Azar and Alya gobbled up all the magic – the ancient array of the wheel of dust and shadow, the heavenly thunder released by King Corvus, and the flames of hell released by Grandpa.
It was only thanks to the illusion spell cast by Raven with the help of Mana, and support from Jules and Bella to keep others out of the loop, that the actions of the two little gluttonous dragons were hidden from everyone else, including King Corvus and Grandpa.
They didn't include King Jaren in the illusion spell, so King Jaren was able to see what was going on, and he also got to see what the four children were up to.
When the multi coloured lights cleared, King Corvus and Grandpa looked proudly at the two little dragons, eager to hear their praise, clearly.
"That was really cool, Grandpa and Grandfather," Mana said, suppressing her laughter, and nudging Raven with her elbow.
"Yes, yes," Raven said hurriedly, joining Mana. "The heavenly thunder and the flames of hell were really magnificent! Grandfather and Grandpa, that was very impressive!"
"Very impressive indeed," Jules said, adding on to the praise. "The heavenly thunder and flames of hell really worked well together." Worked well together in the little tummies of their two baby dragons, Jules added in his own mind.
"That was certainly very powerful magic," Bella said, holding back her urge to giggle and give away the game. "Grandpa and King Corvus, you are very impressive."
"Big magic, Great Grandpapa and Great Grandfather!" Azar pitched in, licking his lips like a cat that had just eaten an entire bowl of cream.
"Big magic! Good magic!" Alya praised as well.
King Jaren couldn't control himself any more and chuckled, rubbing the heads of the two naught little dragons that had just eaten up three extremely powerful spells.
"Say thank you to your Great Grandpapa and Great Grandfather," King Jaren said to the two little dragons. Naturally, he didn't add what they were supposed to say 'thank you' for. If little Azar and Alya ended up saying 'thank you for tasty magic' to King Corvus and Grandpa and then burped to show their satisfaction with the meal, that would not be a pleasant outcome – although it would be rather funny, King Jaren thought.
Azar and Alya blinked innocently at King Corvus and Grandpa, and said sweetly, "Thank you, Great Grandpapa and Great Grandfather!" The two little dragons had no idea what their beloved Grandpapa was thinking, but both Azar and Alya considered themselves to be a good little boy and a good little girl respectively, and prided themselves on listening to their Grandpapa, so they simply did as they were told.
The two old men, receiving the sweet 'thank you' from the two cute and adorable little dragons, preened like peacocks, thinking that the children and the baby dragons were all very impressed with their powerful magic and having no clue that all the magic had been eaten up by the two little gluttonous dragons!
"All right, Azar and Alya, you two can go and get some rest now," King Jaren said.
"Yes, Grandpapa," Alya said in a sweet and obedient voice, nuzzling King Jaren's face.
"Yes, Grandpapa," Azar agreed as well, also nuzzling King Jaren's face with his small black head. "Can we have some fruit, Grandpapa?" he asked in a hopeful voice.
King Jaren shook his head fondly and pulled out some fruits from his pockets. He peeled them deftly and cut them into bite sized pieces and fed the two happy little dragons sitting on his shoulders.
Mana, Raven, Jules and Bella exchanged a glance with each other. If the two little dragons ended up growing into insufferable and utterly pamperd spoilt brats, they would put the entire blame for that squarely on the shoulders of their Papa King Jaren!
Many people came over to thank King Corvus and Grandpa for saving them from the ancient array of the wheel of dust and shadow of the Amber Kingdom, and the two old men accepted their gratitude with grace and elegance befitting their station.
Azar and Alya went back to King Jaren's space after eating the fruits – of course, they had unlimited access to the fruit trees in King Jaren's space, but for some reason, both the little dragons felt that the fruits were much tastier when their beloved Grandpapa peeled the fruits and cut them up into small pieces and then fed Azar and Alya with his own hands.
Now that the ancient array of the wheel of dust and shadow was gone, the group looked around and found that they could indeed see a town up ahead, just like Grandpa had mentioned earlier.
The town walls were quite high and made entirely of red bricks – and presumably why it had been named as 'Red Brick Town'.
"It's not just the town walls that are made of red brick, all the buildings in the town are also made from red bricks – or, at least, they used to be," Grandpa said, in response to the unasked question that was floating in everyone's minds at the moment. "I am not sure of the situation in the Red Brick Town at present, though."
"Should we move ahead and find out, or should we camp here for the night?" King Corvus asked, looking at Grandpa. "What would you suggest, Ducky?"
Grandpa rolled his eyes at the nickname being broadcasted to everyone like this. "I think we should get into the Red Brick Town and find an inn to stay for the night, Corvy," Grandpa said, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "It would be easier for us to stay at an inn instead of staying outdoors in the desert. It gets very cold in the desert at night, and the extreme temperatures are not conducive to many people in our group."
King Corvus nodded, not minding that Grandpa had extracted his revenge by calling him by his nickname in front of everyone as well.
"Let's go, then," King Corvus said. He looked at King Jaren and Queen Carolina. "That's fine with you, right?"
King Jaren and Queen Carolina nodded.
"It would be better and easier to stay at an inn," King Jaren said. "We would also be able to take a nice bath. All this sand is making me feel rather itchy."
Almost everyone agreed with King Jaren's thoughts, and thus the group marched onwards, heading towards the imposing town walls made of red brick of the town called 'Red Brick Town'.
To their surprise, however, they were stopped at the gate by the town guards, who sneered at the tired but well dressed group of foreign people.
"You have to pay a toll to enter the Red Brick Town," one town guard said, holding out his hand. "One thousand gold coins per person, and all the good looking ones have to spend the night with us."
There were a good number of pretty faces in the group, and the town guards were leering at Jules and Bella in particular, who were easily the best looking of the lot.
"Is this how Orion treats his royal guests these days?" Grandpa asked in a mild voice, stepping up to the front of the group. His eyes shone with fury and the flames of hell danced around his body threateningly.
The town guards froze.
"That – that's the flames of hell!" an older guard cried. "The Duke – the Duke of Flames – is that you, sir?!"
Grandpa pursed his lips and crossed his arms.
"Call the chief!" the older guard instructed the younger ones.
Two young town guards scampered off immediately, and returned a few minutes later with an old, pot bellied man with ruddy cheeks.
"What's the commotion here? Who is causing trouble at our gates?" the fat old man shouted angrily.
Then his eyes fell on Grandpa, who had not withdrawn the flames of hell yet. And behind Grandpa, he caught sight of King Jaren, Queen Carolina, King Corvus, General Aquila, Crown Princess Pica and several important ministers of the Pearl Kingdom.
"The Duke of Flames!" the fat old man stuttered. "And the royals from the other four kingdoms!" He swallowed nervously and threw a glare at the town guards around him. "What are you lazy lumps waiting for? These are the distinguished royal guests of the Amber Kingdom and they are going to the imperial capital city to attend the engagement banquet of our Crown Prince Mars and Princess Astra of the Emerald Kingdom. Don't you guys have eyes? Can't you see that King Jaren of the Emerald Kingdom is here, too? And there's Queen Carolina of the Sapphire Kingdom and King Corvus of the Obsidian Kingdom, too! Come on, show them to the best inn in our Red Brick Town and there must be no lack of hospitality from our side in treating our royal guests!"
The town guards looked at each other in dismay. Had they just tried to extort money and inappropriate favours from the most powerful people in their world?!