Chapter 25: It's raining?

Kalon rocked backwards as Roland picked up his speed and almost fell from his back if it wasn't for the fur on his body being long enough for Kalon to grab on to. He grabbed the fur as tightly as he could and then twisted it around his hands so that he wouldn't fall off.

As he did so, he was expecting Roland to stop and tell him not to do that, but he didn't so much as complain and just continued running down from the palace and through the city all the way to Kalon's house. The journey that would usually take more than forty minutes on foot took them just three minutes while on the back of a centaur.

Kalon knew that Centaurs were used to take knights into battle, but he never understood why they didn't just use regular horses, but his question was soon answered by the speed Roland had run at. It was unlike anything he had seen before, and he couldn't help but shiver in fear as they came to a stop.

"This place is a mess. Who would ever want to live here?" Roland asked before remembering that Kalon had called the place he was referring to his house. Just as he was about to apologise for his mistake, Kalon spoke up.

"It's fine. I know this place is a mess. This is what happened when the people that were working with Ranwald came to kill me." Kalon sighed with hatred in his voice before hopping down from Roland's back without help.

As he arrived to see the state of his house lying in ruins, all the emotions that he felt that day came back to him, and he couldn't forgive them for what had happened.

"Master Ranwald? That's right, he tried to overthrow the emperor, didn't he?" Roland said with a sigh, but then he inhaled sharply as he looked at the house again.

"Well, at least you are alive. That's all that matters. You can always rebuild a home. You can't revive the dead." Roland spoke with a gentle and caring tone. He still felt terrible about his comment and wanted to make it up to Kalon, so he decided to make him feel better.

This seemed to work as the hatred that Kalon was feeling lifted slightly upon hearing Roland's words, but he was still upset about his mother being in the dungeons because of Ranwald's plot. But at least she was alive, and that is all that mattered to him. There was still the chance that he would see her again, and that was the driving force behind him getting on board with the court's job.

He smiled slightly as he thought about all of the memories he had made in the woods there and then looked up at the sky. The clouds were dark, and the sun reflected on the top of them, making the sky illuminate orange light down upon him.

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As he looked up at the sky, he felt a drop of water hit his cheek and winced as it brought him back to reality.

'It's raining?' He thought before holding out his hand to feel for rain. Sure enough, another drop bounced off the palm of his hand, which was soon followed by another that hit the top of his head.

'I'm glad I decided to come back. I don't want to be stuck in the middle of nowhere in the pouring rain; I might get sick.' Kalon looked over to the remains of his house to see the front door lying on the floor and fragments of wood sticking into the ground. He sighed at the thought that he wouldn't have time to fix the damages before leaving and thought about how his mother would react if she saw the house right now.

But as he was standing there staring, Roland was beginning to feel impatient since he was taking his time to collect his belongings.

"Hurry up, won't you? I'm supposed to get you there before the sunsets, aren't I?" Roland shouted from the pathway to his house.

Kalon was startled by the shouting, but he had a point. Time was of the essence, and Kalon was standing about feeling nostalgic about his childhood. He sighed before walking into the house and then heading straight for his bedroom.

As he walked through the run-down house, he felt droplets of water hit his body from where there were holes in the ceiling caused by the fighting that had taken place. He looked around at all of the damage before clenching his fists and carrying on to his bedroom. He picked out a long grey robe from his wardrobe and then wrapped it around his body, and then pulled the hood up onto his head.

"This should keep me dry." He said to himself with a smile before looking down into the wardrobe for more of his clothes. He then packed everything he could fit into a bag before looking down at the book that Ranwald had given to him.

He was anxious to take it since Ranwald had betrayed the empire and had gotten his mother involved in his scheme somehow, but he thought about how useful it would be to continue his training. Ranwald had told him countless times that humans were skilled warriors and had vicious battle tactics.

Although he was one of them, Kalon was still a prince of the Sylton empire. If anyone found out about his past in the empire filled with monsters, they would turn against him and become an enemy, and he wouldn't have any way to fight back. So instead of leaving it behind due to the grudge he had with Ranwald, Kalon picked up the book and stuffed it into the bag he had filled with clothes before walking back outside.

As he did, he noticed that the rain had become more violent as it flew down from the sky. But just as he was about to run back to Roland, he saw something shine out of the corner of his eye, and it immediately drew his attention.

Kalon looked over and squinted his eyes for a few moments before realising that it was the sword he had pulled from the tree trunk, but it was now lying on the ground and covered in mud. It looked as though it had sunken into the ground after a rainstorm. Kalon then turned back around to the dining table and looked at the table cloth sitting on top.

He grabbed the table cloth and then ran over to the sword laying on the ground, trying his best to avoid splashing in any puddles in an attempt to keep himself as dry as he possibly could before picking the sword up into his arms and then wrapping it in the blanket. He turned around to see Roland waiting for him and then ran as fast as he could to get back on his back, all the while holding his hood down to avoid it falling from his head.

As he approached Roland, he lowered himself to the grown and then held out his hand before helping Kalon get on his back.

"Did you get everything? I'm not coming back." Roland said and then bowed his head with an apology once again.

"It's fine. I have everything that I need." Kalon smiled before grabbing down on Roland's fur. He wasn't going to make the same mistake twice, so Kalon prepared before Roland could start running at full speed once again.