Epilogue
Konrad tilted his head back and stared at the clear blue sky above. “I guess it is time to leave.”
“I guess so,” said Wraith.
Elias squinted back at the doors leading into the monastery. “Maybe I should have gone with our belongings in the carriage. That seems far safer, and then I don’t need to be in the air.” His fair skin had a grey tinge to it.
“Our belongings will take much longer than we will to get to Draconia.” Gerard placed his hands on Elias’s arms. “You’ll be fine. We’ll be there quick as a flash. Just close your eyes and it will soon be over.”
Elias did not look convinced.
Luther came out of the monastery and entered the courtyard in just a robe, with Onyx, fully dressed, by his side.
Luther leaned on his cane as he walked. He yawned, dark bags under his eyes. “I drank way too much last night.” Then he jabbed his finger at Onyx. “Then he kept me up for hours.”
Onyx chuckled. He wrapped his arm around Luther’s waist and tugged him close. “As I recall, you were begging for it.” Then he nipped his ear.
Luther laughed. He said something to Onyx, but his voice was too low for Konrad to hear. Which Konrad was glad for. He did not need any more details regarding his younger brother’s sex life.
Ash, Barrett, Juniper, and Senta came out and joined them in the courtyard.
“Ready to depart?” Konrad asked.
“We are,” said Barrett. “Although, we are planning a slight detour.”
Ash nodded, beaming. “Juniper and I have been talking. She thinks we can fix the Sessun River.”
“The Sessun River?” Konrad glanced between them.
“During the war, I … well—” Ash paused. “I poisoned it.”
And Konrad immediately knew the river he was talking about. He’d never seen it himself, but he’d heard about it and read the report.
Pretty pink flowers, created by nature mages, had grown along the river. The flowers were incredibly poisonous. A great number of the Draconian infantry had died, having drunk from the poisoned water. Animals and plants along the river had also died.
However, it turned out that it wasn’t numerous nature mages who’d created the flowers, as they’d assumed; it was a single nature mage. Ash Rosewood. The River of Poison was what the Draconians had called it.
“It will be nice to see it fixed and the land around it flourishing once more,” Barrett said.
“I think it will take time, though, perhaps a year or two to cleanse the area completely,” said Juniper.
“But it’ll be worth it in the end!” Ash said. “It will be wonderful when the poison is gone and everything is back as it should be.”
Barrett smiled at Ash. “It will be lovely.”
“When it’s fixed, we should meet there for a swim and a picnic,” Luther said.
“That will be wonderful!” Ash clapped.
It seemed Ash carried some guilt for poisoning the river.
Elias gazed around them at the monastery. “I was thinking, the White Monastery could be made into an academy of sorts.”
“It’s already got the Dove Healing Academy,” Gerard said.
“I know, but it could be a place where other things are taught too. Students could come from the different kingdoms. They could learn sorcery, elemental magic, or necromancy. It could be interesting,” Elias said.
Konrad bit his lip at the thought of necromancy being taught. But then he reminded himself that not all aspects of necromancy were inherently evil. What Wraith did was noble. And necromancy could be useful too. Maybe they could teach an ethical, non-evil form of necromancy.
Honestly, Konrad wasn’t completely convinced. But he was open to the idea. “Perhaps.”
Elias shrugged. “It’s just a thought. We could also set it up somewhere else too, like Draconia, or Voltaria, or anywhere really. We could even—”
“All right.” Gerard clapped Elias on the shoulder. “That’s enough dilly-dallying and stalling from you, we are heading off.”
“I’m happy for us to go last.” Elias looked around at the others.
The courtyard did not have enough space for all the dragons to shift and fly off at once. But they could go two at a time.
Gerard shook his head and began to disrobe. “Nope. Waiting will just make your fear worse. We need to get this over with.”
“I prefer you getting naked for more fun reasons,” Elias grumbled.
Elias and Gerard took off at the same time as Luther and Onyx. Next went Ash, Barrett, Senta, and Juniper.
“Well, I guess it’s our turn.” Konrad began to disrobe. He looked back at the doors leading into the White Monastery.
The peace assembly had not gone as planned. Not at all. The leaders of the monks, the grand monk, the grand shield, and the grand healer were all dead. So was Konrad’s father, Wraith’s parents and siblings, and many people from the different kingdoms.
There had been so much death whilst they tried to obtain a peace treaty that had not come into fruition.
But they would not give up. Konrad was determined to get a peace treaty. And soon. They had allies now amongst the other kingdoms.
Wraith stared up at the sky. The sun kissed his pale cheeks. “It’s a beautiful day.”
“It is.” Konrad took his hand. “Now let’s go home.”