War And Throne

Chapter 5 : Crimson Country Clan

The white Full Palace of Darkness towered high; beautiful and sturdy towers were all around it. The Crimson Country was ruled by the Ice Clan, and it had been 100 years since the Ice Clan became the leader of the country. At this time, the Crimson Country was under the leadership of King Edward. 

The people of Crimson Country had various kinds of power. All clans were grouped together and had their own territories. The palace was in the center of all these territories, floating in the middle of the water. There is a large bridge to connect the clan territories. 

King Edward was a fair and kind leader, although, although he came from the Ice Clan, he did not treat all his subjects equally. The king did not give special treatment to the Ice Clan.

All the people of Crimson felt fine under King Edward's leadership; everything was safe and secure, there was prosperity, and there were no serious disturbances. 

All clans did have their own territories, but that did not mean that their territories were forbidden to be visited by other clans. They already lived side by side, worked together, and helped each other. 

All clans can be distinguished easily, and their strengths can be distinguished and recognized by the color of their respective clothes. Besides that, there are also bracelets and tattoos that indicate which clan a person belongs to. 

There are eight clans in the Crimson Country. There are clans of fire, water, wind, ice, light, earth, plants, and lightning. All of them intersect with each other and are needed for the welfare of the country. 

Darren was born into the Fire Clan; he has been learning to control fire since he was a child. But even so, Darren felt that he wasn't very good yet and had to study harder in order to create and control his fire. 

Darren was currently stepping out of the fish market, feeding Yupo until the giant cat was full. 

All clans had one huge market; any clan could trade and buy any goods in that place. In a way, the marketplace was where all the clans mixed together after the Full Palace of Darkness.

As he walked, Darren was thinking about the thief he had faced a moment ago. The thief could disappear; the power did not come from the Crimson Country; Darren had only seen something like that. 

"He's different; he's not from here; none of the Crimson people have the power to disappear." Darren dove into his own train of thought. "Did the thief use witchcraft or a spell? But that's impossible; there's nothing like that here." 

Dizzy himself, Darren shook his head weakly. He would think about that later. He stroked Yupo's soft fur as he walked. 

"Yupo?"

"Meow." 

"I need you to come home; I have to help mom at the market again. You're full, aren't you?" 

"Meow." 

Darren nodded briefly. "Alright, you'll know your way home; now rest at your house; I'll be back in the afternoon. You got it, buddy?" 

Yupo made another noise in response to Darren's words. Darren stroked the giant cat's soft fur again, then whispered that Yupo could go now. 

Yupo meowed before he finally turned around and left, bounding away on all four powerful legs. Darren continued to stare at Yupo's departure until Yupo was out of sight. Only then did Darren head back to the shop where his mother sold cakes and bread.

"Mom, I'm back." 

"Darren, what took you so long? Mom's been waiting for you." 

Darren grimaced unpleasantly; he then apologized, saying that he was sorry for being late. Helena didn't take it any further and told Darren to bake more cookies as there were quite a few customers today. 

Darren's clothes were perfectly dry. He can create fire the way he wants. 

This afternoon, Darren did give Helana permission to pee, and when he was about to return to the shop, Yupo appeared, meowing with hunger. That's when Darren realized that he forgot to give Yupo food. He was in such a hurry to go to the shop that he forgot about Yupo. 

Later, when Darren and Yupo decided to walk to the fish market, a woman shouted that someone had just stolen her wallet. 

Darren reflexively wants to help the person, but as it happens, he fails.

Darren was busy making cakes and breads until the shop closed in the afternoon at around five o'clock. Darren took a short break and drank a lot of water. 

"Darren." 

"Yes, why mom?" Darren turned around, facing Helena who was smiling brightly at him, as bright as the sun that had just risen. 

"Look at the money we made; we made twice as much today as we did yesterday." 

"Really?" 

"Mom didn't lie to you." 

"Thank goodness, I'm glad to hear that; it's thanks to Mom who always works hard. God of fire bless Mom."

Helena laughed softly as she approached her son, gently squeezing Darren's shoulder. "Not only Mom, but you also contributed; it's our hard work Darren, you and mom, both of us." 

Darren then gave Mom a long hug. "Then, mom keeps the money, okay? I want to close the back door first, after this, we go straight home, right?"

"Yes, we go home, then rest at home, but mom seems to have to stop by somewhere first." 

Darren's brow furrowed as he watched Helena with focus. "Where's mom going?" 

"To the light clan territory." 

"What do you want to do there?" 

Helena immediately gave an answer. "A few days ago, I ordered two blackout-proof lamps there. I'm going to pick them up now." 

"What did you order for? None of the lights at home are broken. I thought so," Darren said. Now Darren's gaze that was thrown at Helena was full of confusion mixed with increasing curiosity. 

"Darren, we need to take precautions; what if there's another power outage at night like last time? Mom can't stand the dark; mom needs a blackout-proof lamp." 

"If that's the case, why do you have to go all the way to buy in the light clan area, in this market, there must be someone selling, there could even be many sellers; you can look for it here." 

"Yes, mom also knows about it, Darren." Helena laughed softly while waving her hand. 

Darren raised one eyebrow. "But?" 

"But you'd rather buy it at the place itself, I'm going there now." 

Letting out a long sigh, Darren nodded slowly. "Alright, whatever you want, but you have to spend your days on the road, right? Should I go with you?" 

"No!" Helena refused as she moved her head. "Mom can do it on her own, I don't want to trouble you dear, I'm still capable." 

"No hassle at all, I can even buy the lamp that mom asked for, you can just go home, then I go to buy the lamp that mom wants." 

"No dear, you've worked very hard today. Mom is still on her own, now you just go home, okay? Let mom close the shop, okay dear?" 

"Okay." Darren then left the shop, and when he got outside, Darren was surprised by something until he jumped in surprise.