"So that is the Valley-Riders notified, have I missed anything, Secretary Kurid?" I asked one of my many gathered members of staff. And as they went about checking, I made a point of seeing if any had any hidden objections.
"No, that would be everyone, Founding-Lord Brewbrt." she gracefully answered back as she finished compiling all her notes. So, with a firm nod, I rose to my feet and headed over to my piled-up gear. I had practically emptied the armoury, so I had to ensure it was all safe and secure. And with a few small, but potent spells, I tested their anti-theft measures.
The mild blast it caused shocked most of those behind me. Although, their gasps and twitches brought a brief smile to my face. The more concerned looks, however, made quick work of that smile. And I had to prepare myself to put up with any criticism they might've had.
If only so it could be put on record...
"I can't say I particularly endorse this behaviour, Founding-Lord." one of them had to say.
"I don't need your approval, only your awareness of what I choose."
"Yes, I am aware, but as an advisor and hopefully a good friend, we have to insist that you stay here. Your adventuring days are long behind you and you want to set out with some girl!?"
"That girl is the daughter of one of my closest friends. A friend I have spilt blood with for many years. I will not leave her alone to wander this wartorn continent."
"It's one girl versus the entire settlement you helped create! Generations have lived here and you know it!"
"And I still owe more to this girl I have met twice than the entire town." I tell them all coldly before I hoist the large bag onto my back. Easing the weight being put through me with a counteractive spell. Then, I walked off.
"Well, either way, all the best, Founding-Lord Brewbrt." my secretary bid.
"All the same, you have your improved guards, constabulary and walls and all manner of new defences. You'll be fine." I tell them with a lighter tone before I made a brief gesture to indicate my departure. Yet, as the girls were not gathered up at the entrance, I instead lumbered my way towards the room they had moved on to sharing.
"Somebody is decked out..." Vadei commented with a clear measure of awe as my armour came to a clanking halt in time with myself.
"Only the best for Einervaene." I answered as the girl in question stepped out with her own equipment. However, that was all she stepped out of the room with. My distaste for it, though, was only shown via a slight expression. And my contingency rested within the large bag on my back.
"Morning, Brewbrt." she greeted anxiously as she tried to breathe out some of her worries.
"Morning, now, off we go." I tell the pair as I swiftly turn around. And once we made it to the entrance of my manor, I blew open the doors and let them go out first.
"So how are we...?" Einervaene began to ask me as she took hold of Vadei's hand for whatever reason.
"Leaving?" I think I finished correctly for her as I started to rise effortlessly into the air. Albeit, it felt strange to do so with this much luggage. It really has been a while since I have done something like this... Yet, when I rose into the air, lightning struck up.
And in the sky above, laughter echoed down.
"Oh, so it is like that?" I asked them even if they couldn't hear me. I would not be able to compete like this, though. So I touched the ground again and felt out for my magic. In a way, I felt like I was dusting an old memoir.
It was all so clear to me but I needed a moment to take it in. Then, with a boom greater than the thunder trailing the girls. I rocketed skyward and parted clouds as I gave chase. And I did so with an even greater smile on my face as Einervaene rubbed in her talent.
Gone was the girl who had stumbled into the pitfall of blood magic. Instead, I saw someone who has trained and honed her skills. Maybe not in battle and travelling as I have. But she has grown tremendously.
So casually was she converted to and from this lightning bolt form of hers. And to do so with an attached passenger? It was a very impressive sight I had to admit. Almost made me want to go even further with my own speed.
But, I also wanted to show off a little, so, when we reached a valley with cliff-like sides. I dove straight down the cliff face. Grinning as the world blurred before I used a powerful blast to carve myself a route. And with the power added on by that blast.
I went straight back up into the clouds. Even going so far as to interrupt the duo by parting the clouds they were heading towards. Yet, as I turned around. Einervaene couldn't help but make a casual taunt.
"Would you like me to go-" she started to say before she suddenly appeared next to me, "-slower?"
"How about... YOU KEEP UP!?" I started to say back to her before I shot far ahead of her. Yet, even though I did not know which way we technically had to go. She was more than happy to give chase and she quickly caught up.
"Slow!" she quipped as she briefly appeared once more.
"Only because I am carrying more." I remark with a knowing smile before I notice her suddenly stopping on a freshly formed flat peak. So, I whirled about the mountain and disrupted its snow-belt before I finally arrived in the air near the pair.
"So is it more that way?" Einervaene asked her friend as she held down one of her braided tails.
"I could not really say... I don't come up here often." Vadei nervously laughs as her feet press about the charred mountain top.
"Which landmarks are there in particular?" I decide to ask as I use my magic to bring out a very useful artefact of mine. A very old but well-restored map of the globe. An ancient device that showed our entire planet in such detail that I could zoom in and we'd see ourselves.
How it worked... I had no clue. But I really appreciated its existence, it had led me on so many new adventures! Just sit back and let it spin in your hands!
"There! About there!" Vadei exclaimed after I had altered the map to show us somewhat.
"So that would be that way, then." I tell the pair as I shoot the device back into storage before firing another spell to lead their eyes.
"First one th-" Einervaene began to speed out before she vanished. And I huffed in amusement.
"Very well." I answered back as I shot after her. Replicating my trick from earlier a dozen times over before I just let myself drop to the ground. A distinct feeling of exhaustion now overtakes me as I realise the distance I just had to travel.
"Tired already?" Einervaene asked me, clearly tired herself after she struck the earth.
"Okay... Bit over here... No? More this way?" Vadei asked herself quietly as she clearly got to work trying to find a scent.
"You travel with little friction, you know?" I point out to her. Striking up some conversation as her friend did whatever it was she was doing.
"I..." she huffed, "Have had a lot of practice against something that pushes back against me."
"Right, right, Thrurstradtur's security systems." I remark as I recall the environment that created. Flying was already a hard-to-learn skill. But that neighbouring city made the students who did fly at Suhurlodst all the better. A situation I am sure they appreciated quite a lot.
Personally, I learned to fly away from the city. Oddly enough, it was one of the first things I learnt now that the thought came to mind. But, I also have had a consistent, deep appreciation for those who could soar across the skies. There was something so beautiful about it that drove me the way it did.
The part it played in my eventual nickname was also certainly clear.
"It feels so weird travelling out here, I have to admit. It only gets easier even as I grow tired." she explains.
"Yeah, but if you headed a bit further south, you'd get caught in the returning winds." I tell her as I start to recall a greater force than Thrurstradtur's pride. The power of Jhroungijherammujhernosumonaterikra itself. With so much magic being called back to the mountain... It created an odd way of things.
Normally, magic got weaker as you travelled away from that great mountain and the dense population centres. But, with how the winds returned to their stone mother, it meant the strongest areas also existed far, far away. Dragons loved it, of course. So it was nice that most of these places existed in the skies above.
"I wasn't travelling too fast for you... Right?" she then nervously asks me all of a sudden.
"Maybe, I had to pull out a few old tricks to keep up with you." I tell her as I give her a reassuring pat. And I revelled in the pride-induced embarrassment that covered her face then after.
"I'll... M-Make sure to take it slower." she comments as she tries to hide behind her braided tails.
"Don't worry, once we get where we need to, I can unload my gear and I can show you a real race if you are up for it."
"The old need to rest..." she remarked with an innocent expression before I flashed some magic in front of her.
"Respect your elders, Einervaene." I playfully tell her as her friend finishes up with what she needed to do.