Starting from scratch

10: STARTING FROM SCRATCH

Laeroth's mutated dragon hand smashed the table before him, leaving it in splinters.

This wasn't the first time he snapped. The times he lost his control cannot be counted in one's fingers along with the number of amenities we lost caused by his berserk.

I did understand his indignation this time.

One of the people who possessed the Tokens of Blessing was Ikesha. The only way to obtain this token was to kill the bearer. That means that sooner or later we will have to take her life. Ikesha had agreed with the consequences due to her sense of responsibility but her husband was indignant.

"We just replaced that table..." I murmured, setting my empty cup of tea on the saucer on top of my lap.

The Tokens of Blessing originally belonged to the Higher-Order. They were given by the Cauldron of Spirits to hail them as people who still had the right to lead, to take control, and to make decisions for the kingdom in the absence or the incapability of the king.

These tokens also held astounding and insurmountable power that distinguished them from other ancients.

Because of the war, the ancients had lost eight tokens. The people who stole them had motives. They used the tokens as bargaining tools to take advantage of us. King Genshi wasn't going to sacrifice his men again for tokens that wouldn't be of much use to other empires anyway. They were valuable to us, yes, but so was our kingdom.

"C'est des Conneries... (This is bullshit)" Laeroth trembled. His fists were clenched and scales surfaced on some parts of his skin.

He was ready to break a vase to my face. I could tell when he was about to reach for it. He was subjugated by his wife's gentle touch, the same hand that had brought screaming agony to the many cannon fodders and prominent warriors during the war. His face dropped into lament.

"I am begging you, Lucius, let us stick to the original plan."

"We have talked about this. With this new plan, we can only take twenty more lives and plus a few if they get in the way, but with the old plan?" I scoffed right before continuing.

"You are risking thousands. You are once again proposing a war. The lives of innocents are at stake here."

He scowled, plopping on the chair behind him.

"When has it never involved the innocent? You are underestimating the Higher-Order. Do you really think that the Scums can take them on in a battle? It took thousands of soldiers just to kill eight. With our forces alone we will surely be wiped out. We are betting everything on a fragmentary and half-done plan."

Laeroth didn't even give me a chance to reply back when he reiterated our original strategy.

"We start with the Vosredal Empire, we take in the villages under their ruling and make our way up to conquer the capital."

"This is why this plan will fail. War takes up time, food sources, and more lives. We are never meant for a long duration of battle because once we hit our exhaustion stage we're done for. You underestimate the Vosredal Empire. They made a pact with the Pracia Empire and the Cheborg Empire. Even if we do conquer the Vosredal Empire, the other two Empires won't sit around and let us recharge," I explained it to him again.

I didn't know if I should blame the other blood mixed inside of him but this man's head was as thick as his scales. No matter how many times I explain it to him he can never get it.

We did try reaching out to the Republic of Xoba under Hanuman's rule, however, they did not want to entertain anyone outside of the borders especially from creatures who they warred with before.

We were Ancients that could be useful for their food source but they also had Ancients residing behind their walls who were mated with some of them. They only had nuisances whenever catastrophes happened to pass by. Our deceased kind would destroy food sources and any kind of establishment.

"How can you believe in something that's just thrown at you?" He mocked me.

My encounter with the wicket was comical for everyone yet it was an experience that shed light on this crisis. Humor me all they want, the wicket is true. It had yet to show its capabilities to us.

"As a knight of our empire, I was always made to believe that the king's order is what we must obey and strive for until we cease breathing. We fight for our homeland. We keep it safe. I always believed in the monarchy but that is just because I was made to. I forced myself to be blind. I orchestrated the elements and killed in the name of Florencia. I fought for our kingdom to live not knowing that our empire will fall into its own imprisonment..." The ceiling of our huddle room was decorated with white crocuses.

"I don't think I can catch up with what you're saying. Get right to the point."

I crossed my leg over the other, leaning back. I was aware how impatient he could get. Beating around the bush would drive my good old friend mad.

"I simply found a new king to serve, someone who our race has forgotten as we all glorified whoever sat on the throne."

He snorted. "I see…so you truly have lost hope in real people and decided to place faith in make-believe creatures."

"He is real."

"Then he should come for a cup of tea, otherwise he is simply a fragment of your imagination, resulting from a desperate attempt to save yourself from despondency."

"It is not my mission to prove His existence to you nor does He have a reason to prove that He exists. Your faith is yours to splurge…"

He grew silent. There was no use holding a grudge to each other while we were in this kind of condition.

Conflict was inevitable. Ikesha and I already agreed that she'll take her own life once the time is up without her husband knowing. Of course I won't be able to show my face to Laeroth once he finds out.

"Do you remember the military cadence we chanted before, Laeroth?"

He raised his brow. "Why would you ask me about that now?"

"Do you remember shouting it with everyone else?"

Laeroth's scrunched up face softened. A saddened smile spread across his lips, eyes glancing up in memory.

"How can I forget? We were young and despite marching through the hatch of bloodshed without knowing if we'll even make it out, we were all yelling like a bunch of idiots waiting to be ambushed."

I shut my eyes to recount the memories that I've kept inside my mind. It was faded but it was still there.

War wasn't always pain and suffering. You gain something yet you lose not just a bit but a whole lot of yourself. There was not merely a trickle of blood but an entire lake. Tears were shed but not in drops. Screams were summoned in an unsynchronized rhythm. Some of our comrades turned and some of them didn't.

I wished they died and remained unmoving instead of dying yet rising with an unknown purpose. I was a knight that knew how to silence the voices of life but not the ones from the dead. I didn't know how to help them. They had lost their honor and I couldn't save them from that.

'Go forth knights of life, what do you fear? What do you fear?'

'Nothing sir, do you hear? Do you hear? We fear nothing!'

'Let our fire scorch the earth!'

'Volcanoes explode in our mirth!'

'Breathe in air and blow them storms!'

'We shall shed the blood of their many lords!'

'Dry the oceans, stop the river!'

'Let them starve, they shall quiver!'

'The ground will break from our command!'

'The earth shall shatter by our hand!'

The voices of our comrades flooded my thoughts. We were prepared to live but were not ready to die. No one was.

"I don't want Lucian to witness it. I just opened the world for him to see and if war sparks—"

"He is not a child anymore Lucius. He is not the child you left eighteen blue moons ago. Sooner or later, he will witness war with or without you. It would be better if he would witness it with your guidance," Laeroth cut me off. "That boy had been through his own war and you know it. He had been a captive for so long until you came. You can teach him how to live but to do that you must also teach him how to survive. The weak don't get to live in a world dominated by the strong."

My hands tightly grasped the cup. He kept going. "You won't always be there for him, you know? You may think you will but you won't. That's not how the world works. Don't turn him into a predator but don't turn him into a prey either."

"I'm doing the best that I can. I'll do anything to make up for the lost time but..."

The door slammed open, one of the members was as pale as Garrison's chalk collection.

"Lord Lucius, your brother!"

The cup and saucer completely forgotten, I sprung to my feet, running to my brother's bedroom with Laeroth tailing me. There were loud commotions and growls inside of the room with some ancients frantically going in and out.

There was a basket filled with snacks lying on the floor just outside of chii's room. I barged inside, seeing a man drenched in blood with a few ancients lying unconscious on the ground. Their skin was ashen gray with moss cultivating on their skin.

"Monster! He's a monster! He did this to me! He made me do it!" he screamed.

My eyes widened.

How?

He was already dead.

Green vines restrained Fenris while Lucian glanced at the ceiling. I thought he was dead because he was unmoving. He didn't blink. I felt the pulse on his neck, sighing in relief when there were strong pulsations.

Laeroth lashed out to the blood-covered intruder with distorted features. His left ankle was twisted. His right arm was dislocated from its joint. Needles protruded from Iltut's bare skin. Laeroth dodged the flying needles.

"Lucius, get your brother!" Ikesha stormed inside the room, appearing to be equally disturbed by the situation.

A gush of air followed her. Aramastus appeared, slicing the vines holding Fenris. The moment he was released, he attempted to bite on Iltut's leg, fortunately, Ikesha put him in ice for his own sake. Even if werewolves were known for their regenerating skills, he wouldn't be able to survive the poison in my master's veins. Iltut's specialties were venom and acid. He had concocted various poisons with no known cure. He was never good with close combat but who said that physical power always won wars?

My subordinate turned to the disturbed Ancient, swinging his sword to his side and vanishing in a second. The moment Aramastus popped back, legs and arms dropped to the ground followed by the torso, like a doll made of sticks. A scream spread through the room and pierced through the halls. Lucian was unflinching. He was lying down, staring blankly, and looking deathly pale.

Ikesha froze the ends where the limbs were once attached to and sealed Iltut's mouth with ice.

"Bring him to the cell," she ordered.

Aramastus nodded obediently, vanishing Iltut, leaving everyone speechless before Ikesha realized that she had to heal the poisoned.

"I need to test their blood for the kind of poison he instilled. Maybe I can slow the poison down but after that, we can only rely on an Ancient's capability to adapt." She released Fenris from his frozen state, punching the ice and cracking it open.

Ikesha snapped her fingers. The ice liquified and slithered around her body. If she left the ice exposed, the ice would melt and turn into lava.

I took Lucian into my arms, gazing at his empty eyes. They were back from where they were when I first met him after eighteen blue moons. He seemed worse even. I moved him out of this room and into a new one. Fenris followed us out. I laid my brother on the bed, cleaning the stains of blood on his skin with a wet towel and changing him into a fresh set of clothes.

Fenris sat opposite of me; his eyes never left Lucian and he would occasionally nudge his hand with his nose with a soft whimper.

"Lucian..."

He had progressed so much since we left and with that mere reunion, everything just went... Nothing. He was robbed all over again. He was left empty.

And where was I? Where was I in all his pain? What did I do to stop it?

"Big brother is here. I'm here Lucian." My voice got shakier by the second.

Someone started to fill the room with audible cries and it didn't sound nice at all.

This wasn't the time to show such a feeble portrait. My brother needed a positive environment and with this guy up here weeping up a storm, how can Lucian get better?

Who exactly was this big cry baby?

My eyes were cloudier. My cheeks were sweaty. It was then I realized that it was me all along.

The one being a pathetic creature near my brother was me.

"Talk to me. Tell me what's going on in your head. I need you to help me help you. I need you to tell me... Please tell me..."

I picked him up, holding head against my chest. I cradled him as tightly and as closely as I could as I was racked with sobs.

Where was I when he needed me?

'Sweet little flower you fear the setting of the sun

When the skies grow dark and the moon shines its gentle dawn

You shun the night in fear of the dark

Frown no more for the moon means no harm to you

Good night, sleep tight and don't fright

Your wings shall grow for this night

Sweet dreams and let your dreams take flight

It's a short trip you'll regret if you missed it tonight

'Shut your eyes now little flower

For it is a quick wander

The moon shall be our lamp through the night

And soon it will say another goodbye

Good night, sweet dreams and sleep tight

I'll close your eyes with a kiss of a good night

I hope you dream of me behind those eyes

And once you wake tell me about your flight.'

'But brother, you're leaving tomorrow aren't you?'

I turned around and found two beautiful pools of blue eyes staring at me in wonderment.

'Yes, I will. I'll be home before you know it.'

'But... How will I tell you about my dream if you aren't here?'

I didn't drop my smile.

'I'll hear of it once I return. So just write them down for me and you can read it to me, alright? You can see me off tomorrow.'

There was a glimpse of sadness in his eyes but he covered it up with a nod and a small smile.

'Okay... onii. Good night.'

Never once did I see him complain.

Never once did I see him throw tantrums.

But I wished at that time... I wished he did. I wished he became a selfish brat. I wished he thrashed around and caused a scene.

Perhaps then... I could have stayed.

Now we were back to where we started.