War for the Skies (completed) (Book 1 of the Heroes of the Realms series)

Chapter 4

We went past a group of teenagers in running outfits that we running across the perimeter of the island.

"Who are they?" I asked Lukas.

"Children of Poppy, Legend of happiness and the ruler of Paradisland. They're always running around. Sometimes they take their food from the food court and then start running again," he answered.

I laughed so hard but then I realized that he was dead serious. "You're not kidding," I said and stopped laughing.

"I am not," he said and we continued with the tour.

The huge forest was beautiful and breezy. We walked across a group of kids who were working with some huge machine.

"Those," Lukas said, "Are my half-siblings. Same dad, different moms," he said.

I nodded in understanding. I looked at them and admired how fast they'd fixed the machine they were working on, then it exploded, covering all of the kids faces with soot.

"Come on," Lukas nudged me. "Let's keep going."

Lukas stopped walking but I hadn't noticed and almost ran into a rain of arrows when Lukas stepped in front of me and said "Stop, stop, stop, stop," to all of the archers. The archers put down their bows and looked me in the eyes.

"Archers, Leon. Leon, archers," Lukas said and gestured to their side and then mine and then my side and then theirs.

A girl with red hair huffed. "Next time, son of Aeon, we won't listen to your friend."

"What are you on about?" I asked the girl, narrowing my eyes.

Lukas stepped between her and I and said "He was just kidding, right Leon?"

Then when he realized I hadn't said anything he said, "He was just kidding guys."

He pulled me out of the archery area and said "Rule number one: Don't pick fights with people on your first day!"

"I was not picking a fight with her! She was about to shoot me so I defended myself!" I said.

"Not on your first few days newbie," he said and we continued with the tour.

After a while, we walked past a kid about our age with a bowl hair cut and brown hair. He was wearing a leather army jacket and reading a book. In front of him was a campfire that was so hot, I almost had heatstroke from ten feet away.

"How's he standing that?" I asked Lukas, wheezing.

"He's the son of Dracul, Ruler of the Punishment. Obviously he controls fire since the Punishment is where all fire comes from," Lukas replied, also wheezing. "Theo! Turn it... turn it off!"

The kid who was reading looked up at us and snapped his fingers. The fire dimmed and dimmed until it became a fire the size of two dozen fleas, but still it was enough to make me sweat.

He set his book down and walked up to us. His boots left burning marks on the floor. His skin was the same color as Lukas's.

He smiled and threw out his hand for me to shake it. I took it but instantly pulled away.

"Ow!" I screamed and jumped back.

He laughed uncontrollably and Lukas laughed with him.

"I do this to every newbie," he said. "Sorry though, it won't leave a mark. It's just a momentary burn."

"Yeah, nice to meet you, too," I muttered.

"A jokester eh?" he slapped me on the back but it didn't burn this time, which I was thankful for. "Name's Theo."