Captain of the Silverknights

Princess Cystallis was dusting off her skirt, and Tal saw that there were red lines on her palm. Cuts from when she bunched her fists against the grass earlier. Tal wondered if her hands were that soft.

The princess cleared her throat. "A-anyway, Your Excellency, why don't you come inside the palace first? I've had the biggest room prepared in your honor."

Her eyes were downcast, standing like a flower that was wilting. Tal steeled himself, for he had every right to be angry at her. There was no need for him to feel bad.

Tal felt an intense weight burrowing at his neck, and when he looked, the witch was glaring daggers at him. He had an eerie feeling all of a sudden, having the brief sense that she was Freya, angry at him for hurting Analin. Again, he had to tell himself that they were not his friends from five hundred years ago. Though he had yet to solve this mystery.

"What?" Tal snarled at Tynari.

The witch's gaze wavered. "Nothing."

She seemed to have seen something from the distance because she smiled. The last thing Tal expected her to do was shout and point at him saying, "Here! This man tried to kill the princess!"

The shadows in the entire courtyard began to wriggle in motion—shadows cast by the statues, the trees and the nearby buildings. One by one figures began to rise from the shadows, as though they had resurfaced from water.

Tal's heart skipped a beat when he recognized his own magic skill being used. Shadow Passage.

Who—?

They were fast, and in a blink of an eye, two people clad in all black had grabbed Crystallis and Tynari. They jumped into the nearest stretch of shadow and popped out several meters from where they were standing before.

"What is happening?!" He heard Crystallis' muted shout.

Tal was caught inside a circle of individuals wearing all-black fitted garments, with silver threads that curled along their limbs.

He tried to steal their control over the shadows, but he found that he was too weak. It seemed that him shifting into his original form earlier had caused him to spend most of his energy. Just who were these funny-looking people?

"An unknown presence has broken into the royal premises," a voice said from behind him.

Impossible. When? He couldn't even sense the person that had snuck close to him!

Tal turned and saw a heavyset man wearing the same type of clothing as these people that surrounded him, only that he was wearing a fur-lined robe over it. He had bronze skin and deep blue hair that was tied into a high ponytail.

Tal sucked in a breath when he saw the horse he was riding on was made entirely of shadows. The outline of the creature was hazy, constantly swaying like restless tendrils. Nevertheless, it looked solid enough, and very much alive, staring at him with glowing white eyes.

It was another of his skills, Shadow Animation.

There could be no other explanation as to who these sketchy people were. They were dragonsouls, humans who were capable of using the power of the dragons. And the power they were using came from Tal himself, the Dragon of Shadows and Freedom.

"Speak, intruder!" The man's voice rang loud.

Tal clicked his tongue. "Ah, is this boy not capable of respecting his elders?"

It was a mere murmur, but it seemed like it reached their leader's ears. "What insolence! Who are you?!"

Tal could hear Crystallis' shouts of protest, but the man's attention was completely fixed on him.

"My lady, please! Don't come near, it's dangerous!" One of the black-clad figures was stopping someone from getting close.

At first, Tal thought that it was the princess. But he saw Tynari instead, meanwhile Crystallis was caught by two of them, gripping her tight on the wrists. She couldn't even struggle free.

"Lyden!" Tynari said, stopping a few inches from the shadow horse.

"Captain, forgive me, but she was being too forceful."

The one who tried to prevent her from getting close then slinked away, waved off by the large man.

"Tynari, you should be with the princess," said the captain.

"I know, but listen to me for a while." Tynari cast a brief glance at Tal and smirked. "He tried to kill the princess. See for yourself, she has deep cuts all over her neck from his claws. Lyden, this man can't be trusted. You should put him into prison."

Tal's eye twitched, annoyance flaring inside him. This woman! She knew this captain of-whatever-group would choose to believe him, and her wariness of him drove her to push Tal away from Crystallis as much as possible. She was now seeing him as a danger to the princess, which was fairly understandable.

And besides, Tal couldn't blame them if none of these people knew that he was the Dragon King. He had disappeared five hundred years ago, and that was a very, very long time. Enough for the people to forget. And with his current strength, there was no chance he would be able to escape this tricky situation unscathed.

Lyden's calm expression distorted into anger. "I will not need to see for myself, I believe you, Tynari. Forget about putting him in prison, the law states that I must kill him immediately. Your brazenness will be the death of you!"

The captain hopped off his mount, unsheathing a long sword from his back, the blade also wrapped in swirling shadows. He paused when he saw the indifference on Tal's face.

Lyden chuckled dryly. "You dare possess the audacity to look bored? Just who do you think you're dealing with, stranger?"

Tal tilted his head. "A child."

The captain's jaw clenched, his fist tightening on his hilt. The insult had caused a brief period of silence to wrap over the circle.

With a flick of a wrist, Lyden charged at Tal. He was swift like lightning, not even allowing Tal to blink. And in a second, the captain closed the space between them, barely nose to nose with each other.

Now, Tal might be far weaker than his original self, but there was a reason why he chose to give the princess a chance. For despite being in human form, he was still dragon-born through and through.

Tal stepped to the side, silent and graceful as shadows. Lyden froze upon seeing that he had slashed nothing but air.

"I am more ancient than your seas and rivers, than your stars and your sun. I blew the first winds, spun the first waters with my brothers and sisters," Tal whispered into his ear, "I've walked with your gods in the primeval forests, oversaw the forming of your mountain peaks. You cannot deign to comprehend my existence, mortal. Ah… is this all you can show me?"