Valerian, The Legendary

72 Counter.

Unaware of everything, Valerian slept soundly recovering his strength. If someone was to look carefully at his face, they would discover that his brows were twitching from time to time. He was dreaming, a bad one at that, however, now the nightmares did not scare him.

The dream at the moment was not even scary, Flos stood in front of him with a faint smile on her face, and said, “Val, missed me?”

Valerian did not answer but threw himself in her arms. Flos chuckled and said, “I love you too, my dear. I see that you have met your aunt. Do you like her?”

The child raised his head slightly and Flos replied with a faint smile, “I know that you do not trust people too much, but know this before trust comes a leap of faith. Take that leap and if the other person is there to catch you, then you can trust them but if they are not. Then, that is fine too, just pick yourself up and move on.

There is always of risk of falling when you walk on the ground, but that does not stops you from moving forward, does it?”

The two people did not need to exchange many words. Flos could tell what Valerian was thinking without him needing to use signs or anything. It could be because she was a projection of magic, or perhaps because she was inside Valerian’s dream. So the thoughts were being answer by Valerian himself, and Flos in front of him was just a construct of his mind.

Even if he acted cold and unfeeling, it was not because he did not want to mingle with people, but because he was scared of being treated badly, however, at the end of the day, a human heart will always seek comfort.

Valerian and Flos conversed for a few more minutes when someone approached him and the child woke up. He looked and found Ensis standing beside her. She was talking to another soldier. He could make out a few words like, ‘Her Excellency, safety, attacked.’, that was all.

He could not understand why his body was so lethargic. He tried to sit up but he fell back to the bed with a grunt. Ensis caught his movements and dismissed the soldier, she turned her head back to Valerian and asked, “Do not move much, you have been poisoned. The camp was attacked and we have suffered some damage.”

.....

Valerian was shocked, he did not understand how could such a thing happen all of a sudden, but then, careful thoughts allowed him to realize something, the landslide, how come it occurred without any natural factor? There was no rain today. His eyes opened wide in realization and he cast a gaze at Ensis, who nodded and confirmed, “It was a planned attack against, Her Excellency.”

The child tried to move, his heart was overcome by a sense of loss. He wanted to look for the Empress, to make sure that she was fine. However, the poison inside his body did not allow him to get up. With much effort, he used his hand to ask, ‘Where is Her Excellency?’

Ensis said, “She is still fighting against the mages from the enemy camp. Do not worry, the situation is still under her control.”

Valerian was not assured by this news, he asked, ‘Can you tell me the details? Why did you leave her side? Are you not her guard captain?’

Ensis sighed and said, “I wanted to stay by her side, but she asked me to go away, she had shadows to help her and by now it must be coming to an end.”

Valerian nodded and asked, ‘How did I get poisoned? Why are you all not poisoned as well?’

He did not care of this lady was a peak warrior, he needed answers. Ensis knew that he was not a simple person and that he has been accepted to study with the elusive Fallax. She also knew that the Empress had treated this child more kindly than any of her subordinates.

Ensis organized her words and replied, “When we were attacked, most of the troops withdrew and I was left behind guarding you. Her Excellency thought that if you woke up, you will not leave and thus she injected a drop of a paralyzing agent into your body, that way you will stay out of harm’s way. Later I carried you here.”

Valerian’s face changed, he was deeply pissed at this moment, children never thought that elders would do something for their good, they will always think that the elders thought of them as a burden, and that was exactly what going on with the boy. Ensis was aware of this and said, “The other side has twenty mages, and they are all stronger than the thirty we have in the security detail. The Shadows are a better choice at this moment.”

Valerian did not answer her, he could tell that the lady was remorseful, but he had to think this through. While thinking, he moved the light attribute mana inside his body. The attribute of light was capable of healing others and similarly, if the ailment in the body was temporary, it can be cured slowly.

After a few moments, the child raised his hand and said, ‘You know that the Empress has shadows around her, then will the enemy not know this? They knew that we will not stay inside the academy and will try to move back to the palace as soon as possible. They caused a landslide, they had people prepared to attack us at night.

They must have something up their sleeves, and another thing is, even if Her Excellency is smart, the enemy is not a fool. They must have predicted this would happen and to lower the number of deaths you all will be sent away. They were counting on not the intelligence of Her Excellency, but her benevolence.’

Ensis heard this and her heart shook. She had been feeling uneasy in her heart but she could not tell why, but the gestures from this child in front of her confirmed everything. She stood up and was about to charge out when she recalled that Valerian has to be looked after.

She turned back to face the boy but found him slowly sitting up. She did not have the time to register what happened just now, when Valerian said, ‘Rally the guards, have them flank the battlefield, we take out the people hindering the Shadows first, but we must be silent.’

Ensis asked instinctively, “Why not help Her Excellency first?”

Valerian replied, ‘Two reasons, first the Shadows will be able to support us in dealing with the assailants Her Excellency is holding back at the moment. So, we need to ease their burdens first, also by doing it silently, we will ensure that none of the main team is alerted and takes desperate measures. The silent action will also prevent them from taking any actions to bother us earlier. Since they will not see us coming, they will not run away, you know what I mean?

Second, let Her Excellency understand that benevolence has no place on the battlefield. She will not die from this attack, but experience some physical exhaustion.’

Ensis was shocked, she gulped in a mouthful of saliva and thought, ‘Never offend this kid, he is cruel to even his allies, let alone his enemies.’

Valerian gazed at the lady and said, ‘Why are you not calling them to arms yet?’

Ensis blushed under her helmet, this bastard was so irksome, he was acting like a big shot, ordering her around. She got out of the carriage and then ordered the guards to gather and told them a basic strategy. The people were obviously ready to go and aid their empress.

Just when they were about to move out, the door of the carriage was pushed open, and Valerian came out with his back straight and shoulder straight. Ensis was surprised, and only now did she find that this boy had regained his movements.

She was about to say something when Valerian looked in her eyes and said, ‘Don’t you dare to leave me behind. Understood. Get me a magic knife.’

Ensis nodded, and looking at the weakest mage in the squad she said, “Turl, you stay here. Give your weapon and mount to Valerian.”

The man was not convinced, how can he a glorified mage let a child come over and take away his place? He wanted to kill a few enemies and win glory. However, the next moment, a shadow appeared in front of him and before he reacted, Valerian’s knee was pushed inside his belly, the impact was so fast that the man stuck his tongue out and curled over on the ground.

The people were surprised but they were shocked by his physical prowess. Valerian cast a healing spell over the mage he just hit. The physique of a mage was not so weak that they could not react, but a warrior could push himself to the limits and if they attacked sneakily, the mage will lose big time.

Valerian said, ‘I have no time to play games...’, amidst his speech he bent down and took the knife from the waist of the fainted soldier’s waist, and continued, ‘The empress is in danger, if you have an idea of winning glory, then you stay here, but if you charge with us and tried to be the hero. I will kill you before the enemy ever had a chance, and I am not joking.’

The aura from him was enough to tell everyone that this kid may not be stronger than them, but he was definitely not below them.

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