Twisted (Book 1)

Chapter 3: A light in the dark

As I began to reach the Palace it was as if it were the only place untouched by the destruction of Talon thus far. Letting out a sigh of relief while taking in the cobblestone walls and diamond window pains that had a dazzling beauty, caused by the fires blazing throughout the city, It could almost be called poetic a kingdom falling to ruin, yet the castle reflecting the magnificence in its windows.

If it were not for the soft sobs coming from inside one could almost forget there was even a war raging meer meters away. Upon approaching the doors I was stopped by a guard, he was slender in frame with the armor hiding most of his other features aside from his freckled cheeks and tuffs of carrot red hair poking out, with green eyes "What brings you here Gene? I always took you for the type to try, and rise above the rule in times like these." I gave him a bewildered stare for a moment before recognizing who he was "wait.. Griffin? is that you?" We were childhood friends until he left for the capital to become a knight, once he turned 16.

"Who else would it be snowflake?" hearing him call me that brought tears to my eyes I knew he was part of the Royal guard; but I hadn't thought he was posted in the City I thought he would have been out on the front lines with the prince. "I.. I just thought.." my voice was trembling and I didn't want to keep talking, whilst sounding like a fool. he's hand gently wiped a tear from my cheek "Don't you start blubbering on me now, you've always been too tough for that gene. Where is Ace and your Mother?" he looked around expectedly

I was left unable muster the courage to respond, however my silence was answer enough I could see it in the way his body softened, and his eyes filled with concern.

I brushed his hand off my cheek, refusing to meet his gaze "I'm sure your Father is fine, he's a strong mage from what I've heard they've done a good job of holding Talons mages away from the Palace." I knew he was trying to comfort me, and it somewhat worked; however getting my hopes up would only devastate me. I gave him a simple nod forcing a small smile "yeah, I hope you're right carrots." Back when we were kids I always called him carrots, not just because of his hair but also partly because his family was known for having a bountiful harvest in carrots every year; the other children made up some preposterous rumor around the reason for such a harvest being due to using corpses.

However that was simply children, being children. Griff's family simply had a special fertilizer they used, that was infused with magic passed down through the generations.

Griff gave my response of calling him carrots a light chuckle, and patted my shoulder. I could tell he wanted to hug me, he was a very affectionate person, especially with those closest to him; the opposite of me if I was a fridged winter, he was a gentle spring full of life and energy.

"We'll have plenty of time to catch up, go on in snowflake I'm still on duty and we've chatted enough."