Prologue

The sun had just set beyond the horizon; reaching out towards the glittering ocean with his blood-drenched, trembling hand, he could feel the blood slowly stain his ivory, silk tunic red. His legs were so badly broken and bleeding from the many puncture wounds, they would probably never support his weight again. Light-headed from the gaping hole in his chest, his vision began to blur and his muscles went limp. I need to keep my eyes open! I need to protect them for a little longer!

Sorian

"Ameer!" Upon sighting his best friend, the fourteen-year-old heir of Arkta; Sorian offered a curt response to the scruffy servant boy awaiting his reply a few steps away.
He raced down the ice-glazed stairs to his friend in the garden below, taking the steps by twos or threes.
When the heir heard his arrival, he shrunk away, becoming increasingly more interested in the frost-lined flowers.
"Sorian…Lord Asterin, is there something I can help you with?" The frail, grey-haired prince mumbled.
With a vibrant laugh that lit up the eternal winter around them, Sorian placed his arm around his friend's narrow shoulders, "Of course not, do I need a reason to see my best friend?"
"I guess not."
"So how did the meeting this morning go? You met with the head of the security forces, right? The tall general with bedhead?"
"You shouldn't address him so informally, he is your senior," his friend muttered, reprimanded him. "But yes, I met with General Alguerra. The recruitment and training are causing way too many casualties; so we were looking for new methods that will be more effective and less dangerous and-"
"Boring!" Cutting off Ameer before he could go off on another tangent, Sorian steered his friend through the garden, pointing out the different plants that caught his eye.
Exasperated, Ameer tried to correct his incredibly lacking knowledge of Arktan plants. "No no, you've got it all wrong! That's an ice dragon crawling vine, a snow lily only has two petals AND they don't point up!"
Bursting into a fit of laughter, Sorian doubled over, breathless. Irritation plastered on Ameer’s pale face, as a blow landed just below his ribs moments later.
“Hey! What was that for!?” Sorian playfully retorted as Ameer turned away, hiding his bell-like laughter behind his hand.
“No reason,” Having gotten his breath under control, Ameer headed further into the garden.
Sorian watched his friend’s slight hint of happiness fade and ran after him.
“âme âme~”
Ameer stopped dead. Of course. Of all things, Ameer’s childhood nickname would work.
“Lord Asterin. I must take my leave now. Good day,” Ameer left a hint of a smile present as he walked back to the safety of the palace walls.

Ameer

After bidding his friend goodbye, what remained of his smile vanished. During his meeting, the general confessed his worries of a potential attack on Arkta expected as soon as today.
For fear of his friend’s safety and knowing that he was the target of the attack, he knew the best way to ensure Lord Asterin’s safety was by putting as much distance between the two of them as possible.
Suddenly- an explosively intense bang erupted from the garden behind him. The attack had begun, It was them: the infamous Shadows.

Sorian

Seconds after Ameer left his peripheral...