When Isidorus came out of the Land of Gaira, he noticed that a Mozia was sitting right beside his body. His body was covered with wisps of white light that floated everywhere around him. His body had been well preserved. As soon as he was out, his physical body sucked him inside. He was so relaxed after the battle and victory over Vikra that once his soul entered his body, he felt his extreme exhaustion. His mind went blank and he slept. When he woke after an hour, he lazily opened his eyes and found the curious Mozia staring at him. The wisps of light around him had faded. He rose from the bed rather weekly. The Mozia came to immediately help him get up. 

"I am so excited to see that you have finally awakened, Isidorus," the Mozia said as he supported Isidorus' shoulders on his arm and pushed him in a sitting position. "I had been assigned to keep you safe in this hut."

"Finally awakened?" Isidorus slurred a little. His tone was quivering. "What do you mean by that? Did you have doubts that I wouldn't come back? Besides, it's just been, what? Like a few seconds?" He looked at the Mozia with a question in his eyes. "You lost faith in me for a few seconds?" Isidorus laughed weakly and shook his head. "But why are my muscles so weak?" he asked. "Did you do anything with my body when I was away?" He was barely able to lift his hands. 

The Mozia gave Isidorus and incredulous stare. "Isidorus—"

"What? Why are you looking at me as if you are shocked to see me? Did you people think that this was the last of me you have seen?" Isidorus sounded irritated. 

"No, not at all!" came the reply. 

The Mozia had helped him sit on the small bed that he had been guarding. 

"Then?" Isidorus was exasperated. Without waiting for his response, he said, "Take me to the Wizard Kingdom. I do not wish to stay here any longer."

"What about Vikra?'' Mozia asked again. It was his duty to question and he didn't hesitate.

"Vikra is where he should have been," Isidorus chuckled. "He is now in Seozia." 

"That is wonderful," the Mozia replied enthusiastically. "But it took you long to fight the battle against him."

It was Isidorus who stared at the Mozia this time. He had been inside the Land of Gaira for only a minute at the most. Suddenly the realization dawned upon him and his eyes widened to the size of the football. The time—it was different in different dimensions. "How long was I gone?" he winded. 

The Mozia pursed his lips and stepped back from him. "A year!"

Isidorus' eyes popped out. He gulped feeling extremely nervous. A year had gone by. He looked at the Mozia in disbelief. No wonder his body was so weak. 

"You need a lot of care before you can start walking again. Your physical body has lost a lot of muscle mass. It would take a lot of time for an old man of your age to recover," the Mozia said with sympathy. After all Isidorus was over six hundred years old. It was a miracle that his body didn't shrivel up. He had been giving him healing orbs of lights everyday. Everyday during dawn he would steal the sunrays in his wand along with whatever energy possible and spread it over him. From a year ago that was what he had been doing. He had waited for so long that he wanted to go back. 

It was one day when he was perched on a wooden bench outside and reading an ancient book on wizardry that he saw other people coming to this side of the hut. He was astonished to see that they were Faes. There were two men and a woman. He had immediately become invisible. However, he realized that the Faes had disappeared a little distance away. They never came out and he was too skeptical to find out about them, so he stayed quiet. But that was a few months back and at present he had a more pressing matter at hand. 

He nodded at Isidorus, "Yes, you are waking up after a year." 

"Take me to the Wizard Kingdom now!" Isidorus got up to his feet in excitement but fell back on the bed. Was the baby born?

The Mozia rushed to him. "Calm down," he said. After helping him to sit again, he went to the corner of the hut and brought a glass of water. "Please have this. It contains energy for your movement." 

Isidorus gulped down the sparkly water, which had tiny purple globules floating inside, in one go. He kept the glass on the side and said impatiently, "Let us go now!" He couldn't wait to see Adrianna's baby—the baby whom he had been awaiting from eternity. 

The Mozia smiled. He helped Isidorus up on his feet and then took him out of the hut. He created the portal and the two of them stepped inside it right into Isidorus' palace. Even that little movement was too tiresome for Isidorus. The servants appeared immediately and they took over the charge of cleaning him. The Mozia disappeared right after, to report Haldir. 

--- 

Isidorus was too anxious to meet the baby. He couldn't believe that so much time had gone by. His stomach churned and there was restlessness. His limbs tingled, and just at the thought of meeting the baby tightened his chest. He felt as if his insides were quivering. He chided the servants who were giving him a bath, "Hurry up! I have to meet Adrianna's baby." 

The servants shuddered. Quietly they hurried the process. 

Looking at their faces, he asked with a frown, "Why are you looking so worried? What is wrong?" 

"Master, it is nothing," said one of them and pursed his lips while passing the white towel to him. 

Isidorus was all the more angry at him. How dare he think negatively of the baby? He snatched the towel from him and wiped himself dry. Since his muscles were weak, he had demanded a wheelchair for himself only so that he could go and visit Adrianna—no—only so that he could meet her baby. How old must he be now? Isidorus chuckled and hastily wiped himself. 

The servant looked at his Master with raised eyebrows. His Master was angry awhile back and now he was chuckling. 

In an hour Isidorus was informed that the Queen was conducting proceedings in her noble court. He couldn't visit the royal palace without her being there, as he wanted to see her with the child. The servants wouldn't allow him to see the baby on his own. Since he couldn't go to the court or to the royal palace, he decided to go to the Wizard Kingdom just to feel the air, to breath in the air of his realm—and to feed his anxiety. 

He decided to take his carriage. A servant accompanied him. They went to the Second Level near the rialto. The servant took the wheel chair out and helped Isidorus sit on it. He pushed him along the marketplace. Suddenly Isidorus gaze went to a large display above a potions shop. 

"Stop!" Isidorus said. 

A kid with curly black locks that swayed on his forehead, bright golden yellow eyes, and dimple on the left cheek, moved on his knees that waggled back and forth before he fell on his round, soft and squishy buttocks. He clapped and giggled, then rolled on his stomach and repeated the act. The crowd watching him went mad, "Awwww!" "Cutie!" "We love you!" 

Isidorus stared at the child, dazed. His eyes became misty. He held his breath. 

"That's Ileus!" the servant said affectionately.

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like