fought Beeto before-"
"Are you sure I shouldn't go with him?"
"Oh shut up Nile, I can handle myself," Saphryn said.
Nile frowned. "That's what you always say."
"Frankly, I would be much happier if Saphryn didn't have to go alone... but if someone from the Elite Warrior Force has betrayed us... I do not know who I can trust," Lady Iva said. "So for now, Nile, I need you to report to the King, inform her of what's going on, then join Saphryn and Nyla with Lord Kyshan."
Nile didn't seem to like the idea but he nodded. "Right."
"Ideally, Saphryn will catch up to Beeto, slow him down and get Nyla through the mirror to safety. I mean, how fast can that child go with that massive mirror?"
"We should leave now, then," Saphryn said. "Let's not waste any more time."
Lady Iva nodded.
Saphryn looked at me. "Let's go?"
"Okay."
"Saphryn," Lady Iva called. When Saphryn turned to her, she sighed. "You take care of her," she said. "She's an important girl to a very important person."
"You don't need to tell me twice," Saphryn grinned at her, and she let out a short laugh.
Outside the mansion we were met with both Nile and Vairyn.
Nile patted his friend on the shoulder. "Don't do anything stupid."
"Yeah, yeah. See you later."
Nile sighed but Saphryn smiled widely. "Don't get yourself killed."
"You're the one to talk."
After a chuckle, Nile vanished.
"See you Vairyn," Saphryn then said.
"Wait," Vairyn said. "I need to know that you're going to be safe."
"You'll hear from us," Saphryn said. "I'll send updates."
"Please," Vairyn said before turning to me. "Take care of my brother, won't you?"
That made me laugh. "I'll use the sword to hold back bad guys." I said, touching the hilt of the sword that was supposedly just a prop.
Vairyn laughed before reaching out and squeezing my shoulder. "Take care."
"Let's go," Saphryn said, pointing at his back.
When I climbed on, he pounced forward.
---
I don't know what I expected. I guess I kind of thought that we would go straight to where the mirror was, but I was wrong. Saphryn and I had to stop quite a few times, talking to people and asking if they saw a guy with a massive mirror.
Within a couple of hours though, the sleepless night was getting to me. I didn't realize I had fallen asleep on Saphryn's back until I heard him calling me.
"Nyla?" He called. "Wake up."
My eyes fluttered open and I lifted my head up quickly. "What... where?"
Saphryn chuckled, letting me down.
I stumbled just a little, taking a few seconds to recollect myself. "Where are we?" I asked, noticing that we were standing in front of a small, wooden building in the middle of a quiet town. The sun was setting and it looked like most people had returned home. It was a cozy looking town, with a large single street that ran through the middle of it and houses on each side. It was kind of nice... the kinds of towns you would see in the westerns, except there was lots of grass and colours. There were stringed lights hanging around a lot of the houses and the walls were all painted with bright blues and greens and pinks and purples and much more.
I would love to live in a place like this.
"We're at an inn," he said. "I didn't even realize we didn't sleep last night. Let's take a break?"
He didn't look tired at all, so I was a little pleased he was okay with taking a break for my sake.
He led me into the inn and I realized it seemed more like a bar than it was an inn. There were quite a few people there, having a good time. What was kind of strange, however was that... some people looked normal, while others had crazy hair colours and eyes. It was obvious that this was a place where Vahrians and humans mixed... something I didn't see much in Saphryn's home town.
"This is Talia's Inn," Saph said to me. "It's in one of the few places towns where both Vahrians and normal people live together in peace."
I looked around, happy to see others who were having such a great time.
"Talia's the owner, and she's kind of the mayor of this town too."
"Kind of?"
"Yeah, they do have a mayor but he's a jerk and no one likes him," Saph said with a smirk. "They're waiting for him to die off so Talia can take over."
"That's kind of depressing?"
"You wouldn't think that if you met him."
I chuckled.
As we walked into the bar, I noticed quite a few people look at us with surprise and begin their whispers. Some people waved their hello's at Saphryn, while others just smiled. Overall, people seemed nice. They didn't act like a lot of the people back where Saphryn lived, who smiled kindly but you could tell that they didn't like you that much.
When we reached the counter, we were greeted by a chubby, tall woman with a huge grin on her face. "Saphryn!" She hollered.
Saphryn grinned at the lady. "Long time no see, Talia."
Talia was a dark skinned lady with red coloured braids and gorgeous, light brown eyes. She had a very motherly look to her, but something about her also screamed that she could be extremely scary.
She then surprised me by grabbing Saphryn by the collar of his shirt, pulling him forward and kissing his cheek. Saphryn began to blush, but the woman looked at him happily. "How are you doing, son?"
"Good," he smiled, still blushing as he sat down at a barstool. I sat down next to him. "And you?"
She ignored him and grinned, leaning forward. "I didn't know you had a girlfriend?"
My eyes widened and Saphryn blushed more. "No," he said. "She's not my girlfriend."
"Mhmm," Talia winked before turning to me. "You, young lady, look exactly like a remarkable lady I once knew."
"This is Nyla," Saphryn said. "Lady Meera's granddaughter."
Talia nodded. "I knew it. You had to be related to her."
I chuckled. "It's nice to meet you."
"The pleasure is mine," she said. "Your grandmother was always welcome here. She was a dear friend and wonderful drinking buddy."
Drinking buddy? I thought. I'd never seen my grandmother drink anything more than a glass of wine.
But I smiled.
"Is she doing well?" Talia asked. "The last time I saw her was right before she was exiled."
"She's doing great," I said.
"And that prince charming of hers?" She asked. "That human boy that she wanted to leave everything for?"
Now I smiled a little sadly. "My grandfather? He passed away a few years ago," I said. "Cancer."
Talia reached out and touched my hand. "I'm so sorry."
"It's okay," I said. "They were happy and she's come to terms with it."
"Hmm," Talia smiled. "That woman was always very good at moving on." I figured she was referring to the fact that her entire family was killed. "Now, what brings you two all the way over here?" She asked. "Specifically, the granddaughter of a woman who was exiled?"
Saphryn sighed. "Long story short, Nyla's way to get home was stolen. We gotta find it to get her home."
"Her way to get home was stolen?"
"Yeah," Saph said. "A mirror."
Talia gave Saphryn a thoughtful look. "That legendary mirror that they locked up in the temple?"
"Yea," Saphryn said, "Any chance you saw anyone go by with a massive mirror? It has a carving of Avarius on it? Pretty luxurious looking?"
Talia nodded. "Actually, I know exactly what you're talking about."
"Really?" Saphryn's face lit up.
"Yep. Yesterday," Talia said. "They couldn't have gone that far, I gave them a good beating."
"What?"
"They came into my bar and started to heckle some of my regulars," she said. "You know how I feel about pigs who mess around with my people." Right then, a massive bird flew in through an open window. I jumped in my seat, startled as Talia reached out and the bird perched itself onto her shoulder.
It was a gorgeous grey owl.
"This is Nim," Talia said, seeing my surprise.
"Her beast," Saphryn clarified.
Pleasure. The deep, male voice of the owl said. He sounded a little old and tired.
I smiled at the owl before looking back at Talia. "Your beast is an owl?"
"Surprised?" She asked.
"Don't be," Saph said. "Nim is one of the oldest and wisest beasts out there."
"A good friend to Avarius as well," Talia added.
"Avarius has friends?" I asked, making Saphryn chuckle.
The owl laughed. Does he still have a stick up his arse?
Talia burst out laughing, so loudly that people turned to look. "Oh that Avarius will always have a stick up his ass," she said. "You still struggling to work with him?"
Saphryn nodded. "Yeah," he said. "He hates me."
He doesn't hate you, boy. The owl said. You just need to give him a good enough reason to want to work with you.
Saphryn pouted, looking as if he's heard that before.
"Why is Avarius so picky?" I asked.
Avarius has his own issues, Nim said. You two just need to find a way to understand each other.
"Okay, yeah, yeah. I'll figure it out. But right now I need you to tell me about the guys with the mirror."
"How about I tell you over drinks?" Talia said with a smile as she pulled out a few glasses. When she placed one in front of me, I hesitated. "Oh, I can't... I'm not nineteen yet."
Talia raised a brow. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"In her world, you can't drink alcohol until you reach a certain age," Saphryn said.
Talia laughed her loud, booming laugh. "Oh yes, I remember this."
Saphryn laughed too, as did the freaking owl, who I was sure couldn't drink either.
"Well, in that case, might I suggest a warm and cozy bed to get rid of those horrible bags?" Talia asked me.
I liked the sound of that since I still hadn't recovered from the previous all nighter. So I smiled and nodded.
Talia opened up a drawer and pulled out a key. "Luckily, I have one room left for tonight," she said before looking at Saphryn. "I'm sure you don't mind sharing a room with your girlfriend, Saphryn?"
"She's not my girlfriend," he said before standing up and snatching the keys from the grinning Talia.
Then he proceeded to grab me by the arm and pull me away from the bar and up the stairs.
When we made it up the stairs, there was a long hallway with doors on each side of it. Saphryn fiddled with the keys before stopping in front of a door at the end of the hall. When he opened the door, he let me into a rather cozy looking, clean room.
There was a door that led to a washroom on one end, but right in the middle of the room, against the wall, was a single bed.
Saphryn sighed. "I guess I'll take the couch."
There was, in fact, a couch, against the wall across from the bed. "It's fine, Saph, I can–"
"Don't worry about it," He said, cutting me off. "I'm going to go down and talk a little more with Talia, maybe have a couple drinks. You sleep, cause we're gonna have to get up really early to go after Beeto."
I nodded. "Got it."
With that, Saphryn closed the door and left me alone.
Of course, I wasted no time. I washed off the makeup and took of my jacket and the skirt cape before pouncing into the bed. I pulled the warm covers over me, and within moments, I had knocked out.
I didn't give myself a chance to worry... to worry about the fact that my parents would be worried about me, or the fact that my grandmother would probably think I may be dead.
Instead, I let the exhaustion get me.
I only woke up again a little later on in the night when I heard the door open. The room was pitch black, seeing as it was late in the night, but when Saphryn opened the door, the light from the hallway came pouring in. It only lasted for a second though, because he closed the door quickly and stumbled a little as he took off his boots. He was drunk, obviously, and I was going to make a snarky comment, but to my surprise, I heard the bed creak.
There was then a slight shake as Saphryn collapsed onto the bed, right next to me.
I was lying there, shocked, and watching as Saphryn fell fast asleep, on his belly, his hands crossed under the pillow, facing me.
He had to have forgotten that I was in the bed.
I guess I could have gotten up and moved to the couch myself. I mean, I did offer to take it to begin with. But as I lay there, looking at saphryn's body move up and down as he slept, I decided not to.
Instead, I scooted a little bit closer to him. I didn't get close enough for our bodies to touch, but it was close enough to feel the warmth radiating off of his body.
Maybe I did this because I was drunk too... except with sleep. I was too tired to move. Yeah, that's right.
Any fear or nervousness I felt before because of this whole situation I was in... because of the fact that I was away from home and didn't know when I'd be going back... had vanished. In its place. I felt warmth.
For a moment, before I drifted off again, I thought I saw an odd blue light, but I was too tired and warm to care.
---
Saphryn was first to get up. It seemed as if he woke up startled, surprised that we shared a bed, which in turn woke me up, though I kept my eyes closed to make this less awkward.
It was as he was freshening up in the washroom that I got up. I stretched, pretending not to know that he was in bed with me only moments ago.
"Morning" Saphryn said. "You okay?"
"Yeah," I smiled at him.
"Well, we should head out soon," he said. "Talia sent Neim to keep an eye on Beeto. Last she saw, Beeto was resting. Since she hasn't updated us, he's probably still resting. If we leave now, we could probably catch up."
"Right," I said, slipping out of bed. "Let me freshen up."
As I walked towards the washroom, I saw Saphryn looking at me with reddened cheeks. He then cleared his throat and looked away.
I figured it was because of last night, but when I stepped into the bathroom and looked in the mirror, I realized what it was.
I was only wearing that stupid black jumpsuit. No skirt, no jacket. I was only in the extremely form fitting jumpsuit that was a little too tight for me. Not a single one of my curves or edges were hidden in this outfit as it was almost like a second skin.
I was pretty much naked.
I wanted to scream but I didn't. Instead, I washed my face and freshened up before staring at myself in the mirror.
It's fine, I told myself. Stop being such a prune.
After we were ready, we were greeted at the entrance by Talia. "Good morning," the woman said. "Slept well?"
"I slept wonderfully, thank you," I said.
Talia gave me a smile. "I understand you're in a hurry, but please, come by and see me again when everything is sorted out. I'd love to tell you all the wonderful stories of your grandmother."
I chuckled. "That sounds great to me."
Nim appeared right then, landing on Talia's shoulder as she turned to Saphryn. "I will send Nim with you to take you to these hooligans," she said. "Feel free to make use of him while he's with you."
"Thank you, Talia," Saph said.
Talia pulled Saphryn into a tight, bear hug.
The boys are still asleep, Nim said. And they are not too far away from here so Nyla, you should be able to head home soon.
"That sounds great."
"Okay," Saphryn said. "Let's go?"
"Stay safe," Talia said. "And bring the little girl back to see me!"
"Yeah, yeah," Saphryn said as he started walking. He waved, keeping his back towards her.
Talia let out a huff before looking at me. "Silly boy," she said. "Take care of him, won't you?"
I chuckled. "Honestly, he's been the one who's taking care of me."
"Oh Nyla," she smiled. "Trust me... I don't know what you've done but there is definitely something that's changed about him. I'm not surprised though. He's a lonely boy. Having a girl by his side probably makes a world of a difference."
I hesitated, not knowing what to say to that.
It's his confidence, Nim said. I supposed that being able to protect a girl he likes has helped boost his confidence in himself. And maybe it's also the fact that he knows you trust him. That is a big deal for a young man like Saphryn.
I didn't realize I was blushing until Talia laughed loudly and called me out for it.
"Nyla!" Saph called. "We gotta go!"
"Go," Talia smiled at me. She then looked at Nim.
Nim raised his wings, revealing a huge wingspan, and jumped up before landing on my own shoulder. It startled me, but he perched onto my shoulder gently and I smiled at him.
With that, I waved at Talia and rushed off after Saphryn.
Saphryn carried both Nim and I on his back for most of the distance. Saphryn and Nim spent the whole time talking, specifically about Avarius.
The conversation consisted of Nim trying to tell Saphryn that he needs to work with Avarius and Saphryn saying that Avarius hated him.
You have no choice in the matter, boy. He said. You cannot change your beast. Avarius needs to be tamed, his is unlike other beasts. You are just taking his wildness personally.
Saphryn considered that, but then sighed. "I–"
He was cut off by the sound of an explosion.
I gaped as I saw Saphryn approach what looked like a cliff. He ran right up to the edge of it, revealing that it wasn't that high up and there was a river that passed by below.
However, we had also finally come across Beeto and some other man who I was unfamiliar with, in the middle of a battle of some sort.
And to our surprise... "Midina!" I shouted.
The black panther looked up. Nyla!
Beeto looked up at us too, a grin forming on his face.
Saphryn pounced off the edge of the cliff and landed cleanly on the ground next to Midina. I let go of him, rather ungracefully stumbling off of him as I ran to Midina. I wrapped my arms around her neck and hugged her tightly. The panther put on of her paws on my back, her warm head stroking against me. I'm so glad you are safe.
"What are you doing here?" Saphryn asked.
Meera was worried. She sensed something was off and sent me to look for Nyla. Midina said. Of course, you can imagine my surprise when I saw these two boys.
The two boys did not necessarily look like boys.
They stood there, looking extremely pleased. "I guess you were right," the unfamiliar man said. "Who would think that Lady Iva would agree to send the girl."
Beeto was grinning a wide, creepy grin. "Thanks for bringing her straight to us."
Nim jexpandied his massive wings and jumped from my shoulder. Midina, it is wonderful to see you again, he said. We will speak more once we put down these fools.
Nim flew up, gliding through the air. Then, when he reached the middle of us all, he flapped his wings once. A silver light was released from his wings and expanded around him quickly. It passed right through myself and the others, and when I looked over at the startled Beeto, I gasped at the sight of his massive rhino, who was now by his side and to the left of the other man, there was an orangutan.
I raised my brows. "What..." Did Nim bring these beasts out?
This is Nim's specialty, Midina clarified. He reveals the beasts of those he chooses and separates them temporarily from the Vahrian.
"Why?" I asked, as Beeto and the stranger tried to return the beasts to them.
Beasts generally do not function as weapons when separated from their partners. This is because not all Vahrians can properly control their beast once they are separated from their bodies. Nim said. And from what you see here, it is true that these fools cannot either.
"But you and Midina–"
Have close bonds with our partners and have helped our partners master the separation techniques. Midina said. We are not just weapons to our partners. We are more than that, and thus, we become individuals.
"And that's not the case with these guys," I said, seeing the frustration.
Exactly, Nim said.
I hesitated, noticing that Saphryn was awfully quiet. "So it's man against man now, huh?" He asked, pulling up his sleeves. "I can handle that."
No. Nim said. You're going to work with Avarius.
I let out a breath, realizing that Saphryn should have been separated from his beast as well.
Then, I turned my head and saw that, behind Saphryn, was Avarius.
The glorious, massive tiger was sitting there on his hind legs, staring straight at Saphryn's back with eyes that were just as bright and as blue as his.
Of course, though he was not baring his fangs, the beast looked angry.
To make it worse, Saphryn snorted. "I don't need his help," he said before jumping into a run, straight at Beeto.