Dawn of a New Era

The morning sun shone brightly into Ojero's room, illuminating the white and gold walls which almost seemed to glow in the light.

Across from a large window was a king sized bed with a teenager sized lump currently laying in it, their limbs splayed out across it.

On the walls hung many portraits and paintings, intricately showing various battles and far away lands.

As time passed, the lump on the bed began to stir, stretching out and groaning. He laid up against the large white pillows, rubbing his eyes to clear his vision.

'Morning already? But sleep felt so good!'

In a mixture of anger and acceptance, Ojero grumbled as he pulled himself out of bed, the cold air making him wince.

He slowly trudged into his closet, already debating if getting some extra sleep would be worth his fathers anger.

Remembering the last time he chose extra sleep, which quickly led to his father making him skip his favorite breakfast dish, made Ojero decide that the sleep might not be worth it.

Leaning up and stretching, Ojero looked into the large mirror on his closet wall.

Ojero was a tall figure, reaching up to 6'3" even though he was only 15. His brown hair untidy and going in every direction, evidence of his recent awakening. His thin body had little evidence of fat, or muscle, much to Ojero's chagrin.

The feature Ojero was most proud of were his dark green eyes, seemingly able to pierce someone's soul with a look. His lips were shaped up in a constant sly smile, making Ojero always appear as if he has a witty joke prepared at all times.

Ojero walked away from the mirror and into a nearby corridor lined with hundreds of outfits. A few minutes later, Ojero walked out wearing a long white tunic and jacket with gold trim. His pants mimicked this color pattern, with long flowing designs of a white snake arcing all around his body.

His hair was now combed over neatly, but wasn't too evenly kept. Ojero didn't like to look too prim and proper, he thought the disorder made him stand out.

Now that he was dressed, Ojero walked out of the closet and through his room into the hallway. A long golden carpet sat in the center of the hallway, winding down long stairs at both ends.

The walls of the hallway were covered in a row of paintings, each showing similar battle scenes. Ojero studied each one as he walked, as he did every morning. It gave him a sense of purpose to know that people before him have achieved so much.

Each painting showed something similar, usually a single man in white and gold knight armor with a Tome glowing near his head. Each face and body size differed, but they all looked similar.

The man would be standing on a small hill, overlooking a clash of armored soldiers, some wearing white and the others wearing gold. The man's eyes were glowing, as magic shot from his fingers towards the golden knights.

The biggest difference as the paintings changed was the magic. The older paintings only showed the knightly figure casting spells that glowed white, but soon they casted white and gold spells, then white, gold, and blue.

Soon, every painting showed the knightly figure casting multiple different colors, but all of them still wielded light. Everything else changed, but light always stayed.

Soon Ojero reached the end of the hallway, where the man in the final painting wielded over a dozen colors of magic. Ojero always stopped in front of this one, looking directly at the figure depicted.

'I'll do better, grandpa. One day, when I'm in this hall, I will be depicted as powerful and grand just like you!'

Ojero walked down the winding staircase in front of him, excited to see what the day would bring. At the bottom he moved through a sitting room before entering a large dining hall. As usual, his brother and parents were already sitting down.

"Nice of you to finally join us, Ojero." his father said gruffly.

Quasar Guestino, Ojero's father, was a powerful duke in the Kingdom of Riote. He was a large muscular man, who stood at 6'6" tall when standing. He had a large brown mustache and a neatly combed head of dark brown hair. His green eyes sparkled in the light, making him seem wise.

He was wearing his typical apparel, a white and gold tunic coupled with white and gold pants. It looked almost identical to Ojero's, except for the depiction of a golden stag winding around his body.

In front of him sat a bowl of Detor Elixir, a very expensive breakfast only nobles could afford. It was a purple colored soup that was renowned for its nutritious properties. A single bowl of Detor Elixir was enough to make someone full for three days.

"Oh, don't be so hard on him dear. You would sleep in even later when you were his age!" Ojero's mother, Matricia Guestino, said.

Matricia was a frail woman, who was always kind and loving to everyone who met her. Her long blonde hair fell down her back neatly, making her appear youthful even though she was getting on in years. Her blue eyes always radiated kindness.

She wore a long flowing dress of gold and white, with an image of a white-gold dove sewn into it.

Across from her sat Orpham, Ojero's older brother. He wore clothing identical to Ojero, except for his image being a wolf.

Orpham looked very similar to Ojero, except being an inch taller and having blue eyes opposed to green.

"Come on now little brother, the bed isn't THAT comfortable!" Orpham said with a smile.

"You only say that because you get up early to sneak back into the castle! Spending all those nights with village girls isn't good for you, you know!" Ojero snapped back, with a sly smile to match Orphams.

"I shall neither confirm nor deny that allegation, but I have heard that it is an enjoyable adventure that you should soon try! Live a little, brother!"

"Do not speak about this at the table! You two should hold yourself to a higher standard!" Their father interrupted.

"However, I do hope that the girls are pretty." Quasar finished with a straight face, but his lips twitching revealing his true joking nature.

"Quasar! Don't encourage their dishonorable behavior!"

"I am doing nothing of the sort dear! They know their activities were immoral to the highest degree!"

As his parents bickered back and forth, Ojero took his seat next to Orpham, a similar bowl of Detor Elixir already waiting in front of him. He took his spoon and greedily dug in, but managed to keep the soup from splashing on his expensive tunic.

As he was eating, his brother elbowed him in his side, making Ojero almost spill his meal.

He turned to shoot his brother a dirty look, but saw a mischievous look in his eye. Ojero immediately knew what that meant. He nodded a single time to Orpham, before the both of them began eating their soup even faster.

They finished in record time, their parents only just finishing their playful argument.

Orpham was the first to speak.

"Father, mother, may Ojero and I go play in the village square for a bit? We have already finished our meal, and we have no tutoring today."

Quasar looked at them sternly.

"The village square is not fit for young nobles. There is much studying you could do instead."

Matricia lightly rested her hand on her husband's shoulder.

"Let them have their fun, dear. When they are older they may fit the noble role you wish for them, but let them enjoy their youth."

Quasar's hard gaze softened under his wifes gaze.

"Stay no later than four hours. I expect you both to be back by then."

With those words both brothers dashed from their seats and down the hall, prompting a series of warnings from their father to slow down.

As they neared the doors, Ojero yelled out to his brother, "Race you to the square!"