War of empires; dreams summoned into reality

Episode one

Ozan's nightmare

--------**--------

Ozan lied on the floor with his throat slit as he continued to bleed out. The surrounding environment was all in flames from the relentless assault of a dragon's scorching breath. He tries to crawl to an open space where someone might recognise him and render some help, but the more blood he loose the weaker he became. Ozan tried to scream, but all that could be heard was the gurgling sound of blood that had flooded his windpipe. He then channeled all his strength to his legs in order to crawl out into the street hoping someone might see him, but to his misfortune, the building collapsed on him.

---------**---------

Frantically and with a loud scream, prince Ozan awaken from his nightmare drenched in sweat and tears. He was very frightened, his body continues to shake so much it caused his bed to squeak loudly. It was not just a nightmare, he could still feel pain all over his body, especially in his throat. It felt exactly like his throat was slit and like a building had collapsed on his head. Although there is no sign of any physical damage and the pain began to rapidly disappear, as he lay on his bed grunting in extreme agony.

"Ugh...Ugh.....That was not just a dream. That felt more real than what I'm feeling right now. The horror was definitely real,"

He then stood up to go clean himself, then he heard a sudden bang on the window. Ozan quickly rushed to check what it was. He opened his window and looked down from the top floor of a five-storey castle. It was a bit difficult to see in the dark, but he noticed it was his friend Abram throwing rocks at his window.

"Come on, let's go before it's too late," said Abram

They had planned to sneak out that night to go watch the illegal underground fight outside the capital.

"Did you get the ladder?"

Then he saw Abram struggling to raise an extremely tall ladder towards the window. After much grunting and struggling, he finally did it. Ozan began to descend the ladder carefully when suddenly the scene of the burning town from his dream overtook his mind. His body froze, and he fell all the way from the fourth floor.

"Oh, no," shouted Abram, almost alerting the guards as rushed to catch Ozan but was not fast enough.

He missed, and Ozan fell.

"My Prince, are you alright?" said Abram with a face struck with horror and much concern for the Prince's condition.

"This is terrible. I will do whatever it takes to help," said Abram as he approached Ozan.

"Did you bring me the change of clothes I asked for?"

It shocked Abram when he quickly realised that the prince had landed on a large pile of garbage which cushioned his fall and he was unscathed.

"Hand me the clothes so we can get out of here before someone notices us. We have made enough noise as it is."

Abram was pleasantly surprised, with a big smile on his face and a deep sigh of relief. He quickly had over the clothes to Ozan and began to look around as Ozan change into the typical peasant appearance, wearing plain grey shirt, a grey trouser with worn out leather shoes.

They both set out to leave the capital. Ozan led them through a secret, unguarded underground passage to escape the castle while Abram led the remainder of the way.

"This is so exciting. Have you been to the Arena many times before?" asks Ozan.

"Yes, I have. I used to work there before. You have nothing to worry about," answered Abram.

Once they got out of the beautiful walled city of Springville (the capital city of Arrandale). Abram took the Prince to a village called Dama where he has never been before. The air was filled with smoke, and the ground was covered in mud, the gutters overflowed and the streets were filled with beggars. The prince began to look around as he observes closing.

"Is this really part of Arrandale? "

"Yes it is, not everyone here is bad but all the bad people come here,"

Ozan kept walking through narrow streets with little to no lighting, watching his steps carefully to avoid the mud as he followed Abram's lead. A man with a big scar on his face suddenly came out of a dark alley holding a big knife and said,

"give me your money and nobody gets hurt,"

"we are under the protection of krillin, harm us and you become dog meat by tomorrow" said Abram.

"How do I know you are not just using Krillin's name to get out of trouble?"

"The only way to find out is for you to hurt us and within a few hours, you will know whether Krillin protects us or not," said Abram.

The strange man grunts angrily as he went back into the dark alley.

"What was that about, and who is krillin?"

"The less you know about Krillin, the better. In fact, forget you ever heard that name. That will be better for you," said Abram.

They both continued walking and soon they arrived at the Arena. It was packed full of people cheering and debating who the best fighter was. They both took a seat as they wait for the event to begin.

The first event of the night was fought by amateurs who simply have scores to settle and decided to settle the score instead in a public setting in order to humiliate their opponent. So random people on the street who are not warriors or fighters would simply sign up to fight. After all of that is done, real fighters will then take over the stage to entertain the crowd.

The events were concluded in a few hours, after much pain has been inflicted by fighters on other fighters, with bloodstains all over the floors and walls. Ozan really enjoyed the show. He just wanted to be away from the calm environment of the castle and experience some violence that he has always been hidden away from. This did not satisfy him because it was nothing compared to what he imagine the battlefield looks or feels like, which is what he longed for.

Ozan returns to his room in the castle unnoticed and tired, so he went back to sleep, hoping not to have another nightmare like the one he had earlier. Ozan woke up the next morning, glad that he did not have another one of those nightmares. He then proceed to prepare himself for a morning class with his philosophy teacher. A maid came to knock on his door informing him that the King request his presence immediately. His heart began to race, thinking that he might have been caught sneaking out the other day.

He quickly got dressed in a royal like brown vest, black trousers, golden belt, a black pair of boots, a golden belt around his waist and a pair of white opera gloves. He went to the palace hall to meet his Father, worried that he might have been caught sneaking out. Upon reaching the palace, he noticed a lot of people gathered at the palace having a discussion about the possibility of war.

He then approached his father the King "Father, you sent for me"

"I canceled your classes for today, go make preparations for tomorrow, we depart for Iron-fort..... if you will excuse me, I have matters to attend to" said King Goldwyn and then he swiftly walk away into the conference room accompanied by Princess Pheonix.

Ozan stood and watch as all the most important palace members, generals and nobles enter the conference room to discuss something important.

Ozan was heartbroken because he was excluded from such important matters. He felt underrated and unimportant. He was filled with rage but was powerless and does not know what he can do to change his circumstances, so he decided to wait outside the conference room until they were done.

While waiting, a noble woman walks up to him. You could easily tell she is noble from the way she is dressed in an expensive gown and jewelries

"Good morning my Prince,"

"If you are looking for the conference room, it is right there by the left," said Ozan with a little of an angry tone in his voice.

"I'm not looking for the conference room, i just wanted to greet the Prince of Arrandale,"

"Why would anyone want to great a good-for-nothing Prince who is not even allowed inside a conference room," said prince Ozan.

"I don't think you are good for nothing. I wouldn't want to be in that conference room. You know they are discussing war and conquest right. I would rather not be involved in such discussions. I hope for a world where the intellectual side of human dominates human perception of the world and where the intellect directs human actions,"

The Prince then finally turn to look at her, she was dressed in a beautiful golden brown gown and a simple sandals with straps running across it up to her ankle; she has brown silky long hair. He couldn't help but notice the lovely smile on her face and the seriousness in her eyes as she spoke those words.

"that line of thinking might be good, but not in this era, not under the current human condition, the empires that think like that are either dead or have become a vessel state of their former oppressor, strength is what dictates our happiness, strength is what dictates our survival,"

"But don't you think we should strive to change it, to get better and reduce the amount of suffering we cause around us, by encouraging the mind and getting people occupied with their creative capacity, instead of been occupied by constant warring?"

"You can not blame anyone for this. We didn't start it. We simply inherited it from our forefathers. The way we see it, this is simply the necessary requirement for survival," said prince Ozan.

The door blasted open, and people poured out of the conference room. The meeting is over. Ozan finally has a chance to confront his father about the constant attempt made to sideline him. But first he rushed to catch up with the unknown noble woman as she turns to walk away and asked

"do you know anyone named Krillin?".

"No, I don't know anyone with that name. That's an uncommon name,"

"Thanks, anyway. What's your name?"

"My name is Alvena,"

"I'm sorry about the tone of my voice. Take care of yourself and do yourself a favour and look at the world more realistically," said Prince Ozan as he walked away from Alvena.

King Goldwyn finally came out of the conference room and was immediately approached by Ozan. Ozan had a serious look on his face. But before he could start talking to the King, Princess Pheonix interrupted, saying,

"your majesty, may i have a moment with you,"

"No, you can not," said Prince Ozan.

Ozan is not willing to waste anymore time before voicing his concerns to the king.

"you do not speak for me. I decide whether I can spare a moment or not," said the King.

"Ozan is pretty serious about this. I think you should listen to him. I can come back later," said Princess Pheonix, then she walked away.

"What do you want, boy?"

"I want you to treat me like a proper Prince. I want to be part of the army. I want you to let me prove that I can be the next heir to the throne,"

"You are not a blessed one. You don't have the privilege of risking your life. This is better for you. The future of rulership is going to require more of the mind than it does of strength."

"Strength has always defined leadership throughout many eras. Why do you think all of a sudden that knowledge is going to take over?" said Ozan.

"I hope knowledge does take over in the future," said King Goldwyn.

"so my life depends on hope, is that it? Are you saying I should base my life on hope for something no human civilization has ever achieved?" said Prince Ozan.

"ok look, I think we both have to make some compromise. You keep studying while I arrange for you to join Lord Frieg's battalion," said King Goldwyn.

"thank you Father,"

"but remember, the primary objective of a King is to establish peace and once that is achieved, your strength is no longer what gains you the favour of your subject, it is your wisdom and the knowledge you have gathered over the years," said King Goldwyn and then he waved his hands to dismiss the Prince.

"Damn, I forgot to ask what the hell is a blessed one? He keeps saying that but never explains what he means by that. It is going to take a few days now before I can have an audience with the King,"