Chapter One

Life as a prince sucks. And I should know.

My name is Blaine Regem, son of Ian Regem, the King of Western Dragonia, the most boring place to live.

I mean, it isn't too bad. All it really is is a walled off city surrounded by a bowl of mountains. Inside the walls is a huge town. Its a huge checkpoint for travelers who have coins to spare, because everything here is incredibly expensive. It isn't called 'Fortress City' for nothing. The name was my uncles idea.

Centered between all the shops inside the walls is the castle, where me, my dad, and my Uncle Vulcan live together as a family. My mom died in a fire that happened years ago in this very castle, but that's another story. I won't admit life is easy without her here, because believe me, it isn't. I barely even knew her, and dad and Vulcan refuse to talk about her at all. It's frustrating, really.

I often think about how I could stop all the stress going on in my head, and the only thing that comes to mind is the dream every kid has when they hear stories about them...

An adventurer.

They're always setting out on quests to reclaim lost treasure, fight off beasts threatening innocents, stuff like that. I want to be someone like that. Someone who people look to in times when all hope is lost. That's who I want to be.

When I first told my dad and uncle this, Vulcan was all in. He was like, "Kid, that's a great idea! An adventurer, huh? You'll have to train up if you want to get out there in the real world and go do adventuring stuff." Vulcan was always like that around me. Very uncle-y. He could get very serious when it came to battle strategies and defensive protocols, but apart from that, he was a chill guy. My dad, on the other hand, wasn't all in for it.

"You're the prince." he had said. "Your place is here."

So my dad disapproves of me becoming an adventurer. That's his opinion. But my dream is mine. I can be whoever I want, do anything I set my mind to.

I will be an adventurer, no matter who tells me otherwise. But first, I have to get through high school...

Chapter Two

So the morning of the first day of high school went off to a rough start.

I got up at the crack of dawn, dressed in my school outfit, a blue shirt with the school logo on it, a red tie, black shorts, and my favorite brown shoes. I had packed all the schoolbooks I would need for the day as well as a random book I had found in the library I had found and began to read the other day. It was called The Lord of the Rigs: Fellowship of the Ring. So far it was a pretty good book. I didn't like the orcs in it though. I know some orcs who live in the mountains. Me and Vulcan sometimes go camping or hiking in the mountains, and every so often, we run in to the Fortress Mountain Orcs, as Vulcan calls them. They have a real name, but it's hard to pronounce. They're really cool guys, and they don't fight unless they have to. It was from them that I learned that there are orcs in any habitat except watery, tropical, or the sort. They can't swim. They also have different skin color based on their habitat that they live in, which is cool.

Anyways, I got up and headed for Dragonia High, which was located in the most ridiculous spot imaginable.

See there are two big buildings in Fortress City: the castle, and Dragonia High, both are located directly across from each other, which is super frustrating, because that is a long walk. Grinding my teeth, I set off for the building where I would be spending the next three to four years at.

Dragonia High, I should tell you, is the only high school anywhere. That's why so many people move here, is that their kid can get an education before becoming an adult. Of course, it's also the best of the best. Everything there is high quality. Even the students. A majority of kids there are rich snobs who think they can do whatever they want because their parents are rich. I was unlucky enough to meet one of those snobs as soon as I got to the school.

A girl was talking to her friends when I got there. As soon as I was in eyesight, the girl looked up.

"Oh, look, girls." she said. "Another messy student. Seriously, DA should only take people from noble class families. Instead, they take in poor people who can't even afford an outfit. Where'd you find yours? The garbage?"

She laughed. Coldly.

It's not like my naturally white hair can be tamed. It's always messy, no matter how hard I try to brush it. The only reason I leave it the way it is is because of the two black horns at the beach of my head, which look really cool mixed with my wild hair.

"For your information, Miss, I purchased mine, as well as all the books needed for this year's class. Now if you'll excuse me..."

She stepped in my way. Clearly she didn't want to be ignored.

Smiling coldly, she said, "It must've taken all your life savings, huh? You saved up, only to lose all your money for an outfit you'll never wear except for going here and books you'll never read except for when you need to."

Rolling my eyes, I said back. "And you are...?"

"Oh, do forgive me where are my manners?" she said. "Cecelia Baker, daughter of Richard Baker."

I blinked. "Who?"

"You know me. Everyone knows me!" she said.

"You sure?"

She looked offended. "And who are you? Someone who clearly has never heard of my family, that's for sure."

I bowed. "Prince Blaine Regem. Pleasure, Miss Baker. Now if you'll excuse me I need-"

"Now wait just a minute." she said.

Oh. MY. GOD! What does she want now?

"I've heard of you." she said. "You're the rebellious son of Ian Regem, right?"

"You know me, but I have no clue who you are. What are the odds?"

She glared at me. "You seriously have no idea?"

"Not a clue."

Her fists clenched, her teeth began to grind. "Well. I think you and I are going to have some problems, now won't we?"

I shrugged. "I guess so."

"Know this, Regem," she said. "You will know me soon enough, I swear I will not rest until you know who I am!"

"You won't have to wait long." I smirked.

"Let's go, girls." she said. Turning away toward the school she said. You'll pay for this, Regem. One day, you will pay."

As she walked off, a voice behind me said, "Wow."

Turning around, I was looking at the prettiest girl I had ever seen. Her eyes were sapphire blue, her hair as white as marble, and on the back of her head, I kid you not, we're two black horns.

"I've never seen someone stand up to Cecelia like that." she said. "You've got some guts."

"Th-thanks, I guess..." I said. Was I being complimented by a girl I found cute?

She smiled. "I'm unfortunate enough to know Cecelia, and even more unfortunate to be on the list of people she hates. I guess you are too, now, I guess."

I shrug.

She chuckles. Oh my God it is the most adorable sound I have ever heard.

Holding out her hand she said, "I'm Fyre Blacksteel. Nice to meet you."

I look at her hand, then at her. This can't be happening. But it was.

I shook her hand, smiling. "Nice to meet you too, Miss Blacksteel."

"Oh, please, call me Fyre." She said.

"Okay. Nice to meet you, Fyre."

For a moment, we kinda just looked at each other, hands still held.

"Well, I gotta get to class." she said, looking at the large clock built into the school.

"Same." I said. It was then that I noticed my face felt very warm. Warmer than usual. "Guess I'll... see you around!"

She looked back before saying, "...Yeah. I guess we will."

Best first day of high school ever.

Chapter Three

So, apart from the little morning incident, the rest of the day was awesome.

It turns out the girl I met, Fyre, is in not one, not two, but EVERY SINGLE CLASS I'm taking this year. No joke. She's in first period math, second period advanced combat, third period alchemy, fourth period magic studies, fifth period history, and sixth period survival, all of which are the classes necessary to becoming an adventurer, which got me thinking, "Does Fyre want to be an adventurer, too?"

Nah. Probably just a coincidence.

Math started out pretty good. The professor assigned us an entire front and back of an 8 1/2in x 11in piece of parchment with 40 questions we had to answer, and it was due the next morning. GREAT.

Things got super interesting in battle training. The professor told us as soon as we had entered the room to go to the back and change into the outfits assigned to us. Not to sound ungrateful or snobby or anything, but the least the people at this school can do is wash the freaking tank tops, because they were dirty and smelled strongly of sweat. Only one kid didn't seem to mind this.

"Eh, it's not that bad. I've worn worse. He said to me.

"What do you wear where you come from that's worse than this?" I asked, removing my blue jacket.

"I'm from a monastery located in central Dragonia." He said, shoving himself into his tank. "We wear tanks, but they're old. Some of them are so old you can't even tell where to put your head or arms. It's bad."

"Oof." I said.

"I got lucky enough to grab a tank that wasn't completely destroyed." He continued. "We only really wear them for battle training like this."

"So you've had some experience? Luck-" I began to say, looking at him in awe. He was about the same height as me, with wild red hair, brown eyes and... "WHOA!" I almost shouted.

"What?"

"You've got cat ears!" I whisper-yelled.

It was true. Two stout, yellow feline ears poked out of his flaming red hair. They twitched before lying flat in his hair, as if trying not to be seen.

"Yeah..." He said, looking away. "I've always had them, since I was a baby the monks told me."

"What kind are they?" I asked.

He didn't look at me.

"Sorry..." I said. "If it makes you uncomfortable..."

"Nah." He said, looking at me. "It's cool. I was looking away from you for a dramatic effect."

"Oh." I said, feeling stupid.

"They're lion ears." He said. "The monks say I'm a Half-Beast."

"No way."

"Way." he said, grinning. "I've also got a tail but," He looked around again. "Probably not safe to show you here."

"Oh. Yeah, no, that's cool." I said, waving it off.

"What about you?" he asked. "What's your story?"

"Eh, I'm a prince." I said, casually.

"Neat. I don't know of any princes. You're the first." he shrugged.

I laughed, and then stopped, realizing he was serious.

"You've never met a prince before?" I asked.

"Nope."

"Wow." I was shocked.

"Yeah." he said.

He seemed like a pretty laid back guy who followed his own path in life. That's cool.

"Is this the part where we tell each other our names and shake hands or something?" he asked.

I shrug. "Sure."

"Cool." he said. "I'm Leon Wrengate."

"Blaine Regem." I said, shaking his hand.

Wow. What a firm grip. v p

Turns out Leon wasn't lying when he said he had some experience with the monks he trained with. The sandbag dummies we were supposed to be practicing our hand-to-hand combat skills were no match for him. His fists were practically flying at every exposed area of the sandbag. He was faster than lightning. I told him that after class.

"Feh." He said. "The monks can go faster. You can barely see them hitting the wooden posts we have to fight back at the monastery. ANyone's capable of doing it," he turned to me. "You just have to start practicing at a very young age."

I recounted his words. Practice at a young age. Hmm...

During magic studies, we were just learning about spells, no actual magic or anything, to which came a long, depressed sigh from a girl next to me, who, unfortunately, wasn't Fyre.

"No magic?" she whined. "Aren't we doing this class FOR the magic?"

"I apologize." the professor said, summoning a magic hand to pat her shoulder. "It's just too risky right now. I know some of you may have practiced magic before, but we don't want any accidents we can't control."

The girl huffed, but said nothing more until we got in our seats and began listening to the lecture about magic.

"Uncontrollable accidents were how some of the greatest witches and wizards began." she muttered to herself.

"She's just playing it safe." I said, trying to make her feel better.

The girl looked at me. "You think so?" she asked, and then answered her own question. "I guess you're right. The professor's right. Magic is wild, almost uncontrollable, exactly what she said. Even kids like me who have studied magic will sometimes do something wrong." She sighed.

"Don't beat yourself up, alright?" I said. "Hey, if it makes you feel better, I didn't get to use a sword in battle training earlier, and that kinda sucked."

"Battle training isn't magic, though." she countered. "And why do you want to be a swordsman so bad?"

"Nah, not a swordsman. An adventurer." I corrected.

She looked at me.

"An adventurer?" she repeated. "Why?"

"Well, I don't want to spend my life on a fancy chair with a crown on my head." I said.

"Wait. Are you Blaine Regem?" she asked. She looked as if I was one of the Gods coming down to her and say hello.

"Yep."

Her face went from shock to joy.

"I'm talking to THE Blaine Regem!" she said, smiling.

"I ain't anything to look at." I said, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, you are!" she said, gesturing to me. "You're a legend! You're practically famous where I'm from!"

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah! Oh, I realized I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm Evergreen Forester! Nice to meet you, Your Highness!"

"Just Blaine is fine."

So we kept talking throughout the period, occasionally writing down notes on what the professor was saying. Apparently Evergreen lives in a town my dad, mom, and little baby me went to way back when. I told her I didn't remember, and she told me neither did she, and that her dad told her I was a handsome baby, which was kinda awkward...

After that, nothing to uneventful happened until survival.

"Welcome, students." the professor said. He was old, wrinkly, and had a long white mustache and thin white hair. "You can call me Professor Wendego. I'm your survival professor, as you may have noticed. Now before we begin, I will tell you that I have been on many an expiration trip or adventure," That got my attention, as well as almost everyone else. "Enough to know that being out in the wilderness is not for the faint hearted. That's what this class is for: to teach YOU how to survive when touring this amazing but deadly land. Now, we won't get into solo survival just yet, but you'll be working in teams of four, so pick your people wisely. I should also tell you that the team who makes it out of today's lesson unharmed will earn special points. Does it sound easy? Well, it isn't. In this little, er... simulation," he gestured to the wilderness-like space we were in. Vast, spacious, and full of plant life.

"This is made to look like a forest you and your team will be surviving in. There are dangerous animals here, not poisonous, of course, but they will be one of your many obstacles you have to face. The two other obstacles will be the other teams, which you will have to avoid. If anyone but your own teammate touches you, you're out. The landscape itself, which is completely magical, by the way," he looked at the students. "Is also an obstacle. The roots of the trees and the rocks, although magical, can still be tripped over, and you can sprain or break something." Evergreen was the only one who looked awestruck at the enchanted forest. I didn't realize she was here until I heard her gasp. I also saw Leon in here too.

"Now that you know the rules," Professor Wendego said. "You may pick your teams."

This had to be the greenest forest I'd ever been in, I mused as I walked through it, taking in every detail I could. Fyre, Evergreen, and Leon had all eagerly fallen into my team, which was making things easier for me--at least there weren't any jerky types making this more complicated than it had to be. I smelled the fresh and clear scent of the surrounding evergreens and smiled as I nearly forgot what we were there for. Unfortunately for me, this turned out to be a bad idea, especially since the woods had all of a sudden gone dead silent.

"Hey, who are--UNF!!!"

Leon had gone over to a nearby thicket surrounding the base of one of the huge trees and he was backpedaling fast away from the individual who had come stalking out at the sound of his voice. I knew how quick Leon's reflexes were and seeing him suddenly flying across the clearing we were in, accompanied by the noise of a solid blow, to land a good 25 feet away from where he'd been standing was shocking. Whoever this was, they had to be scary fast to get the drop on him like that! As he dazedly dragged himself into a sitting position, a tall and lean youth who looked to be not much older than me--a few years at the most--sauntered into view.

He had to be a good six foot tall, with long coal black hair, skin that clearly hadn't seen sunlight in a long while, and bright green eyes that held an unsettling gleam to them. He was wearing black armor from head to foot, thigh high boots, and had a nearly effeminate way about him--but one look at those eyes and the mirthless smirk on that deadly handsome pale face of his stifled any wisecracks one might make about that last thing. On a purple baldric at his left hip hung an ornate longsword with a basket hilt and the way he carried himself, I suspected he knew how to use that thing well. Fyre and Evergreen had already run over to check on Leon, leaving me to face our newcomer alone. Joy, I thought as he broke the silence.

"Wait, wait, don't tell me...you must be that Prince Regen I've heard tell about." His voice was high and clear, and carried well in the silence of the clearing, and I caught the sarcastic tone he said "Prince" with immediately. I knew right away that even if he hadn't punched out one of my first friends at school, I'd dislike him on principle.

"What if I am? And why'd you just sock Leon in the face," I shot back, mustering up attitude in lieu of tact. The smirk broadened in reply.

"Little filthy half breeds like him need to know their place, beneath my boots. With a bloodline as storied as mine is, he should be thankful to be in my presence."

"Can't say as I'm feeling that myself. You got a name, kid?" He casually stalked closer to me, stopping about ten feet away, and I felt an unnatural wave of cold and fear wash over me as I got a better look at him. Not only did his skin look like it hadn't been touched by the sun in years, there was a translucent way about it where I could see the fine network of his veins crisscrossing it and his eyes were sunken and hollow...almost like a corpse. Not so handsome up close, he was. And why did his teeth look so unnaturally white and long? He rested his left hand lazily on his hilt as he honored my request.

"Myself? I hight Vladislaus The Fourth, Skorzenya, son of Lord Barnabas Skorzeny. Unlike my highly esteemed and noble father I am still capable of enjoying the daytime, so I come representing him with a message for you and yours, little aspiring Prince." A second later, a very unwelcome thought crossed my mind...Skorzeny was a terrifying and feared noble who was said to be a vampire. If this was his son, then...

"D-Dhampir,"I muttered uneasily as the grin on Vladislaus' face widened into a predatory expression better suited for a wolf than a human. He clapped softly and mockingly, accompanying it with a soft chuckle.

"Very good! And here I thought you new money types weren't much on literacy and lore! But before I forget...the message.

"As per my father, the Lord Barnabas Skorzeny...things are about to change in this land, very soon. His advice to you and yours is to kindly ignore the happenings to come and to submit when the time arrives, and you shall find out what that means soon enough. Vassalage is really not so bad, you shall soon find." His voice went from mocking to steely and assured, which scared me even a bit more. "He also advises you not to resist, or things shall end most terribly for you all."

Uh, what?? My friends were all three rooted to the spot in the meantime, mute with fear and huddled together as Skorzeny delivered his message.

"What, no spirited resistance? No attempts at witty repartee? Ugh, you bore me, Regen. When next you see your father, deliver that message to him, verbatim. Or else...who do you think sent that plague that took your mother from you oh so soon?"

The fear was replaced momentarily with a hot rush of anger, but I stifled it. I knew I didn't stand a chance against this guy, no matter how much I wanted to pop him in his smug and grinning face right then. Meanwhile, he sighed in an exaggerated manner and turned to take his leave. He slithered through the thicket without a sound and a moment later the grip of the fear over me broke. Immediately, I rushed over to Leon, Fyre, and Evergreen to check on them. Leon's nose was broken and would require medical attention beyond our capabilities at that moment, but otherwise he seemed OK. The girls were shivering still, their eyes wide and meek.

"Blaine...did he say the name I think he said," Evergreen faltered, and I nodded.

"Yeah, he did. We got a Problem." That was putting it nicely.