Twisted Moon's Rising

Chapter One: The Castle of Sin

Present

Song; Eat Your Young, Hozier

"Why would he choose to advance over there? I don't think he would gain anything from it." I say, my eyes looking down at the map on the table. Right now we are in the Treaty base, located on a separate island from the rest of the lands, only the Rulers know how to get here. Myself being a ruler, and right now, I am with two others, to which we are currently in my section of the Palace known as The Castle of Sin.

The Castle of Sin takes the spot where the original creators of the Nations made the union of the Nations. It had been placed on the side of a mountain. It has a dark exterior, plenty of towers and windows, stretching up three floors. We are right now at the top of one of the many towers, this particular tower belongs to Trisye, the Nation of Wind; my Nation. There is a separate map room I have placed in here for personal use.

The layout of the lands is mapped onto a table in front of me, my focus being on the two Nations who share an island. Saceilia and Centra. The other Nations were informed of an attack on Saceilia's farmland and resource storage building, by Centra. Zaid, the ruler of Centra made this move at the one time all the Nations were content with each other.

I sigh, training my gaze up to Tanyth, the ruler of Elixar, which is sitting south of my own. His golden blond hair is sitting messily against his forehead, his hazel eyes gazing across the map, slowly, missing no detail. I allow my hands to rest on the solid oak table the map sits on. My gaze remains pinned to Tanyth. A short exasperated sigh falls from his lips as he rubs a hand over his face, stress lining his eyes. An uncommon thing for him.

"Let's be honest here for a moment," his gaze rises to mine, staring into my deep midnight eyes, "I don't even believe Zaid knows what he is trying to accomplish. But he has been trying to gain more land for a while now." My gaze goes over to the leader of Cian; Echo. Her pale blue eyes are already looking at me. Her glossy bright hair, which matches Tanyth's, looks as if it has been blown back perfectly by the wind, sitting in an effortless face-framing shape... "Why would he want to take over Saceila though? Of all places he could take." She interjects, her gaze zipping over to Tanyth and then back to me. Looking for an answer– hoping for one.

I look down at the map, and study the areas that have been reported for attacks. I'm not completely sure what he wants out of this. But I might have an idea.

I stand up straight again, removing my weight from the table, stepping to the other side, I reach my hand over it, pointing out a spot between Saceilia and Centra. "Well, firstly, his crop fields burned up last year, leaving the ground unusable." I point to the area where his fields were damaged. My hand moving back towards the border of the two lands. "Second–"

"Saceilia's farmland is right between the border and the main city of his Nation." Tanyth interrupts. I pull my hand away as he continues, he gestures towards where the marked attack was. Always interrupting, something Tanyth can never fail to do.

"He went right where most of the Guards of Saceilia were on the border. Without them in the way, he can go in and around the Village just behind that post, and have easy access to the farmland there." Tanyth's deep, rough voice fills the room- he is not a quiet speaker, one of his many flaws. "Unfortunately, Lura" –The leader of Saceilia– "could have prevented this if she wouldn't have been so selfish. She could have helped replenish Zaid's farmland, as she's the one who deals with most of the crop growing. But, she didn't, so now the rest of us have to deal with the consequences."

Saecelia, run by Lura Dorlana and her husband; Cypris Dorlana.

Her only excuse for not assisting Zaid's regrowth in his land is the fact that he has his own isolated Nation that runs separately from everyone else's, not exactly following the book of Taboo set in place by the first leaders of the Nations thousands of years ago. Not that she followed many of those rules either. I roll my eyes at the thought of that. She doesn't agree with the way Zaid runs his Nation, and it has been rumored many times that Lura has wanted to overthrow him, the only issue is his people are one hundred percent loyal to him, whether it's their choice or he's using something against them.

I sigh. "We don't know enough about what Zaid is planning to do, I would appreciate it if you could send a few scouts to the border, Echo. As your nation is the closest if it is required to retreat." My gaze goes up to Echo as I speak, she nods eagerly.

"I would love to have the honor of doing that." She says excitedly. I try hard to hide the dumbfoundedness on my face from her excitement. Echo is one of the newer leaders, not having much experience in fights. I'm worried that she might make the wrong call on things.

"I'll be off then, keep me updated." I turn around and begin to walk out, I glance over my shoulder at the two of them who are now gathering their documents and quills to leave. I step towards the staircase down, and my hand goes onto a silver railing that looks like vines, my deep black boots making a noticeable noise on the glossy midnight blue tiles. The stairs come out at the bottom floor. Art lines the hallway towards the Landing ground.

Beautiful dragons; taking on the signature deep midnight blue of my nation, though including brown colors, painted in a way they look as if they are dancing together. Clouds wrap around and in between the dragons like a warm airy blanket, and Sinths and Lilac flowers compliment the silver built borders of the paintings, I can't help but allow my gaze to rise to the ceiling. Which has elegant beams, with all the names of the previous leaders of Trisye in gold. My father's name on the last beam. I fixate onto the large dark spruce doors ahead, the same silver gilded borders from the paintings decorate the door. I step forward, opening the door. I found my Dragon; Ceria already waiting for me. She bows down, allowing me to mount her, although she isn't as big as most dragons, she still stands at ten feet tall. I hook the harness on her to the harness on my thighs, to make sure I don't get thrown off of her with the wind. Right as I snap the last one in place she takes off.