Shadow In The Dusk

Greetings

"So..." Tears prick at my eyes as I watch my dad and his best knights leave the kingdom.

"He'll be okay. Right?" My little brother, Lucy, asks, latching onto my arm.

"Yeah. Dad's been on many of these adventures, he'll be fine." I say positively for Lucy, but on the inside I'm trembling and begging to the gods of fire that he'll make it back. I turn away as the huge wooden doors close and the drawbridge raises. I look at the Castel, it's onyx black color with hints of orange red and yellow for highlights. It's surrounded by huge walls and many guards incase of an attack from the ice soldiers again.

"Let's go inside, it's almost lunchtime." I gently pull Lucy and my arm the opposite way and he stumbles slightly before catching himself.

"How about we go for a ride on Slasher after lunch? How does that sound?" I ask and his face lights up with a small smile.

"Yes please." He uses his manners and I smile.

"Alright, let's go." I lift him into my arms and carry him on my side. My arm supports his back and holds his leg so he doesn't fall. He holds onto the hood of my deep red jacket with black highlights. I have a white shirt underneath and black cargo pants on along with some black mountain boots. My auburn hair rustles in the slight autumn breeze. The trees are all orange and yellow colors, resembling our gorgeous element.

Every province in our country, Everwood, has their own element; Hendru (Hen-Drew, our country) has the fire element and its always autumn here, Tukai (Too-Kai) has the water element and its always spring there, Eisho (Ay-Show) has the air element and its always summer there, Shanjo (Shan-Jo) has the element of geo and it's always a mix of summer and spring there so it switches, then there's Opwyn (Op-Win, our worst enemies) have the ice element and its always winter there.

I walk up the path, leading to the doors of the castle. The guards bow to us as we walk through the open doors. They slowly close behind us and when they fully close, a BAM sound echos through the huge main area of the castle. I put Lucy on the ground and he runs straight to the kitchen, probably to talk to Gwenn, our chef.

"Prince Keiran! Welcome home!" I'm greeted by the beautiful smile of Sahar. Her hair is a dark brown with blonde highlights, it's also curly hanging over her shoulders, making her olive skin look even better. She's wearing her usual outfit; a burgendy red flowy dress with a black corset, laced down the middle, black heeled boots, fishnets, and makeup -deep red lipstick, a cat eye with faded black eyeshadow- bringing out her brown and gold eyes. She's my step sister since my dad married someone else after my mom left, thank the gods, she was horrible.

"Not to worry you, but, have you seen king Laszlo?" She questions, fidgeting with the ends of her hair.

"No, sorry I haven't. Is everything alright?" I wonder, getting a bit concerned.

"Oh, it's fine. I just have some questions for him. But, if he isint here I'll wait." She straightens out her dress and smiles again, fixing her hair.

"See you around, Keiran."

And with that, she turns around and leaves, her heels clicking on the shiny floor as she walks away. I turn and make my way to the stairs, quickly stepping up every step. Once I'm at the top I turn left into another hallway and then right, to a door. I open it and enter my room. The black-out curtains are closed making my room very dark, the only light source is the flame on the tail of Ryu, who is peacefully asleep at the foot of my bed.

I close the door behind me as I walk in and I head straight for my desk. I trun on the lamp and take a seat on the wooden stool.

I open the drawer in the desk and grab the leather covered journal, along with the fountain pen. I set the book down and open it up to a page with all my research and drawings of the Griffin that everyone thinks is just a small legend. But I've seen it, i swear I've seen a glimpse of it with my own two eyes.

"Keiran!" A girly voice calls from the hallway, panic and annoyance rushes through my whole body. I just want one minute of peace for once.

"Keiran, Stop hiding and get out here!" She calls again and I mentally punch myself out.

"Coming... " I say and exit my room.

I stand in my doorway, looking in the bright blue eyes girl standing before me, acting really flirty and just...ew.

I mentally cringe as she smiles at me and plays with her blonde hair. Just kill me now, take my soul, brutally murder me. Anything to get away from her.

"Hello, lady Eleanor." I put a fake smile on my face.

"Prince Keiran, are you busy at the moment?" She asks and I nod, lying, my way out of this.

"Oh, what are you doing?"

"Planning me and the knights next scouting mission." She nods and as she was about to speak Sir Delta interrupts, "prince Kieran! We have an issue!" I look over at him and he looks alarmed. His brunette hair is messy, clinging onto the sides of his black horns, the rose in his hair looks as if it will fall out any moment.

"What's wrong Sir Delta?" I ask, concern growing on my face.

"So, we -me and Knight Arwen- were on our usual patrol and we caught an ice citizen. We're holding him hostage in the dungeon right this moment." He explains and I nod.

"Take me to him, Lady Eleanor, it's better if you go back to the village, I'll talk to you later." I explain and then follow Sir Delta down to the dungeon. The door opens with a creak and we both walk into the small room. There stands a seemingly aggervated ice citizen, their hands chained to the wall above their head. The only light is coming from the small barred off window. The person looks up with a glare not at me, but at the two men beside me, Sir Delta and Knight Arwen.

"We took all his weapons and anything that could potentially be a sign of danger." Knight Arwen speaks up and I nod, observing the person. They have long black hair in a braid with lots of loose hair hanging over their face and down their neck. They have dark brown horns like a mountain goat almost, along with a flower crown with blue, purple and white roses. They have grey eyes and quite a few scars on their face, specifically one over the left side of their lip, one right under their right eye, as well as one over their left eye. Their ears are elf like and their skin is a chocolate brown color, quite beautiful. They're wearing a black long-sleeved turtleneck with a gold string necklace with a locket looking thing.

"What are you going to do now? Torture me until I'm on the verge of death, you look like the type of guy who'd do that." The voice of the person sounds aggressive and irritated as they direct it at Knight Arwen.

"Shut it, ice traitor!" Sir Delta steps in, defending Knight Arwen. I'm not sure what to do because I can't just torture someone we don't know is guilty or not, maybe they could've been just passing by, but why?

"Sir Delta, Knight Arwen, unchain them and we'll deal with this tommorow, when either one of my fathers return home." I order and they both obediently unchain the person and I leave, having many things to think over. I quickly walk up the stairs and back into the main area of the castle.

"Prince Keiran!" I mentally face plant, being sick of my own name due to how many times I've heard it in the past hour. I look over and see Gwenn, casually carrying her trusty butcher knife around like it's nothing. We've gotten so used to her random actions, we just don't ask questions anymore, we gave up years ago.

"Yes madam Gwenn?" I greet with a kind smile and she jogs over. She looks younger than she actually is, but she isn't dissapointed by that, she's 33 but she looks 24. Her curly dark brown hair is half up in a bun and the other is down, hanging just at her shoulders. She has bright red eyes with a darker red eyeshadow on. Her skin is pale and clear of any acne, freckles and wrinkles. She's wearing her black blouse, blue jeans and her white apron. She also has two animal canine teeth earrings to finish off the outfit.

"We have a problem."