Chapter 3 - Chapter 2: Arrival

A ray of sunlight shone through the window, illuminating the room. Nina woke up and looked around, forgetting where she was for a moment. Selinia was still asleep in a small bed on the other side of the room. Cadoc had slept in the room next door. Nina could see him through the window feeding Draco and Ilmatar. She yawned and quietly left the room. A clock on the wall told her it was 8:00. The door at the entrance to the Inn opened and Cadoc came in.



“Ah, Nina you are awake. Would you go wake Selinia for me? We should leave as soon as possible.”



“Sure.” She went back into her room and softly shook Selinia, who just grumbled and turned over. “Come on Selinia, you have to get up!”



“Yeah, yeah. I'm up, I'm up.” Selinia yawned. They both left the room and walked down the stairs. Breakfast was already on the table in one corner of the room.



“Well good morning.” Cadoc said as the three of them sat down to eat. “From here we head straight to Ilia. I already fed Ilmatar and Draco so as soon as we are done we can get ready and leave. After they had finished eating, they got dressed, brushed their teeth, the normal morning rutine. Ilmatar greeted Nina and Selinia good morning as they climbed on her back, and once again took to the sky. The three talked about various things, catching up with all that had been happening. Nina was glad to see her best friend again. Selinia had been training hard in Ilia, her dream to become the finest Falco Knight in the army. They arrived at Selinia's house before the sun had begun so set.



“Home sweet home!” Selinia said relieved to be home and away from danger. She opened the door and let Nina in. Cadoc grabbed Nina's suitcase and carried it into the house. It was a decent size, and very tidy. Nothing was left hanging around. The dishes were stacked neatly in a beautiful glass cupboard, the furniture looked comfortable and expensive, everything was sparkling clean. “Mom, dad, we are here!” When nobody responded, Selinia began checking all the rooms. “Strange…they must have went out.”



“But didn't they say they would be here when we got back?” Cadoc wondered.



“Yeah. Oh well I'm sure they will be back soon.”



“But Selinia, they didn't even leave a note! I'm going to go find out where they went. I'll be back soon. I want you and Nina to stay here.” Cadoc walked out the door and he and Draco took off.



Selinia turned to Nina. “I don't know why he is so upset about it. What could possibly have happened? Anyway, I'll show you your room.” The guestroom was clean, just like the rest of the house. The walls were painted a light blue and had a matching carpet. Beside the bed was a small, round table and on top of it a lamp. A clock was hanging on the wall so that when she was sitting in bed she could see it, and just above the bed was a window. Nina wouldn't need the bareau there were several lovely paintings hanging on the walls.



“Who painted those?” Nina asked her friend.



“My mother.”



“I didn't know she painted! They are beautiful.”



“Yep she is very good at it. She paints for other people too. Doesn't even charge.”



“Really? She takes all that time to paint them and just gives them away?”



“Yep. She says she doesn't paint for the money, but just because she enjoys doing it. The ones she does sell will be for some kind of charity. Once in a while though people will pay her for them anyway.”



“That's cool. Your mother is really kind to just give stuff away when she could be making a lot of gold.”



“Yes. I'm sure if we abosolutly needed the gold she would sell them…” The rest of Selinia's sentence was drown out by the loud cry of a Pegasus. Startled, Selinia and Nina rushed out of the house. A cloaked figure stood beside Ilmatar, who, when he turned over to see the girls coming out of the house, was kicked to the ground by the Pegasus. The figure grunted and vanished. Selinia ran over to Ilmatar. “Are you okay? Did you get hurt?” Ilmatar turned to her side to show a large cut. “Oh no, she is bleeding!”



“ What happened?” A strange voice asked. It belonged to a young man, no older than 20. He had long red hair and deep red eyes. At his belt was a sword. He was tall and slightly muscular.



“Somebody attacked my Pegasus! Look, she is hurt!” Selinia said, not even bothering to look to see whom it was she was answering.



The man walked up to Ilmatar and looked at her wound. “Don't worry, it doesn't appear to be too bad. It didn't go that deep. She will be fine. I can help you if you would like. So you have a first aid kit or something like that?”



“Yes, in the house. Let me go get it.” Selinia went back in the house and returned with a first aid kit.



The man opened it up and looked inside. “Yes this will do fine. We should clean her wound first. It might sting a little, she won't hurt me will she?”



“No, Ilmatar knows you are helping.” Selinia responded.



“ Ilmatar is it? Well it is nice to meet you Ilmatar. This might sting you a little but it is going to help you heal.” He opened a small bottle and poured some of its contents onto a ball of cotton. He dabbed it on Ilmatar's cut, which made her cry out a little bit, and bandaged it. “There, all done.” Ilmatar rubbed her head on his hand when he reached out to pet her as thanks.



“Thanks for helping my Pegasus….um…”



“Ah yes I haven't told you my name yet, my apologies. You can call me Riko.”



“Nice to meet you Riko, I am Selinia. And that is my friend Nina.”



Nina, who had just been standing there the whole time, unnoticed, waved. “Hello, Riko. Selinia, I think your brother is back.” She pointed up at Draco who was landing near the house.



“Oh Cadoc you are back! So, where is mom and dad?”



Cadoc had a grave look on his face that drained Nina of all hope Selinia's parents were safe. “Selinia, grab your lance, put on your armor, and get Ilmatar ready for battle.”

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