The Dragon Conquest

Mera

Mera could not believe it.

All of the treasures she saw, the jewelry she wore, and the food she tasted could never match this. Nothing can challenge the sight she was looking at, not even the scenery of the Solaris castles, or the blue rippling seas that surrounded the kingdom. Her heart was chaotic in the stillness of the crowd but this time it wasn't lust. It wasn't the incestuous affair she had with her brother, her sister's husband, Kane Inari, or simply the king.

This time it was motherly love.

Mera gasped when he saw him. She had always hoped he lived, always believing that somehow Philip had saved him. Even after seeing the High Star, Kinarn Sun, repeatedly stabbed the newborn, she had always hoped. She wished, dreamed, and wanted a miracle to happen, and it all came true.

He stood on the stage and faced the audience, his sweat visible in the bright, hot sun. Mera shuddered at the familiarity of his face. He looked like her when she was once a child, the black messy hair, small full lips and the brown speckles against his pale skin. But he also shared the features of the king.

Anyone that saw the king many times can easily point out the similarities. The long straight nose, round rosy cheeks, and green eyes that twinkled in the sunlight.

Mera trembled at the thought of the king, all of her happiness gone in an instant. The king was a vicious, evil, and sadistic man. He would execute children, behead their parents, and burn anyone related to them in one flick of a hand. She shuddered at the terrible stories, how the king raped his youngest daughter, how he went into brothels for his pleasures even though he has a queen. The queen that was her sister and the sister that she had betrayed.

"As the Initiator of the 60th Summoning of Valin in T.A. 10871," the old man beside the boy said, "I, Reras Hekrys, would allow Liran Cers of Valin to summon what the Gods of the Sun gave him."

That must be his name, Mera thought. She did not follow Solarity, the kingdom's official religion, but she read enough that the name Liran was written to be a child of the Sun. Either way, Liran was a beautiful name.

Liran accepted the stick that the Initiator gave him, his face broke into a wide smile and Mera's happiness came back to her. He was a beautiful boy and Mera wanted to be there for him. She clutched her chest as she knew that the king already found out her escape from Mahasira.

The crowd murmured as Liran raised the stick. Mera was apprehensive, she didn't want Liran to inherit her power to summon acid. The acid had burned her when she first summoned it. She remembered the lethal substance showering her during her personal Summoning. It scalded her skin and formed scars across her face. She was grateful that it didn't touch her eyes but sorrowful that she would be forever disfigured.

Silence spread through the crowd as Liran started shaking. His hands clasped the stick and he muttered something Mera couldn't hear. After a few seconds, Liran let out a loud gasp and the trees swooshed.

"Wind Summoner!" Reras shouted.

The crowd applauded but Mera did not. She froze on her spot as the people around her moved. She covered her mouth to halt the scream that came to her. War, Mera grasped for the word but it slipped away. Liran would be shipped to one of Solaris military bases to be trained for battle. She didn't want Liran to fight, after 16 years of uncertainty and searching for him, only to find out that he was gonna die. That he was gonna leave her.

Mera's breathing came loudly, she turned when someone tapped her on the back only to be greeted with a recoil. The crowd applause disperse and Mera slipped away from the horde. Tears gathered in her eyes and her heart was broken once again. It felt so cruel, her heart was shortly glued back together only for a hammer to smashed it into pieces.