Luka was still in the kingdom of Aquaria with The Crew, she was inside a guest room in Elisa's castle, sleeping with her demonic drake god, Karyu, who held her like a teddy bear, yesterday's diplomatic mission left the two of them extremly tired, Karyu was probably the most tired since he participated the wild party along the other dragons, both of them slept more in comparison than the other days.
The general of the Riders was awoken by Karyu as he ran his tongue down her naked form, cleaning her from the small droplets of sweat on her skin, she wasn't mad at him, but she could've used some more minutes of sleep.
"Good morning princess." Said Karyu with an adorable smile, his long branched horns shimmering as the hot rays of sunlight passed through them.
"Good morning my deity." Replied Luka with a cheeky smile as she slowly got up, heading towards the bathroom to take a quick shower. After a few minutes, she returned and slowly put on a royal tunic, gifted to her by Adam for her service in the kingdom.
"Please don't call me that, i may be some form of god, but i really don't care." Said Karyu, as he quickly got up giving his body and wings a good stretch, heading towards Luka as she was dressing herself up while looking at a mirror, "Must you walk around with that tunic?" asked Karyu innocently as he looked at Luka.
"Blame the military dress code." Replied Luka with a slightly frustrated voice, "I swear, it's gonna be the end of me." she continued as she went towards the kitchen with Karyu to eat breakfast.
Another few minutes passed and both of them finished eating, Karyu gave a small adorable burp as he finished his plate, "Pardon me." he said with a chuckle, one of the many things that Luka loved about her dragon was his silliness, whenever she felt saddened by something, Karyu would be the first one to cheer her up, either with hillarious verbal or physical comedy.
"Let's go see what the others are doing." Suggested Luka as she got up from the seat, her dragon quickly nodded as the two of them left the guest room, heading towards the so called 'meeting' room where The Crew and The Entourage would pass their time, while both of them were making their way towards the room, Luka was saluted multiple times by guards and fellow soldiers of Elisa's and Adam's kingdom, showing their respect against the female general.
Eventually Luka reached the meeting room, to her suprise, the only ones that were awake were Anija, Avelia, Vrackie, Oakmoss and Celestia. The angelic dragoness was taking care of her offspring while reading books about spells alongside Celestia, meanwhile Avelia was drinking a glass of mead and Vrackie was talking with Oakmoss.
"Morning." Said Luka tiredly, being quickly replied by the rest of the crew, she sat on one of the many chairs inside the room, meanwhile Karyu and Oakmoss laid near each other, Vrackie quickly approached her, holding a letter between hir claws.
"A courier gave it to us just a few minutes ago, it's from Tammy, you might want to take a look at it." Said Vrackie with a serious voice, Luka quickly took the letter, while taking it, Luka saw that Vrackie's belly was noticeably bigger.
Luka quickly opened the letter, looking at the contents inside it.
"Dear Luka,
An adventurer told me that the sage is not too far away from Elisa's kingdom, in a 'frozen forest'.
I've sent some of the members of my crew to see if the adventurer was indeed right and if they could give you an answer already, the sage was indeed there, but she said that she wished to speak directly to Avelia or someone close to her.
In other words, Avelia or a close friend/lover must go to the sage, i hope you and your crew find the golden apple to restore her fertility.
With love, Tammy."
Said the letter, with a beautiful handwritting.
"What did it say Luka?" Asked Celestia cheerfully as she looked at the female general, who placed the letter aside.
"It said that Avelia or one of her close friends must go to the sage, who lives in a 'frozen forest', not too far away from here." Replied Luka with a reasonable voice, "I belive you're too tired to go somewhere with the temperature below zero, am i right?" asked Luka as she looked at Avelia.
"Yep." Replied Avelia quickly as she took another sip of the glass containing her favourite type of mead.
"Well guess i'll go." Sighed Luka, "Just let me get my fur trench coat and i'll be on my way to the forest." said Luka as she got up and started heading towards her room.
"Actually you don't need it!" Said Celestia with a smile, Luka quickly paused as she looked at the chemist with a stunned look.
"What do you mean i don't need it? The temperature is about minus ten degrees celsius!" Protested Luka as she kept looking at Celestia, with the same stunned look.
"Do you remember when i asked you a small sample of your blood to make the potion that changed me and you into a Kilin for the diplomatic mission?" Asked Celestia as she tilted her head in a cute manner, she was quickly replied with a slow yet confused nod from Luka, "Before i made the potion, i took a small analysis of your blood, and i found out that you were born with quite a unique trait." said Celestia with a serious yet reasonable voice, "The metabolism of your body causes your body temperature to be higher than normal, so basically, you can go in that forest in the tunic you currently have, and you won't even feel the cold." finished Celestia.
"Well, that explains why sometimes i would bathe with cold water, thank you for telling me Celestia!" Said Luka with a smile, "Karyu do you mind if you take me to the forest? I will make my way back myself." asked Luka, as she looked at her dragon.
"Ofcourse!" Replied Karyu happily as he and Luka made their way towards the forest.
Unlike natural dragons, dragon gods fly much faster, Karyu was no exception, he quickly reached the forest within just a few minutes, by just looking at it, Karyu and Luka were amazed by its beauty. Pure white snowflakes fell around from the sky, melting instantly as they made contact with Luka's skin and Karyu's scales, the trees were so tall that they almost seemed to touch the sky, meanwhile the grass was covered by a thick blanket of snow, except a pathway that led deeper into the forest.
"Please be careful." Begged Karyu as Luka looked at the pathway, she looked at Karyu who gave her a worried look, she quickly kissed his forehead, assuring him that she will be alright, Karyu gave a small smile as he flew back towards Elisa's kingdom.
Luka walked around the so called 'frozen forest' for minutes, eventually she reached a small orchard, where the so called sage was laying on her knees, the sage weared a beautiful long white cloak, her hair was a beautiful white color, meanwhile her skin was pale, making her resemble a corpse, her beautiful yellow eyes were covered by a masquerade mask, she looked at Luka who slowly approached her.
"You must be Avelia's friend." Said the sage with a calm and reasonable voice, as she kept watching Luka, who laid right infront of her.
"And you must be the sage who knows where the last remaining mage is." Replied Luka, as she kept watching the sage with a serious look on her face.
"Indeed my dear." Said the sage, "Normally, i would create a small test for someone who wanted to learn something that might help them." sighed the white sage, "But you... You are an exception, you are the first person who seeked my knowledge not for your own selfish desires, but to aid a friend." mentioned the sage as she kept looking at Luka, "And for that, i shall give you the information you require." finished the sage.
"I'm listening." Said Luka as she stayed completely still, concentrating as the sage started speaking.
"The threat of the cultists isn't gone, Rider." Started the sage as her eyes seemed to shimmer, "Some of them are still alive, waiting for their time to strike, they completly forced the kingdom of Valarius on their knees, the pure citizens are suffering, meanwhile the tainted ones are bathing in the suffering." Continued the sage as she materialized from the snow depictions of the atrocities that happend recently in the kingdom. Murder, torture and other disgusting acts were depicted on the snow, "You and your group must free the kingdom from the corruption created by those terrible human beings, and there you will find the mage that shall grant you the golden apple that shall restore the fertility of your friend." finished the sage.
"I see..." Said Luka, as she looked down and slowly drifted into thoughts, "Before i leave, may i ask you another question?" asked Luka as she looked at the sage before her, who nodded, "My sister told me that you held the knowledge of an ancient genocide, could you please tell me something about it?" asked Luka again with an interested voice.
A smile formed on the sage's lips,
"Remember, remember, the cold night of december.
Where the revenant king killed the divine king, slaughtering his people, both dragons and humans, and burning the flags of his perfect kingdom.
His wife, the most graceful sorcerress that has ever existed ran away from the chaos, carrying the three daughters of the divine king.
The first one, the youngest of them all, had her ideals soaring through the heavenly skies, eclipsing the doubts of the misguided.
The second one, young but yet old, had her determination much deeper than the bluest seas, drowning the ones that commited the deepest of sins.
The third and final one, the oldest of them all, had her mercy brighter than the sun, burning those who threatened the lives of others.
One day, the three of them will unite under one banner, and avenge those who died under the guidance of the revenant king."
said the sage enigmatically as she slowly fixed her hood and got up, a snow storm suddenly appeared, only to then disappear with the sage, leaving Luka by herself in the middle of the orchard, who quickly went into thoughts as she made her way back to Elisa's kingdom, trying to work out the cryptic story told by the sage.