"Once upon a time, there was a tale that a woman that have a black hair can control a dragon and destroy the world." she says and close the book that she has been reading.
"Come on, Anya, that was an old tale!" Kahoot says and crossed his arm.
"I know but, what if dragons were real?" she said and her eyes sparkle with hope. "Those large creatures that can transform into humans... and powerful magics---" she was cut off when Kahoot put a bread inside her mouth.
"You know they are forbidden to mention here! What if someone hears you?" he asked and sat down on one chair. He sighed.
"Hmpf! Then I'll slash their necks!" she proudly said and chew the bread.
"That is not right, Anya," and glared at her. She stand up and get a chair to sit too and faces him. A moment of silence filled the room.
"Are you still going to stole that Tiara, Anya?" he asked worriedly. She grinned and take another bite of the bread.
"Of course! That is the tiara of the last princess of the dragons!"she said and clapped her hands, "And an evidence that they were once existed!" and her eyes sparkled with excitement.
Kahoot put his hands in his forehead, he knew this is going to happen the moment Anya had heard him talking with the leader of the guild about the tiara. She will go crazy mad about that and he is right!
"You will help me, right?" she asked with sparkling eyes. He pushed her head that is so close to him.
"No, that is too dangerous!" he says and grab both of her cheeks with both of his hands. "Listen to me, Anya. Even if you are the best thief in town, the item that we are talking about is another level!"
Anya pouted. She is like his sister now, since they are both orphan and they have been raised by the guild master. What they do is that they run errands as requested by the customers that goes in there. Be it taking information and such. And they are assassins. But not a skilled one, since the guild master has not given them an assignment to assassinate someone.
"Master Guild will be so mad at us!"he says and worried about what they are doing. But she uses her charms to make him help her in this one.
"I beg you, Kahoot! Please!" and smiled at him with puppy eyes.
"Argh! You really know how to make me go!" and shake his head. He does not have a choice anyway. Since she will be going whether he comes or not, and he will be at peace if he comes with her.
Anya and Kahoot grew together in this town. It was the base of the humans. They had no special power, and they are at the same age. Their town was burned into ashes when the goons attacked the orphanage they are in. And now they are fourteen years old. As shallow it may be, they dreamed of having a peaceful life. But it seems that is not possible as a war continue to rages on between the four races.
The decline in the mages and wizards are a problem for the humans. Recent attacks from the demons continue to happened, that is why these times are very tense and they tend to receive lot of jobs from time to time. Knowing basic martial arts is a must in these hard times of their life.
And what Anya wanted is like walking into the path of no return.
In front of them is the majestic palace of the Kingdom of Huntress, a human nation. The world is vast for four species to live together. But now the population kept rising, and there is a fight for resources.
"We can still come back, Anya,"he says and scanned the place from afar.
"No, tonight is our only chance! The head guard, Prince Ezekiel will be away to meet his fiancee! Everyone is a piece of cake but that one is very powerful." and rolled her eyes, "He is a pain in the ass."
"What if he did not go?"Kahoot asked and looked at the wooden telescope again to check the roaming guards. "What will you do?"
Anya sighed and crossed her arms in front of her. She bit her lips and smiled.
"Then I just can kill him!"
"And make you wanted all over the human world, right, great!" and clapped his hands mocking her. She pouted and rests her back in the tree.
"You know, something about this tiara is calling me," she said and extend her hand to the moon, "It's calling me. Like asking for help. So I will go..." and looked at Kahoot with full determination.
Kahoot sighed deeply again and put his hands on his waist and raised his left eyebrow. He is contemplating whether he should go or not. Besides, this is none of his business.
But he cannot ignore Anya, the child who he grew up with. That time, he has decided, that no matter what happens, he will protect her.
"Alright, BUT!" and his voice is so clear that it reaches Anya's heart, "When I say we retreat, we retreat! Promise me!" he says and closed his eyes as if he is in a deep pain.
Anya smiled and her eyes excitedly glistened at his words. She is very excited.
"I promise you, Kahoot!"
And they start infiltrating the castle. The guards changed in position and that was their chance to enter and break in. They had successfully do so. They also put one guard in sleep.
"That was easy!" Kahoot says and smiled. They are now in front of the door, and behind it is where the ancient treasures lies.
"Yeah, I told you that their security were lax!" she says and pushed the door.
In the middle is the glistening silver tiara with a large diamond in the middle. It glows upon detecting her presence. But what surprises her is that it is alone in that dark room, and she was speechless.
"Argh!" Kahoot shouted when he was struck by an arrow. Anya could not see it because it was dark. There, seconds after the chandelier lighted up and in the middle is the blood lust reddish eyes of a tall man holding a bloodied woman in his hands. He looked at them.
"Kahoot!" she immediately shouted and goes to him. He is bleeding. He was strucked by that bluish arrow in his stomach, and luckily he is wearing an armor but it still pierced through. He vomited blood.
"Damn you!" Anya said and was about to attack her when falling arrows kept attacking them.
"You have interrupted my meal."he said and put the woman on the table. Anya gritted her teeth and did not expect this to happen.
Surely she was naive for her age.
"Anya!" Kahoot shouted and grabbed her, even with blood coming from him. "Let's go back! We are no match for him!" he said when he felt the overwhelming aura coming from him.
Anya shivered at the gruesome sight before her and stop. He then fired another attack causing an explosion, and gave them a hard time to dodge. Suddenly footsteps coming from the guards can be heard.
"What's that explosion?!" they asked, and the worn out Anya and Kahoot is on the floor. The gruesome sight appeared before them.
"T- the lady!" they shouted and saw the blood coming from the mouth of the man. "Arrest him!" and fight him.
He is too strong and they are worn out. Most of them are injured because of his power. Anya take this chance to slip away with Kahoot when they bumped in the smoke a glowing man with red hair.
"Ouch!" Anya bumped and was pushed to the floor.
"What is this commotion?" he asked and glared at them. Anya was massaging her forehead. She knew she fucked up this time.
The enemy now transformed into a monster. He is strong and has knocked out the knights. Kahoot and Anya tried to run, but they chased out and bumped the walls. The man who arrived just watched.
"H- hey! W- what are you doing?! Help us!" Anya said and he raised his left eyebrow the way she talked to him. He grinned.
"I don't like someone giving me order but..." he draw his sword, "Playtime's over monster!" he said and slashed him.
But he was too strong and continue to regenerate. The monster rose from the ground and landed a surprise attack to him. He jumped and took a step back.
"Sir, we have a problem!" says one of the newly arrived knight. "All the guards posted in the West Gate has been killed! And the Queen Dowager is missing!"
"What?!" he asked as he had accepted another attack and slashed it. But it keeps regenerating causing him to clash his teeth and looked more serious.
"Art of the fire: sword slash!" he said and jumped landing another attack on the leg of the monster, cutting it off. This time, it takes time before generating.
"I think you should crush that something inside him," Anya said and gulped, "Although it's gonna be hard because it was protected by steel." she said and gulped again after seeing how big and monstrous it is.
"How did you know that?" he asked, "I'm not seeing anything though?"
Anya extend her harm and pointed at the chest of the monster.
"Inside it's chest!"
"Wait, don't tell me you can see through?" he asked and was curious.
ROAAAAR
And the legs regenerated so fast and it can stand again.
"No, just the location of the dazzling gem," she smiled, "It was red! Like a ruby!"
"Hah!" he stand in front with mocking grin, "A ruby, you say?" and his eyes turned dark.
The World has different kinds of magical cores. And each Kingdom symbolizes a color. There are ranks, but the ability of them depends on the Kingdom you are in.
"Yes!" she said but was pushed back again by the dragon. Luckily, Kahoot was able to recover in time and save her.
"Let's retreat, Anya!"
"Those bastards!!!" he said and his eyes is full of fury, ready to engulp his surroundings. He know that this monster was summoned within this Kingdom and his heart is full of rage. To think that there is someone who is using a forbidden magic using the ruby magical ore!
"Don't let them go!" he said and the soldiers nodded and blocked their way. Anya and Kahoot had stopped because they are injured, they need to sneak out this knights of they stand no chance.
"Fire slash: thousand years of hell!" he said and a huge flame appeared out of nowhere, enveloped the monster and has turned it into ashes. The fire was so lit that it envelopes the room, and make it so hot.
Anya and Kahoot uses this opportunity to escape in the hook, but the Prince had grab Anya's hair, causing her to fall and slip down.
"That hurts!" she cried and tried escaping. Kahoot stopped for a moment and looked at him.
"Let us go!" he said and coughed another set of blood.
Anya summoned a dragon and defeated him. He needed immediate medical attention as he is losing some blood.
"No, what are the likes of you doing here in the ancient treasure room?" he asked, looking down on them. Anya was horrified by his expression, more so that he defeated the monster. He throw her away on the ground and she had got the dagger in that short moment of time and throw it back.
"Nothing! We got here by accident!" she defended and he had catch his dagger.
"Oh, really?" he asked and grinned. "Golden hair and blue eyes... hmmmn..." he thought and stopped for a second when he realized who she is and how did she manage to grab his dagger.
"You are the greatest thief in town!" he said and excitedly turned to her, "Then, it is alright to punish you, right?"
"Let go of me! You bastard!" and tried getting out of the rein.
"No, Anya!" Kahoot was startled by that declaration and now he remembers who is this guy in front of them. Red hair and a prince? There is only one prince in the palace.
"No way... Prince Ezekiel?" Kahoot asked and he grinned.