In a large hallway, maids were running up and down holding white cloths and big bowels with warm water. The lord of the house was standing outside a large door with a huge doorknob the shape of a lion and coming from the inside were screams of agony accompanied by interval and rhythmic breathes of air.

In the room a snow white woman was laying on the bed erected in the middle of the room, her rich blonde hair is soaked with sweat and her beautiful face was streaked with tears. The midwife Rasha, an old woman with graceful looks gently rubbed the pregnant woman's bump,"take a deep breath and push, milady Senah. I can see the head now". The pregnant woman took a deep breathe and pushed with all her might, the baby was pushed out.

Rasha gently caught the baby and cut the umbilical cord. After pushing the baby out Lady Senah weakly lay limp on the bed as she tearfully looked at the tiny baby in Rasha's hands. Her beautiful teared face had a smile on it as Rasha handed her the child. She held the baby in her hands as the baby let out a loud cry.

Rasha took the blooded baby from her mother's stomach then passed the baby to a waiting lady beside her. The waiting lady opened her eyes in shook," Rasha it's.... it's... it's a girl" the lady shrieked in fear. Rasha's old body shook,"what do you mean its a girl. It's supposed to be a boy".

Their discussion did not end as at that moment the lord opened the great door with much vigour. "My son is born," the Lord, Macal briskly walked to the bed and took the baby who had been wrapped in a cloth by the lady-in-waiting. Rasha looked at the child in the Lord's hands and took a deep breath,"my Lord the child is a girl."

Lord Macal's hands shook and he nearly dropped the baby."What do you mean its a girl. The prophecy clearly states that my wife was going to give birth to a son, who would be the most powerful person in history." All the maids quickly moved from him as his confusion turned into anger. "Call the old man here!" The soldiers on the door gave each other a nod and two soldiers broke out of their powerful formation and quickly ran in the direction of the forest.

In a cave an old man with a long white beard which reaches his chest is sitting in front of a colourful fire. From time to time a weird powder added to the fire which makes it colourful. All of a sudden the fire burns out, the old man coughs out a mouthful of blood and hisses in shock."Who dares to challenge fates and rewrite what was written in the sacred books of fate." The old man looks at the burnt out fire as it relights on it's own but now colourful fire has been tainted with black.

The old man stands up as he looks at the fire in shock,"this..is impossible. The fire can never be tainted and it can never go out. It is the eternal fire that never burns out and that never gets tainted." He whispers to himself continuously and he staggers backwards unconsciously, his body shaking in shock. He looks at the fire once more and leaps out of the cave. His flail body moves fast like a leopard in the wind and in a flash he is in front of the Lord's mansion.

Lord Macal gave the baby to Rasha as his yellow eyes burning with anger. A knock is heard on the door,"My Lord the fate-reader is here." Lord Macal waved his fair hand and the maid on the door opened it. Rasha covered the Lady who was still weak with a cloth."Calve what happened l thought you said my wife was going to give birth to the strongest man in history, so how can it be a girl." Lord Macal rubbed the frown that had formed on his forehead and gently raised his head to look at the fate-reader who had entered the room."My Lord l do not know who changed fate, but someone erased or rewrote fate. Even the eternal flame burnt out," Calve bowed his head at his Lord."The eternal flame burnt out you say,"Lord Macal's eyes bulged in shock as Rasha who knew the eternal flame gasped in shock.

"But how can that be,"she whispered to herself as she knew more about the flame than most people in the region. "Yes My Lord, but only for a short while now look at its appearance." Calve reached in his robe and took out what looked like a token. He broke the token and waved its ashes in the air in front of them. An unstable reflection of the cave and the burning flame was seen,"you see my Lord. This is the appearance of the flame now." On the reflection the flame burn steadily and the flamed danced calmly in the cave.

"l think the flame burnt out when your daughter was born." Calve spoke as the reflection of the flame disappeared into the air. The Lord regained his composure,"why is the flame tainted by that black fire. isn't the flame supposed to only be of colourful?" Lord Macal spoke to himself more than he was talking to the fate-reader. "l think it must be because of the the birth of the princess," Calve said stroking his long beard.

Lady Senah who was laying on the bed mourned and Rasha was quickly on her side. "My king and my lord l think you should step out for a moment,"Rasha said bowing to both King Macal and Calve. The King glanced at his wife and started for the door, Calve followed after him.

"My queen, how do you feel?" Rasha walked over to the queen and wiped off her sweat with a wet towel. "I..l feel like pushing again," the queen grunted and pushed. The Queen pushed again and another baby cry fills the room .

The lady-in-waiting, Lucy holding the by girl looked in horror as dark like ink marred the baby's backside. The ink whirled around her back until it stopped when it reached her upper back and then it shaped into the shape of a black flaming dragon entwined by a fire breathing phoenix. The tattoo like mark was surrounded by signs of all the natural elements earth, nature, water, wind and even the rare light and dark elements were surrounding the dragon and phoenix. The tattoo was not very big but it was very eye-catching because of the elemental signs which were very colorful.

Rasha quickly cut the umbilical cord and gives the baby to a lady-in-waiting who wipes off the blood, but not before she checks for the baby's gender. Rasha sighs with relief when she sees that the baby is a boy. She continues to look over at the baby as Tiara, another lady-in-waiting wipes his skin softly with a damp warm cloth.

King Macal's eyes bulged when he heard a baby crying and it's voice was a bit deeper than the first baby who had cried. "They are twins," Calve said as puzzlement and if one looked carefully one would spot the fear that his eyes portrayed.

Lucy quickly wrapped the baby in a cloth before anyone could see her tattoo. As she was finishing wrapping the baby, she felt a nag on her hand and she looked down to see the baby holding her pinky finger. She gasped when the baby opened her eyes, her iris were changing colours, it looked more like a show for colours until at last they stopped changing when they turned icy blue, bluer than the seas found in the Western seas.

Lucy quickly took a towel and covered the baby's face, as one of the few ladies who worked closely to the queen she knew that the baby girl was not going to be given a chance to live. She shakes her head in melancholy as she gazes softly at the baby in her hands. The baby nimbly fists it's fingers on Lucy's pinky finger and then a tear falls on its face. As Lucy gazed at the baby her eyes shine with a fierce determination of wanting to save her and wanting to see the baby grow into an elegant lady fit for her position.

Chapter 2

Unspeakable pain

King Macal gazed at his son lovingly and took hold of his tiny hands. "I'm going to name him Marcos. He is my son after all and he is going to be the strongest person in all of the continents." The Queen who was sitting from across the bed smiled in approval to the name. Her smile was weak as she had not healed from the birth, three days ago." Mac, what are we going to do with the girl," Queen Senah frowned as she talked of her first child," we can't keep her here with us."

King Macal did not take his eyes off Marcos, "what should we do with her because we can't possibly take care of her. If the neighbouring countries find out they won't give us any face. They would always see us as the country which has twins and you know that twins are not born in our era, as they have to share their internal energy with each other. That's why when twins are born one of them has to be killed."

The Queen nodded gently to what King Macal was saying." If twins share internal energy everyone knows that they will not proceed much further in the art and dao of martial arts, as they share the same internal energy." The Queen walked over and took Marcos from the King's hands," l want to ****** feed him. The scholars have discovered that if a child is ******-fed he will be able to absorb the energy to heaven and earth much smoothly and will not much likely have difficult in his breakthroughs."

As King Macal handed his son to the Queen the door is busted open. King Macal's eyes squirted as he looked towards the door, Calve's red and gold robes licked the floor as he walked towards the King in brisk steps. "Pardon me my King for the interruption but there is something urgent that needs your attention." The King scowls at Calve and waves his hand and the guards who had been unable to stop Calve go back to guarding the door

Calve reaches the inside of his robes and he takes out a scroll of the Ancient tree and opens it. "My King a new prophecy has appeared ." King Macal listened attentively at what Calve was trying to say, "what does it say?" Queen Senah asked, her forehead wrinkled in worry at what kind of prophecy it was.

Calve briefly cleared his throat in an attempt to chase away the fog of confusion that was clouding him as he had tried to decipher the prophecy before he had brought it to the King to read.

'Beware of the one who bares

The mark of the dragon and the phoenix

As by her sword

the Dark Emperor's glory days

Will come to an end'

Calve sighed at the end of the prophecy as he rolled the scroll and put it back into the sleeves of his robes. King Macal rubbed his chin in thought, "so we only have to find the one with the mark of the dragon and phoenix and kill her. Right? "He looked at Calve who in turn nodded his white ashy hair.

" Where must we start to look for a child with the mark? "The Queen covered her baby with a cloth and walked closer to the two men."I don't know but first we must take care of the twin child first. "King Macal said as he scowled at the thought of his other child.

Calve bowed his head and made his way out of the room as if he hadn't heard what the Queen was saying.

"Where is the child now?" The King said as he twirled with the spacial ring in his finger.

"Lucy is the one who has been taking care of her in the servant's quarters for the past week." The King flipped his hand and a bright red sword appeared in his hand. It emitted a fiery aura which showed that the King had a very strong affinity for fire. The Queen followed suit and her sword was light green which was a wind affinity.

******

Lucy cooed at the baby softly as she took Ariala from the small bed which was used by servants. After she had been given the Queen's daughter to take care of Lucy had been freed from her duties and was on her way out of the servant's quarters to go to the garden where the Queen grew her flowers.

The door was suddenly busted open and she was pushed by the force. She held Ariala tightly so she wouldn't be hurt by the force of the door. She rolled back to her side and coughed lightly as the force from the door had knocked out the air in her lungs.

She quickly looked at the child in her arms to check if there was no injury and sighed in relief when she saw that the child was unharmed. She did not want anything to happen to the baby she herself had named after the Queen had not even bothered to come and check on her baby even once.

From the smoke that was flaming on the door Lucy saw the King and Queen walking into her room. Lucy waz suddenly gripped with fear of what they were doing in her room. "Your Majesties," she bowed elegantly as even though she was a servant, she was one of the Queen's personal servants.

The Queen waved her hand, and Lucy raised up but still kept her head bowed as servants were not supposed to look at the majesties in the eye .

Morris, the King's personal guard walked inside the room and roughly took the baby from Lucy's hands. Lucy wanted to protest but stopped after she saw the Queen's eye on her and she realized that protesting would only make things worse than they already were.

Lucy stifled a cry as she saw the King and Queen walking out of her room with Moris walking behind them with the the baby in hand.

King Macal led the way to the dungeons which were empty, he got to the doors of the dungeons and took out a set to keys from his robes. He opened the door and motioned for the Queen and Moris to follow. He flicked his hand and a fire ball was formed, he walked in the passage until they reached the end of the dungeons and the King opened the door there which did not look like the others as they were made with silver ore which made sure that prisoners would be unable to use their affinities of elements.

He got in and motioned Morris to give him the baby. King Macal took the baby who was now awake and was looking at him with new fond interest. He placed the child on the stone table that was in there.

The Queen looked around the room and slowly nodded her head,"so this is the infamous interrogation room". She took a set of pliers from the wall and played around with them." Interesting, "she muttered from under her breath.

The King looked at the baby when he frowned," l don't want to dirty my hands with her blood so l will just have to use my fire on her." The King raised his hand as a fire ball started to form in his hand. He quickly shot it at the child on the table. Moris closed his eyes as he waited to smell the burning flesh as the baby burned to death. "Huh," Morris quickly opened his eyes to see that the shook in his eyes mirrored that of the King and Queen. The said child on the table did not even flinch but instead starting eating her hands.

"Why is the baby not getting affected by the fire? "The Queen said as she spoke her feelings out loud. Morris nervously looked at the Queen, "maybe her affinity is a fire element my Queen. Why don't you try using your ice elemental affinity my Queen," Morris said as he bowed down at Queen Senah.

"Maybe you are right," the Queen walked to the stone table then she waved her hand and a coat of ice engraved the baby onto the stone table. As the Queen was just like her husband a duel elemental she also had the affinity of water. The Queen looked at the table and smirked at Morris.

"My Queen, the baby," Morris shouted out just as the ice busted and the baby inside looked fine. The Queen looked at the child and her face twisted as she thought about the ice that had just bust. She continued to twist her face as she shook herself free from the ice fragments that had covered her long royal blue dress.

"So what should we do with the baby," Morris asked with a puzzled face.

The king thought for a moment then looked at Morris."Bring me the chest at the end of the dungeon and bring a lock too and of the child." Morris nodded his head followed the king with the said things.

*******

Lucy shivered for a moment as she watched the king's retreating figure, then she remembered the little baby's innocent face." I'm going to get her back," she whispered to herself as her nails sunk into her palms which were strangely soft for a maid who's hands always handled rough work.

Lucy quickly looked around in her room and nodded,"l have everything l need with me." She covered her face with a black robe and followed the King's trail.

Lucy covered her mouth as she watched the baby being set on fire by the King. Even though she saw that the child was unharmed her heart still ached for the baby.

As she saw everything unfolding. Lucy's face hardened as she watched as the Queen engraving the little baby in ice.

Lucy quickly cloaked herself into the darkness when she heard the King's nimble steps sounding closer to where she was hiding. She plastered herself to the wall and held her breathe as the King fiercely walked past her. Even though she knew that he could not see her, as he had no affinity to darkness, her heart still stopped until he was out of her sight.

Lucy stealthily followed Queen Senah, as they went out of the dungeons, which was void of guards who normally would have been guarding them.

*********

Queen Senah walked briskly until she was walking alongside her husband, "husband what do you have in mind ?" She asked eager to hear what plan her husband had thought of doing to get rid of their unwanted child.

King Macal kept quiet and still walked briskly in direction of the cliff behind their palace. Morris walked behind them with the baby in one hand and the lock and chest in the other hand.

As they reached the cliff the king held his hands behind his back and frowned at the baby. "Place the baby in the chest and put it on the ground." King Macal instructed and Morris swiftly did what the king said.

As Morris placed the chest on the ground her quickly stepped back as the king held out his hand,"this chest was a gift from the king of the gnomes as a way of loyalty. It can hold more than three elements at a time."

"My king so you mean to say we should all use our elemental affinities on it? "The Queen gasped in shock of her husband's thoughts." The king just nodded grimly and looked at his side to Morris, "you too use your earth element on it."

The couple's way of using 'it' to the child further showed that they did not feel any familiar love for the child.

"Now," the king shout whispered even though he was the overall ruler of the empire he did not want many people to know of the child's existence.

The Queen's hands glowed blue which quickly turned frosty as the King's hand turned red while Morris' turned the earthy brown and they all directed them towards the closed chest which held the days old baby.

Morris' eyes widened as the chest swallowed the elements, "nice isn't it. The elements can't damage the chest as the chest only acts as a way to encase a person." The king walked towards the chest and opened it.

What met his eyes was the sad-looking baby. Her hands had all been broken in an awkward angle as well as her legs. Her neck was also broken and she was gurgling mouthfuls of blood. The sight was especially blood curling and the baby's tiny body was covered in so much blood.

Morris walked up and stood next to King Macal and when he saw the sight his late lunch threatened to come up but he quickly swallowed it back in fear of the King's wrath.

"Take it out and make a earth coffin and through her down the cliff," King Macal instructed and turned and took the Queen's elbow, "come my love".

Morris hurriedly made a little coffin and placed the child inside then he closed it and pushed it down the cliff. He looked around as the coffin was heard hitting the ground below with a thud, Morris nodded his head as the sound as it meant that the coffin had not broken.

He looked around and retraced his way back to the palace not knowing that a pair to teary forest green eyes and witnessed the gruesome affair they had just committed.

Lucy stepped out of her hiding place and shook off her veil of invisibility. Tears were streaming down her cheeks as she walked near the cliff she looked down the cliff as her eyes turned a fiery red and she jumped down.

Still mid-air Lucy heard Ariala's cries, her face lifted in happiness and she reached the ground. Her heart clinched in pain as the faced the earth coffin made by Morris. Her hands shone with a purple light that she directed towards the coffin. If anyone saw her they would be astonished as there was no element that showed a purple light.

As the purple light reached the tiny coffin, the coffin cracked revealing the injured baby inside. Lucy's tears flowed continuously as the baby continued to cry and blood gushed out of its mouth.

Before Lucy could reach the baby and glowing orb of light suddenly covered the baby. Lucy tried to walk to the baby but an invisible barrier pushed her away and restricted her from seeing what was happening to Ariala.

The baby's screams became even more gruesome as the orb of light suddenly started swirling and flashing numerous colours but with all this Lucy heard the distinct sound to bones rearranging.

Her eyes widened in shock and the orb was finally sucked into the baby's body.

However in front of her was no longer a days old baby but a little black dragon was curled in the shape of a circle.

Lucy gasped in surprise as she had only read about dragons and they were said to have existed a long time ago but during their era they were at the top of the food chain.

She hurriedly took off her black robe and covered the little dragon before taking it with her.

She took one last look at the palace before muttering, "this palace is no longer safe for me and either way my mission here was already finished and l hate this disguise."

Lucy held the little dragon in her arms which was very tiny and fled through the night. As Lucy's figure ran her appearance changed, her once dull brown hair took on a red hue and her once blank face filled with color. Her lips became full and her body took on a luscious figure as her disguise melted away into the night