As the masses gathered, coerced and guided by trepidation and curiosity alike in the arrival of their unprecedented visitor, Israfel and Solaris remained a stalwart, steady form in the crux of it all. The Warden’s vermilion eyes, burning and passionate and defiant, stared hard at the otherworldly goose. Oh, but this magic was a familiar one. She recognized it instantly, intimately. It was the same magic that had once flowed through her very veins, in the world of Helovia.
Godly. Spectral. Ancient.
Envy spread among the caution and flooded her veins with poison, her eyes narrowing. This beast was so much more than it appeared. The Sun Daughter lingered near Florentine, her queen, her friend, broad and tall and fierce, ready to defend the flower-fae at a moment’s notice.
Upon her spine, Solaris was a familiar, soothing weight. The massive Phoenix’s feathers were transitioning to a vibrant orange and crimson, her body growing hotter at the potential threat. Her flames were ready, poised, eager to ignite and defend Florentine, to defend their people, their home. Yet the Phoenix, attuned to such spectral and ancient energy as she was, knew that this massive, mystical goose did not arrive with the promise of destruction or pain. A messenger of the divines, really, for it could be nothing else.
’Peace, child.’ Solaris’ firm words were a comfort that echoed within her mind. Israfel felt herself calming immediately. The tension in her shoulders lessened, her posture slowly letting up.
The others of the Court who had gathered acted on their own accord, and Israfel paid them little mind. Calliope, one of their talented warriors, darted off rather suddenly with words of ’securing their path’. Israfel let her depart without even attempting to stop her. If that was what she wished to do, how she desired to expel her energy, to secure a road that may or may not be dangerous in the first place, then so be it. That was her prerogative. Technically Israfel could order her to stay and defend their home, for what if Florentine did not wish Calliope to leave their borders? What if her prowess was needed at home? Such eagerness could prove to be her undoing, but instead of speaking out, she simply let the dark warrior go.
’Never mind that she cannot even fly.’ Solaris muttered within her mind, and against her better judgement a sly grin quirked at Israfel’s lips. None of that, Solaris. You know better, you ancient beast. She is a proud, seasoned warrior. Let her do what she wishes.
The Daughter of the Sun’s rose-kissed lips were set in a perpetual frown, the fire pits of her eyes slowly trailing from the goose and the message it carried to focus on her queen. “Florentine.” A name, a statement. Little else needed to be said, but Israfel remembered an event not too far in the past that had damaged their relaxing friendship. Honestly, she still did not know where she stood with the Terrastellan queen, but Israfel hoped that Florentine knew that the Warden would follow her to the ends of the earth.
“Your orders?” No matter what they might be, Israfel would adhere to them. It was her duty, after all, as Warden. “Solaris and I will accompany you if you wish, shield-sister, or remain behind and tend to the people. The choice is yours.”
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