COBALT: The Sovereign's Stratagem (Book Two)

Chapter 2: Stella (Part 2/3)

6 years ago - Listillvice

          Vera sat in her room, her crimson hair flowing wildly over her shoulders as she played with a small pile of artfully crafted dolls. She had nothing to call toys, no wooden swords, boats, or little stone soldiers. Her father said they weren't suited for a girl like her and she always wondered what kind of girl she'd have to be to get some.

          But testing was on hold. It had felt far longer than the three months her father had apparently been away. Time stretched in a way that every day he came back was like a second birthday to Vera. Her mother told her he was always outside because he was fighting an army of monsters that wanted to burn down the kingdom, creatures called Garaeans that brought with them an evil swarm of dragons.

          But Vera liked the dragons she'd met. They had always been so nice to her when she visited them, the great blue one, Shiorellus, would even let her climb his horns and tie flowers around them. She couldn't imagine a swarm of evil ones getting past the hundreds of dragons that lived in Latos. But for the past year she hadn't been able to check, she wasn't even allowed outside anymore, but that didn't stop her from sneaking out into the courtyard once in a while to watch the giant black clouds rising in the distance. They held an ominous wonder to them, a wonder of where they came from and why she saw a hundred skips of marching soldiers in shining armour leave the castle every day; going towards the black clouds and rarely returning.

          The door opened and Vera jumped up in excitement, running over to her father with open arms as he scooped her up above his head. "There's my little torch! How have you been?"

          Vera giggled as he twirled her around, placing her back on the ground with a wince of pain. 

          She paused, grabbing his hand where a thick yellowed cloth bound the back of his hand and stretched to his forearm. She stared into his emerald eyes, duller with the darkened rings around his eyes. He wasn't as pretty as he usually was. "What happened daddy?"

          "Nothing bad, it's just a little cut from a group of Garareans that snuck up on us."

          "The Garaeans attacked you again?" Vera sucked in every detail of the bandage, feeling its grainy weave while trying to imagine the kind of beast that could even scratch her dad. He still had his bronze armour on, covered in scratches and a few black smears that reeked of campfire smoke. He looked just like a fairytale hero. "Cool. Horus says they're shadow monsters that crawled out of Oblivion. Is that true?"

          He chuckled. "No Vera, they're from a far away place."

          "Far away? Then why'd they take the time to come here?"

          Cilvren smiled, placing his hand over the hilt of his sword before Vera went to touch it. "Because they're monsters Vera, and that's what monsters do. They take things."

          "Woah," Vera replied, her eyes lighting up with awe. "Can I see one someday daddy?"

          "No Vera." His glare softened as she cringed away. "They'll hurt you and I want to keep you safe."

          "Don't worry daddy, Shiorellus said he'd always protect me. He can eat all of them with one big bite! Can I go visit him sometime? I promise not to stay overnight!"

          He didn't share her excitement, severing their locked gazes to look at the ground instead. "No Vera, I told you dragons are dangerous."

          "What about Lanskreiz?"

          "Lanskreiz?"

          "The one in the dungeons, I haven't seen him for awhile."