A Flower Without Rain

Chapter 7

"What brings Your Majesty to call upon us Clan Leaders?" Clan Leader Yuan Qi asked.

Sitting at the front of the table as the others awaited his answer in this quiet room, King Xin Chao held a look of ponder. He was trying to gather his thoughts on what to say or rather, how to say it. ".....The Four Kingdoms," he begin before pausing for a brief second. "We are becoming weaker with each day that passes making it easier for enemy nations to invade."

Clan Leader and General Ru Yan's eyes widened with shock, "But that's near impossible, Your Majesty!" he exclaimed. "The divine tree is still standing strong and-" he was cut off by another.

"Ru Yan," it was Clan Leader Lian Gen. Eyes shutting, a sigh followed, "The impossible you speak of has become the possible. The leaves that used to stay its vibrant green through the thousand seasons has turned black. It could only stay strong for so long." as he has been overseeing the tree. The tree where everything began, where the Four Kingdoms came to be.

Hearing so, Clan Leader Yuan Qi added another. "Over the course of these months, so has our blood that's been rushing and even more apparent on the palace grounds that ties us in. It's a warning, Your Majesty. A warning that what's coming is going to end us. To end the legacy of them, who are the reason why we have been at peace for nearly 3,000 years. We can't let the blood they've spilt fall into nothingness!" his voice raising.

Although the divine tree is indeed a heavenly creation, nothing otherworldly protected it. Able to give but unable to protect itself.

"I know that very well, Clan Leader Yuan Qi." the king spoke. "The poison placed upon the divine tree is spreading faster, and we should've been prepared the moment that person alerted us." Clan Leader Lian Gen's eyes lowered at the mention of the individual he spoke of.

General Ru Yan fell into frustration, "The main question is, who did it?" this was what everyone wanted to know.

Yuan Qi huffed, "That's the thing. We don't know. The only ones who know of the divine tree are the four of us and no other." the information that has been kept a secret since the beginning.

King Xin Chao's eyes wandered amongst the three in the room, "Maybe we have a traitor," he then brushed it off with a short chuckle. "What am I even saying, if any one of us did we would have been long dead. Our blood is tied to the divine tree." if one were to go against the Four Kingdoms, they were doomed to die.

Then, another assumption, "Clan Leader Yuan Qi, is it possible that someone broke into your residence and read the sacred history?" hinting that someone is out to end the legacy of the Four Kingdoms.

Yuan Qi shook his head, "No, Your Majesty there hasn't, and as I said the only ones who know that the Yuan Clan holds such records are the four of us."

Ru Yan sighed, "I will conduct a private investigation myself and tighten security among the palace grounds." he told the others.

"I'll be doing what I always have." Lian Gen said as the overseer of the divine tree. He could only pray that it hangs onto the life that lived through the different ages and eras as humans fought.

Standing from his grand seat, the leaders of the Three Great Noble Clans looked to the king. "No matter what, we cannot let that person's life be put to waste for finding out that the divine tree was being targeted."

It was only and still the beginning.
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