Ivory
~
The sun was bright and warm against his skin, the air was fresh and cool, and the sweet scents of spring wafted to Ivory's nostril as he lay lazily in a meadow behind the castle A lazy smile tugged his lips apart as he relished in the peaceful atmosphere around him. He could hear birds chirping in the distance, the rush of water from a nearby stream, and the rustle of critters as they went about their days in the nearby forest.
All too soon, his peace was cut short as he found himself stumbling to find his footing. He was back in the castle, and before him stood his brother, Vermilion.
"Brother, how many times have I told you not to do that? It's dangerous," Ivory scolded his brother with a tired sigh. His brother had been using him as a target practice ever since he had manifested the power of teleportation. For now, all he could do was teleport things to his location, but unfortunately, it would take some more practice for him to be able to teleport himself.
"Forgive me, but I didn't know where to find you. The king has summoned us, and it sounds quite urgent, I couldn't waste time looking everywhere for you," Vermilion said.
"Okay, I'll forgive you this time but please warn me next time," Ivory said and begun to walk out the room to head to the court house where the king spent most of his days.
"Sure," Vermilion answered with a smile as he followed his brother.
The two brothers had been living in the castle for almost five months now. They had been taken in by the king after they both were identified as Chosen, it was unheard of for a family to have more than one Chosen at a time but it was how things were with these two. Of course, they had to take a multitude of tests before they themselves, and the whole country was convinced they both were Chosen. Some people still haboured doubts about it, but no one was to speak against the king's decision once it was made.
When they arrived at the court house, the guards stationed outside pushed the heavy oak double doors open to let them through, the brothers walked side-by-side and knelt before their king with their heads bowed to show utter submission and respect.
"Your majesty," they spoke their greeting in unison.
"Raise your heads," the 40th king, his Majesty Rigúd Dawsöl's booming voice called to them, and they did so. "I hope you both are doing well. I called you here to give you good news, I believe we have located the third Chosen."
Ivory could see the glim in his Majesty's eyes at the news, and he couldn't help but smile at that. It really was great news that the third and final Chosen had been found. Legend says the three Chosen manifested their power faster when they were united. If it was true, both he and Vermilion would be able to manifest their full powers soon.
Each Chosen was granted three magical attributes; an element and two special abilities, one of these unique to only them.
Currently, Vermilion had manifested one special ability: teleport. This left him with the task of unlocking his element and another special ability. Ivory, on the other hand, had manifested his elemental powers first. He could control water. He was tasked now, with manifesting his two special abilities. If they united with the third Chosen, the manifestation of their powers would be sped up because they would feed off of each other's energy.
"That truly is amazing news, sire. Where is this person?" Ivory smiled wider at his King.
Vermilion elbowed his brother in the stomach to remind him to behave in front of their sovereign. As the older of the two, he made it his duty to keep his brother in check, especially at times like these when Ivory forgot himself and spoke out of turn with the king or other nobles. As commoners, they could get executed for speaking inappropriately to noblemen, and even though they were the Chosen, those titles could only do so much to protect them.
His worry was unnecessary though because it seemed the king enjoyed talking to his brother as if they were any other pair of friends, the king seemed to have a soft spot for Ivory so he often let his ill manners slip.
"In the town of Galoria, he is an adventurer who seems to have appeared out of thin air. No one knows of his origins but no one seems to care too much to ask," the King went on to instruct, "You two are to travel to Galoria and retrieve this man, he goes by the name Raven."
"Really? Why us, if you don't mind me asking sire," Vermilion inquired.
"You boys have been couped up in this castle for five long months, I think it's time you get out there and enjoy yourselves a little. You won't be able to start training without him anyway, so why not go and bring him here yourselves?...If you are eager to start with your lessons, that is." The king reasoned.
He did have a point, the brothers had been kept within the walls of the castle for this long but they hadn't started to learn anything unless they taught themselves, it would be good to get out of the castle for a bit and when they got back with the other Chosen, they would get an instructor to teach them of the Old Way, a series of lessons left behind for The Chosen by their predecessors.
Vermilion nodded his head in agreement to what the king had said, " You are absolutely right, your majesty. We shall depart first thing tomorrow morning."
"Good," the king smiled at them, "if there is nothing else you are dismissed.
And with that, the brothers bowed their heads once more before getting up and leaving the court house, they both were excited to finally get a chance to get out of the castle and go on an adventure of their own. For the sake of everyone, Vermilion prayed to the gods of the octagon pantheon, the religion the kingdom of Goldinfüld followed, and asked the god of war and protection to guide them safely to and from Galoria. If something bad happened, it would spell doom for not just the kingdom but the world at large.