Chapter 77: An Unexpected Friend

As he flew through the sky; away from both the nation of Katolis, its royal capital - out of reach of his friends - continuing to replay Sarai's frustration laced words in his mind, Zeren simply stewed in his own miserable desperation.

And yet, as much as he tried to justify to himself that his leaving her, and the others, wasn't a big deal, he simply couldn't reasonably disregard what he knew. That his own cowardice had won over what should have been the perfect time to ask for assistance from his friends in order to carry out what Mother Aughra and Arch Mage Sundari expected of him.

However, his fear of being hurt, his reticence about speaking about his conflicting feelings towards both human and elven-kind and the news responsibilities he now had towards both Xadia and the Pentarchy had triggered a flight response within him.

And all he could think of was; the best case for leaving, was that he didn't want to drag them into whatever difficulties he would be doing in order to break Skeksis control over the world.

Desperately trying to convince himself that he hadn't just severed his relationship with his friends he refused to look back and fixated on the feeling of air rushing through his feathered body.

'Not them too…'

'I'm not alone … I can't loose them as well'.

Ever since his adopted brother; Juri, had bestowed on to him the ability to change his human form into that of a bird, Zeren utterly adored the feeling of the air rushing over, through and around his wings. To be free amongst the clouds.

Safely therein, soaring onwards and upwards, out of sight of the castle; through the initial low laying clouds, he was immediately reunited with that same familiar jolt of adrenaline he always got when he flew.

And yet, this time when he dive bombed through and around trees; checking to see that he wasn't being pursued, he was instantly hit by heartache. Nausea and regret. Flying alongside the river below the rocky plateau towards the coastline he began to wonder if this was how Andrei had felt directly after their other siblings and parents had died.

'I'm sorry you were alone with your grief...' he voiced internally as he pictured the rage and sadness on his eldest brother's face as they'd fought.

With the remembrance of Andrei's final moment, Zeren blinked away tears as he accepted the reality of truly being an orphan.

However, as depressing as that fact was, the sights of the landscape he was seeing, had been for a while now, made him smile. Such beauty, in the Pentarchy, was nothing compared to the Xadian landscape. And yet, resentfully, once again his thoughts dragged him back to the long centuries, millennia in fact, of cruelty misrule and deception by the Skeksis.

Seeing the world, or a small portion of it, from the vantage point usually only available to dragons and winged-skywing elves, was simply intoxicating. 'This world really is beautiful...' he realised. 'So why do I have to be the person to protect it?'

Cawing loudly as he drifted through a sudden and unruly bout of turbulence, he turned his beak from side to side checking again to spot if he was being followed. He could have sworn he had sensed Eris's aura. Only she had the ability to catch up with him.

Returning his gaze back down at the land below, he internally winced as he hadn't realised just how far he had travelled from his friends.

'The sea... Where am I even going?'

The meandering southern geography that made up the coastline of Katolis; and eventually tenge border with Duren, wasn't particularly bad looking but didn't inspire happy memories for the boy. Doubling down on the direction of flight that he was going in, Zeren decided to continue onwards so he could explore the mouth of the estuary belonging to the greatest river in the Pentarchy: the Éine.

Memories of a pas that he'd long tried to repress returned to him. Him, the once bright eyed, curious boy, sheltered and naïve from the hard reality of politics.

Unpredictable and cruel; two things that he had learnt of the adult world so far. And it had all begun on that fateful day, eight years ago, when he had had once stared out from the deck of his families ship watching and seeking out the famous landmarks conveying the distance to the then final destination.

And yet nothing that he had been expecting nor wanted had occurred; the joyous celebration, the raucous applauding populace and the hearty feasting promised to him had occurred. All that he had received that day was news of betrayal and death, quickly succeeded by a crushing endurance of loneliness.

Feeling alone had never been something that Zeren was particularly bothered by. For being raised apart from the rest of his siblings, for his own magical development and tutelage, as well as for his own secrecy had fostered within him a sense of security and trust with being slightly aloof and reserved.

Yet, upon being taken in by Otar and Geencha, and raised alongside Eris and Juri, he was able to developed into a more socially aware person. Moreover, this had been further compounded by his return to the human kingdom, as by making friends with other humans his own trust in his own kind was rebuilt. So going alone again now, was like breaking all his progress so far.

Loneliness wasn't something he'd been aware of until he had been permanently deprived of his biological family; separated by way of draconic law from his adoptive family, and now resentment and depression of his so-called duty. All his parents had to endure had been societal affaires and court politics, whereas his siblings all had their talents in magic, archery, literature and swordsmanship.

Activities that they themselves chose and loved. He, however, was given a task that was appearing to have been designed to make him an unhappy, lonely warrior.

However, since loosing all his family, as well as the forces severing of his connection to the human kingdom - through self exile and the isolation within Xadia - he knew that he had shuttered his emotions away and hid his true self behind walls, designed to protect himself from ever becoming as miserable as before.

Which was probably why his friends had been so frustrated by his selfish, or selfless, depending on how you viewed it, actions since they'd all met. Being difficult to read and understand wasn't a nice feeling, and Zeren suddenly comprehended a startling truth: ... Thorfinn... he was blushing'.

Feeling his heart rate increase as he realised just why he had felt such a strong sense of companionship with the blonde boy, an image of himself, Thorfinn and Sarai entered his mind.

His adoptive elven family had relieved some of the loneliness and suffering by their full throated acceptance of him as their son, but this knew loneliness was far worse a sensation to bare.

Shivering as he began to feel a drop in air temperature followed by the telltale gathering of mist amongst the low laying clouds, he instinctively ruffled his feathers and cawed aloud - bemoaning - the oncoming onslaught of rain.

Then suddenly, out the corner of his eye he saw the tiny pinprick sized outline of a battleship on the seas below, heading back towards Katolis. Curious, if not a little bit perturbed by the similarity; but different rendering of his own past, Zeren swerved his avian body down through the clouds and began to approach the ship.

Immediately after leaving

(two hours earlier)

In the face of such worry and exasperation from his friends; which was eminently obvious by the sound of their hurried footsteps and abrupt entrance into his room. As well as their weary expressions as they all laid eyes on him, Zeren was unable to stop himself from feeling momentarily angry.

Yet, that moment of fleeting annoyance vanished as quickly as it occurred as he slapped himself across the face for daring to allow such an emotion to tarnish his fortuitousness for being granted their friendships.

And so once the anger was gone all he was left with was a feeling that reminded him of the impossibly high expectations and aspirations laid at his feet by both Mother Aughra and Arch Mage Sundari.

Feeling self-conscious, bitter and a little melancholic; he instantly recoiled away from Thorfinn's attempt to console him and instead he had taken the form and flight of a crow.

Immediately regretting backing away from his best friend, he had cobbled together some vague explanation to try cover their worry, but then Sarai had then aired her frustrations towards him. And his own disappointment in himself for not thinking about how she'd react - to being left in the sidelines when he'd fought Andrei - consumed him.

Ignoring his own internal monologue that had been ranting, raving and pleading with him to stay there - with his friends - he instead fled the scene.

The only thing greater than his fear was his pent up resentment for supposedly being the only one capable of restoring the Crystal of Truth to its pre-corrupted state; thereby saving the world from the Darkening, as well as recombining the Skeksis and Mystics into their original life form.

And he hadn't even begun to think about the task he'd overheard SkekGra telling the others that he needed to save/redeem the Urskeks by reuniting skeksis and mystic back into one being.

Wishing to every god, demon and ethereal spirit imaginable, including all those he'd been taught about, he prayed for some kind of release from his burden so he could just forget everything he'd been told of the history of Xadia and simply be able to live his own life with his friends.

But then the looks of worry and pity on their friends faces returned to him... especially hers.

Not wanting to continue focusing on their upset and concern towards him, Zeren pushed their faces and voices from his mind and forced himself to recall the smiling faces of all his parents as a means to not have to think about potentially betraying his new friends.

'Mom... Dad' he thought fondly. 'Please don't judge me'.

Cutting himself off from his present emotional mixture of distress and confusion, as well as the most recent horrific traumas he'd experienced, he swerved around yet more trees before dive bombing towards a patch of blackberry bushes directly outside the gatehouses of the city.

Snatching up several fruit in his beak both nourishing his rumbling stomach as well as lessening his stress and quenching he continued onwards.

Thinking about his new realisation; that Thorfinn might have feeling for him, left him feeling conflicted about how he should confront Sarai with this news in the future. He already knew that he had strong feelings towards his fellow knight of the Golden Dawn, but not any experience with talking to anyone about such things. Let alone how to express himself with someone else in the picture.

The words of Mother Aughra suddenly returned to him almost as if she'd been sitting right next to him replayed in his mind. 'Rely on, trust and enjoy life with those your truly call friends'.

Visibly flinching, as well as blushing, at his own instant mental picture of himself with both Sarai and Thorfinn, he sighed and clenched his jaw acquiescing to the High Oracle's words about his own newly learned truth.

'Please Sarai…' he mused thoughtfully, softly cawing into the dusk sky. 'Forgive me... I don't know how to get on with people. I never wanted to make you angry or frustrated. I just know that I love you'.

Above the people of Katolis he flew; high above the many villages and towns - the buildings, streets with their bustling denizens, all of whom were trying to readjust to normality after the recent militancy led insurrection.

Ignoring the few keen bird watchers whom eagerly pointed up at him and called out the "unseasonable" sight of a crow at this time of year and then hearing others comment on the "auspiciousness" of 'its' presence so soon after the war. Which made him shudder uncomfortably; and in turn made him fly straight into a line of washing.

'Shit...' he swore, flinching. 'Why didn't I decide on a crow... crows are seen as omens of death', he groaned - cawing - sardonically.

As he continued onwards over and through the Katolis countryside he felt the familiar gentle tug of telepathy from Eris as she mentally communed both her frustration and acceptance of his flight action from his friends.

'Be careful little brother', he heard her speak straight into his mind. 'If you're not back in one week, I will come find you'.

Feeling waves of nausea and anxiety rush over him he tumbled out of the sky and fell onto a grassy knoll overlooking the river Dansk; a tributary of the mightier border river between Katolis and Duren.

Turning back into his human body, Zeren immediately dropped to his knees and clutched at the long grass beside him as he started crying loudly.

"Why…?" He asked screamed aloud through his tears. "Why do I have to be the hope between Humans and Xadia! I don't want this task anymore. I-I-I just want to be normal".

Presently...

After nearly an hour of self-doubt and, what he called pitiful crying, Zeren transformed back into his bird form again launched himself back into the air. After catching a surprise updraft he rose further up in flight over the river Éine made for Duren.

Suddenly feeling a slight change in the magic concentration of the air currents he barrel rolled his avian-body to the right and then sharply left again swiftly avoiding a strong bout of turbulence; that had appeared out of nowhere and resulted in him being blown into the path of an oncoming flotilla of battleships.

Glancing across the river estuary below him - the River Éine - that he knew would eventually reach and flow below the rocky plateau of Katolis Castle, he noticed the all too familiar emblem of a White Wolf flown from each main mast of each battleship.

Zeroing in on the lead ship he rapidly descended his flight until he could make out whether or not these soldiers were enemies, who'd evaded capture, or if they were still allies of the Pentarchy.

However, before he could fully gauge the Army of Wolves, he was instantaneously ensnared by cage of black metal which erupted out of the river waters and entrapped him in within.

Appearing next up upon the deck of the lead ship appeared a large blonde haired man with wild shaggf blonde hair whom was grinning madly as he leapt off the ship and walked on steppingstones of metal just above the sea's surface towards him. Then man thrust his hand through the cage and grabbed the captured crow.

Cawing loudly, enough for the man to let go of him so that he could cover his ears, Zeren de-transformed and staggered to his feet before angrily glowering up at the man standing who had trapped him.

"What the hell!" The blonde haired man spluttered loudly clearly startled by the fact that the crow he'd caught, and thought about eating, had just turned into a human boy.

"Daidara!" Another softer but still slightly annoyed sounding voice called out from below deck. "What have you done now, you better not have damaged the ship's rudder again attempting to mow the ship hard-starboard".

"Nah…" the man, Daidara retorted, "just some ruddy kid appeared out o'thin air on the deck whilst I was hunting".

Feeling the urge to defend himself Zeren immediately bolted forwards and yelled down the open hatch at whomever comrade - of the man - was below deck.

"He started it…" the embittered boy retorted harshly, "This brute of man up here attacked me whilst I was flying home!"

Instantly hearing the sudden racing of footsteps coming up from the bowels of the ship Zeren sprang back from the hatch and withdrew his twin sky-iron daggers.

"Interesting…" spoke a tall silver haired man who wore his hair in a long ponytail whilst fingering his moustache, as he stared knowingly at the boy before him. "If what Daidara says if true, then that means you are like Lady Esdeath: a Skin Changer".

"Oh Lïver…" another much younger and annoyingly familiar voice stated. "You don't have to be serious all the time; besides lookie here! It's the young master!"

Flinching slightly at the over the top peppiness if not overly über energetic and still perpetually boyish-adult behaviour that came from the younger sounding voice emanating from below deck, Zeren suddenly caught sight of the big blonde haired man rolling his eyes and stifling a laugh at his taller companions frown before he walked off muttering to himself.

Watching Daidara recast his fishing lines suddenly acting as if he hadn't just captured a human transformed crow made Zeren breath a sigh of relief. Readjusting his vision squarely at this Lïver person as if he was readying for a fight, he mentally prepared himself for the appearance of whomever the third voice belonged to; waiting their arrival.

And so popping up from another hatch came Nyau, the only one of General Edeath's Three Beasts, whom Zeren had met back when he had been a child growing up in his families estate in Duren.

They had seen each other again during back at the knights entrance exam, whom according to Nyau had been sent to recruit the rejected knight candidates to the Army of Wolves.

As soon as he saw the familiar light blonde hair, Zeren was immediately pounced upon by the youngest lieutenant commander who bounded forwards and instantly bundled him into a tight embrace ruffling his hair.

"Zeren Amari!" Nyau exclaimed happily, "I knew it! I knew I recognised your voice... and I knew you'd survive those traitors!"

Violently recoiling away from the other young man at being manhandled and unhappily reminded of his treatment at the hands of the Militancy, Zeren released an unconscious growl that momentarily startled the youngest of commander making him look at him curiously before shrugging his shoulders and hugging him tighter.

Suddenly noting the sound of footsteps on the wood steps coming up from the hatch, Nyau released Zeren and spun around and preemptively bow to the emergent tall white haired military-apparelled woman covered with several bandages before him.

"General..." he spoke adoringly, a blush blooming across his face, "it seems that Daidara has inadvertently taken onboard the Young Master of the Amari Family".

Staring at the softer, almost kind, expression work by the woman whom he'd very nearly faced off against back at the Pentarchy Conference, Zeren was shocked to find her raise an inquisitive eye at him as she stroked Nyau's cheek as she walked towards him.

"So I see..." the woman chuckled softly. "The youngest surviving child of Lady Ulrica, known to all and lovingly remembered as the Valkyrie", she announced with supreme deference as she dropped to her knees being him.

"I am forever grateful to her for teaching me how to be a soldier and indebted to her for raising her up from an orphan girl to become one of the Six Generals". Looking up at the boy before her, Esdeath smiled genuinely. "Young Master. If there is anything you need in the future, then please, don't hesitate to ask".

Standing up and the stepping forwards General Esdeath lowered her head as she gently placed a comforting hand on Zeren's shoulder.

"I'm sorry for what has happened to you", she continued; genuinely apologetic and forlorn. "And for not being able to get to rescue you from those abhorrent people whom kidnapped you".

Taking a deep breath she pulled the boy into a hug, "and I'm sorry that myself and General Tsukasa - whom knew your parents - couldn't save them".

Shutting his eyes tightly, Zeren bit his tongue to prevent himself from breaking down, anymore than he already had, and further showing that he was a blubbering mess of pain and resentful suffering.

"I know now that my mother was Noelle Silva's godmother, just as I am her mother's godson and I know they are…" flinching as he hiccuped a saddened sniff before continuing. "I know that they were best friends and became captains at the same time but I didn't think that the Generals were particularly fond of the knight squads?"

"Ha!" Esdeath retorted bluntly. "Knights are bound by honour, and to be one the Pentarchy prevents all those whom have ever lived in poverty or hasn't known civility to enrol in the Entrance Exams".

Thumping her right hand against her metal chest plate, causing her general's motif ring to echo against her armour, the woman scowled disdainfully before she slowly eased her expression to one of quiet acceptance.

"I suppose I will always hold a grudge against them", she stated plainly, "but I will not force my soldiers to accede to that idea. After all, Lïver and Nyau have become rather good friends with Captains Nozel and Fuegoleon".

"General Esdeath…" Zeren interjected sadly, his mind drifting back to memories of his childhood. "If your returning to Katolis and happen to see my friends… please tell them I'm sorry for running away".

Staring at him as if she had just been insulted with a menial task Esdeath placed her hands on her hips and frowned. "Whatever reason you had for leaving them, if they are the same brats as whom stood up to me at the Conference, then I totally understand your need to get away", she chuckled softly.

"However..." she continued stepping forwards and sounding uncharacteristically emotional, "as annoying as I saw them then, I could see that they cared for you. Whatever the rebel militancy did to you you can't keep blocking it out for ever. Trust your friends".

Turning away from the incredibly perceptive female military commander, Zeren looked out over the sea toward the horizon and the land he'd just stated as his present destination. However, just as he was about to take flight again he was floored by Esdeath who grabbed him by the shoulders and pinned him to the ship's deck.

"You're going back to Ellesmere Castle aren't you…" she stated flatly; correctly inferring the boy's earlier remark about 'flying home'.

Trying very hard not to see the parallels between the here and how Sienna had used and abused him, the dark haired boy bit his tongue and stamped down on those traumatic times before tapping into a well of unaccounted anger and frustration deep within him to roughly shove the older general off him.

However, proving her status as one of the Pentarchy's six most powerful Xadian expeditionary military leaders, Esdeath reallocated herself over the boy and swiftly grabbed back ahold of Zeren's shoulders before he try to flee again.

Yet in that moment she saw, for the first time in her life, shining in the teenage boy's eyes a spark of hope - determination - for the reform she had long wanted the High Mage and the Kings of the Pentarchy to introduce.

Smiling as she released her grip on the boy's shoulders not noticing the slight flinch that he made as she stroked his cheek, she smiled sadly before chuckling. "You really are your parent's son", she finally stated mirthfully. "I may not have known Lord Sion as well is I did Lady Ulrica, but they both always wanted to bring about real change".

"They possessed a real innate desire to protect their homeland and their fellow humans in the long term", Daidara interjected as he walked up behind Zeren and patted him on the head. "They wanted more than to just merely fight short term battles against enemies but create a long term vision for humanities continued existence".

Groaning as she rolled her eyes at her subordinates words, Esdeath reached forwards and wiped away the few stray tears running down Ulrica's sons face.

"I understand your desire to return to your family home", she murmured softly, "but if you go back there unescorted then those left behind to guard Ellesmere Castle, on the orders of the Penttarchy, will either arrest or kill you. Depending on whether or not they see you as a threat".

Sensing a deep and rumbling primal magic simmering around Zeren; probably caused by a reawakening of his unerring anger towards the Kings for robbing him of his parents and siblings, Esdeath grabbed the boy by the hand and squeezed tightly diverting his attention away from anger and towards an ally.

"I will do what you asked", she stated plainly. "I will have Daidara and Lïver return to Katolis to speak to your friends, as well as give my report to King Harrow and High Mage Julius".

Turning around she nodded her head at her two aforementioned commanders who bowed to her and walked off leaving her, Zeren and Nyau.

"However, myself and Nyau shall accompany you, I cannot let you return to Ellesmere Castle alone. General Aurelius may never have been an Amari supporter but neither did he agree with the current position of the Pentarchy governance system.

"Also..." Nyau spoke up warily. "He didn't advocate for their deaths and he was rather vociferous in his defence of your family during the purge".there

"I should be able to get him to stand down his guard for your return", Esdeath added plainly. "Out of all my fellow generals, Sir Richard was always the most supportive of the idea of having a female general".

"Thank you..." Zeren replied shyly as he bit his lip. "And I'm sorry for attacking you back at the Conference".

With a mischievous grin returning to her face, Esdeath gently patted the boy on the shoulder as she chuckled mirthfully. "Oh my sweet boy..." she laughed loudly, ruffling the Amari boy's hair, "you couldn't hurt me if you tried".

R.I.P:

Jane Birkin. Actress, Muse, Singer and Fashion star; whom began London's love affair with Parisienne insouciance.

Tony Bennet. Singer. The last of the Great Crooners.

George Alagiah. Journalist and News Corespondent.

Sir Michael Parkinson. Broadcaster, Journalist, Author and TV. Interviewer.