Chapter 49: Chapter Forty-nine: Not you again.
"I am Lioren or Lio for short." the creature said. "Nice to meet you." Lucian stirred from his nap and stood up. Right in front of him stood a being too good to be true.
He wasn’t just handsome he was dangerous in a way that made an average look seem like treason.
Every line of his body looked sculpted for sinful deeds. Tall, broad-shouldered with a leather loose shirt clinging to a chest that could’ve been carved from the strongest diamonds. His waist shaped perfectly, leading to strong thighs that stuck to his leather pants.
Lioren had a face that was just too perfect, as if creation itself had been dared to make something this sinfully perfect. A smooth skin that covered his drool worthy body shone like brass. His hair fell in curly waves of ink-black silk, brushing the top of his collar. It was the kind of hair that made you want to sink your fingers in just to see if it was as soft as it looked.
His kissable lips were full, sculpted and pinkish with a faint curve that could ruin the sanest man if he ever smiled.
Even the air seemed to bend around him.
Damien stared dumfounded at the man in front of him before sizing him up.
"Where are we?" he asked simply, moving his eyes back up to meet him.
Lioren chuckled softly. "How about I know your name first?"
"You don’t need to know my name. Where are we?" Damien replied with a hard voice.
The man just stared at him with an amused look on his face. A clever idea crept into his mind just as he was about to talk. "Well. Guess you don’t want to go home then." Lio smirked and raised a brow before settling on a rock.
Damien pinched the bridge between his nose then sighed. "Fine then. I’m Damien and this is my brother Lucian."
"Oh I already knew that."
"Then why did you make me say it?"
"Just to get you to loosen up."
Damien looked like he wanted to punch him so bad but Lio just smiled widely and got up.
"Come with me. And maybe bring your brother with you too if he can walk."
Lio started walking into the cave and Damien turned to Lucian who looked at him with a blank expression. They both got up and followed him wordlessly.
As they walked, Damien tried to get answers from the strange man.
"So can you tell me where we are now?"
"You’re in Kesath, the dragon world."
"The dragon world?" Lucian, who had been quiet till now, asked.
Lio stopped walking and turned to him.
"You royals wouldn’t have heard of it. I’m guessing it’s a forbidden topic in your world." He turned and continued walking with his hands folded behind his back.
"And why are we here?"
"You’ll see."
Lucian stopped walking and clenched his fists. "How about I see it now before I get vicious?"
Lioren stopped again too and turned to meet him with a small smile. He really liked smiling huh?
"You wouldn’t want to do that...your highness."
"You don’t get to tell me what to do." Lucian said with restrained annoyance.
A loud laughter echoed from Lio’s throat at his words. He just shook his head, turned back and continued walking.
Annoyed, Lucian lunged forward with his fists in front of him, aiming for the back of his head. Without looking back, a large claw sprouted out of his back and slapped him. Lucian crashed into the side of the cave wall bringing a small mountain of the rocks falling on his body.
"Now." he said, turning around. "Let’s continue in peace shall we?"
Damien continued to follow him in silence while Lucian scoffed on the ground. He spat out some dust that had managed to get into his mouth and pushed himself off the ground. The man hadn’t even turned or lifted a muscle! Yet he was able to sense an attack coming. How? Damien looked at him as if analysing him from behind. This man wasn’t normal. Well, he was the biggest dragon who had transformed into a man so why not?
Lucian kept some distance between the two in front, same with Damien, each watching him closely from behind. After some minutes of walking, Lio stopped by a huge, stone wall and turned around to face his guests.
"We’re here."
"And where are we?" Damien asked.
Lio chuckled softly before bursting into laughter. The two princes looked at him like he had just gone insane. What was so funny? Probably the wire in his brain are touching. Then, he stretched out his hand and in an instant, the wall sucked the three of them in.
..........
"We refuse to work in vain!
"In vain! In vain!"
The king must do something about this!"
"He has to! He has to!"
The voices of the angry mob outside echoed around the palace walls. The people had rounded the palace walls with some knocking down the gates in anger. More and more weak iron had managed to get to them despite their complaints to the king.
Calithar walked hastily towards the palace gates that were crowded with angry people. A horse was brought to the front and he climbed on its back to have a better view of the people.
"Your highness!" A young man with a hairy face and ragged clothes stepped forward.
"We haven’t been able to produce anything for the past month! All our buyers from outside the kingdom are threatening to leave us and some even have! We are hungry and tired of wasting the little we have on fake products! Please be considerate!"
Calithar looked anything but relaxed. The matter had been the elephant in the room for over a month and he still haven’t been able to find a solution. He knew how dire the matter was. No iron means no weaponry. If perchance other rival kingdoms found out about their scarcity, it could very much lead to an attack. Majority of the people deal with iron. Only a few number of the total population differ from the main profession. If this dragged on, hunger and poverty would be just the surface of the repercussions.
"I beseech you to be patient, my people! I have neither rested nor been at ease because of this matter. We will continue to investigate until this issue is rooted out of our land. Take heart and be patient."
"For how long!" A woman cried out from the back. She pushed her way to the front, carrying a lean, scrawny child.
"My daughter hasn’t eaten for days your majesty because we have no money for food or to start a new trade! Food has become so expensive that we haven’t eaten anything for two days now." the woman cried in a rush.
" My son died two days ago from starvation. It’s only a matter of time till his sister joins too!" Another woman cried from the side.
The crowd grew angrier at their statements. The men started banging on the gate, demanding a solution to their problems.
"Let us enter the palace!" one man shouted from the front.
"Yes! Maybe the king is hiding the real iron in there!" Loud shouts grew louder and the banging increased its tempo.
Calithar looked about him, confused on what to do next for the people. He was trying his best but it was all foiling. It was during time like this he wished for his god powers back so he could see what was truly happening. But if he were a god, he wouldn’t be their king too right? Either way, he was losing.
The guards rushed towards the angry mob through the side door, pushing them backwards but that only made them angrier. They began to throw the fake iron at the guards. Some were in the raw form while others were shapeless farm tools made from it.
One of the guards drew out his sword to threaten the mob but Calithar was quick to rebuke him.
"Do not use force to threaten the people."he said calmly and the guard sheathed his sword. Seeing what the guard had done, the crowd pressed harder and harder against the gate.
"Your highness. We must leave now before they break down the gate." the chief took the reins of the horse and started to pull it towards the other side when suddenly, everything froze.
Not a single person moved from their position. It was like the world itself had come to a complete stand still.
Calithar looked around him more confused than ever. At that moment, out of the sky, a blinding figure was shot down with force. Calithar didn’t need a seer to tell him who it was.
"Seraphine." he said rather shocked at her sudden appearance. "Why are you here?"
But Seraphine didn’t say anything. She only stood there in front of him, shining brighter than the sun.
"Speak!" he ordered again, but still nothing. He got down from his horse and walked towards her slowly. This was so unlike the goddess he knew. As he approached her, his eyes widened in shock. This wasn’t Se
raphine.
"Hello...brother." an all too familiar voice came out in a chilling tone