THE night was high. The moon shone upon the river that ran from the Diana Province to Galenus City. There are few residents going back and forth but most of the stores in the market were already closed.Along the banks of the river in the city, two figures were walking. One of the figures bent down and traced the hand on the ground. The other stopped to watch the actions of its companion."Do you see the blue light?" a drawling accent came from the bending figure. Jucel Greyn looked around once more before she stood.Lucian Liu furrowed his eyebrows, his handsome face scrunched in concentration. "All I see is the ground with stones around."Jucel laughed a little bit, covering her lips with the back of her hand. "I forgot that you need to see beyond what's seen.""Beyond what's seen?"The silver-haired woman nodded then she pointed at the ground before them. "You saw the floor of this place as normal, nothing happened to it, right?"Lucian nodded quickly. He stepped back in alert when
IT HAD been five days since the group stayed at the new house in Graire Province.Chloe quickly felt comfortable living with Lucian's friends. Barbie was like a nagging mother of the group, keeping all of them moving. Jucel seemed to adjust pretty well, too. Although there were times that she would just stay in one place and read books rather than goofing with them.The house had two floors with a small balcony. A pavilion was located in the front yard with a small set of outdoor coffee tables and chairs.The area was wide, fenced with bricks and stones. The backyard was enough to set up a training ground... which they did. Lucian had put an archery range. They also made posts that will serve as their dummies when they practice close combat.The province in Graire was surrounded by fields and trees. The back of their new house has a forest that led to an open field.Their house was a little far from Krystalline Academy, but it just motivated Chloe to jog from the house to the school. L
AFTER the interrogation, Chloe Liu received more attention from the Krystalline students than before. In a bad way.She was walking alone that day. Jucel was nowhere to be found and so were Lucian and his friends. She went to the Opall tower to look for him when a group of second year Kryst students approached her. They were all males and good-looking so they attracted many eyes from the girls in the surroundings."Are you Chloe Liu?" one of the men inquired.Chloe looked warily at the one talking. "Yeah. Why?"The male smirked. "Are you a relative of Lucian Liu in some sorts?"Chloe straightened her back and stared at him with furrowed eyebrows. "Well, yes. I am his younger sister."The other male from the back tapped the shoulder of his friend and moved him away from Chloe. "Back off from her, guys. She's off-limits." He offered his hand to her. "I'm Sean Olair."Chloe looked down at his hand, searching for anything that might harm
IT WAS a free day for the group of Lucian, but the house was buzzing with activity.Lucian, Clive and Blaise were preparing the carriage while Jared and Zabdiel were cleaning the frontyard. Lucian clapped his hands to get rid of the dust before turning to the pavilion when he saw a blur of blue moving around. He stopped in his tracks when he saw Jucel carrying a book, arranging the tea sets and chairs before walking out of the pavilion and entered the house."Hey, Lucian! Can you hand me the rope?" he heard Clive shouting from above the carriage. He quickly shook his head and went back to work.Lucian decided to go to the market together with the whole group to help in the Lewelyn family business. It's also a great way to keep an eye on the witch that Jucel was chasing after without the suspicion of the others."Mr. and Mrs. Lewelyn provided us the help in paying for the house through Barbie and Zab. It's just fair that we will help out to pay their kindn
PRINCE CIARAN made his way to the top of the fortress. Theo and Tara were following behind him.There were seven men standing at the watch tower, all of them facing at different sides. They turned to him and bowed to their knees when they saw the prince coming in."What's the situation here?" Ciaran asked as he moved to the window of the tower and looked around.He was with the commanders assigned to the Land of Deirdre, discussing about the possible enemy that invaded the land. When the soldiers called for his attention, he was perplexed.The watch tower was designed to face the land of Vestia and it was seventy miles away from the Helengrein post.The leader of the team stood and pointed at the direction of Vestia. "Birds from the area of Galenus showed some disturbance, liege.""Flocks of them?" Theo asked as he walked to the other window."Tons of them," the officer-in-charge replied. The door to the watchtower opened and a Kryst
SHE opened her eyes to see a clear blue sky behind the autumn leaves. Autumn? How long did she lose consciousness? Chloe thought in panic."Dana? Dana," a voice of a male called out from below.She turned her head to a young boy. She realized that she was lying on one of the branches of a tree, her arm rested under her head. The young boy was familiar. He's wearing a yellow and green bandana around his head and his clothes were tattered and old. Did she knew this guy somewhere?"What?" she replied in a bored voice. Chloe remembered that this body with a name Dana was the same General Dana Rein, the famous 24th Blood Star, who died 50 years ago to protect the Kingdom of Demetrius from Illinor.But she noticed that the whole place seemed peaceful. Was this after the war? Impossible. General Dana would be dead after the war."We're not supposed to slack off. We have to go now." The boy looked worried. And Dana seemed unfazed.She turned back to
JUCEL Greyn rushed to Chloe's room the moment she heard Barbie and the others exclaim Chloe's name.Her friend was there, sitting on the bed while listening to the chatters of the people around her. When they heard Jucel coming in, they all turned their heads to her and she blushed in embarrassment."H-Hi," Jucel stuttered."We'll prepare some food," Barbie announced and started to push Blaise and Zabdiel towards the door. "Now, off we go, you boys.""Stop pushing us!" Zabdiel protested but he followed his sister's orders. Kieran and Clive followed after them not without saying their goodbyes to Chloe.When the door closed behind Jucel, the silver-haired woman smiled. "W-We thought s-something happened to you."Chloe smiled in a sheepish manner. "Sorry for making you guys worry.""Are you really okay, Chloe?" Lucian asked. He was still suspicious of her whereabouts for two days. "You were out for two days. We tried to look for you but
FEW days after the incident, the Krystalline Academy went back to normal. The Teacher's room in the Rubi Tower was repaired and the students went on without the knowledge of what Chloe knew.Not even Lucian and his friends.Lucian stood at the back door of the house, leaning at the frame and crossing his arms as he watched his sister train close combat alone with the training posts. He was quite surprised that Chloe asked if she could take some time alone every after classes to train close combat.Usually, they would gather around and play something. This only made the others train, too.Only Jucel Greyn was not into honing her powers. Instead, she was always sitting close to them whenever they train while reading a book.Now, Jucel was sitting on the grass under the tree near Chloe's spot as the latter trained. And here was Lucian, standing from afar and observing Jucel's actions.The silver-haired girl was reading that brown book again, he
The ceremony was short and rushed as everyone were exhausted and distraught. They paid tribute to every single fallen Kryst and then buried the Knights of Shaula in their own monuments. Neptos was buried in the cemetery for the Rein Tribe while Vivien Li in her own tribe. Kieran Lornn was brought to the Lornn Tribe in a closed casket, never to be opened.Those who led in the war were given rewards. Barbie Lewelyn, Lucian Liu, Zabdiel Lewelyn, Clive Travis, and Jared Dale were hailed as the new Knights of Bellatrix."I know it's late. But this is how I wanted to honor her," Queen Elisa told them in a hushed voice.Barbie regained her strength two months after and it was enough for Zephrain to make some sentiments with the Krystalline Palace.Zephrain was standing right in the middle of the vast graveyard, the horizon looming ahead and the Mountain Ranges surrounded him, as if looking over on what he had been gazing at for many times in a day... everyday.He heard a rus
When the Knights positioned outside the barrier, Chloe removed her armor from her body. She wore a plain red shirt with gray pants. The young Blood Star sat on the ground, her legs crossed under her.Lucian positioned behind her, standing with his right palm pressed behind her head. "Are you sure about this, Chlo'?" he asked."I must be asking you that, Lulu-chi." Chloe smiled. "I never had the chance to thank Demetrius for this."Lucian gritted his teeth to control his tears. He didn't say anything at all, afraid that his voice might give away his sorrow.Jucel brought the Bellatrix sword to Chloe. The latter shook her head. "You must do it."The freckled woman let out a deep breath. "You're cruel."Chloe just smiled. She stared at the back of a familiar duo. "Mē, Zē." She swallowed. "Thank you."Outside the barrier, Faline Liu and Iwaoka were trying their best not to cry. They neither answered her nor looked back. The three inside wouldn't hear them, anyway.
Meanwhile, Barbie ducked under Kirsten's staff and swiped her leg under the latter. Kirsten lost her balance but regained herself, and flipped away before she could reach the hard ground.Barbie stood and twirled her sword while her dagger was positioned in front of her. The electricity from her body was back, recharging her energy through the wrath that she felt.Kirsten charged again and swung her sword before giving Barbie a side kick. The latter crossed her wrists to block another kick but grunted when Kirsten's high heel dug on her flesh. She gripped Kirsten's ankle, electricity ran through the Great Witch who screamed. Barbie hurled her away, the heel ripping her skin in the process.Blood oozed from Barbie's wrists and ran down her fingers then dripped to the ground. She could feel her nerves shaking on her right wrist where a hole from Kirsten's heel dug into. An open wound near her large vein."Tch," Barbie said as she wrapped her left hand around her righ
Snow endlessly falls down from the cloud-covered sky. But despite that, the whole land of Markus was not freezing in cold. The Fire Land was warmer below at the same time colder in the surface. Although the surroundings were frozen in ice crystals and covered with snow, it was not enough to freeze a Demetri.Chloe Liu walked for a few meters to the center and stopped under the tree. Her golden eyes roam around and saw that she was surrounded by Black Shaols.The young Blood Star smirked. "You really brought them out for your gain, Liege."A large man with a black armor emerged from the crowd of enemies, a triumphant smirk etched on his face. He had a golden crown with the symbol of Illinor at the center. He's holding a large sword with broad blade. Chloe thinks he could cut a large tree with it.But, not her.She figured out that the Southern Region has a tunnel underneath it, used by the same enemy fifty years ago to infiltrate the land of Markus. It doesn't fa
The time had been ticking that moment. It runs around the clock day and night. Not even the prince I served, Særi ust Trūx Ciaran, can stop the time all at once. There will be choices to make. There will be memories of pain.The Great Witch, with Kirsten Zūng as its vessel, has ordered a massive hunt for our deaths. The Kingdom of Demetrius, my home, experienced its biggest war in history.Once again, many shall lose their lives for the peace we so wanted. Witches from Illinor began to make their way to the Eastern Region where they will be able to invade the city of Markus.The whole population of the bloodlust witches and traitors of Demetrius bounded off around the Ahn Mountain Pass and made their way to the city of Markus, the city which the great General Dana Rein conquered. The Land rich of Fire Element. There's no mercy, no holding back.I haven't been into this kind of war. None of us have. Bellatrix of Orion, will you save us from sure death?Only I, a Mnemos
Jared landed on the ground face-first. He pushed himself up and sighed softly as he opened his now blazing dark green eyes. He pushed out of the way in time to avoid the axe of the enemy. Jared picked up the fallen soldier's sword and swung it blindly in front of him, cutting deeply on the skull of the enemy.He grimaced as he stood limply, his injury now bothering him than before."Red!" Clive's voice rang through the noise of the battle. He turned and raised his hand to catch his sword. Jared didn't waste time swinging his blade across the approaching enemy's chest.~O~O~O~"Damn it! Where the hell was Kirsten?" Tara asked as she kicked away an opponent and swung her spear to another Illinora.Vivien swung her two white silver swords across the Illinora's face and whirled around the enemy's side before bringing her blade down their injured necks. She put her blades together and ran the blades across each other. The blood was quickly wiped off the blades, clean
Clive and Celine stepped back as another explosion occured at the boundary.Huge dark brown ugly-looking beasts were roaming around; snarling and shaking their heads furiously as blood were oozing from their faces and body.Clive whirled at Celine who was standing calmly beside him. Celine began to bark orders in a calm voice. Fire began to float all around them, courtesy of the Fire Element Krysts."Archers!!" Celine shouted. Clive raised his hands and the fire enveloped him. It made him smile with joy. Being enveloped in fire made him think about the time he discovered his power as a boy.The archers notched their arrows and aimed at the borders. Clive brought his hands towards the arrows, the fire began to lick the tip of the arrow notched.Celine smirked at him and nodded. She looked at those beasts that managed to enter the borders. "Hold!!"Silence enveloped the whole area. Five kilomenters. Four. Three. The archers didn't move an inch.Celine pulled an ar
The Krysts began to follow Ciaran and Zephrain's instructions. The Travis Tribe and the other tribes from the Markus City vowed to help in the war against the Great Witch. They prepared traps everywhere. It took them a whole day to prepare.Lucian and his friends decided to get over the grief they had over Kieran. With Jucel and Celine's efforts, Zabdiel's consciousness came back.Upon hearing about Kieran's death, Zabdiel didn't know what to say. He started to blame himself, but there's no denying that no one wanted to lose Kieran Lornn."Where's his body?""Chloe said he's at the palace back in Vestia," Lucian murmured.Zabdiel could only nod his head and then he went back to his trance, mourning for his older friend. He clenched his jaws and his fists. Zabdiel vowed that he will seek revenge on Kieran's death.Three days came and no Kirsten Zūng appeared. Celine brought Lucian, Barbie, Zabdiel, and Clive to a storage room."What are we doing here?" Clive aske
Queen Elisa stood at the first steps outside the palace. She was covered with wool coat to prevent the freezing cold from seeping through her body. Her white hair cascaded on her shoulder and her crown sat atop her head.The soldiers are already positioned, all of them sitting on the Pegasi - another type of horses used for battle. These horses have the wings of eagles they can fly the soldiers towards Markus and pass the Dark Forest. Because of the vulnerability of the Pegasi under the sun, they had to wait under the weather was colder so they can use them for transportation.Chloe was sitting on her own Pegasi, a jet black horse with stronger, wider wings than the others. Her golden eyes looked up at the Queen and found her staring. Chloe just nodded at her which she answered a small smile and a nod. The Blood Star then took hold of the reins and bounded to the front lines.Jucel and Jared went out of the palace. Jared still looked emotionless as before. Ever since Jucel'