Navia

Tyler and Ryan lead the way out of the training room. I found myself falling into step beside Sabien, the shy– but cute– chameleon summoner who I'd befriended on my first day. He didn't say anything, but offered a small smile, which I returned happily. We walked down the corridors of the castle, chattering in a subdued, nervous kind of way.

Finally, we seemed to arrive at our destination. Tyler paused and tugged open the massive oak door. Ryan nodded her thanks, then disappeared inside.

Silence had long since fallen, a thin blanket over anticipation, as we shuffled into the room behind her.

It must've been the meeting or planning room or something, I deduced as I took in the large table situated in its centre. Maps were spread across both it and the walls, places marked with shiny metal thumbtacks.

"Ah, welcome." Olvan's familiar yet still-intimidating rumble drew my eyes to him. He was upright at the front of the room, holding a letter and a quill.

Lenori sat in the chair to his right, her eyes matching the gentle smirk she wore as we entered.

"I hope that we didn't interrupt anything, but this is very important." Olvan spoke once more, gesturing for us to take our seats.

Glancing nervously at the others, I hastened to pull out one of the chairs and settle into it.

Tyler leaned over the table, seated to my left, on the other side of Niko. "It's fine. I take it you have news for us?"

"In a way." Olvan and Lenore exchanged an indecipherable look that only piqued my curiosity.

It was Lenori who continued next, "we believe that there is another Devourer." She stated it calmly, but I felt my heart drop out of my chest.

Gasps echoed around the room.

"You all know of the Four Fallen, who died in the first Devourer war," Olvan held up a hand for quiet as he explained further, "it was believed that their talismans were destroyed when they died. But, we have discovered that they were not. In fact, there are reports that the four talismans have turned up, along with an escort of three or four animals."

I could barely wrap my head around the idea of the second Devourer, but managed to pay attention to their next words.

"Your mission is to retrieve these talismans." Lenori said, her gaze sweeping the room. I blinked away as she met my eyes, unsettled.

"Before the Conquerors do." Olvan added.

Silence roared in the chamber after these statements. I swallowed, my mouth uncomfortably dry. Retrieve the talismans of the Four Fallen? How on Erdas–

"Like the summoners of the Four Fallen!" Tazi piped up finally, interrupting my thoughts and cutting the tension. He looked from Lenori to Olvan and back again, expression one of light excitement. "Right?"

"Exactly." Olvan agreed with a half-smile. "Your mission is going to be much like theirs. But, since you are not the summoners of four Great Beasts, we hope to keep the Conquerors unaware of your quest." He paused, brows drawing low and casting shadows over his already-dark eyes. "The Four Fallen have not been so lucky."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Tyler frown. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but was cut short by a knock on the door.

We were all on our feet in an instant.

Olvan narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "I was not expecting anyone." He murmured in a low voice.

"Perhaps it is them," Lenori suggested in her soft, musical way. Before anyone could protest, she'd crossed the room and was pulling open the door.

Two men stood outside, accompanied by the four children I'd come to admire. The Four Fallen.

Lenori let out a hushed gasp, which brought Olvan hurrying over. "Is that-?"

One of the men nodded and beamed. The other was on his knees, stroking a magnificent black wildcat.

"By Tellun..." Olvan muttered. "How...?"

The man without a visible animal shrugged. He raised a brow over Olvan's shoulder and Tyler met his gaze with a barely perceptible nod.

The other man looked up, white hair falling in tangled over his eyes. "Donn just appeared." He said, hoarse, hopeful and heartbreaking all at once.

"Lenori, Finn, come with me." Olvan rumbled, striding into the hallway and out of sight. The two Greencloaks he'd mentioned were quick to follow, leaving us.

"So..." the other man offered a light grin to Tyler. "The Chosen Eight?"

Tyler rolled his eyes– clearly they knew each other well. "Oh, get going, Tarik. These are my kids."

"Well, then, papa Tyler, why don't you introduce them to my kids?" The man named Tarik teased back.

The summoners of the Four Fallen allowed themselves to be pushed slightly into the room by Tarik. I couldn't help but marvel over Uraza, Briggan and Essix, but was surprised not to see Jhi anywhere.

"They can introduce themselves, I think." Tyler responded in a jokingly snooty tone. He discreetly jabbed Niko with an elbow.

"I'm Niko, summoner of Jesse the ostrich." The Niloan boy coughed out, caught by surprise. He managed to cover it up with a bright grin. "Pleased to meet you."

Then all eyes were on me and I felt my face redden. "I'm Navia. This is Cerco." I gestured to the wolverine in question with as much confidence as I could muster, glad that my voice didn't shake.

"Sabien." Sabien added quickly once I'd finished. "And Eldya."

We continued down the line, Tazi and Zay introducing themselves with a small smile and a disinterested expression respectively.

"My name is Lucia. That is Elle." Lucia pointed across the room, to where her spirit animal stood.

The summoner of Briggan frowned at that, interrupting Sasha before he could finish us off. "Lucia? As in, Lucia Reisha? Daughter of the Earl?"

She looked faintly surprised, but also a little bit smug. "That's me."

"I met your father once." He tilted his head at her. "You look just like him."

She blushed lightly and nodded her thanks.

"And I'm Sasha." Sasha cur in before the could continue. He directed his gaze to the Zhongese girl, clearly having recognized her. "My father fought under yours."

She lifted her chin and eyed him. "Not the same Sasha who joined the force at only 11?" The panda summoner arched a brow.

"The very same." He answered with a salut.

"Well then." She tapped her fingers. "What in Erdas are you doing here?"

"Meilin!" Tarik scolded swiftly, before Sasha could reply.

The Zhongese boy was left with his mouth half-open, looking lost for a response. And no one else seemed to notice that he'd neglected to introduce his jaguar.

"So why are there only seven of you?" Essix's summoner was quick to fill the awkward silence. "It's the Chosen Eight, right? Where's the rest of you? I'm Rollan, by the way." He added with a sly wink.

I almost snorted at that. Key word being almost.

"Zerif got to the Amayan before we could." Ryan said finally, her tone dark.

The Niloan girl standing beside Uraza let her face twist into a frown. "Like me."

I tilted my head and was about to ask what she meant, when the Euran boy spoke up again.

"Well, I'm sure you know all of our spirit animals," he half-smiled, "and Meilin and Rollan have been oh-so-kind to share their names with you, so I guess it's my turn. I'm Conor!"

Slightly taken aback by the shift in the conversation, I stared at him.

"And this is Abeke." He indicated the Niloan with a jerk of his chin and another bright smile. "It's been wonderful meeting you."

Tarik seemed to get the hint as the room drifted into an uneasy quiet again. "Hey, you four," he beckoned vaguely to his team. "We should go, uh, train."

They nodded, relief flashing over their faces, and hurried to follow him out the door.

I raised my hand in a pathetic attempt at a wave as they vanished from view.

"Well, meet the heroes of Erdas." Tyler sounded at once disgruntled and amused. "Now, can we get back to mission planing?"

Ryan scooped up the piece of parchment that Olvan had left behind. "Our first task will be to go to Amaya and get the Copper Falcon from it's escorts." She read off, then glanced up. "We'll be meeting up with Hoya in Concorba."

Tyler met her gaze for a fraction of a second, then glanced back to us. "We leave immediately."

"What, no break?" Niko complained incredulously. "We just had training!"

"Saving Erdas has no breaks!" Ryan cut in sharply.

Grumbling, Niko rolled his eyes. I agreed with him, but only partially. The other part was buzzing with excitement for our mission.

This is it, I realized as we were sent back to our room to pack, we're going to save Erdas.

So they met the Four Fallen! And they're heading to Amaya! Stick around for the next chapter!

edit 22/04/21:
okay i'm sorry it's been a hot minute but I was super busy with school!!
hope you enjoyed the chapter, hopefully i'll be doing another one this weekend.
stay safe my lovelies!! xx