1 Flower Parade I

'I'm running out of time,' the cloaked figure thought to himself. The poison was taking its toll and it was only a matter of time before it would take his life.

"Spirits!" he called out. The air around me twists and turns, creating shapes that soon resembled bodies. "Go find him." The spirits fly out the window and off into the horizon as quickly as they appeared.

This wasn't going anywhere. He had already sent hundreds of spirits to scavenge the lands for any information that might tell him the location of the person that he was searching for, but it still wasn't enough. By the time the spirits find who he was looking for, it might be too late for him. The spirits were too slow. He needed to do this himself, but the poison wouldn't allow him to do so. He could only hope that the search would bear fruit while he was still alive.

***

Magic users are well-respected due to their rarity and power. Finding magic users is quite uncommon since the ability to use magic is determined at birth. In addition, it takes a lot of resources to cultivate magic.

Magic comes in different elements and out of all the elements, fire is known to be the most powerful. Light comes in second with its healing and barriers. Earth in third. Lastly, water and wind are tied for last. There are other forms of magic, but the human race can only use these five.

Currently, both kingdoms are recruiting as many magic users as they can find into their armies. A single mage or sorcerer can easily turn the tide of the battle and some of them are even being threatened or forced to enlist.

Kies was born with wind magic. He lived in an orphanage when he was younger and he would often sneak out to a nearby creek to practice it. One day, he was found playing around with magic and caught the eyes of the Trevan family. He was quickly taken in and has lived with them ever since.

***

The kingdom of Silverfield got its name from the silver flowers covering the land that would bloom every spring, turning entire fields of green to silver.

At the current moment, it was spring, but the first flower had yet to bloom. Kies could be found practicing his magic every morning at the flower field behind the Trevan family's mansion.

"Kies," came a voice from somewhere behind him. Kies, with a confused look, turned his head in the direction of the voice. Usually, he was the only one that is back here other than the gardener that tends to the flowers every morning.

A female figure, dawning a red coat ran toward him. "Nina, it's warm today. Why are you wearing a coat?" Kies questioned her attire.

"It might be warm for you, but it is rather chilly for me," she answered. Nina goes on to remind Kies how his wind magic gave him a little resistance to the cold.

"It's spring. It shouldn't be that cold... Anyway, why are you here?" Kies asked, moving onto the main agenda.

"Why can't I be here? Isn't this my property?"

"...Yes But you know that's not what I'm trying to ask."

Nina laughed while Kies stood there, wondering if there was anything important today that would make her come and find him. Ah... An answer popped up in Kies' mind. It was a few weeks into spring, which meant there could only be one answer.

"Is today the Flower Parade?"

"It is," Nina nodded her head with a smile.

It was such an important festival, how could he forget it? He really needed to get his head out of the gutter and pay more attention to what was happening.

The Flower Parade happens every year on the day that the first flower blooms. There would be a festival, celebrating the flowers as they represented Silverfield. It is the equivalent of showing one's loyalty to the kingdom and honoring its founders. At the very end of the festival, a group of knights would march around the city with a bouquet of silver flowers and slowly make their way to the palace in the center of the kingdom.

"Where did the first flower bloom?" Kies asked Nina out of curiosity. There was a belief that the region where the first silver flower had bloomed would be blessed with good luck and fortune for the entire remainder of the year.

Nina placed her finger on her lips and tried to recall where the first flower bloomed. "I believe it was near the river. You know, the one that stretches around the palace."

"Lucky them." For the nobles to have the first bloom, they must be teeming with glee. They always get angry when it happens in a part of the city where the common people reside. There have even been cases of them sending their personal soldiers or servants to stomp the first bloom flat out of spite. That was the weight the traditional carried in the kingdom.

"But that's not the only reason why I'm here," Nina said, holding out both her hands.

Kies looked at her, taking another moment to think what she could mean by that before skeptically asking her. "You want me to go with you?"

"Is there another reason why I would be here?" Before Kies could respond, Nina grabbed his arm and started dragging him back into the mansion.

"Wait, I still haven't finished practice yet." Kies tried to get her to stop but she didn't care.

"Well, too bad. Also, don't you spend every day practicing? You should take a break every once in a while, and today is the perfect day to do that," she pointed out.

"But I need all the practice I can get. If I get en-"

Nina stopped pulling Kies and turned around. Taking in a deep breath, she said, "The army probably won't take you away. They are looking for people who can use fire, light, or earth magic. They do not need us... Worst-case scenario, you will become a messenger that will run back and forth, delivering orders and the such." Though she said that, there was a tiny bit of doubt in her voice.

Wind magic was very weak overall, and its only redeeming factor was that it allowed the user to move incredibly fast, though there were many restrictions. They could move faster than horses if the terrain was flat, but in battle, that speed wouldn't help since the land would usually have different levels of elevation. Not only that but it would also be shifted by earth users, making it exceedingly difficult to move around.

What Nina said about him becoming a messenger was the most likely possibility, but in the small chance that Kies needed to fight, he wanted to make sure that he could at least defend himself.

The only other magic that was considered as weak as wind magic was water, which was what Nina wielded. It was considered weak because it could only heal minor injuries. Light magic outclassed water magic in every way possible when it came to healing, and it was rather destructive too. It was needless to say that there are many people out there that are much more preferred in combat to them.

Well, now shouldn't be the time to worry about such things. Not today anyway. Today was a day of celebration. Putting aside all concerns, Kies asked, "When does it start?" If it were under normal circumstances, the Flower Parade would start a few days after the first bloom, but the kingdom was currently under a lot of stress and had a gloomy atmosphere.

"In an hour."

"That early?" Kies was confused again. He hadn't heard any news of it being today. "You said the flower just bloomed today. Did it just happen a minute ago or something?"

"Yes, it bloomed this morning."

"Huh." Kies sort of understood what was going on. For the event to happen so early, people must be desperate right now. A huge portion of the population has been feeling under the weather and it was probably planned for the Flower Parade to happen as soon as possible to raise everyone's spirits.

"And before you ask, yes, you need to dress up. That's why I came to get you an hour before the festival starts and not like twenty minutes before," Nina told him.

Kies groaned and quickly looked around in a panic to find some way to escape. He really hated having to dress formally for events like this,

Nina stared at Kies and smiles. "You can give up that idea. I already knew that you might try to run away, so I assigned guards at every entrance and exit. Even with your speed, you won't make it out."

Kies let out a sigh. He had already been defeated before he could do anything and reluctantly let Nina drag him into the mansion.

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