Chapter 711 Ancient Magic and a Message
Iona and Rolfe accompanied Haldir with their kids to Draoidh. Lena cried and threw so many tantrums that finally Iona had to give in. At first, it was decided that Haldir would take Lena for a few days to meet Ruvyn and then bring her back, but then Lena wanted her mom and her baby brother to tag along. In the end, the whole situation became so messy that Rolfe just gave in. He couldn't see his daughter crying over something as small as this. So, he decided that the whole family would go and come back together.
When Lena declared that she wanted to see Ruvyn, she was serious. As soon as they all entered the portal that Rolfe created to reach Draoidh, Lena hurried Haldir to take him to his son.
Haldir laughed. He picked up Lena in his lap and asked, "Why are you eager to meet Ruvyn? Are you in love with him?"
She shook her head. "No, I have to punch him. Last time he did not include me in his games."
Haldir's eyebrows arched. "That is very bad of him," he said. "He is truly a naughty boy."
Lena couldn't agree more.
As soon as they all entered the east gardens of the palace, they found Ileus and Anastasia with their kids waiting for them. Nikolai was particularly excited. He rushed to where Haldir was and enthusiastically added, "Lena, I want to go with you."
"Nikooo!" Lena said and spread her arms. Haldir picked him up also in his lap and both the kids hugged each other. "Niko, I have something to tell you," she whispered. When Niko came near her, she said, "I am going to teach Ruvyn a lesson. Will you join me?"
Haldir shook his head. He looked at Anastasia with a knowing smile. Anastasia smiled back and nodded. She created a portal for them and Haldir stepped inside with two children babbling and making so much noise that he couldn't help but feel absolute joy.
Ileus grasped Rolfe's forearm and then his shoulders, like the men they were. "Great to see you, demon!"
"Nice to see you too, wolf!"
"Ya, great to see you too brother," Iona blew a strand out of her eye with anger.
Ileus turned his attention to his sister who was holding Ryne and cocked his head. A warm smile spread on his lips. "Come here," he said and Iona walked in his arms.
"I missed you," Ileus said as kissed the crown of her head.
She looked up and narrowed her eyes, "Then why didn't you come to meet me?"
"That's why I called you," he replied quickly.
Anastasia held Iona's hand. "Come one over. Mother and father are waiting for both of you." Iona removed herself from Ileus and she hugged her sister-in-law.
"Alexander has grown up," she said as she tousled his hair. Alexander giggled and held her hand. Little magical sparks crackled out of his fingers. Iona wasn't shocked. She laughed. What else would you expect from children of parents who were born with powers beyond imagination.
"He gets it when he is excited," Anastasia explained as she soothed his magic with her own. "I think he is happy to see Ryne."
Ileus and Rolfe had already gone ahead. Anastasia took Iona to meet Adrianna and Dmitri.
"Haldir mentioned about the winged demons," Rolfe said as the two walked to the library.
"It was probably a hoax," Ileus remarked. "But we can't take things for granted."
"What do you propose?" Rolfe was a little irritated. He was thankful that Ileus took care of the rogue horde of demons. "Do you think there are more?"
"There might be several more. Who knows?" They walked down the corridor and rounded a corner. "And it is not necessary that we only have winged demons as rogues. My spies told me that they spotted some vampire rogues too in the east. But they are close to Wilyra."
"Vampire rogues!" Rolfe halted as disbelief surged through him. "That can be terribly dangerous!"
Ileus took a deep breath in. "I heard that they are making their way towards Vilinski."
Rolfe snapped his head to look at Ileus. "That's disturbing!"
"Nah!" Ileus opened the door of the library. "They will get trapped in Sgiath Biò and probably never see the light of the day."
"You mean night or the day."
Ileus chuckled. "But I have already informed Lazarus about it. Nonetheless, you must keep a watch on this horde. These must be the ones with blood lust."
"I will personally kill them all," Rolfe said in a cold voice so lethal that a chill ran down Ileus's spine. But that was not new. Rolfe was fiercely protective about his kingdom. He was the most powerful demon with ancient magic running in his veins.
As they settled inside, Ileus said, "Someone needs your help with ancient magic. She has to open the dark book of arcana."
Rolfe narrowed his eyes, "Who?" he asked.
Ileus closed the door behind him and opened the window that faced north. Rolfe looked outside wondering why Ileus would open the window. He stared at the sky thinking that he was expecting a spy this way, but the morning sky was just as lazy as he saw it last. Few soft clouds drifted languidly with the cool breeze. Suddenly, he saw a large white owl flapping its powerful wings appear from the skies above. It screeched loudly and came to perch on the ledge. It looked at them with his piercing yellow eyes. Rolfe froze to the spot, amazed to see such a massive creature. "Who is it?" he asked as he neared the bird.
"A message from King Eltanin of Araniea."
Rolfe's eyes widened as adrenalin gushed through him. "You mean that king, who is—"
"Yes, I mean that king," Ileus said with a smile as he stared at the owl.
The owl flapped its wings as if it was in a rush to leave. Ileus walked to him and caressed its feathers down. "Tell him what you wanted to tell me."
The owl whipped its head to Rolfe and in its own way, conveyed the message to him. As soon as it conveyed the message, it turned and then flew out of the window into the skies above, where it disappeared behind the clouds.
When Ileus closed the window, he turned to look at Rolfe who was still absolutely dumbfounded. He walked to the bar and poured wine for both of them.
Still stunned as hell, Rolfe took the flute and sank in the nearest sofa. "No one can enter that realm, Ileus. It is forbidden. The realm is protected by every fucking being from mythology, by stars, by dark magic. Whoever has tried to enter it has turned into smithereens!"
"I know," Ileus replied as he settled in his chair behind the large oak desk. "It's up to you to go and help him."
"But Eltanin is legendary. How come he is asking me to help him?"
Ileus swirled his wine in the flute and after a while said, "You also possess the knowledge of ancient and dark magic."
"That even you do."
"You have missed the point, Rolfe. Your knowledge of magic is from thousands of years. It is possible that you might be holding a key to something very important. King Eltanin sounded... urgent."
"But wasn't the messenger owl from another prince?" Rolfe drank his wine. Suddenly, the attack of the winged demons and vampires looked puny, insignificant.
"Yes, from Prince Rigel." They sat in silence, each in their own thoughts. Then Ileus said, "It's up to you to go there or not. However, if you decide to go, I will help you. I know a way into the realm. It was encrypted in the message."
Rolfe took a shaky breath and finished his wine. "I don't know..."
"Well, you can decide and I wouldn't insist. But I can tell you that once I open the portal for you, I won't be able to enter it. The portal will recognize you only."
"Gods above!"
Ileus filled the glasses with another round of wine.
"What about Kar'den?" Rolfe asked as he sipped it. He needed it. Too much was going on.
"Kar'den wasn't into the rogue attack. It was an individual act. The leader, Ur'hem, is already under the watch of my spies, so I think going after Kar'den isn't worth it."
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