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“Let me be their voice when they cannot be heard, their blade when they cannot fight. Please don’t try to make me watch on as our world grows bleak and hopeless.”
Her anger withdraws, an expression of sadness taking over her face as she shakes her head. “I know you are strong; you are my daughter after all, but if you’re caught?—”
“I will not allow myself to be caught. I can do this.Pleasetrust me.”
She quickly pulls me toward her, gripping my shoulders tight before her hands envelop me. I ignore the twinge of pain in my stomach, comforted by her warm embrace.
“Idotrust you; it’s the rest that worries me.” There’s a tremble in her body as she holds me close. “I love you more than life itself, Seren. If anything were to happen to you, I fear the world without your light in it.”
My eyes burn from the unfaltering love in her voice. I owe everything to my mother. She saved me when the very people who brought me into this world had abandoned me to the dark. I know love and kindness only through her. It is because of her love and strength that I am the person I am today. But helping is the right thing to do. She knows this because it is whatshehas taught me.
She pulls away and gazes at me before bandaging up my cut. “How many?”
Renewed energy lights up inside of me at the thought of finally having her blessing.
“Three.”
She pauses, looking up at me with a frown before sighing and finishing up. I know what she’s thinking. There shouldn’t be so many showing up, especially not all at once. That’s not normal, even for them.
“There has been a rise in the amount of them. Why?” I ask. There has to be a reason. They started showing up alone, the time spanned out between appearances. Then they doubled and now it seems that has only grown, bringing nothing but death and destruction with them.
My mother shakes her head. “Something is coming, Seren, something dark. I can feel it deep in my bones.”
A cold shiver works its way down my spine as I feel the truth in her words.
She looks over my face with so much love in her eyes. As she cups my cheek, I feel the warmth seep into it. “Whatever it is, I hope we may all face it together and overcome it with victory.” She moves her hand and the warmth goes with it.
There will be noallwhen it comes to facing whatever may come. The Sidus will fight and die while the Caligo guards watch on.
Not all Caligo are bad; the Caligo people mostly stay to themselves and up in their mountains beside the royals.
It is essentially the guards who force the divide with their cruelty. They think us beneath them and their powers and spread lies about our distrustful natures. Lies that are only supported by the foolishness of the rebels. A group of disorganized petulant criminals who do nothing but cause havoc and sully the name of the Sidus.
Not everyone agrees with our two kinds being divided. Many are amicable toward each other and not only out of purpose or duty. But the guards make sure to halt any growing relations between the two. They will never fight alongside the Sidus. Our mighty trio of royals and their own misguided trust ensures that.
“Our royals will do the right thing.” My mother nods her head to herself, thinking her words to be true. Something I immensely disagree with. Her misguided trust could be due to meeting theking, her heart still hoping his legacy of royals will be just like him.
Apart from those close to them, no one knows what the royals look like; no one has seen them leave the safety of their palace since the death of the previous king.
At first, many believed them to be in mourning. But the years passed while the Caligo guard’s power grew with no sign of them.
I imagine their looks to be like their personality and actions: sharp and cruel.
“They do nothing but sit on their thrones, declaring their commands and looking down on us as if we are nothing but small annoying creatures.”
All royals have great power beyond measure. They say the Gods gave it to them to assure they could protect their people, but they do nothing to protect us.Nothing, when they could, and I cannot forgive that, no matter if their birthright calls them my rulers.
“Theyare our monarchs.” My mother’s tone leaves no room for argument. But I attained my stubborn nature from her and will always do and say what I feel is right.
“They arenothingto me. They help no one but themselves and their selfish needs. Our people are dying. Our kingdom has been cut off from everyone for longer than I have lived, and for what? Maybe if they gave us a chance outside to fight, we could defeat these dark creatures and whatever else is beyond them and be part of the world again.”
A whole world might exist out beyond the dark forest and black sea, but we’ll never find out if we stay trapped inside their cage.
“You do not know what you speak of. There are thousands, if not more, of those creatures out beyond the wall in the depths ofthe dark forest. If not for that shield protecting us, we would all be dead.”
Would we? The guards are arrogant and cruel but also powerful. If they allowed the Sidus to all train and fight instead of coming up with some foolish guard’s competition every year in an attempt to prove the Sidus’ incapabilities, then we might stand a chance.
The only Sidus to ever join their ranks is Ryuu, and that was many years ago. No other Sidus has joined them since, and they have made sure to keep it that way, making each competition more brutal and vicious each year.
