• Chapter five- Start of a new dawn
    Fate blows like the never ending breeze

    Blood dripped down on the last remaining clean patch of carpet, the blade was slowly retracted from Eriden’s abdomen. Raiden couldn’t believe his eyes. He was the one who was about to kill his new friend… Eriden slowly turned his head to see raiden staring back at him with wet eyes. Raiden studied his emotion, an emotion of betrayal… “wh..why..?” *crash!* more windows shattered, the archers had finally arrived “ Surrender! Thrown down your blade and we shall take pity on you!” one shouted gallantly. Raiden shook his head and pulled Annaline from the shadows. “ we have to get out of here! Their gonna set this place on fire!” “but what about mom? Eriden!?” he ignored this and lead them both to the door. Eriden looked at them go out the door, then to the queen who bared resemblance to his own mother.. “now!” the order was set and arrows with flaming tips showered in the room, people who managed to survive then was tortured with hell fire, their bodies burned to a crisp.. the tormented souls screamed till they could not scream no more. He was oblivious to this, he had escaped the present and thought about his mother, he closed his eyes and smiled despite the grueling situation.

    *SPLAT*

    He touched his face “blood” he mumbled then opened her eyes to see the queen, she smiled at him with an arrow sticking out of her chest, she had protected him from an arrow. The queen fell to the ground, he knelt and held his head “ Gahhh!!!! What is happening!?!?!”the queen used her last remaining strength to lift her bloody hand to his cheek, “ live on.. Eriden…” Her hand slipped leaving a bloody trail on his face, she was dead… She had died like his mother, he could not do anything but ignore and kill… He felt weak in the knees, but he stood up and looked at the archers.

    “ You really want to kill me that badly?!” he exposed himself to the arrows, he stretched both hands“ come on!!! HIT ME YOU’RE BEST SHOT!!” the leader gave the signal to shoot, a barrage of arrows showered from above, none of them missed. In an instant his body was heavy with arrows. “ Is that all you’ve got? You can’t even kill a a boy!?!?” he taunted then laughed maniacally. “ I shall redeem myself in the eyes of Annaline…” he smiled “ Im sorry for killing your mom..”

    “annaline..”

    Annaline looked back, her eyes filled with tears.. “what was that…” “what was what?” raiden continued to look at the floor… the ceiling started forming cracks “ Lady annaline!” one guard came close to her, “ this whole place is about to collapse! We couldn’t control the fire in the ballroom. The fire is spreading quickly, we have to go outside before we get engulfed in fire” Raiden pulled annaline’s arm “ what about Eriden..?” Raiden shook annaline in the shoulders, he looked into her eyes “ He is dead! He couldn’t possibly have survived! Maybe more than a dozen arrows have been shot at him by now” she felt stiff “ He can survive that..” “what!?” Raiden shouted, “ We have to hurry!” the guard said, smoke started to flood in the hall. “ Quickly this way!” the soldier ushered them out.

    They watched the whole building collapse…slowly it was engulfed by fire, the shouting of many people pierced through the hearts of those who were able to get out in time…


    “ The sky is crying..” Annaline said softly as both of them looked at the grave of their beloved friend… “ The sky I crying… its sharing the pain with us…” the rain poured down on them, both did not even care about getting wet. Both of them stood alone, only two souls have come to visit his grave “ its so sad..” Annaline started crying “ we are the only ones who care about his death.. only two people as friends…” she looked at the sky, raiden could not reply. “ If your up there.. I hope you rest peacefully..”

    ______________________8 years later___________________________

    The collapsed building was turned into a beautiful garden, Eriden and the queens grave was placed in the middle, the varieties of flowers were planted well organized, it didn’t look as if it were ever part of a massacre…


    She placed flowers on two graves which were just beside each other, the breeze was fair, and the scent of spring was intoxicating. “I hope you both are sleeping well up there, mom, Eriden..” a hand was placed on her shoulder. She looked up to see raiden, he stood tall and had brown hair and black eyes. “time to go Annaline..” Annaline, who was now fifteen and was about to turn sixteen on summer, looked at him then smiled “ how long has it been..?” her blue eyes filled with tears yet again “ 8 years, your highness” he replied, her long strands of golden hair swayed with the breeze “ your highness..?” she laughed, so did he..
    “what is this about by the way?” “ I don’t know, but the king said it was urgent”..

    ~castle~

    “make way!” A man shouted, knights quickly lined up, the new king and queen sat on the throne.. the same throne from 8 years ago. Annaline stood in front of them, Raiden lined up with the rest of the knights. “ Today is the day!” the king said loudly “ The day Annaline, the next ruler of this kingdom, will choose a man suited to be the next king of Evianna!” Annaline’s eyes widened, so did raiden. “All the knights in this room, who want to be introduced, please line up in the center!” Annaline’s mouth opened slightly. What a weird way to choose, she thought to herself. Raiden did not dare try to line up, he only thought of her as a sister, nothing else. “ uhmm father.?” She chocked out, “yes?” “Could there be another way to choose..?” “well everything has to be rushed, your turning 16 this summer, and your not even betrothed ” Annaline felt uneasy as knights lined up in front of her.

    Raiden felt sorry for her, he came forward “ If I may, Annaline has not eaten anything yet and its almost the afternoon, perhaps we can do this later on?” The king nodded “ Very well, Raiden, I trust you’ll take care of her. You may leave” Annaline sighed in relief and walked beside him, after they left the room she thanked him many times over. “Our new king really is desperate; he would do anything to keep this kingdom successful.” Raiden laughed, so did Annaline “ yeah but he is also caring, so is the new queen… raiden..” he looked at her “I miss Eriden… everyday, I think of him… we may have only known each other for awhile.. but..” Raiden gave her a reassuring hug “ I miss him too, and I cant believe that I pierced that blade.. into his body.. me… can you believe it..?” “you only did that to protect my mom, but I agree with my mother.. it was not his fault..” “yeah..” raiden’s fists started shaking “ It was his father.. when I find him Im gonna..” Annaline laughed “ well, if you find him, anyway…he was wearing a mask so no one knows what he looks like, Im really hungry, where do we eat?”

    Raiden pointed to the garden in the back of the castle “how about we have a picnic?” he suggested, “oohhh~! That would be lovely” she ran to the garden, He took off to the kitchen
    After a few minutes he found her sitting next to the pond, he placed the basket on the grass, he took out two sandwiches. “here you go” he handed one to annaline, who started eating it instantly. “ughh everywhere I look I remember Erid-” before she could finish a reflection of someone wearing black sitting in the tree could be seen on the mirror like pond. She rubbed her eyes in disbelief then looked at all the trees in the garden “ Are you okay Annaline?” “I thought I saw something, could it be eriden?” he stared at her, then shook his head “i-impossible.. the whole building got burned… no human could get out of that..” “ Don’t make me feel worse…..” “Your just seeing things..” she puffed her cheeks out “ Im not delusional!” “hahaha” at least he was able to distract Annaline.

    In 20 minutes both consumed about 2 sandwiches, an apple, and a glass of orange juice. They both headed back to the throne room. “so who will you pick? Someone decent I hope” “ ahhh… I don’t really know about this all, why cant I just pick you huh?” He looked at her in a weird way. “ because you still like Eriden right?” she blushed, “haha, see?” as he opened the door they weren’t surprised to see everyone waiting for them. But the mood however was changed. “ raiden, please line up. Annaline, stay with the queen upstairs” annaline left the room, leaving raiden and the other knights “ you may have known about the master thief of Evianna?” Raiden flinched, “ He has been active in the city lately, I need you to take him here, he may be reliable in the battle ahead” “what battle?” one asked, “ the battle against Senna, apparently one of our spies overheard them saying they have planned on giving a surprise attack to us, and that master thief if spoken to properly will give us an edge in the battle to come, what is better in surprise attacks than a thief” the guards agreed with this and clapped, Raiden quickly made his way for the door…

    “WHATTT?!? Eriden might be alive?!” annaline shouted, “shhhh, if they found out he was still alive they would exile him… if it were him…” Annaline cried tears of joy “ How wonderful~! Quick! Find him immediately~!” He smiled knowing that annaline was pleased to hear the news. He quickly joined one of the search parties. If I were Eriden where would I go?? Raiden thought to himself as he looked in every direction “hey raiden! You seem to be very interested to find this guy, what’s up?” “ahhh… its nothing..” he placed one hand on the back of his head and laughed. “ hey we found him! He’s in the pub!” Raiden almost jumped with joy, but controlled himself and walked quickly inside the pub.. there a man stood… a man?? ehhh ???? Eriden would be 16 this year… it wasn’t him… “why are you taking the reputation of another person! Your not Eriden!” everyone stared at him “whose Eriden?” “ohh geeze..”He said then started sweating “ no I mean ughh… The thief! He is not the master thief of Evianna, I mean look at him!” one soldier placed a hand on his shoulder “ relax, anyway how would you know what the person looked like? Lets go back to the castle”. This was the first time he was ignored by the other soldiers. They started heading back to the castle, raiden walked beside the impostor. He looked at him with suspicion “ Soooo… you’re the master thief huh? How many people did you kill? What things do you steal?” he smiled “ Im a thief, I don’t kill. And I haven’t stolen anything lately..” raiden stared, “Didn’t you hear rumors that the master thief was just a kid 8 years ago..?” he kept his dim-witted smile “ maybe he is the one trying to steal my name.” Raiden’s eyes twitched, he wondered how happy he would if he could strangle this guy, but shook the thought off. “Hey kid..” the impostor patted him in the back. “try to be more polite to famous people” he forced a smile at the impostor, his hands shivering in anger.
    ~~

    “Brilliant!” the king said “with you on our side we shall be able to win the battle” the impostor was smiling; both Annaline and Raiden looked at him with anger… “I cant believe this…!” annaline said after they had left the room. “that Lying cheat!!” “woahh there” Raiden tried to calm her down, but it wasn’t working “ grrrrr..!!!!! I wont forgive him! ” Raiden was angry too, but didn’t show it that much. “ Better luck next time I guess…”
    “ No, I will make him regret what he has done!!!” she packed clothes in a suitcase, “ woah! You’re serious?” “of course I am!” she shot back. “ IM GOING TO THAT BATTLE!!!!” “what if you get kidnapped or something?” raiden bluffed, she looked at him “ but you’ll come with me right?” “ wh-wha??? Me??” he smiled weakly, she wasn’t kidding around…


    ~morning~

    “ A-Annaline! The king will not like this at all!” she looked back “ but.. but… you told me that you.. would come with me… didn’t you..?” she pouted and her eyes looked wet, he bit his lip “ ok I regret it! I regret it! Don’t give me those fake tears” he rolled his eyes. They continued following the soldiers from a safe distance, Annaline was dead serious. “Hey raiden!” she called “what?” “Check this map out!” she showed it to him, “what about it?” “ their assault will be over here” she pointed to one border of senna “ It so happens to be close to a forest” she pointed to a part right next to it covered with vegetation, “ we’ll stay there..”

    ~the next day~

    “ the vegetation is a lot thicker than I thought” Annaline covered her face. “ you know, when night draws in its easier though to hide” raiden replied. “why are we doing this again?” “ Because I want to make that guy regret acting like Eriden..” she answered. “at this rate we will lose sight of the soldiers”. As raiden continued cutting weeds he noticed something shining.. “What Is that?” he questioned. “ I am at your back, I cant even see it..” . His eyes narrowed, he could see a sword, he ran towards it. Annaline chased after him “ hey! Wait u- *gasp*” they looked at an Evianna soldier, his armor was battered and his helmet was took off, he constantly coughed out blood.