The Royal Brigade

Chapter 1: Memories In Airy

The Royal Brigade

By Erin7133

Copyright © 2013 by Erin7133

All rights reserved.

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Evanity's POV

The wind made a whistling sound in my ears as it rushed through my face blowing my chestnut blonde hair behind me. I inhaled the scent of the waters of the Forest Lake as we sailed over it on the way to Javvah City where the Dalian avilar was located. Tarah sat behind me on Fallon's back while Avery took his place behind her bringing up the rear. It was a good thing that he had learned how to control his motion sickness aboard Fallon because if he hadn't then Tarah and I would probably be covered with puke before we even landed on Javvah City.

"How long will it take us to get there?" I asked no one in particular then mentally told my seclaire to accelerate to cover up more distance.

"At this rate, we'll probably arrive at the city this afternoon," Tarah replied pulling her straight, long, auburn brown hair into a high ponytail. "Then we'll head directly to the Dalian avilar."

I nodded my head then told Fallon to drift lower towards the lake's waters so that I could touch the cold crystal clear waters of the lake. When he did, I dipped my hands feeling the iciness of the waters which greatly contrasted to the scorching heat of the morning sun. Tarah and Avery did the same behind me while Fallon tilted to his side and stretched out his left wing to slightly graze the edge of the waters making tiny ripples on the lake's surface.

My seclaire soared high up into the air once more and I told Tarah to rein Fallon in while I stretch out my arms and legs and glide for a little while.

I dismounted from Fallon's back then glided right by his side scanning the surface of the lake and admiring its crystal clear waters which displayed various kinds of fishes and small creatures living at the bottom of the large body of water. I lifted my head to see if we were getting close to the city but then saw to my disappointment that a dense canopy of trees leading to a forest blocked Javvah City from our sight.

My heart raced against my chest at the prospect of being a part of this mission to find the other royalists in order to complete the Royal Brigade. Until now, I still can't get over the fact that I'm included in this mission even though I'm just a commoner. But I reassured myself that it's what I wanted for myself. It's what my late father, Ravier, wanted for me. Then a sinking feeling came upon me and I started to wonder what will happen when the Royal Brigade is finally complete. Will I still be allowed to be in the company of the five most powerful royalists who are all destined to defeat Altherea? Or will I just go back to Airy and participate in the war that was about to happen between the humans and the Cabrians?

I felt my bubble of excitement burst suddenly at the thought of returning back to Airy. I knew that pretty soon we'll be going back to my kingdom to find the Daughter of Airan and that will certainly be the day that I dreaded the most. Visions of my last few days back in Airy resurfaced in my mind once again, which I had tried so hard to forget and bury in the depths of my heart. Still they began clawing their way out to the surface leaving me with no choice but to relive it once again.

Stuck in a vision of me back in Airy just a few days ago before I left for Enara, I saw myself eavesdropping on a conversation of some Airans in my family's mansion. The conversation included me and my late father, Ravier. They kept their voices low and I was about to pass them on the way to my room when I overheard their discussion.

"Rumors are going around that Ravier's only daughter - Evanity - isn't actually his daughter at all!" a female Airan was murmuring in hush tones.

"That explains why the girl hasn't advanced yet!" another one concluded.

"But the real question is: who are her real parents?" a third one asked in confusion.

At that moment, I couldn't bear to listen to any more of their little chitchat and so I dashed to my room, locked myself inside and seeked for solace and comfort underneath the warm blankets and the dozens of pillows decorating my huge bed. Hot tears cascaded from my eyes and I blinked them back. I tried to breathe steadily and consoled myself with the fact that what they were saying was totally false and untrue. That it was just gossip and they bear no evidences to prove that I wasn't my father's daughter.

The flashback ended and I lost my focus and almost ended up tumbling straight down into the chilly waters below if Tarah hadn't cried out, "Vann!"

I snapped back into reality and find her edging Fallon closer towards me, a worried look plastered on her face. "Is there something wrong? You were spacing out."

"Yeah," her older brother, Avery agreed staring anxiously at me. "You're deathly pale. Are you sure that you're alright?"

"I'm fine guys," I forced a smile and tried my best to blink away the vision hoping that it would never return. I clambered back on my seclaire's back and took the reins from Tarah averting my eyes away from their concerned gazes.

"Maybe we should land and rest for awhile," Tarah suggested after a few seconds of silence. "We could land at the edge of the lake and have our lunch within the forest then set our course towards Javvah City again."

"Sounds great," Avery agreed. "I'm famished." He patted his lean stomach and grinned.

"Okay," I decided finally brushing aside the memories that had haunted me all the time.

"By the way, Vann," Tarah said. "While you were spacing out awhile ago, Ave and I both agreed that you should learn to master the art of sword fighting. And we decided that it's better if Ave would train you in sword fighting instead of me since he's much more skilled than I am." She said this with a pouty look on her face and glancing behind me, I realized that it must have taken all of her effort to swallow down her pride and admit that her brother is a better swordsman that she is.

I bit back a laugh at her facial expression and Avery said in a playful tone, "That's right. Let's start training right away after lunch. Brace yourself because I certainly wouldn't go easy on pretty girls." He wiggled his eyebrows teasingly at me and I let out a laugh.

"Bring it on, Ave," I said with a smirk and raised an eyebrow challengingly at him. "Bring it on."

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Author's Notes:

What do you think of the first chapter guys? Stay tuned for more exciting and action-packed events to come! I'll do my best to make this second book even more exciting than the first one. And maybe even add some spark of romance between some couples? Hmm... We'll see in the succeeding chapters. And just to give you a heads up, more characters with quirky personalities will be introduced in the next chapters! Will you love them or hate them? XD

P.S. And as always Comment/Vote/Follow me!!! XD

- Erin <3