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The Guardian Crusade

Volume I





Chapter 19



Aj pushed on the giant wooden doors and walked into the large dinning room. He looked around at all the people chatting. Kevin was talking to Howie; Brian was talking to Nick and Nalia, Rayne’s mom was talking to Nalia’s mom Evia but she stopped and looked up at Aj when he walked in. He tried to crack a smile at her but he couldn’t, he was still recovering from this morning. For some reason he woke up expecting Rayne to be awake, but she wasn’t. She was still upstairs, still sleeping, if it was sleeping.



He sat down in his chair completely unaware that the whole table was looking at him now. The maid walked over at set a plate down in front of him and curtsied before she left. He picked up his fork and looked at his breakfast meal. It was then he felt all eyes on him and he looked up too see everyone staring at him.



“Yes?” Aj said looking at everyone. Everyone just looked around at each other with their eyes, and Aj dropped his fork and sat back. “What?” He asked.



“We were just wondering if you had plans.” Kevin said. “Are we going to go after Ignis, or do you wanna wait a couple of days, and see if Rayne wakes up.”



Aj sat there for a minute all eyes on him. It was kind of weird everyone looking at him waiting for an answer too see what to do, usually it was everyone looking at Kevin. He picked up his fork and stabbed an egg; he took a deep breath and looked up.



“I need to talk to the Druids first get them to drop this stupid charge on Rayne.” Aj said as he slowly poked at his food. “We still need to find the tale, if I understand right there were two other Guardians Genua and Alia.”



“They were the ones that tried to stop Ignis from changing the tale.” Halian said.



“So before everything happened who had the tale?” Aj asked looking at Halian. She sat there for a moment in thought, searching the new memory for the answer.



“It was with the Elvaan’s.” Halian said.



“What if Ignis has it?” Kevin asked. “Maybe he took it after he killed the Guardians and changed it.”



“I think he hid it.” Nick said and everyone quickly looked at him a little shocked he spoke up. “He would worry about one of the new Guardians finding it on him and figuring it out.”



“We have Rem correct?” Nalia asked looking at Aj.



“Yeah, Avit put him in a special cell, apparently.” Aj said with a shrug.



“Maybe he knows?” She said to him.



“Would he even talk?” Aj asked her.



“Oh yes.” Halian said as pushed her plate away. “He will talk; I will make sure of it.” Halian said and a small smile cracked from Aj’s lips.



“Find out what you can from him and then we will see where that leads, hopefully it’ll give us some kind of clue on where to look for it.” Aj said as he looked back down at his food. Everyone went back to eating except for Halian she had gotten up and went down to see Rem, Aj made sure she took Avit with her.



“Dude” He heard Kevin say and he looked up. “What about Rayne?” Aj looked away quickly and then sighed.



“There’s nothing we can do and she wouldn’t want us sitting around waiting for her to wake up, we need to find the tale, and we need to stop Ignis.” Aj said as he put his fork down. Truth be told, it was only part of it, he knew that’s what Rayne would have wanted, but a piece of him wanted him to move forward with this. It would help keep his mind of her.













Aj walked through the city with Avit by his side; they headed towards a large park area. Marsa took him here once when they had gone for a walk through the city to talk about what Alex had been told about who he was. They hadn’t gone very far in the first time, so when they entered a part of the park he had never been too he started to look around.



“Wow, these trees are huge.” Aj said looking at the large trunk trees.



“Here we are.” Avit said and Aj looked forward and saw a large building built from cobble stone. There were flowers of every colour lining the bottom of the house along with large mushroom stools scattered through out the front lawn. A couple of Elvaans tended to the flowers and the garden. “You will be meeting with High Druid Larsung, High Druid Emarla and High Druid Drania, along with Elder Rexil.”



“Fun” Aj sighed. They walked into the build and a tall Blonde haired Elvaan woman approached them.



“If you will follow me King Alexander.” She said with a light bow. Aj quickly looked at Avit and then followed the woman down the hall to their right, Avit followed behind him. She led them down to a door at the end of the hall and opened it, stopping beside it and motioning for the two to go in. He walked into the room and saw the four Elvaans sitting at a round wooden table. When they saw him walk in all four stood up and bowed to him.



“It is an honor your Majesty.” They said as they greeted him.



“I wish we could have met under better circumstances.” Said an Elvaan man with dark long hair, his hair was braided at the sides, his eyes a piercing green. “I am High Druid Larsung.” He said with a nod. “This is High Druid Drania.” He said as he pointed to an Elvaan woman with short brown hair, her bangs were long and covered one eye. She nodded to him when Larsung said her name. “This is High Druid Emarla.” He introduced the other Elvaan woman, whose long dark red hair was tied tightly in a braided bun, she lightly smiled at him. “And you know Elder Rexil.”



“Yeah.” Aj said not looking at her.



“We understand your feelings for Rayne and we understand you are new to our land, our world.” Larsung said to him. “When you are a Druid, you respect all living things, you respect their life, and you protect that life.”



“And that’s what she was doing.” Aj said as he looked at Larsung. “She was protecting Nick, she was fighting for him, for you, for this place, for these people and you wanna throw her in jail?” Aj said not being able to hold his emotions back.



“We know you have feelings for her, you’re both Human and so.” Drania spoke but Aj interrupted her.



“Why do you guys keep saying I’m Human, this is a spell to make me look this way, I am Marsa’s son, that makes me Elvaan, like you.”



“You are not like us!” Rexil said to him angrily.



“Rexil please” Larsung said to her.



“I am sorry Larsung, but I will not have this, this Human come in here and tell us how to deal with our Druids.” Rexil said pointing to Aj.



“And I’m not having you get in the way of me doing my job as King and as Guardian!” Aj shouted back. “Rayne did nothing wrong and she will not be punished, and I don’t care if I have to dismantle this fucking Council to do it!” Aj said as he slammed his fist down onto the table. Everyone sat there in silence; he stared at them hard, letting them know he wasn’t playing games with them.



“I am a Guardian, Rayne is a Guardian, and you will not get in our way.” He said as he stood up straighter.



“Avit” Rexil said as she sat down in her chair. “I suggest you take your Human King and leave the Druid Gardens.” Rexil said, she then looked at Aj. “Guards have been sent and she has already been moved, our Druids will wake her, and she will face trial.” Rexil said as Aj felt the rage rush through him.



Aj stepped forward but Avit stopped him. “We better go see Rayne Sir.” Avit said looking at him. Aj looked at Rexil and the other Druids and then stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Avit slowly turned and looked at the four Elvaan Druids.



“He is the son of Marsa, he is not human, and even if he was, because of him you sit here today in Winnol of Pixcadia, and not Winnol of the Evil Army.” Avit said angrily and then turned, leaving the room.



Aj was almost out of the park by the time Avit caught up to him. The two said nothing as they hurried back to the Castle. The guards were at the front doors as usual but this time Aj didn’t great him as they usually did. He made his way through the front lobby not looking to see who was standing around chatting today. He ran up the steps two at a time and darted right for Rayne’s room. When he approached the door he saw there were no guards anymore and the door was open. Aj flew into the room and saw the guys, Nalia, Nalia’s Mom Evia, and Halian.



“They took her Alex.” Halian said as she walked over to him, he could tell she had been crying.



“We tried to stop them man but we didn’t wanna start a fight in the Castle.” Kevin said looking at him.



“I know, they told me while I was meeting with them.” Aj said trying to hold in his anger.



“Sounds like to me they didn’t care what you had to say.” Howie said looking at him.



“No.” Aj said as he remembered Rexil’s words.



“What do we do?” Nick asked as he walked up to Aj. He looked at Nick and then to his friends.



“I dunno” Aj said as he moved away from them over to the window.



“Why are they being such asses?” Aj heard Nick ask.



“They are bothered by his Human form, it is hard for them to take order from a..” Avit stopped.



“Human.” Aj said to himself as the others talked behind him. He thought about Rayne, he wondered if they really could wake her, what would happen if they did. He thought about her waking up there alone, finding out what they were doing this too her.



“Alex?” Halian said from beside him. He felt her hand touch his arm and he looked at her. “She would not want you wasting anymore time trying to fix this thing with the Council, you are all so close to getting Ignis.” Aj looked back at the window.



“I don’t even no where to start; we don’t know how to kill him or where the tale is.” Aj said as he looked back at her.



“The Elvaans were the last to have it perhaps Marsa has something in his meeting room, among his books, or letters?” Halian asked.



“I’ve been through all the ones that talk about the Guardians’ or the tales.” Aj said with a sigh.



“Maybe his journal?”



“His journal?” Aj asked as he looked at her.



Halian nodded. “Yes Marsa always kept one; perhaps Avit knows where it is.”



“Maybe” Aj said looking at his General. “Thanks.” He said as he looked back at her.



“We have a plan.” Aj heard Kevin say and he turned to look at his friends. They were all looking at him.



“What’s that?” He asked wondering.



“We take you’re army and we rush Hevi through the globe, we get Rossi to rush with his army through their globe.” Kevin said looking at him.



“How do we turn on our globe or the Tokin globe?” Aj asked.



“Nalia said when she was at the Palace with Nick.” Kevin said looking at Nick. “She said the Globe to Sarila was on, so if we enter from there and then hopefully they will be caught off guard by our rush so we can get a group to go in the other room and turn it on.” Kevin said.



“If we even need them.” Avit said. “His army has been deserting from every direction.”



“We still need the tale.” Nalia said looking around at everyone.



“I say we just go there and kick his ass, who cares about the tale we’ll find it later, when he’s dead.” Nick said as he sat on the edge of the desk.



“Avit do you know where Marsa’s journal is?” Aj asked him.



“Yes.” Avit said with a nod.



“I need to see it.” Aj said to him. “I will check to see if Marsa says anything about it, if not, we go at Ignis, we’ll find a way to kill him.”



“I will bring it too you.” Avit said with a nod and then quickly left the room. Aj leaned back against the windowsill and took a deep breath. Things sure had changed since they had popped up here all those weeks ago. How everything seemed to pick up when they left for Darlawind and it hadn’t stopped since. Aj froze for a moment, his brain on the edge of revealing something, he waited thinking, and then it hit him. Darlawind.



“Darlawind.” Aj said looking up.



“What?” The guys said looking at him.



“Darlawind.” Aj said again.



“The city on the island?” Halian asked.



“Yeah.” Aj nodded. “Remember when we first got here, why did Johon go there?” Aj asked.



“To attack Darlawind?” Kevin asked.



“Why?” Aj asked. “Every other time he went right for the Capital.” Everyone looked around the room at each other as they thought about what Aj had to say.



“You think the tale is there, that is why he went there first?” Nalia asked.



“But we stopped him before he could get to the city.” Aj said nodding.



“Then we go there.” Nick said nodding. “Maybe Avit can tell us more about the City, maybe there might be a clue too where it is.”



“Better than what we had to go on ten minutes ago.” Aj said looking at him.



“I need to get some things.” Nalia said looking at Nick.



“I think we all need to get ready.” Nick said looking at his friends.



“I am going to go find Avit, let him know, we’ll go check out Darlawind while he gets the army together.” Aj said as he started to walk across the room.



“What about Rayne dude?” Nick asked as Aj reached the door.



“I can’t do anything right now but do what she wanted and that’s getting rid of Ignis.” Aj said and then he opened the door and left the room.













Rayne sat in the garden outside of the Drisel Castle, the sun was high in the sky, flowers in full bloom around her, and she sat there staring at them. Not moving, not blinking, she sat with her knees curled under her. Her hand resting on the grass beside her, she leaned on it holding herself up. The sound of something coming up behind her still was not enough to break her from her daze.



Pax walked around the front of her and whined a little as she sniffed Rayne’s hand. She nuzzled her nose under her fingers and jerked a little, the wolf pulled away but Rayne still did not move. The wolf backed away and whined as she turned a little and then went back to Rayne again. She barked with a little howl and Rayne didn’t flinch. Pax whined as she lied down beside her but looked up when someone approached them.



“Rayne?” Rexil said as she walked up behind her. “Rayne can you here me?” Rexil asked. She walked around the front of her and looked down as she stood over top of Rayne. Slowly she knelt down and looked at Rayne’s blank stare. “Follow my voice Rayne, you are stuck, follow me back Rayne.”



Rayne looked up and saw Elder Rexil looking at her; she blinked and slowly looked around. She was in a bed but not her bed, in a room that wasn’t her room. Rayne tried to sit up but that’s when the throbbing head pain hit her and she moaned reaching for her head.



“You must lie down, you hit your head, a nasty bump you got.” Rexil said as Rayne tried to open her eyes.



“What happened?” Rayne said in a whisper but it sounded to her like she was yelling. “Where is Alex is he alright?” She asked.



“He is fine, do not worry about him right now Rayne we have more serious things to discuss.” Rexil said to her.



Rayne opened her eyes a little wider. “We do?” She asked a little confused.



“You attacked someone’s Life Aura, you know what that means.” Rexil said.



“I..” Rayne stopped trying to remember. “I helped Nick, I did not attack him.”



“That will be up to interpretation by the Council.” Rexil said to her.



“Wait you can not be serious.” Rayne said in protest.



“Your trial starts in two hours.” Rexil said as she headed towards the door.



“Elder Rexil I am a Guardian and I demand.”



“You will demand nothing from me.” Rexil said angrily to her. “I will tell you the same thing I told King Alexander, I will not take orders from Humans, and I do not take orders from Druids.” Rayne laid there in shock as she watched the Elder leave the room and the door closed.













Aj sat at the large desk in Marsa’s meeting room. He stared at the journal in front of him as it sat closed. There was nothing useful in the journal about the tale but he did find something that might help Rayne. It was a long shot and he wasn’t even sure if he really wanted to do it. He looked up when his door opened and Kevin walked in.



“We’re ready to go to Darlawind.” Kevin said walking up to him. Aj stared at him for a minute his thoughts still on the journal.



“Huh?” He said looking at Kevin confused. “Oh right.” He said quickly when Kevin’s words finally registered with his brain. He stood up, picking up the journal and tucked it into his bag.



“You ok?” Kevin asked as Aj walked over to him.



“Yeah sorry was thinking.” Aj said shaking off the question.



“Did you talk to Avit?” Kevin asked.



“Yeah, he said to check the Library.” Aj said with a light shrug. “It has archives; they’ve had no reason to look there before.”



“Nice.” Kevin said nodding. “It’s a start.”



“Yup” Aj agreed. “Did everyone head to the Gryphon tower?” He asked.



“Yeah, I went to get you and meet them there.” Kevin said as they walked out into the city. As they walked down the main road and headed towards the town square, they both notice all the people stopped in the street.



“Another party?” Aj said to Kevin.



“They party a lot.” Kevin said looking at him with a light smile. Aj was always up for a party, even after he sobered up, he still loved to go out to have a good time, let loose and have fun.



“King Alexander are you here to stop them?” An Elvaan peasant woman said as she walked up to him.



“Stop who?” Aj asked her confused.



“The Druid Council they have announced that Queen Rayne will be put on trial for breaking the Druid laws.” She told him.



Aj sighed. “Who said this?” He asked her. The woman pointed to the fountain area and Aj looked at Kevin. He then made his way through the crowd and towards the town fountain. When he reached the center he saw two Druid guards standing by the town announcement board.



“What is going on?” Aj asked as he walked up to them.



“We are here to announce the trail has been set for Queen Rayne.” The guard said to Aj, looking at him like he was sick with the flu.



“And when’s this?” Aj asked.



“In two hours.” The man said with a light smile.



“And how is she going to get a fair trial if she’s past out?” Kevin snapped at the guard.



“She is not asleep; the Council woke her a half hour ago. She is being held until said time.” The guard said to Aj and then both of them walked away.



“She’s awake?” Aj said confused. “Damn it.” He said as he looked at Kevin angrily. Aj then turned away from the board and headed out of the fountain area.



“Where are you going?” Kevin asked catching up.



“We’re going to Darlawind remember?” Aj said a little snappy. “If we can’t fine anything there we go right to Ignis.”



“What about Rayne?” Kevin asked.



“I have an idea so let’s hope we can get this done in two hours.” Aj said as he looked at his friend.



“Gee you’re not asking for much.” Kevin said sarcastically as they made their way to the tower.



“What’s up?” Howie asked when he saw Kevin and Aj walk through the Tower doorway, he saw the look on Aj’s face and knew something was up. Aj said nothing as he headed over to his Gryphon and began packing up.



“What’s going on?” Nick asked Kevin concerned.



“We were on our way here and we ran into a crowd at the fountain.” Kevin said as he looked from Aj to everyone else. “Those Druid Guards were posting an announcement.”



“About?” Nick asked.



“Rayne, her trial starts in two hours.” Kevin said.



“Two hours?” Brian said shocked. “But she’s not even awake yet.”



“She is now.” Kevin said.



“What?” Nalia said shocked as her mouth dropped.



“That’s what the guards said; they told him the Druids woke her up about a half hour ago.” Kevin told them.



“He’s still coming with us?” Howie asked.



“Yes I am.” Aj said as he walked passed them. “I’m not going to spend the next two hours fighting with them to let me see her, might as well do something useful.” He said as he picked up another bag and headed back towards the Gryphon. Kevin looked at them and just shrugged.



Aj tucked the bag tightly and securely into the straps around the Gryphon. He then turned around and looked for Avit but he wasn’t there. He wondered if his General was running around trying to find him, too tell him about Rayne. Turning back around he doubled check the straps. His fingers slid down the short fur and the Gryphon shook his head as it snorted. Aj looked it him and lightly smiled as he gently patted the giant flying beast. When he heard the door open from behind him he turned around and saw Avit walking right over to him.

“The preparations have begun we’ll be ready within the hour and I have sent men to Rossi to tell him to stand ready.” Avit said as he tucked his helm under his arm.



“If we can’t find the tale or it doesn’t have the answers we need we’re going to have to improvise.” Aj said as he looked at Avit.



“If there is anything to be found in Darlawind it would be at the library.” Avit said to him. Aj nodded as he looked to his friends and then looked back to Avit.



“I need you to do be another favor.” Aj said to his General.



“Anything Sir” Avit said with a nod.



“I’m not really sure what a lot of these things are but I need them, so if you could pick them up for me before I get back?” Aj said as he handed Avit a folded piece of paper.



“Of Course” Avit agreed as he took the paper from Aj and tucked it behind his chest piece.



“You ready?” Kevin asked as he walked over.



“Yup” Aj said with a nod as he turned towards his Gryphon.



“It should only take us about fifteen minutes to fly there.” Nalia said to Aj as she waited for Nick to get onto his Gryphon. She then looked from Aj to Nick. “Are you sure you are up to this?” She asked him as Nick grabbed the reins.



“I’m good.” Nick said with a nod. “No worries.” She lightly smiled at him and then walked to her Gryphon.



Aj pulled himself up onto the back of the Gryphon and settled in. He grabbed the reigns and slowly turned the giant bird around. He looked up and saw Avit closing the door behind him as he left the tower. He took a deep breath as he stared at the door for a minute. His glare was broken by Kevin walking past him.



“Ready?” Kevin asked.



“Let’s get’er done” Aj said with a southern twang. Kevin rolled his eyes as he moved his Gryphon as Nick took off.



“Ready?” Howie said and Aj looked over thinking he was talking to him.



“Lord no.” Brian said as he closed his eyes and held onto Howie with a death grip.



“This is going to be a long fifteen minutes.” Howie said to Aj as he gently kicked the Gryphon, the bird jerked as he took off and Brian screamed, like a girl, and it made Aj laugh a little. He watched as Kevin took off, then Nick and then Nalia. When Nalia was a safe distance away Aj gently kicked his Gryphon and it jumped into the air, spreading its wings and flapping. It pulled them higher and higher with every swoop of its giant stride.



Some of the places they past over looked familiar and Aj wondered how much of the flight path followed the flight path they took the first time they were out here. He looked down at the trees as they reached the shore line of the island, the sand was a white colour almost looking like snow, the water was a light baby blue and you could see how far the shore line stretched out in to the large cannel of water separating the land of Winnol from Winnol Island.



“Aj!” He heard Nick shout from ahead and he looked up and saw Nick pointing to their left. He looked over quickly wondering what he saw; when his eyes hit the large empty patch of forest and broken trees. Aj recognized the area as the place where he and others realized how much power he had, he then looked back to Nick.



“Fix your divot dude.” Nick shouted with a laugh. For some reason the golf reference to the giant mess Aj left in the forest when he conjured the Tohil spell cracked him up. He started laughing really hard and had to lean forward to hold himself up.



“You’re so funny asshat!” Aj shouted back after he calmed down. He needed a good laugh and he didn’t care that the others didn’t catch on, because they weren’t there. As he looked back he saw the damage had lessened but it was still there and he followed the path of broken trees and debris. If he didn’t know any better it went all the way to the other side of the island.



“There she is!” Nalia shouted and Aj looked ahead, he took a deep breath when he saw the giant clock tower of what looked like a church. “Over there!” Nalia shouted and Aj looked to where she was pointing. Another giant tower stood at the corner of the city. Aj and the others guided their Gryphon’s towards the tower and landed safely in the Elvaan city.



“King Alexander it is truly and honor to have you finally visit our fine city.” An Elvaan man said as he walked up to him. “My name is Myrdon and I am the Head Councilor of the city.”



“Hi.” Aj said with a nod as the man bowed to him.



“Avit sent word and said you need to use the library.” The Elvaan said as the others gathered around them, even Brian who was still shaking a little, and his colour hadn’t come back.



“Yeah we need to find out if there is any information about where the tale could be.” Aj said to him.



“Many of the papers and books we have here are very old but if there is anything on the tale of Pixca than it would be in the Archives.” The General said to him. “I shall take you there myself.”



Aj nodded at him and the man lightly smiled as he motioned for them to follow him. They walked down the spiral staircase of the tower to the bottom and out the wooden door. He looked around at the people as they stopped to look at the new King, for most of them it was for the first time. The place looked a lot like Winnol. Houses and buildings made of trees and stones, all that was missing was the Tree Castle.



“Darlawind is a newer city compared to Winnol.” Myrdon said.



“How old is Winnol?” Aj asked.



“Thousands of years.” The Elvaan said.



“Seriously” Aj said shocked.



“It is the very spot Pixca created us, created us from the very roots of the trees we live in and protect.” He said with a light smile.



“How old is Darlawind?” Kevin asked.



“Only a thousand years.” Myrdon said as they walked down a busy Market street.



“Only.” Nick said with a little laugh.



“It doesn’t look that old, neither does Winnol really.” Howie said looking around.



“Everything dies eventually even buildings, when the time comes we build anew.” Myrdon said. “The only original building still around is the Tree Castle, created by Pixca herself.”



“Interesting” Kevin said as he slightly raised his eyebrow.



“I am a little disappointed to see Queen Rayne is not here with you.” Myrdon said.



“Perhaps you did not hear Myrdon but while fighting Ignis Queen Rayne was injured.” Nalia said as she quickly looked at Aj.



“Oh that is most unfortunate.” The Elvaan said sadly.



“So where is this library?” Aj asked trying to change the subject.



“We are almost there your Majesty just down this road here.” Myrdon said with a light smile. They walked the rest of the way in silence and when they had passed about five more houses they stopped in front of a large stone building.



The Elvaan led them into the Library and everyone looked around when they entered. It pretty much looked like a Library, shelves, books, tables, and people reading quietly. The smells were oddly the same too, the smell off old musky leather and paper.



“The Archives are in the basement.” The man said pointing to a door near the back desk. “I wish you luck.” He said with a bow.



“Thanks.” Aj said nodding back to him. The Elvaan lightly smiled at then walked away. Aj looked around at everyone and then headed towards the door by the desk. He turned the knob and opened the door, the staircase was dark and he searched for a light.



“Brian we need light.” Aj said looking back. Brian walked up and flicked out a light spell and the stone walls lit up. “Thanks.” Everyone followed Aj down the stairs and the tall ones brushed the cobwebs out of the way.



“How are we going to go through all of this in an hour?” Howie said looking around.



“Just skim, I guess.” Aj said a little frustrated by all the books. “Look for something that stands out about the Guardians or Ignis or something.”



Everyone walked around the room finding their own section of shelving too look through. Aj could here light mumbling as his friends skimmed over titles, through sentences and paragraphs. It was kind of annoying; it was hard enough to concentrate with this two hour count down going on, let alone all this mumbling.



The more time that past the more Aj’s eyes hurt, the more dry they got, the more his head began to hurt from all the reading. His eyes locked on the word have, and they wouldn’t move. Finally with a frustrated growl he slapped the book closed and slammed it back into its spot on the shelf.



“Alex?” Kevin said from behind him.



“This is useless.” Aj said turning around. “We need to get moving on Ignis.”



“Dude maybe you shouldn’t rush this.” Nick said as he sat on a table.



“I’m not rushing anything, you heard Avit, the army’s falling apart, let’s just do this now.” Aj said as he headed to the stairs. “We should be heading back now anyways.”



“Are you leaving your highness?” Myrdon asked as Aj and the crew walked outside of the Library.



“Yeah, couldn’t really fine anything, and we have other things to take care of.” Aj said as he stopped and waited for everyone to catch up.



“That is disappointing.” The Elvaan said.



“It’s ok, thanks for helping us though.” Aj said giving him a light smile. The man bow and headed towards the tower. Aj quickly looked around to make sure all his friends were with him and then followed the man. He didn’t really pay attention to everyone in the back talking about little things they had read in the books they were looking through. He found it best to just look around at things going on, to take his mind off of everything. His eyes were distracted by a bunch of Elvaan children playing around a statue. The little ones tried to climb it, laughing and giggling at the fact they weren’t tall enough to get up. Aj lightly smiled as he looked at the kids make shift jungle gym.



It was a statue of an Elvaan of course; a female Elvaan and she wore a long dress, her hair up in a ponytail only pieces of her bangs fell along the side of her face. Aj slowed his steps as he continued to look at it. She stood strong as she held her sword at her side and what looked like a piece of paper out in front of her.



“Who’s that?” Aj asked as he looked at Myrdon. Everyone was already a few feet ahead of him and they stopped and looked at him, then looked at the statue.



“That is Darlaynas she was our first High Councilor.” Myrdon told them.



“What is she holding?” He asked.



“It is just a statue of her holding the declaration for the land.” Myrdon said. Aj looked at the marble that fell from her hand, carved to look like a scroll. It sparkled in the sun light; Aj looked up and realized the sun wasn’t shinning on the stature.



“Alex?” Kevin said and Aj looked over. “Are you coming?” He asked, they had all started walking again and now were well ahead of him. Aj looked back to the statue and looked at the scroll again, he swore it was sparkling. He slowly raised his hand and motioned for Kevin to give him a second but he didn’t take his eyes of the marble. As he got closer he saw for sure that it was sparkling but he needed to get closer to see why.



Reaching up he grabbed onto the statue’s arm and stepped up onto the pedestal. He heard Kevin yell at him to get down, and Brian asked what he was doing but he ignored them and swung around to the other side to get a better view of the scroll.



“Dude seriously what are you doing?” Nick asked as everyone reached him.



“Can you guys see that?” Aj asked as he hung around the side. Everyone looked at the statue, they looked at the scroll.



“I don’t see anything?” Howie said shaking his head.



“You’re stressed out man; get down before you hurt yourself.” Kevin said reaching up for him.



“I see it.” Nick said and Aj looked back at him.



“I do too.” Nalia said looking at both of them.



“See what?” Brian asked.



“I can’t read it.” Nick said.



“It’s in Elvaan.” Nalia replied.



“Can you write it down?” Aj asked her.



“There’s paper and that at the Library.” Nick said and before anyone could say anything he took off towards the building. Aj slowly and carefully got down from the statue. As he brushed off he realized all the people were looking at him and he realized how funny it must have been for them to see their King climbing a statue.



“I will be happy to translate it for you.” Myron said as he walked up to Aj.



“Thank you.” Aj said. “But I would like for Avit to do that.” Aj told him.



“Of Course” The Elvaan said with a small smile and nod. Aj was glad he didn’t pressure him more on it.



“Here.” Nick said as he ran up to them, out of breath holding the piece of paper. Nalia took it and copied what was written, she then handed the paper the Aj.



“Alright let’s go.” Aj said as they started to walk to the tower again.



“What do you think it is?” Nick asked.



“Dunno” Aj said with a shrug. “But it has to mean something if just the three of us can see it.”