A man wearing a brown hooded coat, walked through a forest while checking if the coast around him is clear, that no one is following.
“This is making me paranoid.” He wiped his sweat that ran down his forehead, then he stopped and looked back.
“No one is following me.” He sighed as he made sure his hood is still covering his face.
In the middle of the forest, a huge cave can be seen, as he continued to walk he spotted the entrance to the cave.
“Why are we even operating at a place like this?” The man complained as he checked a piece of paper to confirm if this was truly the right place when suddenly something was behind him.
No, not something but someone. The hairs on his neck stood up as he felt the presence of another man.
“Well, I also wonder why? Maybe that’s because we might get caught if we operate at the capital. Or maybe that’s not it?”
The man had an evil grin on his face.
“Are you willing to face the consequence if we get caught by the emperor? Are you willing to bet your head on the stake?” Unlike the man who walked through the forest, this man was way younger than him. He’s wearing a black suit that covered his body from head to toe, making the blood on his suit invisible at first glance.
“What are you still standing there for? Let’s both go inside together.”
The older man cleared his throat, “Are you done on your end?” The man assumed that this man was also one of the boss’ underlings.
“Done? Of course! It was easy. The target was dying to die.” This young man had truly lost his sanity, even at a young age. He laughed like a mad dog.
“Now come on! The boss is waiting!” He looked closely at this young man and thought that this young man is not a man but a boy. He’s around the ages of twelve or eleven, what have they done to this boy.
“What are you looking at, old man?” The boy was taunting the man. “Keep your eyes to yourself if you don’t want them to be mine this instant.” With that, the boy laughed as he entered the cave first and disappeared.
“Who was that boy?” The man asked himself.
“He’s one of the successful ones. Although we still cannot fully control him.” A man in formal attire appeared in front of him.
“This way please.”
The cave from the inside looks nothing like the outside. The cave is equipped with weapons and technologies that are still not available outside. Or even impossible to achieve in this era, but unlike the high technology weapons, the source of light was still coming from the torches that were placed along the walls. The man in formal attire guided him towards another cavity inside the cave.
“You may enter here, walk through this cave and you’ll find the boss.”
It was dark but at the end of the tunnel, a light can be seen. The man walked slowly as he reached the end of the tunnel where he came face to face with a waterfall. The place was surrounded by a mountain range making it invisible from the outside. The water sparkled against the sun as birds can be heard residing on top of the trees.
“Beautiful, isn’t it? Are you in awe Allan?” A man who was drinking tea while reading a newspaper called out to the man.
“Uhm, yes sir. This place is beautiful.”
“It’s your first time here?”
Allan nodded as the man put his teacup on the table and folded the newspaper.
“So, I’m guessing it was a success since it’s in the newspaper.”
“Yes, boss. The explosion was a success, although they captured one of our men.”
“It doesn’t matter since no one truly knows who is working behind the scenes. But I assume they found the cause of the explosion?”
“We have no information about that since they closed the imperial grounds first thing in the morning.”
“Ah yes, it’s also on the news. They blocked entry and no one is allowed to go out too.”
The man who was drinking tea leisurely looked satisfied as he continued to drink his tea.
“Well done Allan. Come and join me for tea.”
Allan complied and sat in front of the other man.
“May I ask something?” Allan hesitated.
“Go on.”
“What are we going to do next?”
“Hmmm, for now, let’s just enjoy this victory. The emperor is already aware of the threat of the stone. Let’s just wait for them to discard the princess. They are still unsure of her blood, but we know she’s of an imperial bloodline. We’ll use that to our advantage, for now, let’s be good citizens of the Draconian empire.”
The grinned as he inhaled the fresh air, “Ah, all hail the Emperor.”
*****
I stood still in the middle of the garden oasis as Lucil tried to paint a portrait of me. This is so tiring, why am I even complying with their request.
“Awwe, Flizeria is so well behaved.” Lucil stopped painting as she looked at Flizeria.
“Cecil, bring her some snacks. Let’s have a break.”
“Mom, I think Ria is uncomfortable. Maybe let’s just stop?”Ashnor approached his mother as he looked at Lucil’s progress.
“Yeah, I wanna play with Fifi.” Ashwin pouted as he helped Cecil feed me.
“Flizeria is not even complaining. She was even standing so gracefully.”
“But Fifi looks tired.” Ashwin inspected my legs.
“Yeah, she just learned how to stand on her own mom.” Ashnor agreed.
Should I just cry to make Lucil stop? I tried to let myself cry but failed. How can I even cry?
“Hmm, am I being too excited?” Lucil pondered towards herself. She looked at her painting and then sighed.
“Okay fine, you three can now play.” Lucil stood up and approached me.
“I’m sorry, Flizeria. I got too excited seeing you stand and walk. I forgot how tiring it is to pose for a portrait.”
Then Lord Earl, the butler, was now walking towards us.
“Excuse me, your grace. The emperor wants to see you at his study.”
Lucil looked back and forth between me and Lord Earl. “But we’re still celebrating.” Lucil started to pout.
“It’s about what happened yesterday.”
Lucil’s expression turned serious at the mention of the incident yesterday, “Okay, lead the way.”
She looked at Cecil, “Take care of the children.”
Blue followed her mistress but Lucil stopped her, “Stay here and protect the children if anything goes wrong.”
Blue bowed her head as Lucil left with Lord Earl.
“Fifi, let’s go inside the forest!” Ashwin shouted.
The forest? Is it safe for children to go inside the forest?
“It’s okay princess. People with imperial blood are said to be at the top of the food chain, because of the dragon’s blood inside them. No wild animals or beasts can harm an imperial family.”
“It’s okay, also, Blue is with us.” Ashnor walked towards me and held my hand. “Okay, let’s go!”
“I want to hold Fifi’s hand too.”
With that, the twins and I walked towards the forest as Cecil, Ser Wayne, and Blue followed.
“The forest is still part of the imperial grounds, but there are still beasts inside,” Ashnor informed me.
What kind of animals would we encounter? The trees were tall and huge as if they’ve been here for thousands of years.
“This is where the great dragon was found, right Ashnor?” Ashwin happily informed me.
The great dragon? From the storybook?
“Yeah, that’s right. It was here where the great dragon merged with Emperor Benedict’s blood.” Ashnor confirmed.
Oh, maybe that’s why they preserved the forest.
“This is getting boring!”
We turned back and saw Blue complaining.
“What do you mean, great blue dragon?” Ser Wayne asked Blue.
“Oh please, you can just call me Blue. I’m not fit for that oh great blue dragon thing.” Blue started to stretch.
“Do the three of you want to go and fly with me?” Blue asked with a playful grin on her face. She’s back to being her original self since Lucil is not here.
Ashwin and Ashnor’s faces lit up as they jumped up and down from excitement.
“Let’s go!” The both of them shouted.
“Don’t worry Ria, riding a dragon is easy.”
“I wouldn’t worry about her if I were you.” Blue winked at me.
“Yeah, I saw Blue took Fifi out last night.” Ashwin pouted, “Why didn’t you bring me with you?”
“You took Ria out last night?” Ashnor was shocked, even Cecil and Ser Wayne were too.
Blue looked at the two of them with a serious expression, “Tell anyone and you’ll become dragon’s snacks.”
With that, she walked towards the area of the magic tower where there is enough space for her to transform.
“Hop on!” With that, she laid flat for us to climb up. Ashwin and Ashnor assisted me then both of them followed me.
“Okay, hold on!” With that, Blue soared towards the sky.