The Lightning Mage

Chapter Five -Getting Started-

"Princess, Keisukei has informed me that you've fought in battle before. Is this information correct?" Castenea leans over the conference table with a serious composition.

"I have. I fought alongside the Knights of Aliech on many occasions. I believe that a good leader goes head on with her troops into battle."
The Chief nods in turn of my statement.

"How skilled has the Princess proven herself to be?" Castenea looks at Keisukei.

"Very. I've never seen anyone more talented with a Shuriken in my entire life, I'd say she's pretty skilled." He smirks at me from across the conference table and laughs. "Plus, she's got a mean streak to her."

"This is no time for flirting Keisukei, take this seriously. We have to come up with a battle plan!" Castenea slams her fist down on the table.

Kei's face turns bright red and he quickly tries to explain himself, "I wasn't flirting! Sango is like my-."

Maike rolls his eyes and interrupts him "What is your brilliant plan, Baron? I'd love to hear it since your knights have been ever so boastful of your intellect." The little man at the table sitting next to the Queen speaks up. He has shoulder length purple hair and a long scar across his expressionless face.

"The dream showed Sango and I at the beach in Renes. I suggest we send scouts out to see whats going on, preferably transformation specialists so they can sneak in and out without being detected. If we find something, great. If not, we go to Calida."

"What does Calida have to do with anything?" Maike asks in a rude tone.

"The Blue Dragon Legatus. It was a Dragon who snatched the Prince, and if anyone knows who it could've been, it's him."

"No one has seen Legatus in years! You must be insane to think you, a filthy Bell Fox, of all people, could get him to show up."

Kei leans on the table, inching closer to Maike's face, until they're so close they can feel each others breath. "This filthy Bell Fox saved his life. He owes me a favor or two."

I've never seen him mad before. Maike must have hit a soft spot.

Kei leans away from Maike and straightens his uniform. "Princess, it's time we rest before the start of our journey."

Kei pulls my chair out and opens the door for me to exit. It's very rare for me to think of him as an adult rather than the friend I met when I was young. He's rarely a very serious character, but I see him as an adult right now, and maybe it's because he's angry, but it's still an odd perspective.

I follow him back outside. I stop at the doorstep of the house and watch him walk in front of me a little ways out. He sits down beside a spring of water. There are ruins of an old fountain there.

I follow and sit down next to him. He's staring at the water, making circles with his index finger. His face has softened up and his youthful look returned. His angry expression was replaced by a sad one.

"No one takes me seriously. All because I'm different from them."

"I take you seriously." I nudge him with my elbow. "You kick butt and I've seen it."

"You and I are so much younger than everyone else. They take you seriously because you're the ruler of a kingdom. I'm just a kid in a shiny set of armor."

"That's not true. You're a Baron, THE Baron of Aliech. You're in charge of every knight in the kingdom. Every knight in Uladh is under your influence. You aren't just a Bell Fox."

He stares at the water some more before talking again. "My brother and I used to play in this pond all the time when we were younger. I was just a kid when we snuck onto the boat to Belvast and crossed over to Uladh. That's when we came to Aliech."

"I didn't know you had a brother." I look up at him.

"We haven't spoken in a while."

After a few moments of prolonged silence, Kei smiles down at the water before scooping some up in his hand and splashing me with it.

"Rude!" I splash him back and before I know it, we're both completely drenched in the water.

Keisukei picks me up over his head and flings me into the water, immediately crashing down next to me.

"Enough!" A woman's voice calls out to us from Castenea's house. An old woman clad in peasants clothes stands in the doorway. Her gray hair is pulled back into a tight bun at the back of her head and the crows feet around her eyes give away her age. "You'll ruin your clothes!"

We both straighten up and try not to laugh as she rushes us both inside and throws clean clothes at us.

"Here. You wash the dirty pond water off of you and you change into clothes. You understand? You no need ring worm. A Queen no need to play in dirty water, you understand?" She walks away from us, ranting about something in a different language.

As soon as the door closes behind her, Kei and I both bust out into a fit of laughter.

"Who even was that?"

"I have no idea."

The childlike happiness that comes along with the playfulness fills me up with good memories and warmth. It almost makes it easy to forget that the entire world is coming apart at the seams.

I wander into a room down the hall and change into the clothes the angry maid gave me. The gray and green uniform matched the Fillian Army Generals, only mine has a patch on the shoulder with the symbol of Aliech. Someone must have had it pre-made. I put on the boots I previously had on and tie my hair back into a ponytail. I've never been so drab looking in my entire life. Even when I was at war before, I always had the gold and white armor made for me in Aliech. It used to sparkle in the sun unlike anything I'd seen before. But this is a different kind of war. One with an invisible enemy. One that will likely lack a victor.