INSIGNIAS: THE REGALIS

The cold and tense silence stretched in the captain’s office. The captain silently took a seat on the largest chair near the round table while five warriors sat on the couches and two remained standing, all seven faced the group of student-adventurers who intently watched their movements. Neither group pulled away from staring at the other. Neither group moved to speak first. Two of the four men looked bored, one was glaring at Hunter, one had a huge creepy smile. One of the women drummed her fingers on her lap, one had her arms crossed, the last one’s eyes watched the students like a hawk.

Lei nervously glanced at her friends. Hunter was glaring back, Nate was frowning, Clyne had his arms crossed, while Skhy regarded the other group with curiosity. Aria’s fists clenched, her knuckles almost turning white. Colours had returned to Tessa’s face. Lei had no idea what to feel about the seven warriors who defeated them a few hours ago. She had no idea if she should be angry that they almost killed her and her friends or be grateful that they healed and saved them. Who are they?

“Come on,” the Captain finally cut the silence. Lei turned to him.

“We’re here to talk, right? Why are we just staring at each other?” he exclaimed, his loud voice startled Lei. It reminded her of a middle-age teacher who likes to laugh loudly in class.

“Who are you?” Skhy voiced out the question floating in the group’s minds since they realized that their opponents were also their saviours.

“We’re knights sent to train you,” said one of the two men who looked bored. Lei remembered him to be the one who carried Skhy to the ship.

“By the Consortium?” Lei asked. The woman with dark blue eyes glanced at her.

“No,” she replied, “By the Elders’.” The Chamber? She nodded as if she could hear the question.

“Was…” Nate started but stopped. “Was that a part of the training?” None of them looked surprised by the question.

“Of course,” the man with creepy smile replied.

“The easiest part,” added by the man who was glaring at Faz. Lei’s eyes widened. She couldn’t imagine the difficulty of the real training in the Shadows Islands. When she felt someone’s hand on her own, she gave Tessa a small smile which she returned it with a nod.

“Maybe we should start with the introductions,” the Captain offered after a few minutes of silence. Lei knew that, like her, her friends had a lot of questions but it’s difficult to express them especially when most of the knights looked intimidating. She wondered if they’re going to train the Seven like how real knights in the fortresses are trained.

Skhy introduced himself first, including his elemental, and the rest of the group followed.

“Anika,” the woman with dark blue eyes said, “Nature and Water elementals.” Lei’s eyes widened a bit. It was her first time meeting a Concordian with two elementals. Having two is rare.

“All of us has two elementals,” she added. Lei silently gasped due to the revelation. She didn’t expect the Elders’ Chamber to pick extraordinary knights to train them.

“Call me Yuri.” The smile never left his face. It was always directed to Tessa who looked uncomfortable. His silver hair reached his elbows. What’s up with him?

“Water and Ice. It’s so nice to meet everyone.” She doubted the sincerity in his statement considering that Tessa passed out after he fought her.

“Forrest.” The woman with red hair like Aria’s but lighter and shorter was still watching the group like children and expecting them to mess up eventually. “Fire and Darkness elementals. Why do we have to tell them our powers?” She directed the question to her companions.

“Forrest.” Anika said the name like a warning. Forrest sighed. She seemed to not like the idea of babysitting students.

“I’m Homer.” One of the men who looked bored gave the students a force smile. “Earth. Metal. How’s the Lux, by the way?”

“Good,” Skhy replied.

“Navi.” He had the most beautiful golden curls Lei had ever seen. His hair fell just above his green eyes. Like Homer, he looked uninterested and seemed to be in daze. “Air. Space.”

Glancing at Skhy, his expression changed when Navi spoke, the person who defeated and brought Skhy to the ship while he was unconscious. Lei saw respect and acknowledgement in his eyes.

“I’m Cora.” She was still drumming her fingers on her lap. Lei wondered if it’s a habit or she was just nervous. I doubt that. “I’m a Metal and Space elementals user.”

“Neus.” The man who kept on glaring at Faz took a step forward. “Storm. Darkness. Once we arrive, we’ll start immediately.” Lei’s hands trembled slightly because of how Neus looks at them. He seemed to regard them as lower beings which both irritated and scared her.

“Any more question?” Neus asked but he was no longer looking at them.

“Yeah.” Neus slowly turned to Hunter. “Why you?” Neus fiercely glared at him.

“What he meant is,” Skhy interrupted, “Why did the Elders chose your team?”

“You seemed to be great and powerful knights who have other places to be and things to do,” Nate added. Lei was glad that it wasn’t just her who was curious.

The knights glanced at each other, silently communicating.

“I hope you understand us,” Tessa said. She was no longer having difficulty breathing. “We’ve been through a lot. And we feel like everyone’s keeping a lot of things from us.”

Lei noticed Skhy’s lips turned into a smile. Lei bit her lower lip.

“I think they deserve to know,” Anika said while looking at Neus who scoffed. No one opposed Anika’s statement.

“Probably because we also trained your parents.” Yuri dropped a bomb while grinning. Everything’s connected… There was a part of her that wanted to know more about the knights’ relations to their parents but she remained silent. The others, like her, were still processing the information.

“And like to your parents, we won’t hold back,” Neus pointed out.

After a few minutes of silence, the Captain requested the students to leave the office while the knights remained inside.

“So they also went to the Shadows Islands?” Clyne asked as they sat on the deck in the rear end of the ship. The huge round moon floated above the water. The darkness of the night, the countless stars and the Milky Way were reflected on the surface of the calm ocean. The cold embraced the student-adventurers but they welcomed it.

“I’m not sure,” Faz replied. “They probably trained elsewhere.”

“But why did those knights train our parents? When did they train? For what purpose?” Tessa asked. She was wearing a long thick coat given by Faz who insisted for her to wear it or be forced to go back to her room.

“Same questions,” Aria muttered. The group listened to the soothing sound of waves hitting the hull of the ship while their minds wander far and wide to the past, present and future. They didn’t stay long outside because most of them were still recovering from the wounds.

The mattress was hard on the back but Lei welcomed the warmth after days of sleeping on the cold and uneven ground of the forests. The low-ceiling room had four single beds with brown bed sheets and two thick pillows. On the left of the room was a wide window with the view of night sky and sea. Tessa chose the bed nearest to the window while Aria slept on the bed between Tessa and Lei.

Sleep was beyond her reach. Lei stared at the dark ceiling while her mind was busy reliving the fight in Faymagnates, the encounter with the seven strong knights, and their near death experience. She began imagining scenarios in the Shadows Islands – seeing a gloomy and eerie island, training until they drop. She wondered about how long they’re going to stay. She wondered if the training would help the Seven win the war between the Concordians and Mortemians. The thought of the war made her feel sick and nauseous. After the battle in the Northern Lux, Lei grew anxious about the possibility of other elemental users aside from Arconien’s Concordians and Mortemians joining. She knew that it isn’t impossible for the Rosein Army to interfere. But what then? Three against each other?

“Lei, are you awake?” She released the blanket she was gripping.

“Yes,” she answered, “Is something wrong, Tessa?”

“Do you think the knights will talk about our parents if we ask?”

“I don’t think so,” Aria replied. “They’ll focused on training us.” Lei agreed. The knights hesitated mentioning the Seven’s parents because the students might lose their focus.

“I can’t sleep,” Tessa whispered after a minute of silence. The ship was only less than four hours away from the shore of the Shadows Islands. The Seven and their mentors would arrive at midnight. Skhy told everyone to rest until he gets them from their rooms. Lei remembered what Neus said earlier. Once we arrive, we’ll start immediately.

“Me too,” Lei replied.

“Same here.” Aria sighed. Lei concentrated on the sound of splashing waves.

“We came a long away.” Tessa began coughing which worried Lei. She’s right. From lost children who longed for comfort, home and family to students of Lux Signifer Academy who fought for and saved their friends. From learning about the prophecy of the Seven Regalis to uncovering the secrets and mysteries of the academy to preparing for what could be their greatest fight yet. And what might be the last.

“And we’ll go farther,” Lei whispered. I hope.