Azurai Novis

Glistening under the tepid rays gently flowered a lush, green stadium field. Which was encapsulated by the rubber track running its perimeter. The air was sprinkled with the dread of soon ending summer as the Meadows Academy track members began their warm-ups.

A tall, young man stood confidently onto the spiked track. His sturdy back folded, like paper writhing under a scorching flame. He reached down, placing his palms onto his tender ankles. A burning sensation flooded through his calves as the muscles lengthened. It was a few minutes after practice had started and only a couple teammates arrived. Why the hell aren’t they here? he grumbled to himself. They had a meet in a few days; they should be here practicing. As he arose, curiosity bubbled in his chest. He sauntered over to a teammate, and spoke.

“Why is the rest of the team not here?” He demanded.

In response, he only got a carefree shoulder shrug, as if saying “Why should I know?”. He scoffed, and walked back over to the rough, dark track to continue stretching.

From the shining benches that lined up next to the track for spectators, sat an uncomfortably prim and proper girl named Aelia Evail. Aelia Evail is the second in line for the Eterna throne and her beauty is coveted by many. She was sitting in the stands doing homework while watching over the team’s practice.

“There isn’t even a team to watch.” she whispered, outwardly to no one in particular.

The academy cheerleaders had gathered at the fence line in a huddle and giggled over the shirtless boys running in circles. Which is where Aelia used to be, however she was promptly removed from the squad as her younger brother’s reputation created too many problems for the staff to handle. They had an appearance to uphold, however she often enjoys letting loose despite the stiff reputation. Aelia was not really here to watch the team, she was only here for one person, Colton Gallas. Colton is the first in line for the Genesis throne, but also Aelia’s best academic rival and brother of her best friend, Adelina Gallas.

Colton stood stiff on the track, alone, and stared around watching the careless girls gawking at him, along with noticing the late members who decided to finally show up.

Aelia leaned forward to get a better glimpse of Colton, and listen to the gossip from the cheerleaders. She noticed as Colton stood alone on the track, and looked in her direction. Her cheeks flushed a light cherry pink as she pretended to be busy, despite being a bad actor, and ultimately appeared as staring.

“Where are my devil brothers anyways?” she asked, forcing her mind to switch topics.

The handy voice activated tracking device chimed back a location in return for her rather quiet question.

Colton’s eyes carelessly fluttered over the set of cheerleaders. He found them boring, and repetitive. Sure, they were cute, very cute, but their looks could only cover their hideous personalities for so long. However, his eyes landed on a captivating girl. She had the most swooning rose hair, and the most enchanting violet eyes to compliment. He sucked in a breath, and averted his gaze back to his feet. He quickly snapped his head back up when he heard Silas shouting. Even if Silas was far, Colton’s pointy, large ears picked up noise from a distance. Being an elf had some perks, he chuckled to himself.

“WE’RE HERE CAPTAIN!!”

He was running as fast as he could, which was fast given his species as a demon. Silas Evail is the third in line for the Eterna throne. Feeling no pressure for the crown, he is known as a bad boy who happens to also be a lady’s man. Silas’s reputation amongst all the young bachelorettes has not only tainted the family image, but boosted his ego. Caspian trailed behind him re-holstering his sword. He is the first in line for the Eterna throne. Caspian Evail is a master swordsman at the young age of eighteen, with scars from many rigorous training battles, and eyes for Adelina Gallas the young princess of Genesis. They had just come from the training grounds, where there was a rather unlawful fight taking place between two fellow academy members. Colton let out a deep, refreshing sigh and asked;

“Finally!!! Where have you two been?”

“My sincerest apologies Colton, there was a damsel in distress, and as you know I couldn’t just leave her out to surrender to unruly boys “ Caspain replied snarkily.

“Shut up Casp you’re not a hero or anything. Besides it wasn’t even a-“ Silas begins, but is quickly cut off as Caspian slams his hand across his mouth.

“Don’t you dare say another word, Silas Evail.” Caspian spat, then redirected his gaze toward Colton.

“Fret no more, as we are here now and will provide our 110%”.

Colton widened his stance, crossed his arms, and cocked his eyebrow. The gruesome scar on his brow began to twitch upwards. This resulted in a rush of pain flying though his nerves; he let out a whimpering grunt.

“Just- go do a few warm up laps then we will get started.” he muttered in a defeated tone.

Silas lowered his head in respect to his elder brother and captain, stealing a glance over his shoulder both to check on his elder sister and on those cheerleaders. He runs off starting his warm ups while making sure to show off to those girls. He was picking his next target to pleasure in bed, of course, outside of the castle.

Colton sighed, and pushed out his hand, waving Caspian off. He squinted his eyes shut and brought his pointer finger and thumb to the top of his nose, as if a deep rooted migraine began to nestle its way into his head.

Aelia glanced around looking for Adelina, the only one who was still willing to talk to her after she got kicked off the cheer squad. Adelina is second in line for the Genesis throne. Normally found in the training rooms inside the school, or chatting with Aelia, she was easily found. Since she was able to fly by her classes with a solid B rank, she found spending her time in the library useless. Besides, she believed that was her brother’s role. Adelina was not in the stands, however all of their brothers were now on the track. Aelia noticed Caspian walking with a limp while his left sword was slightly ajar. This led her to believe he had gotten into another fight. With this being his senior year their mom begged him to stop with the violence. Their mom was a stickler for their reputation and it would kill her if she found out the truth of Aelia’s loss of cheer captain. She glanced down and noticed Colton had resumed his training, trying not to stare as she also noticed her brothers checking on her. She threw a friendly wave and leaned back into her homework that was settled in her lap.

As Colton waited for the boys to finish up their last laps, he stared back towards the damsel with flushed hair. She had the pencil lightly gripped in her hands, and her eyes staring daggers at the paper laying in her lap.

Aelia grumbled at the paper, no longer paying attention to her surroundings. She tried to think of the solution but ultimately gave up and moved over to the easier subject, potion making. As a little girl she played with potions and experimented quite frequently. Her parents worried but given her species she recovered rather quickly from incidents. Her powers blossomed quickly after she was born giving her potion making just the enhancer she needed to satisfy her curiosity. Aelia would stride for perfection and academic success, however family problems often arose and caused her to occasionally fall behind.

Colton yelled out to the boys; the ones finishing their lap, and the ones resting near the benches. While waiting for them to return, he walked to one of the starting lines and began stretching once more. He lifted his leg behind him, grabbing his ankle, bringing it to his pelvis, dropping it back down, and repeating with the alternate leg.

The loud, deep, milky, yet calloused voice of Colton caught Aelia’s attention right away. No longer looking at her homework page but him. The way his ginger hair sifted in the wind just like grass in the wind. His flexed arms and the stretch of his perfectly paired muscular legs. Her eyes glided over his abs as he leaned and gleamed in the sun as if he was putting himself on display for everyone, or maybe someone in particular. She shook my head to rid any thoughts about anyone he may want to cozy up to. Promptly but gently putting her papers away she moved closer. She had all but finished it anyways so there wasn’t much harm pushing it off a few more hours. Slowly she stood up as the team continued to gather around Colton. Gracefully making her way down to the fence, somewhat clear of the cheerleaders, she found the perfect spot and rested her head on her hand. She posed as if swooning for one of the members on the track. She definitely was, but she wasn’t going to make it obvious for who. She let the boys down there individually think it was them, maybe even encouraging them to do better. Adelina quickly rushed up and whispered in her ear, wasting no time running right back to where she emerged from.

Once standing back up, Colton quickly checked over his shoulder, and saw that the delicate maiden was no longer seated and had moved. While looking for her, the members impatiently waited for instruction. However he noticed his sister sprinting towards his sunlit maiden, her eyes wide with panic.

“Hurry!” Aelia shouted from the stands, “There’s a nasty fight happening between two guys in the bathroom!”

Character Recap

Character descriptions are italicized in the story as well.

Colton Gallas: Prince of Genesis Kingdom

“Colton is the first in line for the Genesis throne, but also Aelia’s best academic rival and brother of her best friend, Adelina Gallas.”

Aelia Evail: Princess of Eterna Kingdom

“Aelia Evail is the second in line for the Eterna throne and her beauty is coveted by many.”

Silas Evail: Second Prince of Eterna Kingdom

“Silas Evail is the third in line for the Eterna throne. Feeling no pressure for the crown, he is known as a bad boy who happens to also be a lady’s man. Silas’s reputation amongst all the young bachelorettes has not only tainted the family image, but boosted his ego.”

Caspian Evail: First Prince of Eterna Kingdom

“ He is the first in line for the Eterna throne. Caspian Evail is a master swordsman at the young age of eighteen, with scars from many rigorous training battles, and eyes for Adelina Gallas the young princess of Genesis.”

Adelina Gallas: Princess of the Genesis Kingdom

“Adelina is second in line for the Genesis throne. Normally found in the training rooms inside the school, or chatting with Aelia, she was easily found. Since she was able to fly by her classes with a solid B rank, she found spending her time in the library useless.”