Adamaï sat with his back against a wall, oblivious to the buzzing activity around him, gazing blankly through the numerous people passing by.
The little Dragon had made sure no fire could possibly restart. He had tested the Sadidas' protective spell with his own fire breath, and without surprise ―after all, little Grougal had already put the magical wood to the test numerous times― Adamaï had been unable to make the wood any warmer, let alone set the palace ablaze.
It couldn't have been an accident. The fire was indeed intentional, without any doubt.
Countless Sadidas, guards and civilians alike, were clearing out piles of debris from the wrecked scene in a buzzing yet organised activity. An entire floor had collapsed on the one below and the damage was quite impressive, but the overall structure seemed stable and secure enough.
Adamaï was impervious to all this agitation. He was brooding in his corner, still ashamed and angry at himself for letting his brother face danger alone, only because of a stupid argument. Sure, Yugo was being stubborn and delusional, behaving like a child instead of the King he ought to be... but it didn't deserve the death penalty.
Most of all, Adamaï knew his brother behaved that way because he was scared. The young Dragon himself remembered being utterly terrified when Grougaloragran had hurriedly sent them on their way to save the world. And while he had managed to find the strength to keep it together at that time, Adamaï knew how badly Yugo needed his help right now. He sighed sadly as he fully realised how he'd been such a lousy brother. Fortunately nothing was broken beyond repair. He could still put things right with Yugo.
Evangelyne came by, stirring him out of his thoughts. The little Dragon was almost thankful for the interruption.
"Are you all right?" she asked cautiously, eyeing him with a concerned look.
Adamaï shook his head flippantly. "Yeah yeah, everything's fine. What's up?"
"They've found something interesting while clearing out the debris, and I thought maybe you'd want to check it out," Evangelyne said.
Adamaï nodded numbly and got up to follow the archer. He was glad for the occasion to focus on something more productive than useless brooding. They went straight to the most damaged area, and Adamaï noticed the bulk of the debris had been cleared out already. Amalia, Tristepin, Joris and a few guards were standing at a respectful distance from a particularly baldy charred spot on the ground, staring at it warily.
"Don't get too close," Amalia warned him curtly. "It's still very hot."
"That's cute," Adamaï jeered as he disregarded her advice altogether and went to kneel right next to the scalding hot mark. He could feel the intense heat, but it didn't hurt him. He was a Dragon after all. If heat and flames could harm him, he'd be on sore throat medicine all the time.
In the middle of the carbonised spot, Adamaï found little droplets of still incandescent metal. He curiously poked one with a finger... then immediately yanked his hand back with a yelp, feeling a burning sensation for the first time in his life.
"Told you so," Amalia taunted smugly. Adamaï cast her a dark stare, but he didn't retort. She was right after all.
"What is it?" Evangelyne asked.
"I don't know, I've never seen anything that could actually burn my skin. But if your wooden palace was not magically protected, it would set it on fire right away, that's for sure."
Master Joris moved as close as the heat would allow to have a look. "What kind of magic can create such a powerful heat, according to your knowledge?" he asked.
Adamaï stared at the little glowing spheres thoughtfully. "I don't know about any magic in the world capable of doing that... but maybe science is the answer."
Adamaï turned around to see everyone staring at him quizzically.
"Our civilisation wasn't only good at magic, you know. We had some great scientists too. Sure, now the greatest on of them is just babbling in a crib, but Grougaloragran was his brother. He taught me some of his knowledge. I know you can make some metals react together to create an intense heat. Hot enough to overpower your protective spell."
Amalia frowned worriedly. "I guess such knowledge can't be found on every street corner though."
"Exactly," Adamaï replied with a nod. "Which is both a good and a bad thing. The good thing is it will shorten our list of potential suspects to only a few. The bad thing is it leaves only the most dangerous."
"This is undoubtedly a good lead," Joris said with his usual solemn tone. "There's indeed not many individuals or organisations with such an advanced scientific knowledge. And discovering the culprit shall also tell us all we need to know about their motivations."
Adamaï nodded, staring thoughtfully at the glowing bubbles. Then out of nowhere, a sudden realisation struck him.
"A diversion," he said in a low voice.
Something was off. So very off. That thought didn't come from him, it had popped directly into his head, as if someone else had planted it there. It could mean only one thing...
"What?" Amalia asked curiously. "A diversion for what? How do you know that?"
"I don't," Adamaï replied, shaking his head impatiently. "Yugo worked it out all by himself. That means... oh no."
His train of thoughts was catching up with the sudden anguish he was feeling, part of which was not his own.
Could he really be stupid enough to make the same mistake twice in only a few minutes?
Yugo flew, as fast as he could. Well, it wasn't really flying, more like using all his might to tear through the fabric of space and time.
The young Eliatrope had the power to open a portal right to where he needed to be. However, doing so required to be entirely focused and calm, something Yugo could not achieve when he was so worried over the well-being of his loved ones. At the speed he was streaking through the sky, he wasn't losing that much time anyway.
Yugo spotted Az flying towards him. He knew the little Tofu had been staying with Alibert and Chibi, so crossing him was not a good sign. In between two portals, Yugo snatched the little feather ball out of thin air and put him inside his front pocket. Az was chirping furiously, but there was no way the boy could hear him on top of the racket from the wind and his own flurry of portals.
There was still a good chance to find Alibert and Chibi safe and sound, Yugo told himself. If their Wakfu had left the world, he would have felt it for sure. Each passing second the boy didn't feel his heart being suddenly torn apart made him more confident for the next.
Yugo paid little attention to the warning signs telling him he was pushing his body and his Wakfu much too far. The young Eliatrope knew he could achieve so much more when he was under pressure, that experience made him confident enough to press on despite the risks. He tried not to think too much about what would happen if he stumbled into a fight with barely any fuel left.
Hope you'll be right on time again, Ad'.
Adamaï was half running, half flying in the corridors, trying the best he could to avoid passers-by. The people he crossed stared at him curiously, wondering why he was rushing away from where the emergency was. But he didn't have time to explain. Nor did he really care.
The rest of the Brotherhood, with the addition of Joris, were barely keeping up with him. The little Dragon could fly quickly, and he had tremendous endurance, but in times like these he envied his brother's ability to just puncture a hole in space-time and go wherever he wanted.
Adamaï flew by Amalia's colourful valets, and sure enough they tried to intercept her.
"Princess, Princess, it's very urgent, we─"
"Not now Renate!" Amalia retorted curtly. She was already annoyed by her royal attire hindering her pace. "Tell the guard captain to send all men available to guests' quarters!"
"But─"
"Do it! Now!" Amalia shouted on top of her voice, not even looking back at the terrified valet.
Adamaï couldn't hold back a smirk. He always found it difficult to get along with the princess, often annoyed by her haughty and whiny attitude, but he respected the way she always demonstrated a surprising amount of authority and determination when it was truly needed.
Unlike Yugo, he thought bitterly.
Yugo who had likely run head first into danger again. But Adamaï couldn't blame him. He would have done just the same. And on top of that Adamaï knew what it was like to lose someone he loved. He knew he didn't want himself or anyone else else to bear with that crushing feeling.
Then Adamaï skidded to an halt and stopped dead in his tracks, mouth agape, paralysed by the sudden torrent of cold fright that poured over his mind link with his brother.
In his short life Yugo had seen many things he thought to be impossible. He even made quite a lot of them happen. Yet it took a long time for his brain to accept the seemingly impossible thing he was seeing.
Alibert was lying motionless on the ground, his usually impeccable chef's toque stained with large, bright red spots. Yugo blinked once, twice, trying to make that horrible nightmare go away, but it didn't.
"Dad!" the boy yelled as he rushed to kneel at the broad man's side. He grabbed Alibert by the shoulder and tugged hard to turn him onto his back. Alibert's eyes fluttered open, his gaze unfocused and groggy, but definitely alive. Yugo let out a loud sigh of relief, gripping his Dad's large and callous hand firmly.
"Dad, what happened?" Yugo asked as he cast a sweeping glance at the room, seeing no signs of a fight whatsoever.
"I..." Alibert began, swallowing and squinting his eyes as he tried to focus on his son's face. He ran an hand across his brow, wiping away the blood that was trickling down from his hair. "I think I was hit from behind. I... I was preparing a bottle of milk for Chibi, when..."
Father and son looked at each other with wide eyes as they both suddenly realised the usual sound of babbling and jabbering was missing from the room. Yugo didn't even have to check on Chibi's crib to know the Eliatrope baby was already gone. He would have noticed the missing presence right upon entering the room if he hadn't been so focused on Alibert.
"Who did that?" the boy asked coldly, the seriousness of the situation filling him with cold rage and sudden determination.
"I-I don't know," Alibert croaked, looking lost. "I'm sorry Yugo, I should have been more careful..."
Yugo shook his head firmly. "Dad, it's none of your fault," he said. "Whoever dared to touch Chibi is going to regret it."
The young Eliatrope was oddly reminded of the first training he ever had with Adamaï as he closed his eyes and focused on his mental images of Chibi. Immediately the toddler's Wakfu shone like a bright beacon, fortunately still quite close.
"Az, stay with Alibert and warn the others when they get here," Yugo said as he got up to his feet and hurriedly opened a portal. The golden Tofu chirped firmly, proudly accepting such an important mission.
"You stay here Dad. I'll be right back," Yugo said before jumping into the portal.
I have no excuse for the long break, apart from tedious irl things, motivation to write coming and going, that kind of stuff. I hope you accept this new chapter as an apology!
I'm taking the end of S1 as a reference for Yugo's behaviour. It always seems like threatening his friends and family is his most efficient rage trigger, but not in a true berserk style, and more something cold and focused. Don't worry about the rest of the BoT and especially Adamaï being only sidekicks, that's none of my intentions.