Valerian, The Legendary

53 Greetings.

Azula led Valerian to the western wing of the palace, the place that was also called the beast vault by some people in the palace. These are all the magical beasts that were captured by the princes and the emperor. The silver-haired boy wanted to see if he could get the bird to give its tear.

The logic was not anything too deep, but the tear of the beast would wash away the traces of mana left inside the wounds. That was all they needed. Azula asked, “Valerian, how confident are you?”

Valerian thought and said, ‘Fifty-fifty.’

Azula asked, “What do you mean?”

Valerian replied, ‘A beast that was born to fly is now caged. Do you think you will help anyone if you were in that situation?’

His meaning was simple, if you were a bird and you were caged, would you like to help a human who caught you? Azula could only sigh in her heart, she knew that Valerian was correct.

The two arrived at the western wing of the palace, and then at the garden of the wing. In this garden, there were a lot of enclosures, and Valerian could see a variety of beasts held inside. Some of them still had some hostility in their eyes, while some had resigned to their fates and were waiting for death.

The silver-haired child could sense the gloom they all had. He asked, ‘Your Highness, would it be possible to release these beasts back to the places they were captured from?’

Azula was surprised and asked, “Do you intend to release them?”

.....

Valerian nodded and said, ‘It is better to kill a beast than to capture it and break its spirit slowly. Once this spirit dies, it becomes a puppet that could never be the true self that it was in the free woods.’

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Azula nodded in agreement. She said, “These beasts were captured by my brothers and father. I have the Blizzard Bucks, so I have never thought of hunting and capturing other magical beasts.”

Valerian nodded, he was aware that the princess was clarifying that she was not involved in this hunt and capture fiasco, but he did not care about it anyhow. He said, ‘I do not want to judge you, Your Highness, but you will know what I mean if you just take a moment to look in the eyes of those beasts.’

Azula turned and looked at the beasts in the enclosures and she found that what Valerian said was true. For the first time, she looked in the eyes of the beasts and could sense their emotions. She turned to look at Valerian and the boy said, ‘Your Highness, mother Diligentia used to say that eyes are the windows to the soul. A face may not be able to express, but the eyes, they never lie.’

Azula nodded, she could not put this feeling in words. The two continued to move around the garden till they came to stand in front of a big tree. This tree was surrounded by a magical spell and there were guards all around it. Valerian could tell that these guards were not posted here to watch the bird but to watch the people who came here.

These soldiers were guarding the bird against the people. Azula stepped forward and said, “You all may leave this place.”

The guard responsible for security stepped forward and said, “Your Highness, His Excellency...”

Azula raised her hand and said, “I will take full responsibility.”

She did not give the guard the chance to say that it was the Emperor who had commanded them directly to stay here. Valerian had his eyes set on the tree, he could sense the beast on the tree staring at him. While the guard was hesitating, he stepped forward.

The guards raised their spears when Azula said, “Stay back.”

Her tone carried a dominating aura that no one could defy. Valerian raised his head gazing directly at the tree and opened his mouth. He let out a loud tweet from his throat. But the beast hidden inside the tree did not react. The boy did not give up, he kept on tweeting trying to communicate with the beast.

Suddenly, when Azula thought nothing will happen, a cloud of fire emerged from the tree and came directly at Valerian. The princess was shocked, this was a direct attack. She wanted to counter but the cloud of fire collided with the barrier around the tree.

If someone can not hurt the beast, then the beast cannot hurt anyone either. Valerian had no fear in his eyes, he tweeted again, saying, ‘Greetings, I know that you have no intention to help me or any other human, but you also know that it was you who injured the person who was trying to help your child.

Look around, do you think these people are posted here to keep you imprisoned? They are here to protect you, the lady you harmed is their empress, yet they serve you and your child with food, keep watch over your well-being day and night, do you really have no compassion?’

As soon as Valerian stopped a loud tweet sounded from the tree. A bird with a wingspan that could cover the sky for ten people, flew out from the thicket. It landed in front of the boy, looking at him with eyes full of hate. The bird opened its beak and tweeted.

“Why do you, a child blessed by the night walkers, come here to seek help for that human? What will you gain from this?”, said the bird.

Valerian smiled and replied, ‘You see the lady behind me? She is the daughter of the human you injured. As a mother, you should be able to understand how it will be if your child could not face you without frowning. I had two mothers, one who left before I could see her, and the other was taken from me. I do not wish for a friend to suffer from something similar.’

The bird tweeted again, and she asked, ‘Why should I help that human? I acted on my instinct, but her husband captured me here. My child has not yet taken his first flight. Why should I help her, so that they can kill my child and me?’

Valerian shook his head and said, ‘They could have placed a sword at your child’s throat and you would have cried. It could have been solved that easily, however, they did no such thing, is that not sincere enough?’

His words shocked the bird, and suddenly, her body was covered with flames. She was angry that Valerian had mentioned such a thing. She had no idea why the child was able to talk to her in her language, but it was enough to tell her that this boy was not simple, and on top of it, this child had the blessing of the wolves.

Her thoughts were in a disarray, Valerian saw this and said, ‘I do not know what is keeping you from helping your child. Do you want him to live like a ground bird?’

A bird that could not fly was something unheard of, and the Flame Swallow had no intention to let her child become the first. She thought and then nodded to Valerian. The child smiled and said, ‘I assure you, after you have helped the people, I will help you get out of this place.’

He turned his head back and said, ‘Your Highness, you should inform His Excellency, that she will help us. However, in return, they must be freed from this enclosure.’

Azula was pleasantly surprised and said to a Guard, “Call, His Excellency, tell him that his presence is needed here.”

The guard did not understand what was happening, but he still followed the orders and rushed away. While the rest of the guards made a better formation to offset the gap left by the one who left.

Azula asked with slight excitement, “Valerian, what did you say to her?”

Valerian smiled but did not answer, he was not doing all this for Azula or the Empress, he wanted to use these two people as a means to get better resources at his disposal, he wanted to be strong. Yes, he was compassionate to the Empress, after all, he was a child, but that did not divert his attention from his one true goal.

The people waited for a few minutes before the guard returned with the man Valerian saw earlier, the one in the green tunic, and in front of them walked a middle-aged man, dressed in a blue coat and pants, with a crown resting on his head. The man had a dignified expression on his face.

He had strong square shoulders, thick eyebrows, a chiseled jawline covered with a light beard, and his steps were calm and firm. The aura his eyes gave off Valerian was something that the child has never seen before.

As the king came to stand in front of Azula, everyone who saw him bowed their heads, and said, “Greetings, Your Excellency.”