Kin Bound

Prologue

The night was cold and the candles burned low. Three shallow breaths turned vapor can be seen tucked into a far corner of the tent. One could almost find it incomprehensible the intense screams that echoed from inside just hours before. Yet all that remains is a desperate and mellow song.

Sarai sat alone in her tent with her two newborn babes held in her embrace. The oldest, Octavian, was fast asleep, snuggled warmly into his mother's bosom. The other, Maximilian, lay staring and straight, seemingly lost in a trance. His bright, teal eyes were clear as air, taking in his surroundings, growing more and more aware with each passing second. There was a knowledge, a power held deeply in those eyes, alongside a warmth like a tiny flame on a cold winter's night.

And this night was as cold a night as any.

Sarai rocked her two newborn babes, singing to them a gentle song. Her tone was calm and warm, hopeful as may be. She sang out loud, holding back the tears, and more importantly, the paralyzing fear. She sang for her children to live long and prosperous lives. She sang for serenity and peace.

She sang over the treacherous cries and screams that emanated from beyond their tent flaps.

She couldn't help but pass a glance now and again to her side, where her sword stood propped up against her and her husband's bed. Today was to be a joyous occasion. The birth of new life! Yet the air is bloodied with screams, torched by death and demise. As the battle rages on outside, Sarai sings solemnly, bloody and weak from her battle with birth. She clutches her spoils tighter and sings louder, ever tighter, ever louder.

But it isn't the enemies that she fears. It's the unknown, the unstable nature of the world that can bring harm not to her but to her younglings. It's not being able to stand strong against the surmounting armies and awe-inspiring dragons. To be unable to wield a sword and aid her husband, her lord, and her people on the battlefield.

Sarai tilted her head forward. Her brunette hair fell into the face of her children and her song faded. The screams outside seemingly crescendoed into a catastrophic symphony.

Louder.

Everything is spinning.

Ever Louder.

Yet no matter how powerful the screams may become, they were consistently overpowered by the creatures of the sky.

One need not see to know that the sky weeps flames as monstrous wings beat the air aside and piercing shrieks emanate all around.

The world is overflowing. The world is burning. The stench is exorbitantly permeable.

A tinge of magical energy can be felt everywhere. Thunderous booms and effervescent colors spark up in magnificent displays all around.

The cacophony of it all deeply invades Sarai's mind as she felt she might go mad at any moment.

And then...it all drowns away. Sarai felt a sensation, a pressure on her cheek. Small and gentle, but serene and warm. She stares into Maximilian's eyes and sheds but a single tear.

Sarai is a mother now. She must do her solemn duty, must set aside her warrior instincts, and fight for her children's safety and survival. She must get them out and away from the death that surrounds them.

She musters up all the energy she can and pushes herself up off the chair. Pain emanates up her leg and throughout her entire body, but adrenaline rushes in just as quickly, and she steps onward, beyond the tent flaps.

She is met with the darkest of spring nights and waves of despair. Off in the distance, just beyond the top of tents, flames and smoke can be seen choking out the stars in the sky. The screams and roars grow louder and the only thought Sarai has is...

Run!

She turned in a direction away from where most of the fighting was happening. She ran past the tents, as far she can get, as fast as she can move. The fighting was all around her, she thought to herself, it's almost as if it were following her. Almost as if they were trying to get to her and her babes and she was being protected at all costs. But no, that wasn't the case. This fight was just a lost cause. What was supposed to be a raid into the Skystones had turned ugly for them. They lost this battle. They should never have even been here in the first place.

Minutes had passed and her energy started waning, but she kept on moving and avoiding conflict, hiding when needed. Sarai eventually found a horse-drawn carriage stocked with supplies by some soldiers and began to move slowly to them.

"My lady...we were just..."

There were two soldiers finishing packing and a third perched atop ready to set the horses off at a moment's notice

"I care not what you were doing, just help me get my children back to Nymeeria." Saria pleaded. "Please!"

One of the soldiers, a female soldier, ran towards Sarai. "My lady! You're hurt!"

"Forget about me. Take them!" Sarai hands over Maximilian to the female soldier who takes him gently into her arms. The soldier moves to join the other compatriot at the carriage.

She then gestures to hand off Octavian to the other soldier. He hastily makes his way toward Sarai but then jerks and momentarily freezes in place before falling to the ground. Sarai quickly looks up to see an arrow protruding from the man's skull. She quickly pulls Octavian in and away from the fallen soldier.

In the distance, Sarai makes out what appeared to be several crude-looking humans in scale-like armor, one in front with a bow.

"A Draconian!" The female soldier carrying Maximilian yelled, and quickly enters the carriage.

"We have to leave, now!" Yelled the soldier up top, reins in hand.

"Waiiit!" Sarai yelled out and started shambling toward to carriage.

"Hee-ya!" The driver urged the horses forward and they quickly sent into a gallop.

"Noooo!" Sarai cried. She was quickly overtaken by despair and dropped to her knees. She couldn't have been closer. She had a way to save her children, and it was now gone.

Time seemed to move slowly, although only seconds had passed. Sarai had a momentary thought.

She wouldn't let them kill her children, not while she still took breath.

With her one hand now free, she drew the sword from the fallen soldier's belt and urged herself up to her feet to face off against the Draconians making their way toward her.

Her body was weak, her mind in shambles, but her warrior spirit was newly lit with a purpose. She had something, someone, to fight for, right now.

She thought to herself, she wasn't called Swift Death for nothing.

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The carriage was a bumpy ride. There were plenty of swift turns needing to be made. It was, after all, a battlefield. Janelia knew their side didn't quite have the numbers but they did have mages with them. Some of the best mages in all the land, quite frankly. So even though things were rough right now, Nymeeria wouldn't lose this fight. The Draconians would lose the Skystones. It is just bound to happen. So why, she thought, why should she have stayed behind to fight? She wasn't needed there. Besides, she now has another purpose...

Janelia looked down at the infant in her arms. An order from the Lady, or most likely, late Lady by now. She will carry out this task no matter what. This she could do. Together, she and her friend William, who was driving, could accomplish this much. At least this would give a reason for their desertion of duty.

"Hey, I'm so sorry about your mother. She was a wonderful Lady. I'm sure you'll hear plenty of amazing stories about her when you grow up; The Swift Death, Lady of Nymeeria." She cackled to herself and Maximilian as she spoke to the infant.

She stared deeply at the boy and it just occurred to her that he hasn't shed a single tear all this time.

Very unusual for an infant this young, she thought. "Hm...maybe he's broken in some way?" She said out loud, examining the child a little more intently.

Then all of a sudden...

Boom!

Janelia instinctually clutched the baby boy close to her as she was thrown from the carriage seat to the wall. Within a few seconds, she was slammed hard to the ground, or rather the door that pressed into the ground. She realized they must've been blasted off the road. She looked at the baby, making sure he was still okay.

All good, she thought.

"You're a tough one, kid."

She averted her eyes from the boy to the front of the carriage where she noticed a giant gaping hole now stood, outlined with blue flame...her friend no longer loomed there.

"Damn. Now, what do I do!" Janelia exclaimed. Someone was after them and she was stuck here.

No. She had to move. She's sure to die if she stays, she thought. Janelia gathered herself up, holding the child ever so gently and closely, and pulled herself out of the opening that was made by the blast.

It was quiet and she was surrounded by trees. A forest. The road lay maybe 30 or so feet from their position. They traveled far from just one blast.

"Whoever it was, we don't want to wait to meet them," Janelia spoke to Maximilian. "Let's move quickly."

She bolted into the winds, thinking to set as much distance as she can and get them somewhere safer. Janelia traveled for a few minutes before she heard mumbling somewhere behind her. She stopped and hid behind a tree. She once again looked down at Maximilian, thoroughly dumbfounded. She felt like she was about to cry herself and yet this infant was still calm as a gentle breeze.

Thought aside, she waited until it was quiet again. She then quietly moved from her cover behind the tree and made a beeline in whatever direction she was already looking at.

A few feet beyond, she felt it. On her back was a burning sensation. She dropped to her knees and drooped her head over the baby boy, coughing up globules of blood onto his innocent and curious figure.

"Sorry, tiny one." Janelia softly whispered, blood dripping from her mouth.

The dark barely illuminated his face, but his eyes shone like nightlights to her, as brightly as the moon on a clear night. She smiled at him before feeling the life begin to fade from her. She fell forward, nearly landing on top of the babe. And then...

She smelled blood.

She smelled the burning of metal and flesh.

She smelled the night and the fresh, sweet scent of Magnolias.

Her eyes stay open as she stared into the everlasting darkness of that night.

The trees.

She felt the ground shift and rumble ever so slightly.

Still trees.

But now she can barely make out the horrifying image of a large dragon in the darkness lifting its head above the trees. As it breaks the upper veil of the tree line, she was able to see the Moonlight glinting off of its scales, shimmering a beautiful yet powerful greenish-blue hew.

It was terrifying.

It was magnificent.

It shed extra light on her surroundings and she could now tell where she lay. Where her body and this child should now lay forever to perish and decompose.

At least...it was beautiful.

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Celadonas welcomed the brisk, cold night. She knew it was the time she was most beautiful, and her internal flames warmed her marvelously. Not too far away, in a westward direction, one could just make out the plumes of smoke as the world lay in burning shambles. The smell of death, ash, blood, and magic lingered for miles even beyond the battlefield. She cursed the Nymeerians under her breath. This was her home, and they advanced further than they were welcomed. Their greed and lust for dominance are unfathomable.

The Dragons don't give in, don't falter. They fight tooth and talon to defend what is theirs.

Today, the Nymeerians will learn the error in their ways.

Celadonas furled her snout, revealing large and sharp teeth beneath. If it weren't so dark, one might also be able to make out the blood that dripped from her jaw. She winced as pain shot up her right arm. Her eyes followed the sensation to its origin, a huge gash through her wing and lower right abdomen. Blood spilled to the ground in copious amounts as the pain slowly subsided.

She knew she won't live beyond this night. And that was fine. She fought hard and saved many this evening. The dragons and draconians wouldn't lose, not to the feeble Nymeerians.

No, this night's victory belonged to them. It was their land. The Skystones will remain with Vindtalken.

Then she heard it. The whispering of a spell. Draconian magic, she knew. She veered her eyes off to her left, gazing beyond the trees where she lay hidden. She made out the location of the disembodied voice and saw the blue glow of magic forming into a flame spell, its caster a Draconian mage behind it.

Celadonas sighed in relief. Maybe, just maybe, she can make it out of here. But the thought then struck…for whom was the spell being cast?

She surveyed the area quickly, passing her gaze from tree to tree without ever lifting her head, and in split second noticed a soldier, a Nymeerian, duck out from behind a tree and run straight in her direction. She noticed the little human soldier clutched onto something, protecting something. But what was it?

At the very same moment, she saw the blue flame soar ever so brightly across the ground, dodging behind the trees, leaving behind a trail of blue embers in its wake. She saw it blast right into the back of the soldier.

Just like that, it was over.

The Nymeerian fell, and death overtook them.

The first thought in Celadonas' mind was to garner the attention of the Draconian. The second, though not very much in her favor, was to devour the fallen soldier. Celadonas didn't much care for eating human flesh, but she was here now, weak and hungry. Any little bit will have to do, she thought. So she lifted herself off the ground, ever so slowly, twigs and trees snapped as they were at once crushed beneath her, higher and higher until she was now looking down at the surrounding forest area from above the trees.

She limped her way towards the murder scene, towards the corpse of the Nymeerian soldier, pushing past trees as she went.

"And who might you be, strung away from the battlefield as you are?" The Draconian mage made his way out of the darkness and into view of the Moonlight.

"Who I am is of no concern," Celadonas spoke, ever so gently and ever so forceful, her voice large and powerful, yet with a lingering weakness.

"You're wounded." The man concluded. "Is this why you hide away here?"

"I laid here where I presumed would be my final resting place, that is until you and your…prey…found their way into it." Celadonas nodded toward the dead soldier on the ground.

"Then why not feast" The soldier pointed at the Nymeerian. "and let me heal your wounds, m'lady?"

"I am no lady." Celadonas was quick to retort.

"Maybe not, but you are a woman and lady enough." He walked towards Celadonas, close enough to touch her. "Now come and be at ease."

Celadonas winced again, either to the man's touch or from the pain, but she then relaxed and set herself back onto the ground.

The man began a chant and pressed his hands on her side, close to the wound. His hand began to glow green and Celadonas started to feel newfound warmth.

Warmth…she hadn't even noticed that her warmth was fading. Hadn't noticed her internal flames were dying out. But now the reality of the matter struck her more deeply.

But she will be okay now, and she had this mage to thank.

But the healing didn't help with the hunger the weakness had caused. The bleeding may have stopped but she was still beyond weak. She pushed herself away from the mage and started toward the dead soldier.

And at that moment, as she neared the very spot, she noticed a small figure there, wrapped in blankets and clutched in the embrace of the soldier.

A baby.

That's what this soldier was protecting. New and innocent life. She was saving a child, removing him from the horrors of the battlefield.

A baby who now lay dead in the forest.

Another casualty of war.

This soldier died for the child and yet failed to protect it. It was indeed sad. No matter the race, life is precious, even more so the innocence of youth.

Somehow, be it instinct or luck, the soldier managed to land herself just enough to the side to not crush the child underneath her. Celadonas thought to herself, the soldier she could feast on, but the child will be given a proper burial.

She proceeded to move one large talon over to the body and gently pulled the soldier away from the child.

"M'lady, a child!" The Draconian rushed over to it, stepping around the dead Nymeerian.

"Yes…a sad sight to behold indeed," Celadonas responded, pulling herself closer to get a better look.

"No, M"lady, the child still lives!" The Draconian had his hand on the babe. "His eyes are open and his heart beats ever so weakly."

She stood aghast. How? What terrible luck did this child have, to continue to want to live through this monstrous night! No tears, no wailing, no fear toiled within the infant. Emotionless and wandering. No one could've or would've known.

"Impossible,"

"You need not worry, I will be happy to put an end to this one, m'lady."

"What?" She stared at the infant, and then at the Draconian as he began to pull his dagger from his belt. "No, you mustn't!"

"This child ever remains our enemy, even in its youth. If we let him live, we run the risk of him being saved. Just another problem to deal with in the future. And," the Draconian hesitated, as he looked forlornly at the boy. "There is a mysterious power I sense from him…"

"Leave him be," Celadonas spoke angrily, bearing teeth at the mage. "We are not savages like the Nymeerians."

"I'm sorry m'lady, but I cannot let this boy live!" The mage lifted his dagger in anticipation to strike the infant. And then blood splattered everywhere. Yet more blood had covered the child this night, as the mage was hoisted into the air in the jaws of a dragon, of Celadonas.

She kept the mage suspended there for a moment, thinking about what she had just done. She just killed one of her own. She betrayed her brethren, and for what? A lost child in the woods? The enemy at that.

No, that didn't matter. She did what she did and she can't take it back. She took a life to save a life, an innocent life, for she already knew that the mage's innocence was long gone. This child is what mattered right now.

She bit down harder on the corpse in her jaw and with a quick flick of her neck, she opened her mouth, tossing the body ever so gently in the air and catching it whole. Her jaws snapped shut completely around the body, and Celadonas gulped.

Humans and Draconians are far from her preference for food. But in dire situations….it'll have to do.

She then did the same thing with the other body on the ground and in a short while started to feel a tidbit of her energy return. All that was left now was this child, alone on the ground. This boy's hands were up and eyes opened wide, shining in the Moonlight just as beautifully as Celadona knew she did as well.

She contemplated her options, but she knew what she must do.

"Well little one, I can't quite carry you like this now, can I?"

She stared at the child, closely. Her giant dragon's eye engulfed the small frame of the boy, like a backdrop in the night. The child looked deeply into the large, purple eye, and saw himself reflected in it.

All of a sudden, the eyes and the dragon dissipated into swirls of magical energy, like streams of water and air combined, circling where the giant dragon once stood. The light that shone from those streams grew brighter and brighter and formed together into a single, central point.

At the peak of its brightness, the light was near pure white. And in a split instance, the light was gone. In its place stood a woman. A beautiful woman with elven features, naked from head to toe. Long black hair, sleek and shimmering, hung from her head to below her shoulders.

Celadonas dropped to her knees almost instantly. She was still not strong enough to sustain having used so much energy. From where she stood, she saw the child staring right at her.

Her discomfort mattered naught. Right now, she knew she had to get this child to safety. She must protect this new life.

She picked herself up, grunting with pain as she did, and slowly made her way to the child's side. Celadonas bent down, placing both hands at his sides, effortlessly hoisting him into her arms. She was still strong enough for this, and he was light.

She held the child close to her bosom, gently rocking him.

"You are nigh a dragon, but you will be raised by them, by me." She gently stroked the boy's near-to-bald head. "You will be my pride and joy. My little…Kaidonus."

She then turned herself westward. Towards the direction of the Skystones where the battle continued to rage on. Celadonas with the infant made their way, lost to the darkness of the night and the density of the forest.

Chapter 1

Kaidonus lay there peacefully, the ground pressed against his back and the wind ever so gently combing his hair. His only thoughts were of the fresh cold air penetrating his nostrils and the sweet scent of Magnolias invading his mind. He listened intently to the music of the earth, the chorus of leaves rustling in the wind. The chirping, hooting and howling of the creatures within. The forest sang, called to him. He longed for its embrace and would choose to stay in it if he could.

He was at ease.

He was free.

But the sensation was short-lived, as fleeting as a flash of lightning. Bright red filled his head and melted away his senses till nothing remained.

He awoke to the world. Eyes opening to what could be none other than the sun, lighting the world aflame in its glory.

But its heat was nothing, of course. It was enough to make the meek suffer and sweat, but for Kaidonus, it was almost like a cool, Fall evening.

Yet it wasn't the sun that perturbed Kaidonus.

He was no longer on that patch of grass surrounded by Magnolias, but slumped in an alley of a bustling city, draped in tattered rags like a cloak from head to toe. The grassy pasture in his mind turned to stone and dirt with a cacophonous sound of yelling, chattering, horse hooves, and wagons. It was a disturbing place and he couldn't wrap his mind around this "wondrous" capital city of Nymeera.

Kaidonus took a deep breath and collected himself. He wouldn't be here for long. He need only complete his objective and he would be gone from this filth, done with the wretched Nymeerians.

The thought was enough to make him smile.

He picked himself up off the ground, the rags he wore helping to conceal the sword strapped to his back. He proceeded to make his way to the street side to join the civilians in their day-to-day affairs. It was a lively place, with normal people going about their daily lives, families looking to make ends meet, and the whole nine yards of it. Kaidonus made his way through the bustle, finding his way closer and closer to the city center, closer to his objective.

A few more blocks Kaidonus traveled until he arrived at a large plaza. It was packed to the brim with all sorts of people, the rich, the poor, the power-hungry, and the hungry. At the back of the plaza stood a bridge leading up to what looked to be a pair of large doors set into even larger walls. Atop the walls, Kaidonus observed what looked to be overly large ballistas. Just by a glance, he knew those weren't for shooting humans. As he stared hard at those doors and ballistas, Kaidonus hoped he wouldn't have to find himself beyond those walls. These walls marked the entrance to Castle Nym, the royal capital of Nymeera, the human Capital of Aufendale.

Kaidonus brought his eyes back to the crowd at the head and focused them toward the center of the plaza. He saw what appeared to be a wooden rise, a stage of some sort, decorated with drapes and banners of Aufendale and Nymeeria. Five other banners flew as well, four of which Kaidonus knew not what they represented. The fifth he recognized as Kise Esari, a city allied with Nymeeria.

A city of Elves.

He cursed under his breath, hoping not to cross paths with any Kiseians. Humans were easy to fool, but elves were another matter.

He shook off the thought and found an empty location in a nearby ally. He scooted himself behind some debris and placed his hand on the floor.

"Muleg Tid' Barra."

A light blueish circle formed on the ground around his hand and just as quickly as it appeared, it went away.

He looked around before retreating from his position and finding his way back to where the crowd was at the plaza.

As he neared the location he was once at, he noticed that the shambling city noise was somewhat quieter the closer he got. Instead, he could make out a single voice above them all.

"It is my pleasure to bring these... specimens...to your eyes today."

From the back of the crowd, he noticed a well-dressed man pacing back and forth on the stage.

"We acquired them from the mirky Skystone Isles of Vindtalken."

Kaidonus balled his fists up. He knew what they were. Vindtalken is his home. Where he was born. The Skystones are why he's here...

"I bring to your attention the very element that will allow us to win this war."

Behind the gentleman on the stage, two men, city soldiers, walked up with a chest. They placed it in the center of the stage and then walked back away. The speaker then found himself beside the chest tapping ever so lightly on its elaborately decorated top.

"In here lies the spoils of our advance into the Skystones" He opened the chest, revealing two large dragon eggs. "Behold! Dragon eggs, stolen from their perch. We will use these against the dragons and those who ally themselves with them!"

The crowd began murmuring before breaking into cheers and applause.

Kaidonus, on the other hand, boiled with internal anger. He had to fight back the toiling emotions lest he acts carelessly. For once, he cursed his ability to see so clearly, to see the smug accomplishment the man on stage held on his face.

"We shall hatch these whelps and turn them against their kind. We shall be victorious and they will rue the day they thought themselves mightier than us!" the man spat excitingly.

Kaidonus painted a mental image and thought to himself. He now knows this man's face and he won't leave Nymeeria until he's dead...

"My Prince! Why are you here?" Kaidonus turned to his side to see where the voice was coming from and whom it was targeting. He noticed a fashionably adorned knight staring straight at him. He wore no helmet and was a young man, maybe 19 or 20, Kaidonus assumed, just barely older than him. He was pale-skinned with soft features unremitting his position as a knight. "You really shouldn't be here. What would your father...Lord Langrid think if he were to find you were out here?" He walked straight towards Kaidonus.

"Uh..." Kaidonus stumbled just as the knight gripped his arm and started pulling him away from the crowd. "Ouch, why do you have to pull so hard!"

"Tis for your own good, my Prince. Now let us return from here at once!"

Kaidonus realized his predicament but his confusion about the matter was all the same.

"Uh...sir. How did you find me?" A confused Kaidonus asked, pulling his arm from the man's grip.

"Only a fool of a prince would walk around with a ragged disguise such as yours and not even use the hood you have." He said, pointing to the hood drooped down Kaidonus' back. "Why must I always have to be the one to drag you back from the streets and cover your ass?"

Kaidonus looked at the man, noticing no amusement but pure frustration in his voice. He's apparently done this before, dragged the so-called Prince out from the streets. But, why was he confused for him?