Ebony Prince, My Leader?!

Chapter 5: The Tale of the Elemental Hero

Early in the morning of the day following the duel, Juno woke up with randomized aches plaguing his body. Vertigo weighed his mind down as he attempted to recall his surroundings. Bandages were wrapped around injuries while a faint pang of pain echoed in the back of his head. Sitting up, the boy took notice of someone sleeping in a chair nearby. Prince Raine released quiet tufts of air between his lips while the sun peered in from the window. Birds chirped needlessly outside as Juno dug through the haze that cluttered his head. He couldn't really remember the last part of the match. After he fell off of the platform, he had no recollection.

Did he lose?

The Spriggan gazed at the trees dancing in the morning light. Smiling at them, he opened a connection with the wood spirits. They all spoke animatedly, telling him that the battle they had performed in was exciting.

"What are you thinking about?" He heard outside of his head, jumping at the sudden words. Prince Raine was awake, although his voice was groggy with sleep. He rubbed his eyes and yawned, extending long arms overhead. With his heart banging back and forth inside his chest, Juno was unable to tear his eyes away from the Elf with pure, snow white skin that nearly glowed in the light. Those calculating and all entrancing, pansy colored eyes that wouldn't move from the other's gaze. In that moment, Juno would have dropped anything for this transfixing being before him. The laziness in his movements was beguiling for the young Spriggan, the command that resided deep within those features sending jolting shivers down his spine. For a moment, Juno thought about telling him about how he could hear spirits. For a long time, he thought everyone could talk to them, but they couldn't. Juno's father told him to never speak of it, for people wouldn't understand it.

"Nothing important. Have you been here all night, sir prince?" Juno felt like joking for some reason. The tension in the room was rock heavy, and he felt unreasonably naked in front of the prince. A release of tension came when he thought back to how he performed, hopefully accurately so. Even if he did lose. Just for a split second, Juno could see a small patching of color dusting the Elf's cheeks.

"N-no, I mean, yeah." He laughed nervously before standing up to meet Juno at his bed. "Would you like help?"

Juno shook his head, turning to get out of bed. Placing his feet against the cool carpet, he immediately realized it was a bad idea. His legs gave out just a bit, but the prince of course was right there to catch him. After setting him back down on the bed, the Spriggan was washed in a haze of embarrassment.

"I lost, right?" Juno asked. "I lost the duel?"

"What? How much do you remember?" Raine asked, kneeling in front of him with a furrowed brow of confusion.

"Uh, well, after he blew up my face and I fell, it gets fuzzy." He admitted quietly.

"You won, Juno. You beat Dom the Demon Slayer. You pummeled him with rocks and then you saved his life." Juno suddenly remembered, it felt like he had been drowning in his own magic. The strength of his power was far too much, more than he was able to handle. He should have given up, but instead, he almost killed his opponent.

"Is... is he okay?" Juno asked, thinking about how Dom probably felt. He knew Juno was wielding too much power at once, but Juno was too far gone to see it.

"Dom's only okay because of you. You saved him and still won the battle." The smile in Raine's voice made Juno smile just a tad. At that, the prince lowered himself gently onto the bed next to the spriggan, making his cheeks grow warm. "Juno, did you... did you use multiple elements of magic?"

Not really knowing how to answer, the boy's lungs seized . It'd been a while since he started hearing the call of the water spirits, after them came the wind and fire spirits. It was something he figured more people can do, but as far as he had learned, no one shared his ability. When he was younger and tried telling his parents about hearing spirits, they willed him to keep quiet about it. As a child, it hurt his feelings. Now, he understood. It was only to protect him. Fara, though confused with his power, attempted to understand what he was going through. She listened to his talk of spirits and watched him train tirelessly. There had to be a reason for his "gift", which is what his sister tried to force him to believe.