War of Kings and Monsters

by Christopher Keene

  The wide strides of his brisk steps were sure as he made his way down the road, dozens of eyes following him as he went. The large buildings that towered over either side of him were full of murmuring people now. The word ‘prince’ seemed to be every second word. The autumn colored tiles under his feet echoed every time his clinking boots met with the cobblestones, climbing the long stairs into the inner streets of the city.

  The people that crowded this section of the township parted as he walked through the middle of them, turning to him in their wonder and confusion at his return.

  “Sire, you’ve returned,” one said. There was a pause as though he was expecting a response. He frowned. “Did you succeed in your quest?”

  The prince screwed up his face in disgust and continued on to his destination: the castle.

  It came into view before him as he made his way toward the keep. The nobles avoided his path like sparrows around a hawk, yet more people parting as he walked past the wooden and brick houses.

  He passed under the archway of the inner wall and stalked through the courtyard as the crowd detached from him. The clustered gardens came into view, the obnoxiously bright colors of the flowers agitating his mind. He would not let them distract him.

  Finally, he came to the large black-doored entrance to the corridor which led to the castle tower. With little effort, the doors swung open before him, and he powered on through, his steps dulling on the carpet, guards silent and turning to one another in puzzlement as he passed them down the corridor without a word. More doors opened, and he came into the heavy draped throne room. He moved to the middle of it and knelt on the throw rug, as per tradition, hungrily anticipating what was to come next.

  “Michael, why have you returned? I told you to protect Nathan.”

  The old king’s question was heard on deaf ears and went without reply.

  “Michael . . . ?”

  “Father, I have found another way,” his low voice now rumbled.

  The prince stood from his bow and quickly made his way up the stairs onto the dais. In three swift steps, he drew out the sword from his scabbard and raised it.

  The old king pulled back in his large chair. “Son, what? No!”

  Guards moved from their stations at the doors, but they would not make it in time, not until he would be king and their loyalties would turn like a change in the winds. They would either follow or die.

  The prince’s smile widened in glee. “This is my kingdom once again!”

  He slashed down on the old king, the blade cutting through the king’s collarbone. Blood ran from the old man’s body, and as the prince drew back his blade, a piece of the throne broke off also.

  The king choked on his blood and went silent as the prince wiped the blood from his sword on the man’s silk robes. He grabbed the old corpse by the back of its head and then threw it down the dais stairs. It rolled down onto the bloodred carpet.

  The prince breathed in heavily, the guards halting quickly behind him. He turned and sat down on the throne, his eyes opening to see the two quivering men at either side of the room who didn’t appear to know what to do.

  He gestured to the body before him. “Remove this from my sight. Your king demands it.”

  His first command as king was swiftly carried out.

  Chapter 13: Avatasc

  Over the last three days of their journey, Nathan had practiced what Aisic called “the most versatile self-defense and disarming moves,” figuring that he might need them if they were confronted on their way to the castle. Going over the hand movements step-by-step, Aisic taught him several attacks and counters, but, although the theory of others made sense to him, Nathan felt that only two of them would work with his lighter-than-average body weight. He still hoped he wouldn’t have to use them. Even so, it was reassuring that he’d know what to do if the situation arose.

  At some point on the fourth day, they came to the outskirts of Avatasc. It was difficult to tell the exact time of the day as the sun was blocked by the thick overcast clouds, dimming the vast farmland. The pastures rolled out along the hills which led toward the Avatasc Castle.

  There had once been a glorious kingdom here, but it looked like someone had taken an oil painting of it and thrown a bucket of water on the canvas, leaving it a dreary and damp mess.

  Nathan and Aisic walked down the dry carriage track between the wooden cottages belonging to the worn-out farming peasants of the impoverished outer kingdom. Aisic’s gaze scanned the ragged community. His eyes met with Nathan’s, whose idea of this kingdom and warm expression had changed since leaving the shadows of the trees. Kendra’s reaction when told where they were heading now made sense, and Nathan was worried that this state of desolation had been going on for a while.

  The place was a mess. There was not enough life or crops to sustain the people. Soldiers for a war that wasn’t even happening patrolled the fields, sucking away at the city’s resources, becoming stronger for a potential war while everyone else was withering away. The thin cows and pigs were tended by thinner farmers. Even just with their packs, the two of them looked like foreign dignitaries.

  “We’re too visible,” Aisic said. “We need robes.”

  Nathan pointed to a wooden stand on the side of the road. “Maybe we can get some information there.”

  As they walked over, the slumped man behind the stand looked at them warily, his draped hair hanging over the sides of his face. “What do you want?” he asked.

  “Robes, we need robes,” Nathan said as he dug into the pack Morrow had given him and brought out half a dozen gold coins that had been stuffed inside the pouch.

  The man looked at the coins in shock. It seemed he hadn’t seen so much money on a traveler in years. “Ah . . . here. I don’t have anything fancy, only a spare of mine and—” He took out a brown ragged material.

  “Don’t worry,” Aisic said. “We just need to fit in.”

  They took the garments and put them on, Nathan giving the man the money. The man handled the coins in amazement before his eyes shifted to the nearest soldiers and they vanished from sight.

  So that’s how it is here. Wealth attracts notice from soldiers.

  “Thank you . . . do . . . do you need anything else?” the merchant asked.

  Aisic smiled, putting his hood up before grabbing two of the apples from the stand and throwing one to Nathan. “No, but thank you.”

  As Nathan pulled up his own hood, Taiba went to his usual place inside it, and Nathan gave him the command to remain hidden. Even though he looked like a normal lizard, he was still conspicuous. Now that they were under the disguise of robes similar to that which the other peasants in the market wore, they fit in a lot better. The robes were of the same rough sack-like material but worked well for their intended purpose.

  Nathan nodded to Aisic, and they made their way toward the densely populated area of the outer walls. Once they reached the inner market, Nathan surveyed the surrounding structures.

  The outer walls of the city were made of cracked boulders and mortar. It circled the vast area around the castle perimeter. However, one couldn’t walk a dozen meters without finding crumbling gaps and gaping holes in it. Despite the attention given to the men, the outer wall of the city was crumbling. King Kissick clearly had an offensive strategy in mind for the next war.

  Nathan and Aisic looked out from under their hoods at the soldiers they passed. Two were abusing people wherever they went. As one of them began to trash the food stand of a peasant merchant, Nathan noticed Aisic’s eyes narrowing in on the situation.

  Two of the fatter soldiers Nathan had seen were stealing food from a stall, and upon hearing complaints, began beating and destroying everything the man owned. Although Aisic would have been big enough to take out these soldiers, Nathan knew he had to stay inconspicuous as they searched for the key-half.

  Finding the item to save the lands was much more important than blowing their cover to prote
ct some stranger, as hard as it was for Nathan to admit.

  “Stay calm,” Nathan pleaded, grabbing Aisic by the cuff of his robe. “Hold all your anger in until we get into the castle. Then you can beat up as many guards as you want. I’ll need you to take them out so I can approach the royal family. If this thing will help strengthen the barrier which the Kairens created, and the Kairens are linked to the royalty of both kingdoms as you said, it’s only natural that they would leave such a talisman to a descendant of their own bloodline. If we managed to break in, get the king alone, and ask him where it is, he might give it up willingly, and if not, well, I’m sure you could persuade him.”

  The idea of torturing the information of the key’s location out of such a tyrant appeared to appease Aisic.

  As they left the market and entered into the wealthier districts, their peasant robes no longer conformed with the finer wear of those who were now walking around them. “We’ll have to take the back streets and take these off before we enter the castle. We can’t have anyone recognize us in what we’re wearing now.”

  They both turned into a dark alley between two of the stalls and another wooden villa and briskly made their way down the backs of the houses to the inner walls.

  The castle loomed over them, dark and oppressive. Nathan shivered at its contrast with the splendor of the Terratheist Castle, exacerbated by the overcast clouds that its highest towers parted like a wave of soot.

  The clouds started to spit with rain. The muddy cobbles led up a slight incline as they approached the back of the city where the castle resided. As the higher ground led from concrete steps up onto the courtyard, they were forced to climb.

  They traveled carefully up the slippery boulders to the top of the highland, scaling the wall to the outer gardens of the courtyard. When they got close enough to the top to see the overgrowing vines hanging over the stone fence, they could also see an armored guard doing his rounds across the pathway. There were no sudden movements in his actions, so they could tell he hadn’t spotted them yet. As they saw him, Aisic stopped Nathan and put a finger to his lips, signaling for Nathan to keep silent.

  Nathan nodded, and Aisic climbed on ahead until he was hidden behind the stone wall. Then, just as the guard turned his back to continue on his watch, Aisic vaulted the barricade, and with quick precision, snuck up behind him and slammed his forearm into the man’s neck. The guard crumpled to the tiled floor with little more than a grunt.

  Aisic waved for Nathan to catch up. Nathan climbed up the rest of the boulders to the wall and jumped over the vines, landing in the overgrown garden path.

  Nathan looked down at the knocked-out soldier. “Nice work. He’s . . . ah, not dead, is he?”

  “No, he is just unconscious.” Aisic smiled, bottom lip protruding in his lucky victory. “Managed to get him right under the jaw. A perfect knockout hit if I do say so myself. Quick, before his partner comes back.”

  They hauled the guard over to the thick vines of the barricade so no one would find him. It was clear that Aisic was some kind of warrior. However, only now did Nathan realize that his first assumption that he only hunted Melkai did not give him his fair due. Seeing how he had acted in the town, what he had taught him in the forest, and how quickly he had taken out the warrior, Nathan was beginning to see him more as a jack-of-all-trades fighting mercenary.

  Nathan brushed himself down of the dust he had collected from the climb.

  “Well then, let’s keep going.” Aisic clapped his hands, and they moved through the courtyard pathway toward the castle entry.

  “There will be more guards behind those doors, won’t there?”

  Aisic inclined his head slowly. They passed the gardens and came to the large black doors that led into the castle corridors.

  “If my assumption about this place is correct, no one should notice us inside because they wouldn’t expect anyone to get past the sentry. Just try to act casual.” Aisic touched the hilt of his sword. “And if I’m wrong, I’ll handle it.”

  Nathan grinned.

  Aisic pushed open the heavy wooden doors. They entered a green-carpeted corridor without either guard at the walls asking for their information. Aisic had been right; no one came after them.

  Nathan marveled at the huge interior of the Avatasc Castle. The giant pillars led to a high ceiling, the green and gold carpet padded their boots underneath, and the more they explored the maze of hallways, the more corridors continued to branch off in different directions. However, there was always the same pattern of gold snakes on the walls, even on the frame of every painting. He could see clearly that this was the symbol of King Kissick.

  Nathan had grown up in a castle and so was used to lavish adornments and elaborate tapestries along the halls, but even he didn’t feel like he belonged here. It was probably because they were acting like intruders, peeking around corners and creeping down halls. If the king knew they were there, no doubt they would be hunted down and beheaded for his entertainment.

  Armored guards appeared more frequently as they moved further in. Despite trying to act casual, Nathan must have looked nervous for one of them turned toward them.

  “Hey you!” the guard called as they came to another corridor.

  Suddenly Aisic was no longer by his side, and the guard was striding toward him. From his confused expression, Nathan thought he must be wondering why some dirty stranger in traveler’s garbs was inside the castle. However, while focusing on him, a flaming torch on the side of the wall went out, leaving the hallway in darkness. Rushing up behind the guard in the shadows, Aisic put the guard into a tight headlock to stop his screams. Realizing he was stuck and couldn’t call for help, the guard drew a dagger. Nathan ran forward and swiftly disarmed the guard, using a level of finesse he hadn’t realized he possessed until now.

  Aisic’s training has really paid off.

  Slowly, his frantic waving and kicking stopped as the lack of oxygen knocked him out cold. Aisic let him go, and the guard sunk to the floor. He caught Nathan’s eyes and nodded to him. This time, instead of going straight ahead, they decided to walk through the darkened hallway.

  “We’re not getting anywhere sneaking around like this,” Aisic hissed.

  Nathan jogged to catch up with his swift pace as they reached the end of another corridor. “Don’t worry. I think I know where I’m going.”

  A girl ran into him at a corner where two passages met. There was a short squeal from her, and they both tumbled to the ground. Nathan rubbed his forehead as he felt himself being quickly pulled to his feet by Aisic.

  The person he had run into was some kind of handmaiden. She looked up at him, looking ready to apologize, but then froze when she saw his face. “Why, you’re the one from her majesty’s pictures!”

  “Pardon?” Before he could even get his balance back, he heard a curse of a distantly familiar voice.

  “How dare you run into the queen’s handmaid and not apologize!” a woman’s low voice said, sounding like she was at the end of her patience. Then she gasped.

  As he looked up at the woman who had yelled at him, he took in her great white and red gown and tumbling strawberry blonde hair. She was beautiful for her age, but she also looked drawn. The woman covered her mouth as their eyes met for the first time.

  “It can’t be . . . can it really be you, Nathaniel?” she asked, stepping back a few paces and looking like she was about to faint.

  Nathaniel? No one has ever called me Nathaniel . . . have they?

  “Queen Medea.” The handmaid got to her own feet now and rushed over to the queen.

  Aisic grabbed him harshly. “We must go!”

  “No, wait!” the queen called. She steadied herself, walked over to one of the rooms at the side of the hallway, and opened the two large doors. “Please, this way. Hurry!”

  Aisic looked at her in confusion. Nathan still felt dazed, but not only from his crash. The tone of the woman’s voice was familiar to him
, as well as her appearance.

  “Who are you?” Aisic asked.

  “I know you have no reason to trust me, but there’s no time to explain here.”

  Aisic’s gaze shifted to Nathan. “It’s your call.”

  Nathan hesitated a moment, weighing their odds of following this unarmed woman and her handmaid against being found by a dozen armed men, then nodded. “We have little choice.”

  “Please, this way.” She beckoned them into the room. “Hurry!”

  They both rushed into the room. She briskly followed after, closing the doors behind her. They entered a nicely furnished lounge full of plush chairs with white frills and even a fireplace in one of the white-walled corners.

  The queen moved past them and went to one of the back walls toward a candle holder on the fire’s banister. She grabbed hold of it, pulled, and twisted. It came loose with a clink, and there was a sudden rumble. The fireplace then came free at one edge. She walked over to the edge of its mantle and pushed it open. It slid into the wall like a door.

  A secret passage!

  “Follow me if you want answers!” the queen said and entered into the shadows, disappearing from sight.

  Nathan and Aisic nodded to each other. Nathan entered into the space behind the fireplace. There was a rock staircase leading down, deep into the castle’s foundation. The secret passage was well lit, and, as they made their way down the narrow flight of stairs, their footfalls left echoes in the stagnant air. A short way down the stairs, they came to a dungeon-like room with a heavy bolted door.

  The handmaiden unlocked and opened the door before rushing past them and back up the stairs to guard the entrance. They shuffled into the room, not lit by candle nor torch, but sunlight which shone down from a basement window. The queen gestured to the table, and they all sat down on the wall seats. She then turned to the shelves on the stone walls.