Faint Shadows

20 years earlier

"We must defeat them! How long must we submit and give them our property, wife, children, and even our family?"

Dysabella faintly heard Jonathan's voice—her father, who sounded emotional in the foyer—from the kitchen. The braided girl pretended not to notice and continued to knead the dough for bread this morning. Amely, his mother, was seen beside her raising an old rattan tray on top of which was already shaped dough, then placing it in the oven.

Jonathan's voice continued to reverberate in his daughter's ears. His voice shook more and more, his intonation became more pronounced. Dysabella pretended not to notice, but the sounds distracted her even more. The girl with jet black hair unwittingly clutched the dough forcefully, squirting the bread ingredients all over her arms.

For the umpteenth time, a flash of shadows suddenly filled her head. In her head, he could vividly hear the flames, the sound of wailing, and the shouts of anguish. The harsh voice of a large fish in the ocean soon buzzed in his mind. Dysabella awoke with a strong dizziness in her head that caused her to fall backwards, if Amely does not catch him quickly.

"What happened, Dysabel, honey?" Amely gave her daughter a troubled look. "Are you ill?"

The blue-eyed girl simply sighed quietly and massaged her head with her hand. "Mom, I'm fine. Is it okay if I go to the bed room?"

"Of course, my dear," her say. Amely felt sorry for her child and kissed her on the forehead. "Rest for the entire day in your room. Allow Ma to prepare the stuff, and your Baba will assist in its placement in the bar."

"Thank you, Ma."

Dysabella went to her room after saying her goodbyes. She sighed—as he walked, she felt the red brick wall that Jonathan had turned into a bakery and cake business, as well as where they lived, sheltering from the blazing sun and attempting to live their lives.

The slender and tall girl entered the room and then pushed the teak wood plank that separated her room from another room. Dysabella collapsed into the couch, which was merely covered in a cloth stuffed with hard cloth wool that made her sick. He took a big breath and said, "What happened to me?" as he stared up at the ceiling of the room with no ceiling.

She was always plagued by the shadows.

She didn't know how long the image of the scorched village had haunted his mind, who was screaming in pain with a cry, what it had to do with the big animal screeching in the ocean, and... he didn't know whose soft voice said, "Dont forget yor mother, Sweetheart. I love you so much, always and everytime."

Her life is frequently taken away by the shadows. Because the shadows are always present, resulting in a piercing headache

Dysabella had never seen an ocean, a river, or anything else that had to do with water. Because the earth appeared old to him as he grew up. Drought all throughout, dry and desolate. All waters, even the oceans, have vanished from the face of the world, leaving only the carcasses of creatures that are now bones on the barren soil that was once the open sea. It hasn't rained in over two decade. Oceans and waterways in reality, offer a distinctiveness and beauty to anybody who sees them, according to a history book.

Sometimes Dysabella is curious about the shape of the sea and its contents. Dysabella either didn't notice or forgot. Furthermore, Dysabella had no knowledge of life in the water, animals, or other forms of beauty. And the large blue thing in her shadow with a screaming shriek was his first sighting of a marine animal in her blue eyes, though not in person.

Dysabella had never told anyone anything about what had occurred to her, despite the fact that she had been plagued by hazy shadows. When she fell due to a headache and had to be rushed to the healer, his parents were understandably concerned. Dysabella was weary, according to the healer. "Because I'm not sick", he said in his heart. Only the girl is aware of the mysterious shadows that had followed her for a long time.

If only the sound of explosions, accompanied by flashes of reddish-yellow light, hadn't passed through her window, which was only framed by a frayed white curtain, the 23 year old girl would have been in a dreamland. When Dysabella realized what was about to happen, she gripped the cloth on her bed hard. He closed his eyes and heard the screams of a woman who was being burned by the fire set by the man.

They are 'Merapi,' troops from Dzkarda, home of the Binturi of Fire—or Fire Nation. And, they are the mastermind responsible for the suffering of all nations. They are currently colonizing Doli, the territory where Dysabella now exists and where all ordinary people dwell.

●●●●●

The world's living water—the rain clans—has been lost to the avarice and greed of the fire people for more than 20 years. Since then, rivers have slowly dried up, oceans have shrunk, and other bodies of water have shrunk as well, scattering the bodies and bones of the creatures that once called them home, as well as a sorrow that never faded. They are still hoping for rain to fall on the poor planet after the drought much. But what was waiting for never came.

The houses ran out of water one by one, steadily instilling greed and selfishness in each human, whether Binturi or an ordinary human. People died one by one as a result of dehydration and inability to withstand the burning thirst. This should never have happened. Due to circumstances, the fire clan began to disobey the laws in the Sijjahtera book, forcing the others to follow suit.

Even though the role and part of each person in life is specified in the book of Sijjahtera, everything is ruined due to greed.

After over half of the world's population died as a result of drought, hope was restored when one of Dzkarda's lakes—Nirmana—replenished water that had been lost for a long time. People and groups from all over the world gathered to the Alsroban area, which is part of the Dzkarda region, to see the Nirmana lake. But the King intervened and stopped everything. Merapi is there to keep intruders take of the water.

The king also sent a letter to anyone who wants water from the Nirmana lake, saying that they must pay a large rent to get water flow from the fresh lake. Naturally, everyone was enraged, but they couldn't do anything about it. They must pay rent to obtain water in order to survive. Dzkarda has become a successful country five years after getting large sums of money every month.

With a massive dome of actual gold glowing with perpetual flames surrounding it, the palace of fire clan ascended almost through the sky. A gleaming silver tower with a massive fire (a dragon) clan sign carved into Dzkarda, fashioned from selected gold to form the red Binturi's identity as a fire clan monument, stands in the heart of Dzkarda. People live a happy life full of jokes and joy while wearing lovely red outfits made of high-end cloth, unconcerned about other people in distress. These are only a few of the countless developments in the Land of Fire.

This is Dzkarda's palace now. A young guy stands inside the window of his palace room, looking out into a lovely green grass field that serves as a training facility for  palace familly. The sound of clashing swords could be heard throughout the castle as two prince dressed in red shirts and black loose pants, practiced their sword abilities.

The pale brown-eyed man was startled awake by the sound of a knock on his door. To open the door, the man turned around and walked across the marble. When the door opened, he noticed someone Merapi, who was dressed in full armor and military garb, staring at him blankly. When exposed to light, the metal and steel in his armor became red.

The Merapi bowed politely after placing one hand across his chest. "Prince, please accept my apologies. The King had given me orders to bring the Prince to him. This morning, there was Prin—"

"I understand. Isn't it standard practice for the royal fools to train every three days? Fedyor, I'm not as stupid as you." 'Prince Mattias Latkov,' one of Dzkarda's crown prince, interrupted.

Fedyor murmured, maintaining his steady expression, "Prepare yourself, Prince. I'll stay here and wait. I must see that Prince Mattias arrives at the training grounds as commanded by His Majesty the King."

Mattias, the jet black-haired man, exhaled gently and wore an unfriendly expression. "Get out of here, fool Fedyor. I don't want to say it again."

"Your Majesty, I will remain here."

Mattias slammed the door shut in frustration. One of the prince in the Dzkarda Palace prepared for training with displeasure and intense compulsion. He despised the self-defense training, as well as Fedyor, the Merapi who had guarded Mattias from childhood. Mattias was waiting for the big, bleached blond soldier, who was 78 years old named Fedyor Miller perhaps retired or died during the war. Mattias is, indeed, a villain.

The palace tradition he despised the most was that every crown prince and princess was required to attend training. Although there were only three trainings per week, it was inconvenient.

The first is self-education in the science and theory of fire. The crown princes and princesses are trained to use their fire power to the best of their abilities during training, not just for battle. Self-defense is the second training. There, the princes and princesses must fight without using their fire abilities. There, they must master the use of all weapons as well as grappling without them. The third option is to learn to ride a dragon.

Mattias cursed as he remembered the training that required him to look into the eyes of beasts capable of spitting fire. The dragon has just one master. And as part of that training, the courtiers were required to tame the dragon until it was willing to entirely surrender to the tamer. Mattias despised the creature.

Mattias despised everyone and everything in this magnificent palace, including his parents and brothers. Because that one Prince has a unique perspective on the world and everything within it.