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
Keir and Prince Zaeius were perplexed. Again, sharing meaningful looks. Keir shook his head and whispered to the prince. "She's really hopeless. We didn't get to ask her what's the name of her hometown nor where on earth it lies." Méah walked back to Bek again with curious eyes. This time, she's maintaining a distance. "Look. Let's just wait and see," Prince Zaeius whispered back. "Okay." "No...it can't be..." Méah shook her head, refusing to believe what she had confirmed. Maybe she just missed her father so much that she could see him in other people. But she can't blame herself for this old man really looks like her father from
A day had passed and Faz and Bek were already gaining there normal skin color after drinking a drop of blood from Méah. However, they're still asleep. Probably because Méah's blood was still cleansing their body. Keir didn't expect that Méah's blood would be the antidote. In fact, it was just his guess. But somehow he felt sure about it. At first, he was thinking that maybe she's immune to that poison that's why it didn't have an effect on her. So he came to an idea that maybe the blood of an immune person could cure the poisoned one. Luckily, he didn't fail. As for Méah, her wounds still have no improvement. But Keir had already applied medicines on them to stop the infection from spreading wider. Though this time, Keir used different medicines and increased their usage to counterpart how severe the i
"Greetings, your majesty." Prince Zaeius bowed in front of King Astius as soon as he entered the king's room. "I heard you're looking for me." Then the maidservants bowed to him and left the room. "Yes. You're right. Have a seat." King Astius gestured the empty seat on the opposite side of the table."Son, there's something troubling me ever since that day Mon died. I know you're close with him. And I'm sorry for your loss. He was a good and a loyal adviser." King Astius poured tea unto the prince's cup. Prince Zaeius took a deep breath, remembering his dead friend. He didn't want to talk about it anymore as it only reminds him how Mon suffered helplessly. But somehow he felt like he should face his sorrow and let it out. And moreover, he also have to consult the king about something and now's the chance. The king is always busy so he couldn't just barge into the royal hall and talk about something unrelated to the kingdom's affairs. "It wasn't yo
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