"The only difference between to love and to lose is a single letter, a single moment and a single word because life is a withering garden that loves to meddle with every flower and every creature it supports."
- Archer
Chaos.
Pandemonium.
There were a flurry of footsteps of people scampering for cover, some courageous enough to attempt to take the assailants down. It had been a rare attack that had left a significant dent to the provincial army that had been guarding the city of Aurea- the capital of Aurelia and the pride of the Ambra Dynasty ruling it.
Standing confused in the middle of stampede was not a good idea for his eight year old self. "Diana?" His trembling mouth cried out, the voice wavering into an almost cry. His emerald green eyes stood out bright against the crowd of people wearing dark clothes, hoping to camouflage against the darkness of the night.
Looking everywhere, all he could see were the people that were not Diana, his guard who take care of him more than his mother ever did. As the Queen of Aurelia, his mother had several duties to which she had to attend to which didn't include him. His father had always been travelling with the domestic portals and personally maintaining the provinces.
Rushing over and then slightly bending her knees, a woman in her mid twenties bent down with her hand over his cheek to look for any signs of injury and let a sigh of relief when she found none. "Let's go Kaydon. We need to get you out of here. It's not safe. Okay?" Diana smiled a reassuring smile at him to prevent the little boy in front of her from further panicking. Raising his arms towards her to clutch her hand which immediately wrapped around his tightly, it was enough proof for him that the attack was spreading towards other provinces. In the distance, Kaydon could hear a man shout, "Send the message! We need reinforcements."
Outside there were flashes of brilliant blue, green and red, clashing against each other in a tumultuous battle with no clear result. Diana tapped her left foot impatiently like she often times did when she was nervous or mad. She looked down at the little boy worriedly and then returned to scanning the environment. With a single swipe, Diana managed to draw her Eldheitur out without hurting herself like he had many times. The sword managed to draw the attention of the throng of people in front of them who scrambled away shouting 'Help.' The corner of Diana's lips curled upwards at the frightened crowd. With no time to ask questions, Diana pulled Kaydon closer to her, guiding him along to a shelter.
A blast sent a currus flying over their heads, almost missing them by a hair's breadth when Diana managed to duck down in time. Whoever made the vehicle must not know a thing about durability. Running faster and his legs burning to keep up the pace with Diana who occasionally glanced at him to make sure the little boy was fine.
A sudden flash of light blinded him, but Diana's quick thinking made her slash at the source before it could continue its assault. There was a trail of burning fire in front of her, making the squeamish creature in front of him screech loudly, turning and twisting its body. It was helpless. Looking back and forth between the Ljósála and Diana, it was hard for Kaydon to tear his eyes away from the creature in front of him, despite it being bigger than his guard, it was lying down in helpless pain with no one around to help him. The Ljósála drew it claws out, sending blinding light rays everywhere but it didn't help him.
Diana noticed the Kaydon frozen, so she tugged on his arms again, urging him to follow her to the shelter. His eyes not straying a bit from the animal, he reluctantly followed Diana. Only a few metres away, they took shelter behind a blown up roof, a few trunks of trees, some still burning at the ends. A cloaked man ran forward to them and Diana's shoulders relaxed. Still clutching the sword, she crouched down to Kaydon's height and looked at him.
"He's trustworthy. He's going to care of you. Do what he says, okay? The Ljósála is hurt. I know. But promise me, you won't free it." She warned him, fully knowing his intentions."But he's dying. What if I died? You wouldn't be happy. His family is going to be upset if he dies. Please?" Kaydon pleaded, his eyes widening.
Diana simply narrowed her reluctant eyes at him as scenarios of her failing to protect him conjured in her mind. Then she whispered sadly, "I will tell you a secret. I have been a warrior for ten years and there is one thing that I have learnt: survival. If that thing is rescued, you die. I'd rather have the animal die than you. Understand, me?"
After a while, he nodded slowly, and left with no choice, he agreed.
The cloaked man made an appearance and crossed his arms, causing Diana to look up at the man and nod slightly before pecking Kaydon on the cheek and saying goodbye. Not really confident with strangers, Kaydon took a few steps back.
"You want to free the Ljósála?" The man asked. He recognized his voice. He was one of the people of the court- Mordlum. Immediately, Kaydon shied away, looking down at the ground. It wasn't that he had any resentment stored for the minister, it was just that anything that reminded him of the court upsetted him. Born as the eldest child to the King of Aurelia, he expected attention or praise from the people. No, it was his younger twin sister who had always been the favorite. Pushing away his thoughts, Kaydon managed to look the man in the eye.
"Yes. But I can't. I promised Diana," was all he could reply. Mordlum scoffed as if it was the most ridiculous thing he had possibly heard. "You think being a goody two shoes is going to help you. Eh? Look how that turned out for you. Your twin sister had already started to train for the crown that is yours. Your parents don't love you despite you trying to do your best. Your new kid sister, Belle? She is going to grow up like that. No one loves you. That's why you wanted to save that creature?"
"What does it have to do with it?" Kaydon asked more defensively than he hoped. His mouth pressed tightly in a straight line and his eyes glaring straight at the man in front of him, he was looking at Mordlum to search for any clue that would help him. He already knew the answer to his question. He was scared. Frightened. He had nowhere to go, except for a safe palace for a house with a family that doesn't love him.
"You know the answer. Anyways, it's your choice. The creature will lead you to a portal to a city that still has some of its magic left on Earth. You're better than the whole royal family. If you want to follow in their footsteps or not, it's up to you. I will be here when I would finally bring them down, and I assume you would want to see it," Mordlum's words were devoid of any emotion except for empathy, but he kept walking away.
Looking up to see the horrors up in the sky, a brilliant flash of blue light struck the ground. He knew what he had to do. Running forward and dodging a blast that left his ears ringing, Kaydon jumped over a pile of object blown apart and somehow ending up in a peculiar looking lopsided mess. Ljósála thrashed around frantically when it saw Kaydon running towards. Letting the fire around the creature diminish, Kaydon managed to grasp and clamber onto the Ljósála's back before the latter threw its newest rider off. A low growl left its mouth and before Kaydon knew it, he would be on Earth.
Looking behind him to see all the tragedies of war, destruction and unloving family blur past him, he knew that Morality and Kindness won't get him nowhere. If that meant letting Aurelia burn to the ground he didn't care. When his parents realize that he was worthy this whole time, he would savor the look on their faces.
He wasn't leaving all of it behind. He would be back.
He would be back sooner than they would expect.
Author's Note:
Hi! I hope you enjoyed reading it. This is the first draft so there will be grammatical and spelling errors Galore! Feel free to point them out and give me constructive feedback. Click that tiny star if you liked it!
The next chapter is going to be update next week! Until then!
ČTEŠ
Ashes of Revival
Fantasy"The war is coming, so is Mordlum. Let's Play... " Six years is enough to change people- their hopes, their dreams, their goals. Time is a privilege most people have yet taken for granted. After having lost his parents, his house and his best frien...
