Koletise armastus

“Quite often, something happens that we cannot control at all. There are a lot of things we can’t subdue, and a lot of things we just don’t want to. When there is a chance, you need to take it, not miss. After all, it can lead to more than just a disaster in such a case”

“There has been a war in the world for many centuries. There has always been a war, but quite often there were moments that allowed you to enjoy life, not just battles and fights. Wars, battles, fights, deaths, injuries, pools of blood… So much was happening there, but life cannot always last with them. But one day, the war ended, because of a king who decided to negotiate.”

“The king was able to negotiate with the enemy, the war ended with a truce and the division of the territories of the continents, as well as the definition of neutral territory. Truth… One real reason why the war ended was unknown to anyone, but it stopped battles and fights for the next five hundred years.”

“After five centuries, the world was waiting for a change once again.”

Our Empire… It has always been on the side of goodness. “She overcomes this turn, captures the sphere and scores a point for her team! Victory! The blue team won the semi-annual game!” loud voices resounded throughout the huge stadium where dangerous but exciting games were taking place. Our Empire… Has never sided with violence and cruelty. “You did great!” a dragon flew through the gate, landing on the surface. The girl who was eliminated from the game congratulated her friend on the victory, which she deserved with luck and speed. People have always been happy, because this Empire was Ours. No one could take it away from us. No one tried. “Thanks, Lui, but it was the captain who distracted them, not me,” a girl descended from a snow-white dragon, removing a kind of mask from her face, finally inhaling fresh air, “Oh, how good it is to win in the morning!” she whispered, stretching in her back, causing a pleasant crunch. There could have been attacks, but we dealt with them, really. No one could take our home Empire from us. Nobody. “Well done, Seventh,” the players of the team in red clothes came up with their dragons to the gate of the other team, smiling and wiping sweat from their foreheads. “Philip! You did a good job in the first half too,” the winned girl smiled and shook his hand. Opponents on the field and friends out of it. No one has been an enemy outside and is unlikely to ever be. But there was always a chance. “Where is your captain? I wanted to ask how he dodged my attacks,” rubbing his wrists, the Captain of the enemy team asked, examining the blue one. Except two girls with their dragons and the red team itself, there was no one. And this chance… It began to grow. “He dodged?! Thats crazy! Even Avril can’t easily dodge your attacks!” Luiana, who is in charge of reconnaissance in her team, looked surprised at the captain of the red team, then at her friend. Philip, the captain of the red team. Avril, the player responsible for attack and support, but not inferior to both captains. Their captain, Felix, was in charge of action and attacks. Everyone had their own role and each performed it well and helped the others. Anyway, a team is a team. A team is a team, and an Empire is an Empire. But people in both will not always be people. There are always chances and they cannot be removed. “He dodged and remained completely intact, and you, Avril… have always been lucky, you see” Philip winked at her, and saying his goodbyes, went to his side of the colosseum. Both girls chuckled at this, folding their arms over their chests. It wasn’t the first time the captain of an enemy team had paid attention to an ordinary player. And obviously not the last one. There will be no end, and let their enemies remember these words. “Avril, Loui, to His Majesty, immediately!” the captain of their team landed heavily next to the girls, giving an order, which was rare, and the seriousness looked strange on the good man’s face. The chances… They began to grow at a tremendous rate. Dragonriders have served the King and members of the royal family for many years and always came when they were called. Only here… With each passing century, there were fewer and fewer of them. Only the one who is destined to find the dragon egg can become a rider and no one else. From time immemorial, this has been and should be the case in the future. Only if there weren’t very few of them left. One way or another, they will continue to serve the Royal Blood. But of which side? “Your Majesty, has something happened?” Philip’s team was also in the throne room. Surprisingly, the captain of the blue team was aware of the situation, and nhis opponent was not aware of literally anything. Their statuses were the same, but always, for some reason, only the captain of the blue team received any information directly from the mouth of the king. “An attack is being prepared on us, and soon the war will begin,” the king was completely calm, as if he knew how everything would go, as if he knew how to repel the attack. Absolutely unshakable. Not for long. Remember my words. “What does this mean?!” the Red team was immediately outraged. It was very strange even for the riders, even though they were constantly rushing into battle and joking with each other about how well they would have distinguished themselves in the war if it had started at that time. But when it comes to the reality, no one can say a word. “Your Majesty, this is impossible. Peace between the territories has lasted for five centuries, why does a war suddenly start?” Avril stepped forward, showing the “wait” sign to the red team, “Their ruler was the first to sign a blood treaty five centuries ago. How can a war start under such conditions?” A blood treaty… The first signatory has no right to violate it, only if the other party does not take over its violation. “Your knowledge is commendable, but I am not sure that the information was in the scriptures and textbooks,” the King visibly tensed, and the girl narrowed her eyes. That's strange. “Thank you, but I will ask for an answer to my question,” nodding gratefully, the girl took her hands behind her back. It could have been considered arrogance, but since the king did not say anything, then everything was fine. Distrust is the first sign of the beginning of dark times. “Well… the soldiers of their territory set foot on neutral lands and headed towards ours, killing our soldiers on the way. Perhaps they are already in the Empire,” this news made everyone surprised, and the rider who had question did not show it if there was any. She just nodded, standing in a row, “Since you are the only riders who are able to control the dragons to the fullest, I will have to ask you for help in this war.” “Do you want us to… participate in the war? Your Majesty, we don’t even know how to fight properly! How can we help in the war? “ Philip stepped forward this time, frowning. He might be the captain, but he wasn’t because was much older than the others. Unless he became younger than the others in next ten years, while six feet underground. Felix, the captain of the blue team, is older than the rest, while Philip is in second place in seniority. Felix is thirty-eight, Philip is thirty. The difference is not that big and not that small, but because of it the red captain was not counted in the battles outside the dragon arena. Felix, on the other side, was famous for his achievements in sparring. As many and even old people say, “If Felix had been born before the war, with his help the Empire could have won and would not have had to make peace with the enemies.” Anyway, now he has chance. “Therefore, Philip Alderrick, Felix Draxlow will teach you before the war begins, from morning to evening,” the King never addressed his subordinates only by name. Either by title or by full name and surname, “You may be excused, all except Avril Solhat.” Distrust is the first sign of chaos. “Did you want to talk to me alone, Your Majesty?” when all the riders had left the hall, the king sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Avril Solhat, you always asked a lot of questions and they were always good for answers, but your awareness makes me scared,” looking up at the King, the girl clasped her hands behind her back. This is not the first time they have talked about this topic. And obviously not the last one. “You know a lot of things and don’t show all your knowledge, so I have to ask, what else do you know about the topic of war five centuries ago?” the ruler asked. “All I know is that after the change of Emperor Karalis, his brother Councilor Kalips became Emperor and signed a blood treaty with the Ruler of the Shadow Empire. The continents were divided into three parts and since then there have been no wars with the enemy Empire,” she did not take her eyes off the king’s eyes, she spoke clearly and to the point. When she finished her short story, she raised her head without taking her eyes off him. He feels the distrust. Not the first and not the last time. “It’s good you know that… Then you probably know that their Ruler lost something in that war, don’t you” the king sat back, propping his head on his hand and looking down at the girl. Was this a trick question? What should be answered and how? Avril didn’t know the answer to the question itself. “Since he was the first to decide to sign the contract, it must be something dear to his heart” King’s voice was absolutely clear. Something very dear. Dear to everybody. “Avril Solhat, this monster has no heart. He killed thousands of our people, as did his Adviser, and will kill them again in this war. You’re one of the riders, and I hope you don’t think he might have a heart when the moment comes for him to be executed for all those losses. You can be excused,” the King sounded disappointed, but there was a slight note of peace in his voice. As if he was glad she didn’t know the exact answer. However, this was not worth taking into account, because the girl left the hall, bowing to the king. So wrong. “Well, what is it?” Lui was waiting for her outside the door, as Philip was. They waited for Avril while everyone went to the stadium to practice. “It’s okay. His Majesty just asked me what else I know. I just told him what he wanted to hear, ” Avril couldn’t lie, but she could leave out some details and not everyone could understand when she was telling the truth or lying. Even Lui, in all the years of their friendship, did not know that her friend had never lied to her, even if she did not say something. Not for long. “Everything he wanted to hear, and what he didn’t want to hear? ” Philip raised one brow, folding his arms across his chest. Unlike the others, he guessed. Solhat remained silent on this, shrugging her shoulders and heading for the exit. They had to train before the start of the war, which could begin very soon. And which could be the last in the history of both Empires. Training was hard for soldiers, and even harder for soldiers on huge flying lizards. When you need to control not only yourself, but also another big creature, the whole point of grueling training begins. While the dragons were resting, their riders were training among themselves. Felix was an experienced swordsman and trained everyone to wield a sword, and after the sword, to wield a bow and so on with every weapon in their endless arsenal. Dodge here, roll over there, hit here, block there. There were many times when it was necessary to use not only your weapons, but also your limbs when it came to fighting without weapons and without dragons. As Felix put it, dragons will not always be able to help their riders and sometime the rider will have to protect the dragon himself, therefore, along with training riders in the saddle, training took place out of it, and sometimes even standing on it, holding on for your life with one hand or foot for any part… Even in some hours of training, flashed battles in pairs on the same dragon and training reptiles to follow the rider’s commands from afar. In the end, just two months later, everything was ready and the riders were ready to fight, but there was still no war. It was as if this terrible, annoying news was just an excuse for the riders to train, and not waste time on their dragon games. It was the middle of winter on the dorstep, snow had fallen not so long ago, and people in the Empire were preparing in the Capital and at the borders, so that Gods forbid, they would not miss the enemy or any enemy scout. “Ri! Are you here?” Lui came into the stadium looking for her friend. She couldn’t find her anywhere, so that was the last place she should check. She decided not to take the dragon, giving him a break from the day’s training, and it was getting colder in the evening, so she didn’t want to strain her dragon at all. It is better to have rest while there is an opportunity. At the stadium she noticed the figure of a woman and a dragon lying nearby. The figure moved along the standing beams, probably training her sense of balance, balancing on one leg, then on the other, at the same time holding a sword in her hands, repeating movements learned not so long ago, without stopping her steps. Two things were not done at once with such training, because of the chance of getting injured with a weapon that was not a training one, but a real one, but it seemed to the girl that Lui was looking for, she did not bother at all. “Avril!” as soon as she stepped closer than two meters from her friend, a sword flew past her ear, crashing into the ground, leaving a hole, and the girl standing on the beams finally opened her eyes, “piercing” the newcomer with a glassy stare. The realization made her eyes warm up and her body relax so as not to scare her friend, who was already terrified because of the sudden attack. “Lui? Why are you here?” training has already ended, and the stadium was closed. The rider jumped off the beam, landing behind the newcomer, pulling the sword out of the field cover. “Training ended about three hours ago, why are you alone in such a cold place? ” from the side there was an indignant snort from the white dragon, who got up, approaching the rider and offensively nudging Lui’s shoulder with her muzzle. “I’m sorry, Saphira, ” patting the dragon on the nose, Dreik smiled, but still waited for an answer from her friend, who adjusted the saddle on her reptile and sighed. “I have to train harder, Lui. I don’t trust this.… At all,” partially turning her head to her friend, the girl lowered it. She was honest with her and Lui felt it. “All this news is about the war… This is not logical. The ruler of the Shadow Empire was the first to sign the blood treaty, he basically cannot be the first to break it.” “Wait, Ri… You don’t trust His Majesty?” Solhat looked away at this question, “Ri, we are riders, we can’t refuse to serve the members of the royal family, let alone distrust! ” Dreik whispered, moving closer to her friend. Even though she understood her suspicions, she couldn’t go against a simple principle. Not for long. “I understand, Lui, but I can’t help it, I feel like it’s not the true” Climbing into the saddle, the rider helped her friend to climb in and sit behind her. “You don’t have to believe me, just don’t forget it.” “That’s the point. I believe in you and that makes me even more worried…” Distrust… The first sign of War.