THE FIFTRENT

Chapter 2

The gate to the palace of the four clans was fashioned by thick oak and bound with heavy iron .

A white fox roamed and panted from side to side , it carefully sniffed the soil .

A black dragon majestically flew around the palace .

A phoenix fashioned like a giant green peacock stood on top, it flapped its wings vigorously as bright green feathers fell to the ground .

“All this show for a kingdom that dad can demolish with a single sword .” Albert thought to himself.

“We would love to see him try .” A man in a long black robe appeared him .

“He definitely can .” Albert pulled out the jade pendant and showed him .

The demon guard bowed and scraped , the gates were open and led Albert inside , Albert looked around carefully at all the guards as he passed by them .

“Do you want to buy feather scarfs ?” He said to each one .

They were all silent .

“They come from the best phoenix feathers in the world .”

“Okay , here is a jade pendant , I will take ten thousand coins for it , it is the best .”

At the sight of the jade pendant, all the guards bowed but remained silent .

Albert was led to the prime minister’s manor , the prime minister , a member of the fox clan in a blue robe, adorned with sapphire stones , took the jade pendant from his hands and examined it .

“An old dragon gave it to me , I will only accept a bid for a heavy price .”

“It will be returned to him in the afternoon.” The prime minister said .

“No why would you return it to him ? It is mine , he gave it to me!”

“He gave you permission to live in the palace and do whatever you want here , this is just a sign to us that the order came from him .”

Albert was escorted out of the manor .

“I will show you to the phoenix clan head for registration.” One of the guards said .

“Is he his son ?” The demon guard asked the prime minister.

“No he is not .”

The demon guard sighed .

###

The four clan heads sat at around table playing ancient checkers , the room had four pillars each representing a different clan .

Awary , the clan head of the phoenixes in his human form , wore a white robe cleaner than that of any phoenix in the palace , his hair was long and adorned with an agate band , he wore a necklace made of pearls and matching bracelets.

He was the wisest man and strongest phoenix in the palace and only fellow clan heads and the king could match his power .

Ima the head of the dragon clan in his human form wore a red robe , that was layered with ruby and carnelian stones , he had short hair and stature , he was known as the shortest among all the clan heads , the strongest dragon in the palace and only fellow clan heads or the king could match his power .

Umbra the head of the fox clan , in his human form wore a light blue robe and lolite earrings, his sapphire eyes and ruby lips made him admired by almost all women in the palace , he was the strongest and fastest fox in the palace and only fellow clan heads or the king could match his power .

Donga , the head of the demon clan wore a black robe layered with hematite , his eyes switched from black to brown depending on wether he wanted to be a full demon at the time or not , he was the cruelest of all the clan heads and the strongest demon in the palace only his fellow clan heads and the king could match his power.

“This game would be match better if Edward was here .” Umbra thought.

“It is your turn imprudent fox !” Ima yelled .

“Umbra , you should take the shot for him .” Awary said as if he had read his mind .

“I really miss him .” Umbra said .

“Are you serious , that guy almost killed us .” Donga said .

“It is because we tried to get into his way .” Umbra said.

“He just wanted to be a king and not a mere clan head.” He added .

“I mean he had a sword sharp enough to cut through the dragons skin.” Awary said.

“So are we forgetting how he munched all your feathers off .” Ima said .

“And he pulled out Donga’s nails and almost cut off the fox’s tail .” He added .

Edward was the clan head of the humans but decades ago he decided to break free from the others to form an independent human kingdom.

“I smell an unusual scent , like the fiftrent’s ? No actually it is a phoenix peasant .” Umbra said.

“Hi , I don’t mean to interrupt whatever is going on here but who is Awary ?” Albert interrupted.

All the clan heads were startled , no body ever dared to interrupt the clan heads , especially during the time of their game .

“Some one told me to wait for you at your manor but you took long , so I followed your trail .” Albert added.

Awary looked at him carefully, he moved his eyes up and down scanning him without saying a word .

“You dressed like a human peasant .” Ima said .

“Am actually a phoenix , you can smell it .” Albert said .

“Only foxes do that .” Awary said standing up .

“Are you the one who the fiftrent gave a jade pendant ?” He said .

“The old dragon at the mountain, yeah .”

“He told me about you , follow me i will give you a bed to sleep in .” Awary walked , as Albert followed .

“Did he tell you i have scarfs with the finest feathers in the world ?”

“Irrelevant information to the most beautiful phoenix !”

“Hey show me your feathers and I show you mine , let us compare .”

“You will have to wait for a very important function .”