CHAPTER 10

Hi there! A new chapter to wish you a late "Happy New Year!". Hope it is and will be a good year for all of you.

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RAIS Pov

A Letter From Mother To Child

"

Come back into the fold

of my protective wings.

Let not your spirit be restless,

For you are here with me.

I will always be

your one on which to lean,

your rock, your number one fan.

Fear not child

to speak your mind.

Undo the wrongs of the day,

And together we'll make them right.

Speak of heartaches,

so that they may be subdued.

Share your joys,

so that they may be my joys too.

Always know that I am with you,

For you are my precious gift

from God.

I will always love you,

And keep you safe from life's hardships.

I will cushion your bumps,

And tend to your scrapes.

I will guide you tenderly;

Your brilliant eyes

will always be my sun;

Share with me your heart,

And I with you.

I love you.

Mom

"

By Elizabeth M. PIllari, February 2006

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It was getting dark and Mayeul was still not back.

Lia was worried, this was not Mayeul's style.

She then remembered that painful feeling she had felt during her training, like a bad feeling. But at that moment, she ignored it and concentrated on her training, because she absolutely had to master her power more.

Since the events that happened a few years ago, she promised herself that she would no longer feel this sense of powerlessness.

And now that she remembered that moment in her training, she began to worry.

She put on her coat and boots, after putting them on she said quietly,

"Marine, I'm going to go pick up Mayeul."

"Okay, be safe!"

She nodded then walked out, she didn't want to worry Marine.

~~~

"Hmm..." he groaned as he sat down, he suddenly jumped as he noticed the six pairs of eyes that were watching him.

Six?

He finally became aware of the knight in front of them. He had his helmet off but his face could not be seen, only his eyes, for a cagoule covered him.

"Ah, you're finally awake. Come and eat!"

The five children and the ninja knight were sitting around a campfire. In their hands was a stick as a skewer and on it was some meat.

Mayeul took one of the skewers containing meat that was grilling in front of the fire and passed it to him.

"Be careful, it's hot!"

Noris took the skewer, sat down between Mayeul and Leo, and began to eat, taking small bites. His eyebrows rose, and his eyes lit up, with a look of satisfaction on his face.

"It's good, isn't it?" Leo asked with a smile, Noris nodded.

"It was Rafa who made them," Fel said looking at the knight, who straightened up, a smile appearing in his eyes, and continued to work on the skewers hanging in front of the fire.

~~~

Meanwhile, Lia went to see each child's family and they told her that it had been a long time since they had seen them. Seeing the desperation in Lia's eyes, all the members of the small village began to search for the children.

"Ah, I think I know where they are, but you won't like it." Said a young man,

"Where are they?!" Lia said as she approached the boy,

"This afternoon I saw some children heading towards the forest just across the road..." he said pointing to the exact spot, all the adults' faces froze except Lia's, seeing their reactions she asked what had happened.

"We heard the screams of a monster coming from that direction." One of the adults replied,

"What's in that direction?" Lia asked with a determined look.

"A river." The boy replied,

Lia nodded and sprinted towards the forest, ignoring the distress calls of the villagers. For her, her son was not dead until she saw his body.

She is a mother who would do anything for her child, so she was afraid, afraid of the unknown, and afraid of losing her only reason to live. So she went straight into the forest.

And thanks to her powers, it was not difficult for her to move.

The moon and the stars lit up the sky and its surroundings before the astonished eyes of the seven people, for strangely enough, in the forest it seemed that the sky was easier to see through the trees.

Noris noticed that Rafa often watched Mayeul, so he decided to stare at the knight. Leo noticed and whispered to him,

"He said Mayeul reminded him of someone he knew. He's probably still wondering who."

In fact, the knight was looking at Mayeul, but with a questioning air, one could sense no danger from him, only curiosity.

Lia, for her part, had finally arrived at the river. But there was no sign of the children.

Looking up, she noticed the presence of smoke. Her body immediately began to move toward where the smoke was coming from.

As she got closer, she heard a noise.

*sheesh*

"Who goes there?" said the knight as he took his sword from its sheath. The children stood behind him.

The events of the day had traumatised them, and unconsciously they all began to tremble.

The person behind the trees began to approach them, step by step. They did not hide their presence.

The steps came closer and closer.

The person stopped and the knight asked, "Who are you?"

Carillia watched the hooded knight, his sword waving at her, then her eyes finally fell on the children hiding behind the knight.

"Mayeul." She whispered softly, though she was speaking quietly against the silence of the forest, you could even hear a whisper clearly.

Mayeul raised his head and looked at the person in front of him, tears in his eyes.

" Mommy!" He shouted as he ran towards his mother, Lia reaching out to catch her son in her arms.

The gang all came out of hiding and ran toward Lia.

The knight, stunned by the scene, looked at the children crying in the woman's arms.

He lowered his sword and returned it to its sheath.

After telling Lia that the knight was the one who had saved them.

Carillia watched him in silence.

"I am pleased to meet you. My name is Rafael." The latter said, extending his hand to Lia.

She watched his gloved hand, then finally agreed to take his hand.

"Lia."

...

After thanking the knight and saying goodbye, the children and Lia left.

"Ahhh, what an event! And to think they thanked the wrong person, or maybe..."

The knight suddenly remembered what Carillia had said before she left.

{Flashback}

"Well, let's go! The children's parents are probably worried"

"Do you want me to go with you?"

"No, there's no need, you've done enough already."

"All right, take care!"

"Goodbye," said the children,

"Thank 'you' for saving them. "Lia said with a suggestive look.

{End of Flashback}

"She knows," a voice said, startling the knight,

"Seriously, Captain, stop appearing out of nowhere and what does she know?" the knight said as he turned back to the person behind him.

"She noticed my presence. And she's the first person to do so." The person said as they stepped out of the shadows of the trees and closer to the fire and the knight. He wore a suit of armour and, like the knight, held a cagoule and a helmet,

"Then she must be very alert to what is going on around her."

"Sure," the captain said with a shrug,

"By the way, Captain, why didn't you want to tell them that it was you who helped them?"

"I don't like to draw attention to myself."

The knight nodded in understanding, it was that his captain didn't like to draw attention to himself.

Unfortunately, since he was a very talented person as a knight, it sounded like irony coming from his captain's mouth, considering his popularity.

"Let's go, Sir Rafael!"

"As you wish, Captain Maxim!"

"I told you not to call me by my first name!"

"Only when we're in public. There's no one here. By the way, the boy..."

"I know it's strange."

Rafa nodded, "But there's a difference..."

"Hm."

"So, the woman herself -" Rafa began questioningly,

"I find it strange too, I have hidden my presence. Besides, I feel like I've seen her before...but this is the first time I've seen her," he said, whispering the last part,

"W-W-WHAT?!" Birds flew up from the commotion. "Wait, wait... you just said you felt like you'd seen them before and then added that this was the first time you'd seen them. Who would have thought you would get paranoid?" Rafael laughed.

Maxim said nothing and started to leave, but suddenly he started to run.

"W-Wait for me!" Maxence said after realising that he wasn't going to wait for him,

Maxim for his part wore a serious expression under his bonnet, 'She's pretty...', suddenly he felt his cheeks heat up but his expression froze, 'If she noticed my presence then that means I'm lacking in training. I'll need to practice more,' he finally decided, shaking his head in agreement.

Maxim rubbed his hand over his heart as if it hurt, 'Hmm, that bad feeling again!'

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