Chapter 45: New home

"Do you always travel like this?" He asked their leader, voice dripping with curiosity and questions.

A pegasus. A creature he had only ever read about in stories and old records of mythical explorers who had seen angels and dragons.

It was said that a pegasus was a holy beast that can travel through different realms at will, a beast that does not follow anyone, a beast that represented freedom and purity, hope and adventure.

In the old texts, people also called it (Whaliq’Udad), the horse that will follow the Rebel who steers the tranquil waters of the world to bring a new Light to this world.

There were so many similar ancient stories that it was hard to believe those people were just writing a fictional tale. But, here he was, in the presence of the holy beast, flying...

"Swing is family. We have been together for over a decade and half." Andrew said with a smile, remembering the time when they weren’t so close.

"He wasn’t in a good state when we found him." Lily added after him, also remembering the old days when Beth was still a new member of their group. The time when none of them were a couple.

They were a team, a family, friends and comrades that were travelling the world, preparing for something big. They did not take on commissions like they do now. But still, they were fighting entities that weren’t so simple.

"We rescued him from an ancient rune." Sammy smiled as she showed the prince the pictures of their old days, using the magic holograph Beth handed her. "He was a wild beast back then, tortured, in pain, a captive that didn’t have his rational mind anymore."

They saved him, almost died in the process, but they did break his shackles.

Back in the days, he was not a friendly beast. He did not follow them. And they did not want him to follow them.

He was a free being. A creature that represented freedom. Confining him to a dark ruin wasn’t right, and keeping him in the dark was worse. So, they freed him.

"But he was a softie." The creature kept following them, watching them from a distance, coming to their help in times they needed him the most.

The Holy beast was a powerful creature. And centuries of confinement had only increased his magical powers.

Still, Andrew taught the beast things the beast could never have learned on his own. And with time, the strangers became friends, and friends, a family.

"Swing is what you call a Holy Beast, a creature of high intelligence, a being that possesses bloodline powers that are derived from the same root energies that angels use."

All holy beasts use Holy Powers, and these powers allow them to process the natural elements in their own unique manner.

"This carriage is a part of Swing’s ability: Physical Space. But, well, you will have to figure the details out on your own."

The creature was also a member of Parliament. He did not have a code name like the rest of them do, like what Arcos will soon have, but without him, Parliament might not have grown to where they are right now.

"We will soon reach home." Andrew informed the prince after a few minutes, making him realize once again just how fast they were moving right now.

They had crossed cities, flowed through mountains, dived into rivers of clouds, and bathed in the warm sunlight.

Now, there were grasslands under them, and visible in front of them were mountains taller than any they had seen until now.

"Hold on for this, little one. It’ll be a little bumpy." Lily informed him while wrapping a bedsheet around him.

The others held onto different parts of the bed as well, preparing for something different.

He didn’t know what was going to happen, but he didn’t want to miss it so he didn’t close his eyes.

He made sure to keep them wide open so that he could see whatever they were preparing for, but even if he was as skilled as Lily, he wouldn’t be able to ’see’ this with his eyes.

-Zap.

The Pegasus gathered his wings together as a bright light covered his entire body, bright enough to blind anyone with open eyes for a moment.

-Zup...!

And when they heard the sound of wind in the next second, when the world returned to their cured eyes, they saw the same mountains that were in front of them passing far away behind them.

"Space jump." Sammy whispered in his ears, giggling joyfully as she watched the little hands that were tightly gripping the bedsheets.

To her, he was like a scared little tom. A cute student she was going to have the most fun with.

In fact, all four of them were looking forward to how much they could give him. How much could he take away from them?

"We’re here." In the distance, a small town became visible to them as the high carriage started its soft landing.

It will be on the ground soon. And then they would go back to their home, in the same little inn that they had lived in for the past few years.

Not only was it a strategic base of operations, it was a great place to enjoy the small moments of life. A great place to be a human for as long as they could.

"The life you’ll live from now on won’t be anything like the palace life of pampering and secret night readings, Arcos." Andrew did not want him to have any fantasy delusions about a fun jolly life.

They weren’t fools going around playing drama, they were criminals with millions of bounty on their heads.

Their name alone was enough to cause a disturbance in the shadows.

The reputation they had built over the years did not come without blood on their hands. So, the work they were doing was dirty and inhumane.

The longer one does this work, the more of their humanity they lose... and they did not want that for a young child with great powers like him.

He was a key to their Holy War. And they would not want that key to have cracks.

"So be realistic."

A Pegasus wasn’t the best thing they could show him. There were a hundred and one other things that would shake his heart.

But will he survive long enough to see them?

No one but he alone had the answer to that question...