Chapter 2

Cyan always had some control of shadows, changing their shape, moving them and even transporting small items from one side of the house to the other. Her father told her she would have the same strange abilities as her absentee mother. She also suffered from nightmares since she could remember, they grew in intensity every year till the idea of sleeping cause nothing but anxiety.

Kirt, her father, did his best to help her through the nights reminding her that once she received her grimoire that her control over her magic would get better. She held on tightly to that idea, that once she was fifteen that it would stop.

Of course, it didn't. I just got worst.

Kirt was a skilled ice mage from the Diamond Kingdom that had met a witch and defected to the Clover Kingdom to start a family. Around Cyan's first birthday her mother disappeared without a word, presumably going back to the witch's forest. Her father refused to say a single bad thing about her mother, but she could see the pain in his face whenever she asked questions about the women.

He knew very little about his wife's magic and did his best to help his daughter learn to control it. At the age of fifteen when Cyan received her gray and red grimoire her first spell was the shadow transportation spell, the ability to transport herself and object through shadows. The Shadow Dive. It was time consuming, and she had to be careful where she went because it was easy to go through the wrong shadow and end up on the other side of the kingdom, or so her father stated.

Once she got good at moving around town and the outlining woods, she decided to ignore her father's warnings and see just how far she could get in a single 'dive'. Like an idiot she didn't consider how much mana it would use to travel vast distances or that she could get lost with no way home.

Five years ago, was the first and only time Cyan went to the capital of the kingdom and couldn't get back.

"Shit! Dads going to kill me!" Cyan scolded herself as she sat on the outskirts of the capital staring up at the evening sun. She had made six consecutive dives heading to what she thought was south hoping to end up on the beach. The last dive had taken everything she had left and now she was stuck.

She needed food or water and would have to wait till enough mana came back for her attempt another dive to get close enough to Clear Water for her father to find her. If she walked it would take at least two days. She was going to get grounded for sure.

Kicking at the root of the tree she rested against she tried to think of an excuse to tell him. He was never going to trust her again. She wanted to perfect the Shadow Transportation spell as much as possible to learn new spells and hopefully find a spell that would help her control her nightmares.

"Are you hurt little one?" A sleepy male voice asked from somewhere above her. Cyan shot to her feet and backed away from the tree looking for the source of the words.

An extremely tall red hair man leaned against the tree, amethyst eyes watching her bemusedly. Her breath caught in her throat as she took in the red uniform and Lion crest on his chest. This man was a magic knight in the Crimson Lion Kings squad, one of the strongest squads ever created.

Looking down at her feet she shook her head.

"Are you lost?"

She met his intense gaze once again before nodding.

A smile played along his lips, and he cocked an eyebrow. "Are you mute?"

She shook her head again then remembered she did in fact know how to speak. "No sir, I'm just not supposed to talk to strangers." It sounded so childish to say that out loud and she instantly regretted saying it.

He was silent for a few seconds before approaching her and dropping to one knee. Even kneeling the tall man was eye leave with Cyan, who was not very tall to begin with. "I'm Fuegoleon, what's your name?" He reached out and grasped her hand in a shake.

"I'm Cyan Conway from Clear Water." She murmured and felt a deep creeping blush spread over her cheeks and down her neck. Fuegoleon was a name she knew; he was the new captain of the Crimson Lions and at the age of twenty-five one of the strongest mages in the capital outside the Wizard King of course.

He was also a royal of the house Vermillion. Cyan quickly bowed almost smacking him in the face with her forehead.

"No need for that little one, we were just becoming friends." He admonished, an amused tone dancing around his voice and when she looked up, he was smiling. "I have friend from Clear Water, what are you doing so far from home, the magic knights entrance exam isn't for a few months."

She blushed even harder. She didn't want to admit she was lost but running into this man was a stroke of luck, he could probably get her home before her father freaked. "I transported myself here on accident and now I'm out of mana."

"Spatial Magic huh? That's handy."

Cyan shook her head and tried to control her blush. it's not like she's never been intimate with someone before but talking to him was making her act like a damn virgin. "No, well kind of. It's shadow Transportation magic. I move between pools of shadows." It was the best explanation she could offer at the time, not really having a good grasp on the concept yet.

He stood up suddenly and stretched his back before looking down at her once more. "When you become a magic knight, I'll be sure to keep an eye out for you. Having that kind of strange magic around would be interesting."

He looked around the clearing before eyeing the setting sun. "Am I allowed to be a magic knight?" Cyan asked as she too realized how dark it was getting. Confusion rushed across his face as he looked back at her. She looked away from his intense stare. "My dad is from the Diamond kingdom, the people in my town said I can't join since I'm an outsider."

He looked even more confused by that statement before he burst out in laughter. "Little one, does your grimoire have a clover on it?"

Grumbling she nodded.

"Then it doesn't matter where your dad is from, you're a Clover Kingdom mage." Still chuckling her ruffled her hair like she was a small child. He didn't seem to notice her odd eyes or hair, but he did see her as a child and that bothered her. "Have you ever ridden on a broom before, Cyan?"

The sound of her name on his lips sent shivers down her spine, it almost sounded exotic when he pronounced the two syllables of her name in his deep voice.

"No…Fuerg…Frigo…sir." Stuttering she tried to say his name, instead she sounded like an idiot.

He ruffled her hair again. "Call me Fuego, we are friends now remember. How about I get you home before your father loses his mind?" Walking back to the tree, he went around the back side and produced a leather pack and broom.

Had he been sleeping there when she appeared? Did her yelling at herself wake him? God could she be even more embarrassed?

She eyed the broom wearily. "You're not going to drop me, right?

"I'll do my best." Feugo tossed the leather pack over his shoulders and mounted to broom. Once settled on he reached out towards her and guided her to mount the broom behind him. "Were going to go fast so hold on tight."

Cyan instantly wrapped her arms around his waist, digging her fingers into the fabric of his uniform. She didn't care if it was rude or that he was a royal at that moment, all she cared about was not falling off the damn broom. He padded her hand and leaned forward, the broom slowly rising into the murky sun set. As her feet left the safety of the ground, she squeezed her eyes shut and mashed her teeth together in hopes that she wouldn't throw up all over the captain's clothes.

Without warning the broom shot forward like a rock from a sling shot, her head whipping back from the sudden force. She squeezed him tighter and pressed her face to his back as a scream threatened to break free from her clenched teeth. He barked a death-defying laugh, the wind slapping his long hair against her arms and cheeks.

She knew that people with great mana control and deep mana reservoirs could fly fast while on brooms, but she would never have guessed that someone could move this fast. Was this the difference between mages and Magic Knight Captains? With this kind of speed, they would be there in a few hours.

Cyan didn't know if she could last that long.

He angled the broom to face away from the setting sun, or so said the warm feeling on her back, towards Clear Water when he straightens up and padded her hands again. "Look at that."

Slowly prying her eyes open she peaked out at the sky. Trees ran in every direction below them like a never-ending ocean of green, the rising moon glinting off the leaves. She could feel bile rising in her stomach at how high up they were. She shut her eyes again. "Yup, its beautiful; and really really high."

If things couldn't get worst, it began to rain.

"You're going to have to get over your fear of heights if you're going to be a knight." Fuego shouted over the howling wind and pelting rain.

"I never said I was going to apply. Up until ten seconds ago I thought I wasn't allowed remember?" She shouted back.

He ignored that. "We're close, I can see the town lights. Where should I drop you off?"

She peaked out again and followed his line of site. A thin line of bright lights shown on the hillside, she could even see the river running through town from this height. The river was already engorged from the rain fall and streams ran all over town.

"Can you drop me off on the outskirts, I don't want anyone to see me. Specifically, my father. I'm so dead." She moaned.

"Don't worry, once your dad finds you, he'll be more overjoyed than anything." He swung the broom in a circle before descending through the trees to the rain-soaked ground. When her feet met the ground, she jumped off the broom and sat in the mud not caring about her clothes. Her legs felt like rubber and her ass was completely numb from the ride, she would stick with transportation from now on.

"Thank god." She whispered, enjoying the feel of solid earth beneath her.

"You're going to catch a cold, little one." Right, she wasn't alone. She looked up and found the hard gaze of the captain staring down at her. "You'd better run along before the weather turns deadly."

She struggled to her feet and approached him. "Thank you. I owe you one."

He leaned forward till they were eye level. "How about when you take the exam and awe us with your strange magic you join my squad. That will make us even."

Her breath caught in her chest at his closeness, his handsome face and soft mouth so near her. He was easily the most attractive man she had ever seen and was suddenly hyper aware of their age difference. "Sounds like a plan." She gasped.

Without another word, the captain shot up and disappeared in the clouds, leaving nothing but the stinging rain.

"What a weird day." Cyan whispered, rain splashing on her face and running down her throat. Shaking her head Cyan ran to where the woods met town, towards the house her father built with his bare hands.

It might be mellow dramatic to say that he saved her life. But if he hadn't come along and taken her home then she would have been left to wander the outskirts of the Capital, lost and powerless. As far as she was concerned, Cyan owed Fuegoleon a blood debt and in the Diamond Kingdom a blood debt must always be paid. That's what her father always said.

Cyan blinked, pulling herself from the memory to find Sheila and Temlar still staring at her.

"I have to go to the Capital, to the Crimson Lion Kings headquarters." She blurted out suddenly.

"What do you plan on doing there?" Temlar asked slowly. "How are you going to get there."

She shook her head, biting the back of her knuckles as she stared at photo. "I have a spell that might help but I won't know till I try."

"But how do you plan on getting there?" He asked again.

"Duh I'm going to Shadow Dive. I've done it once before." Her reply was strained as she remembered what happened when she got home. It had been Sheila waiting for her, not her father.

"Have you tried that since your father…" Sheila didn't need to finish; the night Cyan met Fuego had been the night her father died.

The night he died looking for her.

"You expect them to just let you waltz in?" Temlar folded his muscular arms as he did when scolding her, if it had been for his wife and a little later him then she wouldn't have anyone to worry about her.

"Please, they won't even know I was there."