The Princes Meet

The lands of Fire and Water always lived in conflict in one form or another; however, over the past fifty years it had grown into quite an intense war. New tactics were needed or else the kingdoms were going to fall into complete destruction. King Damien of the fire wielders did not wish for his son to inherit nothing, however, his own ideas continued to fall short of success. He turned instead to his only child, Kieran Azariel the Crowned Prince of Saradia by bending apprehensively to another King’s request for their sons to meet and discuss the war.

The young man was famed for being a powerful elemental, and even rivaled his father in some aspects of his fighting. Kieran was a fierce warrior, and was also very passionate about his people. He did not view his element above any other element, but he did view his people as being a greater nation than others around them…especially Altari. He would not call them weak, because this conflict would not have lasted so long if they had been weak. The Saradians who had fallen would not have been so numerous if their enemy was weak, because they prided themselves on their fighting prowess. Kieran had led many battles, but even he had met some whom he had difficulty in defeating. Some battles had raged for days before one side or both had to pull back. Both armies were starting to dwindle, and more common citizens were being asked to serve if they had any sort of skill with a blade or flame.

Skill with flame came in many forms, and some were quite similar to that of water benders. There were those who used their skill to create art and weaponry, those who could use it for healing purposes, and all the way to those who were illusionists or had the gift to create mirages simply with heat and bending the light of day to their will. However, Kieran was strong mostly in simply fighting with flames as his weapon but also had some skill in illusions. He’d been trained since he was a small boy as his people held pride in their armies, and a prince had no excuse to not be a skilled fighter. If Kieran had been a scholar instead he was sure his father would not have settled for only one son. Kieran’s skill was also the only reason his father was comfortable sending him on such an important mission.

Today was going to change everything.

He too was sent two guards to escort him to the meeting, but he did not seem worried to the enemy knowing exactly who he was. The guards’ identities were concealed by their deep red colored hooded cloaks that not only shrouded their faces, but also their weapons with how long the cloaks were. Kieran wore a similar cloak, but his was more open and it was black with a deep red trim and inner lining. His tunic was deep red, and the only signs of royalty that he wore was a signet ring on his right hand and a ruby encrusted sword but that didn’t mean that one couldn’t tell that he was royalty. The way he held himself alone showed that he either had delusions of greatness, or he really was an important figure. With his hood down one could see the confidence in his expression which was unreadable except for his confidence. His dark eyes held a light in them that seemed to come from the fire born in his personality, and his skin tone was slightly bronzed which stood out more with his dark clothes and hair. His hair was really the only thing that looked unkempt right now, but that came from the ride to this point from the castle. Kieran’s jet black hair was kept short, but it was long enough to look windblown, however, it still seemed to fit the young man. He had almost a wild look about him even while he was dressed so regally.

Kieran and his guards had arrived a bit earlier than the time agreed upon, so his guards could find good places to stand. They were no longer standing behind him, but off to the side of a small clearing that Kieran was standing in. The young prince looked up a little at the voice, and a smirk crept upon his face a little, “As have I, Kieran Azariel, son of King Damien Azariel, Crowned Prince of Saradia.” He kept his smirk showing, and looked all around relaxed right now but anyone who attacked him because they thought he was not prepared to fight would be dead wrong.

Kieran watched the other young prince with interest, and he nearly chuckled out loud at mention of them being civilized. In his mind, their kingdoms’ relations had gone far from being civil a long time ago. However, he nodded in agreement because that was the polite thing to do. Kieran knew the Altarians viewed his people as barbaric at times, well, he had heard some of the ‘horror’ stories told of his people. Honestly, he thought they were quite funny and knowing those stories had helped in taking over some of the Altarian land near the border even if most of them were huge misconceptions about his people.



He met William’s gaze with the same confidence as before, and his smirk changed just a little. Perhaps skepticism? Kieran wasn’t one who enjoyed art. He did not paint, draw, play an instrument, or sing. The only art he learned was the art of war, and that was what was valuable to him. Sure, his mother had wanted him to enjoy the ‘finer things’ in life, but who had time to do that when there was a war going on? However, he did not voice his opinion just yet, and nodded in silent admonition to this ‘blessing’ as it were.



Now, he knew about the different types of water bending, and he even knew about those who were considered ‘Sirens’. It was unnerving to many Saradians that a person could sway another’s perception of something with their words alone. However, Kieran always found such opposition to be a challenge to overcome. That was the reason for him not being worried about this ‘song’. He believed that he could muscle his way out of whatever spell would be thrown at him. That was how he dealt with most enemies. He simply worked at being stronger than them or a better fighter. He was a strategist, yes, but his strategies were usually quite basic. Like this one: If this song turned out to be a ploy to trick him and his men, then he would just stop Prince William from singing…How? Well, that would depend on the situation. Kieran hardly ever planned too far ahead of where he was at the moment, because plans hardly ever worked out the way one wanted to. His lack of planning allowed for more flexibility and less stress, and it was obvious he was actually quite carefree as well.



Kieran glanced back at one of his men who seemed to want to warn him against the song, but by a simple hand gesture the guard was silent again and Kieran turned his attention back to his enemy.

Kieran's lips pursed just a little as he watched the other prince carefully. The slight change in the other's expression did nothing to ease his mind, and he mentally prepared himself in case the other attacked him. Kieran did not think he was that foolish, but it was hard to be sure seeing as how he had never dealt directly with Prince William before this meeting.

He could feel his guards shift a little uneasily as the song continued, and Kieran felt a slight tingling go through his body. It was enough to make him even more wary of the song. He kept eye contact with William, and tried to keep the Altari guards in his peripheral vision when they moved to his sides. He didn't like where this was going, and he immediately worked at heating the air around himself enough not to draw attention but to make himself concentrate on that instead of on the words. His head was starting to hurt a bit, but he supposed that was from not succumbing so easily to the song.

At the simple question, Kieran paused a moment, but then couldn't help but allow his smirk to return again. "I'm not really a good judge of lyrical pieces, but all around I found it to be rather droll." he said simply then looked over at his guards and sighed as they seemed to be stuck in place, "I'm supposing this meeting was made for your song? Quite a frightening talent you have, and I'll admit that you would have most likely had me but I was already wary of this meeting to begin with and on my guard."

Kieran glanced at each of William's guards then back at the Prince himself. "Strange isn't it, how even when we come together to speak of peace neither of us really came to be fair about it to begin with?" he asked and gave a soft chuckle, and a slight glow was now coming from his hands as there were flames formed there. "I could easily kill all three of you, and no one would really blame me...however, I think that would just make things a bit worse, and this war would just keep going on forever. That won't do at all, because I'm growing quite tired of this war." Kieran said simply, butseemed to be getting a little more excited by this meeting now. He was wondering about his own guards, though. Whatever that song was for had affected them adversely, and Kieran wasn't sure how to nullify that on someone else.

Kieran had to admit that he enjoyed getting reactions out of people. He couldn't really help it that his own smirk widened just a little at the shock on the other prince's face. However, he didn't bask in his little accomplishment for long as his eyes flicked to the spears and his eyes flashed a little as he kept himself from just attacking them. It was something his father had practically hammered into his head: Don't be so hasty to start a fight.

He looked back at William as he seemed to find his voice again, and his head quirked to the side a little. "Of course I have a plan. I would not have come here without a plan. However, you won't like it. Luckily for me, your opinion does not matter." he said simply as if waving away any sort of talk of negotiations. "And you may not be complete weaklings, but I can tell there is still a rather large gap considering you all went straight to defense at such a small threat." Kieran said and met William's gaze once again with the smirk completely gone from his face.

Within a moment, Kieran reached out away from himself and small jets of flame left his fingertips. They were not meant for the guards or even for the other prince. The flames skimmed across the leather straps holding the saddles that the guards were sitting on. The small amount of heat also managed to spook the two horses just a little for him to move his left hand and a motion straight across in front of him and it was lined with flame as well. The hand seared through the spears sending steam into the air, and he moved forward again to try and get closer to the prince. Kieran didn't seem bothered at all that his guards were still unable to do anything.

"Oh it'll help...just not Altari." Kieran said with the same smirk and seemed unfazed by William's shield. However, he paused when he caught the movement of the guards again and he sighed a little. Kieran thought for a moment that perhaps he should get rid of the guards, but he did need them...well, at least one. Too bad he didn't have a carrier pigeon, then he wouldn't have to worry about these guards. Part of him was still a bit excited to get to fight like this, but he was also getting a little bit annoyed.

He watched the water become more visible as it coalesced in midair, and he glanced at the guards before looking back at William. Kieran liked that glare. Yes, very much. "Then show me." he replied to the other prince.

Kieran's right hand was no longer shrouded in flame as it moved up to the clasp at his neck that kept his cloak on. It would be in his way if this fight was going to get serious. His tunic looked normal except it did not have sleeves. He'd burn them off anyways, so why have them to begin with? Kieran would admit that he may be biting off more than he could chew with three of them but that didn't mean he was going to back down. His arms were now covered in flames and he held them in a defensive position as he waited to see just what his enemies were going to do.

Kieran’s smirk remained, but his stance changed just a little. His feet were spread a little further apart, and his legs were bent as if he was poised and ready to pounce like a cat. Arms out in front of himself and eyes intently watching the other prince, Kieran moved quickly and seemed to be much more agile than he appeared. He had not drawn his sword, yet, and didn’t intend to until the other drew a weapon besides his element. Kieran wanted to show his power over fire to the other most likely as much as the other prince wanted to show him.

Moving low to the ground under the one sword that came in from the side and out of the way of the sword above himself, Kieran came alongside William and aimed his flamed for the hilt of the sword closest to himself in order to perhaps separate William from one of his weapons. He had allowed for the first attack to come from his enemy, but now he wanted to get William back on his heels again. He used his other hand in a slight waving motion through the air and an arc of flame followed the movement as he was trying to dry the air enough to hinder the water from condensing.

Kieran's gaze did go away from William for a moment as he looked at the ice needles. Oh. Those were going to hurt...He put his attention to raising his body temperature again to try and ward off the needles. He knew why William did this, but that didn't mean that Kieran could stop him completely. Some of the needles did in fact manage to pierce his skin, but they did not remain long as they melted quickly. His arms, being the only part of his body that was not covered in clothing, took the most damage, but it was still minimal. Yes, he was bleeding now, but those wounds were far from fatal or even enough to slow him down right now.

His gaze went back to the Altarian, and he tried once again to regulate the temperature how he liked it. However, in the short amount of time that he had to concentrate on warming himself up, Kieran had to avoid heating the area around them. With the way the wind was blowing today it had cooled the air temperature back down quickly to a more temperate level. That quick change of temperature did create a bit of a problem for Kieran as he could feel the humidity of the air had increased. One of the reasons why he had been concentrating so much on staying in control of the battle. Fire and water were opposites on most things, but they were both rather unstable and could potentially help the other element out in it's own weaknesses. Heat evaporated water, yes, but one can never destroy water completely. Kieran hoped just a little that William was not thinking of that, anyways for the time that he would need to increase the temperature again.