"Why didn't you told me about this, your highness?" King Astius was now on the verge of exploding into anger again. In front of him was the jade bracelet laid carefully above a soft, purple cloth. "If the eastern troop didn't find this, I would have no idea that this heirloom has been gone because of your carelessness! Do you still regard yourself as a member of this family and the kingdom's only heir?"
"Your majesty, I have no plan of hiding this from you," Prince Zaeius lowered his head out of embarrassment. But he had to lie. "I was planning to let you know though. I was just waiting for the right time. You're busy and have lots to do. When did you ever spend a bit of time about my concerns?"
In fact, Prince Zaeius already forgot that he didn't have the bracelet anymore; that he had lost it somewhere he couldn't remember. But he can't just blame himself for forgetti
When the morning came, which was the day of the trial, Prince Zaeius woke up by the sound of drum rolls soaring inside his ears. As he rose up with curiosity, he suddenly felt empty like he was missing something. Although, he couldn't remember what is it. He quickly fixed himself and followed the source of the bothering noise, hoping that an idea would come to him so that he could remember that missing part of his memory. His feet brought him in front of a massive gate where Mon was executed. His heartbeat quickly raced, pounding inside his rib cage wildly, sensing that something bad might happen, especially that he heard tortured screams and gasps of astonished and scared crowds as though they're watching something unbearable and gruesome. He dashed through the gate past the soldiers who were guarding steadily on their feet along each side of the entrance. When he finally entered t
A week had passed and the prrince's wound has partially healed; three days from it were spent on the bed–asleep as the wound was a serious one. Although, Prince Zaeius is still wearing a huge bandage on it. "How are they?" Prince Zaeius asked the physician which the king had appointed to take care of him everyday. "They're doing fine, your highness. Well, except the young lady. Her wounds had gotten so much infection and..." the physician paused, hesitating to say the next word but the prince's stare was too intense for him to handle and so he forced himself to say regardless of hesitation, "unfortunately, the infection was crawling everywhere on the healthy part of her skin. I'm afraid the rotting will continue and would become fatal to her." "Just do everything you can to heal her. And I promise you a hug
The next morning, Prince Zaeius woke up without carrying any weight in his heart and mind. It was the first time he woke up like this–with a light mood. He and the king had just reconciled with each other. His friends were already in his care and Keir had just returned safe and sound, well, not really that sound. The first thing that Prince Zaeius thought after fixing himself was the queen. It has been a long time since he had last seen her. It's true that he arrived last week but he never had the time to pay a visit to her as he didn't want the queen to worry about him. He thought that maybe he should present himself in front of her without any scratches on him or the queen will worry too much. When he arrived at the queen's chamber, the maidservants bowed before his presence and opened the door for him. He quickly rushed insid
"What?! Did I heard it right? You... you believe in those kind of things now?!" Keir was astounded after the prince explained to him. Keir had known it for a long time that if there's someone he know that would never believe in those kind of things, it would be Prince Zaeius. But this time it was different and the situation had turned upside down. Keir was now the one who couldn't believe what the prince said. And the prince was now the one forcing him to believe him. "Seriously, Keir. You gotta help me sort these out." Prince Zaeius crossed his arms, staring at his friend who was sitting at the other side of his bed. They had rushed into his mansion after the incident happened. "Alright, alright. Stop staring at me like you're already killing me i
The night was silent and freezing cold but it somehow gave off an eerie feeling. A dark shadow lingered in the dim lighted walls while the unaware Méah was asleep peacefully. It was like looking for something inside the spacious, old mansion. Like a gentle wind it moves, passing through the walls, it carefully take a look from each room. Until it arrived into Méah's room. The dark shadow which turned out to be a cloaked creature was now standing in front of Méah. As it swiped its finger, the whole mansion vanished in the silence of the night after all the lights were concealed by a dark force in a form of black smoke. The dark shadow then simply took a sharp, slender dagger in its pocket and raised it above Méah's chest. W
On their way to the prince's mansion, they already saw someone standing at the door. Prince Zaeius knew that it was Keir. He thought maybe Keir wasn't able to go back to sleep thinking what he's up to in the middle of the night. When Keir saw them, he looked at them, perplexed. But he moved out of the way to let them in. "Zae... what happened?" Keir started asking. But Prince Zaeius didn't answer him and led the men who were carrying Bek, Méah, and Faz to one of the guest rooms. Keir just followed like a robot, afraid to trigger his injuries. "Your highness, they're already settled," one of the soldier said. Prince Zaeius nodded. "Listen everyone. What happened here today will stay here. Anyone
The next morning, Keir and Prince set out according to what they had planned last night. They found out that even if they have the Book of Ancient Medicines, it's still useless because there were two pages missing. They have no choice but to look for that person who made the poison to ask for an antidote. "Do you remember where the smoke came from?" Prince Zaeius started interrogating Faz. This was a part of their plan. They would've done this last night but it would be inappropriate for Faz to talk with his remaining strength. Faz coughed a little and when he opened his mouth, dark blood came out first instead of his voice. "Faz, don't force yourself to speak if you can't. We'll just wait when you feel better." Keir caressed Faz's back to make him fee
The whole room went silent. Only Méah's rapid breathing could be heard as Keir and Prince Zaeius stared at her. Keir's giving her a 'like I care' look while Prince Zaeius still maintained the sympathetic look on his face. Méah couldn't take what she just heard. She'd been away from home for a long time. 'Home...' When Méah thought about this, even more terrifying images exploded in her mind. People were dying before her eyes. Innocent children cried their eyes out in horror and sorrow. Blood flooded everywhere. And houses burnt into ashes. Méah flashed a faint smile bitterly as she slid herself unto the cold floor when her knees started to weaken. Tears st
The golden rays of the sun broke out through the thick, dark clouds that were slowly dissipating away. The sun sat above the golden capped mountains in the west, about a few minutes before it would rest from a long day of work. The bright light vanished and the small crystal ball fell on Keir's chest. Then it slowly disappeared as soon as it touched his skin. Kalen was greeted by the silence of the world. The thick fog was cleared and the sky was full of hope. But for him, it wasn't the same sky anymore. It was the sky of new life and new beginnings. He looked around and everyone was lying on the ground. There was no trace of Purple Smoke. But he recognised Méah's figure lying ahead of him for half a mile away by her clothes and armour. However, as much as he wanted to check on them, he would have to chose his brother first who was lying right next to him. But judging on Keir's injuries, Kalen decided not to touch him. The arro
"Useless!" Purple Smoke screamed in both fury and disappointment. She hated it when someone fails her and had a long history on it. To her anger, struck Méah with her palm on the chest. Méah flew a few yards away from where she stood. But she didn't complain. For Purple Smoke was her master and the only one who has the authority to do anything to her. She rolled on the ground for a couple times and spat out black blood. She was on knees but her face was still blank and didn't show any hint of pain. Purple Smoke faced Keir and the princess's body. Her vision quickly darkened. "Love. This is what love bring to people. What a pity. They're even willing to die because of it." She grinned. While she was feeling the moment of victory, she heard a swooshing blade coming from behind her. She quickly avoided it and saw Kalen. "Oh, another silly boy. But I like you already. You're braver than your brother." "I w
After they ran away and the battlefield was almost emptied, Purple Smoke was furious when she saw Méah kneeling on the ground, frozen like a statue. She couldn't believe a simple trick could affect Méah. "Come, my dear." Purple Smoke walked in front of Méah. She bent down and held Méah's chin up. Black and purple veins appeared on her neck down to her arms. Then all of it crawled into Méah's chin down to her neck, spreading towards her back. Her injuries were healed and the arrows were burnt into ashes. Méah stood up straight. "Avenge yourself. Kill them all. Kill." Purple Smoke whispered to her ears. "But first, I want you to do something." Then, Méah suddenly disappeared in Purple Smoke's eyes. She was now off to do what she's told to do. Purple Smoke burst into a boisterous laughter. But she eventually stopped when a loud blow of horn was caught in her ears. Among all the four kingdoms, only one would use horn
The three of them were in utter astonishment when they saw the enemies were swarming again. They had no idea where they came from but now they seemed stronger than those that they fought with earlier. King Astius shoulders dropped. At the other end, he saw the Deep Caves and everyone struggling to defend it. The enemies were about to break in. "What the hell! They're like locusts!" Keir cursed under his breath. Suddenly, they heard screams coming from behind them, the main gate from the city of Noartias. As they turned around, they saw the remaining of their soldiers, the war veterans and majority of Eastian soldiers who were assigned to defend the city. They were rushing to the battlefield, ready to give their life for the sake of the world. And then, they joined them to launch an attack on the battleground. Weapons clashed hard against each other. Some tasted flesh, blood and bones. Blood were splattered everywhere, leaving a crimsom
"Oh no! They're here! They're breaking in!" Queen Jainah cowered into the corner of the room in the royal underground where they were hiding. Princess Jiyanah sat down with her, arms snaked on one arm of her mother. King Ambrose wasn't there with them because he was out in the battlefield. Unlike Noartias, Eastias don't have any shelter like the Deep Caves but they have a vast underground shelter that they called as the Underground Shelter, enough to cater the whole kingdom's population. It has one entrance which can only be found in the secret chamber of the royal hall. The five exits extend in five directions away from the kingdom's borders. Four of it share the same distance while the other one was the longest which almost reaches the border's pf Noartias. King Zarduz was the first kingdom to surrender to Purple Smoke. Being named as the weakest, poor kingdom, King Zarduz chased the opportunity to get power, enough to purge a strong kingdom l
Ferlah brought King Astius to the Deep Caves. After that, she left back to the battlefield outside. More enemies were coming. They don't seem to decrease at all. The more of them die, the more of them come. Prince Zaeius and the mysterious woman in red were trying hard to defend the door of the shelter. General Kapono was defending the walls together with the rest of the soldiers since the enemies were trying to climb up through tall ladders. Seeing all of these, King Astius didn't think twice to carry out his responsibility. He climbed to where the archers were stationed on the walls. "Aim for the enemies! Kill them! Leave none of them alive!" He shouted. Upon seeing his presence, the soldiers' morale was boosted. Their spirits soared high and their hearts filled with hope. From afar, Ferlah could be seen battling alone. She couldn't risk to transform herself so that she won't get exhausted when it was time to go
When King Astius and the rest of the troops arrived at Noartias, they were flabbergasted by the army of the enemies flocking inside. Only a few of the war veterans were left standing, fighting bravely despite being outnumbered. King Astius was suddenly eaten by guilt. He blamed himself for not seeing the trap ahead of them which made him led the whole Noartian army into deception. The moment they stepped a foot inside the kingdom, the bloody clash began. The enemies looked like a swarm of locusts, attacking them in every possible way. There were clamours of death and courage as well as the shatters and clatters of weapons. Blood were spilled everywhere and the parched ground quenched its thirst through it. While King Astius was slaughtering the enemies, he suddenly remembered the prince. Fear struck him hard. He wished his son was safe in the royal underground as it was difficult to find. But judging from the prince's behaviour, he probably
"Méah!" With eyes closed, Prince Zaeius screamed in terror and sat up from his sleep without even knowing. He just had a horrible nightmare about Méah dying, covered in blood and vanishing into thin air. However, even though it was just a nightmare, he began to pray to himself that it would only remain as a nightmare. As his breathing slowly calmed down, the throbbing pain came raging from all over his body, starting to penetrate deeper into his senses. He let out a painful hiss with a twisted expression as he went weak and limp, slumping himself back into the soft mattress of his bed. An agonizing groan followed that made him shut his eyes in a tight manner. With this, it all came back to him. But despite after being rescued and seeing the woman he loved in that situation, the flashes of tortures that he had gone through in the hands of Purple smoke held a consistent spot in his memory. That no matter how hard he tried to set
The awaited dawn finally came. It was summer but the breeze, though it blew calm and gentle, felt like a touch of a blizzard's chill. Passing through the steep trails of well-tilled earth, forests, rivers and marshes, a couple of hundred thousand men set off from Noartias to the battlefield under the command of King Astius. This was the last number that he could bring with him. And not all of them were soldiers. Some were mere folks, men and women but brave and courageous, who voluntarily swore to protect their kingdom, their homes and their families. Every abled person in no particular age requirement were allowed to go to battle with them as long as they can walk at such distance and can ride on horses and fight with willingness. However, as he couldn't leave the kingdom and the people alone unguarded, he left this task to the war veterans of less than thirty thousand. Half of them guarded the kingdom with Kalen among them and Bek was told to stay with o