Quintessence

PLANET TITANIA

'Click', 'Click', 'Click', was the sound of low heeled boots against a marble floor.

A young man hurriedly ran along the stretched hallway, so quickly in fact, that he appeared like a blur. If one were to look closely they'd notice that his feet didn't always touch the ground as he occasionally floated.

"Milord" a voice called out from behind him.

"Yes." The young man came to a sudden halt, his head turned and his eyes swivelled back to where a darkly dressed figure stood.

"Sir I was just wondering where you were going?"

"Where I go doesn't concern you!" He snapped in anger, and then continued to glide across the marble floor, this time at a faster pace.

The man's eyes followed him as he went.

"Goddamnit" thought Cahir as he increased his speed down the corridor. As he ran, three more darkly dressed figures appeared in front of him.

Seeing them, Cahir threw a darlington lilly into his mouth and hurriedly swallowed. Almost immediately his body began to turn bright blue. A moment later he disappeared in a flash of light. The darkly dressed figure who had been behind him, blinked, then sighed.

He tapped his earpiece, "I've lost the target."

…...

Cold sweat dripped down Cahir's nape as he emerged out of the shadows and into an amorous chamber.

Vibrant, attention-seeking tapestries were littered across the walls in a haphazard fashion. In the moulds stretched intricate designs of the Zodiac animals, in this room the presence of the ancestors felt heavy, the ambience of The Phoenix deity dominated.

Cahir let out a heavy sigh and looked out the large window to his left. From there the view of the primrose evening sky was visible. He could see the tall skyscrapers that seemed to scrape the ozone layer and the busy traffic of the flying ships that raced in the air. If he listened hard enough he could hear the bustling voices of the citizens and the hooting engines of the aircrafts.

Cold air blew against his cheeks and made the red wyvern curtains ripple around him.

Cahir sighed yet again and looked at his watch impatiently, "She's late" he muttered angrily.

He turned away from the window, about to leave the room, when a sharp slap came across his cheekbone. Cahir's head snapped back and he was flung against the curtains.

"You failure!!!" Screeched his Mother, her voice was so shrill it shattered the glass window. Cold air rushed into the room, the red curtains flapped. Cahir held his hand to his cheek and glared at her loathingly. Before he could even retort another sharp slap landed on his other cheek, and a hand proceeded to press against his neck.

"You're going to look at me like that, eh? After everything that I've done for you? Maybe I should kill you ahead of your brothers and do them a favour, hmm?"

Cahir couldn't even respond, he felt his face turning red as he choked. Electricity sparked off of his skin and his sapphire blue eyes began to turn dull, it was only then that she loosened her hold on him.

He grabbed his neck and coughed as he regained his breath, he smirked "You would kill me before my brothers? That's rich coming from you. If I'm gone you have no leverage in the palace, and their mothers will have more power than you. You would never kill me."

His Mother scowled at him, her icy blue eyes looked like they wanted to eat him, "Because you decided not to back the 400 realm project so publicly, we've already lost all our supporters in the palace. No one will stop your brothers from getting rid of their main obstacle to the throne now. I'm sure they've already sent people to kill you."

Cahir rubbed his throat, "They did, if I was any slower earlier I would have been too dead to meet you."

His Mother's eyes remained cold, "This place isn't safe either, they'll soon be here Cahir. And with your Father off the planet this is the perfect time for them to strike. I'm afraid I won't be able to protect you."

Cahir gave his mother an equally cold look, "Don't worry I have ways to escape. I'm going to go off planet. I'll come back when Father's returned and my brothers have calmed."

His Mother opened her mouth about to speak, but quickly closed it again and turned around.

"It seems we have company." she said as a dozen armed men came into the chamber, teleporting in.

They were dressed in a type of thin flexible clothing that was combined with metallic armour, their faces obscured by full masks with reflective visors. On their backs was a flag that depicted a large red dragon entangled with an orange phoenix, like a strange ouroboros. On each of their fingers they had clear rings with the letter 'R' engraved on them.

"Leave!" she sternly hissed.

Cahir rose to his feet quickly.

These men were Soldiers belonging directly to the brother that hated him the most, the first Prince.

"Cahir." She said, as a suffocating pressure began to emanate off of her. "Do not come back unless you are stronger than me. Only then can you guarantee yourself the throne. Make sure to tell no one your identity, there is no one you can trust!"

The Soldiers raised their firearms and began shooting. The air exploded around Cahir but nothing hit him.

His mother's eyes were glowing dangerously, the blue of her iris jumping about like a storm. Behind her coils of water based tendrils rose to swat the soldiers away.

The men floated in the air, their arms flailing and grasping as she confined them in bubbles of water that quickly stole their breaths away. One by one, they went limp, but Cahir didn't get to see this as he had already jumped through the window.

...

At first Cahir fell through the sky in free-fall. Several aircrafts rushed past him, the clouds whipped through his hair, but then he stopped in mid-air.

Whilst humming to himself he stroked his fingers as he played with the essences around him. Then gathering momentum beneath his feet he propelled himself along the primrose sky.

He quickly maneuvered around the bustling air streets, jumping over ships and hiding in the mists of the low clouds as he flew onwards. He did not stop to look back, for he could still feel the chill of his Mother's gaze.

"Leave, she says." he muttered,"I was going to leave regardless of what she said, damn her...Fine then, just watch me you Witch! When I return I'll be far stronger than you! I will be the next Overlord of this damn Planet."

He clenched his fists in conviction as he lowered himself towards the surface. Whilst landing he staggered on to the muddy ground of the forest, he remained vigilant. The sounds of his steps becoming absorbed into the Earth beneath him....

There is an energy that exists in the Endless plains of this vast Universe, some call it magic, mana, essence or verscence.

Most people from young have the ability to use this energy, unless they have extremely low talent. People with low talent are minorities and classified as mortals, these people are bound to the commoner class.

Those that have the talent to use this energy, if they train properly, then things such as immortality, everlasting youth, the power to control worlds and destroy worlds are no longer tall tales but a reality.

Cahir himself had been born with a high level of talent and power that was far beyond the regular, and was considered a genius of his generation, but despite his talent he was still only eighteen years old. He had yet to fully bloom, meaning he was vulnerable in the palace. His vulnerability hadn't mattered before because he'd had many supporters and many who wanted him to inherit the throne, but now because of one decision he'd lost all of that.

If he was caught in these circumstances he would be slaughtered in seconds.

Cahir paused, hearing the sound of not too distant chatter.

"I thought you said the rumoured Evil Prince was this way?!" said a gruff voice

"Support Team One said they had tracked him into forest, but they've lost him now." replied a husky voice.

"Fuck the support team, we gotta find the Prince fast. Since those pansy Soldiers failed, if we grab him than those Royals are sure to pay us a nice sum." he chuckled

"Yeah well, don't be hasty he's not called the Evil Prince for nothing. Besides, even if we don't get the Prince we profit from the money they've already paid us to hunt him. It's a win-win situation." laughed the other.

"Shut up with all that sissy talk, if we get the Evil Prince our profits triple. I'm not scared of him, he's still only a child, despite his talents we can still slaughter him with our weapons." the other one chuckled.

The snarky laughs of the men faded further into the distance.

Cahir let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding, his hands felt clammy. Even bounty hunters were after him? His brothers were sure stooping low and even employing the dregs of society in order to kill him. He wasn't sure if he should feel impressed that they were putting so much effort into hunting him down, it just showed how threatened they were by his existence.

Heading to the docks to smuggle himself probably wasn't going to be the best idea now that the scum of the planet was chasing him. "I still have that place" he muttered.

He travelled deeper into the grooves of the forest before he found himself at the base of a manhole. It was old and had long ago been abandoned.

The smell that came off it made Cahir's nose wrinkle, but he had no time to be fussy. Without any qualms, he jumped down the hole, his feet splashing into the murky water below.

Not wanting to be detected he didn't dare to use any magic, and instead ran through the sewage.