The Fall of the Sword

One

I squint my eyes as dust continues to enter the carriage. This must be it. The dust means we're entering the ruins. A great kingdom once built and later on became dust. Everything returns to ashes, eventually.

'Battlecamp is still 20 miles away.' I heard a young adolescent said to his companion. 20 freshbloods marching into the Battlecamp.
The oldest military training camp for nobles and squires. Forged allegiance of the war that destroyed this very city.

I looked around and saw different kinds of people. But my eyes lingered more on the woman who was already staring at me.

Lady Aleisha of the house of Promos. A small countryside region in our country. Main producer of Sheepskin and nothing else.
I remember her on Myranda's name day. She wore a grand sheepskin gown and slept with a knight. Or- I mean that's what Myranda told me.

She and Myranda were friends to my knowledge. My older sister was quite the girl every boy would swoon over. Those gorgeous eyes, pouty lips, long golden hair and the famous liquid gold eyes. Well, both of us have the same color of hair and eyes. Everybody in the house of Castiley does.

Myranda was the one for long silk dresses, the afternoon tea parties, and everything a girl would do. No wonder she is our mother's favorite. And me, the infamous Lady Mavery of the house of Castiley. Not the girl who wear fancy dresses, someone who prefers drinking coffee and ale with the Kingsword, and typically the opposite of Myranda. We have the same eyes and hair though, but they say I look more like Lord Maeven. My father favors me for that matter.

'Halt.' One of the knights approached the carriage.
'To where?' He asked the carriagemen.
'Battlecamp. Freshbloods. Origin is Castiley.' The horsemen plainly said as the knight checked the scroll.

'Go on.' And the carriage comtinued on it's journey.

Once again, I stared at the gates forged with Diamond glass. Formed to look like a big wall but an indestructible one. So, this is the neck.
A ten mile distance from the center of the camp.

The trees seems to grow further as we continued on the road. And Aleisha is still staring at me. I wonder why she's here though.
Oh wait- I do remember Myranda telling me she was renounced of her titles and was sent here for sleeping with a knight.

The crown is strict when it comes to sleeping with other people. I wonder why they didn't punish girls who prefer ale than tea. I bet my father had to do something with that. I smiled at the thought.

Aleisha was not wearing her sheepskin dress or silk, she was wearing the typical servants clothes.

I looked back at her and instead of looking away or looking down, Aleisha stared back at me. I saw fear and weary from her eyes. She wasn't born for this. She was supposed to be a Lady. I was too. But I am born for this. I am going to be the youngest female Commander at Battlecamp.

'We have arrived. Everybody get your things and off you go.' I turned to get my bag and easily went of the carriage while I saw Aleisha struggled with her bag and stumbled upon a pile of dirt.

'Come on.' I extended my hand to help her but she refused and looked away.

'Pride won't get you anywhere. Not here atleast.' I said and she lifted gaze and I saw rage and anger.

'You don't know that. You don't know how it feels to lose everything.' She finally stood up and dusted off her dress.

'Well- ' I was about to explain why but she didn't let me finish and walked away.

'Freshbloods? Freshbloods?' The announcer called and everybody assembled at the center platform .

'I am General Roseros. Commander of this camp. I would like to welcome you to Battlecamp. And I would like you to know that you will be assigned to each captain by the groups of 15. It doesn't matter where you came from but in Battlecamp, we fight as a team. You will stay on the same tent with your captains.Training starts tomorrow at 06:00. Honor is Forged...'

'In sweat and blood' We all recited back.

I looked at the piece of paper in my hands. This looks like an application form. It has my name, bloodtype, any necessary information, and the name of my Legion.

'Fury.' I chanted.

I walked around and saw a dragon sigil that signifies my legion. I proceeded to the back and continued to scan the useless paper in my hand.

'Dragon Legion huh?' A manly voice spoke.
'Well atleast don't tear me up in pieces with your fiery blast.' I heard the boy chuckled.

And I looked up to see not a boy, but a man. A tall, fair skinned man. I raised an eyebrow at him, instead of being intimidated he just smiled at me.

'Aez of Tiger Legion. Nice to meet you.' He extended a hand.

I didn't accept it though. Why accept the hand of a complete stranger? I looked away and pretended not to hear.

'Ehem.' He faked a cough to get my attention once more.
'If I guess where you came from, we're friends.' He plastered on a large smile. Large enough it reaches his ears.

'Hmm... A pale skinned, golden hair, golden eyes. Which country could it be? ' he hummed as he thinks.

'Castiley. Golden people.' He simply said. Simple enough for me to look at him.

'Not all who live in Castiley are golden. Some are diamonds.' He was caught off guard. I bet he was.

He managed to compose himself. 'Again, I'm Aez of Tiger Legion. And you are?'

'Aery of Dragon Legion.' I unintentionally said. Did I just respond? I'm not supposed to.

'That's the spirit my friend.' He was supposed to say something but he realized that his legion was leaving for their cots.
'See you when I see you.' He winked and continued to follow his team.

I guess I just met my first friend in Battlecamp. Maybe it's not that bad to have a friend who prefers joke around.