Throne of Power: Ascendance

1. Crowned by War

Draven

Draven looked up at the sky as his brother led them through the wide castle doors. He had gotten used to following his steps, being covered by his shadow, getting "Improvise" as the only answer when he asked for a plan.

Draven could feel his desperation just by looking at his back, waiting for his next move. He set out on a mission that could get thousands killed but had to be done. Draven didn't really know what the mission was, nor did he really pay attention when his brother tried to tell him.

What Draven knew, though, was that it had something to do with magic. Magic that he shouldn't mess with.

He eyed the tail of his brother's navy blue coat as it was being pulled by the wind and the blue, crystalized aura that followed him as he entered the Great Hall of the Queen's castle. All Draven could do was watch as he gracefully marched inside, leaving him to inspect the men.

The castle stood like a sleeping stone giant in front of him, with the royal gardens expanding around it like a forest of colours surrounding a mountain that reached for the sky. Underneath his feet, a short pavement made out of cobblestone was lining the way to the only exit out of this beautiful yet lonely garden. The gigantic gates of the Great Hall.

Opposite of these gates, flowers emerged behind an enormous wall that lined the royal territory, and houses could be seen beyond that wall. Draven knew that beyond the wall was the market of Alexandria, with its shouting merchants and the children who attempted to steal from them. All because he used to be one of those children.

He could remember spending a few months of his childhood running down the main street with his sister, laughing and shouting while stealing apples from an old lady's carriage.

He could remember the wind rushing against his face and the taste of salt filling his mouth as they rushed down towards the docks. Docks which were filled with merchant ships from all over the continent, bringing with them exotic foods, silks, and beasts as well as men and slaves that were meant to serve the royals.

He was so young and full of life back then. Old Draven would resent Young Draven if they ever met. He was everything he despised about his past and everything people had marked with him in the future.

On this day, one of the most important days of the kingdom, the main street was almost empty and the harbour only seemed to host warships and galleys, filled with sailors that had been served with decades of war. Sailors that, if anything went wrong, he would have to fight against.

He looked up at the castle, with its tall towers and shiny colourful windows, made from different types of coloured glass. They were blue and green and red and every other colour that could ever be made and took the shapes of Dragons, Kings, Queens and knights.

On the castle, spiralled towers with ballistae on their tops were ready to defend their Queen from any threat that would dare approach her. If only they knew.

His eyes shifted onto a huge, black heart was sitting over the biggest tower, marking this as the castle of a holy dynasty of a god. A god he didn't believe in, yet a god that had proved his existence to him and his men time and time again, by joining their side in any battle that they had ever taken part in.

Turning around, Draven threw a look at his men, giving them the orders his brother implied he wanted to be given, as they collectively nodded and smiled. They, like him, were eager not to miss Aesther's attempt at a performance in front of the Queen before the inevitable fighting broke out. But only he could sense his desperation

They were few, no more than twenty, and they were only here to guard his brother, even though he didn't need protection. Men from the two neighbouring kingdoms, the Axemen clans and the Dwarven clans. And along with them was the girl.  A single girl who never showed her face, or let them hear her voice. One who possessed the power of telepathy and invisibility.