The royal family stared at the sacrilege in front of them. The color drained from Queen Aslaug's face as she stared at the tree, The tree of light that has been since the first essence rose and now someone had stolen the crystal containing the trapped energy. The crystal was round and had lights in it. The light was from the Essence during tree lighting festival. The tree was a huge one, it's stem was way down below the castle where the royals stood and it's branches of light up above in the palace where the ball was holding. The tree was said to be the first one when the gods first inhabited the land and had only become sacred when the Civiss attacked and drained the land of it's life and magic. The gods, had combined unique elixirs and energies and put it into a common Vadinian to vanquish the creatures that came from the realm of the doomed. The tree was where the magic transfer happened and so, the tree lighting festival is held to honor that day and to revive the lights that kept dark creatures away. Then the gods promised that there wouldn't be dark days as the power of the essence would be reborn when one leaves till the fifth one whose power would keep the tree lighted and the evil vanquished forever. After the disappearance of the fourth essence, the crystal had been keeping the tree lights on for eighteen years and five years ago the lights on some of the branches had began to go off and now the crystal was stolen.
"How did this happen?" The king's voice thundered again asking the guards who were supposed to be guarding it. The four men couldn't explain what had happened. They didn't even know when it happened.
"The thief couldn't have made it far father, I'll gather the knights and the troops to go in search of them" Alev spoke as he unsheathed his blade and his brother followed suit, unsheathing an identical blade. The blades looked like glass from afar and had a kind of glow to it. It had some golden markings on it and it's grip was of gold and ruby.
"There's been bad magic here and the thieves must have vanished by now my Lord" one of the men spoke and from his regalia,he was the head guard and had been able to pick up some ash around the tree.
"Does anyone know about this?" The king asked.
"No sire"
"This must be the chaos Caelix predicted" Queen Aslaug said thoughtfully.
"Then we shall seek for her presence immediately" Ordered the King.
"Alev, go with Agarius and fetch the Caelix while we stay here so as not to give rise to suspicions" He added.
"Yes father" Alev gave a bow and left with Agarius and four other guards while Azar returned to the ball with his parents. Azar's eyes scanned the ballroom hoping to find Amora but he didn't so he danced with willing maidens.
Amora had gone outside,the same way she saw Lilith going. The night's breeze was cool and the gardens looked extremely beautiful under the moonlit sky.
"This sure is a place to relax" she thought to herself as she walked the grounds, eyes looking around for Lilith. Just then, she saw Lilith seated on a swing putting a glowing stick that had white smoke coming from it into her mouth, taking a long drag she puffed out and instead of white smoke, purple smoke came out and she repeated the process over and over again while Amora watched her.
"So magical creatures smoke huh who knew" Amora said to herself and then proceeded to walk to her cousin.
"Greetings" she said. Lilith nodded and continued with what she was doing. Amora helped herself to the empty swing chair beside Lilith. This was the first time she was being that close to Lilith. She observed that Lilith's eyes were the same striking purple color as her side shaved hair.
" I know we haven't really talked as family and I'm sorry. I really just want to feel like I belong to this family. I also want to thank you for saving me from the wanderer" Amora started. "I really want us to be close since we are closer in age" she added. Lilith took another drag on her magical smoke and puffed out a cloud of purple smoke.
"I acknowledge your presence Ulanni, but you see the closeness you just spoke about? It's not really my thing. I'm just in the family, just bearing the name. I'll rather be somewhere else" Lilith's words slurred and it was obvious that she was under the influence of whatever it was she was smoking. She passed the glowing stick to Amora. "Want some?" She asked.
"No thank you" Amora declined politely.
"I hope you enjoy your stay here" Lilith said and laughed as she staggered away from Amora.
Amora didn't know why Lilith was being so mean and snobbish to her. Here she was trying to get to know her family members, Lilith was making it so hard for her. Amora began to sing one of Louisa's favorite songs. Tears began to well up and she began to cry remembering her dear dear mother. If only she could bring her back or go back in time to stop her death. She cried some more and sang. The breeze got colder as she began to feel a presence around her. She looked around and she could hear the wind whispering her name or was she high on inhaling Lilith's smoke? The smoke had smelled like vanilla ice cream to her. She looked around to see someone was in the bushes but she didn't see anyone.
"Hello? Anyone there?" She asked but there was nothing but eerie silence. Amora got up from the swing and walked towards the small bushes to check and just as she raised her eyes, she saw Azar standing there.
"Greetings to you again fair lady" Azar bowed.
"Oh you scared me to death my prince" Amora gave a small bow.
"Apologies my lady, I didn't mean to and please just call me Azar" Azar's smile reached his blue eyes and gave it a sparkle that made Amora smile.
"Tired of the ball are you not?" He asked.
" Yes I was getting dizzy from all the dancing" Amora gave a snorting laugh that Azar thought was the most charming sound he had ever heard. She had this air of warmth around her and he just wanted to be with her. Amora also felt the same way about him. There was this genuine kindness that flowed from him.
"I used to run to this garden when I get tired of everything. The calm nature helps me breathe" Azar led Amora back to the swing and he helped her on the swing and began to gently push her talking about the palace and his family. Amora also asked him questions about Vadina and he answered all of them.
"Some day I shall like to see the other realm where you are from" The prince said. "Perhaps, we shall go there together" Amora replied with a smile. The duo talked on and on and laughed like they've known each other for years.
Lilith stared down at them from the veranda and had a sad smile on her face before going back into the ballroom.
The Caelix came a long while after the ball had already ended. King Egan paced back and forth in the throne room waiting impatiently for the arrival of the Caelix.
"Greetings your majesty" Caelix gave a small bow. Her grey eyes never leaving the King's own.
"Welcome Caelix. You spoke of chaos during the ball and now the crystal has been stolen"
Caelix burst into a round of hysterical laughter and that surprised the royal family and the knights around.
"The day of darkness and doom is closer again" she finally spoke.
"What do we do oh great Caelix?" Queen Aslaug asked with a year strained voice.
"Find the crystal or better still, find the last essence. We shall all be doomed" The older lady had a tinge of fear in her eyes.
"But we haven't seen the last one your greatness, the prophecies about the last one being born of the previous didn't come to pass" Aslaug tried to argue further but the horrific look in the Caelix eyes shut her up immediately.
"We shall all be doomed. Doom looms and nothing can save us except the essence" Caelix gave a final warning and then disappeared into thin air.
There was silence for a while. The silence so thick that a knife could slice through.
"So what do we do sire?" Agarius broke the silence with his question.
"We shall continue with preparations for the games and not a word of this should be heard outside Krystaling's walls till we find the crystal" The King ordered and then walked out of the throne room. Queen Aslaug followed her husband, leaving Alev with Agarius.
"I shall take my leave now my prince" The older man gave a small bow and left the prince. Alev wondered where his brother was as he passed the palace halls.
Meanwhile, Azar was at the royal stables trying to attach a two-person carriage to the silvery-blue Pegasus.
"Come on boy, here you go" Azar gave the majestic Pegasus carrot and the beast munched away while he attached the carriage. He had promised Amora that he would pick her up to go somewhere special later that night. Azar successfully attached the carriage and climbed in. He gave a small whistle and the Pegasus took to the sky flapping it's wings.
Alev saw this from his chamber window and just simply shook his head.
Azar guided the Pegasus to the Daeva house, right behind Amora's window and then he picked up some stones to throw at the window. Amora heard the stones touch her window and immediately got excited.
"You definitely must tell me all about your night adventure with the prince"Aquata teased her. Amora quickly put on a pair of jeans and hoodie and slipped on her sneakers. She sneaked out of the mansion and met Azar standing there wearing a plain white shirt and brown pants with boots.
"I love your choice of clothes my lady, I guess this is the style of dressing in the other realm" The prince seemed to have a liking for Amora's outfit and was intrigued by her stories of the other realm.
"Yes, this and many more outfits" She replied. Amora's eyes caught the magnificent Pegasus feasting on the vegetables in the garden.
"Ooh he's so handsome" she cooed as she stroked the beast's mane.
"His name is Spirit" Azar beamed as he introduced Amora to his Pegasus.
"So shall we go now my Lady?" He asked. Amora replied with a smile and he helped her unto the carriage. Spirit took the skies, knowing exactly where Azar wanted him to go.
Spirit lowered himself to the ground, close to glistening river that had tiny creatures moving about. Fireflies lit the place and the moonlight just gave it a different look. Amora felt like she was in some fairytale storybook.
"This is Wilerbee meadow. The Wilerbees live here and they are my friends as I've always come here with.." Azar wanted to talk about the special person he once came here with but stopped hoping Amora didn't hear that part.
"The Wilerbees are small creatures, wingless and they live here. They are responsible for the beauty of the meadow" Azar explained. Amora caught glimpse of one Wilerbee. It was female and had long golden hair. The Wilerbees looked like tiny Barbie and Ken dolls that have come alive. They wore beautifully woven clothes and most of them greeted Azar and complimented Amora as they passed by. Azar then informed Amora that it was one of his favorite Wilerbee's nameday.
Cismas the Wilerbee beamed as Azar held him on his shoulder and introduced him to Amora. Cismas further invited the duo for the party the other Wilerbees were having in his honor. Amora had never seen anything like this and Azar was just the definition of cute and sweet. He danced with her and they played like they were kids.
The moon had already began to go into the clouds by the time the Wilerbees finished partying.
"Come again next time pretty one" Twiler, one of the female Wilerbees yelled after them as they walked to where Spirit had been gleefully feasting on the field of carrots. The Wilerbees were very cheerful creatures and Amora enjoyed herself.
"Thank you for tonight my prince" Amora did a small bow. "Oh please call me Azar and the pleasure was all mine. I look forward to seeing you again " He smiled as he spoke.
They said their goodbyes and the prince left her presence, soaring high into the sky,back to the palace where he had come from.
Just as she was about to make her way into the mansion,she felt that strong presence again. Amora looked around as the breeze got chillier. Her palms brought out fire on its own and she tried to put it out but it wasn't budging. She couldn't even take off the crystal responsible for the fire powers for fear of lighting herself up.
"Shit shit shit" she cursed and then the fire disappeared. Her head began to feel light and all she could see was absolute darkness.