“The Legend of Kaiko - Chapter One” By Aun Haider (A Fantasy Novel)

Kaiko's eyes lay shut as he cast his mind into blissful reverie, pretending to still be in the utopian Light-Realm he once knew and loved. He pictured its pastel sunsets that exuded harmony as well as light.

If only he could hear the birds chirp once more, oh what he would give to hear their beauteous melodies. He'd often whistle back to them in the gardens of his palace.

That is where he sat currently in meditation. Wishing to hear the birds chirp just once more even if it only lasted mere milliseconds.

But instead, a wave of anxiety crossed his heart like a stormy ocean tide, causing him to snap his eyes back open.

There, in front of him, stood a red-bellied robin. Its head twitched as it swiftly looked in multiple directions in the span of seconds as most birds did. Just like an owl. But something was wrong. It wasn't chirping or flying as the robins in Light-Realm usually did.

Melancholia flooded his face like an inevitable sea, but he tried to hide it as his eyes caught sight of a figure's shadow, one that was growing increasingly larger. It loomed over the marble floorboards ahead of him until he was under its shade. Instead of flying away like the robin would usually do, its miniature feet were planted onto the marble ground like an oak tree whose roots were longer than a buttress'.

Kaiko glanced to his right where the source of the shadow was coming from and saw his fancy golden sandals on the feet of a thief.

"Really, Chi-Shi? You couldn't come to me wearing footwear of your own?" Came Kaiko's words as an eyebrow of his was raised in questioning.

"Hey, I just wanted to make you laugh, you seem so...on-edge lately, I wanted to lighten up the mood," Kaiko's best friend Chi-Shi said.

"Chi, that's not funny, it's just annoying," Kaiko admitted.

"Also, what's up with that bird? It hasn't absorbed your weird energy, has it?" Chi-Shi asked, noticing the robin that was frozen like a gargoyle atop a mansion.

Both of their gazes met briefly before they stared at the robin with concern.

"I was just about to bring your attention to that," muttered Kaiko while rising from the ground like a blossoming rose, his grey robes unfolding like origami.

Surprise tainted Chi-Shi's heart as he thought his friend Kaiko would meditate for longer and not let a singular bird stop him from doing so.

"Why must you disturb me?" Kaiko's question spilled out of his mouth like milk from a baby, without thought.

Chi-Shi crossed his arms in discontentment, his scarlet gloves matching his red attire. He sighed and tightened his red headband so that it wouldn't slip off and reveal more of his wild brown hair.

His round eyes found Kaiko's fierce ones, the softness of Chi-Shi's eyes attempting to soften the disposition of his friend's but to no avail.

"Your parents are requesting your attendance at the dining hall," Chi-Shi said simply. "They're concerned about this sudden shift in energy that we have all felt." He added as the two of them turned to walk towards the backdoors of the palace that led out into the palace gardens and balcony.

"Is that so?" Kaiko mumbled. The absence of the amulet he had witnessed at the Temple of Hikara had really put him in a foul mood, and even something as minuscule as the robin acting strange bothered him.

Already, Kaiko was missing the days of peace he used to take for granted, when the amulet had been floating above the broken pillar and everything had felt like it was all in balance. Now, he couldn't shake this sense of uneasiness off.

And in his books, when nature was acting up that was a big telltale sign of the energy of Light-Realm not being right.

The two of them flowed like rivers into the palace, and just like rivers, they began to meander their way into the sea. The sea that was the dining hall; where Kaiko's parents awaited him. But they weren't solely Kaiko's parents, no. They were the king and queen of Udeniya.

Udeniya was their faction.

Unfortunately, Kaiko's people were divided, split into factions that often fought with one another. Political tensions fluctuate the royals would say, but that was a lie. They were always high, that Kaiko knew and felt.

Now was no different.

He could sense the artificial, insincerity of this gathering as his eyes looked upon the new faces that were all gaping at him as though he were a white and mighty light and they were moths.

Kaiko forced a faint smile and bowed in formal greeting so he wouldn't have to go around shaking the hands of all of his parents' guests as was traditionally customary for a royal Udenian such as himself. Chi-Shi did the same despite it being unnecessary that he followed suit.

That almost made Kaiko snicker. He had to admit, his friend Chi-Shi usually brought a smile to his face and now he was beginning to have that effect on him once more.

Daylight poured in through the empty ivory archways that stood stall and proud to Kaiko's right as he strode his way towards a chair that looked more like a throne than a stool.

Chi-Shi almost took a seat beside him before realising he had to be invited to sit.

"Chi, wait for me outside alright?" Kaiko whispered under his breath followed by a nod from Chi-Shi as he hastily yet quietly left the room.

"Prince Kaiko," his mother introduced.

Kaiko held up a hand as though he were waving for a second and then put it back down onto his lap.

All the strangers at the table muttered their greetings which Kaiko perceived as rude. Surely he was worth at least a united hello, he thought.

Then he realised just what was happening. All around the dining table, sat the leaders of all the factions of Light-Realm. All royals. All from different provinces.

They were the royals from the province of Udeniya. Around the table were representatives of every faction Kaiko knew to exist.

"This evening we have the prince of Udeniya, Kaiko Oradai, and myself and her majesty the Queen Gwynith Oradai," Kaiko's father the king announced.

"Sat beside us on this fine evening to discuss pressing worldly matters, are King and Queen Lilini from the province of Nea," King Oradai said as he gestured an outstretched hand out towards them in introduction.

But before King Oradai could continue, a heavy, dull series of thuds echoed through the palace halls and into the dining hall where they all sat.

"I'm sorry, Kaiko my darling, could you please see to that?" Queen Oradai requested as Prince Kaiko rose to his feet like an eager sunflower reaching for sunlight.

Kaiko then left the dining hall without a single second glance at anyone.

He strode with great purpose and confidence towards the palace's front doors, grabbing their champagne-hued door handles and pulling them towards him, thus pulling the weight of the doors in his direction too.

There, stood another ninja, masked and hid under the protection of the darkening skies behind her.

"Prince Kaiko?" She asked as dread filled Kaiko's heart, not because of the ninja but because of the sound of Chi-Shi's footsteps as he eagerly raced towards the front doors of the palace to be by his side.

Kaiko nodded before Chi-Shi could even think of speaking on behalf of him.

"Ah, well, I hate to meet under such circumstances, but believe me, I had little choice in coming here. This letter is for you," she said, handing Kaiko a piece of creased parchment paper.

"Thank you," Kaiko said. But before he could question her she was gone. Like a flickering butterfly that is only sighted for few and precious moments.

"What was that all about?" Chi-Shi asked.

Instead of answering his friend, Kaiko unraveled the parchment paper and read the freshly stained ink that formed words on its page.

"Join my alliance. Meet me under the bridge on a boat. As soon as the moon rises. Yours faithfully, M." Kaiko read aloud.

"'M'?" Chi-Shi echoed.

No matter how strongly his head wished to burn the words he had just read his heart weighed more heavily on the scales this time, urging him to follow the letter's instructions.

A sweet scent lay on the tip of Kaiko's nose as he tried his best to remember what the mysterious stranger who had showed up at his door looked like but all that was brought to the forefront of his mind was a masked girl.

The sweetness, however, that stayed.

"I'll catch you butterfly," Kaiko whispered to himself as Chi-Shi headed back inside leaving Kaiko to close the palace doors himself. The sweetness made him smile as though it were a symbol of beauty still left in a world that was about to crumble before his very eyes. And he clung onto the scent with every corner of his heart.

"Perfume," he muttered, as the doors to the palace shut.

-30th March 2026.
Chapter Two Coming Soon!

(Image of Kaiko the Ninja by Aisha Haider)