Alexander The Great Mage

"She'll accompany you for four months." Lyra said heavily.

"If after four months not much progress has been made from your side, she will teleport back to me. As I said before, Fluff-fluff is a Fortuitous Cosmic Feline, she is an extremely lucky cat who will channel a vast amount of luck and good fortune into herself. Of course, as my contract beast, the vast majority of the luck will go to me, but you will definitely benefit from having her with you as well."

Alexander stared at Lyra in dumbfounded silence.

"YIPEEEE!!!" Buccephalas couldn't help but to scream out in happiness! "WE GOT THE LUCKY CAT! WE GOT THE LUCKY CAT!!"

"We've only just met." Alexander said softly. "Do you trust me that much?"

Lyra looked at Alexander, and then she moved her gaze to the white barrier behind him where the three girls were holding on to the unconscious Aleyria very protectively. She smiled gently at him.

"I trust the person whom Aleyria would almost sacrifice herself for to protect." Lyra tossed a wooden token to the astounded Alexander whose mouth was finally open in shock.

"This is my identity token. If by any chance you manage to succeed after Fluff-fluff has returned to me, you can bring your troops and show this token to any soldier of the Eastern Phoenix Kingdom. Inject a little bit of magical energy into it to verify its authenticity. They will then inform my men and you will be led to find me immediately. I wish you all the best, Alexander. You can tell me which God gave you your power when we next meet."

With that, she nodded at Fluff-fluff who released a burst of energy which enveloped Lyra and her troops. The next moment, they're gone.

Alexander stood outside the barrier for a few moments, feeling rather stunned. He closed his eyes and did his best to digest everything he had heard.

So apparently Lyra knows Aleyria. And she had a pretty good impression of Aleyria too. Entrusting her extremely powerful contract beast to him in the hopes that he could succeed in his plan simply showed that she placed great trust not in Alexander's character, but also his competence.

She's basically investing a portion of the luck that she was supposed to get from the cat, in him. Being in such a bad situation, she would need every drop of luck and all the fortuitous meetings and events she could get her hands on. So this 'investment' was certainly a big one, considering the opportunity cost and the lucky encounters she would have to give up.

He looked down at the wooden identity token which had Lyra's personal emblem emblazoned on it. He injected a little bit of magical energy into it and it began to glow a resplendent golden colour while giving out an aura that immediately reminded him of Lyra.

Interesting.

Alexander took a deep breath and refocused his mind. First things first. He had to quickly make his way to the City of Turah and meet with the High Priest there. After that, he would have to drop by Zan to set up a strategy to capture Wyverns. And then he would have to search and fuse with the dragon. Just 3 things to do. Not a lot. But incredibly difficult, especially the last item.

Hopefully though, with Fluff-fluff the super lucky cat, he would be able to somehow get all three done well. He raised his hand and petted the cat.

"Hey, are you planning on staying up there for the rest of the journey? Come on down to my shoulder!" Alexander called out to Fluff-fluff.

"Meow meoww!" Fluff-fluff meowed sleepily and swatted Alexander's hand away. Apparently it was intent on making Alexander's head its new sleeping area.

Alexander sighed helplessly.

"Yeah, accept it. There's nothing much you can do to a Fortuitous Cosmic Feline. Just be happy that it's on you! It simply means that you'll get a share of all the good fortune that will befall it." Buccephalas comforted Alexander. "I still can't believe we'll actually get the lucky cat. We'll definitely succeed now. Definitely!"

Alexander turned back and motioned for the girls to come out of the barrier. The barrier shimmered as the three girls carried the still-unconscious Aleyria out.

"How is she?" Alexander placed his hand upon Aleyria's forehead. Upon finding that it was cool and normal, he relaxed slightly. Body temperature was definitely one of the strongest indicators of health. If one was not too hot or too cold, it simply meant that the body wasn't responding in emergency mode.

"Don't worry your majesty. I've injected life energy into Princess Aleyria to speed up her recovery. She should be waking up anytime now." Kan-Dari said confidently.

Alexander nodded and pointed to the town ahead. "The banshees should be all gone by now. Shira and I will explore the town ahead and look for a safe place to rest. The two of you follow up a distance away behind us with Aleyria and -"

Alexander stopped and turned to look at Valarin, the town ahead. "Riders are approaching." He said softly.

Immediately, Shira and Kan-Dari surged forward protectively with their wands out, preparing to meet whoever was coming out of the town. Liz'An took her wand out as well, but she remained where she was with Aleyria nestled gently on her arms.

Alexander whistled and summoned his demon horse. He leapt up with great agility and sat on it, eyes focused on the now-visible approaching group of riders.

"Human beings." Alexander said with evident relief in his voice. It would be too difficult if they had to fight another battle with mounted undead or orcs.

"It's the Town Guard!" Shira cried out as she caught sight of the 20-or-so riders. Beside her, Kan-Dari relaxed visibly as her shoulders slumped and tension left her.

Shira immediately sent her horse forward to meet the riders a distance away from her Princess and King.

"Halt in the name of the King." She commanded in an imperious voice as the riders drew close.

As one, the riders reined in their horses and halted. The squad captain took one look at Shira and immediately signalled his squad to dismount as a show of respect.

He placed a gauntleted fist upon his heart in salute and lowered his head. "Captain Tory of the Valarin Town Guard greets the Archmage."

"Town Guard? Why aren't you with the others? Report." Shira commanded.

"Yes, Archmage. Hundreds of banshees appeared out of nowhere and attacked the town earlier this morning. They came from the North shrieking their deadly wails and immediately sent the city into chaos. All the citizens caught outside somehow fell under the control of the banshees. They began attacking our buildings and trying to drag more people out into the open." At this, his voice cracked slightly. But he quickly regained his composure and continued bravely.

"However, many also managed to hide in their basements, cellars and other various locations with sufficient strength to resist the masses as well as auditory resistance to resist the mind control of the banshees. We were stationed in the Eastern Barracks which very fortunately did not receive any attacks, not even by a single banshee.

I ordered my men to stand down, and wait for the banshees to leave so that we could provide support to the survivors of the town. We saw the Royal Crest signal, but we did not dare to mobilize yet. However, the thousands of people on the streets suddenly turned and charged out toward the Royal Crest. Even our companions from the various barracks in town joined in. Our scout even reported that he might have caught a glimpse of the Mayor charging out as well."

Shira nodded grimly at this.

"We only mobilized and rode hard to this location a few minutes after our scout reported the banshee's sudden departure from the town. Report complete."

Captain Tory saluted once more.

"Town casualties?" Shira asked coldly.

"We estimate casualties in excess of five thousand. Many died resisting the mind controlled masses when they tried to drag people out of their houses."

"Let us enter the town. Lead us to the Mayor's Hall. Mobilize all survivors to help these people who were freed from the banshees' mind control" Alexander's voice rang out heavily from behind Shira.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Captain Tory and his squad bowed respectfully and remounted their horses. They swivelled smartly and began cantering back to town with Alexander and his group following behind.

As they neared the town, wails of anguish and cries of anger began to sound and to slowly rise in intensity as people began leaving their hiding places and tending to their dead and wounded.

The group entered the gateless town and found themselves on the main street that ran from the South to the North of town. Alexander steeled his heart as he rode past the chaos, past the man grieving citizens still holding on to dead family and friends, past the frantic people looking for their family and friends, hoping that they were still alive.

Outwardly, Alexander seemed cold and unfeeling as the group made their way to the Mayor's Hall. But inside, Alexander was filled with anger.