Azra flustered " Fa...Ian... I want to hug all of you, now that I can. I-I-I.....didn't think you would want one," He candidly replied, stammering and looking somewhat concerned.
Ian chuckled " It's alright. I understand, and if you wish, you can call me father. I think it is time to let the past stay in the past and look ahead. That is if you can forgive me." Ian replied with the same candour, and Iris felt her eyes sting but blinked the tears away.
Azra nodded and gulped, " Yes, father. We can be a family like Mother wants," He turned to look at Iris, with admiration.
His mother never pushed him away. She kept her distance only because of Ian. She wholeheartedly accepted him for who he was and didn't bat an eye or get upset, even when he almost ended her life.
Iris took a silent breath and wished she could hug them. Her dream was coming to life in front of her eyes, and she couldn't believe it.
" Good. I'm glad that we can finally move on, at last," Iris released a breath of relief and looked at Ian, who nodded in understanding.
Ian knew that it was Iris's greatest wish. A happy family though they didn't get a chance to experience the joy of raising a child together. It was the next best thing he could offer, and he was pleased to see that she was happy with it.
In front of the formation, Dakran, Maya and Athan rode alongside each other. While Athan was still very much giddy over the events that occurred earlier. He kept sighing and glancing over his shoulder at Edýia.
" Tell me more about this Guardian business?" Dakran pulled Athan out of his reverie.
Athan turned his attention to Dakran, with his brows raised " Do you want the whole story or just the fun bits?" He threw back the question. He wanted to know what Dakran was interested in.
" The journey ahead is long, and we have plenty of time. So, the bloody story would be nice." Dakran gave his answer and loosened the grip on the reins, letting his hands rest on his thighs.
Athan nodded " We are going back to the beginning of time, creation myth and all that." Athan paused for a moment, pinned under their gaze and licked his lips " As you already know, there are many gods, but at first, legend says that there were only three. Two brothers and one sister. Yarin, Helm and the sister Ruma. Each possessed the power to breathe life, amongst many other things. Ruma was the one who created humankind. She took pride in her creation. When she was done, Ruma called upon her brothers to show them her creation. But her brothers mocked her and killed the first human ever made just to prove that what she had made was not worthy to walk and breathe, and it was weak. In turn, her brothers began making their living things. I think they started competing, and that's how many wild beasts, crawling, and the things that lurk in light or dark, have come to be. Ruma waited and waited for her brothers to play around, and in that time, she made more humans. But each time, her brothers came and destroyed them, just to show that her creation wasn't good enough, not strong enough.
Ruma didn't retaliate, but she began again on her last try. Ruma made one of them with a piece of her soul to protect them if the need arose. In the meantime, her brothers showed her how it is done. They have created their beings. They were flawless. They could live long, without getting ill or ageing. Beautiful creatures, one might say. The brothers showed Ruma their creation and laughed in her face, and they instigated a war between the three kinds, to see which one was the strongest. A war broke out and rivers of blood flowed, soaking the lands. There was so much blood that it began falling out of the sky." he stopped took a deep breath and licked his parched lips. He rummaged in his bag pulled out a flask, and took a big gulp of water. Everyone was drinking his every single word, even those who knew the story.
" The war lasted for ages, fields with corpses, wild beasts fed on them, others rotted, and you can imagine the rest. Ruma had had enough bloodshed and brought out the Shiede Farum Nieasse Litmus. Which now we know as the Guardian of Seven Seas. She named her Chiala. Legends say that she was beautiful, pure as light, and shone brighter than the sun itself. She wielded great power, and with her leading the humans she defeated the other two armies without any trouble. The brothers got upset, and put up barriers, and thus, the realms came to be, but fear crept into their hearts, and they made their own Guardians. Despite their attempts to replicate, they weren't successful. The guardians were strong but not as strong as Chiala. Ruma left, upset at her brothers, and the brothers continued creating more realms, some empty with no living things in them. Some were luxuriously forested with green as far as the eye could see—some just water and nothing else. Your kind was the first, ours came after, and Hollow was the third realm to come into existence. Guardians possessed the power to open portals to other realms just like their creators, and some moved to greener pastures. Some stayed in the same sphere, but all in all, most of the realms have living creatures."