(very old) the Seals of Elements (discontinued for now)

[Chapter 19]

---Ayra---

After being stuck in those dusty rooms for two days, it was a relief to finally be free.
I made sure to stay close to Hunter since he was the only one I really trusted at the moment.
The same hooded man that had kidnapped me, had been bringing me food. He had never spoken and never shown his face.
The only thing I knew about him is that he was a Portal opener.
When I looked around I noticed that someone was missing.
I came closer to Hunter, grabbing his wrist.
"Hunter? Where is Kenji?"
He froze on the spot, making fists.
Then he turned around and looked me in the eyes.
They radiated immense anger.
Anger like I had never seen before.
"I'll tell you later." He said, his voice shaky like he was fighting his anger.
I decided not to ask further and let go of his arm.
He turned around and followed the guard that was escorting us.
At the end of the hallway, there were two stone doors, decorated with gems and gold.
One man standing next to it snapped his fingers and the gems lit up.
With a grinding sound, the doors opened, revealing a giant room with two thrones at the far end.
Sitting on said thrones were the King and Queen of Akeridia.

I had only seen them once before.
It was when my father had taken me here, to Djuren, to pledge his loyalty to the king.
I had only been 7 years old, but the memory had stayed with me nonetheless.
At the time the princess had been there as well, but I couldn't find her anywhere.
I looked around me and saw Jade.
She was looking down and it looked like she was trying hard to hide her face.
I came a little closer to her.
"What's wrong?" I whispered.
"Nothing." She said.
"Then why are you trying to hide your face?"
"I don't want to talk about it." She replied, and then she walked away from me.

We were brought forward until we were about five meters away from them.
I kneeled and gestured to Hunter to do the same.
He ignored me however.
He just stood there, hands as fists, determination on his face.
The king rose from his throne.
"It is a custom to kneel for your king."
He said.
To my surprise, Hunter just scoffed.
"With all due respect your Highness."
He said. "But you are not my king."
"Hunter!" I hissed. "You can't just say things like that."
But once again, he ignored me.
I looked at the king and saw anger in his eyes, but also, amusement?
"You are a citizen of Akeridia, aren't you? So I am your king."
Now Hunter just laughed.
"You're wrong your Highness. I am not a citizen of Akeridia. I come from a land beyond the mist."
"You do?" All anger had disappeared from the King's face.
"Yes, but we don't have time to get into that."
"You're right. We need to discuss the matter of lord Caligo being accused of kidnapping your friend. I find it very hard to believe that Nox would ever do such a thing."
"It is true, though he didn't do it himself. He had mercenaries do it for him." Hunter said.
"And do you have any proof of that?"
The Queen all of a sudden asked.
Hunter now turned to face her.
"Sadly, no. I don't have any proof. But would a testimony of Ayra suffice? She was the one who got kidnapped after all."
"It won't. This could all be a setup."
The Queen simply said.
This made my jaw drop.
I looked at Hunter.
He was just as shocked as I was.
To my left, I could hear Nox chuckle.
"Then let my word be heard!" Jade all of a sudden said
All heads snapped toward her.
What is she doing?
She was now standing upright, her eyes burning with a mix of emotions.
I could make out anger, fear, sadness, which surprised me, and determination.
"you will listen to your own daughter, right?"
Wait, what? Daughter?
Hunter looked at her in surprise.
"Hold up. What are you saying, Jade?"
He said.
She sighed.
"Hunter, my full title is her Highness Jade Rachel Fang, princess of Akeridia and rightful heir to the throne.
That was the part of my heritage I didn't want to talk about. People always treat me differently when they know about who I really am."

Hunter walked over to her and grabbed her shoulder.
"I understand Jade. I really do, but next time just tell me, okay?"
Jade looked him in the eyes and nodded.
Wow. I thought. Those two are closer than I imagined.
"What did you have to say, Jade?"
The King asked, pulling the attention away from her and Hunter.
"I was there when Ayra was taken and I was there when one of the mercenaries gave away that he was working for Nox. I was also with Hunter when Nox admitted that he had given orders to take Ayra."
"And what made him do that?"
Hunter snickered.
"I threatened to burn down his office. I actually am still surprised that he believed that I could hold the connection between me and the candle for so long. It was severed when we left the City in the Sky."
I looked over to Nox and the look on his face was amazing. Total astonishment was plastered all over his face.
But that quickly made place for anger.
He stormed towards Hunter, fire raging around his fists.
With a cry of pure hatred, he fired a stream of fire, hitting Hunter right in his chest.
But he simply flicked his wrist and the flames died.
Then he closed his eyes, pressed his fist against the palm of his hand, and opened his eyes again.
But they were no longer grey.
They had turned a burning amber, the same kind of amber colour as they had been when he had fought the Manticore.
Nox hurled a fireball at him, but this time it didn't even reach Hunter.
It stopped mid-air, a couple of centimetres away from his face, before sizzling out.
Then Hunter pointed his hand at Nox and made a fist.
Immediately Nox stood still as if he had hit a wall.
The fire around his fists died out and his arms were pressed against his body like he was bound with ropes.
Then his feet got lifted off the ground.
I could see the air shimmer around him.
Hunter was stopping him with air magic.
"Guards! Contain him, before he breaks free." Jade said.
As the guard grabbed Nox, Hunter collapsed, his eyes returning to their normal colour.
Jade ran over to him, helping him up.
"Do you believe us now?" She said to her father.
Before the king could react, however, Hunter collapsed again
"The boy needs rest." The Queen then said.
"Guards, take him to one of our finest guest rooms.
Oh, And the girl too. And Jade, my dear, we will speak of this matter later."
Ten minutes later I was laying in the most comfortable beds ever and quickly fell asleep.