Amber Young
Orphic
The six stood together in front of the Amaranthine Queen. Next to the Queen stood armoured guards and what seemed to be some sort of royal adviser. Vareena and Niamh stood with them, ready to discuss their next steps.
Amber silently prayed to the gods she didn't believe in, that nobody would be split up.
The Queen smiled before speaking. "With everyday that passes, we are a day closer to the Fērox planned attack. My soldiers have been able to gather some information to help us prepare. We believe the attack will be in less than a month," she began. "The Amaranthine Kingdom has doubled in soldiers, with support from the Triple Alliance and all borders of the land are being heavily patrolled. The goal of the Efferus would presumably be to overtake the kingdom so we must do everything we can to avoid surrendering to them." She paused to gather her thoughts. "I would like you all here for that day, as they will likely attack the strongest then. After that, they will likely continue to surprise attack us but I plan to send you to the Niveous Kingdom and do everything to protect it."
"Your Majesty, if we have doubts we can protect this Kingdom, how will we protect the Niveous Kingdom with limited soldiers and supplies?" Vareena asked the Queen.
"Currently I have soldiers there preparing the grounds. It will become a refuge for those who will inevitably lose their homes. Fērox soldiers are infamous for burning down villages in attempts to run people out of the Kingdom and out into the forests."
By forests, Amber assumed she meant the dark forest. It was in the middle of the continent and separated the kingdoms. From what Amber understood, it was not an ideal place to be. The plants and species there make it completely inhabitable and impossible to overtake.
She'd never been there. Even travelling to the Niveous Kingdom, they were able to cut through the Fērox Kingdom but now it was likely they'd have to travel through it to get to the Niveous Kingdom.
"Not everything is completely sorted yet but we need to make sure the Efferus doesn't gain anymore land." The Queen further explained. "Adrian, I'd like to appoint you head of the Kingdom."
Silence fell upon them as everyone turned to look at Adrian. He opened his mouth to respond but never did.
"You are the heir."
He simply nodded. Very few people knew who Adrian was. Back in the Orphic Kingdom, nobody knew the main enemy in this war was his mother.
"Very well. In the meantime, you are all to partake in army preparations. Moon here will show you where to go. You are dismissed."
Moon was another hooded Amaranthine soldier with no distinct features visible. They wore dark purple cloaks and carried a long silver sword.
"Vareena, stay for the meeting we have planned," The Queen added. Vareena nodded as Moon led the group outside the throne room.
They walked to the training grounds of the kingdom. Niamh called over to Cherry, catching their attention.
Amber had no idea how Niamh recognized them in the sea of cloaked Amaranthine soldiers.
Moon then picked a small dagger from somewhere inside their cloak and cut a small line on the back of their hand. Please don't be a blood cult thing.
"Adrian, the Queen asked for you to perform your blood ability." Moon held out his now bleeding hand.
Adrian stared, clearly trying to hide any shock. Poker face was a big thing they were taught back at the Orphic Kingdom.
He looked at Amber briefly. She was sure he was mortified. Amber knew him enough to know he hated the idea of the blood ability. She knew he'd practiced it with a special teacher back in Pernox but never asked about his progress.
He reached out, touching the blood on Moon's hand, pausing for a moment.
Moon then unexpectedly drew their sword and immediately paused, looking paralyzed. Their sword dropped to the ground, quickly being kicked away by Adrian. The whole interaction was merely seconds.
Finally their muscles seemed to ease and they nodded. "Very good. Now I'll leave you all here to be assigned a post."
Moon walked away, leaving everyone with their jaws dropped.
"Okay that was sick," Sakiya said, sounding all too excited. "And so unfair all I can do is light fires and telepathy."
"At least you have more variety of abilities," Sion said sarcastically.
"It's not like I get to choose which abilities I'm able to do," Sakiya shot back before Niamh shushed them.
The day was boring and dragged on. Amber was with Sion and a group of strangers as they monitored their post. Amber and Sion were day shift with a soldier named Talos.
Niamh explained to her earlier that most Amaranthine soldiers went by nicknames and hid their identities from those they did not know well.
"Did you know Cherry's name is actually Charlie?" Sion asked, receiving a glance from Amber. "Niamh told me." He shrugged.
"I did," Amber responded. The two walked along the forest, keeping an eye out for anything.
"How?"
"I'm an orphic, I know things. Cherry has short bright red hair and goes by the name Charlie. Moon has long purple hair and is named Monica. I think she's twenty three as well but that's all I know."
Sion just stared.
"I also know you have a crush on Niamh," Amber laughed.
"Wait what!" Sion squeaked. "I do not."
"You do. You tell me at some point in the future, I don't know when but you do." She continued to laugh at his panicked state.
"I-" Sion couldn't find a response. "Whatever, I so do not, but whatever."
Amber chuckled some more. "Hm, let's see what else I can remember."
"Nonono that's enough," he stuttered. "God this is worse than Niamh trying to read my mind. Luckily that's not an ability she's good at."Sion continued after a beat of silence, "If you can tell stuff like that, how do you not know what the end product of the war will be?"
Amber shrugged. "Dunno."
She was lying. She had a lot of dreams she couldn't interpret. Visions were rare these days but easily triggered by certain people.
It was hard to know what anything meant. It was all bits and pieces with no context or time frame. Trying to piece it together into a timeline was an impossible puzzle.
The dream she'd gotten multiple times scared her the most. It was a snowy landscape covered in bloodied bodies. In one of the dreams stood a young blonde girl in a bloody nightgown. She had knelt down to one of the dead soldiers and used their coat to warm herself as she laid next to the body.
She shook her head, trying to erase the disturbing dreams.
Sensing her sudden mood swings, Sion looked over to Amber. "You okay?"
She nodded her head. "Yeah. Just, knowing everything isn't always great." She frowned.
Hours passed, not that the day had looked any different. The pair head back to their post before switching with the other three ARO soldiers.
Amber laid down, closing her eyes and wondering if they'll ever open again. They did. Talos silently tugged on her sleeve, shaking her awake.
"Someone's nearby," they said quietly. Amber shot up, waking up Sion next to her.
Her hands quickly flew to her sword as she began to stand. She didn't know the time but the forest was darker than normal and looked completely different from when she fell asleep.
They had orders to capture any Efferus trespassers, killing them was only to be a last resort. Anxiety peaked and adrenaline kicked in, making her feel like she'd been awake for hours.
"You two stick together, I'm going to look around."
Amber's heart dropped as she nodded, terrified. Talos then disappeared into the silent forest. Minutes passed and neither Amber or Sion moved a muscle. He held two double edged daggers and next to him was Amber, wielding her sword.
"They're over there. Just one," Amber whispered. She'd learnt to trust her gut, despite having no evidence to back up its claims. "I'll go, you sneak up behind." Her voice was so quiet she wasn't sure if Sion had even heard her. He nodded and quietly wandered off, leaving Amber to deal with this part alone.
Amaranthine soldiers were trained for stealth attacks, this was their best plan of action.
She silently moved forward. Realizing they'd been noticed, a Fērox soldier stepped out, pointing a sword.
Quickly they jumped at Amber and she parried the attack, quickly moving to hit them while they recovered but they were too quick. "Your moves are too predictable."
Acknowledging her Orphic training, she attempted to predict the Fērox soldiers moves, parrying each. She was more or less defending than attacking but it was all she could do while she waited for Sion.
She could tell Sion was somewhere behind the soldier so she continued to try and keep the soldiers full attention.
She never saw Sion until he was behind the soldier, dagger to his throat. Lowly he said, "surrender."
The surprise to the soldier gave Amber a chance to bat the sword out of his hands.
"What now?" Amber muttered through the silence. She could feel her pulse in her neck pounding from nerves.
"I've called Talos back."