Chapter
VII
Sir
Leonidas The Reckless did not cry. He hadn’t when his pet died when he was just
a boy. He hadn’t when he’d broken his arm falling out of a tree. He had shown a
moment of weakness in the dungeons of Diruo, though the tears hadn’t left his
eyes then. However, this time… he could not seem to stop the tears from
streaming down his cheeks. He half expected her to sit upright, pulling the
ultimate prank on him. The blood would rush to her cheeks when she realized he
was staring at her and she would laugh… that musical laugh… that would never
grace his ears again. “Idiot.” She’d say, wearing that grin.
His boots scraped against the
broken path, clutching the limp body close against him. The Iron castle comes
into the sightline and it is at that moment that he breaks down, burying his
face into dark ringlets. He doesn’t dare to stop walking, even if his pace
faltered slightly.
“I failed you.” He whispers into
chestnut locks, unable to contain his sobs. “I was supposed to protect you, to…
to keep you safe. I should have never let you leave.” He chokes on his words,
shaking his head. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” He clings to her corpse, holding
it against his shaky frame.
An eternity passes before he
reaches the castle, and the horrors of the battlefield only spike his already
flaring emotions. He is suddenly very wary of each step, placing one foot over
each body he steps over, clutching the one in his arms even tighter as if to
hide her from the horror… the horror she’d known too well. He draws nearer, only
stealing a quick glance at Lana before clearing his throat.
Kaiser had been in the middle of
rallying up his Knights when he caught sight of Leon ’s approach. He freezes, the
first thing that catches his eyes being the limp figure he’s carrying. He’s
hoping… praying it isn’t her. His suspicions are confirmed as his once loyal
Knight draws closer. The only sound is of his blade batting against the
cobblestone after it slips from his hand, beginning to move towards them. Leon falls to
his knees in front of his King, his head falling forward in shame though he
doesn’t dare release the girl in his arms.
“Your highness, I have failed my
Knightly duties.” Leon
swallows though finds himself having a hard time keeping composure. “I have betrayed
my Kingdom, my King, my Queen, my Princess, my comrades. I hope you grant my
resignation, sire.” He looks up, daring to meet Kaiser’s piercing gaze. He
raises his fist, looking as if he might hit the Knight, but instead falls to
his knees in-front of him, clasping a firm hand onto his shoulder.
“I grant your resignation with a
great deal of shame, Leonidas the Reckless. You are destined for greatness, but
it is not in my Kingdom. Thereby I decree your banishment from Vindico.”
Kaiser, much to Leonidas’ surprise, has tears streaking down his cheeks.
“However, I do ask one last task of you.”
“Anything, sir.”
“You will bury the Queen on her
home grounds; on Nahoan soil. You are to follow the directions on this
parchment until you reach the Kingdom.” Kaiser slips the aged paper to him.
“And I am never to see your face on my grounds again.”
“I did not know the Kingdom of Nahoa Leon
gives the best bow he can while baring Lana in his grips.
Kaiser salutes his former Knight,
and places two fingers on his lips, then to the forehead of Lana. “May she find
peace.” He takes one long look at the girl he’d grown to think of as one of his
own, swallowing back the lump in his throat. He opens his mouth to speak again,
but decides to leave it at that and turns on his heel, stalking back to his
den.
Leonidas glances at the map,
setting his course for Nahoa.
- - - - - - - - -
King David
Grai woke to the morning sun’s rays beaming into his chambers. It was quite a
strange sight, considering Diruo’s evident lack of sunlight in these months… He blinks a few times, raising his hand to
shield himself from the harsh light. With a yawn, he rolls over and falls off
the bed at the sight.
“L-Lana?!”
“Good
morning, my King.” She giggles, propping herself up on her elbow, tangled in
the sheets. Her electric eyes study him, biting down on her bottom lip as she
smirks. “What is on our agenda today?” She asks, before kicking the golden
linen sheets aside, sitting up onto her knees. “What are we going to conquer,
oh Mad King?” She beams before getting to her feet. “Shall we storm the castle of Vindico
David sits up, furrowing his brow
in utter confusion. “Lana?!” He calls again, tossing the duvet aside.
She returns when he calls, his
crown atop her head. She has the fanciest of his robes wrapped around her,
though they drape off her much smaller stature. “Today, Vindico! Tomorrow, the
world!” She shouts, laughing and twirling.
David rises
from the bed, storming over to her. “What do you think you’re doing?! Take that
off!” He orders, reaching for his crown. She steps away from him, laughing
harder.
“What’s the
matter, David?” She winks and runs past him, towards the door before stopping
dead in her tracks just as her hand reaches for the handle. She falls to her
knees, beginning to whimper.
“Lana?” He
kneels down beside her, hesitantly reaching for her shoulder.
“YOU DID
THIS!” She cries out, his floor suddenly stained in a pool of her blood, clutching
her torso as she erupts into sobs. “ARE YOU HAPPY?!” She screams.
“I HAD NO
CHOICE! YOU LEFT ME NO OTHER CHOICE!” David screams back, shaking his head. He glances
down at his hands, stained crimson. “YOU DISOBEYED ME! DELIBERATELY!” He got to
his feet. “YOU KILLED MY MEN!” He trots over to the bathroom to wash his hands,
attempting to get the blood off. “I… I had no choice…” He scrubs them
viciously, the liquid rolling down the drain.
“What the
hell are you going on about?” Kurtis appears in the doorway, glancing around
with a rather perplexed expression as to why the King was screaming at nothing.
“Are you alright?”
“I’m fine…”
He breathes, scrubbing his hands harder until he’s convinced the blood is gone.
He hadn’t noticed he was sweating until he felt it rolling down the side of his
face, quickly wiping it. “I’m fine.”
“I am here
to inform you that our Mountain King is being… less than cooperative.”
“Did you
expect him to give his land up so easily?”
“Of course
not, but he is providing to be quite the headache…”
“Hmph.
Well, I do not have time to discuss your petty issues, at the moment, Kurtis. I
must be--”
“Petty?!”
“Kurtis—“
“I have
information that you might be interested in, David. And I suggest you take more
of an interest in my issues, considering we share the burden of them.”
“What
information?”
“The
Knight, he returned to the Iron
Kingdom
David
scoffed, shaking his head. “Tell me something I do not already know!”
“He is
falling off the maps of the realms, and the girl’s corpse is with him. I am
very interested to see where he strays off to with it.”
“Kurtis,
unlike you I do not have time to go meddling in the business of others! My
affairs are of utmost importance, now if you would care to stop pestering me so
that I could attend to--”
“Pestering?!
We are an alliance; I believe it is of ‘utmost importance’ that we report our
business to one another!”
“I do not
care what you do, Kurtis, as long as my affairs remain mine.”
“Are you
trying to earn another enemy, David?”
“I am a
God! I cannot be killed.”
“Here we
go…”
“Without
that stupid wench in my way, the Darkness may consume everything in its path.
Everyone is mine to torment.”
“My fellow
King, I have known you for many years and never have I seen you in such a
state. May I ask what is troubling you? Perhaps it has something to do with the
shouting earlier…?”
“I am in
perfect health, Kurtis. Now, I must be leaving.” He mutters, rubbing his
temples as he slips past his comrade, striding into the hall. Surely it was
just his mind playing tricks on him. After all, he had personally taken care of
the little problem; he knew for certain she was long gone.
- - - - - - - - -
“Kaiser, I do not have the
resources.” Luke Vane and the people of Niadus hadn’t fully recovered from the
Beast King’s attack. His once elegant mountain, which had been carefully
crafted by whatever Gods graced the realms, had a gaping hole in the side where
the Beast King had summoned his wyvern. Snow was falling, counting the ground
in yet another layer of the white substance. His mountain stood majestically
hundreds of feet in the air, a perfect location for his fortress. He was
impenetrable from enemy attacks. He’d always see them coming. At least that was
what he’d thought, until his archenemy Kurtis of Turpis, had used some wicked
potion tricks, gaining the upper hand. His people had suffered tremendously,
their homes set ablaze, families torn apart and murdered, slaves taken…
“Lukas, I have no where else to
turn. I have nobody else. Gwendolyn, Rosie, fuck he even killed Lana!”
“Kaiser, we are not prepared to
ambush them. Not only are we greatly outnumbered, but we are both in stages of
recovery. We need to focus on rebuilding. We need to hold out with the hope that
they will abide by basic moral codes and hold off another attack until we’re
prepared.”
“MORAL CODES?! THEY MURDERED MY
FAMILY!” The Iron King’s face has gone red with rage, his hands clenched into
tight, shaking fists. Veins popped out of his neck and forehead, looking near
ready to explode. “I WILL NOT SPARE THEM! I WILL HAVE THEM DIE LONG, PAINFUL
DEATHS AT MY HAND!”
“Kaiser-“ Lukas narrowly avoided
the King’s fist, leaning back just in time. He grabbed the brute of a man and
shoved him to the snowy ground, holding him there while he shouted, practically
foaming at the mouth, spit flying. Long moments pass before he stops, panting
heavily from the outburst.
“Kaiser. They’re gone. Nothing can bring them
back…” He reasons, keeping his voice at a low tone as he helps him sit up once
he is certain he has calmed himself. “I’m sorry.” The Mountain King places a
hand on his shoulder. “We will avenge them. We will recover our forces and
become stronger because of this. We will train and bring victory to the
Niadus-Vindico alliance.” Kaiser locks eyes with his fellow King, placing a
hand on the back of his head.
“Thank you, brother.” He mutters,
before he hugs the man, patting his back firmly.
“We will focus our energy on
rebuilding the Iron nation for now, my men will come to assist you. I will
remain at my Mountain with very few, we will slow rebuilding here but steadily,
it will be fixed. We must focus our strength and energy careful; the winds out
the South warn of more evil to come…”
- - - - - - - - -
It took
days of searching; long days of retracing his steps multiple times, but the
stupid map was useless. It must have been from truly ancient times, due to the
fact that where Nahoa was marked to be, there was nothing there. With a
frustrated sigh, he threw the map, cursing it.
“Piece of
shit.” Leonidas growled, slumping against the only tree he’d found in miles of
the supposed location of the Kingdom. Grumbling to himself, he rubbed his
temples, shaking his head. What a failure he’d become. He couldn’t even
complete the last task that the Iron King had put upon him. He glanced over at
his carriage with a sigh, his eyes finding the body bag in the back. He looked
up at tree as a warm breeze brushed past him, slowly getting to his feet.
“I couldn’t
find Nahoa, Lana…” He begins, turning to stride over to the carriage. He takes
the bag into his arm with added caution, unzipping it to catch a glimpse of her
just… one last time. He slips the bag off, cradling the girl in his arms. Her
head is tilted back, ringlets catching in the wind. He wishes he could say she
looked at peace, but her features still wear a pained expression. She’s too
cool to the touch now, dried blood still staining her abdomen. He sets the body
down beside the tree before grabbing the shovel.
“This’ll
do. It’s nice here. I think you would’ve liked it.” He mutters, going to drive
the spade into the ground. Much to his dismay, it wouldn’t break the soil.
“What the?” He growls, attempting again to dig into the ground but stumbles
backwards as the ground stops his momentum.
“What the
fuck!?” He snarls, kneeling down. He attempts to separate the dirt with his
hands, but feels a sharp pain in his arm, shouting out. He notes the wind pick
up rather drastically, his eyes darting around the mysterious land. He notes
the storm clouds rolling in, getting to his feet as the sky turns charcoal. His
horse grows uneasy, beginning to neigh rather impatiently, attempting to pull
away from the carriage.
“NO! I have
to finish this! I—“ Lightening strikes the lone tree, sending him flying
backwards into the dirt. He groans, sitting up with a snarl. His eyes widen as
he sees the tree blazing with flames, Lana’s body laying in the midst of it. It
only takes mere moments before the fire begins spreading to the grass. He gets
to his feet, heels digging into the Earth before he runs towards the body. “NO!
NO! NOT LIKE THIS!” He shouts, though feels the flames dancing across his skin and
jerks back. He feels the burns already begin to sting, shaking his head.
He unsheathes his sword, jogging
towards the carriage to slice the reins off from the horse. Mounting the
creature, he whips the reins. The horse jolts forward, rather eager to leave
the area. With a single glance back, his eyes may deceive him, but he swears he
sees people emerging as treacherous rain begins to fall.
- - - - - - - - -
Kurtis sat
upon his throne in Turpis, clenching an apple tightly in the palm of his hand. With David
ascending into true and utter madness, he supposed it was all up to him. He
grabs his dagger, carving into the apple. He toyed with the idea, being the
King of all Kings; a god amongst men. Though, it would be rather problematic
getting David out of the picture… after all he was one of few who bore magic in
the realms; truly a lost talent. It would have been ideal if he hadn’t murdered
the only other magic bearer, perhaps she could have been used against him. Yes,
she would have been quite useful. Ah, well.
The Beast
King stands up with a sigh, whipping his dagger into the wooden bookcase,
multiple marks of the blade decorating the side of it.
“We will
figure out something, won’t we Rygor?” He runs his hand along the wyvern’s back
with a grin, studying the beast in all of its glory. The beast lets out a
throaty squawk, nudging its master with his enormous head. “Easy, you will see
action soon.”
Comments
Post a Comment