Valerian, The Legendary

Olivis said, “I came here to tell you something.”

Valerian was still somewhat in a daze when he looked at the flickering shadow on the table surface, he asked, “Why did you come in like this?”

He obviously did not understand the need for Olivis to present himself like a shadow on the desk wall. Olivis replied with a faint sense of loss, “You are too young to see that the gifted people or even humans, in general, are a bit scared of us the ‘Magicals’. Only some of us are welcomed while the rest are feared. Also, the feeling is mutual.”

Valerian was surprised to hear this, although he has read about this in the books, coming from a person and that too in such plain words made him realize how shallow his understanding of this matter was.

He nodded and asked, “What did you want to tell me?”

Olivis said, “I wanted to tell you something about your mother. Lady Flos.”

Valerian was shocked, he asked, “How do you know my mother?”

“Your mother was the person who conquered the bane of my kind, Dragon Queen Senium. She was the savior of us, who lived in the forests.”, replied Olivis.

.....

This was somewhat acceptable for Valerian, he asked, “What do you mean, she was your savior?”

Olivis said, “Fifteen years ago, your mother rescued us from the rage of Dragon Queen Senium. One of our elders saw Senium laying an egg in a sacred cave, however, the elder tried to evict her with force, but he was unaware of the magic she held.

In rage Senium murdered the elder, the disturbance had caused her egg shell to crack faintly. Her grief and anger drove her crazy, and she rushed over to slaughter the entire tribe of Driads. Just when we were about to give into despair, Flos appeared, she was traveling the world at that time and was very adventurous.

To help us, she picked up a fight with Senium, when the dragon asked her to step out of the way and told her the reason behind her grief. Flos shook her head and promised Senium that she will keep the egg from cracking and breaking.

Senium warned her and said, “If you failed, then I will kill everyone including you.”

Flos was not worried but even asked, ‘If I could do it, will you be my travel companion? Your Majesty.’

The dragon agreed and in the end, Flos cast a delicate magic spell, to preserve the egg inside a casing of vines.”

Olivis fell silent, Valerian asked, “How long did my mother have to cast the spell before the egg hatched?”

The shadow shook its head and said, “The spell was cast once and it is still there. The egg is also there, unhatched. You might not know but the egg of a dragon will only hatch when they are destined to. Some of the eggs were laid thousand years ago and still might not hatch but turn into a precious stone.”

Valerian nodded and asked, “Is that all you there is to your visit?”

The druid replied, “I would like to extend my hand of friendship to you.”

“Why did you not do the same when you met me in the forest?”, asked Valerian.

Olivis answered, “I was sent to find you by the clan at that time, my mission was to see what sort of human you are, if deemed to be a threat, then I was to kill you.”

Valerian did not show any reaction, he only asked, “Then why shall I trust you?”

Olivis said, “Because I still remember what your mother did for us, she put her life on the line, and we promised to help her in the future, however, that day never came, but that does not mean we should turn faces.”

Valerian asked, “Why did you want to kill me?”

Olivis replied truthfully, “Because of your blessings. They are too strong and the magicals, they think all humans with great power can be the doom of Vita.”

Valerian found this odd and said, “Is what you are saying not an exaggeration?”

Olivis replied, “I wish it was an exaggeration. You might not know, but the people of the world are not all like Flos or Divinus.”

Valerian asked, “Do you know about my father as well?”

Olivis shook his head and said, “I never met him but among the magicals, his legends still flow strong. All I can tell you is that before you, only he was gifted with the seven attributes, and was the most powerful mage to walk among us. You have the potential to surpass him.”

Valerian imagined the might of his father and a faint smile crept up his lips. Olivis did not disturb him for a few minutes, he waited patiently for the boy to say something. The silver-haired child came back to reality and said, “Since you have come so far to talk to me, I will not be mean, but complete trust cannot be established in a couple of meetings and stories told. I hope you understand.”

He was not going to blindly trust everyone who knew his parents, that would defy the purpose of the letter his mother left behind. Olivis was also not pushy and understood what Valerian meant. Just when they were going deep in the conversation, Olivis said, “See you next time.”

Then his engraved shadow disappeared from the surface of the table. Valerian saw that the maid has come to serve him food.

...

On the outside, Fragrantia led a convoy with the war minister Abbot, to meet the Emperor of Stella nation. They were a small group with a handful of shadows moving in the dark. They were going to meet in a no man’s land. The situation was very delicate and a slight exertion could trigger a war earlier than planned.

Fragrantia was sitting in the carriage while Abbot rode a wraith with the guard squad. Ensis was the one leading the group. Soon, they reached the designated point of meeting and spotted a group of people. This group had a gentle lavender color flag hoisted on a long pole, and the insignia on the flag was a ball that signified the planet, Vita.

Ensis said, “They are early, everyone is on guard.”

The point of the meeting was barren land, for a few kilometers, there was no stain of green. Ensis did not know if the people have arranged traps or ambushes for their welcome. Just when she was confused, a deep voice sounded, “Go ahead, everything is clear.”

The source of this voice was the war minister, he was a person who had spilled a lot of blood in his life and was known to be very cruel. His soldiers were all elite of elite because of him. After hearing his voice, Ensis calmed down and led the group forward as she said, “Hoist the white flag.”

The coachman raised a white flag above the carriage as they slowly moved forward to the group from Stellar Empire. The soldiers all raised their guards for any odd movement and they will attack.

The convoy reached closer and a guard on the opposite side yelled, “Halt! Who are you?”

Ensis rode a few steps forward and said, “We are the convoy sending back the crown prince and coming here to see the Emperor.”

The guard turned back and said a few words to his contemporary, who rushed back inside the camp. Soon a middle-aged man with a dignified aura appeared, and his eyes were blood red. None of the people could walk two meters close to him.

If this person had it his way, he would have waged war and slaughtered the entire Lumen Empire for his son’s revenge. He came and stood at the edge of the camp and yelled, “Return my prince and leave. I do not wish to talk to your empress.”

In reply to his words, the carriage was pushed open and Fragrantia stepped onto the ground, she said lightly, “Emperor Moon seems to be very eager for war?”

She radiated a dignified aura as she walked to the front of the convoy and the guards all got down their mounts and followed her. Emperor did not expect such a thing to happen, he did not know that the one escorting the dead body of his son was the empress of the neighboring nation herself.

He was a chivalrous man and followed the code of the warrior very firmly. He calmed down a bit and said, “What do you wish to say, Empress Verus?”

Fragrantia waved her hand and said, “I did not come to sit with you, Emperor Moon, but to ask you a question. Why did you, a wise ruler become a puppet to the Emperor of Valkyria?”

Moon heard this and he roared, “How dare you?!?!?!”