Find Your Fire - The Angulus Chronicles #1

Chapter Seven

The next two weeks were a mixture of some interesting classes, anticipation for Night class and some seriously good horror story nights with Oahn. On friday nights, we liked to come together with a small group and tell horror stories around a crackling fire in the cold night- it made us bond as teenagers, Angulus or not. I had laughed my balls off the second week when Oahn had started throwing popcorn at a girl who was completely captivated by the story of a haunting maid who got murdered. She had literally shrieked in agony when something had hit her in the back, the stormy night adding to the scary feel, and she had fallen off the wooden log she had made her seat only to end up in a puddle of fake blood another guy had put there. Her face had been as white as the described complexion of the haunting maid but had tried to play off our laughter with a shrug and a nervous giggle.

I hadn't seen Lorem a lot since the waterfall, but when I did, I made sure he'd bring enough food to the study to last him a life time. I felt flattered he put so much work in his research about me and I felt a little guilty I wasn't there beside him, helping him out- but I knew Lor preferred to work alone and I'd only be a distraction- I wasn't sure if it was of the unwelcome sort or not. Of course I wasn't sitting on my own ass, I had my own pile of books waiting for me after a long trainings day- so as soon as I reached my room, I only had time to let Fletch out for a short walk before I had to dive into the world of healing and water dragons. Lor did sometimes visit my room with all of his books so we could read together and it was the perfect way for me to make sure he took care of himself by throwing him muesli bars or getting us coffee. He rewarded me with some moody mumbles about him finally having the mother he always wanted, but I knew he let me get past his defenses and actually liked it. There were those moments where we both were just completely tired of studying and it could go two ways from there, we both could play around with Fletcher, who wasn't complaining at all of course, or the air turned heavy with tension and we both didn't really know what to do with it except making flirtatious jokes, but our main focus was on the upcoming trip.

I learned that Miuh had become king just a few years ago, when the old king had died of age after a well-lived (and spent) luxurious life. The king hadn't been of the brutal kind and actually cared for his people, but the hole in his hand was a little too big for both a luxurious life and welfare for his people which ended in him having fantastical, extraordinary feasts while his people suffered from little food during the cold and barren winter months when the food didn't grow on the trees for them to pluck. He did try his best though, so when the months were really bad, he'd ordered the diners to be made public- every family could take a seat and join the meal, kids and elders first. Cute, but it was impossible for the villagers who lived a little too far away from the capital, to travel up and down for a meal.
Miuh had been a close friend to the family and gave the king his advice when asked, and most of the times he also gave him his unasked advice about how to help their people. The king had adored him for his efficient ideas and baldness to interfere with his rulership when the king didn't ask for it, so when the king died, it weren't the two sons, one with the same interests as his father and the other a young inexperienced boy, who got to be crowned king, but the brave and smart Miuh, who had stood by the kings side for many years. He had been only 23 when crowned, but he had learned more about leadership, than the original sons ever had in their entire lifespans. As long as the boys could live their life the way they had so far, they weren't throwing a fit about it. A little lazy if you ask me.

The kingdom thrived on Miuhs leadership, he put a lot of money in the education of his kingdom and it gave back to him in riches thrice as much. Water was an healing and cleansing element, and with an education system almost improved to perfection, the Water Kingdom offered the best healers to whatever kingdom needed them. Giant water dragons were used as the main way of travel in between kingdoms- the massive beasts, kind at heart but feral in battle, followed the rivers almost as fast as lightning, their magic countering and changing the flow of the water to help them gain speed. Water dragons were more than just a myth or animal, they could communicate with the Water people, not through words but through mind. No other magic-wielder could understand a word, but for a water-wielder, the thoughts were as clear as ice, which made it a pretty efficient way of exchanging messages without any of the other kingdoms to know about it.