Vaeludar then looked at Teutates who was standing silently, saying nothing at all. The man was just standing with his arms crossed. “Do you have anything to say, Teutates?”
“Your quest is already known to me, but I will not be drawn into this war you all are having,” said Teutates. “My ancestors were exiled to Isla Maeli, remember? I am not a citizen of this island I’m standing on. And I already have my own problems and none of those concern you.”
“Then you shouldn’t concerned with us,” said Vaeludar. “If we are done here, then we should be on our way.”
“Although there is another thing you should know: rumors are spreading. Rumors of his personal elite bodyguards are on the move: the Shadow Men. Rumors say the Shadow Men are coming out of hiding.”
“How do you know all this?” asked King Uragiru.
“It is my own duty to know what is going on that island. Remember your ancestor exiled his brother, my ancestor, to Isla Maeli. On Isla Maeli, I am the king there.”
“How you got this information doesn’t matter to me,” said Vaeludar. “This valuable information is quite nice. Now that just creates more problems for me. The Shadow Men. Men who should their souls for lies and broken promises and doomed to worship the Shadows for all time to come. Now, the Shadow King will become more of a problem if I don’t find that next armor artifact.
“And I gauss that is all the planning we need to do. Okay, we’re done now. I’m getting out of here before I am drawn into another argument or a fight, and seriously I am gone!” The hybrid took no time into flapping his wings and flying toward the throne room door. Vaeludar bashed through the doors and exited the throne room before anyone could call name. “I hate being part of group talks that waste my time.”
The hybrid soared away from the doors and stopped at an overhead of the place where he and Marina sat. The tables and the chairs were all destroyed. Food was tossed if it was garbage. Rubbles of stones were piled around every corner Vaeludar could see. Lots wounded and dead bodies of humans and creatures were aligned in segments of each species.
The entire city had come to a ruin. Vaeludar thought it was impossible for this city to be taken by such a small force, but he was proven wrong when Lusìvar was appeared and suddenly burst out several hundred creatures at once at a great speed. Some three hundred of the Shadow King’s forces attacked the city and destroyed about forty perfect of the city’s best districts.
Then Vaeludar remembered something about Lusìvar mentioning something about a traitor; someone in the castle was on Lusìvar’s side and that is how the Shadow King was able to get into the castle. Vaeludar knew King Uragiru was the king of the island, but there was no way he could be an ally of the Shadow King. And there was the king’s daughter: Stephane. She always was a bratty girl who still wants Vaeludar and likely possible she could be allied with Lusìvar. At any rate, Vaeludar couldn’t tell who the traitor could be; he’s main object was still to find the second armor artifact before anything else happens that he doesn’t know of.
As he went flying toward the city’s cliffs, he found his Griffin companion talking to the Griffin King near to many covered bodies of Griffins covered beneath blankets. Vaeludar could see how the two Griffins looked devastated to see their many of their kin to be killed during the wedding day. He landed several feet away but close enough to at least get their attention.
Then Flarefur saw Vaeludar landing close to them. The Griffin motioned his head to his king that the hybrid was coming. Both the Griffins saw Vaeludar coming to them. “Vaeludar,” said Flarefur, “My greatest symphonies on your glorious day.”
Vaeludar looked at the Griffin bodies covered in blankets and looked at the Griffin King. “I would say the same thing to some of these Griffins, Griffin King.” Vaeludar turned his eyes to see Flarefur. “If you don’t have anything else to do, I’m about to head out on and resume my quest, and I want you to rejoin me.”
Flarefur bowed his head. “I am honored by this offer, but the Griffins lost many lives today. Many Griffins related to the fallen would want the bodies of their deceased loved ones returning back to the place of origin.”
“You don’t have to do that,” said the Griffin King. “You have more experience in the Northern Region and have seen many great unknowns, Flarefur. He will be exploring the unknown, and you have great thrill in exploring unknown land.”
“And I would need extra transportation,” said Vaeludar. “Geraldus and Marina are coming with me, and I don’t want to be carrying them both all the way to my last known destination. And I would feel better if a creature had come to thin the company of humans.”
“I understand your urgency,” said Flarefur. The Griffin turned his head to the long line of dead Griffins. He seemed to have lost family and friends of his own. “I’m not the only Griffin to lose relatives in this… event.” Then the Griffin looked closely at Vaeludar’s eyes; his eyes had changed suddenly, which was highly odd for a person to have his eyes transform in different colors. “If you don’t mind me asking, what happened to your eyes?” asked Flarefur.
Vaeludar signed. “My patience has been wearing thin the last few days. A few people have been making choices without my condolences and my final approval, which is starting to make me lose my faith in my own humanity and embracing my inner dragon. I should have waited until I got my hands on the second armor artifact and then proposed to Marina.”
“I understand that problem as well,” said Flarefur. “I don’t know much
