NOELLE’S POV,
I run out of the cave and bump into Zeus.
“Ho, Ho, Ho what’s with the rush?” he asks.
I try to answer but my breathing is still not under control. “I… I… I have to warn them, I have to tell Gabriel,” I mutter, and I try to run past him.
Zeus puts his arms around me, “Easy Noelle, you have to tell Gabriel what?”
I try to calm myself a bit so I can answer him, “I saw a vision of the Sea Realm being attacked by Hades. Everyone was dead.”
Zeus his face immediately becomes serious, “Visions only appear to people with mind magic. Considering your talents, it wouldn’t surprise me if you can also do mind magic. We have to go tell the other right now.”
He takes my hand and together we run back to Gabriel’s mountain. Everyone is still sitting at the kitchen table talking when we barge in. Faith asks confused, “Already done with training?” but then she sees the wild look in our eyes, and she continues, “What’s wrong guys?”
Zeus looks at me and says, “Noelle had a vision I think you should hear about.”
They all look at me waiting to explain. I tell them everything I saw in the vision and when I am done everyone is silent. Gabriel walks to Zeus, “Do you think the vision is real?”
Zeus scratches his forehead, “Visions are real but they could be manipulated by someone who is extremely powerful in mind magic.”
Holly bumps her fist on the table, “We can’t risk walking into a trap again.”
Faith’s soothing voice sounds sharp when she replies, “We can also not risk that the whole Sea Realm will go extinct. We have to help them otherwise how can we expect to form a unity against Hades if we leave them to die.”
Gabriel takes my hand and asks, “What do you think Noelle?”
I think for a while and answer, “I agree with Faith that we should help them but there is truth in what Holly said. So maybe we can take a middle way and just take the army of Liberum and leave the Sky Realm army and the dragons at Liberum? That way if it’s a trap we won’t lose all our forces and we still have the element of surprise at our sight with the dragons.”
Gabriel kisses my forehead, “You are brilliant. I think it’s a good plan. What does the rest think?”
They all nod in agreement. Zeus then gets up and asks, “How do we know when the battle is though?”
I become silent because I forgot that tiny detail, to be honest.
Nolan gasps, “Didn’t you say you saw golden banners in your vision?”
I stare at him confused, “Yes, so?”
Nolan claps his hands and says, “That must mean it happens at midwinter solstice. The celebration for the first winter crops to be harvested. That’s in 3 days from now.”
Gabriel nods, “You are right. That doesn’t leave us with much time. We leave with the first light in the morning. Holly, you will stay in Liberum with the sky army. Faith you must go and prepare all the healers. Nolan gather all your combat forces and Zeus and Noelle you must gather the magicians and work on a way for us to go through the Mortal Realm unnoticed.”
Holly tries to argue about her having to stay behind but Gabriel commands, “Holly your place is with the sky army. You are their leader. Besides, there is no one else I would trust more to ensure the future of Liberum.”
Holly sighs but gives him a nod before Gabriel storms out to make preparations. I give Holly a quick hug before running after Zeus to help him come up with a magical barrier. We spend hours discussing the options we have for spells which comes down to making a storm as a shield or an invisibility shield. Both options are not great because the storm might be noticed and then they could find Liberum. But the invisibility shield will prevent us to warn the Mortal Realm or ask them to help. We ultimately decide that’s it’s most important to protect the location off Liberum, so we go with the invisibility shield spells. Zeus teaches us the incantation that all the magicians will constantly have to repeat while moving and once before stopping.
Then it’s time to get ready so I quickly put on my warrior clothes and pack a bag. We all gather at the square where the people that stay behind will wave us out. There are 2000 warriors, 10 healers, and 100 magicians that are ready to march. Children and families are saying their goodbyes, so I go find Holly to say goodbye as well. I find her with Gabriel at the square. I give Holly a tight hug and she kisses my cheek and says, “Please be careful and make sure you all come back to me. Keep an eye on my brother will ya?”
I smile at her and say, “Don’t worry we will be back before you know it and then we can have a fun night with drinking to celebrate.”
Then Nolan comes to say goodbye, so Gabriel and I decide to offer them some privacy. I stand on my toes to give Gabriel a long and passionate kiss and he pulls me in as close as he can. He strikes some hair out of my face and says, “Come find my tent when we set up camp. I want to spend the last peaceful moments before the battle with you in my arms.”
I give him another kiss and say, “I will look forward to that.”
Gabriel walks away to take his place at the front. All the magicians are placed on the outsides of the army in a circle so that the shield will hold everywhere. Nolan blows a longhorn and then it is time to march. I start incantating, “et invisibilitatis stragulum foveat nos.”
The other magicians start as well and quickly a veil of grey falls over the army. For someone outside the veil, it will just look like the surroundings. We have to take a route through nature because the spell won’t work when people touch or walk through the veil. We walk for 12 hours straight before setting up camp. My throat is completely sore from shouting the incantation all day so I couldn’t be happier we are taking a break.
I say the incantation one last time before I head out to find the tent of that sexy King with his piercing blue eyes.