Rivynn couldn't understand why she and her brother, Rain, were kept chained away from everyone else. They were told it was to keep them safe from the shadows... But what if that was a lie?
~~~~~~
Rain hadn't told her... but the shadows were real...
Huddled in the corner of the room, Ki hugged her knees tighter as she listened to the screams of terror coming from the city and watched the thick smoke climbing along the ceiling above her.
"Everyone out! The city is on fire!"
"What are you still doing in here?" The keeper coughed from the doorway.
Ki shook her head. She was more afraid of her family's displeasure than she was of the flames.
"Don't be stupid, kid," the keeper said, hurrying over and grabbing her arm.
"No!" she tried to protest, but the man was several times her size and pulled her along as if she were nothing but a stray puppy.
As soon as they were outside, the keeper shoved her in the direction of the gate. "Now, git," he snapped before heading off to see if any of his neighbors needed help.
Around her, people were running in all directions, some for the gates to escape the flames, some calling out for loved ones, others trying to help how they could. But Lirr and the other Mystics were nowhere to be seen. The inn was now fully engulfed in eerie blue flames, but the lightning strikes had subsided.
Not knowing what to do, Ki stumbled through the streets calling for her brother, but her voice was drowned out by the roaring flames and shouts of confusion and terror.
Unable to stand the choking smoke any longer, she was about to turn back when the clouds above her suddenly released their burden, drenching the city with a torrent of rain and swiftly extinguishing the flames. But it could not wash away the devastation.
Just as quickly as they had come, the clouds yielded to the daylight, illuminating the death and destruction left in the fire's wake.
Ki noticed three bodies lying next to her in the street. They were so burnt, they were barely recognizable. She gulped as she spotted a gold band on the wrist of one of them.
With growing dread, she slowly reached out for the half-melted scrap of metal.
"What are you doing here?"
She jumped as Lirr grabbed her arm, jerking her aside.
"Lirr!" Ki replied with a mixture of relief and fear, then noticed the shadowling wasn't with him, and his clothes were stained with fresh blood. "Where's Storm..."
"Come on!" Her brother snapped, cutting her off. "We have to get out of here now."
"Why..."
"You were supposed to stay in the inn, sister," he snapped, ignoring the question as they hurried towards the city gate.
"It was on fire..." she started to protest but was jolted to a stop, their way barred by one of the city's guard.
"Mystic," the man growled, his voice filled with disdain.
Lirr tried to flee the other way, but as they turned, they came face to face with a Draycent, mounted on horseback, sword pointed menacingly in their direction.
Instantly, Ki recognized the legendary man. There was no mistaking the massive scars that spanned from the side of his face all the way down across his chest to his lower right side.
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This was Raze Kalamity, the Draycent King himself, slayer of dragons, and known to be not only the most powerful of them all... but also the cruelest.
Ki could feel the inhuman cravings coming from the man as he peered at them sadistically with his green, slitted eyes.
"Lirr..." Ki whispered to her brother, but Lirr planted himself between them as several more of the Draycent and the city guard came and surrounded them.
"Looks like you two are the only ones left to pay for your people's rebellion," Raze sneered, the jeweled adornments in his long braids jangling as he dismounted.
"We weren't the ones who nearly destroyed this city," Lirr snarled back, his eyes beginning to turn from their usual soft amber to burning blood red.
Raze's face darkened. "The crimes you committed are far more serious," he said coldly. "Not only did you bring a shadowling into the city, but you tried to kill one of our young Lucents, and you attacked many Draycent - one of them, my own brother."
There was a murderous gleam in the King's eyes now as he stepped closer, and Ki noticed his blade was still dripping with fresh blood.
