War of Kings and Monsters

by Christopher Keene

  But why? Why do I feel so agitated around him?

  “What are you doing?” a rumbling voice whispered.

  He stopped and looked around to see if anyone was following him. He saw no one. Shaking his head, he continued on, but just as he went to brush a branch from his face, he heard it again. It was barely audible but sounded so near to him, like a lover’s whisper.

  “Where are you going?” it asked, and Michael stopped again, looking around in panic. There was no one there, and yet he heard the murmur so close to his ear that the whisperer could have been right beside him. He thought it was someone else, yet he was completely alone.

  “He’s not that way!”

  Panic struck Michael, and his breathing sped up. “Where are you?” he asked, eyes darting about, feeling suddenly delirious. “What do you want from me?”

  “Stop. Yes. Wait here. He will come to you.”

  “Who?” Michael asked, but cringed as a dull pain began to fill his head. “Who . . . are you?”

  “The dragon will come!”

  The pain increased, and he winced, clutching his head as it began to spread to his muscles. “Stop it! What are you doing?”

  “I want you to kill him.”

  “Argh!”

  The ache flared anew. It was so bright and painful that it blinded him. He crouched low, his vision going dark. As he screamed in pain, the reddening moon appeared to shine brighter above him.

  * * *

  The evening was approaching, and Nathan and Aisic had yet to catch up with Michael. They had been walking uphill for most of the day, and Nathan’s legs were beginning to feel like jelly. From his steady gait, Aisic had no trouble keeping pace, but it seemed like he knew how Nathan felt, and he began telling Nathan stories of the old times to keep Nathan’s mind off his sore feet.

  Nathan swore the man must have memorized a history book, considering his extensive knowledge of past wars. For some reason, Aisic made many references to the Akai uprising. Despite it being a war fought without Melkai, occurring long before callers knew how to create pacts with them, Nathan still found himself being drawn into the tale.

  “Of course, the Akai uprising took place nearly five hundred years ago,” Aisic said with a shrug.

  Nathan frowned in thought. “But why? Was there something wrong with the monarchy at the time?”

  Aisic shook his head. “The land was an empire back then, not a kingdom. The rulers were the Armalons of the Kairen bloodline, the ones who locked the Melkai up in the Melkairen.” He smiled as Nathan looked up in interest. “You see, the Kairens weren’t a powerful race individually. The magic of their bloodline was very subtle; only when combining it with another Kairen could it become greater. Some even say that it was their entire race’s united power which created the Melkairen itself and ended the War of the Melkai, but conjuring up an entire world sounds pretty unbelievable, don’t you think?”

  He raised his eyebrows and grinned at Nathan, who nodded for him to continue.

  “The first Armalon reign was under Armalon the First.”

  “Seems convenient for historians,” Nathan remarked.

  Aisic inclined his head at Nathan’s bad joke. “He decreed that any wife betrothed to the emperor should also be of Kairen blood in order to keep the magic of their bloodline strong within the royal family. But then he fell in love with a woman from the bloodline of the Arion.”

  Nathan scoffed. “Wow, hypocrisy right from the beginning?”

  “Not only that . . .” Aisic raised an eyebrow, as though the worst was yet to come. “Individual Arion were more powerful than the Kairens, but unlike the Kairens, Arions couldn’t control their powers, most only releasing them during near-death experiences. It was the copulation of Armalon the First and his Arion lover which resulted in the birth of the genocidal tyrant, Ramannon.”

  “Genocidal?” Nathan frowned, trying to recall what the word meant. “Did he wipe out a whole race?”

  “Several races.” Aisic breathed slowly in and out, sounding personally affected by the tale. “Born of immense power like individual Arion, but also with the ability to control it at will, Ramannon was the empire’s ultimate weapon. Yet, because of the emperor’s decree, he was born out of wedlock and couldn’t become emperor; he was destined to be nothing more than the guiding uncle to the many heirs that followed.”

  Nathan’s brow furrowed.

  “You see, the combined powers he inherited through his parents’ bloodlines made him immortal. Although his body succumbed to aging, he somehow continued to remain as a presence to guide the future emperors’ decisions. For all intents and purposes, he was the emperor, but it wasn’t until the fourth generation of Armalon’s reign that he decided to take the throne. As evil as he was, the four generations he waited before doing this attests to his patience.” Aisic’s voice became bitter. “But I guess patience comes easy for those who live forever.”

  “I wonder what caused him to do it then.” Nathan shrugged and suggested, “I guess I could understand how living forever would be enough to make anyone go a little mad.”

  Aisic shook his head. “No, Ramannon’s malevolence was much deeper than that—one that could only be inspired by an unshakable desire to kill and a hatred so strong that only the eradication of an entire race could satisfy it: A true evil.”

  “But even then, he did it multiple times, didn’t you say?” Nathan asked. “Surely such malice couldn’t have come out of nowhere, could it?”

  “Who knows?” Aisic’s eyes shifted, as though uncertain of his next words. “I assume that he found out something about his Arion mother, for his first act in power was to have the Arions eradicated. His campaign of fear created an order in the empire unlike any that had been known, and he chose a new race to be demonized every few decades, many of them being wiped out as a result.”

  Aisic looked into Nathan’s eyes in the dimming light and smiled, his eyebrows rising when he saw Nathan was still paying attention to his story. “Ramannon was eventually defeated by Cullen Armalon, but only after much sacrifice and the disappearance of their hero . . . the Scion of Akai.”

  Nathan had read of the Scion of Akai, although his heroic deeds sounded more like something out of a fairy tale than actual historical events. He supposed five hundred years of people adding embellishment could do that to a story.

  “A hundred years later,” Aisic continued, “callers were born and the land was split into two kingdoms fighting for dominance with their pact magic, a magic descended from the Kairens—but you should already know that.”

  Aisic said this as though stating something completely obvious, but Nathan just shook his head.

  Aisic looked taken aback. “But you must know, you’re a caller after all, aren’t you? You haven’t been told where your powers come from, your relationship to the royal Kairen bloodline?”

  Nathan shook his head again. “I mean, I know I descended from the Kairens, but does that really mean I might have royal blood in my veins? Could I be royalty?”

  Aisic grinned in amusement and inclined his head. “Maybe. Not all Kairens were kings and queens, you know. But the ability to call does come from their bloodline. They were the ones that locked away the Melkai so that they could bring them forth into our world with pact items, just like your little friend, ah . . .”

  Taiba suddenly came out of Nathan’s hood into the shadow of the trees, seeming to know he was being talked about. Nathan looked at his small lizard friend in confusion, still not quite understanding everything Aisic had told him. “But Taiba has no pact item—he never has. He’s always been like this for as long as we’ve been together.”

  “Interesting.” Aisic looked at the creature in curiosity. “Yes, even being of the first circle, it is a very bizarre little Melkai.”

  They continued walking through the darkening woods. The scenery was calming even considering the time of night. As they walked, Nathan studied the sword hanging from A
isic’s shoulders. It was in its sheath and looked normal enough, but the cross guard was different from most swords. It looked like it was made of two bat-like wings.

  His mind drifted, wondering how someone could defeat an immortal when he heard a loud scream of agony up through the trees ahead of them.

  “It’s Michael!” Nathan yelled and began to run up the hill to where the noise was coming from.

  Aisic called, “Wait, Nathan!” but Nathan’s concern for his friend drove him on.

  Even before he found Michael, Taiba had begun trembling again, an unvoiced warning left unheeded in Nathan’s panic to reach Michael. When he found him, Michael was crouching on the ground and screaming in pain. Nathan had never seen Michael make a fuss over a wound before. It sounded like Michael was dying.

  “Michael, are you okay?” Nathan asked and looked around, but there was no obvious reason for why he was screaming. “What’s going on?”

  “Something’s attacking me!” Michael cried through clenched teeth.

  “Where, I can’t see it!” Nathan ran in front of him to fend off the invisible enemy.

  “It’s inside my head!” Michael yelled, and his armor began to glow a bright white. “Argh! I can’t fight it!”

  Nathan whirled about, helpless. Michael was the tough one. He handled things while Nathan panicked. Nathan didn’t know what to do with the roles reversed. It felt like a pillar of his reality had been pulled out from underneath him.

  Then Michael fell silent. He rose slowly to his feet, a low rumble coming from deep inside his throat.

  The prince looked up with glowing white eyes and extended a hand as the rumble formed the words, “Give it to me.”

  Nathan gasped. It was the exact same thing the Melkai had said to him.

  “Nathan, get away from him now!” Aisic came out from between the trees.

  Nathan shook his head. “He wouldn’t hurt me. He’s my friend!”

  There was a sudden movement behind him, but Aisic quickly ran forward and pushed him out of the way. Nathan fell onto the leaves and soft dirt, turning to see that Michael’s sword was drawn, its position low like it had been slashed in the direction where he had just been standing. Michael had attacked him. He was speechless, unable to comprehend it.

  Aisic faced Michael in the dark woods.

  “Get out of here!” Aisic shouted, his eyes only flicking to Nathan’s for a moment before returning to glare at Michael.

  D-did Michael just attack me? But . . . why?

  Nathan looked around, frozen in trepidation, watching Michael run in to strike down on Aisic. Aisic drew out his own sword, parried the first blow, and countered by slashing out.

  “Michael, what are you doing?” Nathan called, feeling utterly helpless.

  “Reveal your true form,” Michael growled at Aisic as they disengaged and drew back.

  Aisic’s eyes widened. “Wait . . . how did you—”

  Michael aligned his blade with Aisic’s face and charged.

  The two warriors went head to head before coming to a stand down as Aisic kept yelling, “Run, Nathan! Get out of here!”

  Nathan winced at the sharpness of his protector’s voice. He returned to his feet and ran through the trees, whimpering at being forced to leave his friends behind.

  He ran until his chest burned, stopping when he heard a rumble behind him. Panting, he squinted up as a glowing form and a massive Melkai shot into the sky.

  “Michael!” he called to no reply.

  In the panic of everything, he’d lost the path and couldn’t make out any footprints in the darkness. “Dragon’s breath!” he panted.

  The dark forest appeared all the same no matter which direction he turned, and the further he climbed, the thicker and more confusing the brush became. Heading back down to find a safe place to wait out the night was his best option.

  Sighing in exhaustion, he started down. “I need to find the river at the base . . . then I can get my bearings.”

  Perched on his shoulder, Taiba licked his ear reassuringly, no longer trembling.

  Their fortune changed when he found a small cave in the side of the hill, overhung with trees. If he slept there, he would be well hidden. He went about setting his things down for the night, but found it difficult to doze off after what had happened to Michael.

  “He just attacked me out of the blue like that . . . and Aisic saved me. But why was he repeating what that monster we first fought said? I don’t even know what they wanted me to give to them . . . wait . . .”

  He gasped as the memory of both encounters came together. He’d been frozen as the talking Melkai approached him, its glowing red eyes directed as his chest, one grasping hand raised toward him, just as Michael’s had been. Nathan pulled down the collar of his coat and brought out the key, amazed that it still glistened in the near pitch-black darkness of the cave.

  “Is . . . is this what the Melkai was looking for?”

  Taiba shuddered, spun in a circle three times, and curled up to sleep.

  Chapter 7: The Dragon

  “Now that he’s gone there will be no more distractions,” Michael said in a low, rumbling voice.

  Aisic bared his teeth. Alright, time to reveal my true fangs then.

  He growled under his breath and let the Melkai trapped inside him take over. He slid his blade back into the scabbard on his back. The sword and scabbard straightened and began to transform: the wings of the cross guard grew, stretching out, and the blade of the sword inside the scabbard emerged as a giant scaly tail. Plates of hard skin came out from either side of him, covering his body. His head stretched up, and the handle of the sword expanded and engulfed it, forming the head of a dragon.

  Michael’s glowing eyes widened for a moment, but he raised his weapon and charged. He struck down, but Aisic’s long dragon neck shot out and caught the sword in his maw, snarling as his eyes met with Michael’s glowing gaze.

  “Ah! So, this is your true form!” Michael laughed and tried to pull free, but his sword was wedged between Aisic’s teeth.

  Aisic’s eyes narrowed, and with a flap of his massive wings, they both took off, hurtling through the trees and up into the night sky. Michael flew back in the wind, barely holding onto the hilt of his sword, the blade still caught in Aisic’s mouth. Aisic continued to rise. From his upward path through the dark clouds, he swooped downward, and at full speed, he tucked his wings and plummeted back through the fog toward the hilltop. He set a course for the peak of the hills they had been climbing.

  Michael’s body came up as he continued to hold tightly to his sword’s hilt, his armor still glowing a bright white. Aisic suddenly spread his wings in mid-drop, opening his mouth. The sword shot from it and Michael fell quickly to the ground along with it. As Aisic saw Michael fall through the trees of the hill’s summit, he quickly called forth his flame.

  Taking a big breath in, Aisic breathed a column of flame down on the hilltop. The fire spread through the trees, destroying everything in its path, the entire top of the hill becoming nothing but a ball of heat.

  He stopped his attack and stared down as the flames devoured the trees and everything below him burned away.

  Nothing could have survived that blast.

  The light of the flames faded and slowly went out with a blowing wind. He stared down at the barren wasteland of dead trees and earth blackened with ash. At first, he couldn’t see anything, but his keen eyes then widened in shock. The prince rose to his feet in the middle of the clearing, shrugging off an ash-blackened tree trunk as though it weighed nothing.

  No . . . How?

  Michael stood tall in his still-glowing armor, appearing completely unharmed by Aisic’s attack. He looked up at him with a satisfied grin. Aisic ground his teeth, furious that his fire hadn’t even fazed this possessed human.

  Swooping down again, he spread his wings and landed on the scorched earth with a loud thump. His head lowered as he roared at Micha
el, who was walking slowly around him toward his weapon. With a quick roll, Michael came to the place where his sword had landed after he had dropped it. He snatched it up and rose to his feet, clutching it tightly in one hand as Aisic lunged at him, fangs gnashing.

  Using his other hand, Michael grabbed hold of Aisic’s snout. With unimaginable strength from the Melkai that possessed him, he flipped Aisic onto his back and raised his sword to stab him in the throat. Aisic’s long tail flew up and whipped at him, knocking Michael off balance just long enough for Aisic to roll back up onto his feet.

  He spun, lashing out again with his tail. Michael quickly dropped his sword and caught his tail in mid-swing to hold him at bay. Aisic’s eyes narrowed in anger. It was the first time he had seen this kind of strength in a human. He growled, pulling harder. Even when he had fought the man in person, he never demonstrated such might.

  Screaming, Michael hauled his tail to one side and spun as Aisic was thrown skyward. He sailed back and spread his wings again to balance himself. Glaring down from the sky, Aisic watched as the prince picked up his sword from the dirt, and with a flourish, readied it to fight.

  Aisic soared down again into an attack, his mouth reaching. As he landed, Michael jumped onto his back, his sword driving into the thick scales on the back of his neck. Aisic roared in pain, but before the cut could get too deep, he swatted the prince to the dirt with the talon of one wing.

  That was too close! I must retreat.

  He swiftly turned back to meet Michael, exhausted and bleeding.

  Michael came to his feet, laughing. Such a low rumbling voice emerging from such a small creature made it sound more Melkaiic than if it had come from any monster.

  “Well, you’re stronger than most of the Melkai I’ve fought before.”

  The prince’s head cocked up. “But you know I’m no ordinary Melkai, dear Scion.”