May this new year brings all kind of joy and fulfils all your wishes...thank you for all your support so far.
Hope to see you in next year too here and in my future works.
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Ruqui looked up at the dark sky. The sunset happened again too early today.
He remembered how those days were. He guided the cattle back to their humble dwelling.
On his way, he passed by the Mirror forest. These days, the howling and roaring noises of the beasts were too loud and more prominent as if they were nearing the border.
Sometimes it scared him but there was no other way around it either. Soon after reaching their village on the outskirts, and putting the cattle back inside the shed, he made his way toward their small hut but halted in his footsteps by the side.
"The war is around the corner. It could be three years from now or as long as ten or more years ...it is based on how fast the nights occupy the daylight completely. "
It was a stranger talking to his adopted parent, Ralph, the scavenger who rescued him from the wet battle land after his mother had left him there.
"I heard the princess has eloped and unless she is found, there would be no alliance between the Queen and the Mortals for the army."
The stranger continued with his banter. Ruqui still could not recognize who exactly the man was.
But listening to his talks and the amount of information he had from the palace, it seemed like he was from the town and nowhere from their village that was almost not connected to the mainland.
"Alright, will keep a look...sure do not want to stay over for dinner? The supper is almost ready."
It was his parent. He was still reluctant to call Ralph, his father although he had started calling his wife, mother. It was just awkward.
The stranger turned around to leave and came face to face with Ruqui who was waiting by the gates.
Their eyes got interlocked. He was wearing a golden cloak, meaning that this was no ordinary man but a man with a name in their land.
But what was his business with Ralph?
He bowed his head down as curtsey to the man from the town. Although he could not have a clear look at his face, it felt as if like he had seen this man somewhere.
The man passed by quickly, not giving Ruqui much time to access his looks. Ruqui watched him walk away into the darkness.
"Ruqui? Is that you?"
He turned around when he heard Ralph calling out to him. He gave a yes in answer to move towards Ralph.
"Why so late, boy? Did I not tell you to return sooner?"
Ralph scolded. It was very dangerous to stay out of the confinement of one's house with how the days were turning out to be.
"The sunset way earlier than before. I had no idea. "
"So you do not wait for the sun to set. Return before that. "
Ralph retorted back. Ruqui did not want to argue with the old man who was generous enough to let him stay with his family together. He just nodded at his words.
"By the way, who was that man? Did not look like one from the village..."
He implored. And although in midway Ralph stopped his steps, about to get inside the hut. Ruqui was right behind him.
"Get inside. It is cold."
That was all Ralph had said before disappearing inside the hut. It was confirmed that he was not supposed to come across the stranger and Ralph conversing. It must be some sort of classified information.
He shrugged and got inside, turning around to close the door, his gaze stuck to that neighbor's girl. She was peeking at them through the small window.
Ramirez...that was her name, living right to their front. Both the family could see each other's porches.
She closed the window shield and so did Ruqui closed the door. What was she peeking at?
The entire night, he tossed and turned around the bed. He could not get the words of the strangers out of his head.
"I heard the princess has eloped and unless she is found, there would be no alliance between the Queen and the Mortals for the army."
The Princess of the Great land of Saunders...not many had the privilege to even have a minute glimpse of the princess.
In their village, it was almost impossible. Nobody knew what the princess looked like.
But his fellows from the village believed that the girl he came across when for the first time the sun started setting again...it was the princess, herself.
She was a vampire. She flew past him in seconds. They say the other vampires could move fast too at the speed of light but their feet would be touching the ground.
Ruqui remembered that she flew away. Her feet were not touching the ground. It was what made the boys in the village believe that it was the princess that he came across that day.
Only the Princess could fly away. It was an ability that she inherited from her dead father, the great vampire leader, Salah.
But it had been over fifteen years since that day. So many things had changed. It felt like the Great Ten Years War was just a fragment of the past long lost and forgotten.
Yet how the days were shortening in its length, the fear of it returning anytime was eating every residing soul in their land, both the humans and vampires.
War was never something anybody looked forward to. Not even the strongest leader or warrior or the mighty army.
And then it hit his mind. He remembered...where he had exactly seen that stranger.
"War is not something to aspire for, Jamal. I will not be a part of this.
How could I fight the man with who's daughter my own daughter Lucia is friends with? "
He was a werewolf. He had seen them converse...his father and the man. The furs in his coat signified that he was a werewolf.
Oh, how could he miss that detail? The white furs on the collar of his coat. It was right there, now that he thought more about it.
But what was a werewolf doing in their village? More significantly with Ralph, a mere scavenger?
What was his business here? Weren't all the werewolves slaughtered by the Queen's order on that night itself when the battle had ended?
Ralph would not tell him a thing. So the only one person he could ask about was, Ramirez...who knew how long she had been eavesdropping?
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