Chapter 115: Tragic Backstory
Rank: Ascended
Abilities: <Leader\'s Soul>
Passive Abilities: <Angelic Strength>
Inherited Abilities: <Lightbringer> <Angel Sight> <Wings of Despair> <Indestructible>
Race: Hippogryph
Kastral\'s status page seemed normal. He didn\'t have any transformation, humans learned from other races that only people who weren\'t born as evolved can transform. It\'s actually a very rare power to have and everyone was very surprised to see a whole race able to do it.
The other difference lied in his rank. Human status windows didn\'t have a rank assigned, no one knows why. We just have a 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. kill and that\'s it.
The only thing that really surprised Sera was the inherited abilities. He even has the transformation ones. She quickly read through those to see what they did.
Most of it was the same. Lightbringer gave him the ability to illuminate himself, Angel Sight gave better vision and the ability to see in any brightness, Wings of Despair made him able to cause fear in others.
The really interesting one was Indestructible, because he didn\'t have a transformation this passive was in constant effect and it worked on his whole body. Which meant he had a lot more defense than anyone in their group.
When she finished with the inheritance, Sera looked at the first of his actual ability.
<Leader\'s Soul>
Description: <A long time ago the angelic race known as the Aerin used their powers to create a worthy mount for their people. They combined the swiftness of their horses with the flight of their hawks and created the Hippogryphs. Among them there was one family specifically bred to be their leaders, they were known for their pristine white color.>
As the leader of Hippogryphs you have the ability to command everyone in your race and even affect other races. Everyone that accepts you as a leader gains a small part of your power. As an Eternal Mount the owner gets this trait as well.
\'Huh... The Aerin?... Are they the angels where the three Archangels are from?... I will ask Kastral... It seems like I inherited one of his trait too, it\'s not very useful since I don\'t lead anyone except our small group, but who knows... Maybe it will come in really handy in the future!\'
Quickly she looked around to make sure they didn\'t miss any monster. Kastral noticed it and screeched, he sent the emotions of confidence and trust. He was asking her to just go back to reading and he will pay attention.
Sera bent forward and nearly laid down on his back, only this way could she pet his head. He made some small sound that meant he was happy and content.
After a few minutes she opened the next ability and began reading.
<Angelic Strength>
Description: <When the war was failed and most of the Aerin\'s Realm was destroyed, the last of the Hippogryph leaders –– a beautiful white mare –– led the remains of her own race through a Realm Gate in hopes of finding peace. Sadly the mare died in the process, but she did gave birth to a majestic stallion and named him Kastral.
Because of his unusual birth of two worlds, Kastral became unnaturally powerful and with this strength protected the rest of his race.>
Your birth increases your strength by a large margin. You are much faster, stronger, more agile and overall more powerful, than the rest of your race. A true King.
\'So sad... Like always...\'
After finishing reading she bent down and hugged Kastral. He seemed a bit confused by this much affection and asked, "What\'s wrong My Lady, did something happen?"
"It\'s nothing... I just finished reading your abilities... Your are a true King of your race..."
He seemed doubtful and felt that she was withholding information. Through their bond he sent his curiosity and calmness, by which he meant that she can tell her whatever she doesn\'t want to.
With a heavy sigh containing a lot of pain from her own life, she spoke through the bond.
"I also learned about your mother... She was very brave, saving your race... And I\'m sorry for your loss..."
The wingbeats of Kastral slowed and he bent down his head in sadness, a small painful screech came out of his mouth. Sera just kept hugging it and sent her own sad memories through the bond, then the happy ones with her parents.
Kastral understood her meaning. He should remember her mother, but not the sadness.
After a few moments he began flying again.
"I didn\'t even get to know her... When I was born, she had already passed away... The rest of our people brought me up... They told me stories about my mother... How good she was, the things she accomplished... It made me really proud to be her son..."
His deep voice sounded wistful, he even sent memories about his childhood and this raised another question in Sera.
"How old are you exactly?"
"I\'m 25 years old maybe. Not a hundred percent sure. I remember when we first arrived to this Realm it was in chaos. You humans haven\'t even began to evolve and a bunch of Realm Gates suddenly opened... It was horrible..."
\'He... He came with the first wave... When the Apocalypse happened... But that also means... Aerin was destroyed only 25 years ago...\'
While lazily stroking his fur, she stayed silent for a bit before asking, "Did the others talk about what was Aerin like?"
Through their bond Sera felt her mounts longing and sadness. He never even got to see his home.
"Yes... They did... The only word I can describe it is heaven... The others talk about white cities built on clouds, they were so tall that you couldn\'t even see the top... There was laughter everywhere... No pain, no loss, only happiness..."
Sera smiled while she imagined the white city and sent the picture through the bond. Kastral seemed surprised how good her imagination was, he made a mournful screech.
"What happened to it?"
"The same thing that happens with every utopia... The people who didn\'t live in our Realm invaded... At that time we had two Empyreans as leaders and a small army of Celestials... It didn\'t matter..."
\'They had two gods?... And an army of celestials?... What could possibly defeat them?...\'
He stayed silent for a few minutes.
"The others... They talk about Realm Gates opening all over Aerin... Thousands of them... And from each an Empyrean came through... They weren\'t nearly as strong as our leaders, but with numbers they overpowered them... Still most of them died and in the chaos we escaped...
We don\'t even know if any of our masters survived or what happened to Aerin..."
With that both of them stayed silent. Sera continued petting him, which seemed to calm Kastral down. She also sent another memory...
Her home before and after its destruction...
Only then did both of them realize how similar their background is. Both were orphans... Both of their family got killed in some conflict... Both of their homes were destroyed... They both had very similar tragic backstories...
It was like they were fated to meet...
Neither actually believed that of course, they were just happy to find each other and to continue their journey together.
Soon they found some large boar with a very thick hide. It was a rotten of the 3rd tier, but Kastral just grabbed it, then dropped it from the sky.
It had no chance and died quickly as it hit the ground. Then he just grabbed the corpse again and they made their way back to the nest.
...
Soon they returned to find everyone flying around. Other than Bea and Vicky nobody was really liking their new mode of transport.
Bea was riding a magical mare, whos feathers and fur matched Bea\'s own. She was chuckling as they flew next to them and matched Kastral\'s speed... Or more like he slowed down so they can match his speed.
Slowly they both landed near the eggs.
Sera got off and like a cannonball Bea hugged her, she seemed really excited for some reason.
"What is it?"
She had a sly smile on her face as she leaned in close and said, "Ah... Nothing I just have to introduce you to someone..."
Taking a couple of steps Bea went to her brown mare and she snuggled close to her.
"This is Alyrine, my Eternal Mount!"
Sera was very confused... She thought it was only possible to make Kastral her mount, was because she was part angel. She turned and looked at her own mount, he looked just as surprised as she was.
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With a small screech and the clicking of his beak, Kastral asked how did Alyrine do it. When she answered Kastral quickly translated.
"You didn\'t even say that your mate is a Dryad! That explains why she can form a soulbond, she could form one with any natural creature since she is one with nature."
That made sense, there was only one thing she didn\'t understand.
"What do you mean by my mate?"
Kastral looked confused, then said something to Alyrine. They both started laughing, or at least that\'s how Sera interpreted the weird sounds and bobbing of their heads. She started to get annoyed, so Kastral quickly stopped and explained.
"Isn\'t Lady Bea your mate? Your eternal partner in life? Like Alyrine is for me!"
This time Sera just sat down and held her flushed face. Seeing this even Bea started laughing with their mounts, but she didn\'t care. In her mind there was only one question.
\'How did I end up in this situation? The person I love has a mount that is the wife of my mount... Please don\'t tell me they even have a child and Vicky has it as her mount...\'
After dealing with the weirdness of the situation everyone got to work and soon they were in the air heading towards their next destination... Brema.