Valerian, The Legendary

202 Raising Morale.

Valerian did not know what to say, or what to feel at this moment. He was too young and ever since he could remember, all he had in his life was a constant struggle for power. He was simply too busy to pay attention to what emotions, other than familial love, were.

Now, when Morgana kissed him, he sensed a warmth that quickly spread from his lips to his heart, but he controlled himself and did not let this warmth effect his brain, yet he could sense his heartbeat. It was resonating throughout his body, as if a war drum.

Da-thump, da-thump, da-thump, da-thump...

All of a sudden his throat was dry, his hands were trembling slightly. He thought it was a poisonous attack, but then all of it calmed down as he looked at the girl standing in front of him with a crimson tinted face. He realized that Morgana was also suffering from these same signs and she was discomforted as well.

This made him think, why would she do anything that makes her uneasy. Morgana sensed his gaze and thought that the young man was vexed and said, “I do not own anything but this body. Although, I was born to Ameer Centurion, but he tried to kill me many times over the years and I have paid the price in blood. All I have left inside me is what my Mother left me. You gave me my First smile, so I thought, I can give you my first kiss. After all, you are the first friend I have ever made.”

Valerian smiled slightly and subconsciously caressed his lips as he said, “You took my first kiss as well. Cunning.”

Morgana realized this half just now and blushed even profusely. Valerian came closer to her and embraced her tightly in his arms. He said, “I will cherish this gift forever.”

Morgana did not know where did the strength in her body came from, but she hugged him back tightly, as she wished for the time to freeze at this moment only. However, that was impossible, Valerian patted her back gently and said, “I need to go now, people on the other side must be waiting for me.”

Morgana nodded and asked as she broke away from the embrace, “How long will it take you to reach the Sapientia Nation?”

.....

Valerian looked at the sky outside the window and said, “Usually it would take two days, but it is a cloudy night so, Linea can be faster and hoping that the clouds stretch till the borders, we will reach there by tomorrow morning.”

Morgana nodded and said, “I will also leave for Centaur, a lot of things need to be dealt with in the Palace there for a peaceful solution.”

Valerian nodded and said, “Indeed, you will have it tough in there. Do you have my soul communicator?”

Morgana nodded and the prince said, “Do not hesitate to contact me if you need help. I will try to come as soon as possible.”

The princess thought he was only talking for the sake of it and nodded. Valeria, however, was serious and the princess will only realize this in the future that the promise he made was not a hoax. Valerian then said, “I will go now, see you soon, Morgana.”

Morgana smiled at him and said, “See you soon, Valerian. Be careful at the front.”

Valerian nodded and with a faint smile on his lips the boy left the palace quickly. He did not waste any moment to meet with the Empress or anyone else, his mission was crucial and he needed to be quick as the attack on the Sapientian border has already started and Ignis was under a lot of pressure.

On the other side, Fragrantia and Azula had created the special communications division from all the fronts to the palace, and the mages were recruited all over the country for this job. The rise of the gifted did not mean the commoners were going to be overlooked. The spy network was established with the help of the commoners and they were very efficient at their jobs.

The war was about to start and the face of the western continent would undergo a tremendous change. Thus Valerian had to hurry on his end as well. After all, the enemy was not going to be merciful to him or his people.

Valerian came to the western wing and mounted Linea, he circled around the palace once and found Fragrantia waving at him from her balcony. The boy smiled and waved back as he made a few signs telling her that he will be fine.

Fragrantia blew him a kiss for good luck and the boy vanished from her side. He spotted Morgana in her room, making the magical bond with Silk. He smiled and then said, “Linea, full speed ahead.”

The thunder falcon let out a cry and charged through the clouds. The faintly dark clouds became a tunnel for the magical beast to travel through the night. The speed was fast and thanks to the saddle, Valerian was able to hold on to the back of his mount and stick close to it.

The beast had cast a barrier spell to protect Valerian from the oncoming wind. It was indeed as the boy had said, the clouds allowed Linea to use his lightning spell continuously and he moved faster through the clouds reaching the destination. The boy arrived at the Sapientian Imperial palace in the early morning, but he could tell that none of the staff had gone to sleep for even a minute.

As he entered the palace after dismounting he met Adele, the first princess and his sister-in-law. Adele saw him and smiled as she said, “You are finally here, Val.”

The boy nodded and replied, “You seem to be very tired, Sister-in-law.”

He sat close to her on a couch and checked her forehead with the back of his palm. He frowned and said, “Sanatio Lucis.”

The gentle healing spell was cast on Adele, relieving her fatigue to some limit. The lady sighed and said, “Do not waste the effort, I cannot rest until Ignis has come back safe, or the war has stopped.”

Valerian nodded and said, “Do not worry, I will leave for the front now. You better take care of yourself. Ignis will worry more if he knew about you. Worry on the front is not a good thing.”

Adele nodded and her eyes sparked up somewhat. She told him the basic situation of the front and asked what he needed. The boy said, “I will ask for a magic bow and lots of arrows. That is all, and umm, some ration for me to eat on the way. Linea can hunt but I will not have the privilege to spare that kind of time.”

Adele nodded and a maid quickly rushed out of the hall to get him the rations, while the princess sent a letter to the armory and a magical bow was sent back, with a lot of common arrows just as Valerian asked for. After he stocked his supplies, the boy was ready to fly off once again.

The eight quivers carrying a hundred arrows each were tied to the second saddle position on Linea’s back, and the bow hung on Valerian’s back. Everything else was stored in the magical pouch on his waist. After greeting Adele, the boy and the beast flew off.

...

On the front, Ignis was looking at the map, the battle has not stopped, the berserks had been attacking them continuously from the past two days, and they had been unable to counter attack. The Valkyrians had posted ten ballistas around the city. The air troops were helplessly grounded as they could not take action or it would be akin to suicide.

Suddenly, a general rushed in and said, “Your Highness, the city wall will not hold for two more days. We are helpless in face of the warrior attacks.”

Ignis said, “I wish for the mages to attack, but these bastards, they have posted the Warriors at the front, this cross attack ban is surely an annoyance at the moment.”

The general nodded, he was a warrior and knew the damage mages could do. They were trying to think of a way to counter when a soldier came outside the bunker and said, “Urgent message from the front, Your Highness.”

Ignis looked at the general, who said, “Come in.”

The soldier rushed in and knelt on the floor as Ignis asked, “What is it?”

The soldier said, “Your highness, the scouts spotted a streak of light falling on the enemy side, they said that the streak of light took out the ballista and then continued to attack the other ballistas.”

The general was surprised and asked, “What nonsense, what streak of lightning?”

The soldier said, “They are still trying to find the exact source of this attack, Sire. However, the source is moving too fast. Three ballistas have been taken out already.”

Ignis chuckled and his chuckle turned into a laughter. The general cast him a gaze, as the first prince took out his soul communication bead and after a few minutes he said, “General, prepare the sky troops, the attack on the enemy side is done by Valerian. We do not have to take the beating lying down.”

The general was surprised, but then he nodded quickly and acted. The arrival of Prince Valerian was like a spark that lit up the morale of the entire army. They have heard stories of his bravery and skills, and now they wished to fight side by side with him.