Chronosphere of Atlas (2nd Draft)

Prologue

Everblaze

“Take his body to the Fire Lake.” Jandro choked.

The senators bowed as the council carried his father’s body out of the room.

Once they were gone, Jandro braced his hands on the desk that once belonged to his father. He knew his father wasn’t the best king in the world, in fact, that was the main problem of his kingdom. They had advance technology compared to other empires and kingdoms, and they had the largest army of warriors and mages, but because of their line of bad leadership, Everblaze wasn’t the most powerful kingdom in Haeloria anymore.

His father had led their armies to fight against the cold hearted monsters of the north. But he failed, and he was killed. Now leadership has fallen into the hands of Jandro, the young fifteen year old warrior.

Someone knocked on his door.

“Come.” his voice was hoarse.

“Your highness.” he didn’t recognize the voice, but he didn’t care.

“Make it quick.” Jandro could feel tears forming in his eyes.

“It is tradition that the eldest son of the Phoenix King attend the funeral.”

“I don’t care. Leave.” Jandro snarled.

“But there would be a coronation seven hours after the funeral, sir. You must be there to be crowned.”

“Get the steward to do it!” Jandro snapped.

“A steward can only sit on the throne for so long, prince. And a regent wouldn’t help as well. You must be there to claim the throne and give the oath.”

“Then, let me make it loud and clear!” Jandro pounded the table with a tightly clenched fist, “I’m not ready!”

“No, but Everblaze needs a king, especially during dark times like this one.”

Jandro didn’t say anything.

The person sighed, “Your father knew you were ready to be king, Prince Jandro. Think about that.” the door closed.

The prince strode to the huge bed and and collapsed onto it, heaving a sigh. He wasn’t ready, and Jandro knew it.

At the funeral, Jandro spoke in the ancient tongue of their ancestors, praying for forgiveness for his father’s sins and wrongs, and praying that his spirit travels safely to the Fire King’s Realm.

During his coronation, the vows and words meant nothing to him, for he knew there was not one person in the hot deserts of Everblaze that trusted him in the position of king. The words were empty promises, nothing more, nothing less.

Kreigspire

The king sat at his table along with his brothers and cousins.

“We defeated the king.” he turned to his youngest brother, “Tiberius, I want you to move your mages as far into Everblaze territory as possible without draining any magical energy. From there, start the curse.”

“Yes, my lord.” Tiberius nodded.

“Alias, go with him.” he said to one of his cousins.

“What about their mages, lord?” Alias asked.

“Did we not dispatch them during the first wave?” the king asked, frowning.

Some shook their heads, other stayed silent.

“Can someone care to explain?” he demanded.

Garrick, one of his brothers, decided to reply, “We dispatched most of them, my lord. Some fled.”

“How many?”

“Maybe a hundred at most managed to flee the battle field.” Garrick said.

The king nodded thoughtfully, “I see…”

Alias used his dagger to point at a part of the Fire Mountains, “Can’t we stand right in front of the flaw in their magical defense and kill them off with arrows?”

Tiberius shook his head, “They’re mages, not warriors. Warriors gather at the single weak spot, but because mages have a longer range of energy, they can stand miles away and still be able to defend that spot.”

“But they’re worn out! It took us just a few days to rally up our remaining troops. They wouldn’t expect us to be ready so soon.”

“Plus, their king is young.” another one of the king’s cousins pointed out, “I heard he was only a boy.”

The king whipped out his knife and planted it at the center of Everblaze’s capital city. “Send someone in.” he said.

Everyone turned to him, “What?”

Garrick barked out a laugh, “That’s the oldest trick in the book, Dorian!”

“Oldest trick, but very effective. Many have fallen for it.” he straightened, “I’ll go.”

“My lord?” they said at once.

“My son is old and experienced enough to rule Kreigspire. If I fail, we’ll be ready. If we don’t, then I’ll consider myself lucky.”

“But that’s not even well planned!”

The king sighed, “Yes, but our ancestors have tried so hard to crush our enemies. Everblaze is our last one, so I will not stand by and watch another generation fail. I’ll finish them. If I don’t, may the gods forgive me.”

Rashira

She hated them. She despised them in every way. Her entire family was dead because of them. Her people were starving and near death because of them.

And what was worse? The king wasn’t doing anything about it! All he did was sit up there in his castle wasting his days away in drink and entertainment.

She wanted to do something, but what can she do? The land was a glacier, and fire had ceased to exist a long time ago.

“Rashira?” A familiar voice said.

She didn’t look, “What?” her teeth were chattering.

“Come inside.” a cold hand touched her shoulder.

She was tired of the cold. It was bitter and cruel. She needed the familiar golden glow of the sun, and the hot blazing fires they had once lit during the Summer Solstice so long ago.

“Rashira, you’ll die.”

“So? My entire family is dead.” She said bitterly, “Only my sister lives. What difference does it make?”

He grabbed her forearm and turned her around.

He was very tall, even for a man. His dark skin and black hair was covered in snow, and his brown eyes were squinted, as if even his eyes couldn’t take the cold. He was very muscular, like most of their warriors, and he had a confident aura around him. He wore a black fur coat which, two hundred years ago, would’ve been the weirdest thing Everblaze citizens have seen. But now, it was as common as fire had once been. His boots thudded against the hard icy ground as he took a step forward.

“The difference is that the strongest female warrior in our kingdom would be gone.” Daario said quietly, “And my best friend.”

Rashira clenched her jaw but she said nothing else as she looked down at the icy ground.

“Listen, if you don’t do this for yourself, do it for me. Do it for your friends who don’t wish you dead.” his hand went down to her hand and squeezed it gently.

He had a point. She liked all of her friends, and she knew she wouldn’t want to see them sad or angry. So Rashira straightened and nodded. Daario smiled, “Come inside.”

She walked into the hut where all her friends were huddling around a small fire. They looked up and smiled. “Rashira!”

Her twin sister, Raenada, walked over and clutched her arms, “Rashira, you’ve been outside for almost an hour! It’s a miracle that you didn’t freeze to death!”

“Your sister is strong, Raenada.” Daario flashed a warm smile towards Rashira, “She can take care of herself.”

“But still!” Raenada shook her head, “Come on.” she led her to the fire and forced her to sit down.

“What should we do about this king?” another one of her friends asked.

“We can’t do anything. Not in this weather.” Raenada looked out into the blizzard that was happening outside.

“If that’s the case, then we can never do anything! The weather’s always like this!” Daario pointed outside.

“How many warriors do we have left?”

“Barely a handful. And the guards are mindless but loyal idiots. They will fight for the king, so storming the castle isn’t an option.” Raenada said.

“Maybe we can secretly round up allies outside of Everblaze?” her friend asked.

“No, we can’t. We won’t survive a day out in this weather.”

Raenada slumped, “Well that’s great! What do we do?”

“I don’t think we can do anything right now.” Rashira muttered.

They were silent, then Daario spoke up, “So that’s it, then?” he folded his arms, “We’re just going to let Kreigspire defeat us?”

“No.” Rashira clenched her fists, “But we need a plan before we can take action.”

“And what plan is that?”

“I… I don’t know.” Rashira thought frantically. They couldn’t use their advance technologies because most of them were underground below the castle. And to get into the castle, they would have to fight their way through. Rashira knew the warriors of Everblaze wouldn’t survive the cold.

And even if they did get their hands onto the technologies, they wouldn’t know how to use them, because the king had ordered their deaths a long time ago. He was afraid that they will overthrow the royal family, and they couldn’t have that happening. So now the technologies were practically useless.

Daario growled and flung an icicle towards the hut’s stone walls. It shattered, and everyone flinched.

“We can’t stay like this forever!” he spat, “We have to do something!”

“And what’s that?” Rashira stood up, “Running out into the snow and hope we survive?”

Daario shot to his feet, his eyes blazing with anger, “No, but at least that’s better than just sitting here!”

“We have to have patience!”

“I’m sick of being patient!” Daario gripped the hilt of his knife, “We’ve done nothing to help the others! Plus, patience isn’t going to help anyone if we’re all sitting here, freezing to death!”

“And, what. Exactly. DO YOU WANT ME TO DO ABOUT IT?” Rashira roared out the last few words.

Daario whipped out his knife and buried it into the stone wall. He was shaking with rage by this point. “I don’t want to survive, Rashira.” his voice was low, “I want to live. To feel the heat of the sun on my skin again. And I don’t know what I can do right now, but if running out into that blizzard means a chance of seeing the sun and fire again, so be it.” he yanked the knife out of the wall and marched outside.

Raenada watched him go with wide eyes, “He’s not actually going to do it, right?” she whispered.

“No.” Rashira knew her friend. Even if he says he’ll do something, he’ll never go without a plan. “Let him calm down first, then I’ll talk to him.”

Rashira was sitting next to the fire when Raenada came in.

“Rashira, what are we going to do?” she sighed.

As children, they would usually fight over who was older, since it was never clear, because their parents died shortly after they were born. They were raised by other families. Since the land was a never ending snow storm now, people had no choice but to stick together, hoping they would survive. But as they got older, Raenada slowly started to learn. Fighting over the position of the elder sister wasn’t going to do anyone any good, so she stopped. And so did Rashira. Raenada started to look up to Rashira as the older one, even if they didn’t know, and that meant Rashira had to take up the responsibility of the older. It wasn’t easy.

“I don’t know.” Rashira looked out into the blizzard. Kreigspire had won the Great War, it took them generations to finally put Everblaze down, and they weren’t going to let go for some millennia.

“Maybe a peace treaty?”

“No.” she turned to face her sister, “Everblaze will not surrender. That’s what Kreigspire wants us to do. We’re not going to give them that!”

“Look, sister,” Raenada crouched down and pointed at the blizzard outside, “This land isn’t going to see fire anymore. It’s dead! The heart of fire has died out. You know, maybe it’s time we stopped fighting.”

“If you say that, does that mean you’re giving up?” Rashira said in a challenging tone.

“I will never give up on our kingdom.” she said solemnly, “But risking more lives for the sake of pride? Even you have to say that’s madness.”

“Everblaze was once the strongest kingdom in Haeloria. If we have to build from scratch to restore it’s place, so be it!” Rashira snapped.

Raenada blinked and shook her head, “We’ll think about that later. First, we must ask Kreigspire to undo its curse.”

“Ask?” Rashira stood up, “Ask? We are warriors, Raenada! We fight for what we desire!”

“Fighting is not an option anymore!” Raenada stood as well, “Can’t you see? Our warriors are dying! This land is dying! Pride isn’t an option either because that’s not going to help anyone.”

Rashira knew her sister had a point, but she was too stubborn to admit it, “Our ancestors never asked, nor did they beg. No, they fought! I’d rather die than ask Kreigspire to undo this curse!” she growled.

“Our ancestors weren’t the ones who had to suffer snow and blizzards everyday.” Raenada said calmly, “Different problems call for different solutions.” she stepped up and placed a hand on her sister’s arm, “You’re blinded by pride, Rashira, you’re a good warrior, but even the greatest warrior cannot avoid death.”

“Fine, then.” Rashira folded her arms and turned away, “Go and grovel at their feet.”

“Rashira…” she felt her sister touch her arm, but Rashira jerked away.

Raenada stood there for a few long moments, then she heard quiet footsteps leading out of the hut. Rashira closed her eyes and sighed. Raenada… please forgive me. She thought, regretting her harsh remarks.

Rashira stood there for what seemed like hours until someone came into the hut.

“Rashira.” It was Daario.

She shook her head, “If this is about Raenada, Daario. Tell her that I’m sorry.”

“Raenada? No, this isn’t about your sister.” Daario stepped closer, “I wanted to apologize for my behavior.”

“Apology accepted.” she didn’t want to see anyone, least of all the people whom she yelled and snapped at.

“Can you tell me what you’re thinking?” Daario asked quietly.

Rashira took a deep breath, “No.”

Thoughts and fears of what may happen to Everblaze have crossed her mind over the years, but when she actually thought about it, thoughts turned into nightmares. Sometimes at night, she’ll dream of a dark place where warmth and the sun didn’t exist. She’ll watch her sister and friends die of hypothermia, then she’ll have to walk the earth until she dies as well.

But right now, none of that matters. All her thoughts were fixated on the fact that her sister may have ran away. If Raenada spent a day out in that weather, Rashira had no doubts that she will die. She couldn’t let her sister die, but in truth, Rashira was scared of what may happen to her and her friends if they went after Raenada.

“Raenada did tell me what happened between you two.” Daario said, “She says that she plans to leave, whether you decide to come or not.”

Rashira whirled around, her eyes wide and her face pale, “She’s leaving?” Rashira pointed at the blizzard, “Out in that weather?”

“I tried to tell her, but she wouldn’t listen.” Daario braced an arm against the hut’s wall and clenched his jaw, “Rashira, I think we should go after her.”

“Believe me, I would, but…” Rashira looked away, “I can’t.”

“Why not?” he demanded.

She winced, “I can’t be the hero in this story, Daario. What she said to be was true. My pride is blinding me. I told her that I’d rather die than ask Kreigspire to give back our home. Her choice of going out into the blizzard is unwise, but the purpose of her choice is the right one.”

“Then at least knock some sense into that girl.” Daario said, “I knew what I said to you this morning, and now, when I actually stopped and thought about it, I realized that I was wrong. What Raenada is doing right now, what she’s planning to do, isn’t going to help anyone. We must find a way to survive out of Everblaze territory before we could head to Kreigspire.”

“But how? There is literally no way we can survive out there! We can barely survive in here!” she gestured at the furs and the fireplace.

“We were born with fire in our blood, Rashira.” Daario touched his wrist, “We’re stronger than you think.”

She snorted, “I’d like to believe you, but the fire in our hearts have died out a long time ago.”

“You’re not helping here, you know.”

Rashira stared at the silver blizzard outside, “Why don’t we just march up to the king and threaten him until he does something?”

“If we march up to the king and threaten him, we’ll have a better chance of surviving out there,” Daario pointed at the storm, “Than up there.” he nodded at the castle.

“Not unless if we defeat the guards.”

“Yeeeaaah… just one small tiny problem,” Daario said in a sarcastic tone, “We’ll be outnumbered by, like, one to twenty.”

“Don’t we have any siege weapons?”

“No. All weapons of that sort are down with the rest of the advance technological weapons.”

“Artillery units?”

“No, just maybe a few dozen archers or sharpshooters.”

“Foot soldiers?”

“A hundred?”

“Mounted warriors?”

Daario sighed, “Our mounts have died years ago. They couldn’t adapt as fast as we can.”

“Anyone specialized in wall scaling, poisons, or bombs?”

Daario grinned and pointed at himself, “Me.”

Rashira stared at him, wide eyed, “You?” she never knew.

Daario shrugged, “It was something that I did a few years back. But my father figured that it wasn’t going to be any use to learn poisons and bombing, so he told me to stop.” he tapped his temples, “Fortunately for you, I still remember everything.”

“Okay, but is there anyone else?”

“Not that I know of.”

Rashira nodded, “Okay, rally up everyone who has skill in any weapon and meet me in the Town House.”

Daario looked out, “What about your sister, Rashira?”

She sighed, “If you can find her… bring her back. If you can’t…” she blinked back the tears in her eyes, “don’t go after her.”

“Understood.”

Elixir

She was angry and frustrated at herself. Everyone made the flute and harp look so easy to play, yet Elixir found nothing “easy” about it.

Her temper snapped and she slammed the wooden flute onto the table, “I can’t do it, okay?” she spat.

Her mother looked at Elixir with a confused gaze. “Dear, you’ll get it eventually.” she reached over.

Elixir slapped her mother’s hand away, “Stop saying that! I’m no good at instruments! Why do you keep pushing me to do it if you know that I can’t?”

“I’m sure you’ll learn soon.”

“No, I won’t!” Elixir stood up, letting her anger take over, “I’ll never learn how to play an instrument like everyone else! I’ll never be able to cast a healing incantation! I’ll never even fit into this goddamn place!”

“Elixir…”

She turned and hugged herself, shaking, “Just go.” she muttered.

“Elixir, listen, even if you can’t do what most people here can, you still have other qualities.”

“Like what?”

“You can make potions–”

“Yeah, sure.” she snorted, “Like that’s going to be any use. I mean, who needs potions when you have magic?”

Elixir was a child born with no magic, which was unusual, because everyone in her family was born with arcane blood. But no spells came out of the child. As a young girl, she was bullied multiple times by the people who had arcane blood. They said that she was not one of them. They found her unattractive, unusual, and different.

“Elixir, you’re good at many things, just not what everyone else does.”

“Well, that’s bad, isn’t it?” Elixir growled.

“No, it’s not.” she felt her mother’s hand on her arm, “It means you’re special.”

“Special.” Elixir muttered, “Sure.”

She heard her mother sigh, “Dear, please…”

Someone walked into the room. “Selina, someone wants to see you.”

“Yes, of course.” her mother patted Elixir’s arm, “Think about what I said, Elixir.”

She heard her leave and shut the door gently. Elixir looked out the window and sighed.

She lived in the Mystic Valley, where her home was surrounded by misty glades and mountains. From the distance, she could hear waterfalls cascading down the Jade Cliffs. And under her window, she could see her family’s silver pond.

The village was usually silent. The houses were lit, and she could see shadows, but everyone either spoke in murmurs or lowered tones. Each house was almost identical to the other. Polished wooden patios, light golden and paper sliding doors, and little gardens with small red bridges. The dirt path led up to the City Hall, which was this huge fortress with red pillars and jade and gold doors. Elixir heard that the courtyards inside of the red and black walls were beautiful gardens filled with cherry blossom trees and polished white benches.

The Mystic Valley’s library was a seven story tall pagoda at the center of the Valley. Elixir wasn’t allowed to go in there, but she longed to. She had to wait until her twenty first birthday in order to gain access to the library.

At the other side of the Valley, she could see the two stone pillars that marked the entrance to the Long Family (aka the Dragon Family). Elixir belonged to the Feng Huang family (aka the Phoenix Family). The head of the Long Family, Mariko Long, was a powerful woman. The only people who rivaled her power were Elixir’s own mother, Selina Feng Huang, and the King himself. Fortunately for the two women, they were friends.

The two stone pillars marked the entrance to the Jade Grove, which had been the Long Family’s home for centuries. Although no one was allowed to enter their home without their permission, Elixir heard that there was a beautiful pavilion at the center of a pond surrounded by cherry blossom trees, where the Long Family lived.

There was a marketplace, which consists of a row of tents and carts. There were crickets, tea leaves, vegetables, fruit, fish, and silk. A place that Elixir enjoyed visiting was the Silk Weaver’s House. She was a kind old woman, perhaps the only person outside of Elixir’s family that was nice to her. She once sent Elixir a beautiful dress that she wove herself.

And then, there were the Jade Cliffs. That was where all the temples and shrines were built. It was a three day journey from the village, but many were determined to go up there and pray to the gods. Elixir had gone up once, and it was beautiful. There were two temples built on either side of the waterfall to honor the God of Peace. And at the very top of the cliff, there was a huge temple built to honor the Heaven Emperor. Surrounding that temple were various shrines to honor different gods and goddesses that stand by the Heaven Emperor’s side.

The entire valley can only be described with one word: Peace. Everyone enjoyed talking to each other, but everyone respected each other as well. There have been no rebellions in the past, and certainly no wars that the Mystic Valley had been dragged into. This was a place where everyone was suppose to feel safe.

But Elixir still felt as if she weren’t a part of the tranquility.

The sliding door opened, “Hey, Elixir!” she pronounced her name Alexer.

She sighed and turned, “I told you, it’s pronounced El-lix-eer!” she said, exasperated.

Her older sister shrugged, “Mm, whatever. Just make sure you go to the market today.”

Elixir hated going to the market, because that was where everyone would stare at her and whisper to each other: That’s the girl. She’s the one who can’t control her temper. The girl who can’t even recite a simple healing incantation.

“Do I have to?” Elixir asked and bit her lip, “You know what’ll happen.”

She snorted, “Just go, will you?” she left.

They didn’t care. Her entire family didn’t care about her. She was a disgrace to the family, and she was better off dead. Elixir didn’t understand why her mother spent so much time with her. Was it because she pitied her own daughter? Or was it because she had to spend time with Elixir so it wouldn’t look like she didn’t care for her?

Elixir was the youngest of her family, a thirteen year old girl. Maybe she should run away for the sake of the family name.

Then she heard shouts coming from the village. Elixir ran to the balcony and looked. There was a wounded man stumbling out of the Misty Glades! From up there, Elixir can only see a person coming out of the Misty Glades, but from the way he was swaying and limping, she could tell that he was injured.

Several villagers dropped what they were holding and ran over to support the man. Someone steered his horse and cart to the crowd and took the man to the City Hall. Elixir ran out of her house to follow everyone.

When they got to the City Hall, the King came out, frowning. Everyone started talking at once, so he held up his hand for silence.

“What’s going on here?” he demanded.

A villager spoke up, “He was stumbling out of the Glades, injured, m’lord.” he called.

“Let me see.”

Elixir watched as the king came over to the cart and examined the wounds. She managed to make out a few opened gashes, likely from whips, and a few broken bones here and there. There were long cuts on his arm, and several bruises and burnts on his hands.

“Oh gods… take him in.” the king shoved open the doors and led them into the courtyard.

Elixir wanted to go in, but she knew that she was just going to get into more trouble, so she sighed and trudged off.

But as the day went on, she couldn’t help but think about the wounded man.

Almost a week had passed, yet everyone was still looking at each other with worried glances. When she finally mustered enough courage to ask a group of people about it, they told her.

“The King couldn’t heal him.”

Elixir gasped, “What?”

“We don’t know why, but his magic doesn’t seem to work on the man.”

“Did he say anything? Perhaps a name?”

They glanced at each other, then a woman said, “We’re not sure, because we only heard rumors. But I’ve heard that he said his name was Seraph.”

Seraph? Elixir knew that a seraph was an angel of the highest rank, they were the ones who sat on the Celestial Thrones when the gods weren’t present.

She nodded to thank them before heading back home. She wanted to see the man, to help him, but she was certain that no one would let her near him.

Several days later, she finally heard that the man was healed. According to the King, he had to hire several doctors from the minor villages to heal him the old fashioned way: Bandaging and herbs.

She first saw the man when she was in the market (reluctantly, of course) buying a few tea bags.

Elixir felt someone tap her shoulder. She turned and found herself face to face with an angelic looking man.

He had black shoulder length hair, a fair skin tone, and dark ember eyes. Despite having a few bandages wrapped around his arms, he still looked like a man worthy of the heavens. He had a sense of princely elegance to him, powerful yet polite. He wasn’t too tall or too muscular, like what Elixir imagined most warriors would be like, but he did look dangerous, even though he bore a timid smile.

“Hello.” he said in a quiet tone.

Elixir blinked, “Uh… hi?”

He placed a hand on his chest, “My name is Seraph. May I know yours?” he asked politely.

“I… I…” she straightened, “Elixir. My name is Elixir.” without thinking, she gestured at his injuries, “Are you alright? You seemed to be near death the last time I saw you.”

“I’m alright now, thanks to your king.” he gestured at the city hall, “Though I shouldn’t stay here for long. I was assigned to–” he stopped himself.

Elixir inclined her head curiously, “To…?”

He swallowed, “Escort someone.” he said and shook his head, “As I said, I shouldn’t stay here for long. I’m a burden to your people.”

Elixir knew that he was about to say something else other than escort, but she didn’t want to press the matter, so she shrugged, “You’re not a burden to us. We’re peaceful folk, so you can stay as long as you want.”

“But I cannot delay my assignment.” he straightened, “I should leave tomorrow morning.”

“Then…” Elixir bit her lip, “why are you talking to me?”

Seraph obviously wasn’t expecting that question, “I beg your pardon?”

“Why are you talking to me, if you plan on leaving tomorrow? Don’t you have things to prepare?”

He ran his hand through his hair, “Um…” he sighed, “It’s a little complicated.”

“Okay… so why are you talking to me?” she repeated.

“I figured that I should do something other than sit up there in the City Hall and stare at the Jade Cliffs.” he pointed at the waterfalls.

Silence fell over the two until Elixir spoke up, “So… where are you from?”

Seraph tilted his head, “Why do you want to know?”

“Well… usually when people introduce themselves, they’ll ask each other where they’re from.”

He nodded slowly, “I see.” he looked over his shoulder and turned back, almost nervously, “I’m sorry, but… excuse me.” he bowed slightly before walking off.

Elixir frowned. He was a weird person. Polite, but weird.

Sauriel

He met his queen’s gaze as he placed a fist on his chest and knelt down with his head bowed, “You summoned me, my lady?” he said in a serious tone.

“Lieutenant,” the queen said, and from the corner of his eyes, he could see her lean forward, “I heard there are trolls advancing towards our northern border post. I’ve also been informed that the numbers are larger than last time?”

Sauriel, in fact, knew of this, “Yes, my lady.” he rose and placed his hands behind his back, “We are setting up a defense.”

“I would like you to oversee the defences personally, Lieutenant.” she said quietly.

He held his head high, “As you wish, my lady.” he said without hesitation.

“And, if you can, take the role of commander at the post.” she said, “If anything goes wrong, I trust you will do the right thing.”

“I will try my best, my lady.” he replied.

The queen sighed, “Lieutenant…” she seemed to be fighting an internal struggle.

Sauriel looked into her eyes, “My lady?”

“I…” she straightened, her gaze full of determination, “I want you to take care of my son.”

“Prince Morrison?” he said.

The queen nodded, “Yes. He was assigned to the northern border post by his father. If anything happens to him… you will bring his body back, will you?”

Sauriel’s gaze softened. He knew what it was like to loose his child. He lost all three and his wife. One was ten, the second was seven, and the last was four. His wife and children were coming back from their trip to the Great Silver Mountain. It had been his sons’ dreams. Every year, his eldest son would beg him to take them there, but that year, he had an assignment to complete, so he let his wife and sons go, along with three dozen body guards.

All were slaughtered, including his family, by Winter Raiders.

When he heard the news, he didn’t talk to anyone, look at anyone, or think straight anymore. He would wander down the cold halls of the castle mindlessly, and whenever someone tries to talk to him, he would stare into the air, like he could see something that no one else can. Sometimes at night, he would hear his wife and children screaming, just like he imagined they would’ve been when the Winter Raiders came for them. He would run down the corridors of his dream, trying to get to them, but in the end, he would always find them dead.

The only reason why he was still attending to his duties as lieutenant was because of his older brother, Varius. Varius had been his childhood friend since the beginning. He was there when Sauriel needed a shoulder to lean on. He was there when his childhood crush moved away; he was there when their parents passed away; and he was there when he lost his family. He was his only family now.

“Lieutenant?” the queen’s voice pulled him back to reality.

Sauriel straightened instantly, “Y-yes, my lady.” he said firmly, “I will.”

The queen looked slightly disturbed by his unusual reaction, “Good.” she nodded, “Dismissed.”

He turned on his heels and marched out of the throne room, mentally kicking himself for zoning out in there. Sauriel strode out of the chamber and turned down the hallway, heading for his room. On his way, he ran into his brother.

“Sauriel.” Varius smiled, “Did the queen give you your next assignment?”

Sauriel gave his brother a stiff nod, “Yes.”

When he was silent, he glanced at his brother. He was looking at him expectantly, “Well?” he said.

Sauriel looked back at the hallway, “I’ve been assigned to look over the defences set up on the Northern Border Post, and to defend it, if necessary.” he said.

Varius shrugged, “So… anything happened today?”

“No.” Sauriel said quietly, so Varius started talking about his day. But he wasn’t listening.

He couldn’t help but think back on his childhood life.

His very first crush had been a girl he found standing on the top of a small mountain. He was nine, and she was eight. She had light blond hair that reflected the light of the sun, and her skin was the color of ivory. White, but not pale. Her eyes were the colors of dark blue gemstones, which were beautiful along with her almost silver hair and white skin. When he saw her, her back was facing him, but he knew that he liked her at once.

He still remembered how his heart had utterly missed a beat, and his breathing had stopped. As he reached out towards the girl like she was a vision; a goddess. She turned, but didn’t look at all surprised. She smiled warmly and said, “My name is Ordelia.”

Sauriel barely had time to introduce himself when Ordelia was called back home by her parents, but he thought of her every day. He even gave her a flower once… but that was the day she had to leave.

Sauriel had handed her the flower and said he found it. But she looked at it and met his gaze, her eyes full of sadness, “I’m leaving.” she whispered.

He didn’t believe it. This girl, the girl whom he had thought of every day, had to leave because her parents couldn’t stay in the capital city. They couldn’t afford the things here, so they had to leave. As he watched Ordelia leave, he could feel tears forming in his eyes as he dropped the flower.

Several years later, when he had found a wife that gave birth to three sons, fate had to take them away. The same pain that had seized his heart the day Ordelia left overwhelmed him. And for years Sauriel isolated himself from everyone.

“Sauriel!” Varius hissed.

His head snapped up and one hand went to his sword, “What?” he looked around, expecting to see any hostile creatures.

Varius rolled his eyes, “You weren’t listening.” he sighed, “Seriously, what’s going on?”

Sauriel straightened, “Nothing.” was his only reply before he stopped at his bed chamber door. “Good day, Varius.” he gave his brother a slight nod before closing the door.

Sauriel unbuckled his sword from his belt and set it down on its stand carefully. Then he took off his cloak and went over to his desk, where a pile of paperwork waited for him.

There were maps of the land on one side of his desk, while important documents were piled on the other side. He sat down and looked them over. Most of them were just waiting to be delivered, others needed finishing, so Sauriel wrote a few things down before packing a few things for the assignment.

Someone knocked on his door. Sauriel frowned and went to open it.

“Your highness!” he exclaimed when he saw Princess Marika in front of him.

“Lieutenant Sauriel.” she smiled, “Getting ready for your mission?”

He nodded, “Yes, your highness.” he straightened, “Is there something I could do for you?”

“I’m sure mother already told you this, but can you please take care of my brother? He’s young, and could be a bit stupid at times.”

Sauriel bowed his head, “Of course, your highness.” he replied.

“And…” she sighed, “Lieutenant Sauriel,” the princess looked around before leaning in and whispering, “there is a traitor in this castle. Please find him.”

Of all the things she could’ve said, Sauriel didn’t expect this. There had never been a traitor in the Castle of Kreigspire. “A traitor? How do you know of this?”

“I’ve heard the person talk to someone through a Sky Glass. They mentioned the curse we put upon Everblaze, and how they plan to release the Land of Fire.”

“Release Everblaze?” Sauriel knew how long it took for their ancestors to put their arch nemesis down, he wasn’t going to stand by and let them win once more.

“Yes. I only caught a few words here and there, but I know that there is a traitor in the castle.” she said, “He was speaking to a man named Drachen. Does that mean anything to you?”

Sauriel tried to recall things related to Drachen, but nothing came to mind, “No, it doesn’t.” he replied.

“No?” she sighed, “Alright. But after your assignment, I want you to look into this.”

“Yes, your highness.” he bowed.

“Thanks, Sauriel.” she smiled before turning and leaving down the hall.

The Northern Border Post was closest to Everblaze’s lands. There was a huge mountain range and valley in between. The Northern Border Post happened to be stationed in the valley.

The Mountain Range was known for its population of trolls, so it didn’t surprise Sauriel when they announced that there were trolls closing in on the post. But trolls have never been proven hostile in the past.

Sauriel dismounted his wyvern at the base of the post and walked into the fortress. Soldiers parted and saluted. He nodded towards them before climbing up the staircase to the watchtower.

Prince Morrison, the young fourteen year old prince, was there with a spyglass in his hands. He turned, “Lieutenant Sauriel.” he placed a fist on his chest and bowed.

“Your highness.” he replied, “I’m here to oversee the defenses.”

“Lieutenant, I’m afraid there’s no time for that.” he pointed with his spyglass towards a mountainside, “Come and see for yourself.” he handed him the spyglass.

Sauriel took it and looked. A horde of trolls were marching towards the fortress. Each of them had harnesses strapped to their shoulders, and on the harnesses were swords. Scattered around them were Deep Gnomes armed with bows.

“Trolls and gnomes.” Prince Morrison said darkly, “And an entire army of them.”

Sauriel lowered the spyglass and handed it back to the prince, “Load the catapults with Arcane Ice.” he ordered.

Prince Morrison sputtered, “Ar… Arcane Ice, Lieutenant?”

Sauriel looked at him, “You’ve got a better idea?” he pointed at the army, “They outnumber our archers, so ranged weapons aren’t an option. And unless if we’re all expert troll hunters, I doubt we’ll last five minutes out in that field. So our best option is to scatter them and take them down one by one.”

“But Arcane Ice can–”

“I know what it can do, your highness.” Sauriel interrupted firmly, “But there is a traitor in the castle that is planning to release Everblaze. And if Everblaze is to rise once more, we want them to be alone with no alliances.”

Prince Morrison’s eyes widen, “There’s a traitor in the–”

“Sir!” a soldier emerged from the staircase, “Gnome scouts approaching.”

Sauriel turned back to the advancing army, “Sharpshooters!” he shouted, “At the ready!”

About a hundred men with crossbows ran up and loaded their weapons. They formed two lines on either side of Sauriel.

“I thought you said–”

“Not right now, your highness.” Sauriel didn’t take his eyes off of the gnome scouts. They were still out of range.

There were only a few dozen, but why did he feel as though something was wrong?

Serena

She watched as the girl in the cell next to her did her next chin up. Serena had been stuck with her for almost three years now. Ever since she left the city and been captured by superstitious people, she had been in the same cell for three years. They called this the Asylum, but the girl in front of her seemed sane enough.

She never talked much, that girl. The only thing that Serena had ever got out of her mouth was her name, Illirea. A strange name, but beautiful as well. The girl in front of her was muscular and tall. Her auburn hair was braided sloppily, and her once tanned skin was now paler. Serena had seen her dark red eyes before, and always assumed that they were contacts. But she never took them off, so she started to have second guesses.

“Illirea, I think you’ve done enough chin ups!” Serena called from the other side of the cell bars.

The girl landed on the ground almost soundlessly and straightened with her back towards Serena. She inhaled deeply, but didn’t speak, as she got down and started to do sit ups.

Serena sighed and looked around. The stone walls of the asylum on her left, while the bars between her and her freedom stood to her right.

Every day, the guards came along and fed them. But they never took them out and interrogated them, so Serena didn’t understand why they wanted to keep them alive.

Illirea suddenly stopped. Serena looked up, “What?”

The young woman in front of her got to her feet, “Someone is coming.” she said quietly.

It was the first time Serena heard her say more than three words. Her voice was slightly raspy but accented. “Where?” the guards had just left a few hours ago.

Two people came down the staircase and looked at them.

One had black hair and dark purple eyes. His skin color made Serena shudder. It looked like he had bruises everywhere, but she thought she could see through his skin. It was like plastic, and underneath, she spotted black rotting flesh. He wasn’t very handsome; he wasn’t very ugly. He was just very unusual. His hair was thin, almost like straw, and his purple eyes flashed like lightning bolts.

The other, on the other hand, was extremely handsome. His hair was the color of butterscotch and caramel, and his eyes were like glowing embers and molten gold. His smile wasn’t kind, but it still made Serena’s heart beat. He wasn’t extremely muscular, but he was well built. He reminded Serena of Apollo, the Sun god.

“Hello.” the one with black hair said.

When his companion’s gaze shifted to Serena’s eyes, a sudden pang of desire hit her, but at the same time, different emotions crashed. Despair, agony, anger… and most of all: pain.

“This is the Asylum, yes?” he continued.

“Yes.” Illirea replied, her voice hard.

“Hm.” he knocked on the walls, “Not very sturdy… what do you say to freedom, dear?”

“Freedom?” she echoed.

“Yes.” he got closer, “I’ll set you free from this place.”

“Why?” Illirea folded her arms, “We’ve been proclaimed as mad.”

“That’s exactly my point.” he smiled, “You’re mad. Insane, even. I have a few plans of my own, but what’s a mission if there isn’t a little fun along the way?”

She didn’t answer.

The bars suddenly disappeared. Serena swallowed as she reached out… and stepped out of her cell.

“Go on.” he took a step back, “Go play.”

Illirea took three steps down the hall, then halted, “If this is a trap–”

“Oh no, my dear! I’m a man of my word!” he placed a hand on his heart… or rather, where his heart was suppose to be. Serena didn’t know if he was even a living being.

Her gaze went back to the man’s companion. He was still looking at her. Then he tilted his head, exposing a side of his neck. Serena’s knees almost buckled.

Illirea took a few cautious steps forward until she was right in front of the man, “Your name?”

“Samael, dear.” he patted his companion’s arm, “This is Asmodeus.”

Illirea brushed past him and started up the staircase, then she stopped and turned, “Serena, are you coming?”

She swallowed and started forward. Samael grinned, revealing fangs, “Hello, little girl.”

Serena flinched when she saw the jagged sharp edges and the blood. Who was this person?

Asmodeus caught her arm, stopping her in her tracks. Under normal circumstances, Serena would shake him off and run. But she couldn’t. Serena slowly met his gaze.

His fingers trailed up her arm until it rested at the base of her neck. He leaned closer until she could feel his lips brushing her ear, “Silandrae.” he whispered.

Serena felt the slightest pleasure wash over her body. Her back arched as she savored that feeling.

“Serena!” Illirea’s hard voice cut through her thoughts.

Asmodeus pulled away and let her pass. Serena stumbled up the staircase, the desire still burning within her.

But deep in her heart