Winter Festival in Theapan (Part 14)

Vorbuk was not aware of what was going on back at Theapan Palace between Chase and the other noble. He was currently riding on a horse with Prince Leo as they chased after Bredret outside Theapan's capital. The horses were galloping through the surrounding forest.

As they neared a large lake Bredret came to a complete stop. The others followed up as well by stopping. First person to climb down from their horse was Bredret and King Micah who was still in a rage. King Micah was quickly rushing up to the dragon and grabbed him by the collar of his clothes as if he wanted to strangle the dragon for everything he'd gone through.

"You crazy lizard!" King Micah shouted at Bredret in a fury.

Bredret just chuckled as he pointed at the lake with a dark expression that made his laugh seem all the more fake, "Call me crazy again and I will throw you in the lake."

King Micah did not care how upset Bredret was with his insulting remark, "You think I'm afraid of you?"

"Do I care if you are?" Bredret asked in return. The two of them stared coldly at each other in silence as neither of them seemed to have a word to continue the argument.

"Hah.." Vorbuk sighed as he walked up to them. "Bredret, this was a bit much."

Bredret did not say anything in return to Vorbuk's comment. There was not even a word of argument towards him being scolded for his behavior. Instead the dragon turned around and strode towards the large lake.

Psssshhhhhhh!

Bredret jumped into the large lake and began to swim out into the deep water.

"You didn't really think he was going to admit he was wrong?" The question from Duke Heket sent chills down Vorbuk's back. The duke was leaning in close to his ear from behind his back causing him to flinch from the sudden presence behind him. It felt uncomfortable and made him take a step to the side to put some distance between him and the duke.

Duke Heket smiled as he saw the annoyed response from Vorbuk and added on, "Perhaps I shall join the dragon."

"Do as you wish." Vorbuk grumbled under his breath as he did not feel like conversing more then he had to with Heket.

Vorbuk watched as Duke Heket slowly walked away and went towards the lake to take a swim with the dragon. He still felt hot from all the drinks he had during the banquet himself. His mind was still spinning now that the adrenaline was beginning to wear off from all the excitement.

Putting his back to a tree Vorbuk slid down to the ground. Sitting on the grass as he watched the others. Prince Leo was rushing to the lake with Duke Heket to try and get Bredret under control. However the prince was clearly losing himself in the swim himself as it did not take long before he ended up racing Bredret and Heket in the water.

King Micah did not go to the lake with the others. Instead of swimming the king remained on land and sat down beside Vorbuk on the grass. It was dark out and the only sounds that could be heard were the others swimming followed by the soft chirping of insects in the distance from all around. A gentle breeze in the air that made the entire area feel serene.

"It's fascinating." Vorbuk muttered.

"What is?" King Micah asked him when he heard Vorbuk mutter to himself.

Vorbuk thought about it carefully before saying, "I don't think I have ever seen Bredret let others talk to him the way you can besides Daryl."

King Micah looked as if he had realized something and responded to Vorbuk's observation of them, "I have known him for a long time and he knows that fighting with me wont be an easy thing for him to succeed even if he tried."

"You're able to take on Bredret?" Vorbuk asked him curiously. The moment he asked he recalled that he'd been told King Micah had fought against a dragon a few months back to protect Cista Kingdom. When he recalled it things seemed to linger in his mind. He had no idea how King Micah was able to face a dragon alone.

King Micah was silent for a moment, "I am one of the rank five beings among the mortal races."

King Micah was a demi god just like the king of Drethia. For dragons it was common to reach the fifth rank. Dragons had a smaller chance of breeding so there weren't a lot of them. Though with their strength from even birth dragons were considered deadly. Vorbuk was not sure what race King Micah was but to rival a dragon even in fifth rank was something considered terrifying. The only reason King Micah was talking about his strength honestly with Vorbuk was because they would be working together in the future and it was best to know the strength of your allies when fighting together.

Would it seem rude to ask him what mortal race he comes from? Vorbuk wanted to ask King Micah but he had noticed already that King Micah seemed to always dodge questions about himself. It was like he was hiding himself from the world around them. King Micah was hiding something about himself that he seemed nervous to share with anyone else. He was an honest man but everyone had things they kept to themselves.

Power.

Strength.

That was something that King Micah had however that did not make him a greedy man. King Micah did not crave to expand his territory nor did he desire to go to war against the other kingdoms. Over the years he had never pushed his kingdom in war against others. He could have probably easily wiped out smaller kingdoms and expanded his kingdom. It was simply not what he wanted. The only reason he intended to join Vorbuk with a mutual alliance was in order to protect the people of his kingdom. Benefits were not something he needed as long as his kingdom could survive with as little damage as possible. He knew it was something he could not do alone and was left with no choice but to join hands with Vorbuk.

"King Micah," Vorbuk hesitated but forced himself to ask, "what are you?"

King Micah smiled as he held up a single finger in the air. At the tip of his finger a small blue flame began to take form. The heat of the blue flame burned hotter then dragon's fire. It was a clean blaze that seemed divine and yet dangerous. By looking at the flame Vorbuk felt something strange about the fire. Something about the small blue flame felt as if it could devour anything it came in contact with silently and cleanly. As if the small blue flame was a silent and heavenly light that'd consume all it touched.

SNAP!

At the snap of his fingers the small blue flame that was once at the tip of his finger dissipated into the air.

Turning his head to look directly at King Micah's smiling face Vorbuk was at a loss for words.

"I'm from the Blue Phoenix race." King Micah whispered to Vorbuk as the smile on his face left him. The king of Cista who fought with a beautiful crystal bow was actually from the hidden blue phoenix bloodline. That was why Cista was closely related to folklore about the phoenix. The royal family itself kept their bloodline hidden and it was their bloodline that allowed the royal family to produce high ranking royal heirs generation after generation.