Strength and Power

Chapter 33 - Troy

Isa and Nim were quite a ways ahead of the rest of the group, doing what he did best and was running through all the flowers and stirring up the nearby birds. All of which were a shade of blue that made them all but invisible when they were flying above them. Morgan looked like she was committing this entire place to her memory, constantly scribbling things in an old brown book of hers. Though of course she'd take a moment or two in order to tell Isa not to wander off before returning to her scribbling. Ruin looked to be absolutely thrilled with the entire place. Ever since they'd set foot in this field he'd been smiling the entire time, he'd even stopped a few times to admire the nearby plants.  Something about all the plant life up here seemed to thrill him, or at least peak his interest quite a bit. 

Avil meanwhile... He thought this place was amazing to be sure... He just had a hard time enjoying it. Something was bothering him, and he couldn't get it out of his mind. Once again he'd been just a burden on these three when the Spawn attacked them on the mountain. Ruin had helped Isa get back to them, Morgan killed several while the two of them hurried back with Nim. Avil on the other hand- his actions amounted to getting knocked down by one of the larger Spawn and needing to be saved by Morgan. Even with this new sword of his, Avil was still as helpless as a newborn compared to the others. 

Once again the thought of leaving these three and running away to a nearby kingdom had crossed his mind. At least there he'd have an army to- He violently shook his head and banished that thought from his mind. That was the thought of a Royal unwilling to do what had to be done. One who ruled from the safety of a castle and asked others to fight his battles for him and he could not, he would not allow himself to become that kind of Royal!

"If I'll ever be a Royal again." He said beneath a sigh as he continued to follow the others as they advanced across the field. He had no country to call his home, he was the last of his family, really the only thing left of his country was his family heirloom. His hand instinctively went to the red steel sword and his father's ring clanged off of it making him chuckle. "'As long as a member of our kingdom bares it there is hope for our people.' Father you made the wrong choice, it should've been you who escaped not me..."

Again he let out a sigh as his hand went down to the large ring around his finger. It was a solid piece of bronze that had the engraving of a multi-tailed fox with a single rose in it's mouth. It was the guardian of his house and patron guardian of his homeland whom it was named for. Amour was her name, the fox spirit of nature that led Avil's ancestor to the cliff where the Valentine castle sat, overlooking Amor's Garden which was their name for the ever expansive forest that surrounded them.

His father used to say that the ring had special powers, but Avil hadn't felt any kind of power come from this thing. Might as well be a paper weight for all the good it did him against all those spawn... Yet despite its apparent uselessness, Avil couldn't bring himself to part with the ring and even found himself turning this way and that on his finger without ever meaning to. Whatever, he thought to himself lowering his hand and looking out among the field wondering just what kind of things they'd find up here on the floating continent of Tul'lavey.

He'd read about this place when he was a boy, it was one of the wonders of the world that had no real explanation for why it was the way it was. No one really knew why this particular continent was floating around in the air, those who went to investigate it, either never came back or refused to talk about what they experienced up here. Though looking at it now Avil could see why one wouldn't want to leave here, it was the not talking about it bit that confused him. How anyone could not talk about this place was beyond him, it put every book he'd read to shame with the utter beauty of it. The Northern Lights that danced in the sky didn't hold a candle to the dancing aurora that was constantly shimmering in the sky here.