Oliver' that was my new name. I had lot up my mind that I wanted to tell them a lot of knowledge that seemed forbidden, I caught glimpses of them as we rode but Nic's warning from earlier in the day began to haunt me.

  "It is up to you whether you tell them or not, your choice to hide it or avoid it by yourself but know this, your choice will have massive consequences if not now then the future, would you trust them with your life or would you lie to remain companions?"

  My mind was in a battle torn between itself for I did not heed Lucas calling out to me a couple of times "OLIVER!" he, called out which finally pulled me out from my trance "Look ahead it's the capital"

  Indeed, there was a large city looming in the distance which sat upon a plateau surrounded by fortified Wall as far as the eye could see. Large fields of greenery could be seen towards the left of walls with little people that looked like ants toiling in the fields and on the right side nothing much was there just plain ground with a few trees to make up for it.

  "By the looks of it, we should reach before sundown" Uriel mentioned, she was quite adept at navigating and had been the one leading us ever since we began our journey. We rode down the path as it finally seemed to be getting better the closer we got and the horses could now gallop faster, the breeze was beginning to feel cooler, and the sun's glare now became a warm embrace. We were soon at the massive city gates.

  The closer we got, the better detail of the place became, walls that look slightly damp and cold that had seen better days, a group of what seemed like farmers were also returning after a day's work, but they seemed to have hate or anguish in their eyes.

  "I do not think they look so happy now do they?" Uriel whispered to Lucas " And they seem to be going a little overboard with the security even for a gate" Now that she mentioned it there were indeed a lot of guards, and their icy gaze were locked upon us

  "State your business" one of the guards step forward Infront of us his tone wasn't very friendly or welcoming.

  Uriel stepped up and with a graceful, yet formal tone spoke."Kindly grant us passage for we have arrived to aid the people nothing more nothing less."

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  "Please wait, I believe one of you in the very least has the ability to use a skill proficiently?" his tone was more polite now, swayed by Uriel's presence and her demeanor.

  "Yes, we do although Oliver here cannot. Will that be an issue?"

  "I will have to apologise milady, but you will need to turn back. The Divine Regent has issued a decree after he came into power that no one with 'skills' are allowed to enter unless it is her own people of this country."

  "But that is impossible!" Both Uriel and Lucas seemed shocked. "How can that decree be declared while the Oath bearer still lives? The divine Regent whether he holds that authority over the country would fear being destroyed for going against a Celestial rank."

  "Oath bearer or Cyrine as people would call her, was ranked last of the seven ranks but has remained unchanged for almost a century, she had power so great that when she did use her power the people who witnessed it would go blind. She stood for good and at that time there was another city as large as this called Clare as this was where she fought the tyrant that was ruling this country to a draw but ended up obliterating that city to rubbles. She then made an oath to work for the good of the people earning her the title of Oath bearer. A few weeks ago, After the disappearance of the tyrant, people believed she had ended him for good but then the civil war broke out which was surprising as we thought the people of this country would be thrilled to live under Cyrine's rule."

  The guard after listening to Uriel explain the story to me, took a deep breath and turned his face firm.

  "Cyrine the Oath bearer is dead, and you will now turn back, or we have been issued to kill.

  The atmosphere turned cold in an instant they were firm in their resolve, Money or other things would not waver them for they had the call of duty in their eyes. But that wasn't going to let them stop us either.

  "Let's turn back guys, they won't let us pass no matter what, time to head back to the tavern" Uriel beckoned us.

  And so, we walked back as the stars began to sparkle and the moon began to creep over. Uriel began gathering up some sticks to light up...... "WAIT!" I blurted out accidently a bit too loud and bit too quick.

  "What's wrong Oli?" Uriel seemed concerned at my reaction and so was I.

  "Can't Lucas conjure a flame instead? I pleaded.

  "I could but that uses ether, and we have sticks lying around so I could just light them up instead of actively maintaining one" He was slightly suspicious, but I couldn't blame him.

  In that moment my head exploded to barrage of what ifs and should I? What if they turn against me what if they don't? but it all came tumbling down like a deck of cards when Uriel put her arms around my shoulders.

  "It's alright, you can tell us Oli, we won't do what you think we will do." And then she smiled it was now or never, this would decide my fate.

  So, I grabbed a stick that Uriel had been picking and lit it ablaze.

  "I......." My voice still unsure and hesitant finally spoke out.

  "I have a red shadow."

  Should i branch out to other sites?