The great war

Chapter one

It was midday, and Alan had been sitting in the grass of the courtyard with his boyfriend, Vlad. Alan had just gotten back from a mission with two of the other warriors, Mark and Cathal. They were supposed to be visiting one of the few villages in the area that Azrael had not taken control of, but they had been surprised and attacked by Azrael's warriors. The three of them had fought their best against the warriors but had been overpowered. They lost the village to Infera, and all three of them were injured during the battle. Mark and Cathal were both in the medical ward being treated by Sara, while Vlad was sitting with Alan treating and wrapping Alan's wounds. Alan winced as Vlad carefully wrapped the deep cut on Alan's arm.

"Sorry." Vlad looked up and met Alan's eyes as he quietly spoke. His emerald green eyes sparkled a little in the sunlight.

"Don't be. It just stings." Alan met his gaze, then smiled a little and brushed some of Vlad's bleached blond hair out of his face. "Thank you."

Vlad's face flushed a little and he looked away, smiling a little, then looked back to Alan's arm and finished wrapping Alan's wound. As he did, Cathal and Tristen walked out and over, then sat next to them. Tristen and Cathal were together a lot, since they were close friends. Tristen stretched his wings out behind him, and let out a sigh.

"Do you think they knew we were coming? They showed up right after we did." Tristen stated as he looked at the others, his wavy medium-length hair white hair swishing as he turned.

Alan looked at him, noticing the worry in his expression. "There isn't really a way they would have known unless somebody from the village tipped them off. But I don't see a reason why they would have. It was probably a coincidence."

When Tristen didn't look fully convinced, Cathal wrapped an arm around Tristen, giving him a one-armed hug. "You worry too much. Our timing was poor, but we'll get that area back, so don't worry so much, okay?" Tristen looked at him, then gave a half-hearted smile and nodded, leaning into Cathal's hug and closing his eyes. Cathal smiled a little down at him, keeping his arm around him. A slight breeze blew through the courtyard, ruffling Cathal's Black and brown hair. Cathal looked up a little and pushed his bangs back behind his ear with his free hand. Alan had laid down in the grass with Vlad but had kept listening to the conversation. He was glad Cathal was able to help ease Tristen's worries. Tristen was almost always stressed out over the war and keeping his dad safe.

Alan looked at Tristen, then, seeing that he had fallen asleep, he looked back up at Cathal. "Is he doing ok?"

Cathal's smile fell, and worry overtook his expression. "He's barely sleeping again. I don't think he's eating enough either."

They were silent. They all knew how much this war was affecting Tristen, but there wasn't much they were able to do to help him. They all knew his worry likely wouldn't stop until the war was over, and they could rest assured that he and his father were safe.

★★★

A few hours had passed, and Alan had been in the training room practicing fighting on his own. He knew that they needed to improve their fighting and find better ways to take back and free land taken by Azrael, or the war may be over before they knew it. Over the last two months, they had failed to protect more than half of the land they were attempting to keep safe, and Azrael was taking over more and more land, and they were failing to keep up. Azrael had an army, and their group was small. Even with the help of others, Azrael's warriors could overpower them any day, during any fight. Alan thought of all the people they had lost, all the people whom Azrael had trapped. Vlad's mom and six-year-old brother stuck in a village taken over by Azrael. Wil's parents, killed by hunters sent by Azrael. Sara's dad, who had lost his life protecting the other warriors during a battle. All the innocent civilians who had stepped up to help the warriors of light protect their homes, losing their life in the process. All the villages that had been taken over by Azrael. Alan gripped one of the throwing knives, then threw it hard, hitting the target in the direct center. He let out a breath, pushing his bangs back with one hand, looking up at the roof as he did. He knew they were losing the war, and it was getting hard for everyone to keep their spirits up. Lately, it had seemed like Azrael was always one step ahead of them. Alan took another shaky breath, then went to the target and pulled the knives out, then walked to the table and wrapped them up, putting them back where they went. He then turned and walked out of the training room.

As he was walking, Vlad quickly stepped out of a hallway in front of him, grinning goofily. "Boo."

Alan stopped walking and laughed a bit. "Hi, Vlad." He noticed in the time he had been training, Vlad had redyed his hair so that it was black on the underside and cobalt blue on the top. "I like your hair."

Vlad grinned, then walked next to Alan and took his hand. "Thanks. Cathal helped me do it."

Alan smiled, then bent down a bit and kissed Vlad on the cheek. "It looks wonderful."

Vlad blushed a bit and kissed him back. "Oh, by the way, Luna wants you."

"Kay then. Are you coming?"

"Mhm."

Alan smiled and started walking, still holding Vlad's hand in his. The sun shone gently through the castle halls, the light reflecting slightly off of the shiny wooden floor. Together, they walked into the grand hall. The large wooden doors creaked as they pushed them open, revealing the huge hall. The walls of the hall were made of marble, with two large golden chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, currently unlit. Luna was standing at the end of the table with Wil, bent down over a map slightly, and they both looked up as the duo entered, pushing the doors closed again behind them. Luna straightened up, her long, chocolate brown hair fell back around her shoulders, her flowy white dress swishing as she moved.

"Hello, you two." She gave them a warm smile as she did, her pale blue eyes crinkling slightly, and folded her hands in front of her. "I see you've changed your hair once again Vlad."

Vlad gave a slightly embarrassed smile, then waved a bit. "Yea. All the old color was gone."

Alan bowed a bit, then straightened up. "Vlad said you had asked for me. How can I be of assistance?"

Luna chuckled lightly. "There's no need to be so formal Alan. I was hoping that you and Myles would be willing to go bring supplies to Redfield village together?"

Redfield village was a small village about two hours east of the castle. The warriors had freed it from Azrael's grasp a few days ago and had promised to bring them supplies to help rebuild. Alan smiled. "Of course Luna. We can do that right away. Let me just go find Myles."

Luna smiled once more. "Thank you. I'll have Wil move the supplies to the portal room for you."

Alan nodded and bowed, then waved to Wil, and began to walk out with Vlad. They walked around a bit, checking the various places Myles tended to be, chatting between themselves about the date they had been planning for Alan's birthday, which was in a week. They peeked into the training room together and saw Myles practicing.

Alan looked at Vlad and smiled. "I'll see you at dinner?"

Vlad smiled, went on his tiptoes and kissed him, then lowered back to the ground. "Yep."

Alan smiled, then walked into the training room as Vlad walked away.