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Chapter 4: Battle Plan

The flight back didn't last very long, like it hadn't before. I almost fell asleep under Blaine's arm when I nuzzled against his warm body but was suddenly awakened when the eagle began landing.

I held on tight on Blaine's arm when the eagle swooped down on to the cliff edge where I had sat before. Rildel and Dylan jumped off and Blaine lifted me down carefully.

"We were kind of expecting this..." I suddenly heared Raynalds voice from ahead.

I rose my head and saw both him and Rozaline walk into the moonlight that shone upon the rocky cliff.

"We knew that you would go and rescue Blaine and Rildel dear... Even though it wasn't the most responsible thing to do, all that matters is that you're all safe, and it's wonderful to have everyone back safe and sound." Rozaline said and smiled. Galahad was behind her, cluching on her dress.

I just looked at the ground and sqeezed my fist tighter.

"I'm sorry that I did what you asked me not to... But I just-"

"Don't worry about it dear!" Rozaline exclaimed and came up to me.

"Both of you did a wonderful job getting them back..." She said looking at me and Dylan.

Dylan rubbed the back of his neck.

"Heh well, I was just helping out that's all." He said making me smile.

"We should all get some rest now. And tomorrow, we should discuss what should be done next." Raynald said and turned back to the direction of the village.

Everyone went right after him. Just Blaine and I were left alone near the cliff edge. We stared after everyone for a moment before turning to look at each other.

A smile was slowly creeping on my face when Blaine suddenly smirked and grabbed ahold of me. He lifted me up and spun me around while we both laughed uncontrollably.

We fell down under a large tree on a patch of soft grass and plants, me on top of Blaine.

Some glowing spores flew up from the plants because of the collision and they slowly drifted away in the calm breeze.

I lied on his chest and stared into his deep ocean blue eyes, still smiling. Blaine was holding his hands behind his head when he smiled back to me.

I suddenly pulled in close and kissed him on the lips. He got surprised at first but then wrapped his arms around me and kissed me back. It couldn't be expressed with words, how much I had missed him. His touch, his warmth.

We rolled over so that Blaine was now on top of me, pressing me against the patch of grass while we slowly broke the kiss.

"I've missed you so much..." I whispered.

"I've missed you too, my love." Blaine said and nestled my body against his.

"I returned as fast as I could... I did my best, and finally, I'm back, thanks to Dylan."

"And I waited for you every single day, every single hour and minute... And I'll just have to thank Dylan later now don't I?" Blaine said and grinned.

I laughed but suddenly noticed a light blue butterfly fluttering in between our faces. We both stood up and saw a few butterflyes flying up from behind the cliff edge.

We went closer to it and looked down when I accidentally kicked a rock down. When it hit the trees in the bottom we began to hear a loud rustling sound before a huge swarm of light blue butterflyes streammed up the cliff side and into the sky. We both stared in amazement as the butterflies glowed in the light of the moon above us.

"I've never seen anything so beautiful..." I gasped when my eyes got glazed.

Blaine smiled and turned to look at me.

"I have..." He said and wrapped his arms around me again.

A tear flowed down my cheeck as I pressed my head against Blaine's chest. I could hear his heartbeat.

"I never want to be apart from you again." I said and squeezed him tightly.

"I will never let you slip away from me again... You're everything to me, you're my world..." Blaine said softly while running his hand trough my hair.

"We should probably get some rest now..." He said finally and lifted me up in his arms.

"We have some work to do tomorrow." He continued and began to carry me towards his.. or rather, our home.

When we got to the bed he carefully lowered me on the matress and climbed on next to me. I nuzzled against him and yawned slightly.

"Good night Blaine..." I said quietly.

"Good night, my world... My love..."

The next morning the sounds of birds singing and chirping in the trees woke me up. I carefully opened my eyes and my vision was a little blurry.

"So you're awake, Michael." I heared Blaine's voice. I blinked a few times and turned around on to my other side. Blaine was lieing next to me smiling.

"Good morning Blaine." I said while rubbing my other eye and yawning.

Blaine moved in closer and kissed my forehead.

"Sleep well?" He asked as I nestled my self as close to him as I could.

"I slept like a log." I said and moved my face so close to his that our noses touched slightly.

"Wakie wakie!" We suddenly heared Dylan's Voice from the door. We both sat up and stared at him in surprise.

"Oh, sorry to barge in like this on your little.. Moment, but Raynald asked for me to get you two. We have to come up with a plan, he says." Dylan said and winked.

Blaine and I just glanced at each other and got up from the bed.

"Do you think we'll be able to come up with a plan that's likely to succeed?" I asked and looked at Blaine.

He was quiet and sighed.

"I'm not sure... Cassandra is powerful, and not even all of us together could barge in the castle and defeat her just like that..."

"I see..." I said as we entered Mosukes house. Everyone else was already waiting for us.

"Everyone's present, good. We can begin." Raynald said and stepped forward.

"As you all know, our situation is dire... The whole western and central parts of Esperia are taken over by the sorceress Cassandra. There's no sign of the king being alive either, but there's still some hope that he might be held prisoner somewhere. All of the sivilians outside this village are either imprisioned or used as slaves. Cassandra's minions have spred almost all over Esperia now and all of our attempts on attacking the castle without atleast a plan of some extent will most likely result in failure because of her powers, wich have grown to levels we couldn't imagine... So... Anyone got any suggestions?"

Everyone went quiet. I just now realized how desparate this whole situation was. But there had to be some way.

"Well it's obvious, we need help." Jaze said and stepped forward from the corner of the room.

"It's true that we need help. However, the problem is, where we could find such help." Mosuke replied and closed his eyes.

"We are most likely the only ones who are still fighting against Cassandra on this whole continent." Raynald said and shook his head.

Galahad suddenly pulled on Rozalines dress and looked up.

"Mommy, what about the wolves?" He said and smiled.

"The wolves can help us!"

Rozaline held his hand and kneeled down to his level.

"Galahad, darling. The wolves of the ice fields are just a fairytale." She said and patted Galahad on the shoulder.

"Wolves?" I asked and tilted my head.

Rildel nodded.

"Yes, the wolves of the north... It's an old tale usually told to children as a bed time story. According to the legend, beyond the mountains up north. Somewhere amidst the ice fields, there lies a castle hidden in the snow where the old race of the wolves lives. It's said that they're strong warriors and their leader posesses great power."

"That's atleast the legend." Rozaline said and stood up.

"No... There is a high possibility that it might actually be true." Mosuke said and caressed his beard.

"There is always a seed of truth in every legend... Back when I was younger I also heared tales of the wolves of the north and back then, it wasn't even considered as a fairytale."

"Then I'd say that we should give it a shot!" Dylan exclaimed and stepped forward.

"I mean, what have we got to lose. We have no better plan either, right?"

Everyone was silent for a moment.

"I agree." I said and walked next to Dylan.

"If there's even a small chance of getting help, we should take it! We can't lose any more time by just sitting around twiddling our thumbs."

"I concur." Blaine said and stood up too.

"If that truly is our best bet, I'm in too..." Jaze said and rose up his head.

Raynald smiled.

"Then it's decided. We shall leave towards the mountains at dusk. But we need atleast three people here just in case. So Michael, Blaine, Jaze, Dylan and I shall go."

Mosuke nodded slowly in agreement.

"Rozaline, Rildel and I shall keep this place safe."

Raynald walked to me and Dylan and placed a hand on Dylan's shoulder.

"It'd be best if all of you went to gather your things. We have to be as ready as we can before nightfall."

We were about to turn and leave the house when Dylan suddenly stopped and turned around to face Raynald.

"Um... Raynald, May I ask you something?" He said and walked closer.

"Hm? What is it, Dylan?"

"Well. Since we're going on a journey and all, dangerous no doubt about, I wouldn't just want to stand around and be in the way of everyone... So I need a weapon of somesort, or atleast something I can help others with."

Raynald tought for a while, placing his hand on his chin.

"Well, it depends on what you can use." He said after being quiet for a moment.

"I can use a bow! I've been practising ever since I was little."

"Then we've got just the thing."

I got curious and decided to follow Raynald and Dylan. We went into another house with all sorts of weapons hanging around the walls.

Raynald walked beside the wall and stopped in front of a beautifully shaped bow with silver carvings on it.

"We call this bow 'Cresent Moon'." He said and handed the bow towards Dylan who just stared at it in amazement.

"This bow is made out of pure silver and it's said that the full moon has some sort of mysterious effect on it, hence the name."

"It's so beautiful..." Dylan gasped, still staring at the bow.

"Go on, take it. It's yours now." Raynald said and smiled.

Dylan's eyes sparkled with excitement as he carefully took the bow from Raynald.

"Thank you." He said and stroked the silvery carvings gently.

"Use it wisely." Raynald replied and left the house.

As Dylan was still examining the bow, I looked at it over his shoulder.

"Quite a remarkable weapon." I said suddenly, making Dylan jump slightly.

"Geeze! don't scare me like that...!" He said and sighed heavily.

"Sorry, can't help it." I said and grinned sheepishly.

Dylan just rolled his eyes and walked towards the door.

"We should probably start gathering up everything we might need, so let's not waste any more time here chit chatting."

"Alright, alright. You're probably right. First I should probably get my bag of silver wires..."

It was finally dusk. The crickets were chirping in the bushes and some fireflies were flying around slowly as we all stood next to the hollow tree stairway. Rildel, Rozaline, Mosuke and Galahad too had gathered there to wish us good luck on our trip.

"It is almost time to leave..." Raynald said and turned his head towards the sky.

I took a deep breath when Blaine placed his hand on my shoulder gently.

Galahad was holding some kind of container full of small bottles in his hands and he hesitantly walked forward. Rozaline gave him a little nudge on the back as he stepped forward.

"Mommy and I made you all these." He said and handed the container towards me.

"They're bottles of holy water. They might come in handy." He said and nodded qikly before running back to Rozaline.

"Thank you, Galahad, Rozaline. I'm sure they will." Raynald said and turned around.

"It's about time we left already." Jaze said, waiting for us at the first few steps on the stairway.

"Good luck to you all." Rozaline said and smiled sadly when we walked into the hollow tree.

"Don't worry, they will be just fine." Rildel said and Mosuke nodded in agreement.

"They have to... They and the legend, they're our only hope..."