Satis' Fire

Chapter 7: Unpunctual

“All of you must find your mates, shadhunni (darlings). It’s high time for all of you,” Fireon’s mother’s sweet voice almost rang in the vast throne hall.

Fireon and his siblings all gaped at their mother. Then, a chorus of protests from his siblings ensued.

“How are we supposed to do this, Rah (Mother)?” Vyseria’s husky voice squeaked.

Fireon’s eyes were directed in his sister’s face. She was the oldest among his three sisters. She had golden-black hair that was in tight curls, framing her pretty face—almost his female version actually. However, she was curvaceous, wearing yellow robes and sandals, and she was quite stingy.

“We’ve been looking all over the empire,” Fireon’s eighth brother Rahimond stated, eyes settling on their father, who remained silent and was listening to his children’s complaint.

“We’d been searching for centuries even without your imperial command, Rah!” Fireon’s third brother Lucarae protested openly as well, light blue eyes pleading for understanding.

“And then what? You’re going to stop, Lucarae?” Their mother eyed him with reprimanding light blue globes. Her voice was still as sweet as the sweetest nectar in Sarvatt. However, they knew better.

Lucarae almost shrank in his green robes, dropping his light blue gaze and pursing his lips.

“Huh? Are you going to just give up?”

“But we’re not like you. You readily found each other, Rah, Bah.” Almiz’s face fell.

Fireon stared at his second youngest sister with neutral face. He knew it was difficult for all of them to search for their fated mates in Sarvatt. Not that he himself did any effort because he knew he’d recognize her as soon as he found her—as what he was told. Right now, he never liked any female except Satis, despite her being a Kinnari and not their kind.

“You know how important this is to the royal family. None of you have mates until now for dragons’ god’s sake!” their mother admonished. “We must summon all the female dragon shifters by group to the imperial palace. That way, it’d be easier for you to find your mates,” their mother suggested, looking at Fireon and his brothers. “Also, we’ll do the same for your sisters. To make it more focused, an order to call on all single male dragon shifters by tens as well will be scheduled every month when the moon ascends in the north. By this, you all will be able to feel the connection if they’re indeed your fated ones.”

Every month, week by week, the Sarvatt moon ascends in different four directions in this order: north, east, south and west. It was considered a good omen when things were done during the ascending of the moon in the north. If it was west, it meant bad. Hence, most dragon shifters wouldn’t do anything during this time but stay in their homes.

It was rare for their kind to roam or fly around when the moon was in the west. In the past, there were several cases when dragons met their demise during this time. The pull of death during this time was the strongest. In fact, the last four-dragon race war happened when the moon was in the west. Numerous lives were taken. And the war ceased when the moon was in the north; hence, peace ruled from then on.

Fireon, however, did not believe in all this Sarvatt superstition. He always thought it was just coincidence. The moon had got nothing to do with a dragon shifter’s fate. Fate by itself was fate. Nothing could influence it.

One’s destiny was already drawn even before birth.

“What if my mate isn’t born yet, Rah?” Bylgarys brought up, c*****g his head.

Fireon snickered at his fourth brother. “You obviously have to wait for a long while, fahi,” he chided.

***

Fireon was fast to duck and roll over the well-cut purplish grassy ground. He was just approaching Zortiyanna on foot after that family meeting when he felt an arrow was coming his way. After rolling over, one knee was on the ground and his right hand extended in front of him, releasing a blue beam that went straight and suddenly curved to hit the target.

He smirked when Igivar was hit in the chest, dropping from where he was hidden, behind a gigantic lavender tree, as he was perched on a huge branch. Good that the latter had a shield on. Or else, he would have met the dragons’ god—Vallaeriz. But then the Red Dragon shifter knew what he was up whenever they had these sly but friendly attacks sometimes.

“It’s a wonder how your instincts and reflexes are always up, Trah Fireon,” Igivar mused aloud, sneering at Fireon when he was back on his feet. The bow and arrow disappeared from his hands.

“Drop the Trah. How many times did I tell you to not call me Prince Fireon?” Fireon walked over to where his best friend, who was of the same age as he. It was almost a century since they became friends. They grew closer as time went by.

“You know I do when I want to work you up or to plainly tease you. Right now, it’s the latter,” Igivar informed him with a mocking smile.

Igivar was two inches shorter than Fireon, who was straightening his back to his full height of six feet and two inches. They both grabbed each other’s right forearm, clasping it with the other hand as their personal greeting. After a few months of not seeing his best friend, he was happy to see him again.

“How was your mate search going?” he asked his Red Dragon friend. His red skin screamed his non-debatable dragon race. All other races were the same. They could be differentiated at once by their respective colors—Black, Red, White or Blue.

Igivar shook his red head. His short hair was cut almost to the scalp. “No luck. I’ve no idea where she is in Sarvatt Empire,” he replied with a long face as they both walked toward the imperial princely palace.

Zortiyanna was Fireon’s personal palace, so he could do anything there. His siblings had their own palaces as well, scattered in the Sarvatt fortress. The fortress was built on the highest elevated land of the empire where it had a panoramic view of the entire realm. It was in the north part of Sarvatt. From the foot of the largest mountain up to the sky, it was protected by magic for the royal family’s safety.

There were soldiers at the foot of the mountain, just in case there was land raid. But there were flying Black Dragons patrolling the skies to watch if there were oncoming air strikes. There were also twelve floating towers made of blue diamonds in a form of inverted triangles that hovered around the royal mountain, where guards had their rotations in ensuring the safety of Draggalo House members. Reserved warriors would be alerted immediately by a white beacon from each tower if there was any incoming danger.

“That’s not surprising,” Fireon remarked. “It’s hard to find our fated mates. We’d be lucky to find ours soon enough,” he added.

Now, they ascended through the wide stretch of twelve blue stairs toward the foyer. The steps glowed with every step they took.

Zortiyanna was mainly a cobalt blue palace, with a thousand meters in length and five hundred meters in height. It had six floors, with fire-like styled roofs—the most unique among all the imperial palaces. It had more than a dozen T-shaped pillars made of blue granite. Each column was carved with the Draggalo House seal, which was a Black Dragon whose talons held a dragon’s heart. It stood for supremacy, bravery and strength.

“Tell me why you’re always late whenever I say we meet?” Igivar queried lightly, with a sneering smile before transferring his gaze to the rectangular and egg-shaped windows of the palace, designed in alternate manner. These were trimmed and gilded with gold. “It’s really a bad habit of yours, Fireon. I suggest you change.”

Fireon chuckled at his friend. They now entered the spacious foyer of Zortiyanna where there stood a couple of guards at the entrance. The others were scattered inside and outside the palace, just like his siblings’ and the main imperial castle that was at the centermost of the royal premises.

“We had an emergency family meeting. I didn’t even get the wind message they sent since I was out.”

Igivar laughed. “I’d say you were spared by that creepy wind whispering in your ear.”

“I usually disagree with you, but right now, I absolutely think the same!” he assented with a grin.

Then Igivar held his arm suddenly, chocolate eyes looking deep into his blue-black ones as a thought dawned on him. “Apekru (Wait), Fireon. Wind messages go wherever you are and will disappear after a day. So what does it mean? You weren’t in Sarvatt Empire when it was sent? Is that why you missed it?”