Falling Kingdoms

CHAPTER ONE

Walking through the drenched metropolis as rain patterned down my body, I sloshed through the water trying to weave my way through the crowded streets.

The gloom of the day hung though the smogged air as it often did and the sun began to set between the iron walls of the surrounding buildings casting an eerie glow on the Kingdom.

The end of the day never signaled the end of work however, as the builders continued to fill the streets lugging any materials they could cheaply get their hands on in hopes that their next 'great' invention would be enough to pull the kingdom of Ovrobia out of its poverty.

That has been everyone's goal in the past 20 years since the Dark War, to rely on their own skills as artisans and hopefully be able to once again fill the kingdom's reserves.

Especially since we haven't won the Kruwa.

a week-long battle in which candidates chosen from each of the 8 kingdoms fight to their death to find the key of Chikara which will grant their kingdom the Chikara's magic for the next year promising wealth and prosperity.

During the past twenty years since Ovrobias last victory, it seemed evident that in the state of poverty in which Ovrobia has lived in, no one would be fit enough to win for a while longer.

Little did they know that I've been tasked with winning the Kruwa for this kingdom ever since I was 5 years old.

chancellor Wayland, my uncle, had decided this fate for me the day my parents left for the Dark War and never returned.

I would be the one who once again brought magic to Ovrobia after twenty years of barrenness by winning the Kruwa.

Hence me now trying to dart around the many craftsmen in hopes of making it to the chateau in which I resided among my uncle the chancellor and the other royals of the kingdom, before my trainer, Cassius, made me run extra miles.

Now being just past 18 years of age and eligible to qualify for the Kruwa, my uncle Hodge Wayland decided he didn't want to wait anymore to have Ovrobia be victors once again.

In two days' time, I would depart for the Chikara— a neutral territory between the kingdoms where they annually meet to discuss politics and participate in the many celebrations— and prepare to fight in the Kruwa.

The bustle of the run down city carried through the cracked windows of the sorry room they had labeled for training as I rushed in exactly eight minutes late.

The look on Cassius's face made her groan as she beheld what her tardiness would cost her.

* * * * *

Parker Rose Nassar just about had enough sparring with Cassius when she got knocked in the mouth for the third time that night, this one resulting in a bloody split lip.

"Well you'll never go to the Kruwa if you can't remember to keep your hands in front of your face" announced Cassius.

"Great, I don't want to go anyways" I sourly retorted back.

"It's not like you can't win '' Cassius panted back between their continuous fighting.

He was right.

My years of training enabled me to win the annual rigorous battle between kingdoms that fought to hold the Chikara's magic, earning a year of prosperous armies, agriculture, and wealth.

With just one year of the Chikara's magic, kingdoms could turn from poor to prosperous.

The Chikara was a space of neutral territory where kingdoms of the One World met annually to discuss politics and trade agreements.