The Humane Kingdom.

The doors of the Humane castle opened wide, two men carried the wounded Jared on a wooden stretcher while a lady and a young man, both Jared’s underlings, led the way as they trampled through the splendor hallway. Whispers from members and friends of the royal family filled the air as they walked.

“Isn’t that Lord Jared, the Divine Humane?”

“How could this happen?”

“Was there a battle? Are we now at war?”

“Could this be the doing of the Nymphs?”

“Mummy what’s going on?”

“Keep calm, nothing… “

As they reached the massive door of the throne room, the voices became indistinct sounds, their horrified faces disappearing into the background. The Royal Guards, resplendent in their full armor and purple capes, immediately opened the door to let them in. As they passed through, a man dressed in robes stepped in front of them, blocking their way. He was not much older than Lord Jared, with a long dark ponytail flecked with silver strands flowing down over his right shoulder. 

“Why did you bring him here?” the ponytailed man asked, clasping his hands behind his back, still blocking their way from the throne. His narrowed eyes met Jared’s and they stared at each other, bitterly.

“Let them in, Lord Abbey,” a voice commanded from the throne. 

Lord Abbey immediately turned towards the throne and knelt, “But, my king, he is in no form to see you.” 

“Are you?” another voice from the throne spoke, her sharp tones penetrating through the court. 

Abbey swallowed. 

“Are you, Lord Abbey?” the voice questioned again.

“No… my… Princess,” he stammered. Slowly raising his head, he glimpsed the princess dressed in a blue attire with a single glowing blue sapphire attached to her tiara which sat upon her plaited brown hair. She glanced at him imperiously, then sat down on the throne next to her father, the king. Her father greeted her with a smile, she smiled back then looked to the wounded Jared.

“Why bring him here? Where are the healers from your group?” the king asked.

“He said he needed to see you, my king.” The young man answered. 

The king placed hand on his smooth jaw, waiting for his other question to be answered, for he cared about the safety of his people.

“The Healers were badly wounded in the fight. They are being treated by the healers at the garrison.” the lady replied. 

“Hmmm... Lord Jared, you know healing yourself is the first crucial thing to do before coming to see us.” the king reminded him.

“I know, my king, but,” Jared rose up from the wooden stretcher. With staggering steps he made his way in front of the king and princess and dropped to one knee in a bow. His whole body shook from the pain of his effort, he clenched his teeth. “It is imperative we talk,” he finished. He slowly stood up holding his chest and looked at the king, “Privately,” he wheezed, the strength of his voice failing. He knew his body would soon join it, but this could not wait. 

The King narrowed his eyes. “Leave us.” He commanded with a wave of his right hand. Immediately, they all moved outside except for Lord Abbey. Jared glanced at Abbey.

“You also, Lord Abbey. You are excused,” the king said.

Abbey looked at the King and bowed. “Yes, my King,” he answered. As he closed the door behind him, Abbey crinkled his nose and walked along the hallway wondering what Jared needed to tell the king that required such secrecy. 

The members and friends of the royal family observed Abbey as he walked while whispering, “What is Lord Jared telling the King that requires even Lord Abbey be excused?”

“Isn’t he one of Lord Jared’s closest friends?”

“Yes, but I’ve heard they had a falling out.”

“Do you think that’s why Lord Jared didn’t want him there? 

“It must be war, I tell you.”

“You again with the war! We are never at war with the Nymphs.”

“Wait a minute... I didn’t see Lord Abbey coming in through the hallway. How did he get here?”

“Well, I heard he’s as strong as Lord Jared, but quite unfortunate he is not a Divine Humane,”

“Not unfortunate. He didn’t want it, heard it from the king himself.”

Abbey walked out from the hallway to the open area of the upper castle, ignoring them. Why should he be excused? If the kingdom were in danger surely he would soon know anyway, why insist on sending him from the room? Unless... He heard another set of royal guards talking to Jared’s underlings near the walls. He stopped to listen in on their conversation.

“Guess what we fought last night? When we ran after the so-called Inhumane,” one of Jared’s underlings said.

“Guess? Did you fight his ghost? Ha! We heard that during the wars, when a Inhumane dies, the Humane has to fight their ghost in their sleep, too, because… of their glowing abilities,” the royal guard said dramatically, with a wiggling gesture of his fingers.

“No. Not that. That’s just a fable to scare kids from them,” the other royal guard said, flipping back his yellow cape.

“Then what?” the first asked, staring at Jared’s underlings

“Promise me both of you will never tell anyone.” 

“Promise? Tell anyone what?”

“We are not meant to tell but, since we’ve been friends for so long. We will tell you.” They all gathered closely scanning the whole area, then looked at each other. “We fought a… dragon!” he whispered.

The two Royal Guards eyes widened. “A dragon?!” they exclaimed. 

“Shh!!” He put his hands on the two Royal Guards helmets where their mouths were located. “The walls have ears.” 

They both nodded. “But Tobi, are you sure it was a dragon?” the second guard asked.

“Yes. And what’s more, it talks!”

Abbey stepped out from where he’d concealed himself and walked towards them. They immediately went silent upon seeing him and bowed as Abbey passed by. He gave them a sideways glance. “Don’t allow such rumor to spread,” he scolded, then walked away as his ponytail swung between his shoulder blades.

“Yes… ? Yes Sir!” they stammered.

-

At the throne room, Jared and the princess were staring at each other. 

The king looked at his daughter, then at Jared, he shook his head. “No. She is not leaving, Jared, remember she is the next queen.” 

“Yes, my king, but she is still-”

“I’m still what, Lord Jared? Though I’m only twelve, I am no longer a baby. If I don’t know what is happening in my own kingdom, how can I be expected to learn to rule wisely?”

Jared unclenched his fist and sighed. “As you wish, Princess Wren. I will tell you. We were about to capture the Inhumane who stole from us when we….” he stammered. The king nodded his head. 

Jared knelt down, lowering his eyes, and continued, “We were confronted by a dragon.” 

The king stood up in shock. Terror swept his features. “A dragon!”

“Yes, my king.”

Wren looked at her father in amazement, she’d never seen him in such a state. “Father what does this mean?” 

The king looked at his daughter seated near him, anxiously waiting for an answer. “If one dragon is awake, then many more will be….” The king gasped as he grasped the full horror of the thing.

“Awake.” Jared completed as he stood up with a groan while holding his chest. “After, there will be chaos.” 

Wren leaned in. “But Father, what we learnt in Child’s Institute of Thought was that all dragons were extinct!”

The king looked at his daughter. “No, my little songbird, they were never extinct. They were hibernating.”

Wren couldn’t believe what her father told her. Her heart beat faster, not in fear but in excitement. So all she’d been taught, all the stories she heard about the extinction of dragons and immortals, were all lies? She looked to Jared. “For how long were they hibernating?” she asked. 

Jared looked to the king. “King Randall, should I tell her?” Jared asked, 

Randall closed his eyes slowly and nodded. 

Jared took a deep breath. “For Ten thousand years, my future queen,” he confessed as he beheld Wren.

“Confirm!” The wide-eyed Wren exclaimed.