Tales Of The Legendary Scholar

Freidrech sat alone in the carriage bearing the Amberdrift emblem. On his lap sat a wooden box. Four Griftein Knights escorted him on the way back to the place he was staying but they didn"t pa.s.s through the castle grounds this time. They went directly to the manor"s main gate.

On the way, Freidrech stood and put his head out the window. The late afternoon air was warm but refreshing as it brushed his face and blowing his shoulder-length hair. His mouth curved up in happiness to see children running and houses scattered around. They also pa.s.sed through a local school.

"I"ll come back here later," he said with a contented smile.

As the carriage wheels jumped on a hump, the wooden box on his lap began slipping but he held it on time.

The king personally handed this box to him before he left the royal academy.

"Freidrech, I want you to know I meant you no harm for what I did earlier," said the king as he looked at Freidrech like a father caring for his son.

The young man received the box and bowed respectfully.

"I know I was in the wrong, Your Majesty. I deserved it," Freidrech said as he stood up.

The king guiltily smiled. The boy was plain innocent regarding his true situation, but it was not the opportune time for revelation.

"Let"s chat later. Rest for now."

"Thank you for sending me here, Your Majesty. It was unnecessary."

"It"s fine, go now."

"See you later, Fred," said Theo.

"Both of you are getting chummy," said the king to his grandson, teasing.

Theo and Freidrech chuckled and did a fist b.u.mp. Freidrech stepped in the carriage and ordered the coachman to go, waving his hand outside the curtained window. Theo waved back smilingly.

Currently, he peeped out the window and saw they were approaching the manor"s gate.

Freidrech placed his head out as he gazed with pride up the steel arc with the word Amberdrift above the gate.

He slightly smiled, feeling pleased and sad as well. "Why did Popa and Moma hid this all from me, even our true surname?" and whispered, "Amberdrift."

His attention went back on the box with mixed feelings of excitement and uncertainty. Everything was surreal.

Yesterday, he was a homeless orphan forced to change residence. Now, he became the Lord of Amberdrift.

After the ceremony, the headmaster mentioned this manor was one of the gifts from the king when his father became a Griftein Knight.

After Louvel decided to take over as a village chief, he left it to Pheya"s care with the instruction that it would be used when important guests would visit the kingdom. Now, it was handed down to him.

He opened the box and the Amberdrift insignia displayed its beauty.

A circle black metal with carvings of a standard-sized shield with an upward mountain-shaped top and curving downward sides to a tip at the bottom. A Golden Griffin stood at the lower side of the shield. A golden coronet rests on the upper part, it"s the king"s crown of Xaeviel.

A red bow stood incline with an arrow in the middle of the shield. At the back of the insignia, a large green ribbon furled and carries the motto, which reads: "Beseiraen Indaera, Bhihetzaeren Beraendate." It means "Strength of the Arm, Will of the Heart."

Freidrech closed the lid back in place.

He turned his gaze ahead of the road. There, he saw the front side of the villa of which could be considered a mansion at this point of view. He hadn"t seen this last night because he entered another door near the castle grounds.

Then he scanned the surrounding land and clearly comprehended. He might have entered a portal yesterday because, in reality, the Amberdrift mansion stood alone on a hill, pretty desolate from the castle.

The carriage went in the mansion"s gate and stopped in between the water fountain and the columned stairs straightaway the huge door.

Freidrech stepped down and saw the wide opened door. He couldn"t help but smile to see a familiar face, Pheya.

He went in and was greeted by Pheya and the helpers. Sir Averardus and three more Griftein knights followed behind.

"Welcome home to Amberdrift Manor, young Lord Freidrech. Welcome, Sir Knights."

"Please, Sir Pheya, stop this," said Freidrech as he tried pulling everyone to stand up from bowing, but no one moved.

"No, my Lord. We have been waiting for years for our master and the lady"s return. Instead, he sent you to us. It is our utmost joy to serve you. So, please don"t tell us to stop," said Pheya while still bowing.

Freidrech felt awkward. He was the village chief"s son and had received equal attention as his father but not as extreme as this.

"Can a normal greeting suffice?" Freidrech said, scratching his head.

Suddenly Sir Averardus interrupted.

"Amberdrift boy, don"t take offense of Pheya"s immoderate display of affection. That"s just who he is. Be ready for a long lecture if you tell him to stop," said the knight, making the other Knights cracked up.

Freidrech scratched his head again in dismay. My, what type of butler he inherited. "Please, rise," said Freidrech and all of them stood straight.

"Rest now, little bro," said Sir Averardus.

On that note, they knights moved out.

After dinner, Freidrech stood outside the room"s side door and waited for the garden to appear and indeed, it didn"t let down him down.

In front of his very own eyes, the wall obstructing his view disappeared like it was disintegrating particle by particle from bottom to top and the garden came into view in a slow manner.

Just like the way he saw it last night, the ethereal beauty of the flowers welcomed him. This time though, the flowers seemed to be bouncy as he approached. When he touched a flower, the other flowers literally moved and surrounded him. They, too, wanted to be touched by him.

"Are these . . . sentient beings?" exclaimed wide-eyed Freidrech.

As he walked, the flowers moved toward his hand. Thus, he patted each of them like he did to a pet dog and they jumped up and down in glee afterward. The flowers appeared enjoying his attention. His own elation could not be described as well.

"What kind of plants are these? Why are they acting this way to me?" he said as his laughter echoed within the garden.

He also savored the fragrance and beauty of the blooms and missed to notice he was already walking further and further toward the middle of the garden.

While he was in bliss, Sir Averardus and the other knights were inside the mansion, in full alert.

Actually, more men came to the mansion for a friendly visit with their swords unsheathed and armored mount beasts. Mages standing on their flying beasts were ready and waiting to strike.

Pheya stood in a tower at the right side of the mansion with a magical vision ball in his hand, transmitting what he saw outside into the replica in the hands of the Griftein Knights.

"Pheya, can you count how many are they?" Averardus voice sounded in the ball.

"Not much tonight. Only a fifty and could be from two different factions. They are now on their way toward Lord Freidrech"s room."

"What? That much for the first night? Why did you let him stay in that room when there"re better rooms safer for him to stay."

"Calm down, Ave. You won"t understand now but later you"ll see. Ever since Lord Freidrech stayed in that room, something or maybe somebody who has powers I can"t read began dwelling there as well."

"What do you think is that uninvited resident?"

Pheya started moving down the stairs after he saw the beasts flew past the tower. "No idea, but I"m sure it"s not against us. It could be protecting the young Lord as we speak. Don"t do anything yet, just watch and you"ll understand what I mean."

The riders and their mounts reached the back area. However, what they saw was so surprising. A black gigantic being, double the height, and size of an average man, stood outside Freidrech"s room but no flower garden was there. Not even Freidrech could be found.

One of the mages on his flying manta ray used his magic eye for a clearer view of the being.

He blinked his right eye thrice while closing the other. In every blink, his vision gradually became closer and clearer.

"Can you see that thing now?" another mage asked, one who was sitting on a flying snake, floating beside the manta ray.

"Wait," he said. On the last blink, "Yep, I see a tall burly man with naked tops, wearing a dispenser and a . . . skirt made of leaves?"

"What? Is that a girl?"

Then, the mage saw something else which puzzled him nuts. "No, but there seem to be these very tiny wings below the man"s nape."

"Don"t bother, let"s strike him now or else the knights will come out soon."

Suddenly, the burly man smiled at the mage and showed his smooching lips. "What?" shouted the mage, thinking this guy liked someone of the same gender and felt disgusted.

Unfortunately, he was so laid back and treat the burly guy with contempt. While he mocked, they were caught unprepared when the burly guy placed his fingers on his lips as if sending a flying kiss. But when his fingers" tips left his lips, fire flowers flew out like arrows directly to the sky. Without mercy, the fires. .h.i.t the mount beasts flying above.

Sir Averardus and the rest stood with mouth agape, looking down from the atrium above Freidrech"s room. The burly guy also turned around and waved his hand at them as he continued to send those fire flowers.

"Who is this being?" asked Averardus, deeply astonished.

The manta ray swayed, avoiding the fires, so did the other beasts. The mounts ended colliding with each other. The panic-stricken riders almost fell and had to control their frantic mounts with no time to retaliate.

Not for long, the fires struck the mounts, shrieking in pain as they all fell one by one along with their riders on the gra.s.sy ground.

The leaf skirt guy sent more fire flowers, hitting the other flying creatures. More screams filled the dark and starry sky.

From afar, one could see the fire blooms were like firecrackers flying to the night sky and popping like balloons as it hit the targets.

After hearing poppings in the air, the villagers ran out from their houses. The palace servants and soldiers gathered in the palace ground watching in merriment to witness the supposed bursting firecrackers in the sky. They all a.s.sumed the house of Amberdrift made a huge celebration to welcome their young lord.

Somehow, in the palace, the king watched with his forehead furrowed. He believed subjugating Freidrech in public would give the n.o.bles an impression that he treated the boy like he did with any n.o.bleman"s son. Instead, they openly tried to harm him.

"I think I need to raise an arm to teach them a good lesson."

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