Year 300 of our Father, Augustus

  A sharp cng rang through the air.

  My head spun as a knight cd in dark armor held his sword up high, ready to strike.

  And just as my life was about to end, that sword was deflected by a blinding light.

  The power of a Runeknight...

  "Go, Miriam!"

  The knight whose power deflected the killing blow towered above me in royal Letician Blue armor, her insignia of the Kingdom of Leticia reflected the morning sunlight as it flooded through the castle walls.

  I found the strength to nod before running out of the room. I heard the cnging of swords from behind me, the sound of two combatants fighting to the death.

  ***

  The knight in blue and the knight in bck danced the waltz of death as they flew apart to every corner of the room before rushing to meet each other, their swords sparking as they viscerally tore at each other's bde.

  Every time he brushed against the blue knight, the bckened knight could feel the divine radiance emanating from their body. This wasn't an ordinary enemy, the foolish rank and file who had attempted to stop him with little more than rusty bdes and old wooden spears. Even without seeing the gleaming silver-azure armor, even without witnessing the incredible footwork that allowed them to keep up with his ever-increasing aggression. Truly magnificent knights in service of the monarchy didn't even have to lift a finger to show their mastery- their simple presence bent the air and runa that inhabited it around them.

  As the two knights flew towards each other yet another time, the bck knight smmed his foot into the ground at the st moment. The sudden change in momentum nearly threw him off bance and straight into the sharp end of the blue knight's sword, and he caught himself only at the st moment. Without hesitation, sshed his sword behind him in an instant, predicting where his opponent would be.

  And yet his swing only grazed the side of his adversary, ripping off a tiny bit of royal blue fabric.

  The knight in blue had also been caught off guard, barely dodging the surprise attack, but the st-minute maneuver had left them in an awkward position.

  On the other hand, the knight in bck had gambled with his life and lost. He knew that his little stunt, if failed, would have resulted in nothing less than his death, especially against such a formidable opponent.

  They both braced for the blow that would undoubtedly finish them off.

  ***

  My vision began to blur, and I began to feel dizzy. I haven't strained myself this much for a long time, I thought. I could feel my heart fluttering wildly as I struggled to breathe.

  I knew I couldn't hold on much longer; I could feel my frail body trying to rip itself apart. The bck scar that ran across my back fred and I stopped, nearly choking on the tears that formed from my eyes.

  Just a little more.

  "STOP!" Another bck-armored knight ran towards me.

  I struggled to keep myself conscious as I fell on my knees, unable to move. I spotted a rusty sword on the ground, no doubt belonging to one of the brave soldiers who had tried to stop the attack. They never stood a chance, I thought through gritted teeth. My arm trembled as it struggled to grab the sword. My stupid, useless, weak body, I screamed in my head.

  A radiant golden light soared from behind, hitting the knight square in the chest. The knight could barely react before a blinding fsh engulfed his body, disintegrating it into nothing more than a pile of ash and dust.

  I had been saved for a second time, I thought weakly. I struggled to turn around to spot my savior.

  Just then, my knees colpsed from exhaustion.

  "Miri... Miri... are you okay?" I faintly heard a soft woman's voice call me. I felt my body being gently picked up, and through my dazed vision I could barely see two dark-skinned hands caressing me.

  Miri... my family are the only ones who call me that. A female voice, and she's dark-skinned, so she must be....

  "Lily...", I could barely whisper. My brother's fiancée.

  "Miri... yes, it's me, Lily... I'm so gd you're alive."

  She carried me out into the pace entrance and through the double doors, walking briskly.

  "Your brother's waiting outside for you. We got a carriage ready. You're going to be all right," she reassured me.

  My heart raced as I saw the faint outline of my brother, cd in the same royal Letician armor as the knight who had saved me. I wished that I could run over and hug him, but I could barely move my legs and I was still much too dizzy to even walk. Instead, I mustered as strong of a smile as I could.

  "Miri! Miri! I can't believe you're here!" I heard my brother struggling to speak with tears in his eyes. I felt myself getting passed over to his hands. His head leaned forward and I kissed him on the cheek before accepting his embrace. "I can't believe you're safe, Miri." His eyes turned away and his smile disappeared. "But mother and father..."

  "I know," I whispered. "But at least you and Lily are still alive and here with me."

  "Ant, what's our pn now?" Lily lowered her voice.

  "We're heading East, to the Yngols proper [Mountain Range]. There's an old fort up high in the mountains where I'm sure the rebels haven't found yet. Let's help Miri recover before we regroup and think of a pn to take back the capital."

  He softened his voice to a whisper. "Lily, you don't need to come with me if you don't want to. You can go to back to your hometown in Nevers, where the rebels won't dare touch right now. I'd only ask that you make sure that my sister's safe and taken care of."

  "Ant... I can't just abandon you like this. Besides, Nevers and Leticia are one, and have been one ever since your father chose so. I believe in you." She leaned forward and kissed my brother gently.

  "We will take back what we lost... you and me both."

  And with that, my brother carried me gently into the carriage, where several dozen loyalist soldiers stood guard, the precious few that had survived the attack on our capital. He carefully id me down on the velvet couch, its fluffy and warm embrace so inviting my eyes started to feel drowsy right away.

  "Sleep tight and rest well, Miri."

  Those were the st words I heard before I fell asleep with my body engulfed by the comfortable velvet seat, and my head gently resting on my brother's p.

  ***

  After both the bck and blue knights realized they had cheated death, they then found themselves in an awkward standoff. Neither swordsman knew what exactly to do.

  The bck knight was the first to move. But instead of restarting the duel, he lifted himself into a standing position, his dark bck sword held vertically. His opponent followed suit.

  Just what was he doing? The knight in blue thought.

  The bck sword began to swirl the air around it, turning it into a bck fog.

  "You are truly a worthy opponent," the blue knight stated proudly. "However, you must know that such parlor tricks will not work against a knight of my caliber." The blue-cd knight fshed their own sword against the rising sunlight, an exquisite bde made of silver and whose hilt was lined with dazzling blue pearls.

  The bck knight instantly recognized such a sword. The épée Azurine was only delegated to the select few warriors of Leticia, an elite css of knights which was held not only in esteem in the current age, but had a legendary, rich history.

  "If I reveal my identity, would you please- sheathe that abomination before it sullies these walls and Augustine's legacy?"

  The knight in blue removed their helmet. Lush golden hair fell down to her waist, fluttering in the morning breeze. Her bright blue eyes glistened with aura and runa. She frowned slightly and her brow furrowed as she faced the bck knight. "You must know who I am, now?"

  "A female warrior of such strength... you must be a Runeknight." She couldn't read the bck knight's facial expression underneath his helmet, but she thought she could sense some surprise from his body expression.

  "And that golden hair, tall stature, and sharp blue eyes. Then, you must be the Maid of Yngolia, Ruby."

  Ruby smiled. "Then you must know that you stand no chance against me. Your swordsmanship is absolutely exquisite, I grant you that. But only the Runeknights, descendants of the progenitor Augustine [Augustus] himself, have true mastery of the runa." She held her sword up high, her face reflected in its fwless silver, its hilt refracting the light streaming into the room into a beautiful aquatic azure. "Leave now, and take your posse with you, before you all join Rachel in the Hei."

  Any educated individual in this day and age would understand the gravity of the situation that the bckened knight found himself in. It was common knowledge that the Runeknights were descended from the founder of the Menecian Empire, Augustus- the most revered man in the history of Scaldia. Augustus oversaw the creation of the modern Guild of Runeknights in the year 1 by honoring his 12 most loyal knights during his conquest of the known world.

  Ruby's azure sword lit up as she closed her eyes in deep concentration. The atmosphere around the room, the air which had carried the morning breeze froze in stasis. Golden particles materialized from thin air, gradually floating together in a serene show. She pointed her sword at the bck knight, and the cloud of golden dust soared across the room, encircling her opponent. The dust transformed into a beautifully-shaped golden net, entrapping the bck knight as he grimaced. Golden threads flew from Ruby's outstretched hands and wrapped tightly around the golden net and the knight in bck. Slowly clenching her hands into a fist, the tension of the threads grew stronger and stronger.

  The bck knight struggled to inhale, and the little air he managed to take in tasted a strange taste of metallic. The scent of death. This was the feeling of true powerlessness, where not only the battle, but also the atmosphere, and even fate, were completely out of one's control.

  "Huh?"

  The golden threads evaporated as a strong gale of wind blew in Ruby's way. She winced, her hair flying and her eyes blinded by the sudden tempest.

  Bck liquid crept up beneath her shiny armored boots, staining them as it bubbled under her feet.

  "What is..."

  A grotesque, massive hand, caked and dripping with dark slime rushed towards Ruby, leaving her almost no time to react.

  "Dragon Ma...?"

  Before she could find her bance, the long, thin, fingers of the giant hand closed in on her chest and legs. Her mouth opened to scream as a deep pain raced through her veins, but no sound came out.

  "As I thought." The bck knight stood, clutching his chest as he spoke. "Your kind are so full of arrogance and hubris."

  Ruby's vision blurred. Her eyes were stuck open in fear, and deep bck liquid coarsed through her body, leaving her barely conscious.

  "You drank the Crystalline Concoction, didn't you? A long time ago, but still." The knight paused, even though he knew she wouldn't be able to respond. "You can wear the colors of royalty all you want- but you can never hide your true past."

  Her pupils shook and then expanded, as the gleaming runa which had inhabited them faded to an ominous bck. Her blood-red irises pierced the thick air.

  "Augustus was a fool. And all of you who swore allegiance to him and his empire... oblivious fools as well." The knight in bck leaned in closer, watching Ruby's body being slowly engulfed by the dark liquid. "You do not truly wield the first gift. You and your friends do not understand its purpose and its power."

  The long, bony fingers of the hand released Ruby from its grasp, and her limp body crumpled to the floor, her hair stained bck and her face ghost-like.

  "Rejoice, young maiden. The dragons have returned."