• The first light of dawn poured over the peaks and spires of the King’s castle. The silence of the morning was broken by the crashing of dishes and the pounding of doors opening. As a King’s servant, one of the boys that command the letters that go from castle to castle, was weaving in-between and under the busy servants of the morning.
    The young boys name is Aryer (are- e- er). Aryer dashed through the maze-like castle nearly knocking over the morning platter for the King’s breakfast. He burst into the King’s thrown room and immediately he is surrounded by guards; their swords and halberds pointing directly at his neck. Aryer froze on the spot, taking heaving breaths.
    “What is it Aryer?” the King spoke, raising his hand to dismiss his guards. The shining guards lowered their weapons reluctantly.
    The protection of the King has stepped up do the riots that were happening outside of his castle every day. The people of Zield did not agree with the King’s idea of invading the forest to capture the Great Power’s secret. The thought of the Great Power being provoked scared the people.
    “It is a Lotas scroll sir.” Aryer spoke up, catching his breath. He walked up and kneeled before the King. The King took the scroll and spread it open. His eyes weaved up and down the scroll analyzing every word that was printed on the pale parchment. After the King finished he waved his hand to dismiss Aryer. “Thank you, you may go.” The King spoke looking out the large window at the Queen’s castle off in the distance. Aryer arose and left briskly out of the hall. After he had exited the threshold of the grand door, he sprinted back down the hall and down the many flights of stairs.
    Aryer ran into his castle room and grabbed his sword and gloves off of a chair, then sprinted out.
    “Ary’ where are you goin’?” Ludra called out as Aryer passed by.
    “Sorry Ludra can’t talk now, I’m late”
    “Huh, that boy is always running late.” Ludra whispered to herself closing the door.
    Aryer is seventeen years old. He has two sisters, Ludra and Angisso (an- gu- so) as well as an older brother, Rayrak (ray- rook), and a younger one named Daril. Aryer has worked for the King ever since he could remember. Weather it was in the spires cleaning, or in the dungeon with the fowl creatures and prisoners.
    Rayrak and Daril are on the Queen’s side of the kingdom. Aryer’s parents did not agree with the King and his beliefs so they took Rayrak and Daril and moved to the Queen’s side of the kingdom. Aryer’s two sisters didn’t go because his sisters loved Aryer too much to leave him alone.
    Aryer finally got to the west garden. Where he was due to tend to the newly born Wyverns. The lineup had already taken place and everyone was there. He saw a tall green-ish black haired boy in his spot. Imria was standing next to the boy. He smiled. He snuck up and jabbed his first and second fingers into the center of the back of the boy and the mimic burst into smoke. Luckily the instructor was turned away. He slipped into line.
    “You know I can only cover for you so many times. Sooner or later you’re going to have to take the heat for it,” Imria whispered out of the corner of her mouth, “You’re welcome.” She added in a sarcastic tone.
    Aryer poked Imria quickly in her side and she let out a small squeal. The instructor turned and glared at Imria and Aryer. They both stood to attention. The man scowled at them for a moment more.
    “You a**, you could have gotten us in trouble.” Imria whispered hastily, once the instructor returned to his instructions, jabbing Aryer back.
    “Ok now that you all have your instructions, go on into the garden to your assigned Wyvern. However be careful on how you approach them, they are the mothers. I would hate to have to go in there and find another dead body, everyone clear?”
    “Yes sir!” The line shouted in a single note.
    “You remember what to do right?” teased Imria.
    “Of course I do” Aryer shot back. Imria jogged ahead to the assignment scroll on a willow stump; her blue-ish hair whipping hack and forth with each step.
    “Oh wonderful, I guess I’m stuck with you.” She announced, lowering her shoulders.
    “Well you don’t have to sound like they are sentencing you to death.” Aryer complained. Imria just waved her hand back at him.
    “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Imria sighed, grabbing her supplies, “well lets go, there is a baby Wyvern waiting to see the first beautiful being in the kingdom.”
    “And who might that be?” Aryer mocked.
    “Ha ha real funny,” Imria replied, “a**.”
    Aryer grabbed his supplies and they entered the garden to find their Wyvern. Once they had arrived to their post, the Wyvern mother was luckily still giving birth.
    “Now don’t faint like you did last time.” Aryer sounded quietly not to disturb the mother.
    “Oh shut up, crybaby.” Imria shot back.
    “Hey that was the gas; you can’t blame that on me.” Aryer whined in a hushed voice.
    “Ok, sure, whatever you say.” Imria answered.
    Aryer took his sack from his shoulder and took out a medium sized flask, some tan powder and purified water. Along with some Shadow Dart tree leaves. He started to pound all of the ingredients together with the hilt of his dagger to start making the sleep drink.
    “What do you think is out there Ary’” Imria asked.
    “Huh, oh well, I guess trees and animals.” Aryer snidely remarked.
    “Well other than that, smart a**.” Imria replied.
    “I really don’t know.” Aryer answered, still pounding the powder.
    “They say that there is an all powerful mage in there that will kill everyone he sees.” Imria groaned moving her knees closer to her chest.
    “You really don’t believe that rubbish do you?” Aryer asked now looking up at Imria skeptically.
    “Your right, they are all crazy.” Imria reassured herself. “How would they know what is out there.” Imria added now a bit more relaxed.
    A few minutes later the Wyvern was almost done with giving birth; Aryer took his sword and sliced the lower half of the Wyverns belly, careful not to cut the baby. Blood oozed out of the wound like a red hot river. The baby Wyvern slipped right out and the Imria immediately sliced the cord with her dagger and wrapped it up in a blanket and took it a safe distance away from the mother. The newly born creature lay in a bundled heap making barely audible noises waving its head franticly looking for warmth and its mother.
    The mother’s eyes shot wide open, and let out an ear shattering roar.
    “Aww, they are so cute when they are first born,” Imria said, after Aryer had jabbed a thorn into the belly of the Wyvern to silence it. The thorns poison disabled the Wyvern, so it could no longer get up.
    “And this one is a girl!” Imria added, “I think ill name her…” Imria put her bloody finger to her chin in thought, “I’ll name you Aletis! Aletis the sky Wyvern.” Imria nodded haply.
    “Do you have to name every girl?” Aryer asked as he picked up the now finished sleep drink.
    “For your information, I don’t name all of the girls; I name the ones that are cute.” Imria answered crossing her arms.
    “You think all of the girls are cute.” Aryer replied hopping to the open cut at the bottom of the Wyverns belly. He poured the murky green liquid over the cut and immediately gas spewed from the wound. He quickly covered his face with his elbow to avoid breathing in the fumes.
    “So what if I do, and I would say that naming them helps them grow up better, just look at Nyet, she grew up to be big and strong.” Imria added, pointing at the sleeping mother.
    “Yeah, well she is also a b***h to take care of, a lot of good naming her did.” Aryer remarked. Imria just stuck her tongue out and went to tending to the baby.
    After they had finished with the Wyvern and its new baby, Aletis, they packed up and started to head back to the rally point. However, a strange sound cracked from behind the trees, and both Imria and Aryer froze.
    The forest border was just a few feet past the kingdom walls. Aryer put the supplies down and started back to the mother. He checked to see if she was still asleep before he climbed up on her belly to peek over the wall. There was nothing but the vast distance of intertwining trees that riddled the wild landscape.
    “What is it?” Imria called up to him.
    “Nothing, it was probably just a bird.” Aryer answered.
    Then out of the corner of his eye he saw a small flash of purple light. It zoomed past his head and hit the Wyvern that he was standing on. The once sleeping creature now sprang to new life as if she had been poked with a red hot sword point. Aryer was thrown off of her belly almost landing on Aletis that was now nestled in a bed of new leaves, oblivious to the raging mother that was now standing straight up. Aryer could not move. The air was completely knocked out of him when he hit the ground.
    “Ary’ are you ok?” Imria exclaimed. Aryer couldn’t speak but he shook his head and waved his hand to ignore him.
    Imria whipped the bow that she had out of her hair and she leaped up to the horns that were protruding out from the Wyverns thigh. The angry creature whipped its tail towards Aryer almost hitting his head. Imria trusted herself up to the back and sprinted toward the neck and with one powerful kick; she hit the center of the side of the creature’s neck, and then jumped above its head. She then clapped her hands together and blue energy flew out of her hands. She slammed her hand into the top of the creatures head and it collapsed there on the spot, its head nearly hitting Aryer. Imria hopped down with great grace and ended with a double front flip.
    “And that is how it is done, in the Yervera clan.” Imria announced proudly.
    “Show off.” Aryer grunted as he got up.
    “Your just jealous,” Imria taunted. She looked back at the now lifeless Wyvern, “What do you think that that was all about, do you think it was the Great Power?”
    “I don’t know, maybe. We still have to write a report about this. Won't that be fun?” Aryer remarked.
    “Well what ever happened, it is sad that Nyet had to die.”
    “Yeah, such a shame.” Aryer sounded waving his hand in the air back and forth.
    “What’s that supposed to mean?” Imria shot back punching him squarely in the arm.
    “Ow!” Aryer cried out, grabbing his shoulder.
    “You deserved it.” Imria snapped, picking up her bow and retied it to her silk like blue hair.
    Aryer and Imria arrived back at the rally point and turned in their report and their supplies.
    “Hey want to come have lunch with me at my room?” Aryer asked.
    “Sure, I don’t think I have anything anyways.”
    Aryer and Imria, along with a multitude of other people of the castle live in the large rooms. The rooms are almost as large as single story houses and have plenty of room; the castles tower over the clouds and span for kilometers. The land in-between the two castles consists of farms, villages and natural forests.
    Aryer and Imria walked to the fifteenth floor of the castle where they were having the junior sparing exams. Parents would place their sons and daughters into the army as early as the age of six. However very few actually go to battle, let alone any battle. As they got to the sixteenth floor they heard the cheer of the children in the exam. They walked down the wide hallways taking multiple lefts and rights to get to Aryer’s room. Aryer opened the door for Imria to enter first.
    “Well thank you.” Imria responded, doing a small curtsy before entering.
    Aryer entered the kitchen and saw that his two sisters, Ludra and Angiso where already making lunch.
    “Hey, have enough bread there for one more?” Aryer asked putting his sword and gloves on the chair next to the kitchen entrance. Ludra turned from the counter to see Imria entering through the door way.
    “Imi!” Ludra exclaimed.
    “Hey Ludra, how have you been?” Imria asked picking up Ludra.
    “Oh, I got my very own sword last week!” Ludra announced proudly.
    “Is that so, well let’s see it?”
    “I can’t.” Ludra replied crossing her arms.
    “Why not” Imria inquired. Ludra just pointed to Aryer; he looked up now realizing what was being said. Imria gave him a look and crossed her arms as well.
    “She is too young to be handling a sword.” Aryer explained. Ludra just gave a quick sigh and returned to making lunch.
    “So Angiso, how has your training been going?” Imria asked.
    Angiso whipped around and sharply replied, “They won’t let me pass the third rank.”
    “How do you mean?” Imria asked confused.
    “What she means is that red hot hair of hers is getting her into trouble with the masters.” Aryer chimed in.
    “I am not hot headed!” Angiso shouted.
    “Oh no?” Aryer snickered.
    “Shut up Ary, at least I’m not the one that poked a hole in the curtains outside of the grand hall.” Angiso snapped back.
    Aryer cheeks started to turn red. Imria giggled a little.
    “Oh oh, Imi, do you want to hear a funny story of when he was graduating from the tenth rank?” Ludra asked with a devious smile. Aryer noisily got up from the table and started to push Imria toward the door. He opened it up and shoved her out closing the door quickly behind her. He then turned to find that both Ludra and Angiso where peeking out from the doorway of the kitchen. Aryer sprinted towards them and both of the girls simultaneously screamed. Aryer chased them and grabbed them by their waists and carried them to the sitting area where he then tickled them till they were laughing so hard that they couldn’t breathe.
    “You know if don’t let them breath enough you will tickle them to death.” Imria spoke up, now back in the room.
    “Imi help us,” Ludra cried out still laughing from Aryers tickling, “h-help us.”
    “Ok I know his weak spot.” Imria announce running forward to Aryer. She grabbed him by the sides and started to tickle him. He was then wrestled to the ground by all three girls and they tickled him impetuously.


    ***


    Meanwhile in the King’s throne room the table was set up for all the King's officials to have a meeting.
    “I have called you all here, to bring forth the matter of the Lotas kingdom.” the King announced in a kind but loud voice, silencing the side conversations of the councilmen. “I was informed this morning that King Lyedcha has declared war on our land. However this may seem arbitrary, but it is far from it. The Lotas kingdom is a strong and powerful kingdom. Their special forces equal ours and greatly pose a threat to our ability to capture the Great Power. I have thought it over and I have arrived at the decision that we assemble the special forces and prepare them to go into the forest.”
    “Sir, if I may?” one of the men down the left hand side of the table stood up to be recognized.
    “Yes councilmen?” The King acknowledged.
    “Well with all due respect to your wishes, it would seem too dangerous to send the elite clans into the forest. We would be wasting our defenses and resources on a pointless journey through the untamed wild. I believe that it would be smart to keep our forces here and let the elite clans of the Lotas destroy themselves.”
    The King looked right through the councilmen, “Thank You for your concern councilmen, but you underestimate the abilities of the elite clans. They hold great powers that you could never fathom. So with that, I must ignore your remarks.” the King finished kindly. “You are forgetting that our soul goal of keeping the elite clans is, not only to provide protection and order in the kingdom, but to help us capture the Great Power, and harness it for our own uses. Sir Awar, you will send word to the clans to assemble their elite.”
    “As you wish.” Awar acknowledged bowing his head. And with that the men at the table stood up, bowed and then left in a small murmur.
    “Omos, will you send Aryer to my room please.” The King announced to one of the guards.
    “Yes sir.” Omos answered, he gave a bow and then left down the hall.
    The King now stood at the grand window at the side of his throne room.
    “My only regret my Queen, is that I have gone against your wishes. For that I am sorry.”