MakiaVi: The Frozen King - Chapter Six

 
Far to the North in the Zekul province lies its capital city Xarada, a massive city carved into the side of Mount Denkeen. Within the royal palace, the King of Zekul sat upon his throne, an intimidating monument that stood twenty feet above the ground. For an ice dragon, the king was quite large, a trait that was quite uncommon in the North. His scales were pale, accented with a slight tint of blue. His long black hair rested gracefully on his blue and silver tunic. Upon his head sat a spiked crystal crown that looked as if it were carved of ice. Ten other thrones were at his sides at varying heights. All but one of them were occupied by teenage dragons, each wearing blue clothing with silver trim. A servant entered the room and bowed before the King. “Lord Kardon I regret to inform you that your assassination attempt has failed. It appears your son is to blame.” 
Kardon’s face tightened. “My son?” He gestured to his right. “As you can see, all four of my sons sit loyal at my side, and on the other, my five daughters. Dare you suggest otherwise?”
The servant threw himself to the ground. “No my lord, of course not. Please forgive my mistake. I meant no disrespect.” 
The king smirked. “Knelden you have served me and my family well. You are a beloved family friend so I will be light in you punishment.” 
Knelden smiled. “Thank you my lord! Thank you!” 
Kardon raised his hand and two guards lifted Knelden by the arms. “Give him a quick death.” The guards dragged him out of the throne room. The main door slammed shut behind them. “We must be rid of that cowardly bastard.” Kardon grumbled. “Him and his traitorous mother have been a thorn in my side for far too long.” 
The princess sitting on the fourth tallest throne spoke. “Father, if I may?”
“Speak Crea.” 
She stood up and gave Kardon a bow. “I would like to take care of Edion. I must redeem myself for my past failure.” 
The king thought for a moment. “What guarantee do I have that you will succeed this time?”
“I swear to you, I will bring Edion here one way or another.” She had a determined look in her eye, only weakened by a hint of desperation. 
The king rubbed his chin. “I approve of this request. Go and regain your power. Do not make me regret this decision.” 
“Yes father. Thank you.” She quickly turned, tossing her black hair to the side, and leapt off of her throne. The servants bowed before her as she walked out of a side door. Crea strode through the long castle halls. The walls were decorated with blue banners with silver trees sewn into them. The words, “Our Roots Run Deep” were written below it. She pushed open a large oak door to reveal a beautiful bedroom with a large bed covered in blue silk sheets. A hand-carved vanity with an assortment of fragrances on it sat next to the bed. Crea grabbed a small bag and began to pack for her mission when she heard a knock at the door. “Enter.” Crea responded.
In the doorway stood her sister Serada. She shared Edion’s blue hair but had scales that were a much darker shade. “Well well,” she said with a smug grin. “Stepping up to take down our big brother. Are you really going through with this?” 
Crea scoffed. “Of course I am Serada. I’ll bring him back this time. He won’t be able to hide behind mother now.” 
Serada’s smile disappeared. She sighed as she stared out of the window to her left. “She was always so kind. I truly do miss her sometimes. Do you think she will ever come back?” 
Crea stopped packing and looked at her sister sternly. “You wouldn’t want father to hear you talking like that.”
Serada gritted her teeth. “He is no father of mine! That monster drove our mother away and now you want to take Edion away too?” Crea darted across the room and put a hand over Serada’s mouth and shushed her.
Crea whispered, “I’m just going out to ask Edion for help. He’s the only one who can challenge father. Maybe he even knows where mother is.” Crea removed her hand and continued packing. “Remember, some of our siblings are still loyal to Father. Tread carefully. I will be back as soon as I can.” Crea zipped up her bag, grabbed her longsword and started walking out the room. 
Serada fell to her knees. “Please take me with you. I can’t stand it in the castle anymore! I can’t even breathe without five people reporting it to Kardon.” 
Crea shook her head. “It’s way too risky. With Father’s curse, you can’t even fly. They will know something is up if I ask for an extra cure. Please just hang in there until I get back with Edion.” Crea opened the door to see her brother Kulon standing in the hall. He was the spitting image of their father. He had pale scales, coal black hair and lifeless grey eyes. 
“Am I interrupting something?” His voice was smooth and deadly.
Crea hesitated but eventually gathered herself. “Just saying goodbye. I really must get going.” 
As she walked towards the door, Kulon then blocked the doorway with his arm. “Is that so? Because I could have sworn I heard you plotting against father.” Kulon put a hand on his blade. “I can’t just let that slide now can I?”
Crea kicked Kulon in the stomach, causing him to crash through a window in the hallway. She grabbed Serada’s hand. “We need to leave now!” As they ran down the hall, they heard a loud horn in the distance. “We can’t fly until we break father’s curse.” Crea said. “The cure is in the potion lab.” 
They ran down the hallway and up a spiral staircase. Before they could make it to the top floor, two of the castle guards blocked their path. Crea and Serada drew their swords and clashed with the guards. They swung at each other a few times with each blow missing its mark. Crea managed to parry her opponent’s attack and hit him in the head with the flat of her blade, knocking him out cold. Serada gave the other guard a knee to the stomach then and elbow to the back of the head to take him down.
They climbed to the top of the staircase to the potion lab. There was only one guard standing in their way. Crea ran up and kicked the guard through the door, causing it to fly off its hinges. The potion lab was a complicated room with shelves of glass vials filled with colorful liquids everywhere. “Quickly, find the cure and let’s get the hell out of here!” Crea yelled. As they both ran through the lab searching for the potion, they could hear the guards closing in. Crea and Serada tore the room apart to find the correct vial. Just when they thought their search was in vain, a small green vial caught Crea’s eye. “Damn! They only have one dose left.”
Serada sighed. “Take it. You need to get the MakiaVi’s help. Hopefully they will go easy on me.” 
“Oh I’m taking it alright.” Crea said. “And I’m taking you with me.” She drank the potion. The tension in her chest blasted away. Her eyes momentarily flashed a light green tint. “Let’s fly.” Crea picked up her sister and darted straight out of a window. 
“Once we make it over the Zekul border, we should be safe.” Serada said. Crea flew them south as fast as she could. Kulon appeared behind them and was catching up.
“We aren’t going to outrun him.” Crea grumbled. She flew close to the ground and Kulon followed. “You ready?” Serada nodded. Crea let go of her sister and they both slid through the snow. They had their weapons poised to strike. Kulon was caught of guard and barely had time to draw his weapon. Crea and Serada struck him together and knocked him right out of the air. Kulon crashed into the snow with two deep cuts on his shoulder and chest. 
The prince writhed in the snow, clutching his wounds. “Come on! Finish it! It will be the one thing you’ve ever done right.” 
Crea looked down at him. “You know, I said the same words to mother when I tried to hunt her down. You know what she said to me?” Kulon’s eyes darted away in disgust as Crea knelt at his side. “She told me, ‘I would sooner fight every army on this planet before I kill my own daughter.’ That was the last time I ever saw her.” 
Kulon’s face tightened. “That was just her excuse for being weak!” 
“Family was the most important thing in her life. When she spared me that day, I realized father’s ways would only tear our family apart.” Crea stood up and sheathed her sword. “Maybe someday you too will understand.” She picked up Serada, flew high into the sky and continued south.
Near the end of their day, Crea and Serada arrived in the town of Kukal. They stopped at the White Tiger, a local tavern that catered to the town’s underbelly. The princesses sat at the far end of the bar with hoods pulled over their heads. Crea raised her hand and ordered each of them a drink. The bartender poured them each a glass of wine. She calmly sipped from her drink as Serada sulked in her seat. “Not much longer now.” Crea said. “We should reach the border in no time.” Serada stared at the glass that sat in front of her. “I wonder if Edion finally cut his hair.” Crea said. “Remember when one of the servants confused him for you?” Serada tapped her claws on the bar and let out a weak sigh. Crea set down her drink. “What wrong? You haven’t even touched your drink. I thought you loved Zarkaz? Do you want something else?” 
Serada gritted her teeth as she scraped her claws on the bar. “You want to know what I want? I want to not have to fear for my life everywhere I go. I want peace in my own damn family! I want...” her voice trailed off as tears filled her eyes. “I want to see mother again. I want my life back to the way it used to be.” 
She sobbed as Crea put her arm around her. “Hey now, listen. Once we get down to the MakiaVi, we’ll find Edion and-” 
“And what?” Serada said. “He fights father for the throne? Start a rebellion? Maybe we’ll just assassinate father and slip Edion in his place. Either way, it ends up with us fighting and killing our own family. I just want it to stop.” 
Crea sighed. “If this is about Kulon-”
“How could we just leave him there!” Serada leapt to her feet. “He was our own brother for Xarada’s sake!” At this moment, every eye in the bar was on the two of them. 
“Keep it down.” Crea whispered. “I want to make it out of here with my head on my shoulders.” Serada realized the situation and sat back down. “Look, we can fix this mess, but we can’t help anyone if we are dead. Kulon has always been tough. I bet he’s already back at the castle getting patched up. We can help everyone but I need you to calm down and focus. Can you do that for me?” Serada nodded. “Good, because the fight’s not over yet. See those three wolves in the corner?”
Serada peeked over her shoulder to see three grey wolves covered in leather armor glaring at them. “They don’t seem to like us very much.” 
“Not at all.” Crea answered. “What really concerns me is that there were four of them a while ago. Where do you suppose the other went?” 
Serada’s eyes widened. “To get backup.” 
Crea downed her drink and slammed the glass on the bar. “Let’s go!”
They jumped out of their seats and shuffled towards the front door. Once they got close, a knife flew right past their faces and embedded itself in the wooden support beam next to them. One of the wolves padded toward them. His face was covered in scars. His cold blue eyes locked onto his targets. “Leaving so soon ladies? We get plenty of thieves and lowlifes here, but not many princesses.” 
Crea backed up as some of the patrons began closing in on them. “We have done nothing wrong!” She put a hand on her blade. 
The wolf grinned. “That doesn’t concern me one bit sweetheart. The king has been looking for you two. He even offered gold to whoever can bring you in.” After hearing that, everyone in the bar stood up and prepared their weapons. Each of them had a hungry look in their eyes as they stalked closer. “That money can feed a lot of people. Just give up and make it easier for everyone.”
As they closed in, Crea whispered to her sister, “Any ideas on how to get out of this?” 
Serada thought for a moment. “Remember that game we used to play as kids?” Crea smiled and grabbed Serada’s hand. They stood back to back and took a deep breath. They exhaled a thick fog that engulfed the entire bar. They immediately dove to the ground as they heard the sound of everyone else clashing in the chaos. Crea held her sister as she glided them across the floor of the bar toward the door. They crashed through it and landed in the middle of the street. The only light was the glow of the tavern as they watched shadows brawl within. They both laughed and hugged each other. In the middle of their celebration, they heard a voice yell, “There they are!”
They turned to see the fourth wolf down the road from the tavern with a group of mercenaries behind him. Crea grabbed Serada by the hands and flew into the sky. Serada looked down to see that the mob was close behind them. They started throwing rocks and shooting arrows at the sisters. Crea did her best to dodge the attacks but an arrow hit her right in the stomach. She grunted as they began falling towards a church. 
They crashed through one of the stained glass windows and smashed into one of the pues. Crea rolled around in pain from her injury. Serada scrambled to her sister’s side. The arrow made it’s way through Crea’s stomach and stuck out through her back. “Those bastards!” Serada exclaimed. She grabbed the end of the arrow and broke it off. Serada grabbed a chunk of wood from the shattered seat. “Here, bite on this. We have to pull it the rest of the way through.” Crea nodded and put it in her mouth. Serada grabbed hold of the arrowhead. “On three. One. Two. Three!” She yanked the bloody arrow out of her sister. Crea grunted loudly as she bit the piece of wood in half. Serada breathed a bit of ice on Crea’s wound. “That should stop the bleeding.” As she helped Crea back to her feet, their pursuers kicked in the doors to the church.
“Get them!” yelled the wolf. They rushed Crea and Serada. The princesses both drew their blades and traded smiles as they charged head first into the mob.

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