In Elyria

The first thing that I felt when I woke up was pain in my face and side. I groaned as I opened my eyes and tried to sit up, but found that I couldn't move my arms or legs. Confused, I looked to see that I had been restrained to the bed by leather straps, keeping me from moving.

"What the? Hey!" I said as I fought against the straps, but immediately stopped as more pain blossomed from my side.

"Don't do that. You'll reopen your wounds." Someone said beside me, startling me. I turned my head to see Kaida sitting beside me, looking quite rough and like she hadn't slept in days.

"Kaida? What happened? Where am I? And why am I strapped to the bed?" I asked as I spouted questions faster than she could answer them.

"Calm down. I can't answer if you don't let me." She said, and I immediately stopped to let her speak. "Thank you, but first, let's get you out of those straps." She stood up and quickly unfastened the straps that were holding me down, allowing me to sit up.

"During our encounter with the Duskwraiths," she began explaining, "one of them managed to get ahold of a bow and shoot you with it. You ended up passing out from the pain and blood loss, so Zahyr ran you here to this hospital in Elyria. They managed to stop you from bleeding out, thank the Guardians, but they noticed the Corrupted marks you had and panicked. Zahyr told them that you wouldn't be Consumed by it, but they still restrained you as a precaution. When I got here, I assured them that I would watch you to make sure you didn't become Consumed, and I've been waiting ever since."

"All that happened last night?" I finally asked after taking a moment to process. "No, Zarek," she said, "All that happened three days ago; you've been unconscious for three days."

I was stunned to find out that I had been unconscious for that long, but I forced myself to calm down. "That means the Nobles, they're here?" I asked her. She nodded. "Yes, they arrived in Elyria earlier today and are currently in committee. If you want to see them today, we have to go now."

I gave her a nod and stood up, but I had to lean on the bed, as the pain flared whenever I took a step. "Kaida, I don't think I'm going to be able to see them today." I said to her, "I can barely stand, let alone walk, with this injury." She glared at me for a moment, her face unreadable. "Very well," she finally said, "get your rest; I'll be back tomorrow to see if you're up for it, but we are going to bring you to the Nobles." Her tone softened, becoming gentler. "They've waited for someone like you for far too long." What was the last thing she said to me before she walked out?

"How much does she know about this situation?" I thought to myself, "She seems to know that the Nobles have been looking for someone like me, but she doesn't seem to know why." My train of thought was broken as an intense sense of fatigue washed over me, despite waking up less than an hour ago. I slowly eased back into the bed and closed my eyes, letting the fatigue slowly wash the pain away.

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I woke up later to the sound of voices, and by the sound of it, they seemed to be arguing. I opened my eyes to see Kaida and Zahyr standing at the foot of the bed, in a heated argument with one another. "…can't take him to see the Nobles; he's hardly had time to recover at all!" Zahyr finished, his face scrunched up in anger. "We don't have time for him to recover; today is the last day for him to see the Nobles before they leave. The time to go is now." Kaida fired back, looking quite annoyed about the argument.

"I understand this is important, but he almost died twice that day, once by the hands of a Duskwraith, and the other almost by the blood loss alone! Thankfully you were able to give him some of your blood, but that didn't stop him from being unconscious for three whole days!"

"And I'm grateful he survived, but the only reason that we came to Elyria in the first place was to bring him to see the Nobles; that mission hasn't changed. Especially since he could be the one that every General and commander of the Five Realms was tasked to find by the Nobles themselves."

"I understand that, Kaida. I haven't forgotten the mission, but if he's truly the one that we were tasked to find, then that's why we should let him rest. He's no good to the Nobles dead or weak from injuries."

Kaida seemed ready to argue more, but I cut in. "Kaida," I said, making them jump slightly, "Is today the last day for me to see the Nobles?" She paused for a moment before giving a small nod. "Yes, Zarek, you ended up sleeping for over a day, so now is the only time for you to see them."

"Then by all means," I said as I got out of bed, "lead the way." Zahyr opened his mouth to speak, but I cut in again. "Look, Zahyr, I know I need to rest, but today is the last day the Nobles are here, the only people that could give me answers, so please save your concerns for after." Zahyr stayed silent for a moment before saying, "Very well, then you should know that you aren't wearing a shirt; I can't have you roaming the streets of Elyria looking like that."

I looked down to see that I was, in fact, not wearing a shirt, since they had to remove it to treat the wound. I felt myself getting red from embarrassment, suddenly uncomfortable with them seeing me like that. "Where's my shirt?" I asked, and Kaida just pointed to the foot of the bed, where my blood-stained shirt hung from the edge. I quickly grabbed it and put it on, still a bit red from embarrassment. I slowly stood up and gestured to the door, "Lead the way." I said to Kaida. She turned and headed to the door as Zahyr put his arm around my shoulder to help me walk without exerting myself.

Kaida led the way to the hospital entrance, and as she opened the door, I was immediately flooded with the sounds and smells of Elyria. We stepped outside, and I was met with the view of the city. There were many Nyora of many colors bustling about, heading in every direction. There were some standing on the edge of the crowd, shouting at passerby to announce their items to anyone interested. Kaida muttered to herself, then turned to us and said, "Stay close, you could get easily lost in a crowd like this." Before immediately heading into the crowd, the two of us followed as closely as possible.

We walked for several minutes, passing by buildings with unique shapes and colors. Occasionally, we would pass by a vendor who would sometimes notice us and call out to show their items, but we would keep walking, ignoring anything they were saying. We had walked a good distance from the hospital when I ended up doubling over in pain, clutching my side as the wound flared intensely from the walk. "Kaida," I gasped at her, "I need a break." Noticing my pain, she stopped and came over. "The wound's bothering you?" She asked me, and I nodded. She seemed to think for a moment before finally saying, "Zahyr, take him to the palace. I'll be there shortly."

Zahyr gave her a nod before suddenly picking me up off the ground and carrying me in his arms. "You might want to hold on." He said as I heard the familiar crackle of lightning, "Hold on for wh-" was all I managed to say before he suddenly ran faster than I ever thought possible, and in less than a second we were there at the palace gates. I was left speechless as Zahyr, still carrying me, walked to the gates, where two guards stood in front of them.

"Halt! State your name and business." one of them said.

"My name is Commander Zahyr Thunderforge, and I've come to meet with the Nobles," Zahyr replied, although I was confused as to why he had given a different name than the one he had given me. "Thunderforge…" the guard answered, "Isn't that the same name as?" "Yes," Zahyr interrupted, "It's the same name because he's my father." At this, both guards straightened further, before hurriedly saying, "Apologies for the mishap, my Prince, I'll have the gates opened for you, I'm just wondering who this Nyoran is? Is he someone of importance?"

"Prince?" I thought to myself, confused. "He's no one of importance to you, but to the Nobles, he's of the utmost importance." Zahyr replied, "Ah, but of course, my apologies." The guard said as the metal gates lifted, allowing us through. Zahyr gave a nod of gratitude as he walked through the palace and headed inside. "What was that all about? Why'd they call you a prince? And how did you run so fast?" I blurted out as he walked down a fancy hallway with a long, patterned rug and lavish decorations the whole way. "All Lightning Nyorans can create and control lightning. But I'm among the few who can channel it through their body and enhance it. There are even some that can create lightning storms on command and call down lightning from the clouds. It's extremely rare for a Lightning Nyoran to have any of those skills, about one in every thirty Nyorans or so."

"Of course, something else that I shouldn't be surprised about." I thought to myself as he continued, "As for the 'prince' thing. I won't tell you that right now, I'll explain after you finally meet the Nobles."

"Fair enough." I said as we turned the corner to see a large ornate metal door with two guards standing in front of it. The guards, noticing us, straightened and said, "If you came to see one of the Nobles, you're going to have to wait a couple hours, they're in the middle of a meeting right now." Without hesitation, Zahyr said, "We came today because there is very important information that we must share with all of them, and now is the only opportunity to give them that information."

"We're under strict orders to not let anyone interrupt this meeting. Is the information you have really that important to interrupt their meeting?" The guard asked, to which Zahyr jusr nodded. "All right then, it's your decision, just be sure to clarify that it was severly important." He replied as they both stepped out the way. "Could you put me down? I at least want to look somewhat presentable as I meet the Nobles, and not as some cripple." I said to Zahyr, and he just nodded and put me on my feet.

Putting our arms around each other, we stepped closer to the door, as Zahyr reached out and knocked on the door.