UNIFIED W

Chapter 36: Irregular, part 1

A month had drifted by since King Prime VII sealed the borders.

The world had grown quieter since, each clan trapped within its own territories.

King Prime VII enforced strict rules on the clans.

The main objective was to avoid another catastrophic clan war, so Stages One and Two were forced to trade and cooperate with each other.

It was a fragile peace, held together more by order than trust.

This arrangement was meant to secure the clans' survival and support the slow rebuilding of their territories after the war.

After King Prime VI's death, his son took the throne and carried out his father's wishes.

But King Prime VII had plans of his own, guided by motives no one fully understood.

The elders of the Prime family had opposed King Prime VII's rise to the throne, but his remarkable success in the war made him stand out as the perfect ruler.

Two main factors secured his unmatched claim to the throne.

He was the only child of King Prime VI and had achieved remarkable feats at a young age, earning the title of the youngest leader in history.

In a short time, he introduced several major changes, angering the elders of the Prime family.

They warned him that this was not the way of the Primes and that he was destroying everything their people had fought for.

For the first time in the royal family's history, King Prime VII named his second-born daughter as his successor, the first woman ever chosen to rule after a king's passing.

The elders of the Prime family and the rest of the Wind Clan were enraged by this.

Another change echoed across the world. King Prime VII introduced the Test, a grand trial to be held every three years, offering the desperate a chance to live a better life.

People began to dream again, holding on to new hopes for a better future.

Despite that hope, it was soon crushed by the same man who had given it.

It was a dangerous shift, and a dark age was on the horizon.

***

In Von City, just outside the fire clan headquarters......

The border closures were difficult for some clans, but for others, it was a little easier because they had predicted something similar would happen in the near future.

For the Fire Clan, it was different. Pride and strength had always defined them, but now, both were tested within their own walls.

Inside the Fire Clan headquarters, the air was still and cold, and the only sound came from rain striking the tall window panes that overlooked the courtyard.

The inner circle sat gathered at the roundtable, while the clan leader stood by the window, his reflection blurred by the trails of water running down the surface.

"Sir... Sir... SIR!"

He turned. The vice leader's voice cut through the silence with urgency.

"Now isn't the time to drift away. Your people need you."

The Fire Clan leader turned his eyes from the roundtable back to the window, watching as a group of people gathered beneath the great gates outside the headquarters.

The leader shifted his weight, a faint flinch passing through him as pain flared in his injured knee. 

He was hurt and frustrated, but he could not show weakness, not now, when he felt his authority over the clan slowly slipping away.

"How bad is it?"

"Sir, the resources within our territory are running low, and the people fear how they will endure the coming winter."

The Fire Clan leader returned to his seat slowly, placing his cloak over the back of the chair before sitting.

The roundtable was silent for a moment before the general of the Fire Clan rose from his chair, his armor scraping against it, and stepped forward to speak to the leader.

"We are in a very dangerous situation as a clan right now, and with our lack of resources and military strength, it won't be long before people start turning on each other, killing just to survive."

The vice clan leader suddenly stood, his chair tipping backward, and slammed his fist on the table, drawing everyone's attention in the room to him.

"Sir, the people outside are on the edge of collapse. They need to hear their leader tell them that their inner fire will never fade and that the Fire Clan is the strongest in the world, no matter what may come."

For a long moment, the leader said nothing. His fingers brushed the edge of his beard. Then he drew a slow breath and faced his inner circle.

"In two days, I will deliver a speech outside the headquarters, and I expect everyone to attend."

The inner circle stood together and bowed in unison, leaving the Fire Clan leader alone in the meeting hall.

When the door closed, silence returned to the meeting hall, broken only by the distant roar of the people outside. 

The leader went to the window. Guards struggled to maintain the lines.

As he stared through the window, the Fire Clan leader's mind was on Zeru's safety. His hands gripped the ledge, his shoulders drawn tight, and his chest stiffened with tension.

'I wonder if he's recovering from all the damage the poison did to his body. I can't... I can't afford to lose another.'

He shut the curtains, the hall dimming around him. The screams and rage of the crowd still rang in his head, like a storm he couldn't outrun.