Chaos

Chapter 2 : Tombstone Introductions

The air has gotten a bit colder compared to a few weeks prior. The leaves had changed their colors to a warm, vibrant shade of amber and the colors of the sunset, matching the trees as the twilight draws near. Thalassa lays face up upon a field of grass, on a cliff as she watches the wind carry the clouds in the sky. They seem so care-free as they travel where the wind chooses to take them and they might fall one day as rain, wind or hail, but before then, they were light enough to float above the sky.

It must have been her choice of clothing or her demeanor, she appears isolated from the lively colors of autumn. A light grey, long sleeved shirt covers her body, paired with loose pants of the same color making her appearance black and white, in contrast with the colorful season.

She thought about the scheme the dragons were pulling. They had said they didn’t want to sacrifice more of their people and their warriors to the war. The treaty mentioned a competition to be set up where the royal descendants face each other with a few chosen warriors alongside them. To put things simply, this was a minimized-scale war. It was bold of them to pull a stunt with stakes so high. But, the war has got to end somewhere, doesn't it?

Night falls soon after. Stars fill up the empty, endless sky. A pair of eyes twinkle in the dark as they gaze up to the night. Thalassa got up after a while, dusting off her clothes. A night breeze pushes against her back towards the direction of the cliff and for a moment, like the clouds high up, she wanted to follow where it takes her. But of course, jumping off a mere cliff would deal her no harm.

She walks towards the cliff and stands at the edge, looking down below for a while before turning around to make her journey back, to hell. It was a long fall for a human.

Twas the night before she departs for the competitions. She had consumed the thousands of souls she so wanted during the month, however, the hole in her heart doesn't seem to be filled any more than it was before. If anything, she feels more empty than ever.

Thalassa found herself carrying two twins on each side of her arms. The 3 years olds, pulling and playing with her black cloak with big grins on their face. She was standing in front of a large manor, built on the outskirts of the dragon territory. The southern part of the territory was covered in green with trees and mountains which extend to the south-west, where the demons inhabit. The valleys of Damnation.

Even though their race was known as the dragons, they were two separate entities. The people were normal human beings, with the power to tame dragons bestowed upon them thousands of years ago.

"Star. Azzi" a boy shouted as he came running out of the forest on the right side of the manor. He stopped a few metres aways from Thalassa and put his hands on his knees, catching his breath. The boy had delicate features with short but wild and unkempt caramel hair in slight waves and pale skin with a few freckles across his nose.

"Hi. I'm sorry. Those lil' devils love jumping onto everyone they bump into" he said in a northern accent as he looked up with his baby blue eyes, grinning at her from ear to ear. The girl under the hood took a glimpse at the young girls in her arms before staring right back at the boy.

"Oh...um….the name's not 'sorry'. I'm really sorry. I mean-" he coughed a few times turning to the side.

"Uhh….my name's Blaze. Blaze Dracen. Those are my younger sisters. I lost them while we were playing in the woods" he blabbered, waving his hands about before scratching the back of his neck, looking apologetic.

Thalassa could already tell from their resemblance, they were related before he went ahead and gave a brief preview of his auto-biography. But, she only realized when he introduced himself that the people she is with are the royal descendants of the opposing race she is supposed to kill. Thalassa saw the king and queen emerge from the treeline, the same area where Blaze did and the faces of the two people turned pale as they caught sight of their children in the hands of a stranger, who probably is of the other race.

Thalassa shoved the toddlers to Blaze, soft enough to not hurt them and walked away. She did not want any complications with the dragons or any other trouble adding to the mix. She was only there on her king's orders and didn't really care about the war or whatsoever.

The manor was mainly built with stones, and vines covered several areas of the walls, indicating that it wasn't built just recently. The wooden single door on the side leads to the kitchen which is adjoined via an open space to the living room where the front door is located. The front room is decorated with red carpets lining the floor and stained glass windows on one side of the wall allowing pigmented sunlight to flow into the room. Several leather couches laid on one side with a large staircase leading up to the second floor in the middle. On the other side is a vacant space with the dining room adjacent to it. An office is built under the staircase, separating the kitchen and the dining room.

An artwork on one of the stained glasses caught Thalassa's attention. It was a portrait of a woman with wings, pure white and a golden halo atop her head, smiling down at her. Her arms, spreaded slightly as if beckoning her into an embrace. The woman gave out a feeling of peacefulness, washing over anyone who'd stop and look at her.

The front door opened with a click and Thalassa snapped her head at the sound. Striking red hair appeared from under as the person slipped the hood of his cloak as he entered the manor. His nose twitched a few times, tilting his head upwards and slowly turned his head to the side at Thalassa.

"You…" he started, drawing his eyebrows into a furrow while he stared at her with hazel eyes in a frown.

"smell weird" he murmured after a while and shook his head before heading up the stairs.

It wasn't until a few hours later, in the evening, that Thalassa had to attend the formalities. The royal descendants of the races stood side to side with each of their respective followers on standby behind them. Thalassa recognized Blaze and the redhead from before at her right. Another boy with electric blue hair matching his eyes, under a pair of glasses, stood on her left.

The king and queen of the dragons sat on the seats elevated by a wooden makeshift stage in the front. The whole place was quiet enough to hear a pin drop and the tension was high making everyone on edge.

"His majesty, King Keegan and her majesty, Queen Eadyth of the dragons" a voice declared, breaking the silence.

"I welcome each, and everyone of you, to the race for the crown" the king's voice boomed across the field. "To be fair, the headquarters for the competition is situated in the very middle of our territories. Tasks will be given out after discussions between us leaders. Until then, I hope there will be no killings" the king eyed the foreign descendants, lingering at Thalassa with distrust.

Thalassa held her head high, no intention of backing down in the least. The stare down didn't break off until the queen coughed, signalling for the king to move on.

"Once a task starts, there shall be no rules in the battlefield. You are to use by all means to complete the task" the herald took-over to make the announcement "Fail the task and there will be a penalty. Kill the descendant and the race without the leader is disqualified. You shall abide by the rules of the dragons in the absence of a quest. If any shall be broken, punishable by death" he ended the speech, retreating back behind the stage.

Their majesties left soon after and the crowd dispersed, each returning to their own accomodations arranged for them. Ironically, the royal court had made the decision to lodge the 4 heirs into one single housing. The manor. The remaining armies were settled on the opposite side of the field.

The royal offsprings sat on the couches by the fireplace, observing one another, obviously on guard. Not a person uttered a word and only the sound of wood slowly turning into ash in the hearth was audible.

"Blaze Dracen. Although we met in an unconventional circumstance, I'd like to introduce myself and welcome you as the host of this competition" the brown haired boy suddenly stood up, clenching his hands into a fist.

Thalassa gave the boy a once over. It was evident that he was trembling with nerves. His physique wasn't that of an athletic and there wasn't a single thing that stood out but at the same time, there was something about him that sparked her interest.

"Raidan Medeis. Pleased to meet your acquaintance" the one wearing glasses relaxed slightly and flashed a million dollar smile, somehow giving Thalassa an unsettling feeling.

Blaze, on the other hand seemed to loosen up and dropped his guard completely, returning back a genuine smile before turning to Thalassa.

"Hey, we met before. At the front. I didn't catch your name" he held out a hand, offering a handshake.

"Thalassa" she replied curtly, making no effort to accept his offer.

"I don't get one?" Raidan cut in with a pouty manner, gesturing to the handshake.

"Ah. Sorr-"

A loud bang interrupted Blaze as he was reaching over, making him flinch. The redhead sitting at the end slammed his hand down on the table, looking pissed off.

"Drop the act. People like you lot disgust me" he growled.

"Which act?" Raidan asked nonchalantly. The heir of the shapeshifters shot up and reached for his collar looking him straight in the eyes.

"Unless you're telling me the self-introductions are for the tombstones, I'd advise you to shut it" he warned dangerously, his hazel eyes changing colors into a yellow, almost golden shade.

Raidan still had that smug look plastered over his face which could easily be mistaken as a grin. The other boy let go of the grip on him, and pushed him back down onto his seat before walking off towards the stairs.

"Um- please wait" Blaze called out.

"What?" he turned his head around and shouted out bitterly.

"Name" he whispered facing down "I-It's not for the tombstones and I know we aren't supposed to get close to each other a-and aren't in a situation to do ss-so b-but, we're going to be living together for a while so….." he said nervously, trailing out at the end.

"So at least we should know the names?" he questioned to which Blaze nodded in reply, pursing his lips.

"Look, I don't know if you're putting on a show, but if you're not, throw in the white flag and save yourself. This is no place for a kid like you. And as far as you should know, you could end up dead tomorrow. In one of our hands"

Blaze slumped his shoulders in defeat and chewed on his lips as the other two watched the exchange in silence.

"Darius"

"What?" Blaze finally looked up, blinking his eyes a few times.

"My name. It's Darius" he said, covering himself back into his hood and walked up the staircase.

The young boy's face beamed up like a ray of sunshine in an instance and waved goodnight to the retreating figure, who ignored him.

"Blaze, how old are you exactly?" Raidan inquired curiously.

"Um….97" he replied, not sure why he questioned, suddenly getting reminded of the tombstones Darius mentioned. "Why?" he questioned

"Hmm....no reason. Just caught news about the royals being different from the others" he said, after pondering on it for a while. "I thought it might have something to do with the lifespan" Raidan looked at Blaze with a knowing look which the other boy could not seem to decipher exactly what he meant.

"Oh um not really" he laughed nervously not expecting the sudden statement. "Even though people call us dragons, we're no different from the humans and that includes in terms of our lifespans, 400 years approximated. We just have the ability to tame dragons bestowed upon our ancestors years ago, which had been passed down from generation to generation" Blaze explained, hoping to clear up Raidan's statement. "Isn't it the same for the sorceres? I mean, the only difference is the innate magic ability, is it not?" he questioned back curiously.

"Yes. Although those who had reached a level of magic, high enough can slow the decaying process of the body. They live longer. A couple more years or a thousand more years. It all depends on your magic. I've heard of one who acheived immortality. No one's ever really met him though" he shrugged, while his eyes shimmered at the idea.

"That's so cool" Blaze said, eyes wide with admirement. "On that topic, what about your age, Raidan?"

"A hundred and fifty two" Raidan replied with a laugh "I guess I'm the older one here" he winked at him.

"And everyone else here is over a hundred if I guessed right. Thalasaa?" he questioned.

"Hundred twenty two" she answered, uninterested and got up to head to her quarters.

"The least you could do is talk in full sentences" Raidan hollered from behind and chuckled.

"Well, they sure love ignoring people" he rolled his eyes.

Blaze offered up a half laugh, half grimace expression. "I guess we'll have to do with the names for today"

"If you say so. Let's head up" he said and put off the fire with the swish of his hand, letting the darkness envelope the manor.