“So you haven't told the boys about their father?” Enya asked Rayla as they were walking through the gardens later that evening.
“I'm going to tonight, at least Callum so he could listen to me. I don't know if I have the heart to tell Ezran myself.” Rayla admitted and looked to Enya. “Can you at least help me? It'd sound a lot better coming from you.”
“Of course, once you tell Callum he and I could tell Ezran ourselves, just leave the talking to me.” Enya said with a smile and gave a yawn. “I think I'm going to head to bed right now, make sure Ezran, Bait and Zym are alright. I don't want a repeat of what happened earlier today.”
“I'm sure after today Soren is not getting anywhere near you, especially after the rope incident.” Rayla laughed. “Well get to bed, we are leavin’ tomorrow and I want us to get a good head start. Are you sure about comin’ with us and leavin’ you know who down in the village?”
“They'll be fine.” Enya assured her before lowering her voice. “Also I did promise Gren I'd stay with the princes, never let them out of my sight and do whatever I can to protect them.”
“Then it won't be so bad to have another member in our little party, should be quite fun. I'll see you in morning.” Rayla said giving Enya a small wave.
“Happy patrolling Rayla.” Enya chuckled as she set off to walk back to the rooms.
She found both Ezran and Ellis asleep, and all three of the animals were asleep as well and curled up close to their respective owners. Well, save for Zym, who's little fluffy head shot up at the sound of Enya shutting the door behind her. The little dragon gave an excited yip and leapt off the bed to scurry over to the human and placed his little paws on her knees.
“Geez you really are like my dog when she was a puppy.” Enya chuckled softly as she picked him up and placed him back on the bed. “Come on, go to sleep now. We have a long journey ahead of us, so hopefully by the end of the week we'll have you back to your mother in no time and stop this war.”
Zym barked and curled up on one of the pillows, but then started to whine when he saw Enya take a seat on the chair by the window instead of laying down on the bed with him and Ezran. His whining must have awaken Bait because the glow toad opened one eye and grunted before opening his other eyes and crawled out of Ezran's arms to hop off the bed.
“Aww, you've missed me too much haven't you.” Enya cooed as she bent down to carefully pick up the heavy creature and lay him on her lap. “Alright, we can sleep now because we have a journey to continue tomorrow.” Bait gave a small croak before curling up on her lap and began to snore a bit.
Enya smiled to herself as she settled down in the chair, keeping her eyes on the door. She wasn't sure what time it was, but it was quite late and Callum hadn't returned from his “date” with Claudia, and she was beginning to wonder if she should go check on them to make sure nothing happened. After the incident today Enya didn't want to leave either of the princes alone with either of Viren's children, but Claudia didn't seem eager to do harm to them. In fact, she had seemed very angry at her brother earlier at breakfast when he flat out lied to the boys by telling them their father was alive and waiting for them back in Katolis.
Enya's thoughts were interrupted by Zym, who was still wide awake but he was staring at the door. Enya was beginning to drift off when she heard the door open and saw Callum and Rayla slip into the room, both clearly looking upset.
“Callum? What's the matter?” Enya asked, carefully picking Bait up to avoid throwing him off her lap and stood up as the two teens approached her. “Why are you crying?”
“Is it true?” Callum asked softly. “That you...you saw him?”
“He means the king, he's asking if you really saw the king's body that night.” Rayla explained and placed a hand on her friend's shoulder. “I was going to tell him but... Claudia told him herself.”
“I...I did see it, when I was carrying Soren to the balcony where one of the elves Rayla traveled to Katolis was with was shooting some kind of magic arrow.” Enya admitted, her eyes starting to well up with tears at the memory. The sight was so heartbreaking, seeing the king's limp body, the smell of blood that filled the room and Pip's little sad cries. “Callum I'm so sorry I thought you and your brother knew, I should have tried telling you both when I got here!”
“I should have known, I should have. Rayla was wearing two of those magic bindings on her wrists and one came off when we were leaving the palace while the other grew tighter and tighter to the point she was going to lose her hand!” Callum cried as his shoulders began to shake and tears began to fall down his cheeks. Enya carefully placed Bait down on the chair to envelope the crying teen in tight hug as he hugged her back tightly.
“She, it's okay, it's not your fault. I should have said something earlier.” Enya said softly as she tried to soothe him. “Gosh if you're like this, how are we going to tell Ez?”
Callum lifted his head up and turned to look at his baby brother, who was still asleep. “I... I'll tell him tomorrow, myself.”
“Are you sure you don't want me to help?”
“No, no I think I can do it myself.”
“I can't believe that idiot lied to you two like that, what was he thinking!” Rayla muttered, her hands curled in fists. “Leading you two on that your father was alive, you see why Enya and I told you we couldn't trust him and his sister?”
“I'm sure by now Claudia told her brother that she told Callum the truth.” Enya assured her as she released Callum. “But we still have to be on guard, they might act like they won't attack us right now, but we should at least expect it.”
“Maybe Soren had a reason for lying to us? A good reason?” Callum suggested.
“Aside from trying to convince you and Ezran to return home with you?” Enya scoffed and shook her head. “No he probably didn't have a good reason.”
“You're not going to try and convince us to come home, are you?” Callum asked and Enya shook her head again. “Nope, after all this I am not letting you all out of my sight. I will be accompanying you to help deliver Zym home. Rayla is not even bothered by it.”
“It'd look less suspicious if we had an older human with us, three underaged humans walking around without an adult will raise questions.” Rayla added with a small nod. “Ez did mention you told him and Callum that you used to live somewhere near the border, we'll have an easier time looking with your help.”
“Indeed I do, I know that whole forest near the border like the back of my hand.” Enya said with a nod and looked to Callum. “You need to get some sleep, we're leaving tomorrow and I don't have my horse with me to carry you if you're too tired to walk.”
“You're such a mom, you know that right?” Callum asked with a small laughed as he walked over to the small water basin near the bed to clean his face of the dried tears. “But in a good way, aunt Amaya would be proud.”
“To bed young man. And you too missy.” Enya chuckled as she gently pushed Rayla to the bed Ellis was occupying. “I know you want to patrol to make sure neither of our Katolian friends try and attack us in our sleep, but you need the rest too.”
“Moonshadow elves don't need sleep.” Rayla protested under her breath but did as she was told. “You really are like a mother, if you're like this with us how are you going to be with your own children?”
“Just the same, if not a tiny more stricter.” Callum replied as he headed back to the bed, making sure he didn't wake his brother up and gave a yawn. “You go to sleep too Enya.”
“Nah, I'm good. You all get some rest for now.” Enya assured him as she picked up a snoring and drooling Bait to sit back down on the chair and place him back on her lap. “If someone tries coming in I'll just wake Bait up and scare them off with his flashing trick Ez taught him.”
“Fine, good night.”
“Good night to you as well.”
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Enya wasn't even sure what time she drifted off, possibly in the early morning. The kids and the animals were already gone, their things packed up and the bed's neatly made, leaving a small note by the desk Enya was asleep next to to tell her where they were. She quickly packed up her belongings and at the last minute decided to slip the hunting knife into her boot, just in case. She found Ezran outside playing with Zym and Bait and a small smile breaks out on his face.
“You're finally awake! Rayla and Zym wanted to wake you up but Callum said to leave you alone and we did.” The little prince stated as he stood up with Bait in his arms and held him out to her. “I woke up to find Bait wide awake and curled up on your lap.”
“Yeah Zym woke him up and he needed some sleep.” Enya laughed as she accepted the grumpy glow toad and tucked him under one arm. “Now, where are your brother, Rayla and Ellis?”
“Uh...not sure where Ellis is, but she's probably with Ava in the woods letting her do her doggy business, I think Rayla is patrolling again and I don't know where Callum is at.” Ezran admitted with a shrug as he picked Zym up. “Also, he's been acting weird lately. Like a few days ago I caught him talking in his sleep about peanut butter, and yesterday he was still being weird asking how his hair looked. And this morning he was a bit emotional too for some reason, but I guess it's because he was going to give me a talk about life.”
“Oh? And what was this life talk about?” Enya asked, wondering if the young prince managed to tell his baby brother about their father's death.
“Responsibility! And I see that it is my responsibility to teach Zym to fly since his dad's not here.” Ezran replied cheerfully as they started to walk down the steps. “I don't know why he was so sad and hugged me afterwards, but it felt nice.”
'So he didn't tell.’ Enya thought when they reached the bottom. 'Well I certainly would have a hard time telling my little brother about a subject as sensitive as this.’
As she was about to ask Ezran something, Enya heard someone call her name.
“Enya! Enya, Ezran wait up!” The two looked over their shoulders to see Claudia and Soren running over to them and Enya quickly used her leg to push Ezran behind her.
“What do you want?” She asked in a cold tone as the two siblings got close.
“Callum says you're all leaving today, is it true?” Claudia asked, a worried look in her eyes.
“How did you hear about this?”
“I...kind of overheard Callum, is it true?”
“Yeah, it is true. We have a duty to fill and we're not leaving until it's done.”
“But what about your dad? He's still missing isn't he?” Soren asked and Enya glared at him.
“Wait, didn't you say-” Ezran began before Enya clamped a hand over his mouth.
“I will look for my father when this job is done, you two should head home before your father worries.” Enya said quickly before removing her hand from Ezran's mouth and ushered him away. “Come on Ez, let's go find Ellis so Zym and Bait can play with Ava one last time.”
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“I’ve only known you for nearly three days, but I'm really gonna miss you!” Enya sighed as she hugged Ellis and Ava tightly before releasing them. “But I promise after this is all done I'll introduce you two to Amaya so Ava can have another fluffy friend to play with.”
“Sounds like a plan!” Ellis agreed before whispering to Enya in her ear, “We'll look after her while you're gone, she'll be in good paws.”
“Thanks, and make sure my dad's okay too.” Enya whispered back before getting to her feet.
The sun was starting to set, casting a soft golden light to the mountain as the group was preparing to depart from Lujanne and Phoe-Phoe's home. The illusionist had came to bid them farewell and give them a bit of advice, along with the moonstone collar Ava had been given as a pup to give her a fourth leg.
“Thank you so much for letting us stay here, it's been a pleasure to get to know you Lujanne.” Enya said to the elder elf and she smiled warmly.
“The pleasure is all mine, it's nice to have some new company once in awhile that's not my latest illusion.” Lujanne said with a smile. “Perhaps when relationships are better with Xadia and you all can visit.”
“Can we go now? Before the sun sets and it gets dark?” Soren asked loudly, earning a glare from Enya. She still couldn't believe Callum agreed to let the siblings come along with them, but he said it'd be nice to have some more people to help protect the dragon prince on the way to Xadia.
“You know, I have a good feeling about that boy. And I'm sure you'll know what I'm talking about in the future.” Lujanne whispered to Enya.
“I don't know what you are implying, but I assure you that nothing will happen between us if he's still my friend after this.” Enya muttered as she gripped the strap of her bag before turning to the group. “Alright, let's get moving!”
As the group moved down the mountain towards the woods that was on the other side of it, Rayla looked back at Soren and Claudia, who were several feet behind the princes. “It’s going to be a long journey, let me just go around this corner an’ get some berries.
“I'll go with you, I'm sure I saw some berry bushes nearby.” Enya offered and yelled over her shoulder, “WE'RE GOING TO GET SOME BERRIES!”
“Be careful!” Callum yelled as the two girls hurried off into the bushes in search of some berries.
They managed to find what Rayla said was a moon berry bush filled with multiple small berries, a good fruit to carry when one needed energy and nutrients. As they picked some of the berries, they heard someone approaching them from behind. Rayla glanced slightly over her shoulder to see Soren nearby and subtly nudged Enya with her hands as they continued to pick some berries. Enya nodded and shifted away from Rayla to grab some berries from another part of the bush when she heard a loud yell and saw Soren swing his sword right at Rayla.
“Missed!” The elf yelled cheerfully before taking off into the woods.
“Catch!” Enya yelled throwing the berries she had been picking, ones that were a mix of overly ripe and some rotting ones that hit Soren right in the face before she took off into the woods after Rayla with Soren at their heels.
When running from someone, never ever look back, ever! Enya remembered her grandfather telling her once during her hunting lessons. Use the terrain around you, climb up and hide in trees to escape, use steep slopes to slow them down. Use rocks and bushes as obstacles to slow your pursuer down, most likely they'll try to run around those while you leap over them.
Never in her life did she think those lessons would be useful until now. So far she had been leaping over ever bush and rock that crossed her path and never dared to look back. She could still hear Soren behind her, but he sounded a lot farther behind. She found Rayla by a tree, both her swords out and in a fighting stance.
“Go hide, I'll distract him!” Rayla yelled when Enya stopped to catch her breath by her before rushing off to confront Soren.
Enya leaned against a tree to catch her breath, her side and legs already hurting. When was the last time she ran like this? Six, seven years ago when she was running from the village back to her family's cabin? At least this time it was just one person and not several people with rocks who were screaming and cursing her and her family.
“Keep going, gotta keep going, no stopping right now.” Enya murmured to herself as she pushed herself off the tree, trying to ignore the burning pain in the back of her legs. “To think I'd be this tired after running up and down and around a castle chasing a mischievous prince and his toad and delivering fixed clothes to people.”
As she briskly made her way through the woods, she found a tree with some branches low enough for her to climb up, grab onto and pull herself up. Hopefully if Soren and Rayla ran this way, the guard wouldn't attempt to climb up after them when Rayla ran up the tree to escape him.
Enya managed to find a branch high enough to be out of reach of Soren, already feeling tired from the climb and her run from earlier, when she heard the yells and the sound of their swords clashing as Rayla and Soen came tumbling out of the trees.
“Rayla climb!” Enya yelled as the elf leapt backwards to avoid the sword. She leapt onto the tree's trunk and used her swords to pull herself up to where Enya was seated and grinned triumphantly.
“Oh what's the matter? You can't even catch an elf and a human girl!” Rayla yelled down tauntingly at Soren.
“Oh maybe the princes will be better opponents!” Soren yelled back.
“Touch one hair on their heads and I will fight you!” Enya retorted, getting to her feet and tried bracing herself against the trunk of the tree to avoid falling off. “I fought you once and I'll do it again!”
“We were eleven and you hit me over the head with a wooden sword!” Soren yelled and Rayla laughed loudly.
“Oh my stars for reals? She hasn't had training in years and yet she still beat you!” The assassin laughed, earning a frustrated yell from Soren.
“Soren! They're fake!” They heard Claudia yell from
“Us? Decieve you?” Rayla asked mockingly and tapped her chin before shaking her head. “No, definitely not us.” Soren was quite for a few moments before he yelled “Sarcasm!” excitedly.
“Took him long enough.” Enya muttered to herself.
“What did you do to them, elf?
“I can’t wait to see the look on your stupid face when you see this.” Rayla snickered and yelled, “Ellis, show them!”
Out of the bushes leapt Ellis and Ava, who quickly removed the moonstone collar from around the wolf's neck. The necklace glowed brightly before it faded. Soren gave a frustrated groan before racing after the duo, demanding to know where the princes were.
“Hey, have you tried looking up?” Enya yelled pointing at the sky before quickly scaling down the tree. There was another flash of light from the sky and a familiar blue moon phoenix came flying down with Callum and Ezran on her back.
Rayla was already holding onto Phoe-Phoe’s feet as they were flying away, but from where Enya could see, she saw what looked like a large tentacle flying out from the trees and grabbing them.
“NO!” She cried as she saw her friends being pulled down. She ran towards where Claudia and her brother were and grabbed a large branch she found lying on the ground. If she had to attack her friend to save her brothers and new friend, so be it. “I’m sorry Claudia, but I have to do this.”
Before she could do anything, a large silver chain with a grappling hook attached to the end came flying out of nowhere and latched itself around the young mage’s wrist.
“Stop! Let them go!” Enya nearly cried in relief when she saw it was Corvus. He gave his chain a firm yank, pulling Claudia to the floor and knocking the strange tentacle thing she was using to hold onto the phoenix down out of her hand.
“What are you doing?!” Claudia yelled.
“Protecting them from you!” Corvus retorted.
“Corvus look out!” Enya yelled when she saw Soren come up behind him. Before the huntsman could even react, the guard bashed the rock against the back of his head, knocking him out.
“Enya come on!” Ezran yelled from Phoe-Phoe. “We'll catch you!”
“Go on without me! I’ll see you at the border!” Enya yelled. “Keep them safe for me Rayla!” And with that, the group took off, leaving the other four people behind.
“Were you going to hit me with that?” Claudia asked in disbelief when she saw the branch in her friend's hand.
“To save my brothers, I would have if Corvus didn't get to you first.” Enya retorted. “I thought friends protected their friends, not attack them or try to kidnap them. I will never stop fighting, not while my brothers are alive and their lives are at stake! You two are traitors to the crown!”
“Seriously? You're the one being a traitor!” Soren snapped as his sister got off the floor. “I don't want to do this Enya, but you leave me no choice! Claudia give me that rope!”
Enya didn't even struggle as the two people she once called her friends restrained her, tying her wrists together and dropped her next to an unconscious Corvus. As much as she wished she was flying away with her friends, the last thing she wanted to do was slow them down. The least she could do was maybe give them enough time to get to Xadia, slow down Claudia and Soren to keep them from getting to the border.