Legon Restoration (3 page)

* * * * *

In the Capital city of Seeon, Edis sat with his wife Laura waiting to hear any news they could about their children. They had listened to the broadcast about the battle and then were told by one of the house care takers that Sasha and Legon were missing. Now they sat waiting for information, a worried looking Rachel with them.

A bronze haired Elf came running up to them, where they sat on their terrace. "Un Prose, Sasha is a class six Elemental and the Everser Vald is a class eight Biologic!" the Elf crowed.

They were what and what?
Edis asked what she was talking about and if his kids had been found.
 

The Elf apologized. "Yes please forgive me; they made it to a Carrier. Your son Ascended and that is why we lost contact with them. Your daughter was close by and is now, from what we've been told, an Elf and is a class six, but she is still in an Elf form."
 

Edis was happy but confused, "Elf form?"
 

"Yes, you see dragons are most powerful only when in their Ascended form; but your daughter isn't a dragon, she is just like any other Elf woman but she has the full power of a class six in their Ascended form!”
 

Edis was still confused. "Is she ok?"
 

The Elf looked a little exasperated, "More then, she is an immortal now and one of the most powerful ones in history at that!"
 

It took a moment for what Edis heard to sink in, he looked at his wife. "Our kids won’t grow old and die," he said. It was just then he heard the excitement in the city. "What is that? Are people yelling?"

The Elf laughed, "Yes the whole of the empire is being told!"
 

Edis looked out in the streets, seeing people running out of their homes hugging each other and waving house Evindass banners in the air.

Chapter Two

Fallen

"It isn't until we see the effect on the living that we truly understand the loss of the dead."

-Excerpts from The Diary of the Adopted Sister

"Ankle, Tony, John and Seth take teams up the gate towers and clear them, we will have supplies and civies coming in soon, I don't want any problems. The rest of you on me, we need to check the walls’ defenses to make sure we aren't going to get any surprises. Who knows what the Iumenta left behind," Barnin said to his men. They rose and started on their way. Noris had fallen but that didn't mean it was taken. Barnin looked to the north seeing blue and green magic by the cliffs.
 

He called Heath over to him. "I thought we were told the north cliffs were clear."

Heath's eyes went out of focus, "We haven't gotten word otherwise; but that magic is over the water, it has to be Ascended fighting."

"Great," Barnin grunted.

Dragons weren't his problem, what was his problem was losing six men in the fight for the town. Six wasn't a lot of losses for taking a major city, but he also lost Josher on the flight in and wouldn't be getting replacements for some time to come.
 

Around him was a city in disarray, most of the buildings by the town’s entrance were on fire, along with most of the town’s defenses. When Barnin and his men dropped in, the Elf Dragons started taking out structures that would slow down troops hitting the beach. This, he had to admit, saved a lot of resistance lives but made for a mad house presently. The four teams he'd sent were busy making sure the two towers on either side of the gate weren't booby trapped.
 

"Sir, do you really think there will be traps in there?" a man asked.

"The Iumenta aren't dumb, they must have figured there was a strong chance of losing Noris. I don't see them leaving it in pristine condition for us." Barnin said.
 

As if to enforce his point there was a loud boom in the distance, they looked to see fire and smoke rise. Barnin looked back at the man, "Step light."

Barnin started down a road that ran the length of the city wall. There wasn't a lot of damage to the wall, but all of the buildings around it were rubble. Barnin could see men and women covered in black ash and grime trying to dig around the wreckage of buildings. He spoke to a man in his group, "Do we know anything about this city? What part of town are we in?"

The man looked at a map and told him that they were in a light commercial and residential district.
So a bunch of homes and shops
he thought. For being the type of area it was there was a surprisingly small amount of people; most of the bodies they were passing were men in armor, charred by dragon fire.
 

The area they were in cleared into what looked like a small park, but where children once played there was a trebuchet, or what was left of one. Behind it were ordinances that the enemy never got a chance to use and a smattering of bodies.
 

"Ok let’s check it out! I'd wager that not everyone here was killed, check the buildings see what you can find, stay in groups. Heath, make sure there is nothing here that can be used," he ordered.

A few men stayed to help Heath as he made sure that weapons were collected and that the ceramic balls filled with flammable oil were either piled up for teams to collect or destroyed.
 

Barnin felt heat as some of the balls were lit on fire; he turned to look at them. Heath and the two others with him were taking the downed men’s weapons and placing them near the fire. G
ood thinking Heath, no one will be able to take those while they’re hot
he thought. He knew there were other teams with carts collecting every weapon they could find, not that the resistance was running low, but rather to keep locals from being able to arm themselves and push out the resistance.
 

Barnin walked up to an elderly man who was poking around in rubble. "Did you see anyone leave this area that was military?" he asked.

The man looked him over, "No I was in the shelter along with the bulk of the town when your lot attacked; which is up the street a ways, out of the range of siege weapons."
 

"Ok," Barnin said pulling out his own copy of a map of Noris and looking around. "I don't know where anything is, can you help me out at all?"
 

The man frowned. "You burn our city, kill our people and you want help? Why should I help you?" the man asked angrily.

Why should he help Barnin? That was an easy question, "We have ships with healers, food and supplies that need to land. They can't come in and help anyone out until we clear the area. Now, based on what I'm seeing around me, you could use some food and shelter tonight. If you help me out I'll make sure you're one of the first to get assistance, you and the people living around you."

The man looked angry, but then looked around at the groups of people picking through rubble, "How can you do that?"
 

"I know people, but it’s first come first serve with aid; whatever gets cleared first gets help first, you got me?"

The man’s head bobbed, "Yeah I got you. OK, come on I'll show you around. Can you help me real quick? I'm trying to find something for my wife," the man asked.

"Yeah that's fine," Barnin said walking over in the ruins of what he presumed was a house. "What are we looking for?"

"A jewelry box, it's been in the family for years. We don't want to lose it."

Barnin huffed; he didn't really have time for this. Some of his men followed him over, "Keep looking around, once we find this box we'll help you out," Barnin said to them.

The men left and Barnin began moving beams around looking for the box. "So how long have you lived here?" Barnin asked trying to make conversation but not really paying attention.

The answer came from close, too close. "Not long," the old man’s voice rang cold. Barnin spun just in time to avoid getting hit in the head by a hammer. He stumbled, falling back; the man yelled and came at him. The man’s head snapped to the side with a crack and he fell to the ground.
 

The sky darkened as Umbra glided down landing in the street. "This isn't going to be like when refugees come in Barnin. These people think you're the enemy; they will try and kill you," she said agitated.

His heart slowed a bit and he stood, "Yeah... guess I forgot; we are the bad guys to these people."
 

She eyed him, when she spoke again her tone was softer, "They have been influenced for years by the Iumenta. It will take our Ascended time to break that cycle of thought."

He nodded, "What can I do for you?"

She told him about Legon and then Sasha; his mouth hung open by the time she was done. "We need to go find Arkin and Stacy, no one has been able to contact either; it’s likely that they were killed before Legon and Sasha were attacked. We think that maybe Stacy's contact that they were going to see was compromised. Legon wanted you to go because you knew Arkin."
 

Arkin hurt? Barnin didn't buy it, wouldn't buy it, he yelled to Heath, "Heath, get everyone up here on the double we are going on a trip." Then back to Umbra, "How do we get there?"

"The two other Ascended you came in on will take you, as will I. Legon and Sasha were attacked by Ascended so we don't know what's in the area," she informed him.

* * * * *

Umbra scanned the area with her mind and senses. She couldn't detect anything amiss, but that didn't mean there wasn't anything wrong. The load of humans on her back was lighter than before; she didn't know most of them very well, just Barnin and Heath. She felt bad for the death of Josher. It wasn't her fault, but she still felt guilty. Had she not been engaged in a fight with that other Ascended, he would have lived, she could have saved him. That was neither here nor there she told herself, what was done, was just that, done.

She flew out over the beach of Noris soaring above the open water rising as she went. Her group was joined by a brown dragon from House Evindass, who was to find and extract Emma and Mage.
 

The cliff tops were still socked in with dense clouds and she resigned herself to having to stick close to the ground. The cliffs passed below her and she flew over a charred patch of trees with two figures and three familiars.

"Shouldn't we go down and make sure they're OK?" Barnin asked worried.

"Legon healed them both and that brown is going to pick them up. Our mission is to find Arkin, Stacy and if possible their contact to find out what went wrong," she explained. She could understand his desire to go and help Emma; after all they had been childhood friends.

They passed over a monastery at the top of the cliffs and she landed, dropping off Barnin and his men. "Look around, I will stay connected to you if you need anything."

She took off again and started circling around the cliff tops; the other two dragons were doing likewise but weren't finding much. Other than a few townspeople that were running from Noris, everything looked to be clear; but then she smelled something. It was blood and a lot of it. Umbra turned following the scent. She was still having a hard time with the fog, so she came in close to the ground when she saw it. On the ground was a group of humans, bodies littered everywhere. She landed, instructing Barnin where to find her. On the ground was a group of men in black, in the center of which was a badly injured brunette girl that fit the description of Stacy. Her chest was barely moving. Umbra glanced around more and found the form of another person on the ground. He was blonde with long hair; he wasn't as tore up as Stacy but was obviously dead. Arkin's body did not look peaceful; his face was a mask of sorrow.
That's an odd look
Umbra thought.

Umbra could hear Barnin and his men running to where she was. She turned her attention to the girl on the ground, sending energy into her body, keeping her alive.
 

"What did you find?" Barnin yelled when he was in ear shot.

"Arkin is dead. Stacy is in bad shape, I need to take care of her," Umbra said focusing on Stacy.

Barnin stopped mid run. "Arkin is what?" he said, his voice holding none of its usual bravado. He didn't wait for her to answer but ran again to the form of Arkin on the ground. He swore throwing his helmet.
 

"I'm so sorry, I know that he was a mentor to you," Umbra said trying to sound consoling.

Barnin stood breathing heavy, taking a few moments to gather himself. "Thank you Umbra, I know that you should call this in, but would it be OK if you just, I don't know, made it so I could tell Legon myself?"

She agreed and opened her mind to Barnin and the Carrier Legon was on.
 

* * * * *

Legon was back in his Elvin form. Transforming back wasn't as difficult as he thought it would be. Iselin was with Sasha in her quarters doing some tests on Sasha's powers. There was a buzz in his head telling him that there was a report for him. He broadened the connection, surprised to feel Barnin's presence.

"What is it?" Legon asked worried at the turmoil of Barnin's emotions.

"It’s Arkin," Barnin said angry and sad. "He’s dead, we found his body. Stacy is here too, she's alive but just barely."

Legon's blood turned to ice and a pit formed in his gut; he'd known this was a possible outcome, the only way Arkin wouldn't have warned Legon of an attack was if he had been dead. But the concept railed against Legon, Arkin couldn't be dead. "You're sure?" Legon asked shaky.

Barnin sounded broken, defeated, all of his unshakable confidence gone. "Yeah buddy he's gone. Looks like they put up one hell of a fight though; there are Dark Warriors all around...what do you want me to do?"
 

Legon spoke without thinking, "Have Umbra bring him to the Carrier; have Stacy brought too."

"And what do you want me to do?" Barnin asked again.

Legon's anger flared, not at Barnin but at what had happened. Barnin was not just asking Legon as a friend for direction but also as a leader, as the Head of a Great House. Legon tried not to let anger color his decisions; he needed to be rational, needed to be a leader, needed to be the Head of a Great House.