Harmorld

"Eric! Eric, wake up!"

Eric squinted to see the owner of the voice. Dawn was already dressed up as he shook Eric out of bed. Dawn was 18 years of age and he is a year older than Eric. He dropped his sandals on the floor next to my bed, sat on the bed and start tying his sandals as if he was going to go somewhere.

Dawn was the son of Emperor Sanchez III, current ruler of Garginci Kingdom. He has a long brunette hair tied in a ponytail. Apart from his brown, squishy eyes and his pert upturned nose, Dawn has a very pale skin but was mutilated by an inch long scar on his right cheek.

Under the Emperor’s orders himself, Dawn and Eric has been studying martial arts under Guru Han for a year and today was officially the final night for their training course. Guru Han lived with his daughter, Julia in a small shack just on the outskirts of a large forest situated near a town called Fradoras, the capital of Garginci Kingdom.

"Eric, come on! They’re asleep." Dawn pulled Eric’s blanket away.

"But my lord…"

"Don't you ‘my lord’ me! Now, come on!" Ignoring Eric, he pulled him out from the bed and forced him to get dressed.

Eric put on his red coat, tied a belt around his waist and put on his black tights, brown boots and a pair of dragon scale leggings that belong to his late grandfather. He carried with him twin custom made rods that was shimmered with a dragon tear and light fangs attached together to create a long two headed spear bestowed to him by Guru Han himself. He named it Ryugaken after his late grandfather.

"Where are we going?"

Dawn didn't answer but instead he pulled Eric out from the small hut and deep into the forest. Just a few nights ago, they overheard a messenger spoke about the Emperor’s visit to the forest, Eric knew exactly that was the intention of Dawn’s action tonight.

"My lord, it's late. We'd get into trouble."

"This is a perfect time. Trust me!"

"What if we get lost in the woods? His excellency would be furious."

Dawn ignored him and walked away deep into the forest, leaving him behind. Knowing his big head, Eric had no choice but to keep following him. He stopped and hid behind a bush few meters away from a lake. Eric approached him slowly, "My lord, I don't..."

"Hush!!" Just before Eric could finish his sentence, Dawn interfered, "Father is here."

"Emperor Sanchez?"

They took a peek to the area where Emperor Sanchez and his men were camping. Few tents were set up in the area surrounding a campfire. Four soldiers stood on guard – two on each opening. Most of the soldiers were all exhausted and Emperor Sanchez III was nowhere to be seen. Dawn and Eric were eagerly smiling to see the army when something caught their eyes. A boy in about 10 years of age was locked in a cage lying helplessly. He was covered in blood and bruises as if he was just been abused. They were about to pull away when they heard voices of arguments in one of the tents.

“What do you suggest me do then?! You saw with your own two eyes that just last night the village was alive and breathing! Any good explanation?!” angered voice of his Excellency broke the silence.

“I realized that, my Lord. But he is just a child,” said a man’s voice.

“A child or not, until he reveals the story, that boy will be kept as a prisoner,” Emperor Sanchez said in his firm voice.

“Fredrick, listen to your father,” a woman’s voice was heard.

“Silence, Lucia! This doesn’t concern you! This is between me and my father!” Fredrick’s voice rose.

“How dare you speak to your mother that way?!”

“This witch is not my mother!”

After those throat fights, a man in his mid-twenties came stomping out from the tent. Prince Fredrick was a tall muscular man with short brunette hair almost similar to Dawn. He was wearing the similar but slightly different armor as the other soldiers because he is too serves under Garginci – violet cloth with silver linings covering a silver armor made by the high-skilled blacksmith in the kingdom. Fredrick head his way to a strictly guarded tent where the caged boy was located. Eric transferred his ears from the royal tent and slowly approaching the tent Prince Fredrick headed.

“Leave us,” said Fredrick in his serious tone to the guards inside.

“But my lord…”

“I can take care of myself,” he insisted.

“His Excellency won’t allow it.”

“Just for a few moments, leave us!” His voice became firm.

“Yes sir!”

Two guards came out from the tent. One was heading towards Emperor Sanchez’s tent reporting Prince Fredrick’s action while the other stood on guard, waiting for the next order.

Fredrick stood silently in the tent. He scanned the boy from head to toe, searching any suspicious appearance on the boy. He finally sat on the edge of the tent facing directly on the boy. His eyes were set on the innocent face of the boy as he speak in his calm possible voice, “Now it’s just us. Tell me, what happened last night? What did you witness?”

Silence. There was no response from the boy.

“I don’t want father to torture you to get that information so please tell me what you know.” he continued.

No words could escape Fredrick’s voice at this moment or the boy’s. There was a long silence. Few minutes after, Emperor Sanchez entered the tent and raged to the prince. Eric couldn’t bear hearing another throat-fight so he took few steps away from the area and then he realized that Dawn was disappeared. He trailed back to the shack but Dawn wasn’t in there either. He yelled his name few times but there was no response. As he ran back to the campsite, something caught his eyes. Dawn was there talking to his father. Eric’s feet spontaneously took steps backwards further and further away from the campsite.

Eric could feel a cold breeze passing through his red cloth into his skin. It was a disturbing feeling and it came to a point when he turned his body around. Blocks of houses were burnt down to ashes, corpses lying around the area, blood spurted dispersedly and some of the fire is still awake and breathing. He dropped down to his knees, not strong enough to see it. If this state was tragic even for a man who was trained to fight, no words could explain to those who saw it the first time.

“Heartbreaking, isn’t it?”

A voice was heard through his ears before a soft touch landed to his shoulder. With eyes looking straight to the burnt village, Fredrick stood beside him. Eric got on his two feet and slightly bowed before the prince. Fredrick patted Eric on the back and smiled intently.

“Do you think the boy is innocent, Eric?” the young prince asked.

Hastily, he searched for a decent explanation to why both Dawn and Eric eavesdrop on him so they could be spared but before he could say anything, Fredrick was ahead of him.

“No need to cover for him any longer Eric. I know you and Dawn ever since you were born,” he said, “And I know how many times you were in trouble because of my brother. You are General Barwick’s son after all.”

Eric couldn’t understand why his lips were sealed throughout the conversation or he chose not to speak. For all he knew, his mind was lost to the thought of his late father. As he remembered, his father always mentioned Fredrick’s name and how close of an alliance he was with him. Eric’s father died protecting him not many years ago and probably for that reason alone, Fredrick was indebted to his family.

“A vision was destroyed protecting the king and a life was taken protecting a prince. Barwick was indeed a great man and a hero.” Fredrick paused for a moment to watch his inadequate expression, then he continued, “He never told you the reason he lost his left sight, I assumed.”

“Eric?”

Dawn’s voice calling his name could be heard after a few silence moments. He stood by him and smiled boldly to his face. With an innocent face, he said, “I guess you’re caught too…”

“Father’s giving me the lecture of the century…” he said proudly.

“He should, considering your childish behavior,” Fredrick replied.

“Shut up! Go away!” he pushed Fredrick away.

“Don’t stay up too late and go back to the hut. Julia must be worried,” Fredrick said before turning away to leave them both.

“You’re not thinking of sneaking away again, are you?”

“You truly are a good friend.” Dawn insisted on his quest. Placing his arms around Eric’s shoulder, he whispered, “We’ll wait for a few silence and then we go…”

Few hours passed by and the night has gone old. A soft whisper woke Eric up. Not realizing that he must’ve dozed off on the lookout for Dawn, He saw him resting on one of the trees nearby. The voice called him out again. He stood on his two feet scanning the entire forest before his eyes. A light shone from nowhere and in an instant a kid appeared before his eyes. It was the same lad that was locked up in the cage they saw back in the campsite. The kid stood silently in the burnt village.

Aware of the safety of the prince, Eric pulled out his Ryugaken and stand on his combat position. He didn’t deny he shivered silently as it will be his first combat.

“Stay calm, Eric. I meant no harm,” the lad finally spoke.

“Who are you and what do you need from us?” Eric asked.

“We have no intention to the prince, we seek only you. Come forth,” he replied calmly.

Eric walked cautiously and silently towards the kid. As he get close enough to him, unintentionally he stepped on a piece of thin, dead branch and the cracking of the branch stirred Dawn from his sleep. The kid placed his left hand on Eric’s back and lifted his right hand.

Dawn’s sleep disappeared in an instant as he saw the kid placed his hand on Eric. He got on his feet and ran towards him. He screamed his name but only a few meters away, he lost them to a blink of light flashed before his eyes.