FicWad

Chapter One
"Children of Miro"

Randor ran, his legs pumping as he shot across the courtyard. The wall was before him, nearly a quarter higher than his size. He was bound and determined to scale it. It was no hard feat; he had done it many times before. This was just a simple practice.
He ran, and then threw himself against the wall, his fingers reaching the ledge. They found it immediately and he pulled himself up, then flipped over the side and landed perfectly on his feet. He let out a large sigh of relief and looked to Rohad, the Man-At-Arms.
"Well done, Prince Randor," Rohad said, clapping his hands. "Stephan?"
Randor looked over and watched as his younger brother, nineteen, ran forward to the wall. Stephan was tall, sporting black hair that was kept quite short. The third child of the royal family leapt up and pulled the same move Randor did. Only on his landing, Stephan lost his balance a bit and stumbled, but recovered quite well.
"Need to work on your landing a bit, Stephan. But alright other than that."
Stephan smiled and patted his older brother on the back. Randor smiled in return and walked over to Rohad. The youngest child, Keldor, walked to his starting position. Randor hadn't been back for long, but he noticed that his seventeen-year-old brother was looking much thinner than the last time he had seen him.
Keldor dashed forward, heart thudding loudly as he ran towards the wall. Already, Randor could see beads of sweat forming on Keldor's brow. When Keldor reached the wall, he leapt up and reached with his fingers for the ledge and found it. But as he was pulling himself up, Keldor began to cough and wheeze and he let himself drop to the ground, hand on his chest.
Randor groaned. "Keldor! Get up! Try it again!"
"I can't! My heart is too weak for this! I can't handle it!" Keldor moaned, standing up by bracing against the wall.
"Stop it, Keldor! Stop using that as a crutch!" Randor spat. This was not the first time Keldor used his weak heart as an excuse for lack of training.
Anger grew in Keldor's eyes and he stomped forward. "I'm not using it as a crutch, Randor! Leave me alone!"
Keldor walked into the palace, leaving Stephan, Randor, and Rohad alone in the courtyard. "I see his temper hasn't let up at all over the past few months."
"No, it hasn't. It's gotten worse," Stephan replied.
"You're too hard on him," Rohad told Randor. "Both of you are. When was the last time either of you tried to get to know your brother?"
Randor scoffed. "Just now."
Rohad sighed and walked off, back to his lab. Randor watched after him, then turned to Stephan. "I'm going to get something to eat," Stephan told Randor.
"That's fine. Are we still on for fencing this evening?"
"Wouldn't miss it."
Randor and Stephan separated, and Randor walked into the palace. Not much had changed in the six months he was gone. Randor had gone into the Sea of Rakash to do some exploring and it had proven bountiful for him. He learned more from the sailors on the oceans than he had his last few years here at Eternos.
The oldest of the four siblings at twenty-three, Randor was feeling very restless. The summer sun was flowing beautifully through the large windows, the afternoon's blue sky and white puffy clouds calling for him to find a horse and ride out. But there was business to attend to. Considering that his father was about to proclaim him the next in line for the throne of Eternos, there was a lot of business to keep after.
The ceremony was tomorrow night, and Randor was going to be declared the next in line for the kingship for Eternos. As for West Eternos and North Eternos, the two smaller kingdoms, that would be decided then as well. As Randor made his way through the Palace, he saw his sister Johanna.
Johanna was the second oldest at twenty-one. Her brown hair was up in a braided bun. "I saw Keldor," she said. "He seemed pretty mad."
'There's not a big surprise. I made him mad."
Johanna shook her head. "I can't believe you accused him of using his heart as an excuse - again. You know that he can't - "
"Oh yes he can!" snapped Randor. "He just believes he can't!"
"This is tearing the two of you apart. He hates you, Randor. He does. Just because of all this crap you keep bringing up between the two of you."
Randor eased. "Johanna, please, this isn't any of your concern. My issues with Keldor are my own."
"No, they're not," Johanna replied. "It affects all of us. Stephan feels the same way you do about Keldor, you know? And it's because of you. The entire time you were gone, Stephan picked up the slack for you. HE was the one yelling at Keldor. That boy has barely left his room in over a year. It affects us all, Randor. Don't try to tell me otherwise."
Randor shook his head at his younger sister. She had always been the one that tried the hardest to keep them together. After their mother had died during Keldor's birth, Johanna seemed to pretty much took up the motherly role of the family, keeping tabs on all of her brothers.
"I'll . . . I'll apologize, Johanna."
"Oh, don't do it for me, Randor. Do it for you and him."
Randor rolled his eyes and was about to walk up the stairs to see his brother, when a soldier ran up to the pair.
"The King needs to see you immediately!"
"Understood. Fetch Prince Keldor, will you?"
"Right away," the soldier replied.
Randor and Johanna walked down the corridor and into the Throne Room. High windows illuminated the golden thrones at the top of a small set of stairs. Miro sat there, looking over a scroll. Rohad and Stephan walked in then, and then thin and pale Keldor.
"What is it, father?" asked Randor, taking up the leadership role as always.
"Orcs. They're gathering in the western lands," Miro replied, his wispy white hair curling around his crown. "Making weapons, building war machines. Our scouting reports indicate that they are preparing to march to West Eternos in ten days."
"We can call for reserves from North Eternos," Rohad recommended.
"I think I should go to West Eternos, father. The day after tomorrow," Randor suggested. "I can help take a stand against the Orcs."
Miro nodded. "Excellent idea, Randor. Stephan, I should it would be best if you went as well."
"Yes, father."
Miro leaned back on his throne. "Are there any more suggestions?"
"I have one, father," Keldor said, stepping up.
The King stopped himself from rolling his eyes. "What is it, Keldor?"
Keldor smiled. "Castle Grayskull, father. As the old legends say, it shall come when a great threat prepares itself for attack and surely this is - "
Miro lifted his hand to silence his son. "Son, Castle Grayskull hasn't been seen since the Morgoth-Horde Incursion fifty years ago. It will not come to our aid - "
"But father - "
"- NOR do we need it. Our forces will be enough to keep the Orcs at bay. Randor, Stephan, the day after tomorrow, you will leave for West Eternos."
Randor looked to Keldor, whose nostrils were flaring wildly, his face red. He then heard a few whispers among the soldiers and guards throughout the Throne Room. Randor ignored them and nodded to his father.

As the meeting broke up, Keldor made straight for his bedroom. He slammed the door, fell right onto his bed and stared up at his ceiling. His face was flush, teeth grinding together, lungs heaving with anger. More anger than he should have, really.
But Keldor was no ordinary young man.
It was well-known throughout the Royal Court that Keldor had deeply immersed himself in the study of the mystical arts. What was not so well-known was that he wasn't interested just in the mystical arts, but the darkest of the mystical arts.
Keldor had been reading texts on King Hiss, Morgoth, and the Fallen Elder himself - Hordak, since he was fifteen. They had entranced him, calling for his attention and tempting him to follow in their footsteps. He wanted power. He needed it.
The coronation tomorrow . . . the successors to the kingdom would be named. Randor would certainly be given Eternos. The other two cities would be divided between the three younger siblings. Keldor couldn't see his sister handling an entire city like North Eternos or West Eternos, but he could most definitely see Stephan doing so.
Keldor wished that his father would listen to reason. Finding Grayskull would be key to Keldor's - and, ultimately Eternos' - victory. He would find the legendary Castle Grayskull . . . and take its power as his own! He would use the vaunted secrets to save Eternos - impressing his father enough to allow him to take the throne!
That night, as the stars began to shine above Eternia and the moons rose to their zenith, Keldor began to formulate a plan.