It was a mid-autumn night, a full moon hung high above in the dark sky, it’s gentle light bathing the garden in an ethereal silver glow. A slight breeze blew, rustling the leaves and creating ripples in the lake as it went along.

In a dark corner of the garden, where no light or moonbeam reached, stood two solitary figures.

“But why can’t you stay?” the child asked in a demanding tone, very incompatible with his beautiful face. The young boy had fair snowy skin, shoulder-length ebony locks framing his elfish face and long sooty eyelashes to further accentuate his paleness. Indeed, the boy seem so untainted, radiant with child-like innocence. Only his eyes, however, ruined this picture of innocence. They were emerald, but unlike the colour of lush green leaves in the morning sun, they were more like pools of deep and unfathomable liquid emerald, having a wisdom in them very unbefitting for a child.

Arlia looked down upon the child and sighed, his amethyst eyes filled with sorrow.

“Because,” he replied “my presence is urgently required in my kingdom, I have to leave.”

“Your country needs you too,” Arlia continued, before the child could retort, “You have to learn this, my prince, a capable leader will not act as he please, you must always put your country and people before you.”

The young boy looked up at him with a troubled expression, wanting to ask him to stay, yet refusing to show that he would be an incompetent king.

Sensing the boy had understood his words, Arlia straightened himself and said firmly:“I have to go now, dear child, listen to Lent, and be a good king, farewell!” He turned to leave hastily.

The young boy stared at his back, tears welling up in his eyes,the figure of the ivory haired man moving further from him. Finally, his resolve to be a ‘capable leader’ broke and he ran as fast as he could, sobbing at the same time,:“ Don’t go…please don’t leave me…”

Arlia heard the young prince’s cries but refused to stop. He must not turn back now, or one look of the boy’s face or his small hand pressing against him might shatter his resolve to leave. Arlia hurried towards his awaiting horse.

His last fleeting sight of the child before he left was of a small tear-stained face and emerald eyes filled with unmasked sorrow. Arlia steeled his heart and continued riding, he must not remain there for a human child, he has his duties to attend to.

After all, he is Arliarien. Lumien. Calendia, the current king of all fairies.

15 years later

“My lord!” a young man with brightly orange colored hair burst into the finely furnished hall,:“Please leave now, the carriage is waiting.”

Arlia looked up from the crystal globe and focused his glowing amethyst eyes on the ‘intruder’. “Hamel,” he sighed,“how many have I told you to knock before you enter?” He bundled his long ivory hair and tied it neatly at the nape of his neck.

“I’m sorry my lord, but we have no time to waste, we have to get you to a safe place.”

“I take it that Luden has…” Arlia looked at Hamel,his eyes clouded with pain and anguish, unable to continue his sentence.

Hamel bowed his head and whispered softly:“ Yes, Lord Luden is …dead. I’m sorry. That’s why you have to go now my Lord, we cannot lose you too”, he ended shakily.

Hamel continued:“ Forty of my best men will escort you to the kingdom of Farienlya through the secret path in the Cursed Forest. The men will risk their for you, they will see that you are safely in Farienlya…until we meet again, farewell my lord.”

Arlia nodded and made towards the exit, when he reached the door, Arlia paused and turned back. “I’m sorry…that my power should fail my subjects, when they needed me most…”

Hamel shook his head, “ There’s no need for apologies my lord, it’s a subject duty to protect their king in times like this, do not take all responsibilities upon yourself, Arlia, regain your powers and leave the rest to me, I will avenge Lord Luden… he shall not die in vain.”

“I shall wait for your return, my King…”

…

As he made his journey to Farienlya, Arlia’s mind was filled with the events that had transpired, the serial massacre of fairy groups in the north area, the dreadful feeling that his powers are weakening... however, a small piece of his thought was of fifteen years ago, of a little boy with black hair and beautiful emerald eyes…

…

“And, why must we help you and create trouble for ourselves?” A deep, melodious voice demanded lazily.

The owner of the magnetic voice sat on a throne, with his hand propped under his chin. His black shoulder length hair was untied and bangs fell messily over his emerald eyes. His mouth was curled up in an amused smirk, yet his eyes held no emotion in them, just like a deep frozen lake.

The messenger took a step back, shuddering at the same time, it’s the first time he had met such a cold and dangerous but equally attractive person. He paused for a moment before saying: “The pact made between Fairies and Humans at the beginning of Time, Your Majesty, we implore you to honor that pact. The evil aura that is making its way through the West mercilessly does not limits its killing to fairies.”

“ So what assistance do your kinsmen need me to provide?,the man frowned and asked, moving himself to an upright position.

“Well…” the messenger replied uneasily, “ We would need rangers to aid our magicians in the search for the monster and an army to overpower the it…but the most important is that… we would need the most powerful magician you can give us to protect… our King.”

Raising his eyebrows, the man on the throne asked amusedly, “Your King? Arlia. Lumien. Calendia? If I’m not mistaken, your king would be the most powerful magician in all of the lands…so why the need to protect him?”

The messenger said shakily: “Our King powers are weakening.”(The man leaned down interestedly from his throne.) “We feel that it has something to do with the monster that’s terrorizing the West, King Arlia will tell you more about it… in the meantime, we need…”

“Someone to protect him?” The man quipped helpfully, like an inanimate doll coming to life, his once expressionless eyes were sparkling.

The messenger shifted uncomfortably on his feet and replied: “ Yes, we would need the best magician you have, your majesty. King Arlia is of great importance to us.”

“ Such loyal subjects… he is a wonderful king, isn’t he…” the man murmured, his voice tinged with an underlying emotion, however he recovered his composure in a split second and said assertively: “ Very well, messenger of Levitrie, the Pact will be honored. You shall have my finest army, I will also provide skilled magicians but you will too, send magic-users from your side as backup for my men. We shall leave the finer details and strategy till when Arlia arrives…and of course, I will give him the best enchanter in my country.”

The messenger brightened and said: “Thank you, Your Majesty! I shall see to the arrangements immediately. King Arlia should be arriving by nightfall… I assume your master would be given the honor of protecting him?”

“ Lent is out at the moment, but I have another candidate in mind,” the man said, cold emerald eyes deepening to a dark viridian, “ There is another person equivalent to Lent…” he smirked and continued slowly…“ Me.”

…

After the messenger had left, the king of Farienlya sat silently on his throne, deep in thought, he never expected he would come, or need his help someday…

“ That liar… Arlia. Lumein. Calendia, I will protect you…but at the cost of your life…” His lips twisted into a cruel smirk, and his beautiful emerald eyes flashed with cold anger…

The carriage jerked to a stop, rousing Arlia from his slumber. He rubbed his eyes and looked around him tiredly. It was already nightfall, the lamp in the carriage was not lit and the interior of the carriage was shrouded in darkness. One of his guards knocked on the door and said politely: “Your majesty, we have arrived at the castle of Farienlya. Please let us escort you to the meeting hall. The king of Farienlya requests your presence.”

Arlia answered: “ I understand, but let me go there by myself, you can lead your troops to the resting room, I’m sure you have all not rested for a whole day.”

“But, your majesty!” the guard protested, “ you might get attacked…!”

Arlia silenced the guard, “There will be no such thing, the castle is well protected by a series of magical charms, no evil presence will be able to enter. Your men need rest, now go! This is an order.”

Being unable to resist a direct order, the guard bowed reluctanly and said: “We shall take our leave then, Your Majesty. Have a good night.”

“And to you.” Arlia replied.

Arlia yawned before he left the carriage, ‘Have a good sleep?’ he thought and shook his head, smiling wryly.

As far as Arlia was concerned, he’d not gotten a good sleep since his started losing his powers and the beginning of that never-ending nightmare…

…

Compared to the darkness outside, the castle was brightly lit. The candles lining the walls of the long hallway were numerous and they provided Arlia with a delicious warmth that spread throughout his cold body. The castle was also very finely furnished, and Arlia was still surprised to find that he still knew his way around. ‘So little has changed here…’ he thought. Arlia still recalled how he used to chase a playful young boy down this hallway, yelling at him to finish his food. Smiling at the memory, Arlia wondered how the innocent young boy had grown. ‘I wonder if he would remember me.’ Arlia thought sadly, ‘ but at least he had become a wonderful king, according to Lent.’

Arlia sighed and whispered the name he had kept in his heart, yet not spoken in years, a name that would cause a dull ache in his heart, even now…

“ Reln…”

“How long are you going to stand there smiling and whispering my name?” A low and amused voice sounded out from behind him.

Arlia blushed and spun around, facing the ‘intruder’. The ‘intruder’ was a very stunning man. Towering over Arlia, he was dressed in a long black silk robe, complementing the locks of ebony hair that reached past his shoulders. He had very fair skin and a pair of dark emerald eyes, now filled with amusement. He was…familiar. A sinking feeling settled in Arlia’s heart, “Rel…n?” he called uncertainly.

The beautiful stranger smirked, his lips set in an exquisite curve, “Welcome back, Arlia…” he drawled.

Arlia could only stare…

…

Hearing his name spoken in that soft whisper threw Rlen in unspeakable agony. After so many years, he did not knew that even the sound of his voice could still command such tremendously strong feelings in him…yet he forced himself to push these feelings down, suppress the urge to hold him, to ravage him and hiding them behind a mask which he had built up after many years…

“Come with me into the dining hall and as you have your dinner, we can discuss your current …predicament.” Reln said silkily as he opened the door for Arlia.

Arlia winced slightly, thoughts of the beautiful human leaving his mind, he knew this was coming up. How on the whole of Juanos can the most powerful magician lose his power. (Especially with a vicious monster terrorising his lands) However, the most important issue was not yet revealed, only the highest council of Levitrie knew (which amounted to fewer then ten Fairies), yet Arlia knew that if he were to need Reln’s protection, the truth would have to be told.

‘If only if it wasn’t so embarrassing…’ Arlia thought dejectedly as he followed Reln in the magnificent dining room.

A/N: Hey,this is my first story up on fictionpress :D. I hope everyone will like it and tell me how you all feel about it.(If you don't like to review,please send an email to me,i really need to know what you guys think about this so i can improve my writing.) I'm in the middle of preparing for my exams so the next update might be a little slow,probably three weeks,so for those who like this(if there is any T T ),i'm so sorry for the trouble caused.I think i laid on too much on the descriptions,don't ya think? -Yuri-