© Barbara Boot 2022 published by DR 21 Publishing.
As the gentle snow begins to fall across the now quiet battlefield one young soldier clings to life. The gentle breeze blows through his short chestnut hair. The blood around his body is beginning to freeze and he can feel his life is draining away. Then comes the sound of snow crushing. Something was coming towards him at speed, however, the poor soldier is unable to open his eyes let alone move.
“You poor child,” comes a rough voice. “Come, let’s get you out of here.”
The young man wishes he could speak to thank his rescuer, but all he can muster is a soft groan.
The soldier feels a warm blanket placed around him and then they are off at some speed across the snow.
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A day later, the soldier awakes to find himself in a grand room. All the walls have been painted a lovely shade of yellow and covered in a gold leaf pattern. The window and door frames have been carved with what appear to be oak leaves. The bed he is lying in is soft and warm. All of his wounds have been dressed and he has been placed in a nice nightgown.
The door opens and a tall handsome man, dressed in a fine robe with long white hair enters.
“Ah, finally you’re awake,” he says giving the soldier a warm smile. “Here drink before you try to speak.”
The soldier takes hold of the cup the man is offering him and sees there is an orb ring upon his little finger. The small glass ball appears to be filled with blush green smoke. He takes the cup and stares at the light yellow, slightly foggy liquid.
“All it is, boy, is tea. I have not added anything to it,” explains the man patting him on the knee.
The young man takes a sip, to discover the tea is nice and flowery and not too sweet. It helps him to ask, “Wh-where am I?”
“This is a forgotten place and I am a forgotten wise man. I did not care for a battle to happen right on my doorstep. I hate to tell you, boy, a battle which you are the sole survivor and what was once your Kingdom is now rubble.”
The soldier is confused, because the last time he saw his kingdom it was fine. How could it have been destroyed so quickly?
He shakes his head in disbelief and questions, “What? What happened?”
“Forgive me, I should not have told you that. Finish the tea and rest, lad.”
The soldier is not pleased the man is refusing to tell him. He begins to wonder who his rescuer is. From the rough voice, he is clearly the same man who lifted him from the battlefield. How did he know where to find him? There is clearly more to him than his good looks.
“Please tell me your name?”
The man seems a little reluctant to reply. He frowns and a moment later, he answers somewhat abruptly, “Hisui (Jade).”
The soldier is wondering why the rescuer was so unwilling to tell him when it was such a nice name.
“I am—”
“I know who you are,” interrupts the rescuer. “You are Prince Fuyu no taiyō (Winter sun) or just Fuyu for short. You were leading your army when you were stabbed in the back and you fell from your horse. You are lucky I found you when I did, boy. Now rest.”
Fuyu is just stumped. His eyes widen and he questions, “How did you know that?”
Hisui pats him again on the knee. “All in good time. Now sleep.”
Before the young man can ask anymore questions his eyes become heavy and he drops off. When he reawakens the room is now bathed in sunlight.
“Was it the tea or the man who put me to sleep? Why did he not want to tell me his name? Even when he did I still have no idea who he is,” whispers the prince looking around.
This is when he notices through the window the garden is not covered in snow and the sky is blue.
“What? How is that possible?”
Fuyu struggles to get out of bed, holding his throbbing back as he slowly walks over to the patio doors. He even rubs his eyes to make sure he is not dreaming. The entire garden appears to be in summer and the sun feels warm upon his face.
“No, this must be some kind of spell? Or there was something in that tea.”
Then he becomes aware of soft laughter and the man is reflected standing behind him in the glass.
“It is just an illusion created by this place,” explains Hisui placing his hand upon the pain. “It was perhaps listening to your thoughts or dreams. This place has a habit of doing that.”
The prince looks up and his eyes fill with wonder. “What? What do you mean this place listened to my thoughts?”
“My, they really did give you a sheltered life. I tell you now, lad, the real world is far different.”
In an instant, the summer garden is replaced by snow and long icicles hang from the top of the doorframe.
“There is your real world,” says the man looking down at him.
The prince is shocked to see on the horizon black smoke rises into the air and something very large is flying around. The once bright prosperous Kingdom of Hane no kaze (Flower wind) is nothing other than smouldering remains.
Fuyu flops to his knees, emitting a groan of pain and questions with tears in his eyes, “What? Who did this?”
“A cruel hearted man, who wants to reshape this world in his own, bleak, dark and terrible place,” express Hisui as the summer garden returns. “Oh, but you do not believe me. You think what I showed you was another illusion. I wish it was. Believe me when I tell you, boy, the real world is not what you have been told or shown.”
Fuyu can tell the man is becoming upset and his scowl deepens.
The young man dries his eyes and answers, “All right, I believe you.”
“No, you don’t. So, I am going to take it upon myself to show you the real world. Only then will you understand why your own kingdom was lost and why I am nothing more than myth or the stuff of fairy tales.”
The prince watches a tear run down the man’s face before he leaves the room. Fuyu manages to make his way slowly over to peer through the open doorway. All there is, is a long corridor. To the right it leads to a set of stairs and the left leads to a door.
“I am sorry,” he calls. “Hisui, please I am sorry. I need the bathroom.”
A moment later, the man appears on the stairs and goes on to help the prince in to a room next door. The bathroom is more extravagant than the one at the palace.
“I trust you can manage the rest?”
Fuyu’s cheeks turn a light shade of pink and he quickly replies, “Yes, yes. Thank you.”
Hisui gives a nod. “Call again if you need me,” he says as he closes the door.
The prince starts to think could his rescuer be some kind of wizard? It would explain what he can do and the magic house. So, could the stories his grandfather used to tell him be based on real wizards? The prince flushes the toilet, washes his hands, and slips off the nightgown. Most of his body is hidden under bandages and other small dressings. The poor lad has no idea who it was who stabbed him in the back. All he felt was the pain and blade passing between his ribs.
Then the room starts to spin and he collapses into a heap on the floor.
Hisui carries the young man back to the room gently lying him down on his front so he can check his back. Blood is starting to seep through the dressing. He quickly removes it to see all the stitches are fine. The reason it is not healing is because the wound was made with a Dark Blade which is not entirely in this world.
The man makes sure the prince is still out, before he goes on to open a cloth belt-pouch and tips a fine power into the palm of his right hand. Hisui allows it to slowly cascade down over the wound and gets ready to hold Fuyu down.
The prince is awakened by a burning feeling in his back and a set of warm hands are gripping his bare shoulders.
“Easy, child, let it work,” says Hisui pinning him down.
Fuyu cries as the pain within his back gets worse.
The man watches black mist rise through the stitches and the edges of the wound returns to normal.
Once the mist has completely gone, Hisui turns the lad over and holds him close.
“I am sorry. Hopefully this time that has got rid of the poison.”
Fuyu is all worried and looks into his green with a hit of blue eyes. “P-poison?”
“Yes, given to you by the Dark Blade being thrust in to your back. I will redress it.”
Hisui keeps the lad sat up so he can easily place a fresh dressing on the wound and wraps the bandages tightly around the boy’s toned body.
The young man is still feeling a little lightheaded, he places his hand to forehead and takes a deep breath.
Hisui gently lies him down. “Rest, boy, rest and I will bring you something to eat.”
Fuyu watches him walk out of the room and he closes his heavy eyes.
A little while later, the prince is awakened to the smell of mushroom soup and there, seated by the bedside is the rescuer who goes on to help him to eat.
“This will help you gather some strength,” he tells him with a smile. “Plus it will be easy on your tummy.”
Fuyu manages to eat all of the soup. “Thank you, that was really nice.”
“You’re welcome. I will give you some more later. If you do not want to rest, you are welcome to read,” suggests Hisui gesturing his hand to a small pile of books upon a round table.
The prince gives him a nod and watches him walk out of the room.
Fuyu discovers the books are just like the ones his grandfather read to him when he was a child, but these ones are set much later. Also they seem to be mainly focused on a lost empire and a forgotten King. As he starts to read the first one he comes across a drawing and cannot believe his eyes.
“Wait, King Kōsetsu Hisui (Snowfall Jade), is Hisui, the very man that has been looking after me? How is that possible when this lost empire was around a century ago?”
This makes him carry on reading to discover this lost king lived in a magical palace that could make anything appear and change the weather to whatever the person desired. This capability brought forth a dark and evil man who is sometimes referred to as the unknown Dark Mage, who brought with him a creature from another world; that had the capability to devour planets. It became known as Kage. Not a single person knows why this unknown Dark Mage is wanting to destroy every mortal, Woodland Elf and Dwarf Kingdoms. Fuyu also discovers this terrible person has taken three members of a proud Woodland family as his minions and so far there has been no way to release them. All they can do is wait for the return of the Divine Seer. Who is either mortal or elf that has the capability to see spells that are created by tapping in to the Dreaming World. The unknown Dark Mage has tried for thousands of years to prevent the next one from being born because they know the Devine Seer will being about their destruction by returning balance and calm to the world.
Fuyu is so engrossed in what he is reading he does not realise the light is beginning to fade until he is unable to see the page.
“All right, let’s put this magical palace to the test,” he whispers and goes on to announce, “Light!”
Suddenly the room is bathed in a bright white light and the young man has to give his eyes a moment to adjust. That is when he notices the image outside the window is once again showing the real world. He can see more smoke is rising into the air and there are amber glows coming from burning buildings. Fuyu cannot believe his home is no more and is glad Hisui came to his rescue.
The young man sits back to watch the dark shape circle his fallen kingdom and begins to wonder if there was any way to get it back. Then tears begin to roll down his face and he starts to cry at thought of losing his Kingdom. All those innocent lives lost and he wishes he could have done more to save them.
Hisui enters the room and rushes over to give him a hug. With one wave of his hand, the image is replaced with a nice garden bathed in moonlight.
“Please do not hide the truth from me,” requests Fuyu through his sobbing. “Unless it upsets you, King Kōsetsu Hisui.”
“I am no king, child, when I allowed that to happen to my empire,” he replies changing the image back.
“According to this book, you were blinded from the truth, just like I was,” says the prince using a cloth to dry his eyes.
Hisui takes a seat and hands the bowl of soup to him. “Yes, I was. I do not know why someone would betray me and bring both the unknown Dark Mage and the Dark Entity down on us. The palace was badly hit… I got there just as the roof came crashing down. My son Xīng was killed and my wife Ruby… was dying. I crawled out from under the rubble with something stuck in my side and blood pouring down the back of my neck. Ruby slipped the orb ring upon my little finger and I was instantly transported here. I just feel awful I never saw it coming.”
The young man can see tears forming in the man’s eyes. He too is trying not to cry after hearing what he read was true, Hisui had lost everything.
“Neither did I. My parents whom I never saw, would not even allow me to venture outside my kingdom. Nor was I allowed to see what laid beyond the palace walls. The only one who would let me imagine what was beyond my kingdom was my grandfather. He would read me stories of great wizards, dwarfs and dragons. I am glad he died long before the kingdom fell. I want to also thank you for giving these to me. They are making me realise there was more behind my father’s strange demands… I now know there is a Dark Mage who calls on the entity known as Kage, which is responsible for all that has happened to your Empire and my Kingdom. I take it there is no way to stop him?”
The rescuer folds his arms and tells him, “To be honest I am not sure. I would like to though ask you something, what do you mean by your father’s strange demands?”
Fuyu sips some of the lovely creamy soup before he tells him, “All of a sudden he wanted me to take Princess Daisy as my wife. Even though we mainly saw each other as brother and sister. Nor would he acknowledge any more she was already engaged to a well respected prince. My father just kept demanding and demeaning her parents to give her to me. It got so bad the poor princess could not go anywhere without an armed guard. That’s how afraid her parents were, that my father would kidnap her.”
“Wow, that escalated. Why just her? I mean surely she was not the only beautiful lady?”
The lad drinks some more of his soup and replies a moment later, “Yes of course there were others… but they were nothing compared to the lovely Jasmine.”
The man points his hand at him and states. “I see that amber stare. Who is she then, this Jasmine?”
Fuyu rubs the back of his neck and his cheeks turn a light shade of pink. “She’s the most wonderful woman I have ever met. Jasmine is Daisy’s head maid and I did not care about that. To me she is a very intelligent woman who is an excellent Go player. She is also a great musician and has the most beautiful singing voice.”
“Hmm… it sounds like to me there is more going on between you two than just entertainment and games.”
All the prince does in response is a nod and carries on sipping his soup.
Hisui eyebrows rise and he says, “Ah, I see. Well, there is no one to stop you now from taking her as your wife.”
This makes Fuyu choke on the soup and the man quickly pats him on the back.
“Oops I should not have said that.”
The prince clears his throat and squeaks, “It’s fine.”
Hisui winks at him and tells him, “At least you know where your love is. Mine I do not know. My husband was taken a long time ago by the unknown Dark Mage. I tried my best to find him to no prevail.”
Fuyu watches him shake his head and sigh.
“Does he have a name?”
“Kibō… I miss him,” replies the man with tears in his eyes. He quickly clears his throat. “Anyway, back to what you asked. I should say, there might be a way to stop Kage from attacking our world. What we are doing is bringing together an army of specialists from other worlds who have managed to drive him away for good.”
All of sudden an odd roar comes from the direction of the fallen kingdom. They watch as the shadow is hit again by red and blue lightning.
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