-♥︎-
"Protect the crown prince!" A yell broke through the peaceful palace of Rhyladon.
A knight ⸺percisely Wolf Acacius Vaughan⸺ sprinted through the entrance of the Diamond Palace. The blue-and-white coloured winter season's uniform that fit his body was stained by red liquid and never had it went unnoticed by the maids around. His red hair which was tied into a low ponytail, swayed along with his movements. Golden and grey mirrors of soul wandered around in alarm.
"The Siron's knights are here! This is a sudden attack, gather the knights from the training ground and head to the throne room! All of them!" The knight yelled despite having a bit of a hard time to breathe. He then gestured the comrades in front of him to move instantly.
"Yes, Sir Wolf!" The knights scurried away in a matter of seconds as the others trailed behind Wolf.
"What happened, Sir Wolf?" Alex, one of the knights under Wolf, asked nervously as he gripped the case if his sword, hard. His orange coloured eyes that matched his ginger hair trembled slightly as he gulped.
"The Platinum Knights and I were having a patrol around the town just now. The Siron's knights came with their emperor as the lead, through the West Forest. They've claimed to conquer the kingdom," Wolf answered with his expression darkened, eyes roaming around to spot the throne room in slight anxiety.
"All of the knights have been slain or captured, I have to leave them behind as I was the only one who managed to survive."
The wasn't an ounce of emotion on Wolf's face, at the moment. It irritated some of the lower knights who thought that the male didn't care when on the inside, he was just too as sorry as them for the dead comrades.
Yet, what could the male do? He got no time to look behind, he could only look at what was before him.
"Doesn't that mean the emperor would have the whole continent?"
"Seems like it. Rhyladon is the only kingdom His Imperial Majesty hasn't conquered on this continent," Alex replied to one of his comrades. "This is to be expected," a sigh came from the male as his shoulders slumped slightly.
"What about the commoners and nobles?" Another knight asked in worry.
"They weren't bothered by the knights, though some might be captured or slaughtered for getting in the way. Siron's main objective is probably to kill the royal family to conquer Rhyladon," Wolf spoke, voice layered with seriousness. He frowned hard, feeling the adrenaline pumped in him in the consciousness of his duty to protect the royal family in the name of honourable House of Vaughan.
As the group of knight arrived at the throne room, Wolf slammed the door open as he wrapped a hand around the handle of his sword. The king had a discussion with the Crown Prince before the knights had went on the patrol, perhaps he was still there.
"Prince Luke!" Wolf called out as he saw the prince talking to his temporary personal guard, Owen, who was assigned to replace Wolf for the morning.
Yet, the King was nowhere to be seen.
"Sir Wolf? What happened?" Luke halted the conversation between him and Owen, head-turning to face the group of knights. His lavender-coloured eyes met Wolf's mismatched ones.
"Why are all of you here with the knights?" The dumbfounded Owen questioned with raised brows as his innocent blue eyes pinned onto the knights behind Wolf.
"Your Highness, we have to get out of here⸺"
"My, my. Am I disturbing something important?" A sadistic chuckle pierced through the hustle in the throne room, causing the area to come to silence. The tension rose so high, nearly all of the knights had shivers ran down their spines.
Nobody dared to move. One mistake and they could have their heads rolling onto the floor.
As the group of Rhyladon knights were frozen, Wolf whirled his head slightly and glared hard at the person who had spoken just now. There, outside of the throne room, stood a male with black hair and red coloured eyes. His black attire and the silver crest against his chest just made it clearer who the male was.
The Sun of Siron, Azarius Siron Theodorou. Infamously known for taking the throne of Siron at the age of 15 by killing his own parents, his father's concubines and step-siblings from three years ago.
Wolf gritted his teeth, readying himself to draw his sword towards the Siron's emperor and knights as Azarius stepped closer.
Silence...
"Protect the Crown Prince!" Wolf darted further into the throne room with the knights.
The knights went to form a circle with the crown prince in the middle, all swords drew out in defence. They couldn't afford to run away now, not when the doors were all blocked by the Siron's armies.
Azarius stared at the circle with no amusement in his eyes. He sighed a little, gesturing towards the circle in the middle of the throne room. "Get the prince."
A heave of the command and the Siron's knights came lunging towards the circle formed in the middle of the throne room. Swinging their swords around, they kept on slashing and plugging the blades into each other. The awful clanging noises filled the room in a blink like an unharmonized orchestra out of control, screeching in their ears unpleasantly. Blood painted the carpet, coating its hues that were more vibrant than the red fur.
"Owen, protect the prince!" Wolf demanded before going off to fight along with the other knights.
Wolf rose his sword, slashing the enemies with a furious face as he infused a minor spell to strengthen his sword. He couldn't afford to use a greater spell, seeing that they were huddled in a closed space and betting the crown prince's life wasn't a brilliant idea.
"Yes, sir!" Owen directed his sword in front of himself, holding the crown prince back.
"Has the other squads arrived yet?!" Wolf yelled the questions, trying hard to focus on the fight.
Swiftly, the red-haired knights took down another knight after another. Cuts began to litter his body and continued staining the white fur of his uniform. The blue seemed to be covered by red as the white parts could hardly be seen.
"Bad news, Sir! The Siron's knights got them!" One of the knights responded out loud as he received a telepathy message from one of the sent guards.
Wolf lost his focus for a second, "Find a guard that can use the Warp spell. I'll protect from he⸺"
Slash!
"Argh!" A Sorin's knight grazed his sword against Wolf's left arm. He quickly collected himself, turning around to fight back⸺
"Wolf, look out!" Luke's voice pierced through his ears.
Without a moment to react, the called male felt himself getting kicked from the back.
Thud!
Wolf landed on the ground, the side of his jaw unwelcomely hitting the floor. Grunts left his lips, feeling the enemy heeled their foot deeper against his spine. The knight took a harsh hold of his hair, giving him a sneer before slamming his head against the carpet, hard.
Wolf winced from the pain. He could taste iron in his mouth. The bruises might be worst than be thought.
"Let him go!" Luke ordered, eyes began to get teary as he saw the sight of the injured knights of his kingdom. "Stop this! Don't kill him!"
"I apologise but we can't," Azarius stepped calmly through the dead bodies,⸺mostly belonged to the knights of Rhyladon⸺ eyes so cold and empty that no one could decipher his thought.
A frown was visible on the emperor's face as he kicked a body away.
"You see, His Majesty ⸺your father⸺ has run away to leave you here."
Luke's eyes widened and he began to shake slightly.
'His Majesty did?' Wolf's thought for a second, staring back at the two as he struggled to break free. He determined to heal himself, knowing that he couldn't use any spell if he was injured severely.
"What do you mean?" Luke yelled, taking a step back as the emperor came closer. Terror was evident in his features. "You're lying, aren't you? My father told me he was going across the sea to visit the other continent!"
"It's true. He traded the kingdom and you for his life. It's not like you have anything left, your father has taken all of your treasures and has gone far away from this continent with his rats as he promised," Azarius smirked, knowing that he managed to make the other male stunned in his spot entirely.
"What a stupid bet that Old Man made with me."
In the meantime, Wolf rose his hand and wrapped his right hand around his left wrist. He began to use the fastest way to heal himself, reversing his body back to the past to rewind into his unwounded body. But the cuts were too deep that they were healing too slow, adding to the heavy breathing he was having that had him rose an even abnormal amount of mana in him than before.
"Hey, what are you trying to do?"
The knights who were watching him drew their swords out pointing it towards him. They squinted their eyes at the blinding light, trying to take a clearer look at the male.
'Faster!' Wolf thought, glaring up at the knights. He felt his body shrinking a little but he didn't care, he got nothing to lose as long as the honour of his house was left unshamed. 'The Vaughan protects the royal!'
"Let go of the crown prince!" Wolf screamed as he broke free. He stood up abruptly, seeing the prince of his kingdom was forced to kneel before the emperor in surrender with his eyes staring down to the bloody carpet, wetting them with his tears.
"H-Help me..." Luke's pale lips trembled, squinting his eyes as he balled his fist.
"Let him go!" The male swung his sword.
Azarius raised his brows, only a corner of his lips lifted.
"Sure."
"B-Behind you!" Luke cried out, slapping a hand to his lips in terror.
Wolf froze in his spot, later kneeling down only to vomit a huge portion of blood from his overflowing mana⸺
⸺and from the sword that was piercing through his chest at the moment.
'Heal!' Wolf cried out in his mind as his vision was getting blurry. He slammed his hand against his chest, where his heart was placed and urged himself to use the healing spell he had used earlier.
"Wolf!⸺No, let me go!" The prince struggled against the hold on his arms by the emperor, tears-stained face visible to the dying knight.
A paining sensation gored through Wolf's chest and he groaned.
He could do it. He knew he could⸺
But he was late, he got no more time left. He knew it yet he wanted to fight until the last moment.
The last thing Wold saw was the crown prince he had served from the age of 15, crying as he watched him dying with his own eyes. The Siron's young emperor had the prince's chin in his hand as the other one was pulling onto his arm. Unwillingly, Luke was forced to stare into his pool of blood-red eyes.
A cold sadistic smirk was displayed, "You're going to be an interesting prisoner. Aren't you, Luke?"
'I failed...'
And with that, the dying knight welcomed the darkness with a small smile on his face.
A smile that no one noticed.
A smile that everyone had been dying to see.
A smile that he left behind, in sorrowful serenity.
🍒
It was warm and Wolf didn't remember the last time he had experienced this kind of feeling.
Was it when his father hug him before dying on the battlefield?
Or the time his sick mother who couldn't accept the reality placed a hand against his cheek before she heaved her last breath on the bed she suffered sleeping alone?
Or was it the time when his silly comrades forced a group hug on him?
Wolf wasn't sure but the warmth definitely touched him from many aspects of his life, yet he didn't know how to express it.
A blinding light then sparked among the dark canvas laid in front of the male's vision.
Wolf then noticed that he was floating around in the sea. The light seemed to come from the moon above him. However, the water around him didn't seem to be wet as the ripples felt like a cold breeze around his body.
'Heaven or hell?' Wolf thought, squinting up to the only source of light. 'Or is it⸺'
"Hear this poem
Hum its rhythm
Solve this riddle
And it'll all be simple."
'⸺the call,' the male's eyes widened as he parted his lips in surprise.
"Like a caged bird
He longs to be free
Beauty is a thing
He has never truly seen.
Cold as ice,
Hot as fire.
He shall be all you desire."
Upon ended hearing the poem that seemed to echo through his mind, Wolf was left startled as he had just experienced something he thought would have never happened to him.
It was the Soulmate Call.
The red-haired male knew about the tale from his deceased mother. He was reminded of that one time when she was combing his hair as they sat together in the garden's gazebo at Vaughan's residence when he was just 10. She was insisting to braid his hair and Wolf wouldn't allow her to do so but seeing that she finally smiled again had him given in to the lady.
Wolf's mother even intertwined some flowers in his hair but he had to admit that he loved it.
Soulmate Call was a famous tale passed from generation to generation to the people of Rhyladon, even to the other kingdom including Siron. Commoners or not.
The call happened when a person heard a poem reciting inside their head, it could be in their dream or the time when their soulmate was calling for them unconsciously. The poem was said to be the clue of finding the person's soulmate as the poem represented their other half's personality or emotions.
Wolf had never ⸺ever⸺ went through Soulmate Call. He had never heard poems narrating in his head nor had he felt any attachment towards anyone who wasn't his family. Most of his comrades had experienced the call and found their soulmates although some decided to not be with them.
So why now?
Why did the call come when he, Wolf, had heaved his last breath in that bloody throne room just now as a disappointment?
'But I died⸺'
Wolf gasped desperately as air rushed into his lungs.
The male felt as if he had just been pulled to the surface of the deep sea. Instantly at the moment, he opened his eyes, he was greeted by the bright blue sky.
Wolf kept his gaze on the sky for a while, noticing that he was lying down between two tall buildings. He tried to stand up but stumbled onto the ground again, ending up to kneel on the ground as he tried to support himself.
'What's this?' Wolf froze for a second, acknowledging the odd location he was at.
"This is not Rhyladon..."
Welcome to 'Ephemeral You'!
This is my probably my 10th, maybe more, attempt of writing a proper book. Let's not talk about the previous ones⸺
Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Feel free to share your opinion or to check my other works <3
The next chapter might come out sooner than you thought.
[ 2.6 K WORDS | 14.02.21 ]