Falling Dragons

A New Purpose

Boros begins his day like he always does. He enjoys a hearty breakfast with his family. After dinner, he begins reading. A relaxing ritual he performs each day, it serves another purpose. He tries to learn a new spell, having only a few simple spells mastered. He thinks in his mind about what he's learned previously. Icy Grasp, Fire Bolt, Acid Spray, Light. He knows he's limited, knowing mainly combat spells. He wants to develop his skills to include other spells useful to everyday life. Floating Disk, He wonders why he hasn't learned something like this already. "The uses for a spell like this are practically endless." He thinks to himself as he studies the pages tirelessly. The rest of his family leaves for the day to perform their daily functions. As the hours go by, he decides to take a break for lunch. After eating, he begins to study once again. After about an hour, he's interrupted. A knock on the door disturbs his studies. He opens the door to see a familiar wolfgirl standing in front of him. The long-haired princess seems to be distressed. She is breathing hard, and her light pink hair is messy and knotted. Before he can greet her, she starts to shout in anger and fear. "Dad was attacked!" Boros can't believe what he's hearing. "What? But nobody is stupid enough to attack the king." He replies in disbelief. Kelsey continues, walking past him to sit at the table nearby. "That's what I thought too. Obviously, someone is. He won, fortunately. But the bastards blew themselves up once they knew they couldn't win. There were three of them. He's currently in the clinic at the palace!" Kelsey's eyes begin to form tears as she shouts the last sentence. "It's okay, Kelsey. He'll be fine, I'm sure. He's the strongest man I know. Even stronger than dad." Boros reassures her. Kelsey breaks down into tears as she struggles to hold herself together. "I'll find who did this. And I'll kill them myself." She says as her tears turn to rage.

Boros attempts to calm her down. "He's going to be fine, Kelsey. They didn't succeed, remember." He fails. "They were sent to kill him. Why else would they have blown themselves up? That means there's still someone out there!" Kelsey shouts in pain and frustration. Boros knows she must be upset. "That may be true. Maybe they just didn't want to be taken prisoner?" She doesn't seem to be affected by his words. "That's stupid. They had a plan. And I'm going to find out what it is. Stay here if you want, but I'm leaving. I'm going to destroy every single person involved." She turns around to leave. Boros's mind floods with thoughts. He tries to find any way to stop her. Even with his intelligence, he knows that she won't stop. "Fine Kelsey, I'm going with you. You said it yourself, I wouldn't let a princess explore the world alone." Kelsey turns around, tears still in her eyes. "Thank you, Boros. Let's go." She states. Boros interrupts before she begins waking away again. "But first we should let my father know that we're leaving. He can inform everyone else who needs to know." Kelsey responds with as much frustration as she did previously. "The military is already sending out troops to scout for info. The only thing they know is that humans were the culprits. Nobody knows how they even got into the kingdom." Boros strokes his chin in thought briefly. As kelsey begins to walk away, he has an idea. He begins walking with her as he explains. "That means dad should be easy to find. He's more than likely in the war room communicating with our leaders." Kelsey begins running with Boros struggling to keep up. "Then we should hurry. He never misses a chance to fight." She says, slowing down enough to let him catch up. They continue running until they bolt through the palace. The staff don't stop them, knowing they would be putting themselves at the mercy of their princess and her rage. Many of the staff are in tears or praying for their king. The sight only fuels her determination and rage. Boros notices her emotions through her body language. Her pace grows faster, and her hands form small fists. Once they bust open the doors to the war room, they are met with the gaze of everyone inside. Victor shouts. "What are you two doing in here?! This room is for leaders to discuss plans of war and combat!" Kelsey shouts back almost instantly. "Nobody cares! We're only here to tell you we're leaving!" Victor is almost speechless in shock. After a few moments, he responds. "Leaving? Where to?" Everyone else in the room remains silent, not believing what they're hearing. Kelsey interrupts the silence again. "We are going to find out who did this." She says quietly. Victor attempts to convince them to stay. "We already have squads heading in every direction. What could you two possibly do?" Kelsey seems angered at his response. Boros decides to speak up to his father. Using logic against him, he pleads his case. "Two people attract less attention than an army. If they're in hiding, then we have a better chance of discovering them." Victor is at a loss for words. Boris knows that he can't argue that fact. Victor may be a hot-headed warrior, but he also achieved his rank by thinking strategically. He replies to his son. "I'm proud of your bravery, but we have small groups heading out soon as well. So, there's no need for two untrained citizens to attempt something that could be dangerous." Victor would never admit it, but Boros thinks he's genuinely concerned for his son and Kelsey. "We can't risk danger to the princess!" Victor shouts, hoping to get through to them. Kelsey yells back at him. "I'm an adult now, remember! We can do whatever we like!" She turns around, intending on leaving. She only stops when she hears Boros standing up to his father. "Father. You always say that I need to decide my future. To contribute to the kingdom. Well, I've decided... I'm going to defend the princess!" Victor looks at his son with a mix of emotions. Worry, anger, but mostly pride. "Fine, let me prepare a squad to help you." Victor says, finally recognizing the conviction in them. Kelsey begins leaving again. "No need." She says before continuing. "You'll only get in our way." She leaves room before she sees the fury on Victor's face. Boros begins to walk out. "Dad, don't worry. We'll send updates. I'll let you know if we need anything." He leaves the room. Victor stands in shock before returning to his duties with the rest of the leaders. Boris catches up to Kelsey as she leaves the palace. "Kelsey, wait. We can't go unprepared. Let's gather pur supplies. Everything we need to survive such a long journey. We can meet at the kingdom gates in an hour. Sound good?" Kelsey responds with such a short phrase that he worries their meeting with his father was too taxing. "Sure. See you then." She sounded so weak and tired before she heads back into the palace. He heads to his home quickly. He gathers up plenty of food, a couple of different outfits. And a few books that include spells he hasn't yet learned. He gathers a few various things to aid with survival. Matches, rope, a dagger, and a few other small things. Most importantly, he carries his spellbook in his hands. After about half an hour, he heads out to meet Kelsey. He sees her standing at the gate, ready to go. It doesn't seem to him like she packed anything. Compared to the bulging backpack he is carrying, he wonders how she planned on surviving outside of the kingdom. She stands before him wearing a black cloak covering her entire torso. There's no backpack, weapon, or any supplies visible. "Ready to go?" She asks solemnly. Still seeming to be drained from their meeting earlier. "Yeah.Are you sure you packed enough?" Boros asked, concerned they may not have enough supplies for them both. Kelsey smiles for the first time he's seen today. "Of course." After saying this, she opens her cloak a little bit to flash him a quick view of some of her supplies. He sees a fairly large bag of gold, several daggers, a few bags hanging from her hips that appear to hold food, a few potions, and other survival supplies. He's amazed she was able to prepare so well in such a short amount of time. He never would have guessed that a princess would have thought out something like this so well. "Okay... so I guess we're heading out now?" He says as they shift their gaze to the massive gate in front of them. "Yeah. Let's go." She says in response before they open the gate and leave the kingdom. The nearby guards stare at them in absolute shock as they see their princess leaving the kingdom. They shout at them to get their attention. The guards are ignored while gaining more and more distance. By the time the guards are outside the gate, Boros and Kelsey are already long gone.