Chapter 20: Chapter 20: the journey's end

eventually the Aklha Fon’s geia dissipates allowing cofus to go and collect the body of his departed captain. with a lisad and his ox pulling a cart behind him he walks up to not just Rex’s body but the corpse of the Aklha Fon as well. a gut wrenching anger takes over him. waisting no time he washes the luutons body with flames until its an unrecognizable charred husk after loading his captain body onto the lisads wagon. with that done cofus returns to his comrades who’d be waiting patiently for him on top of their mounts”quite the fire show cofus you didnt burn the captian body as well did you?”

cofus smirks at Secomi’s remark and hops onto his mount”no of course not i just wanted to make sure there was nothing left of that vile beast. after the chaos hes caused hes unworthy of a proper burial.”

secomi smiles and rides along side cofus “well good, then lets head for oniedora a lavish feast is to be held in our honor!”

a cheerful smile grows on cofus face”yes i cant wait i imagine they’ll be promoting me to captain maybe if youre lucky ill let you be my lieutenant.”cofus laughs as the four of them begin to ride off, secomi eyebrow twitches at the thought of serving under cofus”ya right if they make you a captain wed all be dead in a weak!”

suddenly all four of them erupt into laughter as they ride side by side off to oniedora.”oh i just remembered something”

utum begins rummaging through the bags on the side of his mount pulling from it none other than Sicus’s instrument before riding over to Arvus’s side to hand it to her”i picked it up after the battle i figured he wouldnt want it rotting away on that battlefield”

arvus looks at the instrument with a touch of sadness in her heart for a moment she reaches out to take before pulling back. shaking her head, she look utum in the eyes with a gentle smile”no you keep it utum it will only pluck at the strings of my heart. besides i know how much you liked to listen to him play”

utum sniffles abit at Arvus words and quickly puts the instrument away before rubbing his eyes from the tears that are quickly forming”thank you Arvus”

the journey back to oniedora even with the lost of their friends is a cheerful one as they return to city they are greeted once again with a heroes applause as the streets of the city are filled with its denizens celebrating their return and any other returning warriors of the war.

once back at the high kings palace theyre swarmed by nobles of the lands applauding the young warriors of their triumph and asking them all kinds of questions. though short lived as the king of the east; cofus father, walks through the crowd parting them as no one seems to dare stand in front of him. cofus and his allies get to their knees and bow as he approaches them a stern look glued onto his face as he approaches them”rise heroes of astra”

once again on their feat cofus eyes meet with his fathers”it is good to see you again father”

the king simply nods his face unwaveringly stern and devoid of emotion as he talks to cofus”yes yes. is the aklha fon dead?”

cofus nods”yes unable to best us the savage killed himself in an attempt to bury us under a mountain of ice. once his geia faded i personally charred his corpse till it was unrecognizable”

the king of the east nods in approval”very good my son not only have you restored peace to our lands you’ve avenged your uncle. you have done well and have earned your rest the high king has yet to return but im sure he’ll be here in the following days. so rest for when he returns im sure there will once again be a lavish celebration”

cofus smiles and nods off to his father as he turns to leave allowing the nobles to once again swarm them. in the commotion as each of them answer a barrage of answers the crowds seem to separate the four heroes. leaving each of them to the nobles prattling.

“how big was the Aklha Fon?”

“is it true the luutons all have scales white as snow?”

“did you meet lord dyues? is he as big as they say?”

“how many luutons did you kill?”

“is that shield you have there made of drakkite?”

utum ever the shy one gets overwhelmed by the onslaught of questions. He claps his hands together silencing the room with his thunderous applause”im sorry but its been long journey im sure cofus wouldn’t mind answering all of your questions”

grabbing Arvus and secomi utum makes a mad dash out of the room leaving poor cofus to deal with the horde of nobles by himself. carrying the two until around the corner. once out of sight the put down secomi cant help but burst into a gut wrenching laughter.”haha good one utum!”

“i dont know you could of grabbed cofus too utum im sure hes just as tired as the rest of us”

utum shakes head as they begin making their way to the barracks”no way if we didnt leave someone they would of hounded us to stay. besides cofus probably enjoys all that attention.”

holding his hands on his head as he walks secomi moves through the halls a grand smile adorns his face”ya i mean you saw him after the battle. he walked right up to the soldiers letting them all swarm over him there”

Arvus huffs gently punching secomi in arms”its still not nice besides the soldiers weren’t hounding him with questions nobles are much more ravenous than any soldier I’ve ever met”

suddenly as if just to prove a point out from the corner steps the most ravenous noble of them all; Codia with his signature twisted snarl”where in Astras name do you think you three are going?”

all three immediately stand up straight as look of fear quickly supplants their cheerful attitudes”Were going to the barracks sir!”

all three shout in unison. stepping right in front of them Codia looks at them sinisterly”TO THE BARRACKS!?!”

the three in unison whence fearing hes about to work them to their bones”you three are heroes of astra what in his name makes you think we’d let you sleep in the barracks?!?”

confusion takes ahold of them as they relax abit secomi being the only one to speak up”but then where are we sleeping?”codia scoffs getting right in secomis face.”In the guest rooms of course! NOW GET TO IT! i dont wanna see your ugly mugs around the barracks ever again!”

not daring to question him they quickly turn and start running away leaving codia by himself in front of the barrack doors”heh still got it”

all ready down the next hall the three of them once again look at each other cheerfully Arvus practicality jumping with joy”did you hear that secomi we get to stay in the guest rooms they’ve never given us our own rooms before!”

secomi nods with his chest held high as he walks down the halls”its about time i start getting some respect around here”

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utum walks down the halls with a big smile on his face”i wonder how big the bed will be! Usually they just make me sleep on a pile of hay since i dont fit in any in the barracks”

making their way to the private quarters a maid leads them to their rooms arvus and secomi share a room as utum is lead to a room with a bed that occupies the whole room. Much later cofus slowly drags himself into his chamber late at night having been answered what felt like an endless amount of questions

for the first time in months or heros are able to sleep to their hearts contents. so much so they sleep well into the dawn only awakened by the sounds of horn subtly blaring through the walls. cofus still feeling tired pulls himself out of his covers and sits on the edge of his bed trying to prepare himself for the day”sounds like the high king has returned”

as he exits his room cofus is greeted by the sight of his comrades standing in the hall together. secomi with arm wrapped around Arvus; gives him a sly look as he exits his room”about time you woke up we were about to start knocking on every door till we found you.”

cofus sighs still seeming abit tired he shifts his gaze to utum”utum that was a dirty trick those nobles hounded me till the late hours of the night.”

averting his eye from cofus Utum’s eyes dart to the ground in act of guilt”sorry cofus i really didnt wanna talk to those nobles”

another sigh escapes his mouth as another one of his comrades finish speaking.”its fine those horns are undoublty the high king lets get down to the throne room”

with his companions following along side him cofus and the others enter the throne room. the high king stands in the middle of the room surrounded by a circle of nobles, prattling on about his time spent on the battlefield”and thats when the dastardly luuton knowing he was beat called his hordes from on top of a tower of ice, though as they approached the young giant utum summoned forth a pillar of fire vanquishing them from the skies and sending them to a firery death. giving lady grigora along with sir rex enough time to defeat the aklha fon!”

the nobles chatter among themselves ooing and awwing at the high kings passionate story telling. a bright blush adorns utums fate as the high king sings his praises. while secomi sulks with his arms crossed at being left out”i was there with gora and rex too”

arvus gently punches her husband too be in the arm giving a disgruntled look.”what?”

suddenly the high king takes notice of them by the door and moves the enthralled nobles to the side as he approaches the young heros”Cofus, Arvus, Secomi Utum! there you four are! just the people i wanted to see. come follow me”

lead by the ever so cheerful high king to his throne. standing in the center of the room he pulls his drakkite sword from its sheath and holds its in front of him. the two lower kings moving to stand both sides of him”kneel my knights”

oblidging their kings orders they kneel”first cofus cofeneva i promote you to the title of captain for your service in the invasion of the dragon riders. tell me who do you choose to be your lieutenant”

with his head facing the ground cofus replies to his king”i choose secomi my lord. the most skilled swordsman ive ever met and my greatest friend”

secomi breaks his gaze downwards to look at cofus with a look of utmost disbelief. the high nods in approval and maneuvers his sword from shoulder to shoulder on cofus before. making his way to secomi”secomi do you accept?”

secomi looking into his kings eyes as kneels confused for a moment before facing back to the ground”yes my king”

the high king nods”then i name you secomi, first of your line and founder of the 18th noble family of astra”

secomi now raises his head in disbeleif looking towards his king”wait are you saying im a noble now?”

the high king nods patting secomi on the head”you’ve done more than prove yourself any nobles equal even without much geia you’ve stood shoulder to shoulder with me and the others on the battlefield. to deny you status is to deny our kingdoms of their potential”

secomi bows his head as the high king moves his sword from shoulder to shoulder”then rise heroes of Astra and let the celebrations begin in your honor!”

as our heroes rise the palace erupts into a frenzy of cheers. servants rush out from in all directions bringing food and drinks as well as playing instruments.for the next week the city of oniedora would be one massive party.

back in the lands of Sokara however things would be less cheerful a recently crowned gora sits among a council of elders and nobles of the land that have all gathered in her throne room. sitting on the flat platform in the center room while they all sit on the floor. no one speaks causing the air to feel tense as all eyes are on gora.

eventually though gora manages to build up the courage to open her mouth”i have decided to take the high king of the astras proposal to serve under him in the council of kings.”

the room immediately erupts into an uproar as many of the nobles throw themselves to their feet”have you gone mad! why should we subjugate ourselves to their rule? "

“we sokarans are a proud and powerful people we have no need to serve under them!”

“your grandfather would of never allowed this!”

at the mention of her grandfather gora loses it throwing herself to her feet as well her hair sticking straight up as sparks of electricity flow all over her body”DO NOT USE MY GRANDFATHERS NAME AGAINST ME OR I WILL STRIKE YOU DOWN WHERE YOU STAND!”

her words silence the nobles causing them all to sit back down as gora composes herself”i have firsthand seen the strength of the astran armies as well as the cunning of their nobles. today we are allies but alliances never last and if we wish to aviod the fate of the lissads i think its imperative that we join them now or it will only be a matter of time before we find ourselves without a land like the lissads.”

the nobles murmer among themselves dispassionately. gora looks around the room for any sign of agreement , but the face of her kinsmen only look cold and bitter. finding no solace among them her heart only grows weary”enough my decision is final if any of you disagree you’ll have to challenge me to an antagon!”

the room grows silent the nobles and elders lower their heads before getting up and leaving. leaving gora alone in her throne room. leaning her head against the wall she sighs as shes running her her hands through her hair”im sorry grandfather im not the leader you were”

With no one in the room gora is left alone to her thoughts as she sits on her new throne. eventually there’s a knock on the wooden doors to her a throne room before a worried looking kompsos pops his head through into the room”gora are you alright may i come in?”

gora smiles weakly and nods waving her hands for him to enter”of course come on in”

kompsos enters the room slowly shutting the doors behind. a sense of sadness looms on his face as he approaches gora”how are you holding up gora? my father told me about how your meeting with the sokaran nobles went”

gora drags her hands down her face at the shear thought of her meeting. though forcing a smile onto her face she looks into kompsos eyes”it doesn’t matter enough about all of that lets get married kompsos”

kompsos freezes like a statue upon hearing that his mouth gaping open as he tries to process what he just heard”what are you serious?”

gora nods her sunken eyes look upon kompsos tiredly as she weakly smiles”yes without my grandfather i have no one in all of the lands of Sokara.. youre a good friend kompsos i should of accepted your proposal years ago”

kompsos heart would be practically be beating out of his chest. he rushes to hug gora who sheepishly returns his embrace.”oh this is great news ill go tell my father dont you worry about a thing my family will take care of all the arrangements”

gora smiles gently placing a hand on kompsos face”thank you would you mind coming back later i need to get some rest. its basically been one thing after another and i still have my grandfathers funeral to attend tomorrow”

kompsos nods excitedly and quickly makes it for the door. a bright smile adorning his face as he exits the room”of course just have a servant call for me when you wish to see me and ill rush back to you”

gora nods waving goodbye not saying anything else as he exits the room. slumping against the wall as she once again finds herself alone, after laying there for abit of time gora finally makes her way out of her throne room. walking down the halls of her palace the hushed whisper of her citizens follow her every where she goes.

making it to the personal quarters gora stops herself as she walks past her grandfathers room. taking a deep breath she reluctantly enters the room. it had been a few years since she had entered the room. she ran her hand across her grandfathers stuff as she walks around. a deep sense of melancholy looms over her knowing that this will soon be her room.

the bed was absolutely massive. ordained with the pelt of a great beast that her grandfather had slain. she smiles recelecting the story. though her eyes quickly focus on something else. on the table next to the bed a layed out scroll sits there. gora walks over to the stand and gently picks the papyrus scroll up her eyes start to water as she reads it” grandfather i have decided to go with the astrans in order to redeem the spear forged our of our ancestors beast. i will assist the astrans in vanquishing luuton hordes and have my names sung among them while bringing glory to our clan.-love grigora kalos”

upon finishing reading it she sets the scroll a flames with a singles spark before falling against her grandfathers bed. leaving her weeping in his room all alone.

The End