Hey all!!

Just wanted to let you lovely people know that there's only about one more chapter left before we're back to Meena and Avaryn! And that next chapter will definitely be up next week! So no fear!

Again, thank's for your patience!

And enjoy!! <3 

-Luckycharms!

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Lumyryn was up and moving again within two days. When the friends finally reached the group of red eyes that had been rounded up but the Destynians, Lumyryn was rather surprised. The group was filled with tired, exhausted people who looked like they wanted nothing more than to finally get peace.

So Lumyryn knew they had to hurry.

He also noticed that not all of the people in that group were red eyes. A few were in fact normal and that was probably because they chose to join their red eyed family.

That fact pleased Lumyryn. It not only showed that some people supported the people like him, but it also meant that the red eyes who had this kind of support would be easier to train.

So without losing a moment, he began to lead the group towards the east.

Every person in that group heard of Lumyryn. And though they originally had their doubts about him, seeing him made them all the more confident in him. They saw the strength in his body and the determination in his eyes. They heard the confidence in his voice and it was hard for someone to not trust him after seeing all of that.

The larger group was obviously slower than the smaller group that Lumyryn had originally been travelling with, but that was expected. They had to rest more frequently and it worried Lumyryn quite a lot.

But every time Lumyryn felt any sort of risk, the Destynians who helped guard the large group made him feel better. They were approached by knights multiple times in the short amount of days they travelled, but every time, they were easily sent away by the Destynians.

Even the King of Raffyre wasn't foolish enough to allow his men to attack the Destynians. That would be an act of war. And the King of Raffyre could not expect to be able to defend his country from the massive nation of the Destynians.

So their travels were not too difficult.

In fact, they were rather pleasant.

Especially now since Lumyryn began to feel a new feeling of love for Mina and all the perks that came with being in love.

He was often smiling.

Especially when she was near him.

He was happy. Very happy.

Everything was working out well.

And when they were a short while away from the border of Raffyre, Lumyryn finally thought it was safe enough to allow everyone to have a full nights rest.

The moon was shining so brightly that night that Mina and Lumyryn couldn't sleep. They sat under a tree on that quiet night, facing each other and hearing the breathing of all the others that joined them more clearly than ever.

It was at times like this when they all looked and sounded human.

When they were fast asleep with their eyes closed and were breathing peacefully.

"How long must we continue?" Mina asked. She watched the man that sat across from her, the man she had found herself falling so in love with.

He was plucking blades of grass from the ground and thinking deeply about something else.

"Lumyryn?"

He looked at her, "sorry?"

She couldn't help but smile, "how long? How long must we continue?"

"Not long, I hope."

"I hope so too," Mina responded. He heard her accent as she spoke and he loved it. There was something comforting about it. "I do not think many of these people can continue on for much longer."

His eyes flickered towards the small group of people who had joined him.

There were many people. Many.

Almost of them red eyed like he and Mina.

All of them wanting to escape the persecution of being a little different.

And then his eyes fell on the child.

The first child that he had saved from the dangerous hands of the ignorant man.

He sighed.

His love was right. They had to get to the place they could call home as soon as they could.

These people couldn't continue on forever.

He sighed once more before he went back to plucking the grass from the ground.

Mina watched him. She knew well that this man always found the need to fiddle with something when he was thinking deeply. Let it be the buttons of his tunic or the grass on the floor... When his fingers were active she knew he was deep in thought.

"What are you thinking of?" Mina asked as she crawled over to his side.

"Hmm?" He questioned, still not paying attention. But when she rested her head on his shoulder, she had his attention.

"What were you thinking of?"

The young man leaned against the tree trunk, "my imagination is running wild."

"With what?" She pushed, "what is filling your mind?"

"Hopes... I think..."

"Really?"

He nodded, looking up at the moon. "A town..." He said, very softly.

Mina took his hand in hers, showing him that he had her attention.

"For us... A nation, even. A place just for people like us and people who accept us. So we can be safe."

Mina smiled.

"Wouldn't that be nice?" Lumyryn continued. "A home for every family here... A school for children to go to... A field for them to play in... Without the fear of being ostracized."

"That would be very nice."

"That's what I hope to find... A place that can be our home."

"We will find it." Mina said. "I know we will. If you guide us then we will find it."

Lumyryn let out a chuckle.

"And when we do, you can be our King," she smiled, "every land needs a King, am I right?"

"I don't want to be a king."

Mina giggled, "why not? No one would do a better job."

"Our land should not have a king," Lumyryn said, "that leads to corruption, to envy..."

"Fine," Mina said, "then be our protector."

Lumyryn thought about that.

He liked the sound of it.

"I can do that," he said with a smile. "Well, I can try."

"You will be an excellent protector," Mina continued to smile as she spoke, "the protector of our very big family."

Lumyryn smiled. Protect people.... That was something that he was sure he could do. He could be a protector.

He would be their protector.

---

So in a little over a week, the group of red eyes had finally crossed the Raffyrian border.

They arrived at a land that looked as beautiful as Lumyryn had imagined.

There were two mountains that were on the northern and southern sides of the land and in between it was a river.

It was completely empty aside from all the trees and a couple abandoned homes.

There were absolutely no inhabitants.

"Welcome to Kaita," Rodr said as he approached Lumyryn on his horse, "or at least, that's what it used to be called. Feel free to name it what you will."

Lumyryn looked at Rodr, "you are really... going to just give this to us?"

Rodr nodded, "as of this moment, this is your land. Make your way down into the woods near the northern mountain and our architects will be waiting there for you–"

"Architects?" Lumyryn asked.

Rodr nodded, "they will help you map out this land and build. Your people cannot go sleeping on the floor for too long. I got notice that our king has sent a couple hundred workers to help you as well. They should be here soon."

Lumyryn swallowed back his shock, and then he got down on his knees and bowed low, shocking Rodr. "We are truly indebted to you, Lord Rodr."

Rodr opened his mouth to protest the act of loyalty, but he was shocked to see all the people who stood behind Lumyryn, all of the people who followed him, get down on their knees too.

Rodr was lost for words.

He got off his horse and knelt down in front of Lumyryn, grabbing his shoulders and lifting him up, "you have no need to thank me, my friend. It is our king who deserves your thanks. And I am sure even he would not want it."

Lumyryn let out a breath. He still found it so hard to believe that this land was being given to them.

There must have been some sort of catch.

Could a king actually be that kind?

But then Lumyryn smiled.

He told himself that he should not be so negative.

It was entirely possible. After all, these people knew what it was like to be persecuted for being different.

"Our King has promised to come and visit you and your people as soon as the building is done... and with the help of our architects and workers, that should be quite soon."

"I am excited to meet your king." Lumyryn said as the two stood up. The rest of the red eyes followed.

"You should be," Rodr smiled, "he is a truly magnificent man."

"I'm sure."

Rodr continued to smile, "but now, I must return to my home. As I said earlier, go straight down to the base of the northern mountain and set up camp. You and your people have quite the work cut out for you before you can truly be rested."

"I thank you again," Lumyryn bowed his head.

And with that, Rodr was off.

As Rodr had said, the red eyes had quite the work cut out for them.

It took a month to build the temporary homes at the base of the northern mountain so that the people of the new nation could be comfortable while the real building began.

It was at that time that the Destynian king visited.

Lumyryn was hoping to be able to know more about this gift when meeting the king... and once he did, all he could really be sure of was that it was exactly that.

A gift.

A gift to people who were just like them but at the same time, so different.

And the only payment that was necessary was the promise that they would be allies.

Lumyryn could promise that with ease.

It was the least he could do.

And then the real building began and it ended up taking years. Three years, to be exact.

In those three years, much had happened.

All the people had truly begun to understand why Lumyryn was such a remarkable person. Not one person would disagree upon the fact that Lumyryn was a great leader. They were certain that no one could do it better, which meant that he was most definitely the one that would lead these people till his death.

Mina and Lumyryn had also grown much closer of the three years. When Mina wasn't helping with the building, she spent most of her time teaching young girls and boys how to dance and sing. And any free time she had was spent with Lumyryn.

It was obvious to everyone who encountered them that they were in love with each other. One could tell just from the way that they looked at each other. And thus, most people treated Mina with great kindness, knowing that one day she was to be a queen of some sort.

Little Lumynos had also grown up a lot. Sheelah spent a lot of her time taking care of him and other children, and as Little Lumynos grew older he was either stuck by his father's side, or Lumyryn's. The boy was Lumyryn's number one admirer and his parents were happy with that.

They had hoped that Lumynos would learn his values from a man such as Lumyryn.

Khi had also grown quite a lot. Three years doesn't seem so long but it those three years he had matured a great bit and was becoming a strong young man. He was hard working and smart and he too learned a lot of his values from Lumyryn, which allowed him to be quite popular among the girls.

Lumyryn had invited his parents to come live with them and though Juna was thrilled, Jol was rather reluctant to leave everything behind.

But both of them knew they would have a better life with their son as it became common knowledge that they were the ones who raised the young man who was now the leader of the threatening soon to be nation. They would be penalized and persecuted soon and Lumyryn was practically begging them to join him so that they would be safe.

So they came.

And in the end, all of them were just so happy to be together that nothing else mattered.

Thus, it took three years and the nation that was to be headed by Lumyryn was finally built.

It was easily decided that this nation would be named after Lumyryn. No one disputed it.

Lumyryn thought it would make things rather confusing for him but everyone wanted their nation to be named after him. They wanted his name to last. They also hoped that naming it after him would bring more fear to their enemies.

And it did.

The Raffyrian's were terrified at what was happening.

They sat back and watched, wanting so badly to destroy all the red eyes but too afraid to start a war with the Destynians.

So the new nation of Lumyryn felt peace and prosperity for years and years.

Mina and Lumyryn married very early in their life. While there was still peace in their nation, the two of them had two children, the eldest a son and the second a daughter.

And almost two years after his daughter was born, while Mina was pregnant with their third child, the peace they lived in was disturbed.

Lumyryn was in his early thirties when he was sitting in his meeting room with his advisors, discussing feasible trading connections that could be made with their neighbors. And it was on that day that Lumynos, who was a handsome young knight now, barged in.

"Uncle L­­–" he cut himself off, remembering that his mother told him to refer to him as Lord when Lumyryn was in important meetings, "My Lord!" He said, almost out of breath.

Lumyryn looked up, "Lumynos?"

"The Raffyrian army," he took a deep breath, "they're marching towards us!"

Lumyryn and the advisors all stood up, "what?" Lumyryn's eyes widened.

"That is an act of war!" An advisor said.

"Well, act of war or not, they're coming!" Lumynos said.

Lumyryn rushed out of the room.

He half ran to the tower of the mansion and looked out, seeing the large Raffyrian army in the distance.

He let out a breath and then went back down the stairs. When he met with the advisors again, he spoke aggressively, "contact the Destynians, quickly."

The advisors bowed.

His nation and his army had grown quite a lot over the years, but definitely not enough. Their numbers were small, and though they had their special skills to rely on, it still wouldn't be enough to take on an army of the size that was marching towards them.

They needed the Destynians help.

As Lumyryn rushed down the halls of the mansion, Lumynos joined him, "uncle, what must I do?"

"Go to Khi," Lumyryn said. Khi was now the military commander of the army and needed to be notified, "tell him to prepare our army for war."

"War?" Lumynos gulped.

Lumyryn stopped walking and looked at the young man with a kind smile, "it'll be fine, Lumynos."

Lumynos hesitated by nodded, "right."

Lumyryn donned his usual, light armor, tied his hair back and got a hold of his axe before joining the army. He ordered the defenseless civilians to make their way up the mountains to where they would be safe from battle, and though Mina was pregnant, she put on her armor and joined the army as they prepared for war.

Though Lumyryn hated that, he couldn't refuse her offer, even if he tried. Both of them knew that they were going to need all the help they could get and both of them knew that Mina had a strange strength that surpassed most, if not all of the other men and women.

Maybe even Lumyryn.

And though Lumyryn did not want to fight at all, he and his army were marching out to face the Raffyrian army within hours of the notice that they were coming.