Chapter 4 : A New Place

"AAASTRAA!!!"

Astra's grandmother called out for him, she rushed towards him, her face filled with concern. the sight before her was beyond anything she could have imagined.

Two powerful mages stood by, their powerful auras unmistakable, and in front of them was the massive serpent, its massive tail wrapped around the yard. The house, her home- was nothing more than scattered debris.

Astra turned towards her smiling as if nothing was wrong;

"Hey, Grandma!!! Are you okay ????"

Her gaze flicked from Astra to the serpent and then back to him.

"What…. What happened here?" she asked, voice trembling slightly with worry.

Grandma pulled Astra behind her, and looked at the two boys and then the serpent, she grabbed Astra's hand tightly;

"Don't- Don't worry Astra... granny will protect you!!!!"

For a moment there was silence, the only sound that could be heard was of blowing winds.

Vael stepped forward, offering a calm smile as he addresses her gently. 

"Ma'am, please don't be alarmed. We're just... helping Astra with a situation." he turned towards the serpent, a bit of concern crossing his expression. 

"This creature was causing trouble, but Astra here handled it."

Astra jumped with excitement, ''Yes Grandma!!" he smiled as if he was pleased with his work; "Just look at him!!!" he pointed towards the serpent;

"doesn't it look like an angry noodle?"

Grandma looked at the serpent,

"Well…. You are not wrong!! But how did you handle it Astra? This thing could've torn this whole town apart!!"

Kael, still standing off to the side, crossed his arms and grumbled,

"Well, he stopped it, somehow. We weren't expecting that, either."

Astra's grandmother turned back to Astra, trying to make sense of everything.

"Astra, what exactly happened? You're telling me you just stopped that…. That serpent? And … WHERE IS THE HOUSE???"

Astra scratched the back of his neck;

"Well, I just had a little chit chat with it and you taught me to handle things without violence, and who cares the job is done heehaw, don't worry everything is fine!!"

He paused, looking at the serpent;

"I guess, I still owe it a treat for not wrecking more stuff"

The serpent, in a rare moment of calm, flicked its tongue again, almost as if agreeing with Astra's words.

His grandfather shook her head, utterly baffled.

"You talked to it? Astra, you're not making any sense. You're telling me that… a giant, magical serpent just listened to you?"

Astra smiled, clearly proud of his "Accomplishment."

"Yep! It's all about understanding. You know, sometimes it's just about listening to people- or uhm, creatures."

Vael looked over Astra with an almost unreadable expression, clearly impressed despite the situation.

"I guess, he just got lucky??..." he smiled and looked at Grandma;

"Don't worry Ma'am, everything is fine…. except…." He points towards the house;

"The house"

Astra's grandma still not understanding the whole situation, looked towards the house and then towards the serpent;

"I don't know what happened here Astra, but I am glad you are okaayy…" she placed her hands gently on Astra's cheeks.

Astra chuckled and waved her off;

"it's really nothing, Grandma. No need to worry about it. The house, though…."

"Don't worry about that too" Vael, placed his hands on Astra's shoulder;

"I'll fix it, it'll will be better than before" he smiled.

Astra's grandma sighed deeply;

"No…no it's totally fi-''

Before grandma could finish her sentence Astra jumped out of excitement;

"REALLYYY???? Can you make it bigger than before????" he looked at Vael with sparkling eyes.

"Yes sure, anything else do you want in it??" Vael replied.

"Astra!!!! Are you crazy, how can you ask for such a big favor" grandma shouted at Astra;

"Pleaseeeee !!! Grandma please he said he will do it!! Let him do it!!! Please grandma... and after all-"

Astra leaned in closer to his grandma's ears and whispered;

"He is richly rich grandma" {* with a wink*};

Vael shot a glance at Kael, Kael moved forward to offer help too;

"Tch..." he whispered;

"It's fine Ma'am, we can do anything you want… after all we failed to protect what we were supposed to" he said to grandma, with a smile.

Astra's Grandma not sure how to react to his words. Vael noticed her confusion and took her hand;

"Don't be confused by his words Ma'am" Vael slapped Kael's back, as if he was telling him to get his act together.

Kael panicked; "ahhh…. What I mean to say is we will take care of everything, so rest assure Ma'am"

Kael and Vael both smiled.

Grandma nodded;

"If you want to help us… then it's fine" she looked at Astra who was excited and happy;

Vael pleased with her answer, he looked at how happy Astra was and smiled.

"But my dear…" Astra's grandma looked at Vael and Kael;

"Where we will stay until our house rebuilds?"

Astra paused and ran towards his grandma, the joy disappeared from his eyes, he looked at Grandma with pitiful eyes;

"I…I didn't think about that…. What are we going to do now?"

Astra's grandma placed her hands around his cheeks, reassuring him;

"Don't worry Astra… we can stay at shelter" she smiled.

"But we can only stay for 2 days at the shelter grandma…. And that place doesn't even have a proper bed for your back grandma... I can't let you stay over there" he grabbed her hands gently.

For a moment there was a huge silent.

Kael and Vael exchanged glances, both seeing the exhaustion and confusion on Astra and his grandma's face. After a brief moment of silent communication, Vael stepped forward, his tone warm but firm.

"Ma'am, we understand this situation is a lot to process right now," Vael said, offering a reassuring smile.

"The rebuilding of new house will take a lot of time. We'd be happy to offer you and Astra a place to stay. It's the least we can do after all after all this... chaos."

Kael, though quieter, nodded his agreement.

"We have a plenty of space, and it'll give you time to sort things out while your house is being rebuilt. You won't have to worry about anything while we handle the situation."

Astra's grandma hesitated, still trying to make sense of everything happening around her. She glanced at Astra, who looked at her with his usual bright, innocent smile, clearly unphased by the destruction of their home.

"I…. I don't know," she said slowly, looking back at the twins.

"you're offering to take us in after all this?... it feels… a bit much."

Astra immediately piped up, clearly not seeing the downside to the offer;

"Grandma, come on!! We can't rebuild the house right away, and these guys are being super nice. Plus, they are rich so I am pretty sure the place would be better than ours"

His grandmother sighed, the exhaustion finally catching up with her as she realized there really was no other option for the time being.

"Alright," she said, giving in with a weary nod.

"But I except a lot of explaining when we get there, Astra."

Astra grinned, clearly excited by the prospect of a new place to stay, even if temporarily.

"Deal! And don't worry, Grandma. They're really nice! We'll be fine."

Kael smirked, crossing his arms.

"let's get going then. The sooner you settle in, the sooner we can take acre of things around here."

Vael offered a kind smile.

"We'll make sure you're comfortable. It's the least we can do for the inconvenience."

Astra's grandmother nodded, still unsure but relieved to have a safe place for the time being.

"Alright, lead the way then."

Astra and his grandmother climbed onto the serpent's back, with Astra settling comfortably at the front, as the massive creature slithered smoothly along the path. The serpent's movements were surprisingly gentle for its size, almost as though it understood Astra's need for safety and comfort. Astra's grandmother, though still wary of the creature, found herself holding on to Astra's waist.

To be continued….