King of The Elves (Dragon Riders Chronicles)

Paladin

The group walked for an entire day before they reached their destination. An old temple, barely visible because of all the moss covering it's ancient stones.

"Are you really going to do it?" Nyx asked her.

"I have to." Addison replied, saying the first words she had said since they had left the Gisha tree. She walked into the temple with her head held high, leaving everything behind.

"What do we do now?" Jurriaan asked. Zephyrus sat down and lent against a tree.

"Now we wait." He said quietly.

Addison sat down in the middle of the glowing circle. For the first time in her life, she was truly scared.

"Addison." Voices whispered. She recognised a few. Her fathers, the guard from the Gisha tree, even the wraith she had killed at the castle. All voices of the dead.

"Addison. Daughter of Elf and Sorcery. Rider of Fane. Partner of Zephyrus." An old voice said. It wasn't one she had heard before.

"You are now a member of the Paladin circle." The glowing circle suddenly disappeared and Addison felt herself falling through the floor.

Zephyrus suddenly sat up straight and opened his eyes.

"It moved her away." He said.

"Dammit. I hate that." Nyx said before standing. Talon crawled up her leg and onto her face before sinking back into her skin.

"It's an Alchemy trick." She said when she saw Jurriaan's curious expression.

"Do you have any idea where she might have been dropped?" Zephyrus asked Nyx.

"I was dropped at my mothers house, so maybe she's at her mothers house."

"Yea, but her mother's dead. She was taken by wraiths." Zephyrus said sadly. No one had any idea where she might be, so they had no where to go.

"Wait a minute. What about Rhonda?" Jurriaan exclaimed. Nyx frowned and looked at Zephyrus, who was wearing the same confused expression.

"Who the hell is Rhonda?"

"Rhonda was her mentor."

"Do you know where she lives?" Nyx asked.

"Sort of. I can get us close to her house."

"Alright then. Rhonda's house it is." Zephyrus said. The trio gathered their belongings and set off back in the direction they had came.

Addison woke up on the floor of her grandmothers house with blood covering her clothes and a killer headache.

"What's going on?"

"The ancient one sent you here." Rhonda said, handing her a goblet of water.

"Thanks." She said, pushing herself into a sitting position and taking a sip of the cool liquid.

"How long have I been here?"

"Only a few minutes dear. I'll go grab you some fresh clothes. You must have hit your head badly when you fell." Rhonda stood and walked out of the room. Addison felt her head. There was a long gash covering most of her forehead.

"Where's Fane?" Addison asked when Rhonda came back into the room.

"Addison, he's not here. You arrived alone. He's still at the temple."

"Oh." Was all Addison could say. She looked down at her black dress, sticky with blood, suddenly feeling naked. Rhonda put her hand on Addison's shoulder sympathetically.

"I'm sure he's find. Your friend will look after him."

"You mean Zephyrus?"

"I meant Jurriaan, but any of your friends will look after him." Addison breathed a sigh of relief and grabbed the bowl of water and cloth from Rhonda's hands.

"He'll be fine." She told herself. Rhonda set the clothes down on the table.

"I'll be back soon. I have to check on our house guest."

"Who is it?"

"I don't know. Marciano dropped him off this morning and left. He was stabbed in chest. I'm doing what I can but..."

"I could try to help him." Addison suggested.

"Maybe after you clean up. You're getting blood all over my clean carpet." Addison smiled and dabbed the cloth on her forehead, wiping away the blood. Rhonda left the room and Addison changed into a pair of black pants and a white shirt.

"He won't even open the door. He's going to die in there." Rhonda said when Addison joined her in the corridor.

"You can try, but I doubt you'll get much further than I did." She said before walking away, leaving Addison alone in the corridor. She softly knocked on the door.

"Mister, you need to open the door. I can help you if you let me." She said as kindly as she possibly could. There was a loud crash, followed by a series of curses, then the door flew open and Addison was pulled into a massive hug.

"I thought I heard your voice, but I wasn't sure." The man said. He pushed her back and studied her face.

"You're so grown up now. You were, what, 16 the last time I saw you." He kissed her on the cheek.

"Your brother is going to be so happy I found you." Addison laughed a little.

"I'm glad to see you to Lysander."

"Come in. I want to hear about what you've been doing." Addison's eyes widened.

"What I've been doing? You got yourself stabbed! Speaking of which, show me the wound.

"It's fine."

"No it's not. Show me. Now." Lysander lifted up his shirt to reveal a faded yellow bandage with a huge red stain covering his chest.

"Lysander, that looks horrible! Lay down and I'll be back with some clean bandages."

"Addison, you don't have to..."

"I think we both know what would happen if you died while I was here. Nyx would kill me." She said before leaving the room. Rhonda was waiting in the lounge with disinfectant and bandages.

"Can you help him?" Rhonda asked.

"Yes."

"What did it say Addison?"

"Lysander? Not much really."

"Not Lysander. The ancient one. Which circle did he put you in?"

"I'm a Paladin."