Chapter One: Ray of hope for a half-elf

A carriage made its way on the paved streets of the nobles' side of Meltokio. In it, there were a trio: a man, his wife and their son who was eighteen. The young Kratos, for that was his name, was going to join a boarding school where he could end his studies. Of course, he could say nothing against it, his parents decided for him. Leaving his native island was a tearing for the teenager. But he had to honour his parents and he had no choice, he was their only son and he loved them deeply. So, despising his sadness, he didn't protest when his father told him that he was going to live in Meltokio.

The carriage stopped and its passengers went out of it. Kratos sum up briefly the place. A huge building, a horse stable which was constructed to welcome his personal horse. He looked at the window of the second floor and saw through it something intriguing. He saw a human form and a vague blue colour.

' It must be a servant.' He thought

He brought himself back to reality and enter into his future home. The hall was sober, the walls painted in white, the floor had aged quite well. Facing him, there were stairs that were the link between the hall and the bedrooms. The director of the boarding school welcomed them. She was very beautiful. Her long black hair was tied into a bun. She was tall and the regular features of her face eased the parents who came to entrust their little ones' education to the elite.

' My Lord, My Lady, Mister Kratos, it is a pleasure for us to see you! I hope that your journey went well.'

' It went very well to be true.' Kratos' mother answered

Miss Methy took them to her office where the three travellers could discuss about the final detais of the signing in of the heir of the Aurions' house into the Kharlan boarding school.

' According to your requirements, your son will have his personal bedroom and since he is the wealthiest of his comrades, the entire second floor is his. He will be able to receive whoever he likes. The stable is ready to receive his horse and his personal library has been brought this morning. And of course, as long as it is at honourable hours, he will be given permission to go out.'

' This is perfect. Thank you for your patience towards it Miss. Kratos, your mother and I are expecting from you to do your best. Failure isn't a shame. Nevertheless, there is one thing we will never accept: disobedience about the laws of this institution. Always obey to it.'

' Very well, Father.'

Kratos bided farewell to his parents who left him. He was told about the lessons, everything that he had to know for the time he was going to live here. Finally, he was granted permission to go to his room and that was he was longing for. He wanted to settle down quickly so that he could rest. He went up the stairs which lead him to his new home. More than a room, it almost looked like a small flat. He entered in the room that looked like a living room. The room on the left was his bedroom, the one on the right the bathroom. Just like in Altamira. His father really did everything he could to make sure that he was not too homesick and he succeeded. But there was one mere detail. In his bedroom in Altamira, there was not a young man who looked at the cover of a book as if it was the eighth wonder of the world. His blue eyes were looking at an engraving that illustrated the first page of the book with intensity as if he wanted to fix the features of it in his mind. He was so lost in his activity that he did not heard Kratos enter. The human detailed him. The young man with blue eyes was a bit smaller than him. He had long blue hair that fell upon the middle of his back. His clothes were damaged, dirty and repaired clumsily. The man's hands were long and white and even if they had cracklings and frostbites, they were sill beautiful. He noticed than he was too thin for a man of his height, as he noticed that he was really pale, with dark circles under his eyes. And yet, it was not enough to spoil the boy's beauty.

' If only I could see his face!' Kratos sighed internally

He decided to reach him softly so that he would not scare the half-elf. Kratos easily guessed the servant's race, who was the boy he saw when he arrived earlier. Unfortunately, the half-breed heard him and turned around quickly. His look gave Kratos a heartache. He could read fear, apprehension in his eyes. That poor boy was shaking.

' I'm sorry... I... I did not want to disturb you, sir... I'll leave at once...'

That voice, despising the shyness and fear, was beautiful and clear, not too high but not to deep as well. He was certainly the same age as him. Kratos was not mistaken. The young servant was beautiful if you saw his back. He was handsome when you looked at his face. Delicate features, a beautiful nose, lovely lips even if they had cracklings, eyes in which Kratos would have gladly drowned...

' Don't leave, you are not bothering me at all! My name is Kratos, Kratos Aurion. I'm new here. And you, what is your name?' Kratos asked warmly

Seeing that the servant was still shaking and that he was still fearing him, he added, with a true and kind smile:

' As long as you do not answer, I won't let you go out.'

' I'm... Yuan... Yuan Ka-Fai...' he young prisoner answered, stuttering.

' I'm glad to meet you, Yuan! Say, do you like books, like I do?'

' I just like to look at them, My Lord. Their covers are so beautiful...'

' Don't you read them?'

' I... I can't read, My Lord...' Yuan revealed, ill-at-ease.

' What a pity! You could have noticed that there are not only the covers that are beautiful in books!'

Kratos was thinking a bit, then he said about a few seconds later:

' I could teach you, you know.'

' My Lord is more than kind but you should not waste your time with a man like me, I am certainly too stupid to learn how to read...'

' On the contrary, I'm convinced that you will learn fast! Of course, f you have work, I do not want to encroach on it. I'll be here the most part of the time. Join me whenever you can.'

Yuan looked at Kratos with surprise. For the first time in his life, a human was kind, polite and gentle towards him. For the first time in his life, he had met someone who seemed sincere to him. For the first time in his life, he wanted to know better a human and this one seemed to agree.

' I... I thank you, My Lord, for your goodness... If you are sure of it... I... I will try to come but... With my work, I do not know when I can...'

' Come when you can, I told you.'

Yuan thanked him and left.

' By the way, Yuan, forget the "My Lord" stuff when you are with me. Call me Kratos'

' But, My Lord, that would be...'

' I insist.'

' Very well but... Please, allow me to call you My Lord in public... I...'

' Agreed, but only in public. My Lord in front of everyone, Kratos here.'

Yuan nodded.

' I hope that we can become friends, Yuan. I truly hope so.''

Friend? He wanted to befriend him? That was too great to be true! Both of them ignored it, but that meeting sealed their fates. Yuan did not know about it yet, but Kratos was to become his shield. Kratos did not know it yet, but he became the ray of hope in the sad and dark life of the half-elf.

Life at Kharlan boarding school was not that bad after all!

To be continued