Patrol 2: Lost & Found

Chapter 22

"D'merdon, will you come here a moment?" Lady T'kanna gestured from the doorway.

"Ah, yes, sis. One moment." Eddin handed Sir Quorkin to Laria and glanced at all three occupants of the room. "I'm sorry, my fellow knights, but it seems a lady needs me." He knelt, pausing to ruffle Laria's hair. He patted Earl and murmured something at the lion, then stood and joined his sister in the hallway.

"He even helps ladies in need." Laria giggled; "Just like a real knight!"

Vania chuckled. "Yes, he helps all kinds of people as an enforcer."

"But not as many as you, right?" Laria beamed at Vania.

"Well, we work together, Laria... The people he helps are the same people I help. Besides, it's not a competition..."

"Oh." Laria looked down at the knights in her hands for a moment, then grinned over at Vania again. "But, if it were, you'd kick his butt, right?"

"Laria," her mother chided.

Vania just chuckled again. "Sure, Laria. If Eddin and I had a competition about helping the most people, I'd win."

"I knew it!" Laria happily pranced her knights around, lost in her own world for a while.

Eddin quietly rejoined them, rubbing his eyes as he sat down, Taric rubbing his beak against Eddin's cheek. Earl instantly turned toward him and grumbled, placing a paw on his foot.

"Eddin. You okay?" Vania asked. She eyed the animals. Are they worried about him? Does that mean we should be, too?

Eddin grinned, dropping his hand from his face to pat Earl's paw. Taric instantly swiveled to look at Vania. "Yes, Vania, I'm fine. Magic work of that sort always aches."

"Magic work?" Vania frowned, brows furrowing. "Oh! You saw a wizard for your eyes?"

"Yeah."

"Yay! Sir Quorkin is back!" Laria pushed the knight back into Eddin's hands. "Hurry, Sir Quorkin! A horde of shadow knights have surrounded Trivana and Mallea! They need your help!"

"Oh, well, I'd better get to the rescue, then," Eddin replied, cantering his knight across the floor.

"So...are they fixed?" Vania asked quietly, studying Eddin's eyes that never quite focused on anything.

"No, not yet. She was just probing, to see what the problem was. But, the good news is, it should be reversible. She'll try tonight, after checking some things and resting after her meeting with her apprentice."

"She?" Vania asked. And he'll see her tonight?

"Yeah." The three knight figures stood in a cluster on the floor. Eddin made his knight stomp on the floor, wagging his sword at invisible enemies. "Raaa! Be gone, wicked shadow knights! How dare you attempt to harm Lady Mallea, Knight of Dusk?" He made his figure charge forward. "Dusk and stars shall surely be your downfall!"

Laria laughed with delight. "Yes! That's what Sir Quorkin always says in battle!" She grabbed her Sir Trivana figure and mimicked Eddin's motions. "Star Knights! To arms!" Laria glanced at Vania. "C'mon, Mallea! Help us!"

"Oh. Uh, right." She bit her lip, taking her eyes off Eddin and quickly picking up her figurine. "Um. To battle!"

"No, that's not Mallea's battle cry," Laria complained, stopping her play. She looked up at Vania. "She needs to say, 'We are justice. By our light, we beat back the night!'"

"Oh. Um. Okay."

Eddin reached over and took the Mallea figure from Vania's hands. "How about I be Mallea for a little while?" He threw her a grin. "Don't worry—you'll be able to study up on proper Lady Mallea actions tonight; sis has a puppet troupe coming to do a show of Lady Mallea and her Star Knights."