Legends of Lightning

Ch.3 Brotherly Love

"Without knowledge action is useless and knowledge without action is futile." Abu Bakr

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It was suppose to be a normal day. A normal blue sky, puffy cloud day, but it wasn't. The warm air that seemed to flow endlessly, felt ice cold against Vesper's back. She stood on one of the castle's walls and shivered. Something has been off about these last couple weeks, since word of an entire village being obliterated found its way back to the castle. Vesper watched emotionlessly as her dark green eyes followed where she was told was the direction a trail of black smoke should've been. Somewhere far away from the kingdom's boarders.

"They aren't coming here." A deep male voice said from behind her.

"I know that Stephen. They wouldn't dare come an inch within our borders." Vesper said in a cold voice, still staring out in the distance. "Not with the Queen being here."

Vesper had a habit of calling people by their ranks when she was angry with them, instead of by their name. It's how she showed her disrespect to them by being overly respectful. It also gave her pleasure to see how they react when she calls them it.

"You mean mom?" He corrected with a smirk. Vesper rolled her eyes at the same time that Stephen clamped his heavy hand on her shoulder. Touch was how Stephen could read minds and communicate, since he was a Beast. It is something easily accomplished with the right training. "We can't just sit around and do nothing!"

He suddenly gasped and frowned. "You can't blame mother for what happened to that village, Vesper." He said using her name.

Vesper enraged that he had yet again read her mind without permission decided to show him a little something that she had just practiced in training. She grabbed his hand, spun in 160 degrees, and continued to twist his arm. Stephen yelped in pain but his lips curled back into a smirk.

"I didn't have to read your mind to know what you were thinking." he said looking straight into her eyes.

Vesper knew that as well but being the stubborn person she didn't admit it. Instead she punched him in the gut.

"Finally, a challenge from you dear sister! Maybe we can start the tournament right now." Stephen said in a dead serious tone.

"I'm not in the mood, Steph." Vesper said, calling him his most hated nickname. He twitched, obviously ajitated.

"You're never in the mood to fight. But you know very well why mom couldn't save the village." Stephen's playful voice turned serious as he spoke.

"She has the power! Those villagers didn't have to die!" Vesper yelled at him.

"A Queen cannot rush blindly into battle! We can't risk the most important life of the kingdom, for people who aren't even ours!" Stephen screamed back. "You are a fool, little sister."

Green veins bulged from his neck and the usual struggle to control his temper was forgotten. His fingernails sharpened into claws and canines grew out of his mouth.

He ripped his arm free of Vesper's grasp and grabbed her by the throat. He gripped in a way in which it wasn't enough to put pressure on her throat but it was more of a symbolic gesture for shut up to weaklings.

You can try to silence me all you want, but I won't give in just cause I don't have powers. Vesper thought.

"If you turn any more Steph, you'll loose it." Vesper said with fury in her voice. It wouldn't be the first time his temper got the best of him. It's to be expected with Beasts but now wasn't the thinking about what is already known. She wiped her face clean of emotions and just stared straight into the now blood- red eyes of her brother.

"And what will you do? You don't even have your powers to beat me in a fight!" Stephen yelled, his grip getting tighter. "I could rip out your throat in a second and then I would be the ruler of this country. We wouldn't even have to fight in the tournament to decide." His voice was now a low growl.

Tiny pricks of blood began to drip from where his nails were digging into her soft flesh. In a few seconds, Vesper knew that Stephen would release her or injure her. However, Vesper knew that whichever one it was, someone would end up in trouble. Suddenly, Vesper felt a foreign rush of power push through her veins. She could feel something deep inside her being shaken. It pulsated in her fingertips, and she knew if she touched her brother, he would die. How? She didn't know, but she knew with all her being, that that's what would happen. She slowly held up her hand, inches away from grabbing the one that was clamped on her throat.

"Now that wouldn't be too fair now would it Steph?" A woman's voice purred. The siblings looked up to see Delighla, their trainer and second scariest woman alive, flipping back her almost white blond hair and walking towards them. Walking isn't quite the word, it was more like strutted as if she were a model. The power that was moving within Vesper suddenly vanished, but her fingertips were still red. Stephen immediately released his sister and turned back into his human form.

Vesper inwardly smiled. He's in trouble now!

"Wha-what wo-wouldn't b-be fair?" Stephen stuttered nervously. Delighla narrowed her sharp gray eyes and without any warning at all, punched Stephen in the face. His head snapped back and his body went limp like a rag doll.

Vesper stood there for a moment with her mouth wide open. "Shut your mouth or it's going to catch flies." Delighla called from behind her. Vesper feeling satisfied with his punishment, began to chase after Delighla, who had begun to strut away.

"Thanks, but I could've handled it." Vesper said trying to fill the silence.

There was no way I could've handled it.

Delighla gave Vesper a side-glance while she was still walking and grunted. She obviously caught onto the weak attempt to break the silence.

"Sure, you had it all under control didn't you?" Delighla scoffed.

"I was going to-" Vesper started.

"What Vesper? What were you going to do? Get your throat crushed? I mean, that's not the way I would go about fighting my battles, but you do you." She clearly was getting angrier and angrier. "I've told you countless times to not be alone with your brother. You don't have your powers yet. You would be dead in a second." Delighla interrupted angrily.

Vesper sighed. I'm pathetic. How come it was taking so long for my powers to come in?

"Actions have consequences, and since you want to fight so bad. We are going to spar." Delighla's tone still annoyed.

Vesper's head fell and she almost groaned, but memory of being severely punished for doing just that stopped her. Then she wanted to sigh because of that, which made Vesper want to scream in frustration because she couldn't do any of those. They traveled off of the wall, down back through the castle and out the back to the training yard.

The closer they got, the heavier Vesper's feet got and the more Delighla seemed to glance back with a smirk that seemed to grow bigger and bigger.