Chapter 7: What the Heck is This Confrontation?

We run through the halls towards the front gate. Every one of them deserted, save for a few people running either towards or away from the front gates. Alador's cape flies in the wind, as does my hair as we approach.

"What's going on?" I ask Lillith, who is running beside me.

"Kaldoro found out, now he wants a little payback," she replies as some guards run past, armored to the teeth.

"Wait, found out what? And who is Kaldoro?" I ask as more soldiers run past in the opposite direction, some carrying another soldier who has a large gash on his leg and shoulder.

"Kaldoro is our enemy, more or less this world's Ava, but at a larger scale," all of us stop in front of two doors leading to the courtyard.

"He's the one who sent the panther to our school since you killed it and made it here, he wants to pay a little visit," Alador pushes open the door as we walk into the scene.

The once cheery atmosphere of the courtyard disappeared and is replaced by one of tense fear and unbridled rage. Closer to our doors is most of the soldiers from earlier, either in leather or iron armor, carrying an assortment of weaponry, or no weapon at all, some even with animals by their side.

Raina and Roman standing close to the front of the brigade behind a man in iron armor with a longsword and a raven by his side. All facing an army clad in black, whether it's dyed leather or dyed metal, they had a theme, also carrying an array of weapons and animals, though most look like the panther from earlier.

And at the front was a man adorned in black and gold-plated armor, carrying a saber with a black hilt and from what I can see, the same red symbol that was on the panther's collar, coincidently with a panther by his side. We all start walking towards the front.

"There is no use, just give us the girl and we'll walk away, without bloodshed," the man says as we near the front.

"She belongs here, we won't relinquish her," the man in iron replies as we make it to the front. Mother and Alador walk on, but I feel both Raina and Roman stop me as Lillith stands beside me.

"What seems to be the problem gentlemen?" Alador interjects, the two stop to look at him, the man in iron bows slightly to him, while the man in black stands straighter than he did before.

"Alador, how wonderful it is of you to join our meeting," the man in black smirks, sending a shiver down my spine as all of us tense.

"Kaldoro, I shall ask again, what is your business here?" Alador asks, which causes Kaldoro to smile wider.

"Well you see, we are all in a bit of a disagreement. You see, one of my Umbronca has sadly been killed in combat, but under unlawful conditions," I begin to tense then conditions, what conditions?

"Who was the unlawful killer?" Alador asks as my friends try to block me from sight.

"I'm sure you know," and of course, we make eye contact. "Ah, here she is, the girl I've waiting for," he snaps his fingers and two of his soldiers come and drag me to the center of the three men.

"Alador, what's going on?" I ask him, he looks down at me in determination and love, but I could also see a twinge of fear.

"Oh, she doesn't know," Kaldoro laughs as Alador pulls me to stand. "Well, she has gotten herself in quite a predicament, hasn't she?" he grins again as I take a step back from him.

"What have I done exactly?" I ask him, trying to keep my voice level.

"You see my dear, oh what was it... Dawn right," he replies, my name coming from his mouth sends another shiver down my spine as I feel the wind blow around us.

"We have rules to combat and death here, unlike your filthy Mortealem," I scowl as he insults my home, but try not to say a word. Looking at the other soldiers, begging to get involved.

"You see, if anyone or anything is harmed or killed on foreign soil during an attack, not involved with war I might add, is punishable by death," then the wind starts to pick up pace as my heart rate gets faster. But I feel Alador place his hand on my shoulder.

"What?" I manage to choke out, as I stand there. I've only known about this for the span of a few hours, now I committed a crime punishable by death?

"That won't happen," the iron man speaks up.

"Careful what you say general, or you could have her punishment," Kaldoro smirks.

"But, what he speaks is the truth," Alador confirms, Kaldoro's smile falls as he glares at us.

"What did you say?" he sneers, as his soldiers get into a fighting stance.

"She won't be killed, and what she has done is defended by those same rules," Raina approaches, the man in iron looks at her in worry as Kaldoro's grip on his sword tightens.

"For all of us, Dawn, Lillith, me, and Roman were acting in self-defense, protecting us from your punishment," I smile at her as she winks as I see the iron-clad man, smile slightly from behind his helmet.

"They need to be punished," a girl yells from behind Kaldoro, short in stature, but looks ready to slit my throat or scratch my eyes out.

"No, they do not, so let us walk away from this, without bloodshed," Alador turns to leave, but the same girl goes to attack me, but I guess my reflexes are faster. Because in a split second before slashing my chest open, a wall of fire appears before me, burning the sword until she drops it, then picks it up and gets back in formation.

"I think you should leave," the man in iron says, walking away as well, soon everyone disperses, leaving me with Raina, Roman, and Lillith.

"Well, that was... interesting," Lillith spoke up as we walk in.

"But, how did I manage to survive, and why did he charge me with that anyway?" I ask adrenaline still pumping through my system.

"He wanted you out of the picture, but according to the same law that he used against you, he wouldn't be able to just go and kill you," Roman starts.

"But, his charge was formed on a technicality, as something was killed in an attack that wasn't involved in any form of war. Since we acted in self-defense, because the Umbronaca was attacking us," he concludes, as I breathe a sigh of relief.

"Complicated but at least it worked," I reply as we walk through the packed hallways again.

"Well, most laws can be very convoluted for every 'what if' scenario," Raina bluntly states, we all nod in agreement. "But at least you're safe,".

"And you know what we're up against," Lillith spoke up, turning to look at her staring off into the distance through the windows.

"So, Kaldoro... who is he exactly?" I ask as we approach the throne room again.

"Kaldoro is the leader of Serpenlupus, land of the great wolf Lunumbris and masters of darkness," Raina explains as we walk through the throne room towards my mother and Alador.

"But they are now what many call 'mortal enemies' for most other nations," Roman continues as we stop.

"Might I ask why?" I ask as Mother and Alador approach us.

"Because they started the war," Alador concludes.

"The war that forced me to live on Earth, or... Mortealem," I respond as we walk to Alador's study.

"Correct, Kaldoro took control of Serpenlupus and cut ties with everyone else, then persuaded the nation that they needed to take control of every other nation in Edelin," Mother continues as we open the door, the other three following behind me.

"Your majesty, we can wait outside if you so wish..." Roman tells Alador, but he just smiles and chuckles.

"No need Roman, you three may come in," we all sit around the table in the center, the map and book still on there.

"Well, we might as well continue our conversation from earlier," Alador exclaims then looks at Lillith.

"Do you still have the collar?" she nods and grabs it from her bag. He picks it up and reads the note.

"For those who received this note,

I am aware you have killed one of my most prominent forces. But this shall take you nowhere, one soldier down does not mean the battle is over, much less the war. I see not just one Umbronca, I see thousands of soldiers, with weapons, magic, and Espirmailius on our side. Justice shall be served.

Thine Solider and King,

Kaldoro." Alador closes the note as we sat there in silence.

"Why would Kaldoro write this?" Raina asks, breaking the silence.

"He must have known that Umbronca was coming to attack us, so he wrote that specifically for us," Roman ponders.

"But those words," Alador reads over the note, again and again, silently muttering to himself.

"Did he restart the war?" I ask him, he combs his hand through his hair and sighs.

"Quite possibly," he whispers, as all of us sit more ridged.

"So we must prepare, more soldiers need to be prepared," Roman exclaims and stands as we do the same.

"We can also inform the other rulers, I hear the council is meeting up again in a month," Mother continues, looking at Alador who nods.

"Very true, we shall work harder to confront this issue," he claps his hands, as we walk away, Roman and Raina were stopped by Alador.

"You must give my thanks to your father for holding Kaldoro back before we got there," they both smiled and came over to me and Lillith.

"You're father was there?" I ask them as we walk back.

"Yes, he's the general, so he was the first to find out and intervene," Raina explains as we walk through a new part of the castle.

"I didn't realize you two were related, outside of your roles I mean," I exclaim, which makes Raina and Roman laugh, and Lillith roll her eyes, with a small smile on her face.

"Could it have been less obvious? Those two are each other but the opposite gender," Lillith replies, making us all laugh.

"Yes, because we're twins, almost like mirrors or the perfect opposite," Raina states.

"Guess you're right, you guys did say you came from a military family, but you two are twins?" I ask.

"Yep, fraternal twins so were stuck together," Roman sighs as we reach a new hallway on the third floor. Around the hall I see many kids around our age either in leather armor or regular outfits, chatting on the side, walking through the halls, and entering separate rooms.

"This is where most trainees live, bedrooms for tens of hundreds on this very floor," Roman explains. I look around at everyone hanging out with each other, chatting and laughing, overall just something fun to look at. Lillith departs the group and leaves for her room. While the three of us walk through the end of the hallway.

Towards the end is an oak door with a golden handle, an engraving in the center of a sun rising. When closer, I could see on the handle in elegant cursive, Dawn Alador Kirana.

"The names on the door handle are those that can enter without being invited," someone to the left of the door says, the iron-clad man. Raina and Roman run up to him and hugs him, with me trailing behind. Without his armor on, I could see the resemblance, the same green eyes, the same facial structure, the only difference is the hair color, black instead of Raina and Roman's dark brown. He turns and bows to me, while I feel a twinge of heat rising in my cheeks from embarrassment.

"Greetings your highness, I am General Loren Soliaccus," he rises as I curtsy to him, then shakes his hand.

"A pleasure to meet you general," I reply, trying to keep my voice from wavering.

"There is no need to fret, I know your experience of Viritore and Edelin is very limited, you may come to me or either of my children for assistance," the tensity in my muscles relax, at least I will have some help.

"Thank you," I smile as I turn back to the door and place my hand on the handle, my name starts to glow gold as I turn the knob, revealing my room.

Comparing this room to the hallway outside, I could see stark contrast, the normal grey stone, and dark oak floors, was replaced with white stone and light birch floors. The Viritore banner hanging on the wall, across from a four-poster bed with a grey canopy, wooden nightstands on each side. A wooden wardrobe in the corner against two floor-length windows and a door leading to a balcony next to a birch wood desk with a plush chair underneath, opposite of another door leading to a polished bathroom, made almost entirely out of white stone, with green rugs and plants thrown in for a splash of color. I stood in awe, not noticing that Loren, Raina, and Roman still lay outside.

"Dawn," Raina snaps me back to reality as she places her hand on a forcefield inside the doorframe.

"You have to let us in," I look at her slightly confused, but decide to work my way around the situation.

"Well um... I permit you to enter?" I reply hesitantly, the forcefield let up for a few seconds before closing them out again.

"More confident Dawn, and be specific, it won't let us in if you're vague," Roman encourages, also putting a hand on the forcefield. Taking a few deep breaths, I continue.

"I give General Loren, Raina, and Roman Soliacuss permission to enter my room," after that the three of them walk in through the door hurriedly before the forcefield closes again.

"You never really know with these things, for some, it's a piece of cake, for others it gives you all the crap in the world," Raina replies, Loren sends a look her way as she turns to me. "But that the price of good security,".

"So that forcefield is used as a security system for every room? That's why the names on the handle are there, so some don't have to put up with the forcefield," I deduce as I sit down on the bed, relishing in the softness of the comforter and the mattress.

"Correct, it's the best way to keep unwanted enemies out, most know they can't get in without permission, and force only makes things worse," Loren continues as he stands. "But I must depart, other duties need attending to, I hope we should talk on a later date, Your Highness," Loren bows and exits without trouble. Soon Roman had excused himself as well because he needed to 'make preparations' as he said. Leaving me with Raina.

"Are you alright?" she asks, I shrug my shoulders as I lay down on the bed, while she sits at the desk.

"I will say that my life has turned upside-down in the past few hours," I say hanging from my bed until I approach my window and look over the courtyard. "But, I think this could be interesting," she chuckles as she walks over to me.

"Well, it will be, as soon as you start training," I look at her in the reflection of the glass, she looks down at the courtyard. I follow her gaze, find a group of kids no older than us in armor, sword fighting each other, with an adult to the side supervising.

"Training to fight?" I turn to look at her as she nods.

"We would have waited a few more weeks before you start training, but thanks to Kaldoro, all this has been thrown off course," she sighs and pulls out a dagger from her boot and begins to examine it.

"Viritore has one of the best training facilities in Edelin, where all specialties are represented, combat, defense, magic, healing, stealth, as well as a multitude of trades like masonry, and weaving," she explains, pointing out different areas exhibiting each specialty she spoke of.

"So I could do any of this?" I ask opening the balcony to get a closer look.

"Correct, as soon as Roman gets you listed, you will start training, but you will have to learn a lot," she explains, I continue to look over the courtyard with a smile. One of the guards in training looks up and waves at us, as I wave back, Raina heads for the door.

"I better check on Roman, make yourself at home," she closes the door as I'm left on the balcony of a strange castle, in a new world. Well, this will be fun.