"A, falcon, flies, on, the, sky" A young and feminine voice spoke with a hint of irritation and impatience.
"A, falcon, flies, on, the, sky" Edel repeated word by word right after with a little bit of difficulty.
He sat on a desk with a large scroll in front of him, quill in one hand. Inside his room, which was large and filled with expensive curtains, chairs, and a bed big enough to fit three grown men comfortably.
However, he wasn't alone.
Sitting next to him there is a young girl with golden hair and eyes blue like sapphires, she had a childish face and gave off the impression she was a noble, dressed in a fancy dress of green and white and her lips unnaturally red, helped by makeup.
She sat next to the general with her arms folded and head held high, almost looking down on the struggling man, even if she was shorter.
Edel dressed with his usual full plate armor, he rarely ever took it off beside the obvious occasions he did, during bath and when he slept. He had circular eyeglasses on his face as he read the words written on the scroll he held.
"Finally! I can't believe you depend on a fifteen years old lady to teach you how to read! Honestly, I still can't believe someone of such low birth commands the armies of our great King when US nobles have many good men AND women, blessed be the king for the reforms, that can do this job WITHOUT having to learn how to read in the middle of a war! You would think that-"
"SILENCE"
The girl obeyed with clear hesitance but just sunk deeper in her chair and pouted. She had given a very passionate speech just now.
Edel stood up from his chair and walked away from the desk, leaving the glasses on top of it.
"Go get your armor and sword, meet me in the training grounds behind the palace in fifteen minutes. Do not be late" He said as he walked up to a pair of large windows and opened them, stepping out on the balcony.
As soon as he does this, a gush of wind invades the room for a second as well as the sound of the city, busy as always, filled the silence from just a second ago. Like two worlds, colliding in one moment.
The girl's face brightened up and she stood up from her chair, dragging it loudly on the floor, and ran to the door lifting the skirt of her dress as she went. Slamming the door behind her.
Edel leans on the stone handrail and looks at the city below, his bedroom is directly above the main entrance of the palace and is on the third floor of the seven-floor high palace.
He seems to take a moment to enjoy the view and noisy surroundings, getting lost in thought as he stares off in the distance at nowhere and everywhere at the same time, he looks at the horizon how you would look at that one thing you have always wanted.
Always so far away.
His view, and peace, get interrupted when lighting hits the ground. He knows what this means.
Looking down the very sight of the archmage is enough to deepen his near-perpetual frown, but then his eyes focus on the woman that stands next to him.
He turns around and immediately moves forward, he doesn't like when a mage has company.
"Woah~"The necromancer says as she takes in the absurd size of the palace, raising a hand to her eyes to help lessen the assault that is the sun rays reflected on the marvel "I had heard this place looked unreal but I never belied it, where do you sleep in this beauty?"
"Over there" Das replies pointing at the faraway tower that stands out for its crude and poor stone bricks compared to the marvel of fable from the palace.
"Oh, guess we have something in common" She says placing a sympathetic hand on Das's shoulder.
"I guess we do. Come with me, I would like to put on some clothes before I take you to general Edel" Das walks forward as the palace doors are opened for him.
They walk throughout the corridors and go up the stairs while the necromancer looks at her surroundings in awe and amazement, like a child looking at a candy store where he can take whatever he wants for free.
"A long time ago I wished to be a princess in a place like this, mainly when I was little" She spoke while touching the flowers and gently stroking the walls and curtains on the corridors.
"You said you were two hundred years old, right?" Das looks to see her nod in response "So, you saw it? The War of Thunders."
The necromancer looks down for a second, her eyes filled with the heavy memory from two centuries ago.
"Yes. I had a sister who joined a group that would later form the rebellion and join the humans to help them win the war" She then grows a sad, thin smile "Hmph, I wonder what would she think if she knew what would come to us, mages, a two centuries later. Would she still fight for them?"
"You, don't consider yourself human?" Das asks her raising an eyebrow, they reach one of the gardens in their path to the tower.
"You do?" She answers with a question of her own.
Das looks at the garden to his left and sees a memory of the many times Lioth has played around with him back when they were children and how this only ever happened when she was alone.
They kept them away from each other as if he was some kind of feral dog. But just as he is about to answer with anger, he remembers the kindness Lioth herself has always shown him.
He smiles for a moment, finding joy in her excitement the day before when she gave him a piece of that pie.
"I like to think I am"
They continue the rest of the walk, in silence.
Then, when they finally reach the corridor that leads to the bridge separating the tower and the palace, Das comes to a full stop as he sees the door wide open and general Edel standing straight, hands on his back, overlooking the city.
Das reaches for his hood but realizes he doesn't have a cloak, he turns around and looks at the necromancer, who can instantly see past his attempt to look calm and understand fully, how afraid he is of the man waiting at the bridge.
"Stay here for a moment, I have to speak with the general"
She only nods in return and he turns at the open door, only then realizing he hasn't thought of an excuse to tell the General.
If he discovers she is responsible for what happened, he will kill her or worse and he doesn't even attempt to think what will happen to him, for bringing her to the palace itself.
He walks forward, his brain reaching out for any idea that may prove believable enough. Once he reaches the door, he takes a deep breath and goes through, closing it behind him.
"High general Edel" Das salutes him, bowing his head deeply "I bring a witness from Eversmile" He stands a few feet away from the General.
"You are to request ME for permission to bring anyone to the palace" Edel glances at him without moving, his strong eyes forcing Das to look at the ground.
"I-I didn't think about it, I was too excited, I'm deeply sorry General, It won't happen again" Das wished he had his cloak, he tries to hug himself but stops and returns his arms to his side, he doesn't want to show him weakness.
"And why are you half-naked?" Edel turns towards Das, making the young archmage flinch after hearing the metal from his armor clack.
"I lost it after teleporting, I'm still learning how to do it properly"
Edel looks at Das from feet to head, stopping and twisting his face in disgust for a second when he looked at his arms.
"Look at me when I speak!" He shouts making Das jump in his place but the young archmage immediately obeys "When you are given orders, you follow them. No matter what"
"Y-Yes, I'm very sorry General" He bows his head once again " I promise it won't happen again"
"Make sure it doesn't" Edel then walks past Das, shoving him to the side with his shoulder forcefully "And I'm taking her downstairs for interrogation, IF I can't get anything from her you will be ordered to step in"
Das wants to say something but knows it's useless at that point and even if he had a way to convince him, he doesn't believe he has the guts to speak to the General right then and there.
Edel opens the door and walks back inside the palace, the first thing he sees is the woman in black hugging her legs in a corner. She trembles as if she was out naked in a blizzard and seems to whispers words that can be barely listened at a distance.
"Is she insane?" Edel asks turning at Das, who looks at him with widened eyes and rushes to the door, making sure to stay far away enough from him while peeking inside.
"Y-Yes! The trauma of the attack was too much, I still haven't learned how to dig into people's minds but I was hoping to start with her" Das steps away from the General as soon as he is done talking.
"Tell me that sooner next time" Edel turns his back on the archmage and begins walking away "She is all yours, if she has to stay, she stays in your filthy tower"
"Yes, General, thank you!"Das salutes him one more time as the man leaves.
Das and the woman remain in their places until the footsteps of the General can be heard no more, then she stands up and walks up to the archmage.
Then she bursts in laugher so loud that Das hushes her but to no avail.
"That went better than I thought, for a moment I feared I would have to scream and piss myself so he doesn't suspect me" She walks past Das and stands on the bridge "This is it right?" She looks behind her at the surprised archmage, giving him one of her sincere, ear to ear smiles "It's prettier up close"
Das lets out a sigh of relief and almost wants to laugh himself, but he decides to move on from the experience and go up to his tower, the carefree necromancer following him close behind.
The old door creaks when he opens it and the smell of the old books makes his face wash with a sense of peace he doesn't get anywhere else. His eyes focus on the bed and seeing that Drachen is still sleeping calmly he walks up to the wardrobe.
The necromancer enters and eyes the entire place, stretching her arms to her sides as if trying to make a point of how small it is. She almost trips when stepping on some books.
"Careful with the books! some are fifty years old!" Das shouts at her as he puts on a new set of tunics and looks at the many cloaks to choose one.
While Das settles for a rather simple light brown cloak, The necromancer approaches the sleeping fairy with fascination written all over her face.
"By the way, what is your name?"Das asks as he hits his cloak with his staff, cleaning it of any dust.
The necromancer kneels in front of the bed and leans on top of it, resting her chin on her arm while the other slowly approaches the sleeping Drachen wishing to poke her.
"Ann Faust, you can call me Master Faust when we begin your training"
Ann almost pokes the head of Drachen when the eyes of the fairy suddenly open and the orange of them shrinks until it is a tiny circle in a sea of black.
She shoots out of the window holding her mouth with both hands as she lets out a muffled scream. Ann falls on her butt by the sudden reaction while Das rushes at the window concerned.
"IT SMELLS LIKE SHHHHHHIIIT!!!" Drachen yells in agony as her entire body turns green.
The young girl that was with Edel in his room is now dressed in full plate armor, swinging her sword clumsily at the wind, her long silky hair tied on a single braid a little bit rushed or perhaps already a little undone when she hears the scream and looks at the tower in the distance.
The training grounds are mostly an empty large area behind the palace, there are shooting targets, wooden dummies, and some guards fighting each other with wooden staffs.
Huffing, she takes out her right gauntlet and pulls out a small, blue silk napkin with a golden eagle on it to clean the sweat off her forehead from somewhere inside her breastplate.
After she puts it back in she takes out a silver pocket watch from a small leather bag in her belt, she looks surprised when she realizes Edel will be late, a large, devilish smirk grows on her face as she counts the ten seconds he has left to make it in time.
"Why aren't you training?"
She shrieks when Edel talks to her, somehow having walked up to her without her noticing him. Making her drop her pocket watch, she leans to pick it up, looking at Edel with slight disappointment while she stores it back in the small bag.
"Show me how much have you advanced, Adler" Edel ordered, standing still and looking at her every move as she began to swing her blade.
"When can I, spar, against you?!"She spoke with every swing of her blade.
"When you are fast enough to win against children" He replied, making the hotheaded girl growl and swing faster than before.