"In the armies of each kingdom, soldiers are indispensable, perfect for ground battles and as large reserves. Among them are archers, spearmen, swordsmen, and others. Then we have the dragons. There are attack dragons and messenger dragons; both are indispensable. The attack dragons support the ground army and repel attacks from enemy dragons, while the messenger dragons allow communication with the marshals and—”

  Milto stopped his words when he saw Ketsual, who was staring at the ceiling. With irritation, he struck the board harshly and loudly.

  This caused Ketsual to flinch and look at his teacher in surprise.

  “Prince Ketsual, are you paying attention to the class?”

  “Uh, yes, of course. You are talking about… something about ruling, right?” Ketsual said with a trembling voice.

  Milto sighed when he heard his answer.

  “No, Prince, we are studying the military management of a kingdom,” Milto said in a tired voice.

  Upon hearing this, Ketsual lowered his head, his cheeks blushing with embarrassment.

  “Once again you are lost during class, and that is not unusual for you—but several times in a row? What is happening, Prince? Is there something bothering you or that does not leave you in peace?”

  Ketsual still kept his gaze lowered before lifting it.

  “Sorry, Master, it is nothing. Please continue with the lesson. I will pay attention,” he said with a small smile.

  Milto could only sigh once more and walked to his desk.

  “We will start again. As I was saying, in kingdoms such as—”

  POV: Ketsual

  Professor Milto began the lesson again. How exhausting.

  Sorry, Master, for not understanding your lessons, but they are boring… besides—

  I direct my gaze toward the openings above my head. There was no reason to look at a sky with nothing but clouds, or completely clear.

  But when I looked at it, I remembered the glow I had seen this morning through the window of my bedroom.

  It was similar to a star, but as far as I know, there are never stars during the day. Which means that what was shining was not a star—it was the glowing sphere that had come out of the stone from the legend.

  That night, when we took the stone out of the vault, it began to shine, and that light moved toward the sky. I went to bed frightened. I did not know what would happen the next morning. I did not know if the glow would still be there or if it would disappear—which it did not. Not the next day, nor the day after that.

  That glow remained there, in the same place in the sky. So I felt certain that what had happened was real. The glow was real. And what my mother had said was a lie… my mom.

  I have not had the chance to speak with her, or at least to be with her, since that day—since that glow appeared in the sky and she learned about the attack from the Kingdom of Kali.

  It seems that Mom has been in meetings every day, dealing with this war. I have also noticed that everyone is busy—large numbers of soldiers walking toward the Talipatani platforms from the capital (places built at high elevations so dragons can fly into the sky) dragons coming and going every day, and many people arriving at the castle.

  Normally it is more tedious, since my mother and I receive them, dressed in formal clothes, and I must spend time with them while they talk.

  But now that is not the case. They arrive directly at the castle, without reception, without decorations. They simply enter and apparently go to a meeting room.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  So I have not been able to—

  Once again, I hear a loud bang. I look forward and see my teacher with a smile and a frown on his face.

  “Not paying attention again? I think we will have to study seriously now.”

  That look!

  “Please, Professor, I will pay attention now.”

  Even though I said that, the professor did not change his expression… this is bad.

  .

  .

  .

  “Aaah, my head. I didn’t think the professor would force me to write and read that entire book until the afternoon.”

  I walked out of the castle. The sun was no longer shining from above, as it normally did when my classes ended; now it was hitting from the side, showing that it was already late afternoon.

  “I’m so tired. I want to play with Popuro.”

  I quickened my pace to arrive sooner, but after walking a little more, I saw two soldiers standing on the path toward the stables.

  “Oh, Prince Ketsual, what brings you here?” one of the knights said in a rigid voice, almost overly formal, as he stood at attention, just like his companion.

  “I came to see Popuro.”

  “Popuro? Ah, your dragon. I’m sorry, Prince, but I’m afraid you cannot pass.”

  “Eh? Why not?”

  “At the moment, new dragons have been brought in to be domesticated, so for now entry is forbidden to everyone except the dragon handlers.”

  With the soldier’s words, I retraced my steps toward the castle, now walking slowly, tired.

  “Ahg, why did that have to happen? I can’t see or play with Popuro. What will I do now?”

  I look to my right, seeing the capital. From this distance, all the people look like ants, but it does not catch my attention.

  I lift my gaze and can see a shadow high above the distant hills—another Worlik dragon flying toward the stars.

  As I follow its path and raise my gaze further, I see that glow in the sky. I quickly look away. I did not want to see it, because I did not know what I was supposed to do, and no matter how much I think about it, I do not get an answer.

  When I enter the castle, I see Leva with two other maids. She tells them something and dismisses them. Leva turns at the sound of my footsteps and looks at me.

  “Oh, Prince Ketsual,” Leva comments, somewhat surprised, approaching me. “What is wrong? You seem somewhat discouraged.”

  “Yes, well… I went to the stables to see Popuro, but it seems they are domesticating dragons.” I say those half-true words.

  “Ah, yes, I have been told about that. Forgive me for not informing you,” Leva said, bowing.

  “It doesn’t matter. It’s just that now I don’t know what to do to… play.”

  “Mmm, I see… Excuse me, Prince, you know how to play Conspla, right?” Leva asked with a smile.

  .

  .

  .

  “Very well, have you already arranged your pieces, Prince?”

  “One moment… ready.” I said as I placed my pieces in position on the board in front of us.

  Leva and I moved to a chamber, sitting across from each other, and between us there was a small table where a Conspla board was set.

  This board consists of five large squares — four in the corners and one in the center. Inside those squares are black and white spaces, each forming a 5×5 grid.

  On each player’s side, there are marble pieces with different shapes. Each shape represents a type of soldier: swordsmen, lancers, archers, dragon riders, and a marshal.

  The rules are simple — we use our army to defeat the other’s army. The winner is the one who defeats all the pieces, not counting the Marshal, or the one who captures the opponent’s Marshal.

  Leva took a gold coin that was on the table.

  “Dragon or seal, Prince?”

  “Seal.”

  At my word, Leva tossed the coin into the air and caught it in her open palm, covering it with her other hand. When she lifted it, it revealed the image of a dragon.

  “Dragon, I make the first move,” said Leva as she brought one of her hands toward one of her pieces.

  .

  .

  .

  “Hehe, I’m beating you, Leva,” I said with a laugh and a big smile as I looked at the board.

  Leva had lost part of her pieces, while I had lost very few. I think this is the happiest moment I’ve had playing Conspla.

  Normally when I play with Mom, I lose, even though she lets me win sometimes — it doesn’t feel the same as truly winning.

  I looked up, wanting to see how Leva would react to losing to a child, but when I looked at her, she was smiling.

  “Sorry, Prince,” said Leva as she moved a piece.

  I didn’t understand what she meant. Maybe she apologized for being bad at playing, so I moved my piece without thinking much. She moved another, and then I moved another.

  As I kept making moves, Leva’s movements began to feel strange, until I understood — too late.

  .

  .

  .

  “With your Marshal captured, you lose, Prince,” Leva said with a smile as she held my Marshal.

  “I don’t understand. How did you do that? How did you make me move my pieces to one place and then attack my Marshal somewhere else?”

  Leva laughed a little at my words, making me feel embarrassed, my cheeks growing warm.

  “Well, Prince, to explain it simply, all I did was read the situation.”

  “Read the situation?”

  “That’s right. In this case, from the little I’ve played with you, I realized that you move your pieces without thinking much and without having a plan in mind, so I used that to my advantage.”

  “Wow, that’s incredible.”

  Leva laughed again before continuing, “It’s not incredible at all. It’s something anyone can use with just a bit of practice. Would you like to try again, Prince?”

  With that invitation, I nodded enthusiastically, and we arranged our pieces and began playing again. With each move I made, Leva corrected me and explained better ways to play and to read the situation.

  That afternoon I lost many matches, but I didn’t feel frustrated. Instead, I felt good knowing that with every step I took, I was learning a new way to do things.

  I wanted to play more, to learn more, but unfortunately Leva stopped the game when she saw through the window that the sky was already growing dark, and with that, dinnertime had arrived.

  Even though I didn’t want to eat and only wanted to play a little longer, Leva told me it wasn’t possible and promised that she would play with me again tomorrow.

  With that, I rose from my seat, said goodbye, and thanked Leva for playing with me and teaching me about reading the situation. I left the room and headed toward the dining hall.

  During the walk from the chamber to the dining hall, I could see through the windows the lights of the capital, and in the sky the moon shining, forming a beautiful sight. And there it still was — that glow that had been following me these past days, motionless, as if it would remain there forever.

  I did not know what it meant. Why had that light risen and settled there? As I reflected on this, Leva’s words about reading the situation came to my mind, allowing me to think differently.

  What if I read the whole situation? With that thought, I recalled again the story of the two dragons, remembering that the white dragon, Yoli, had given a blessing and a relic for when humanity would be in danger.

  Since the stone had shone and risen into the sky, was it solving that danger in this way? But I do not think so… wait, Mom said it was told that the object could call Yoli — what if that light is where Yoli is? But why has it not come closer or moved?

  With these questions, I felt like I was getting closer to something that could explain what was happening, but I had no answers to them.

  I thought again, I read the situation again. I didn’t know what was happening where that light was, whether it moved or if it was doing something, but I could know… “I could know where that light might be!” I exclaimed, surprised by my own idea.

  “That’s it, if I can find out where that light is, maybe it will give me a better idea of what I have to do.” A smile formed on my face, seeing that I at least had something to start with.

  And so I headed to the dining hall, with a smile, with a plan in mind, and with the desire to carry it out.