• Chapter 1
    The Storm



    Orion woke up in a cold sweat, due to the nightmare he just had, and sat up in his king sized bed. He took a deep breath of the cold air and calmed himself down. There was a rapping on the wooden door to his bedroom and then it opened.
    "Your presence is required in the throne room." The servant said, then closed the door and walked away. Orion stood up and put on a shirt and his shoes, then took one last look about the stone-walled room before exiting. As Orion walked down the hall to the foyer, people bowed to him. Orion smiled and bowed back to them. Once he reached the Foyer, he looked about and walked up the stairs to the throne room. Guards were outside the throne room door and they opened them for Orion. There was a man was sitting in the throne and he was clad in black.
    "Ah son! About time you joined us." Orion's father said as he stood up and stretched his arms out to Orion.
    "Sorry I'm late father. I had a rough night, again." Orion said walking up to his father and hugged him, then sat down in the chair beside him.
    "More nightmares? What was it about?" His father asked.
    "This time I was walking through a destroyed, ruined, chaotic castle. I was looking around and heard growling behind me. So I turned around and saw a wolf, but it's skin was peeling off. Like it was already dead and decaying. The a man on a black horse appeared, he looked like Death, but he wasn't. He called himself Kestrel. He had an evil aura about him, it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. His aura eminated from his body and it reached out to me like tentacles, trying to kill me. Then I ran and the dead wolf chased after me, it was then joined by more. I ran out the door of the chaotic castle and came to a grinding halt, landing on my back. I laid there staring up at a man, but it wasn't a man. It was more like a skeleton, it sat on a horse of the purest white. The skeleton tried talking to me, but all I heard was a series of clicks. The one of the wolves grabbed my arm and drug me into the ground, into some sort of abyss. That's when I woke up." Orion said as he leaned forward and put his elbows on his legs. His father was about to say something before being interupted by a soldier.
    "Sire! I don't mean to intrude, but the other kings have requested a council. They have received a package from a courier. They said the hearts of their strongest soldier was inside. They feared that this is a threat." The Soldier said as he was knelt on one knee with his head down.
    "Very well, tell them that we will hold the council here." The King said and dismissed the soldier.
    "Father." Orion said.
    "Yes son?" His father replied.
    "I feel that something is coming, it feels demonic." Orion said as a flash of light shown through the stained glass behind them, after the flash of light there was a loud clap of thunder. The King jumped a bit at the sudden storm, but then calmed down.
    "I know son. I know." His father said as dry lightning cracked across the open sky. A slow tink could be heard from the rain hitting the glass, it slowly became louder and grew faster. Orion sighed in disappointment, because he wanted to go to the training grounds to watch a girl. He liked her and went everyday to watch her, he ocassionally trained with her.
    "I'm going to get something to eat." Orion said as he stood up and walked out of the throne room. He turned left and walked down the long hallway to the kitchens. The sound of thunder echoed throughout the castle as Orion walked to the kitchens. Orion could hear some chatter up[ ahead of him.
    "This is going to be the worst storm in ages." One servant said.
    "Your telling me. I swear on my life though that something bad is going to happen." Another servant said, that's when Orion walked in. The servants noticed him and gave a bow. Orion bowed back and went over to the stone oven. "What's for lunch today?" He asked them as he looked at the food.
    "Chicken, sir. With mashed potatoes, collards, spinach, and some cherry pie." The first servant said hesitantly.
    "Sounds delectable." Orion said and turned around to face the servants. "May you please come get me when it's done?" He asked. The servants nodded and watched as Orion walked back down the hallway he came in.