FAWE: Legends of the Uncharted Realms

The Awakening of the Fire

The weather was warm and sunny in the southernmost point of the MagicLand Kingdom on this day. There were hardly any clouds in the sky, which had been less common in the rest of the realm since the dethronement. With the Dark Lord, the harsh and gloomy weather also overtook the whole land. Yet for some reason, DragonCastle was still the home of light.

A mountain range separated it from the rest of the MagicLand Kingdom, with only a tunnel through it, but the beliefs said that this tunnel was full of dark creatures that would devour the souls of anyone who entered. Sadly, even that was not enough to make this part of the world a sanctuary.

Tenebris had the ability to control anything that fed off the dark forces, so he could cross the mountain at any time. Compared to its former glory, DragonCastle, despite the sunshine and warm days, remained a shadow of its former self. All that remains of the castle’s former splendour are ruins, where thieves and murderers have taken refuge. People walked the streets quietly and introspectively, avoiding contact with strangers. They often did not even say hello to their neighbours. The less they knew the better. Ignorance was a blessing for them all. As long as they didn’t have important and useful information, they could keep away the king of the empire, who was rumoured to have eyes everywhere and to know everything.

A little further from the city streets, however, the two people were not the least bit concerned. Laughter filled the woods of the DragonCastle, and with the laughter came the sound of swords. An odd pairing, but as mentioned above, no one wanted to know what was hidden in the tree canopy.

„You are still slow to me.” the silver-haired girl contentedly forced her dueling opponent to the ground with the tip of her sword and looked down at him with a smile. „You’re supposed to be teaching me, aren’t you?” she furrowed her brows and stepped back to allow the tousled haired young man to stand.

„Kenna though... that wasn’t really... fair.” the handsome man with the dark curly hair cleared his throat and dusted off his clothes, but when he raised his eyes to her again, she was standing in front of him, inches away from him. Inevitably, his gaze caught on her lips.

„All’s fair in love and war, eh?” the young girl’s lips curled into a smile, but she didn’t move from his side. He looked at her in amazement, his words trailing off at the sentence, and Kenna quickly ended the moment between them – shoving him to the ground. „And this is war, Jon.” She told him, laughing, and ran off towards the woods.

The boy just lay in the grass and closed his eyes. He wished he had the courage to tell her how he felt about her. If only he had the courage to lean in and kiss those beautiful lips. Of course, he knew that would ruin everything. They were friends. For far too long. They had known each other since childhood. Back then, he couldn’t have dreamed so much about the lord of the manor’s daughter, but somewhere in his heart he always knew that for him, Kenna was not just another girl. Not a spoiled noblewoman. This girl was full of life and fire.

He smiled as thought back to the many times the ruler’s only daughter had snuck down to the stables to buy sword lessons from him. Secretly. No one would have looked kindly on their friendship. A noble girl’s job was not to fight, but of course Kenna didn’t care. She was always after her own head. They’d grown up since then and a lot had changed. The lord of DragonCastle died after a long and serious illness, and his wife became a victim of the rebellious men. She was accused of witchcraft for using herbs to keep her husband alive as long as possible. The smile disappeared from Jon’s face when he remembered the image of Kenna’s mother being slaughtered without a single piece of evidence. The little girl was the only one to survive that terrible night. The 14-year-old girl Jon’s parents had taken in and raised as their own.

„Seriously! You call that training? We didn’t come out to the woods to lie down.” was jolted back to reality by the tinkling voice of the girl who stepped closer and closer to him. Jon, still with his eyes closed, lay on the grass and waited for Kenna to step up beside him, then in a sudden movement he pulled her down beside him, swung his legs quickly over her body and pushed her down to the ground.