Mellicon At Last

Finally, after two days, Starla Flammia, Callum Flammia, Hayes Machal and Rylan Acker arrived at Mellicon.

Mellicon was as cold as the middle of winter that Starla forgot that it was summer. Mellicon was quite a busy place. Busier than Foresden which was a place where the wealthy resided.

The vendors at the market sold almost everything. From vegetables, fruits, silverware to weapons, jeweleries and finely woven silk fabrics.

The streets were clean and not crowdy which made the carriage move swiftly through the streets.

Starla sat at the right window of the carriage looking outside with an absent look in her eyes. She could hear Callum warning Rylan and Hayes on the do's and dont's in their stay in Mellicon. She did not pay attention to him because she had other things on her mind. Like the dream she had two days prior.

The two children she was playing with was a mystery to her. She didn't remember having such friends - not that she had any friends though - but by the way they played with her showed that their friendship was true and they liked her for the despicable liar she was.

She had been thinking of why she could not see the woman's face because she realized it wasn't the sun rays covering her face in the dream. It wasbecause her face was covered by a blinding white light.

It was just her hypothesis that the woman was her mother. She had the urge to ask Callum how her mother looked like but knowing the consequences, she didn't.

Again, she did not know why she had that headache, the most unbearable pain she ever felt when she tried to take a glance at the woman's face.

Everything was a mystery to her.

"Both of you will act as my nephews."

He said, looking at Hayes and Rylan.

"We're here for a business deal and not for entertainment or to cause trouble."

Callum said, giving Starla a knowing look.

Starla did not show any reaction which was unlike her.

Surprised, Callum called out to her,

"Starla?"

No response. Hayes and Rylan turned to look at her, surprised that the spitfire did not spit her fire.

"Starla?!"

Starla mind snapped back into reality. She raised her eyebrows and asked,

"Did you say something?"

Callum's eyebrows knitted into a knot, Hayes looked at her with bewilderment while Rylan started to polish his daggers.

Starla hadn't been herself since she had that dream. Her usual self would always be alert, her mind never wandering about.

With a sigh, Starla pushed her thoughts away for the time being and apologized with a small voice,

"Sorry."

And went back to looking out of the window. Mellicon wasn't as she thought it was.

She imagined it to be a hellish place with the smell of unwashed bodies, with ruthless guards mercilessly whipping slaves with rods.

She imagined dirty smelly streets that reeked of sewage. She imagined a cold - hearted populace who kill their neighbours with no care at all.

But what she saw was the exact opposite - there were no slaves to be seen, the streets were neat and tidy and the atmosphere smelt like lavender and the populace were kind and loving like one big family.

By just looking at them, Starla could feel her heart melting.

Soon, the carriage passed by the marketplace and arrived at a desolate place. From afar, one could see a huge white mansion with high walls.

"The Overlord of Mellicon's mansion."

Callum announced.

"Overlord of Mellicon? Why 'Overlord' and not lord?" Starla asked as she squinted her eyes to look at the mansion.

"The Overlord of Mellicon is almost equivalent to the King of Nevelle. Mellicon isn't under the jurisdiction of the King of Nevelle." Rylan stopped polishing his dagger and answered with a proud look on his face.

Starla was surprised that Rylan knew such information and she was even more surprised that he did not mock her for her ignorance.

With her curiosity piqued, she asked,

"If the King of Nevelle could conquer two of the most powerful kingdoms on the continent, why is a small city like Mellicon not conquered?"

Nevelle conquered its neighbouring kingdom in the south and the island kingdom, Sirius, in the east in the span of fifteen years.

Mellicon could be conquered in less than a year so why does Nevelle hesitate?

"Mellicon signed an agreement with Nevelle fifteen years ago. In exchange for their freedom, they would have to keep the captured people of the conquered kingdom of Sirius as slaves in their city and later send them to the royal city of Nevelle, Reminon." Callum answered this time around.

Starla shuddered involuntarily at the mention of slaves. It suddenly dawned on her that the people of Mellicon may not be as good as she thought.

Callum continued, "Before the signing of the agreement, Mellicon was an invincible existence on the battlefield. With the help of the mythical beast they believed in, the water Hydra and the quality of their army, they were unstoppable. They could take over the world if they wanted to but they kept to themselves. But things changed.

The water Hydra disappeared one day and many warriors died in their quest to find it.

With the disappearance of their god, the water Hydra, and the loss of many skilled warriors, Mellicon became less powerful.

But other kingdoms hesitated to attack Mellicon in its moment of weakness because Mellicon was renowned for its superior battle strategy.

Since then, Mellicon's strength deteriorated further and whatever happened on the battlefield became legend."

Starla opened her mouth to ask a question when the carriage came to a halt in front of a huge iron gate. Slowly, the gate creaked open.

As the carriage strode into the mansion, Starla saw a nine - headed water Hydra amid waves of turquoise water at the center of the gate.

The water Hydra had golden scales on its body. Its nine heads had green eyes with pupils as dark as night.

As Starla looked at the water Hydra, her focus shifted to the head in the middle.

The head in the middle had it mouth opened wide, exposing its sharp fangs and tongue.

Starla could feel it staring at her with its penetrating eyes that went straight into her soul.

A sudden terror seized her heart and she quickly closed her eyes, not daring to look at it again as the carriage passed by.

When she heard the gate close, she opened her eyes and breathed out slowly.