The manor appeared to swallow Kieran in darkness. He could feel the dampness of the carpet beneath his shoes. Dark spots adorned the thick carpet lining the walls, and red stains marred the family portraits. The metallic scent of blood lingered in the air.The creaking of the wood from the family room fireplace only reminded Kieran of how silent the manor was. He promptly ascended the stairs, trying not to dwell on why the banister felt rough and dusty in his hands.Then he saw the family room door wide open. A small fire in the fireplace greeted him, along with his parents' clasped hands as they leaned back in their comfortable chairs.Kieran breathed a sigh of relief. "Pa, Ma, I brought a souvenir from Grandma's..." He pulled out a box of cookies from the paper bag he held while briskly walking towards his parents' warm chairs. His words were interrupted as the connection of their clasped hands broke, and they slumped lifelessly. Kieran's gaze lifted, noting his mother's excessively
"I decided to trust you, Dravon," Kieran replied. "But you betrayed my trust in you. Over and over again." He maintained his smile, as the tip of his sword was still in Dravon's grasp. He pushed his sword harder, but Dravon's defences were as hard as granite. The prince began to fight back, until the blade of Kieran's sword slipped out and pierced the bed. The Valorthorn prince immediately jumped out of bed. His diamond-hilted sword formed in his hand from millions of pieces of magic light. "Read my mind, Kieran," Dravon growled, almost pleading. "So that you may know what truly happened." Kieran's gaze dimmed. "I don't want to know," he refused. The next instant all the glass in the place shattered and struck Dravon. The Crown Prince immediately ducked, creating a protective wall of magic around his body. Dravon gritted his teeth as he got back to his feet. "Alright if that's what you want, we fight," he said. The man immediately swung his magic sword at Kieran. Both their swo
Kieran was woken up by a jolt on his shoulder. He opened his eyes, instantly overcome by a feeling of nausea. But when he realised that it was Julian who woke him up, he was shocked to death. Because Julian's clothes were soiled with blood and sweat. In his hand was a sword, which Kieran realised he had borrowed from a palace knight. Around them was only chaos. "I think they mixed something into my drink," Kieran said. "A lot of something and—" "That's not important," Julian interrupted. "Everly betrayed us. But somehow she didn't give me enough sleeping pills. So I woke up early, and saw a lot of dead souls out there. A lot of them. The phone rang, and I called Serena's father. It was just as bad there. There's a plague of dead souls that's attacking our entire kingdom." Each sentence pierced Kieran like a sword. He quickly got up from his chair and for a moment desperately fought off the dizziness and nausea. Even so, he immediately searched for Elios Silverlake's whereabouts, an
"It's weird seeing four revenants in one room," was the first thing the King of Varidianth, Elios Silverlake, said as they were all ushered into the Throne Room."Yeah, maybe not as weird as all of us seeing you suddenly become King, Elios," Jace replied kindly from the corner of the room. But everyone ignored him, especially Morana."We may look like immortal, rebellious seventeen-year-olds, but I hope you know that recently the number of revenants has increased due to the rise of The Malevolent Sorcerer-King. I hope it's not you," Morana said calmly.Elios immediately stood up from his throne chair, as if he was uncomfortable sitting there. The man approached all the prisoners, with a sad smile. "You don't look like a seventeen-year-old to me at all," Elios said. "But the fact that you're here, away from Zyronox, I think proves that you're in good hands. For a long time, Princess Morana."Morana gritted her teeth. "Don't think you know me just because you know my name," she exclaime
In her entire life, Everly had never heard of the Black Tower. But from the bones scattered in the corner of the room, it was most likely the same place as the Red Tower in the northern area of Valorthorn that was reserved for the exile of traitors. The difference, though, was that there were no alogojos and torture devices waiting here. There was only darkness and emptiness, which was actually another form of torture."So..." Everly tried not to glance over as her cousin, Oliver, inched closer while rubbing his hands together. "How have you been?"After the past six months of being exiled by their extended family simply because of the curse in her blood, the words 'How have you been?' really felt ambiguous. Nonetheless, Everly shrugged. "As you can see, Odd," she muttered. "I'm confined here with you on traitorous charges. And since that's the way it is, I try not to protest."Oliver laughed awkwardly, as if he thought she was trying to be funny. But she wasn't. There was nothing fun
Dravon was right, that Kieran did not need mind-reading magic to know what had just happened. He could feel the coldness of William Zephyr's gaze on him, penetrating his skin. He could feel the emptiness that Dravon hid behind his casual demeanour. But it was the fact that Dravon came straight to him after his fight with William that bothered Kieran. It made him, inevitably, remember the past between the two of them in Umbravale."You think," Dravon muttered as he leaned against the magic wall. He casually removed his court robes and placed them on his lap. Kieran had never noticed it before. How graceful Dravon was. How he was more fit to be a prince than a king's son really was. How friendly and kind he was to his peers and the people who worked for him. "What will become of us. I mean, what fate awaits you and me."Kieran huffed. It was more because he felt cold than because he wanted to be cool. Dravon's magic fire was right behind his back but he couldn't feel
The two of them climbed more and more stairs, until they were on a fairly high floor in the Black Tower. The higher they got, the cleaner the rooms became. It was as if no one had dared to climb these stairs before.Until finally Will stopped at the highest floor, as the only room that had furniture in it. A canopied bed, a sofa set, a dresser and a closet.Dravon was not at all surprised, he simply lit a fire in the two lanterns that lay on top of the pair of nightstands in the bedroom, and sat down on his dusty, fragile bed. A centipede poked out of the hem of his blanket, but Dravon deliberately ignored it."So," Dravon asked cheerfully. "What did you want to talk to me about, Will?"Will moved closer to him. All his cool demeanour slowly crumbled, replaced with a fragility underneath. "We lost badly," he muttered. "But it's not too late. I know atop this tower we can still paint the final magic pattern. Or we can go home to Valorthorn, and def
When the cloth covering their eyes was finally opened, only darkness and cold greeted them. A building, which Julian finally realized was the Black Tower. Although it seemed like this place wasn't as scary as Lord Swiftwind had told him about. Or perhaps, the wizards around him made Julian feel that way.After the presence of the knights enclosing them had long since faded, Dravon snapped his fingers, summoning blue magic flames that danced around them all, burning what Julian realized too late to be bones. The bones of those who were once trapped in this place."We are only three hours away from the palace," said William. His pale and handsome face looked beautiful against the blue firelight."Maybe only an hour," Dravon muttered as he looked at every burnt bone. Not at all bothered by the heat. So like it or not, Julian thinks about Jace. That those who have fire elemental magic cannot burn. "They deliberately chose a circuitous path to confuse us.""Now what do we want to do?" Oliv
Arlo finds Lunabelle in her room. His foster sister was sitting on the bed, while Lana combed her hair. From Lana's chuckle and Lunabelle's annoyed voice, Arlo realized that his sister was discussing romantic matters with Lana. Also complaining about Arlo. Because they both remained silent when Arlo entered the room."Well," said Arlo cheerfully as he sat on the sofa with his legs propped up on one of the arms. "It seems like you two are doing fine while Varidianth is getting destroyed overtime."Lunabelle's pink eyebrows rose. "What's going on with Varidianth? The plague of dead souls?""Yeah, almost actually," Arlo answered. "But what I want to say is, Seraphina died." Lunabelle froze in shock. And Arlo proceeded cautiously."Seraphina was killed by Prince Vikrant. After that, we were forced to appoint Elios as king. So that's it. You are officially a royal princess again," he explained. Then added grimly. "Yet Elios sentenced Dravon and his fri
Previously, the Black Tower was just a bedtime story for Kieran. Different from prison, this place was used to lock up nobles who betrayed the kingdom. The location is unknown, and the place is very dark without the slightest source of light. It is said that every prisoner locked up there would rather die than stay there for the rest of their lives.Now, Kieran knew that it wasn't just a fairy tale.His eyes were covered by a black cloth while his hands were tied by another cloth. He, Julian, Serena, as well as Dravon, Oliver, William, Everly, and their servant whose name Kieran didn't know, were forced to sit in a horse-drawn carriage whose cabin was quite long. During the uncomfortable journey because the carriage kept shaking due to rocks or roots, they could hear the galloping of the horses of the knights accompanying them."It's really sad that now you and I are on the same train, heading to the Black Tower, Kieran," Dravon said sarcastically. Only the two of them understood how
Narceesa Veelachou
I never thought that I would wait for Elios and his maid's part every day.
Narceesa Veelachou
Nice story. I wish Dravon and Kieran could be friends again, though....