Vice and Virtue

Chapter - 18

 Since we’re pretty much separated, the plan was to meet at the phoenix grave but there was enough time for a little detour and we have been travelling for nearly half a day now. Renae was probably recovering in the Phoenix’s village, I trust Lauriel’s skills enough to not bother about her. ‘Harold, how long do we got left, before the Order gets wind about this?’ I asked him. ‘Well, all that ruckus was probably seen and heard for a couple hundred miles at least. I would bet  3 days at the most’ he replied. Basing on his answer I calculated a day and a half at the most and 3 days would be the time they would take to dispatch a new division here. So, that would give me barely 2 days to do whatever I need to do. The sun shone right above our heads but somehow it was way hotter than usual, probably because of the recent events. These little signs were enough evidence to know for a fact that the balance of nature has been thrown out of it’s cycle. I want to know the status at eastern base but considering the time I got, it’s impossible to achieve that unless I find a teleporter. ‘What are you guys planning to do with us?’ he didn’t respond. I asked him again but a bit more seriously this time. ‘I’m not sure about it but right now, there are more pressing matters I need to attend to’ he answered with a stern look, ‘Although, I would prefer you to be on my side in the upcoming events. Rather an ally against a probable common enemy than a fruitless struggle’. ‘It all depends on something that we don’t even understand though, so maybe don’t up your expectations already my man’. phoenix grave was another half a day away, near the coast. Most of the animals in the area were oddly active but they kept their distance. We were still on the move when I spotted something flying near the horizon. It wasn’t that peculiar but kind of odd since there weren’t any flying animals in this area. It looked like it was heading towards us but neither of us slowed down or were bothered by it, so we kept going. As we got closer, it was evident that it was a wyvern based on its silhouette but it still didn’t make sense, since wyverns travel in groups. Soon enough, I cursed myself for not being able to notice it sooner. Harold probably noticed it before, since he came back down instead of running through the air. It was one of the patrol riders that the Order newly instated. I took too long to notice the rider on the wyvern’s back. We traversed under the cover of the thicker canopy to avoid any unnecessary contact. In the next couple hours, we passed a fair number of scouts but were vigilant enough to keep our wits about us. ‘let’s take the longer route from here. It’s probably best to stay out of their radar for the time being’ I said to him. ‘What do you have in mind son?’ he asked instantly. I thought about it for a minute and answered him that it was nothing. ‘Lets get to the village first. We can rest there for a while till your pals find Max’. ‘You do have a point, so lets do it’ he agreed. It would take a while but at least the journey wouldn’t be boring. ‘Ryan, are you aware of the Dragon’s myth?’, ‘The myth of a greater dragon that’s leaps and bounds above the wyverns or the dragons that we know of right. Why do you ask about it?’, ‘Why else if not for the reestablishment of the balance again’, ‘Its not a bad idea but no one ever confirmed its existence’, ‘I have a plan for that. Its quite possible that we might end up paying the notorious Flare city a visit soon. I’ll sneak you guys down there along with us. So you guys search for it there, okay?’ I was dumbstruck for a moment. The fact that he wanted a mythical dragon was bizarre in itself but for him to think that we get something from hell itself is something else. ‘Harold, you mean to say that you want to get something as powerful as that to restore balance but from a completely different habitat? Did you, for instance think about the affects a being from a place like that would have on this place? Or did you even think if the balance would be restored on its own with enough time?’ I blurted out everything sensible that I could think of but was still quite shocked by his insolence. ‘Maybe you’re right or maybe you’re not, it doesn’t matter now. I apologize,let’s leave it here for now. A wyvern of sorts flew right above us towards our destination. ‘It was a bit too fast for me to actually see what it was but as long as it doesn’t bother us, not our problem’ not so soon after I thought this to myself, it came to a forced halt, as did we, and hovered towards us. It was  moment of pure relief fr me, for the wyvern was actually Nina’s white dragon and on top of it, rode Nina herself. ‘Nina!!’ I exclaimed as soon as I realized it was her. ‘I’m glad you’re alright but what of the rest? What is the status at our base?’ I asked. ‘Cut me some slack, Ryan. I’ve been riding nonstop till now. The base is is in good hands and things are going well. That aside, what was all that ruckus from the capitol? You did tell me you were gonna raise hell but I didn’t expect something of that sort’. my head went blank on her mentioning the capitol. Ofcourse she had no idea about what happened in the capitol, about what happened to Kai. ‘Nina, did you know about Jason? Who he truly is?’ I had to make sure she was innocent. She looked surprised, it seemed natural, not an act but real. ‘What do you mean?’ she asked in a light tone. ‘He wasn’t really a Cyan, or atleast not the kind we know of. That isn’t important anymore though, he’s already dead for good. The thing is…’ it was hard for me to complete this sentence. I didn’t want to sadden her. Actually I didn’t want to believe, he’s really gone. ‘What?’ she snapped at me. Harold was looking away, as to tell me this was something I had to get through myself. ‘it’s Kai. He’s…’ I just couldn’t say it out loud, it felt like it would all be real if I say it out even once. Her face twisted in horror, she walked briskly closer to me and slapped me, ‘Lies, your lying. Tell me you’re lying, Ryan, please tell me it’s a lie’ she screamed, hitting me with her hands balled into fists, just enough for me to understand her pain. My chest hurt, not because of her but because it was too uneasy to accept it but I knew it was real, I had no choice but to accept it. ‘it’s true Nina, I’m not lying. He’s really dead. Jason killed him. I don’t know how he did it but he really did kill him’ I told her grimly. I tried to grab her hands but she was just waving them around as hard as she could. I still got hold of her and pulled her closes, i held both her hands over her head head and I pulled her closer with my other hand around her waist. She kept her head down but she went silent. I let my hand trace her back, slowly reaching her neck and with the back of my hand I followed her jawline, cupping her chin with my thumb and index finger. She was warm and homely. I let go of her arms and leaned back, lifting her head up, enough for me to look straight into her eyes. Her hazel eyes lost their light and welled up with tears, the tip of her nose blushed and her lips quivered, overwhelmed by sadness. I leaned in, letting our foreheads touch and closed my eyes. Tears ran down her pale cheeks and she clenched her teeth. I ran my hand through her hair, slowly caressing her back, supporting her as she leaned into me. Soon, she buried her face into my chest, grabbing my shirt tightly, as she cried silently, drowning her sorrows into these mere moments.