Chapter 40

Eva Lemuria

After flying for almost an hour I have to stop in a clearing that has no danger for miles around. I am both exhausted and injured. I thought my injuries weren't that serious, but the second I landed on the ground I puked up some blood and collapsed on the ground. I know that I will definitely be fine, but I will need to concentrate on healing so I begin to meditate. I enter my body and again find myself at my inner flame. I enter it and go straight towards the library I have always come to when I feel like reminiscing about the past. I quickly find the book I want and take it to the pillar so I can watch my memory. I watch a scene from my days before I awakened where I played with George. He used to be such a caring brother to me then and its also the reason I always go easy on him when we fight. I am glad that he's become so strong even with my defeat being his goal.

I keep reminiscing for what I think is an hour before I wake up and look at my surroundings. It seemed that while I was meditating Munin fell asleep on me so I carry her in my arm and then I shift again towards the direction of the Anerris Kingdom. I fly for another hour until I find a camp with the Lemuria Kingdom flags flying high. The sun is currently set so fires are being lit all around the camp to keep visibility as high as possible as a safeguard against night attacks. I look overhead until I spot the biggest tent that is either the strategy tent or my father's personal tent.

I decide that its easier to just make my presence known straight away so I shoot into the tent and look around at everyone signatures. I unshift right in the center of the room and see that I am in the middle of several tables covered in maps and reports. The second I unshift everyone draws their swords and points them at me with clear suspicion in their eyes.

“Stop! Lower your weapons! Eva is that you?” Father

I look over and see my father, but he definitely does not look good. If you ignore his injured leg and the head bandage he looks so much older than the last time I saw him. His hair is almost completely gray and his face looks hollow, but the one thing that hasn't changed is the strong light in his eyes. He tries to get up, but I walk over and push him back into his seat as I bend over and hug him with my arm after I set Munin to the side.

“Hello, Father. I just came from the other battlefield. I helped repel the dwarven army, but I don't know how long they'll stay silent. I came here now to help you.”

“Eva you didn't have to do this. I told you that you could continue your journey. I am glad you were able to help and I hope you and your brother didn't start your own war. Still, right now we're at a ceasefire so I don't know how much you could do here.” Father

“Father, what do you mean when you say to continue my journey? Did you not give an order to have me brought back by the shadow guards?”

“No, I didn’t. I simply gave the orders to keep tabs on you when you appear. Not to restrict you but just for a personal peace of mind. The shadow guards tried to capture you? How? When? Who was the one that tried to capture you?” Father

After that, I quietly tell me, dad, what has happened in the dwarven city. We have both said quite while mentioning shadow guards since not everyone knows about them. I wish I could speak more casually with my father, but the situation does not give us such a luxury right now. After I finish speaking my father stays silent for a while with a very serious face.

“I don't know what this is about Eva. I can tell you that after this war is finished we will work towards getting to the bottom of it so don't worry. For now you can stay in my personal tent where you can rest. Don't worry I don't plan on keeping you from this war since I know you are a incredibly powerful card to play.” Father

“Actually Father I think I know a way to stop this war now, but it's risky. I think someone is controlling this war from the background. Do you remember the white nail in the dragon I found before? Well, I found another one in the dwarf in charge of the attacking army and I destroyed it. Also, the night that I left the elven kingdom early was because I was attacked by the city lord of Yanlin, Lucas Sylvari. He tried to put one of this nails in me, but it had failed. He also used some strange magic and another woman appeared who also used a strange magic. They mentioned I think spies in almost all kingdoms.”

“Eva this is very serious matter. After this war, we will have to search everyone that has a high position in the kingdom. I really don't know whats going on anymore, but are you implying someone has a white nail in the opposing army?” Father

“Yes, Father that's what I believe so I am going to go over there with the cover of night and see if I can sense anyone with the nail and then I'll destroy it. I assume they will gain control over themselves and hopefully stop this war before there's a second battle. If the dragon I fought before is the same they will be watching everything going on without control. I will go now so that hopefully this will be over in the morning. Munin you stay here with Father.”

“Squawk!” Munin

“Wait, Eva! We should talk this out and plan it more. We can send help with you. Also, why are you leaving a crow here?” Father

I don't respond to Father as I walk out the tent and then shift right away before heading in the direction of the Anerris Kingdom army camp. I will not let this continue because I don't think my Father can handle it just by looking at him. If there's no one controlling the Anerris Kingdom army then I will simply destroy it then and there myself. A human army will probably be far more easy to destroy than a dwarven army considering they're weaker and don't have the same kind of enchantments.

I finally reach the Anerris Kingdom army camp and I quickly spot the similarities to our own camp and I almost instantly find the large tent. I stick to the shadows as I make my way to the tent and look through the tent and see that there are only three people here. One of the people I sensed had the same ominous and uncomfortable feel so I knew that they had a nail in them. I unshift and then slip under the tent flap and stick to the shadows as I watch the scene in front of me. There is a human man with brown hair with two woman and they are having sex right in the middle of an army camp. The human man is shirtless and I can see that disgusting nail in his chest, but I find it weird that the woman don't seem to notice it at all. I don't know why so I keep watching them until I notice one of the woman's hands passed right through the nail head and I realize the nail isn't a physical thing at all. I don't even know why I can see it at this point, but I don't care because I will use any advantage I can get at this point to protect my family. I shift and appear besides the bed as I hit both woman in the heads quickly knocking them out before I punch the man in the face. After that I draw my halberd out and then I bring it down on the nail and what follows is an explosion of white energy as usual.

The explosion is bright and loud so after it happens I shift and fly straight up and look around for anything else that's suspicious but I find nothing. So I leave the area around the camp and make my way towards the Lemuria camp. I arrive back at the camp and head for the same tent as last time. I enter and this time there's only my father in his seat looking at Munin that's on a table across from him. Neither seems to have even noticed me come in because they're staring at each other so intensely. I don't know what the hell they're doing so I walk behind Munin and begin rubbing her head.

“Father this is Munin. She's been with me since she was an egg and she's a good girl that always helps me when she's not playing. Why were you staring so intently at her?”

“Munin huh? Well, I was staring at her because she has the same eyes as you. She has black feathers and black eyes. I felt like I was looking at you when I looked at her childish eyes. Earlier she was harassing all the generals and since I couldn't send her away I sent them away.” Father seems to be more tired than before. I wonder why?

“She's alway been like that. I may have taught her how to tease people when she was younger and she's never really dropped the habit. She has my eyes because I experimented with my mana when she was still in her egg and now she has my color and she can even use my lighting shift. Black lightning and all, but she hasn't used any other magic. Anyway, I found the target and took him out quickly before running. I don't think there was anybody who saw anything more than a bolt of lighting if they even saw that.”

“Eva, why did you run without speaking? We could have helped you with this without taking any risks. We could have created a diversion or sent some shadow guards to help you. Maybe we had information that would have made things easier for you. Eva, you could have had my help if you simply asked.” Father

Father has always been gentle to me, but it's unneeded now. As long as he supports me I will be fine. I will tell him that I fight alone and hopefully, he will accept it.

“Father I am already used to doing things alone. I have always been alone when I fight. Adventuring, the academy, my journey, at home and even when I was imprisoned I was alone. I have only had Munin for a couple of months and she only follows me around to keep me company. Could you see your subordinates looks they gave me from behind couldn't you? Do you really think my strength will change the way they view me? If anything they will fear me even more than before as a monster. I did not strive for strength for anyone else but myself. If I am going to be a monster then I will be labeled that because of my monstrous strength. Not my looks.”

“I understand sweet heart. If this war truly ends tomorrow what do you plan on doing then? Will you come back to the castle or will you continue your journey? If you do come back I can imagine it will be hard to leave again with your mother. Also that maid Julie is also constantly with your mother, but she has been taking care of Anne. Anne is young but she already has the concept that her big sister is super amazing and will someday come home.” Father

“I will come home, but I will need my space. I hope you talk to mother and them about keeping their distance physically. It cant be like before because I still don’t know how to explain whats happened to me yet. I sent them letters but I mentioned nothing of the past or my current looks.”

“I understand sweet heart. I will speak to her after our return. For now, you should use the tent next to this one to get some sleep. No one will bother you so you can have your privacy.” Father

I nod to dad and then I put Munin on my shoulder before I start to walk out, but I sop and turn back to my father. I walk to him and then remove my mask as I give him a goodnight kiss on the cheek before I put my mask back on and rush outside. I enter the tent to the side and then undress before quickly falling asleep.

Christen Lemuria

Eva has truly become a beautiful young woman, but she still stuffers so much. I can tell her heart is empty just by looking at her eyes. Even if her eyes weren't black they would probably still be filled with darkness with the way she is now. She is still alone even though she is in the tent right next to me. I want to help her, but she wont let anyone help her which is why I let her continue journeying, but now that I see her here I can tell that we have to force ourselves on her. We will have to do it slowly though. Otherwise she will immediately run away so I have to find a way to control my wife so she does not make Eva uncomfortable.

Luna was so devastated when news came that Eva ran away. She was about to go storming to the academy until I reminded her that she was already pregnant. I know its bad of me to think this but I am glad that Luna was tied down at home because of Anne. At least I am glad that she's become better since she received the letter from Eva. I don't think I will ever want to tell her where she's truly been though. It really would be impossible to stop her from attacking any dragons even the one that has been staying in the kingdom for a while. They've stayed quite and polite, but I don't know why they're here or how Eva will react to them.

Hopefully, Eva was right and this war will stop tomorrow, but the aftermath will be another headache for sure. I feel as if I have aged too much in these past years, but I will keep working hard now so that in the future George will be able to rule easily. His character has become so much better now that Roland is gone, but I had wanted to capture that man to ask him a few questions. To many things are happening in the world right now and I really don't know what I will do to protect my family.