Chaos

Chapter 3 : Bacons, Eggs and Trust Issues

The melody of birds chirping rang, surrounding the manor and there was a slight chill in the morning air making it the best weather to curl up in bed. Dew drops line the leaves and grasses as a thin fog falls upon the green forest. The smell of bacon and eggs wafted from the kitchen, up the stairs where the bedrooms were as the two doors across from each other creaked open simultaneously, revealing a groggy half-awake redhead and a stone cold face.

"You again" Darius twitched his nose and snorted before he stormed down the staircase, following the smell of breakfast.

Raidan was already up and about, reading an old, ancient book on the couch when he reached the lower floor. Their eyes met and Darius's face etched into a frown, while Raidan's lips drew up into a smirk. Blaze's head popped out from the kitchen with a spatula in hand at the sound of footsteps, drawing their attention away from each other.

"Mornin'. I made food~" he smiled, teeth showing, just as Thalassa arrived, completing the squad.

"Well that smells just right. Excuse my rudeness, I'll be digging in" cheerfully, Raidan closed his book and carefully placed it on the table before scurrying off into the kitchen and re-emerging with a plate in hand, with a decent amount of food. He plopped down on the same seat he occupied and proceeded to fill his stomach. "This is just perfect. Sure ya ain't no chef back at your palace?" he asked after a few small bites.

"Royal duties can be stressful. Every once in a while I'd sneak into the kitchen and the chef'd teach me a few dishes here and then" Blaze answered, his face lightening up at the compliment as he took a seat beside Raidan with his own share of breakfast. "I made enough for four. Please, help yourselves. It's in the pan" he said, directed at the two standing.

"That could be poison you're swallowing you know? Not that I'm complaining" Darius folded his hands and threw a smirk at Raidan, ignoring Blaze.

"I'd gladly die if this was poison. Your loss" he smiled tauntingly. "Plus, killing is forbidden when we ain't working a task" he added.

Darius rolled his eyes and headed to the kitchen. "Right. As if it matters even if I died" was what he thought.

He walked back, out of the kitchen with his plate, filled to the brim with food and sat furthest away from Raidan as possible and scarfed down his food.

"So, Mr. Shapeshifter. Guessing from how you're wolfing down that much food and yellow eyes, I doubt you're a vampire. Werewolf?" Raidan inquired.

Darius's eyes flicked up, red replaced, in contrast to what once was a hazel before it turned back to normal. "Mostly" he muttered out lazily with a mouthful, resembling a chipmunk.

"Hybrid" Raidan concluded and whistled.

"It's not possible. I mean, an i*********e between two different species can't produce offspring, can they?" Blaze questioned, puzzled.

"Oh that's not possible. But" he chuckled menacingly "there are other ways out there".

Darius paid no attention to the comment and continued to finish his meal.

"Excuse me for a second, I need to grab something" Raidan spoke out again as he took his empty plate to the sink and cast a spell to clean itself before he trotted upstairs.

Water trickling down the basin could be heard as Darius leaned his back against the wall beside a slightly cracked door, with his hand folded and an unpleasant expression. Retching noises came from inside the small room followed by the flush of the toilet. The person inside seemed to be swishing water around in his mouth and cleaning it out several times before coming out into the hallway.

"And here I thought I was the one with trust issues" Darius scoffed, mockingly.

"Never hurt to have your guard up at all times" Raidan wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "You better not get softened up on that boy too Darius. Guys like those will stab you in the back when you least expect it. Not that I'm complaining" his eyes narrowed into a slit, entertained by the thought and threw him a smug look.

"You watch your back. I can take care of myself"

"Ahh yes. Such a big boy aren't you. But I doubt the kiddo downstairs can hold his fort against demon girl now can he?" he chuckled.

"I'm not his parent. And if the two kill each other, whoever wins it's two less competition" Darius looked at him with a 'as a matter of fact' look. "You know our noses are sensitive don't you? You stink of vomit" he said retreating back down the stairs.

Raidan got back to his seat a few minutes behind Darius, looking like he bit into a lemon. The two glared at one another as if they were ready to bite each other's head off.

"Thalassa, do you not like bacon and eggs?" Blaze asked, in an attempt to change the topic as he sensed the atmosphere getting tensed.

"Demons don't necessarily need to eat" Raidan stepped up to answer his question as Thalassa seemed to have no intention to do so.

"Oh.but you do eat right? Is there anything in particular I could cook up for you?" he questioned again, not giving up.

Several seconds went by before she decided to answer and walked out the front door, sending chills down the back of Blaze.

"Souls"

The sun was above the horizon by then. Warriors spread out on the other side of the field. Some training, some chattering, observing others but, all of them divided into 4 groups, not meddling with the other race. A soldier in a red and black dress code came running up to Thalassa, meeting her halfway. The manor was barely visible behind her where she stands and a row of longhouses were constructed in front of her, the forest continued at the back of them. There was one longhouse for each kingdom and had been built only after the treaty was made.

"Commander, the tasks won't start for a few more days. But we did receive word that the first task will take place at the host's kingdom. The dragons'. Meanwhile, duels are held and judges are employed to oversee them" the soldier said. Amaral was one of the best Thalassa had and was a demon way before she was born. Her father placed Amaral in her unit when she completed an important quest he assigned. He'd always give her something as reward after every mission.

Thalassa nodded and both of them walked towards the crowd. The demons re-organized into 3 rows of 10 to greet in respect at their commander and dispersed as she nodded a second time.

"Blaze, you know? It was nice of their majesties to come all the way to the border to welcome us" Raidan said, back at the manor, tapping his fingers on the wooden table absentmindedly.

"Oh...ye-"

"Hey glass bottles. Is all you do sh*t from your mouth? Who are you trying to fool here?" Darius cut-off Blaze and growled.

"Oh please. Can't I compliment another king and queen? Their majesties of the Shapeshifters must be really sweet too, aren't they?" Raidan said grinning, his palm supporting his chin.

Darius flinched, his eyes flickered before composing himself. "We all know the royalties only came down here so that we won't end up anywhere near their kingdom and spy around" he glared at Raidan

"Hit a spot right there, didn't we?" he retorted at his effort of changing the subject and was met with yet another glare from Darius. The eyes of the shapeshifter boy glazed over as he stared into the distance for a few seconds and snapped back to reality.

"The first task. The venue is the land of the dragons. Guess they plan to get it over with their turn before we were properly prepared to snoop around for information in their territory" he muttered.

"Telepathy. Right, wolf-boy. Or part of it" he shrugged and picked his spell book back up, turning it's pages. "I'm sure I saw it somewhere..ahh found it" he said, clearing his throat. "ab impiis egredietur, et abierunt, ignis" he chanted and flicked his hand at Darius, palm facing towards him.

Blaze and Darius shot up from their seats expecting an attack but got nothing but a puzzled looking Raidan observing Darius. "That's weird didn't you feel anything?"

"What did you do?" he snarled.

"Just trying to help. Well, too bad it didn't work" he shook his head, mischief in his eyes as he went to step out the manor, leaving his book opened on the page at the table. "Oh don't touch the book. It's enchanted with a spell. You'll get cursed" he winked and closed the door behind him.

The couple of them left standing in confusion peeped down at the spell he left open, wondering what it was as Darius cursed out loud suddenly, utter rage laced his roar. Frightened, Blaze checked the spell to see what was wrong. A cursive writing in bold lined the top of the page "Housekeeping 101" and a much smaller font of subtopics ranging from dishes to redecorating until they found a match near to the foot of the paper. "Expelling dog fleas"

Raidan strutted out in high spirits, a light hop in his footsteps, whistling. He held a familiar book in his arms. The one he left behind was merely a copy of the household spellbook his mother, the queen insisted he took with him. "They'd be idiots if they think I'd leave this baby in the hands of my enemies" he said to himself laying a kiss on the hard leather cover of his book.

Every sorcerer tends to keep a type of journal, the contents of which are the spells they have learned throughout their lives. No doubt the most valuable and the most dangerous object in their possession.

When he reached where the majority gathered, there were already several brawls going on, a judge supervising each match. One match lasts 3 minutes and if no one goes down, it's a tie. It wouldn't be a fight to death since the purpose of these brawls were for the participants to show off their strength and measure how good the opponent is to put together a strategy for the real fight, at the same time.

"Your highness, we had counted 3 wins, 2 losses and a tie" one of the soldiers reported to Raidan when he joined the group.

"Are you saying out of six matches we lost half?" he frowned

"One tied." the soldier replied in a small voice, lowering his head.

"That's not the point" he scolded and sighed, massaging his temples. "So? What are the rules?" he asked.

"Um- It's hand to hand combat, your highness. Using magic to strengthen our own body is allowed since the shapeshifters and the demons have heightened physique since birth. Although we can't directly harm them with spells. Weapons are given to the dragon tamers as handicap. Killing is still forbidden, your highness" he answered in a babble.

"Alright" he stretched his arms, cracking his neck and knuckles "Should I give it a go?" he grinned, taking off his glasses.

"But, your highness-"

"Uh. Stop fretting. Even though I'm more brain than muscle, I was trained to fight better than my subordinates. I won't lose to some pests" he smiled, an evil glint in his eyes.

"What about me?" a growl came from behind after a few bones cracking sounded.

"Ohh I did try to clean your pests for you didn't I, wolf-boy? Except that you're surprisingly...clean" Raidan chuckled. "And put on some clothes will you? You werewolves have some serious problems every time you shift" he said, eyes flicking up and down.

A shapeshifter runs up to Darius with a heap of clothing with a red and yellow pattern which matches the clothes the rest of them were wearing.

"Eh, I wonder what the uniforms are for" Raidan took a piece of clothing from the shapeshifter and held it up with the tip of his fingers.

"So that I don't kill my own people mistakenly when aiming for your neck" Darius snapped and snatched back the shirt the other lad took and slipped it on. "Fight me" he said.

Raidan raised an eyebrow at his proposal. "Why? Too scared, nerd?" Darius taunted.

"Eh~ yep. In fact, too scared I'd kill you accidentally" he smiled and closed his eyes, calming his mind to think. That was a bluff. Sorcerers were never the type to fight head on physically. They were more of 'strategize and execute'. And by execute, they meant literally. Shapeshifters on the other hand mostly rely on brute force and normalize face to face combats. But, he could last a few minutes staying on par with a few tricks up his sleeve.

Darius raised a hand up and a judge cleared up a space around them instantly. A large group of the warriors had already made an audience, standing around the two in a circle, leaving enough space in the middle for the fight. "Will you be okay? I don't feel like bullying a blind" Darius said half-heartedly.

"Oculus apto" Raidan chanted. His electro blue eyes emitted a light for a couple of seconds. "All set" he smirked and closed his eyes again muttering under his breath. A light blue glow enveloped his hands and feet, remaining there unwavering.

The judge gave the 'go' sign and the two started circling, keeping a distance between them, waiting for the other to strike first. Darius was the first to lunge in with a right hook which Raidan dodged by a far fetch. Another attack was thrown immediately, a front kick targeting his stomach but, he was fast enough to jump a step back. He was not so lucky on what came after as a spin kick landed on his left cheek, sending him sideways to the ground and leaving a metallic taste in his mouth.

The rest of the ongoing matches are stopped as everyone was curious enough not to miss the fight between two leaders. The cheers and boo of the mass overwhelmed one's sense of hearing. A small figure shoved through from the back of the crowd at that moment, spouting out endless apologies until he reached the front, eyes wide open at the scene before him.

Darius punched downwards at full force towards where Raidan laid on his side, missing him by a few inches as he rolled away from the incoming fist. He was quick to get up on his feet after that, taking a few steps back. Darius closed in on him but the smaller boy unexpectedly rushed in head on. He dived down last minute from a jab easily and a leg striked out vertically upwards, hitting Darius square below his chin. Half the audience went up in cheers and whistles.

"You cheated" Darius said in a rigged voice.

"Did I now?" Raidan huffed out breathing heavily "The rule was, sorcerers can't deal 'direct' damage with magic" he quoted in the air.

"So you weren't kissing the ground earlier for nothing huh?" he chuckled bitterly, malice swirling in his eyes.

"A sorcerer always comes prepared" Raidan held up the palm of his hand, an almost faded symbol drawn with blood.

A corner of the same symbol peaked out beneath Darius's foot, stamped on the grass field. "A binding spell, smart. But do you think that'd hold me?" he moved to take a step forward but the mark kept him in place to no avail.

"Sorcerer's blood. They make the sigil stronger. Top-shelf blood at that" Raidan snickered.

"Oh? I think you've forgotten something" the shapeshifter's eyes flashed gold. "Alpha blood runs in my veins" he snarled in an animal-like voice as he broke free from the binding, shooting out towards Raidan at an inhumane speed.

The spells he casted upon himself before the match falls into play, enhancing his agility in swerving the attacks and his strength in playing offense interchangeably, when necessary. The two exchanged blows and kicks, both of them refusing to back down and without falter. Darius drew his hand back for another hook and Raidan went in for the same kick, this time without the binding, when the referee stopped the match indicating the end of three minutes.

Both of them stood strong even when the match ended. The amount of damage was nothing and didn't even scratch their surface as if it was a normal squabble between two siblings. "The next time we fight, one of us dies" Darius dropped his stance and stepped out of the area, letting his werewolf regeneration work on whatever wound he had. The crowd had dispersed, carrying on with the duels or with preparations for the actual fight.

A sorcerer specializing in healing proceeded to chant a spell but was stopped by Raidan. "Don't waste unnecessary energy" he took out a small crystal like object and smashed it in his palm, inhaling the essence. The scratches closed up and discoloration caused by the bruises faded back into his original skin color.

He knelt down where he had drawn the sigil and traced the remains of it with his fingers. He withdrew his hand after a moment passed, clenching it into a fist and tsked. That wolf-boy. He broke the binding with pure strength, no tricks up his sleeve. It should've contained the force of at least 5 werewolves, easily.