“Storm! Long time no see!” Laira comes up to us just as Storm’s feet touch the ground.

“Wow…” Marcus finds himself to be in shock once again. The sun’s coming up. I wasted an entire night. Great...

“I thought you guys might be asleep. Did you stay up because of me? I’m sorry.” I look at the two of them while petting Storm.

“Not at all!” Laira’s quick to answer. “I couldn’t have slept anyway!” She hasn't changed a bit - gets excited as easily as before...

“I just stayed to keep her company…” Marcus has slowly begun to come back to us.

“I’m sorry I made you wait, unfortunately, you’ll have to wait a bit longer, I’m exhausted.” I look at Storm again. “Go inside, Emerald is there, you two have a lot of catching up to do.” Storm flaps her wings and makes her way to the stables. The gates are open anyway.

“See you later!” Laira gives the dragon a quick shout. Then looks at me. “Let’s get you inside.” She gets me from my right side and the young mage tries to support me from my left.

“Am I that obvious?” I ask Laira.

“No. I just know you well enough…” She pauses. “Even after all this time…”

“I see…” I turn my head to see her face. “What a good little sister you are, even if I don’t deserve you…” I smile at her.

“Don’t be silly…” She smiles back with a sad smile, same as mine. Marcus’s voice breaks the silence.

“About that?” He takes his time. “You two are sisters? For real?” He doesn't seem to have his mind wrapped around the fact yet.

“Well, actually…” Laira begins.

“We’re not blood related.” I finish.

“I see…” It doesn’t really hit Marcus until the moment after. “Wait, what?” Now he gets it. We make our way inside and sit down in the kitchen. They have changed a couple of things. Doesn’t matter.

“So, if you’re not related, why do you keep calling each other “sister”?” He just can't let it go. I sigh.

“My mother was very close friends with Laira’s parents.” I hope she will get the gist of it. It isn’t the time to tell Marcus who I really am just yet…

“But one day there was a terrible accident and my parents died…” Laira finishes. I could tell it’s hard for her to speak about it still...

“So, my mother took her in…” An image of a smaller version of Laira crying her eyes out appears in my mind…

“And since that day we became sisters…” Laira quickly wipes the tears of her face and smiles. “And that’s all.”

“Pretty much.” I add. Obviously, there's much more to the story but it's not Laira’s decision to tell him or not.

“I see…” He thinks carefully about what his next words should be. “Well then, is anyone hungry?” Marcus choses to deflect our attention of the topic. Smart move.

“I would love some food but I feel like sleeping more.” I say stretching out on the table.

“Right, we should probably get some sleep too. We have to make a full report from our mission anyway.” Laira stands up, with Marcus following her lead. Once again, the two of them are supporting me from both sides and leading me upstairs into one of the bedrooms.

“I see you made some remodeling to the place.”

Laira blushes. “A bit, yes, I can put everything back if you don’t like it!”

“Relax, it’s fine.” I don’t really care. I haven’t set foot in here for over half a century. It’s quite calming to see the place has changed a bit. It took part of the memories away and it made it easier to be here, to breathe…

“Here we are.” Laira pushes the door to one of the rooms open. “This one’s yours.”

“Thank you.” I say sitting down on the bed.

“Marcus, would you give us a moment?” Laira asks him.

“Sure.” He nods, leaving the room. “Rest up, Deathbreeze.” He says to me as he closes the door behind him.

“Will do.” I answer. I get out of my gear, with Laira’s help, of course, and get under the sheets with just a light robe on me.

“Are you comfortable?” Laira asks me.

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“Then I’ll let you rest now. See you when you wake up.” She gets up to leave.

“Wait.” I stop her. “I’m sorry for making you wait all these years…”

“That’s not important now. You’re back. That’s all that matters.” I hear her voice tremble a bit. She turns and I see the moon light from the open window reflect in the tear drops on her face.

“Still…” I sigh… “Thank you…” I pause again. “Thank you for staying my little sister all this time.” I smile at her. She smiles back.

“No problem.” We look at each other for a moment longer before Laira leaves.

“Emerald.” I call on her in my mind.

“I’m here, Child.” Her deep tone echoes in my thoughts.

“How’s Storm?” I ask her.

“She’s very happy, Child.”

I wait a second. “Why did she come back to me?”

“She believed in you.” That thought roused something unpleasant inside of me…

“But…” I begin but my voice breaks up, “I never promised her… I would come back… or said anything of sorts… I just told her to go…” I feel tears roll down my face…

“Doesn’t matter. She felt that one day she would see you again. Wasn’t sure when or how but she knew, one day you would come back for her. That’s the reason she came when you called, Child.” Emerald sometimes sounds like a know-it-all. Ugh... I sigh and smile.

“Thank you, Storm.”

“Sleep easy, Child, we’re here for you.” Emerald’s low growl is the last sound I hear before falling asleep.

“Hey, Laira?” I ask her quietly.

“What is it?”

“Why didn’t you ever tell me about you and Deathbreeze?” She kept something like that from me, naturally it makes me wonder what else she could have kept a secret…

“Honestly, I was afraid…” Her voice has a hint of fear in it as she speaks to me in a whisper.

“Of what?” I ask her, stroking her back.

She waits a moment before answering me. “How much do you know about the Great Battle that happened fifty years ago?”

“Not much but what does that have to do with anything that’s going on now?” She has me confused.

“Everything.” I feel Laira’s lungs take in air. “Back then Breeze played a huge part in that battle…” She stops.

“What happened?” I run my fingers down her side.

“They lost most of the fighting forces. Only a handful of people survived. Basically, it’s called the Great Battle because they were so close to winning and if they had won it back then, it would have been the greatest victory in the History of the Concord, however… The battle is also known as the Great Battle of Sorrow because that fight had the largest number of fallen soldiers ever recorded…” Laira’s whisper goes silent.

“I see… But I still don’t get what’s Deatbreeze’s role in all of it?”

I feel Laira’s body tense under my arm. “That battle cost Breeze her best friend’s life, Lady Amana Starlight was killed in the last fight of the battle…” Oh… “Also, there is a part of the battle that never was record and only a handful of people know about it…” She pauses.

“There should have been more survivors than there was but the thing is… During her last fight, Breeze got possessed. Some kind of a foreign entity forced the powers of a Celestian out of Breeze. She lost control of her own body. The enemy used her to kill Lady Starlight and to wipe out what was left of the Royal Army.” I see the bigger picture more clearly now…

Laira continues. “Luckily, Sir Crile managed to stop Breeze before it got out of hand and the remaining soldiers managed to escape the Castle in time. After Breeze got better, she packed up her things and left Araneum. The pain was too much for her. She left without telling anyone.”

I can feel there is something that is holding Laira back.

“It’s ok.” I rub her back again.

“She never contacted any of us in half a century, so I thought that, if the day ever comes, when I’ll see her again, I’ll let her decide if she wants to acknowledge me or not… And that’s the reason why I didn’t tell you about her…”

“I understand…” We lay there quietly.

“Marcus, believe me, there are so many things I want to tell you but I can’t tell you about me, without involving Breeze and there are things that are only hers to share, until that happens – there isn’t much I can do…” Laira pushes herself up so I can see her face better.

“I need you to know I am so sorry about all of this, but please be patient a while longer…” Her eyes begging me. How can I say no?

“Sure, don’t worry about it.” I smile and kiss her. “Now come on, let’s get some rest.” I hug her and we fall asleep.

I feel paralyzed as soon as I wake up. This can’t be good.

“Hey, Emerald?” I reach for her.

“Good to know you’re finally awake, Child.”

“Yeah, about that. How long I was out?”

“About a day.” Emerald is as calm as ever. Perfect…

“Are they here?” I ask again.

“Yes.” She keeps it short.

“How’s Storm?”

“Stretching her wings, she should be back later.”

“That’s good.” By a miracle I manage to get my ass out of the bed and get dressed with the clothes that Laira had left for me, on the chair next to my bed, obviously, at some point while I was snoring. The robes are a dark red color – my favorite – the material’s a mixture of silk and linen. Not too fancy but not too cheap. Just the way I like it. I make my way downstairs. I find both, Laira and Marcus in the kitchen.

“Morning, sleep ok?” Marcus is the first to greet me.

“Like a bear in winter.” I sit down.

“You hungry?” Laira puts a cup of tea in front of me on the table.

“Could eat a horse.” I sip my tea. Hot!

“I’ll get something ready for you.” Laira rustles the plates and some food on a separate table, moments later the miniature fire place gets lit up and the smell of meat being cooked rouses my appetite even more. Hold it together.

“There’s something I have been meaning to ask you, sis.” I look at Laira’s back.

“What is it?”

“How long you’ve been drinking the damned potion?” Whatever she wanted to do just now – will have to wait. She turns around with an expression that only a person caught stealing can have on them, because they thought there was no way they would get busted.

“How did you know?” Her voice a tiny whisper.

“Don’t insult me, Laira.” I glare at her. She trembles.

“You honestly want me to believe that in the past fifty years you haven’t grown? Your size is still the same as the last time I saw you.” I give her a chance to tell me what was she thinking herself? Even though, the reason is clearly sitting right next to me.

“A while now…” She doesn’t look me in the eye. I sigh.

“How long?” I ask again, this time putting a bit more pressure in there.

“Years now…” She completely turns her head away from me.

“You stop today.” I’m not negotiating it.

“But…” She tries to argue.

“No!” I cut her off. “I’m not trying to pretend to be your big sister like nothing happened. I’m just saying you know better yourself. There is no reason why you need to put yourself through such torture.” She refuses to look at me. I get up from my seat and come over to her.

“Just because you got lucky up until now, it doesn’t mean you’ll be so if you keep it up.” I hug her. “I think he loves you enough to deal with a minor issue as you being taller than him…” I look at Marcus, his face is the combination of confused, surprised, maybe a bit amazed and scared, and completely lost at the same time. He just sits there. Eventually, he finds the courage to join in on the conversation.

“What potion?” Clever boy. I let Laira go and she goes back to cooking, while I take my place behind the table again.

“Laira, what potion?” His tone of choice is a little bit demanding but calm enough. I sit back and observe. I’ve done enough.

“The shrinking potion.” Laira finds her voice. “So, I can make myself shorter…”

“What? Why?” Marcus gestures with his arms as if he lost his way and is arguing with a tree about which direction he should take now.

“Noxians are the tallest human like creatures. I didn’t want you to feel…” She bites the end of that sentence.

“Are you kidding me?” He gets off his ass.

“Not in the slightest.” She looks at him.

“What are the side effects?” The mage turns to me now.

I wait before answering. “She could start shrinking so fast she would simply disappear from the face of the earth.“ I give the guy a moment to deal with that picture.

“I’m joking. The potion is usually used in order to shrink to a certain size, but can only be used for a limited time. Laira has been using it for years, to prevent her body from getting bigger. But in doing so, she exposes herself to the risk of turning into a grotesque giant. Once the potion stops working, one day at random, her body can literally explode, making her limbs grow insanely fast and incorrectly, deforming her. That would cause instant death, since her physical form could not possibly keep up with the sudden changes.” A terrified look warped the face of Marcus.

“Like I said – she’s been lucky so far.” I sip my tea again.

“And you’ve been doing this for years?” He glares at Laira.

“Yes.” She answers him holding his gaze.

“Are you stupid or just insane?”

“She’s in love.” I answer for her and get the death stare from my little sister. Sorry. I smile and continue sipping my tea in silence.

“Whatever!! Stop it. This is no reason for you to take risks like that.” Marcus hugs her.

“Alright.” I hear her whisper. I roll my eyes.

“Now then, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but the meat is burning.” I point toward the fire.

“Oh shit!” Laira quickly grabs the meat of the flame and throws it aside. We all laugh. After our lunch-breakfast, I begin asking the important questions.

“I need you two to tell me what has been going on with the Army and the Royal City for the past thirty years at least. Especially what changed.”

Laira’s the first to answer. “Where should we start?”

“How about you tell me how did that brat became the king in the first place?”

“That brat?” Marcus seems a bit lost in translation, as usual.

“The King. Tahon. How long he’s been sitting up there?” I explain to the best of my abilities.

“Five years now.” Laira answers.

“That’s it?” That has me wondering… Why come after me now?

“How?” I ask again. Laira’s the one to answer.

“Apparently the previous King, Bellkehm, didn’t have any children of his own, so he had to choose a successor in a different way. Tahon was the one who passed all of The King’s trials and was crowned the next King of the Concord. However, Bellkehm passed away only fairly recently… He was overseeing a lot of Tahon’s actions while he was alive…”

That explains it. He must’ve had a plan ready in place long ago, just couldn’t use it while the geezer was alive… Old Man Bell… A vision of an older Balli man with a grin on his scarred face appears before my eyes…

“Ok, and what is the current political state of Araneum?”

“Well,” Marcus speaks up now; “a bit rocky. Not a lot of the higher ups fully trust the new King, even though he’s been the sole ruler for the past five years. He has been trying to implement some change that would affect not only all of Existara but The Land of Race as well, and there is a lot of resistance towards it…”

“What kind of change?” I ask being afraid of what I may hear.

“One – would be uniting the nations.” Marcus stares at his hands as he walks me through it. “Instead of having four races fighting among themselves for every little thing, The King wishes to unite all of them and have one powerful nation that he would rule upon.”

“All from the comfort of the Royal City, of course?" I ask. Marcus nods. "I don’t need to ask you how that’s working out…” It makes sense considering his ambitions and a giant ass ego… That idiot. Uniting the nations might benefit them, since a worldwide peace would finally be achieved and the meaningless disputes over land would also stop, given the fact that all of the land would be considered common grounds. However, that would also mean that The King of the Concord would be the only rightful ruler. I doubt that he would simply hand over this position easily. And if so – The Leaders of the four nations would not be happy if they lost their right to handle their lands. That would just spark a series of civil wars… Meaning, the battle he’s supposedly is getting ready for, should be the stepping stone for him to be able to unite the people. If he goes into battle and obliterates the Castle of Despair, The Leaders would not have another option other than submitting to his power… If that’s the case, then he is ready to slaughter the young men and women of the Royal Army in order to achieve his goal… Not happening!

“What else?” I ask taking a gulp of my drink.

“He increased the number of soldiers recruited every year.” Laira gets that one.

“How is he doing that? Lowering the entry standards or something?”

“Not really.” Marcus speaks again. “He just lowered the minimal age required to enter the army. It used to be twenty years, now it’s sixteen…”

“What?!” I can not believe the bastard… “He’s sending kids to war?” I’m getting pissed off now.

“Not… Exactly…” The doubt in Laira’s eyes is clear as day. She knows how I feel about these kinds of things.

“The ones that enter at the age of sixteen are put into a different training program and train separately from the main army forces until the age of twenty. You can still train at your homeland and then enroll at the Royal Army when you hit twenty, but then you are expected to pass an examination of your skills. The standards for it are extremely high. If you pass – you are immediately placed in a platoon or a fleet. If you fail – you are forced to undergo the training from the beginning…”

Damn it… “I see.” I lower my gaze at my glass. Basically, it’s just another way of showing why uniting the nations is so important. He recruits youngsters at an early age and molds them into whatever he needs them to be… But there’s just one thing that doesn’t sit right by me…

“And why are those kids so eager to sign up to die?”

Neither of the two kids wants to answer me on that one. I can feel it.

“Guys!” I push for it.

“He’s giving away gold for any recruit who does well enough with their training…” Marcus doesn’t even raise his eyes.

“Times are tough. Kids sign up to be part of the Royal Army because this is the only Military that pays in gold for being here. The living and the food are all taken care of by the Palace. Even the weapons and the gear. To some extent. If you wish to have more or better ones – you can save up to buy it yourself. However, only a few choose to do so. What I’m saying is – any new recruits, who enter the Royal Army now, do it because any gold they earn, will be sent back home to their families. You get a standard rate every month. But the army is not restricted to working other jobs around the Royal City. After the training is over and if the soldiers do not get sent out someplace – they stay in the barracks and work in the city, earning extra gold.”

He pauses a moment. “Besides that, the parents are now forcing their kids to join the Royal Army, only because of the gold…”

Oh my… Bastard! He has no shame, has he? The reason why the entry age to the Royal Army is twenty years old is because the kids are old enough to choose, no one is forcing them to do anything. Yes, you join your land’s army at the age of sixteen, but that’s only because for the next two years you undergo light training and basically just clean and mop the barracks, and take care of the meals and mounts. At the age of eighteen you start your real training. In each nation the techniques and methods learnt are different but the basic timeline is the same. Eventually you hit twenty and have the opportunity to choose: stay or go. If you choose to be part of the Royal Army you will be in training for the next three years until you are put on the front lines. This system has been going on for ages, only because the Royal Army deals with more dangerous events, than the Military back home. And not everyone is cut out for such pressure… But to offer gold to young children, so they would join the forces? He's buying them! Like slaves! As long as the families are receiving their gold, no one thinks about it as a bad thing… All for the sake of the people, right?

“He must waste a ton of money with such a system. Where does he get it? Bigger taxes?” I don’t think I want to hear the answer…

“It’s not that he raised the taxes, he just makes us pay for more things.” Laira looks at me for a brief moment and immediately averts her eyes.

“For example, if you wish to have your own tavern or workshop, you have to pay the “allowance payment”, which gives you the right to open your own business. However, then you need to pay to get permission to build the place if you are not buying one that is already built or if you do and want to change something you need to pay for that as well. Then you need to get permission to sell, to trade or to expand, if you are doing well enough. And of course, on top of that, you pay monthly taxes because you are running your business.”

“And it works? People are willing to go through all that?” I’m shocked.

“Yes.” Marcus takes over. “The initial payments are affordable, so nobody minds them and if your business is doing well, you’re not even feeling a dent in your earnings with the taxes that you pay.” So, that’s how he does it.

“What if you can’t pay? What if you lose your business?”

“They give you a timeline. If you don’t come up with the money until the deadline is up, you have a choice. Serve in the Military until you pay off your debt or…” Marcus hesitates.

“Or?” I feel the temperature of my body rise a bit.

“Or die. Publicly. For everyone to know and see…” Laira finishes it. I smash my fist onto the surface of the wooden table. That cursed moron! Of course, the recruitment for the army has increased, who in their right mind would agree to get publicly executed, when they have an option to stay alive, even if it means dying later in battle… This is getting out of hand… He really thinks that a bigger army will guarantee a victory?

“Alright, and what kind of changes did he add to the training itself?” I try to speak as calmly as possible...

“That’s the wall he keeps hitting.” Marcus finally looks at me, for the first time, after this conversation began.

“What’s that?” I must not have heard him right…

“Since the higher ups already agreed on early enrolment age and the pay-outs, they didn’t really agree to any more changes, especially any related to the training itself…” Marcus lowers his gaze again. Perfect. He increases the numbers drastically but they still teach millennium old tactics, because the old farts in charge still can’t be convinced to open their rusted minds a bit! I sigh. That’s probably another reason why he chose to go after me now. Damn it all to Hell… I heard enough. I have to get some air. I leave the room without saying a word more.