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Chapter 7. The Locked Heart

We decided to continue journying to East, because I wanted to see as much of Esperia as possible. Blaine wasn't as quiet as allways and he even started up a conversation at times. I was happy. I didn't have to make my journy alone.

We didn't encounter any more of the lizard-wolf beasts that day, and we began to set up a camp for the night. The sun was setting in the horizon, and the first brightest stars lighted up in the red evening sky. It was so peaceful. We set up our camp a short distance away from the road and lighted the campfire. As the sun had set completely and the red curtain of it's golden rays had dissapeared from the sky it revealed a beautiful starry sky. A few fireflys were flying and flickering around the camp and the flames of the fire danced gracefully in front of us, giving warmth, and comfort. I was so relaxed, and maybe a little bit tired. I layed down on a warm blancket we had bought from the city and looked at the stars. Some grasshoppers were chirping in the grass around us.

I sighed and closed my eyes.

"This is so wonderful... I'd never had imagined that such a beautiful world like this even existed..." I said quietly and smiled.

"So... What is your world like?" I heared Blaine ask. I sat up and looked at him.

"I'd say it's way more boring than this place..." I said and rolled my eyes.

"All I could ever do there besides hanging around with my friends was watch the TV, practice playing with my flute, or doing my homework." I shook my head and shrugged.

"What is a... TV?" Blaine asked and tilted his head. I blinked.

"Oh, well... It's kinda hard to explain. It's like a box, that shows moving pictures and stuff.

Commercials, comedies, soap operas and stuff like that." I said and drew a square in the air with my fingures.

"That sounds intresting..." Blaine said.

"You think?" I said and grinned.

"Well... There are many bad things in our world too..."

Blaine pulled him self closer to the fire and his ears lifted up.

"Tell me, I want to hear more about it." He said and nodded.

"Well, ok... If you say so."

I told him everything I could think about our world. School, my friends, my family, the cities and countries. I also told him about the bad stuff, like war, drugs and criminals.

Blaines eyes were glistening.

"Facinating..." He whispered.

"Oh, not really..." I said and laughed a little.

"It's all really boring, seriously..." I continued and collapsed on my back again.

"So... Can you tell me more about leurs? What's it like in the far East?"

Blaine lowered his head and closed his eyes.

"There really isn't much to tell, but... Like I said, all of us leurs, we live in the far East corner of Esperia. We live in a large rainforest where we built our forest city when the humans drove us there... We rarely leave."

I opened my eyes and sat up again. I hesitated a little bit before I got the courage to ask him what had been bugging me for a while allready.

"Blaine... Did.. Did you really tell the truth when you said you just like to travel...?"

Blaine lowered his head and turned to look away.

"It's ok... You can tell me..." I said quietly and nodded slightly.

Blaine rose his head and looked at me. Then he nodded to me and looked up. He pulled his mane aside and revealed his neck. My eyes widened as I saw it. There was a golden shackle on his neck. It had some engraves on it and a heart shaped lock, wich really didn't fit his personality at all.

"What is that?" I asked and moved a little bit closer.

"It is my punishment..." Blaine anwsered and lowered his head again.

"Your punishment?" I repeated and blinked.

He nodded.

"I got banished from the forest city, and I can't go back before I get the shackle off..." He said and shook his head.

"Wh- Why? What did you do?"

The sad look on Blaines face made me regret asking that.

"... You don't have to tell me." I said and shook my head.

"But, can you tell me, how to get the shackle off?"

Blaine turned to look at me and sighed.

"The only way to get the shackle off, is to find love..." He said quietly.

"Love...?"

Blaine nodded.

"Yes, love. When I find someone I love, and who confesses his love back, the lock opens, and the shackle can be removed... It is to prove to the other leurs that I still have love in my heart. I can't go back before the shackle is removed."

I didn't say anything. I felt so sorry for Blaine... No doupt, he was good, he had love in his heart, but... My eyes started watering a little.

"That's... That's so sad..." I said and looked at the ground.

"It is ok..." Blaine said and stood up. He looked at the stars and smiled

"Someday, I'm sure I'll find the person I seek..."

I stood up too and walked to Blaine.

"So... Before you got banished, did you.. Did you have anyone? A special girl?" I asked.

Blaine chuckled and shook his head.

"Femail leurs are extremely rare, so they're treated as sacred beings. A male leur rarely gets in contact with one, so usually we just interact with other males."

That one really got me off guard. I couldn't help but to smile a little bit.

"Oh I see." I said and grinned.

Never would've guessed that about Blaine, altho, it really wasn't a bad thing at all... He walked back to the campfire and sat down. He stared at the flames, with an empty face, like he was thinking something really hard. I sighed and walked to the other side of the fire. I sat down and grabbed my flute. I looked at it's shiny surface and stroked it slightly with my hand. I pulled my backpack closer and dag up a couple of paper sheets. I had been working on a melody of my own, altho the song wasn't even near of completeon.

I looked at the notes and placed the flute on my lips. Bline looked at me curiously as I started playing the slow melody. The melody carried far away, since there wasn't any wind.

After I stopped playing Blaine smiled.

"You play beautifully..." He said.

I smiled.

"Thank you, you really think so?"

Blaine nodded.

"Yes, you're quite talented. What song is that?" He asked.

"Oh this? This is just a song I've been working on... I got the inspiration for it from everything we've been trough so far..."

Blaine tilted his head.

"I see. What's it called?"

I shook my head.

"It's not done yet, but... When I do get it done, you know what I'm going to call it? Guess."

Blaine shrugged.

"Leurheart..." I said and looked at my flute.

"That's a good name." Blaine said and nodded.

"Thank you... It reminds me of... Well, nevermind." I said and looked up to the sky.

"This reminds me of the time when I just sat home and practised playing... Altho it may have been boring, it was simple, and safe..."

That was the first time I noticed I was a little homesick...

"I miss my family..." I said quietly and turned to look away. I didn't want Blaine to see that my eyes were filling up with tears. But suddenly I felt him wrapping his arm around me and pulling me close to his body.

"Don't worry... I know how it feels to be far away from home..." He said with a calming voice.

I was surprised, but happy at the same time. I closed my eyes and pressed my head against Blaines side. I could hear his heartbeat. It immediately made me feel a lot better...

"Thank you, Blaine..." I whispered as a tear flowed down my cheek. I fell asleep there, in his arms. And I never had I felt any safer...

Chapter 8. The Shadow of Corrupt

The next morning we continued our way to the East, like allways. Only this time, I think we both knew, that something that wasn't there before had evoken between the two of us.

"We're almost at the capital of Esperia... The city of Saint Domina. It's the largest city in all of Esperia." Blaine said and turned to look at me.

"Sounds intresting." I said and smiled.

"What's special about it, besides being big?" I asked and tryed to imagine what a capital would look like at this place.

"Well, it's in the center of everything, and all the merchants travel trough there, and of course, the king lives there."

I suddenly felt chills run down my back, and it felt like my blood had frozen, when I remembered the important warning Rildel gave me, to stay away from the king and his men...

"Are... Are you sure we should go to that place?" I asked and frowned.

"I know people are still not used to seeing Leurs in cities... But... I think we're ok." Blaine anwsered and shrugged.

"I just have a bad feeling..." I said and rubbed my arm.

As we walked trough the large city gates, I forgot all of the worries in an instant. The big square opened up before my eyes with people buzzing all over the place. Everyone looked really busy and there were merchant stands all over the place. There were some wagons pulled by horses moving back and forth and some people looked wealthy.

I blinked and rubbed my eyes.

"Wow..." I said looking around the big plaza.

There was also a big fountain in the middle of the area, there were two angel figures on the both sides of it. The other angel was holding a goblet and water overflowed from it into the fountain. The other was holding a pot and pouring water from it.

Blaine closed my open mout with his finger.

"Everything you see now is just one tenth of the whole city." He said and tilted his head, grinning.

I shook my head and laughed.

"Oh well, just more to explore!" I said and started marching forward. Blaine followed me and shook his head smiling at the same time.

The merchants were selling fish and jewelry and everything in between. Altho some of the things were expencive, I knew that the people who lived here had the money for it... With the money we had gathered up from our little... Show, I could buy some of the jewelry if I wanted to. It just seemed like a waste of money, thinking that we still had tons of places to explore.

As we studied and admired all the goods, I suddenly felt a strange chill. Like I was being watched. I turned around but didn't see anyone looking at our direction.

"Weird, I was sure..." I mumbled.

"What's that?" Blaine asked and grabbed my shoulder.

"Never mind... I think it's just my imagination..."

Blaine rose his eyebrow and shrugged.

"If you say so."

He too looked around a little before moving on.

I stopped beside a stand when something shiny caught my eye. It was a beautiful golden pendant, wich was in the shape of a clef. I held it in my hands with glistening eyes.

"Oh, it's so pretty." I said and stroked it gently with my fingure. The merchant smiled to me and nodded.

"It costs 135 gold, if you're intrested." He said.

I frowned a little.

"Aw... That might be too much for-"

Then I suddenly felt a big paw on my head. It was Blaine. He messed up my hair and smiled.

"We'll take it." He said and gave the proper money to the merchant.

I looked at Blaine.

"Are you sure?" I asked and looked at the pendant as he put it around my neck.

"I'm sure." He said and nodded.

"You seemed to like it so much... So."

I smiled and turned around to hug him.

"Thank you." I said, making him blush a little.

"Wh- well, it's no big deal." He said and pulled himself free from my embrace.

"Let's move on maybe we'll-"

"Sush..." I suddenly said and rose a finger.

Blaine froze up and looked around. As if he knew that I sensed something out of place. I looked up, left, right and behind me, but there was still no one that stood out from the crowd. But then I saw it, a dark, red shield with a picture of a black dragon on it. My eyes widened as I turned around and signed Blaine to move on without attracting any attention to ourselves. Altho, it might be quite difficult since Blaine was so large compared to the other people in the city. We continued walking forward as if nothing had happened, but as I looked behind me, I saw that the two soldiers were walking after us.

I picked up my pace and caught up with Blaine.

"They're following us... When we come to the next turn, start running as fast as you can." I whispered and he nodded.

"Who are they...?" Blaine asked without turning his head.

"They're the king's soldiers... The Black Dragon Legion... I was warned to stay away from them."

Blaine sighed.

"Why are they after you...?" He said and looked at me.

"That's just it, I don't know why, but I have a really bad feeling about all of them. And the king."

Blaine turned right when we came to the turn. He looked behind us and signed me when he saw that the soldiers were out of sight. We started running as fast as we could, I almost couldn't keep up with Blaine and he quikly grabbed me and lifted me onto his shoulders. We ran in the crowded streets and plazas and finally stopped.

"I think we've lost them, for now..." Blaine said and lowered me back on my feet.

"It looks like it..." I said and looked around once more rubbing my arms. I remembered the prophecy. The prophecy Rildel made when I was there.

"The reign of the corrupted..." I mumbled outloud. Blaine looked at me and was about to ask me something when we heared a voice.

"You've lost who?" The voice said.

We both quikly turned around and saw a tall man with dark hair. He was wearing a shining silver chestplate and dark robe like clothing. He also had a long torn up cape and a stained white blindfold.

I examined the man and studdered.

"N-no one. We were just talking that we hope we won't lose our way in the big city."

That's when I noticed red dragon on the mans cape. It was exactly like the one on the shields of the soldiers. I flinched. Was he one of them?

"Are you Michael, the minstrel known of the act of 'Boy and his beast'?" The man suddenly asked.

I noticed he didn't turn his head at all when he talked.

'Is he blind?' I tought and nodded slighly.

"Yes, I am..." I said after hesitating for a while.

'But how did he know my name, and how did he know what had happened at the previous city...?'

"My king wishes to meet you, Sir Michael." The man said without moving a muscle.

Blaine turned to look at me with eyes full of questions. I shrugged to him. I was about to open my mouth to say no, but the man interrupted me.

"You two shall come with me, or I shall have to force you. King's orders..." He said and turned around.

I frowned and looked at Blaine with eyes saying "sorry". He nodded slightly to say "It's ok" when we walked after the man.

The king's castle was in the middle of the city. It wasn't like any other castle in some childrens story, it looked way more modern, and it had a large dome shaped roof in the middle tower, that seemed to reach up to the clouds. The man pushed the large doors open and escorted us inside. There was a long silky red carpet going all the way to the end of the first hallway, we followed the carpet forward towards big doors that possibly led to the throne room. I was right, for as the man knocked on the doors and they opened up slowly, they revealed a large hall with golden pillars and large crystal chandeliers everywhere. In the other end of the room, there was a wide and high silver throne that had angels and clouds carved onto it. On the throne, there was sitting a rather skinny looking man.

As he saw us, he quikly stood up and walked a few steps closer. He was wearing a dark greenish black silk shirt, and a dark vest with silver buttons, on it. He also had a cape, that was black on the outside and silvery on the inside. His crown was also silver and it had some black and red gems on it. The dark short hair of the man flowed over his left eye, hiding it completely. The final touch was made by the dark beard and moustashe.

"Talor, My Lord..." The man escorting us said and kneeled down.

"Thank you, Raynald..." The the king said signing the man, who seemed to be named Raynald, to stand up.

"You may leave, Raynald." Talor said and signed him once again.

Raynald bowed once more before turning around and leaving the room trough the same doors we came in. The king turned to look at me, he didn't even seem to notice Blaine. As if he wasn't even there. I glared back at him as he walked to me.

"So, you must be Michael." He said with a friendly tone.

"Yes, that's my name, and this is Blaine." I said and nodded towards him. Blaine didn't say anything, he seemed to notice the same thing about the king that I did... He was rotten...

"Charming..." Talor muttered and scowled at Blaine who just turned to look away and frowned.

"News spreads quikly around these parts, and I heared about your little... Show, at the other city... The Boy and his Beast!" He said convivially and turned towards me again.

"As a king, it sometimes get's pretty boring around the castle, and since I heared about your act and minstrel talent, I wished that you could stay here, and entertain me with your.. Pet..."

I instantly saw that Blaine didn't like those words coming out of that man's mouth.

'He's lying...' I immediately tought and walked to Blaine without saying anything.

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that that was just a desparite sitsuation, we needed money and made some money... That's it. I don't want to make the Leurs seem any more hidious that people allready think they are. Because they're not..." I said and looked at the king who didn't seem to like what he heared.

"That is correct." Blaine said and nodded.

Talor slowly walked in a small circle before he turned towards me again.

"I see... A pity..." He said and snapped his fingures. Guards rushed in the hall and surrounded me and Blaine.

"Take them to the dungeons!" Talor yelled and snapped his fingures again.

"Wh- WHAT!?" I shouted and tryed to struggle free from the soldiers. They were keeping Blaine under controll with heavy ropes and chains.

"Stop it! Let him go! What have we done to diserve this!?" I protested but couldn't break free.

"Oh, you should be more worried about your self boy..." Talor said and laughed. The soldiers started pulling us out of the room, struggling was useless.

When I tugged the guard holding my right arm, I managed to loosen the grip so that I got the whole arm free. I turned around towards the king to shout, but my whole body suddenly froze.

I saw a large dark shadow-like figure over behind the king. It was like a cloud of shadowy smoke floating in the air. If you looked closely enough, you could make out a head that had a hood on it, and a pair of red glowing eyes shining from under it. The figure rose it's hands with long fingures over the kings head. It placed the long dark fingures on the crown and the kings shoulder.

"What is that..." I muttered, but then the other one of the guards hit me and I collapsed. My vision began to blurr as I lost contiousness.

"... Blaine..." I mumbled quietly as I finally fell in to the arms of darkness.