Natalie sat on her bed, looking out the window as if expecting Cyrus to pop up out of nowhere to see her. She was excited to see him and was glad her father had put in word for Cyrus to come. If left alone for the lady looking after her, she wouldn't even be allowed to see anyone, thanks to the strict security measures taken in the house.
She was in the home of Apollos, one of the new members to f the council of elders, and was especially taken care of by his wife, Elena.Elena was also a friend of Natalie, and it was thanks to their friendship that Kendrick had the idea of sending her to love with Apollos, her husband.The couple had three children, and that made it fun for Natalie - who loved children.The past whole day felt good, as the children loved being with her all the time. They had fun together, and one of them, the oldest, was the funniest of all. It was almost as if he was trying to make her laugh with everything he did, and he wasSeveral minutes later, the quad was reunited at the upper room where Natalie rested.“Alright everyone”, Cyrus said. “I'm the light of revealed circumstances, we might be staying around for a while longer.”“How long?”, asked Richard.“At least three weeks”, Cyrus told him. “Natalie cannot move around while her injuries haven't fully closed up yet.”“I agree”, Felix said. “It an injury like that, riding a galloping horse would be a nightmare.”“That's true,” Richard said in a tone that revealed that he was the one most tired of living at Fayhold, even though it had barely been a week since they had arrived.“How are you?” Richard asked Natalie.“Felt a lot better, but not as bad as it looks,” she said.“In the meantime, I would have to meet with the prefect so we could talk more about my marriage to Natalie, as well as our next destination,” Cyrus said.“And where would that be?” asked Richard, suddenly
It was a few weeks later when Natalie was able to walk again with minimal pain, and the prefect was able to fully resume his duties. The building he lived in had been mostly restored to its former state, and the city had returned to normalcy. At that time the walls that were being built around the area were complete, as no rebels were trying to mitigate its progress. The city was peaceful and had become a formal client region of the Empire. It was a peace the region had never known ever since the Emperor's people invaded, and Kendrick feared that it was just a clan before the storm.What feared him the most, even above that was the fact that his daughter's wedding was coming up soon, and that would be the best time for some hidden rebels to cause a comeback. Because of this, he made extra preparations, expecting the worse.As a result of this, the day of the wedding looked more like a siege at the Prefect's home. But he didn't mind, as everyone
Deep in the heart of the Midlands, at the very core of the Empire's capital was the castle of the Emperor. Here in the Midlands, he was known as the King of the Midlands, but to those outside of the territory, he was known as the great Emperor, Athanasius.He was a man in his early thirties, adorned with blonde hair and blue eyes. Looking ten years younger than his actual age. What made him look formidable was his near-perfect body build and his well-chiseled face He sat on his throne, staring into the space with his legs crossed and a signature smile on his face, one which looked way more intimidating than he would if he looked serious all the time.No one was in the throne room with him at that time, as it was still very early in the morning. He had planned for a meeting with the senators and nobles of the area to discuss their possible future conquests to expand the reach of the Empire's Sovereignty.What was going on through his mind was the
At that very same time, far beyond the many of the regions conquered by the Emperor, Queen Regina of Griffindale sat on her throne, staring out into the open space.Just like Athanasius, she was staring out into space, awaiting her noble subjects to discuss matters arising.She noticed three men coming in through the large doors of the throne room, each dressed in rich clothes, and recognized all of them. Sir Kendrick, Sir Nickson, and Sir Kingsley. All three were noble senators, and each contributed to making her who she was today and also suggested the ingenious plan through which she finally got rid of the bastard prince.Because of them, she had now enjoyed two months of leadership without any problems. Sure, some zealous enthusiasts loved Cyrus and looked forward to him being King, but they were given a false hope to confide in, one which prevented a possible rebellion from amongst his followers.They were told that the Prince had gone on a s
It had now been almost six weeks since Cyrus, Felix, and Richard had arrived at Fayhold, and word just came from the Emperor as a reply to the Prefect's plea for Cyrus.Now Cyrus and Kendrick were taking a stroll through the markets. As they walked, several children ran towards Kendrick, the smaller ones begging for the prefect to carry them. A few of them flicked around Cyrus, who had now been glorified as the one who saved the prefect.Given the subsequent peace which followed from the squashing of the rebellion, all the people developed a sudden love for the prefect and everyone close to him. It turned out that the past few weeks had taught them that they were better off without the rebellion. They had realized that they were lucky to have Kendrick as their prefect, even the most vocal yet nonviolent critics had begun to praise him for what he did.The new policies, albeit harsh were necessary to end the rebellion, and now that everyone could see it, th
Cyrus called for a meeting of the Quad at Natalie's room, to discuss something of great importance. Based on what he had just discussed with the prefect, there were going to be some changes made to their plans.Not long after, the whole Quad was present, and Cyrus spoke out.“As you know, we planned to leave Fayhold by next week, but now there is a change in plans”, Cyrus said.“What is it this time?”, asked Felix. “Everyone is okay, aren't we?”“It's not that”, Cyrus replied. “It's something else. The Emperor, Athanasius, wishes to see me.”Natalie and the others widened their eyes when they heard this. Cyrus held off on telling Natalie first, wanting everyone to hear this at the same time.“I suppose he has acknowledged the Prefect's plea on your behalf”, Felix said. “It should be a good thing, right?”“Then why does it make us all feel uncomfortable?”, said Natalie. “Probably because the Emperor can't be up
He had spent over a month at Fayhold, and saying goodbye to everyone was hard. The prefect seemed to have prepared a whole party of elders of civilians to bid him farewell. Most likely the news got out to the masses that some of them had to come to see him leave. Few had seen him in action, and many had heard of his exploits with the others in putting down the rebellion. Praised as a hero for what he had done for the city, the party of over a hundred people cheered and waved as he left, dressed in his full armor and wearing a large backpack on his shoulders. Parting with Natalie was the hardest part of it all, as she and the other three were the only ones who weren't cheering for Cyrus as he prepared to leave. Her eyes were clouded with tears as she saw him walking away, trying her best not to run over towards her husband to stop him from going further. Richard put his arm over her shoulder, comforting her as she saw her husband go. <
The next two days were practical torture for Cyrus, having to go push on without food and water. The little he had left wasn't enough to be considered "food", as he found himself eating a few nuts every few hours to keep up his energy. He realized that he needed to find a sustainable food source soon, and hoped he would soon arrive at the Midlands.On the second day after he had run out of food was when he felt like his body was on the brink of giving up. He found himself falling to the ground and getting back up again, determined to keep going. It became so habitual that he lost count of how many times his body tried to give up on him but instantly got put under subjection by his sheer willpower.The last day felt like hell. The sun was high up in the sky at noon, heating the armor he wore and causing him to sweat profusely, losing the little amount of body fluids that had kept him going. This brought about a heavy sensation of thirst from within which almost made
Three years later... Back at Frostfall, Faora sensed a disturbance coming from the cave at the other side of the village. She came out of her house, looking around with a worried frown on her face, expecting to see obvious threats like she and her husband did the night that Dorcas and the other two dragon Slayers attacked. But there was nothing noteworthy going on outdoors. The weather was wonderful, and the mood was serene. That's why, just past midnight, everyone was still sound sleeping despite the strange feeling in her gut. The only strange thing was that she wasn't alone. At the far end if the village, right where the entrance was, beyond the barricade, she could see Nebula's blue eyes staring back at her. Though they couldn't communicate telepathically at that moment, Faora instinctively knew that they were sensing the same thing. There was trouble, and were sure of it. But Nebula wasn't getting the same sense of fear that Asherah was giving off. It was like Faora was
When Wayne returned with Natalie, Aurora, and Serena, the palace seemed elated. Richard was happy that Serena had come to be with him, and Cyrus's family had been reunited. Now that everyone of interest was present, it was time for the formal coronation to mark the young Cyrus as sovereign King, and his wife as ruling Queen. They divided the kingdom into new provinces, a few of which Natalie would rule over, leaving the majority for her husband. After signing several scrolls and getting married for the second time in line with Griffindale's royal tradition, the day of coronation finally came. It was a day like no other, but since Cyrus didn't want to lavish the Kingdom's wealth at a time when the city was still being rebuilt, he made it modest, only prioritizing hygiene, food, and wine. Decorations and other accessories were ruled out of the budget, still, it was a day to remember. That day, King Cyrus was formally coronated as King and was no longer acting as one. He reinstated
It wasn't too long afterward when the Warlord and his soldiers returned to the Midlands. By head count alone, they had not lost a single soldier. 3,000 went to battle, and 3,000 returned. There was nothing credible to report, as it was difficult to believe that 3,000 men went to war against a great and powerful city and none of them died. Worse yet, what credited them with such a flawless victory was the fact that they were assisted by two dragons that did most of the heavy lifting for them. Sure, there was an occult following of fable enthusiasts who believed in dragons like they were their bread and water, but reporting it in a battle account felt off. He was conflicted on whether or not he should account for that part of the battle. Still, it would be impossible to explain how no one died in such a war. Soon, he gave up on making up a story and decided to report on what truly happened, though he was afraid that the impulsive young Emperor would thin
About a week had passed when Wayne rode off on his dragon to bring Natalie to Griffindale. He too had decided to settle in the new land, and since he was going back briefly to get Cyrus's wife, he would use this opportunity to tell his family about his plans to relocate. Despite the ruins half of the city was in, he liked it at Griffindale. He felt at home there, as it was refreshing living somewhere where it wasn't snowing all the time. His dragon, Kyron, also seemed to love the climate at Griffindale, perhaps due to his natural affinities as a reptile. Wayne got in his dragon that morning and took off to Frostfall, it took several hours to get there despite how fast the Dragon flew, and he arrived by evening. Everyone was glad to see him, all asking questions that excited them. Children asked what it was like to live in a place where there was no ice and snow, others asked what other fruits in the area tasted like, and how easy it was to access them. Wayne tried to
It was almost noon when everyone had gotten out of their slumber, ready to take on the rest of the day. The Emperor's soldiers who at first tried to remain sober and disciplined at the start of the feast the previous night ended up being the most wasted. The generals and commanders assembled all their men, and they were all ready to leave. However, the 25 veteran soldiers were to stay behind to help Cyrus maintain order until the city could reestablish its military, as most of its fighting force had been eliminated during the war. The time for war and victory celebrations was over. Now was the time to rebuild. Cyrus and the Warlord, Jin Tsung bid each other farewell as they each went their separate ways, with the great Legionnaire taking his soldiers with him, along with all his captains and commanders. Frederick and the young men from the village were about to bid the acting King farewell also, but Cyrus was not going to allow it. He insisted that they stay behind with him to take
While Cyrus was still speaking, Kamala sent a message back to him. “I am with your mother”, she said. “Should I bring her to you?” “She's dying” Cyrus sent back. “Get her something to eat. Take her to Wayne. He must be outside the city. Let him see to it that she has everything she needs. I don't want to see her looking like that again.” “Understood” Kamala sent back. While he was still sending, he looked at his stepmother. And after communicating with Kamala, he picked up his sword and walked toward Regina. The Queen braced herself, lifting her son towards Cyrus, who raised a brow, wondering what this was all about. “I know this is too selfish of me to ask, but before you kill me, promise to take care of my son”, Regina said. “He has done nothing wrong. You can raise him without telling him anything about me, you can even tell him made-up things to make him grow up to hate me. Just give him a chance to live. I beg you.” Cyrus sighed, taking the son in his hand, but not for th
“My mother” Cyrus cried out towards her. “Where is she?” Then all of a sudden, the Queen's look of desperation turned to quick sadism. “What is so funny about what I asked?”, asked Cyrus. “I am not the same naive young man you sent on exile. I have killed a lot more people than you think to get to get here. So don't think I can't just run my sword through this child if I want to.” Then to make things worse, the Queen began to laugh. The laughter was so hysterical that she almost choked on her saliva, coughing profusely after a few cracks. She held on to her chest as she gave the last cough, struggling to regain her composure while looking back up at him. “WHERE IS MY MOTHER?!” Cyrus yelled out as loud as he could. “When my nightmares of you doing exactly this became worse, I knew you would soon come back for me. So I thought of the best collateral through which I could make you do as I want, which would be by putting your mother in misery, putting her close enough to the point o
She looked around, but it seemed all the Knights around her were dead. She was ready to meet her fate, but she didn't want any harm to come to her child. At a time when she was expected to cover up her shame with pride and charisma, she was not ashamed to show that she wanted to protect her child. The look on Cyrus's face didn't suggest he wanted to spare any of them. After all, if he truly came back to get the throne and her head, there would be no point in leaving any of them alive. Why would he let the son of the woman he killed remain alive only to enact revenge decades later? There was nothing to gain in keeping any of them alive, so she prepared her mind for the worst. Clutching onto the child in her arms, she prayed hard that their killer would make things quick and painless, especially for her child. But as she heard the footsteps approaching, her heart sank with fear. This was it. All her nightmares were coming true this very minute. Cyrus would take her head, just as h
While the fierce battle took place behind him, Cletus kept his sight on the higher provinces, particularly the Queen's residence, where his comrades were guarding Regina, the sovereign ruler. The next move the dragon made confirmed his suspicions that an attack on the Queen was imminent, as the beast landed on the pinnacle of the highest point of the castle, where the rider jumped off and went in through one of the large windows. “Cyrus”, Cletus said as he gestured for the horse to run even faster as it sprinted towards the palace. “I have to protect the Queen, no matter what.” ********* Cyrus got down from his dragon, swinging himself by the ropes connected to the dragon's saddle to break through the tainted glass of the nearest large window. As he got inside, he was assaulted by multiple guards who were alerted by the noise. He brought forth his self-defense skills and managed to take down the guards, hacking and