Marcus retreated to the Kings castle, with the eye oozing blood. He couldn't get the arrow out of his eyes. Good for him it didn't go through his skull. "Damn you Vindictus," he mumbled, "How dare you lay hand on the King's men!! Hehe now you will know true terror." The all powerful King Valikin sits in his golden throne. The gloomy castle looked down upon the rest of the kingdom. It was located in a tall hill at the center of Kingdom of Desmiri. It looked dreaded with the dark clouds hovering above. The tall stretched out brick walls inside the castle was covered with an ominous aura that felt otherworldly. The light from the torch at the sides swayed from one way to the other, as if dancing to a wild tune. The tiles on the floor bear resemblance to a dormant dragon, with rough scales of rocks, once polished by the hands of an ancient craftsman of great skills long ago, lie in their most ruined form.
The King is half hidden within the darkness. The dim light of the torch falls near the hand of Valikin. For a moment it appeared as if the massive hand was filled with thick hair. As if it is not a human hand anymore, something more sinister. As if the nails have grown out more than natural, arching out menacingly. And the next moment there was none, as if it was a dream, as if the unnatural arm was a mere illusion. But what was more visible than the rest of the rugged state of the castle, was the blue pendant glowing on the chest of the King. It was beautiful, something that wasn't supposed to belong to such a place.
Marcus tried to speak but out of fear in King's presence, he sealed his mouth. He searched for words but he couldn't find any. His vision was blurry and bloody because of the arrow from Vindictus and now his heart was palpitating. King Valikin bends forward just as slightly towards the light to reveal his sinister smile. A smile devoid of any humanity, something that was oblivious to kindness or love, it was a smile of the devil incarnate. Marcus couldn't feel his feet, his whole body was shivering in fear. He fell to the ground in tremor.
"Lo..Lord... Ple...Please...I...It was that monster's fault, that...that Karl Vindictus... He.. he" , he whimpered like a dog in front of his master. Then came the words of the King of Desmiri, the emperor of the third largest Kingdom of the continent, the cruel and heartless demon.
"Don't be afraid,soldier. For you are pawns of the Great Emperor, that is me. I am the First and the Last. I am the Alpha and the Omega, who is and who was, and to come. I am the Almighty. I will relieve you of your pain."
The lights turned off and the loud scream of the soldier Marcus echoed throughout the castle. The General, who did the deed, came out of the shadows and knelt in front of his majesty. His face filled with the blood of his own men. "Find this little pest", orderd the Demonic King, "and reward him salvation."
"Yes your majesty", replied General Forcas.
Back at the tavern
"Son of a gun! You manhandled those nasty little guards like it was nothing", exclaimed Damvel.
"Good Lord!! You did a nice job defeating those guys. But won't they come back for you later on", Andrew's desperation was relevant. The Royal Guards were not the ones to mess with.
"Go suck their balls if you are so afraid", Karl Vindictus didn't give a damn.
There was a moment of silence as the folks at the tavern were trying to grasp the situation. Then Damvel explored with a laughter, "Weehoho!! No need for payment today folks. The beer is free in the name of Karl the Saber."
The beautiful lady chained from her arms and feet, exhausted from the terrible treatment she went through, looked at the unknown man with a fire in her eyes. To her Vindictus appeared as a revelation, an altar that protected her. "Thank you, Sir", she spoke out delicately.
"That's alright, I didn't intend to save you. The guards were just annoying", replied Vindictus.
Andrew went to the woman to help her sit. He took the keys from the dead soldier's pockets to unlock her chains. He nearly puked at the sight of the sliced open guard. A big guy, atleast 6 foot tall and muscular, killed like that would make anybody shit in their pants. He couldn't even parry one blow from that monster and perished.
As he unlocked the chains from her hands, he asked "What's your name miss?"
"I'm Florentina. I was captured by the Corlette Gang while trying to flee from the war in Winchester and sold as a slave to those Royal Guards", replied the teary maiden.
"But how did you get into..."
Florentina looked aside, as if hiding the pain in her eyes. A tragedy that she didn't want to disclose to anyone.
Andrew didn't go further and just asked her if she wanted some food.
"Who the hell are the Corlette Gang?" asked Vindictus, looking at Damvel for answers. He sat on a chair and took a tankard filled with old wine to drink.
Damvel wiped the sweat from his forehead as he answered, "Well they are the offsprings of the devil, if their is one. The Corlette Gang made the Scythe Forest as their home in the north of Desmiri long ago. They used the forest as their hide out; smuggling and killing people like petty dacoits. They were under control earlier though, as the King used his forces to keep law and order under control. But since the last year it seems they are being helped by the Kingdom in a lot of ways. They oversee the killings and trafficking..."
"Heck, they even take all the woman and children to that forest and sell them or just use them for their own evil fantasies. Their numbers have seriously increased over the last year as the King's policies have pushed us all to the edges."
The Scythe Forest lied at the border of Desmiri and Winchester. As a result a lot of illegal activities used to happen. A lot was under control due to combined efforts from the Kings of both the empires. But now things were different. The Corlette Gang spread their trafficking throughout Desmiri, even looting innocent civilians in broad daylight.
"My father told stories of that place when I was young", began Florentina, "He used to hold a book in his hand, it was an old book on the history of Winchester by a guy called Nolan." "By Nolan you mean the adventurer that was executed 50 years ago by the King of Winchester?" asked Andrew. "Yes," replied Florentina, "The story went something like this, The Forrest to the south had once been the seat of an evil older than humanity. Its grasp stretching out wider than the universe. It was a place of mortal suffering and inhumanity beyond understanding. But then, afer years of prayers and sacrifices, the good God of theworld put a massive boulder to seal the wicked land and created a forest where animals would live in peace and solitude with nature."
"That's some legend of course," Andrew said,"who believes about them these days"
Karl was shaken by the story, but he didn't refute all that as lies and fairy tale. His eyes said something more than the usual skeptic. It was as if he had experienced something similar to the tale he was told, maybe more sinister. "You know what, fairy tales might be just distorted histories of the real, very real past."
"Some believe that inhabitants of that vile place still exist, trapped inside that boulder", said Florentina, tensed and fearful of the story she told, "Their mission being to change the world into a hellish dystopia."