by Tony Johnson
No one talked as they walked. One man had tried to strike up a conversation, but was pulled out of the crowd and killed for that action. Along the way, the group stepped over dead bodies, mostly of people, but some were monsters. Ty motioned to Lucan not to look down at them. The smell of burned flesh filled the air, making many in the crowd gag. It combined with the smell of smoke that had taken over the entire city. The Fluorite River was tinted red with blood, some sections a little more than others. Ty noticed many bodies floating in the slow-flowing river.
They exited out onto the main road and combined with a larger group of people. There were more and more monsters towards the center of the city, providing a guard in case there was a revolt with so many of the civilians together. None of the people had weapons other than their hands and feet, so the monsters weren’t expecting any problems.
The group walked over Commander Ostravaski’s tower, which had fallen across the Big Square Plaza. Many people fell and twisted their ankles on the uneven rubble. Ty mentally told himself not to look down at the bodies of the warriors they were stepping on and over. The last thing he needed was an emotional breakdown in front of these people and the monsters if he saw the dead body of his brother Darren staring up at him.
Instead, Ty looked up in horror at an equally haunting sight: the once magnificent castle of King Zoran. It looked like someone with a god-sized hand had torn off the top of the King’s Tower. He could see where pieces of debris had crashed down into and around the castle.
The monsters had gotten through the iron portcullises of the castle wall and the castle itself. How they did that, Ty had no idea. He thought it was impenetrable. They must have gotten someone to open it from the inside by lowering the drawbridge, allowing the monsters to enter.
There were four drawbridges in total leading into the courtyard outside the castle. Just like the four outer warriors’ watchtowers, there was one on the north, south, east, and west sides. The group was led over the south drawbridge, the main one that led to the face of the castle.
Lucan looked down at the intimidating moat as they walked past the incredibly high castle wall that separated King Zoran’s castle from the rest of the city. They were led into the large circular courtyard.
The courtyard’s south side was where the general public would gather to hear the king give a message or announcement to the city. People were free to walk along the beautiful gardens with flowers of every color imaginable and shrubs cut into the shapes of animals. All of this beauty had been trampled or destroyed.
Each group of people formed a square and was placed into a section of the courtyard. Squares formed into larger squares and soon the entire courtyard became one huge mass of people.
Ty’s legs were sore. All he wanted to do was sit down. He couldn’t believe that only this afternoon he had been laughing, joking, and enjoying the celebration of the Warriors’ Tournaments.
Oh how things have changed. How many people have I seen die today? How many people died today that I didn’t see? He didn’t think he would be able to emotionally handle the number of civilian deaths in Celestial if someone gave him the true count.
The Elf looked upwards. The sky was now a pink and orange mixture. The day was winding down. Monsters had already lit torches and stuck them in the ground throughout the courtyard. In another three or four hours, it would be completely dark. Ty felt physically sick when he noticed a huge pile of at least three hundred dead civilian bodies piled on top of the courtyard’s stone platform. A monster lit the pile on fire with a torch and added one more light for the onset of night.
Apparently the people in front of Ty could not hold in their stomachs’ contents at the sight that Ty had just seen. He heard their retching, and it wasn’t long before another putrid smell was added to the air.
People began to talk sporadically. Monsters had no way of enforcing everyone to shut their mouths. The chatter grew louder and louder as more people grew brave and used the ability that had been taken from them. Half of the people in the courtyard were broken down, crying over their lost family members and close friends. The other half were talking about the things they had seen and wondering about what was to become of them.
Ty heard crazy rumors everywhere around him: that the entire world was completely overrun by monsters and every city had fallen, that King Zoran was dead, and that they were all collected together to be executed. He tried to eavesdrop on as many stories as possible. Warriors were trained to listen intently and then piece together the information as best they could. But with all the noises and sounds, Ty was having trouble focusing. It was too much in one day for any man to be expected to handle.
He stood with Kari, Cassandra, and Lucan. They had worked hard not to allow themselves to be separated. Ty and Kari stood quietly. Kari was sneaking angry looks at the horse-mounted minotaur holding her bow. The monsters that had led their group into the courtyard stood around the people they had brought in. Cassandra was comforting Lucan even though the boy hadn’t shed a tear since they left the house. Perhaps that was because he cried himself dry after finding out his father died. Whatever the reason, Ty was proud of his nephew for the strength he showed.
Monsters continued to bring cart after cart of dead bodies to add to the burning pyre of people. Ty wondered if they were killing people just for the sake of the fire. He eyed everything suspiciously, trying to take in all of the information presented to him. There was what looked to be twenty thousand people in the courtyard.
After the courtyard was filled, Ty began to hear the chatter of people beyond the circular castle wall. Monsters must have gathered people all along the moat. If there was a revolt, the monsters could just drive the people backwards where they would fall to a death of drowning, being impaled by spikes, or being eaten alive by vicious alligators.
The monsters had gathered everyone in the city as close as they could to the castle. Maybe they are going to kill us after all. The civilians on the other side of the castle wall would be able to hear, but unable to see whatever was going to happen in the courtyard. They were louder than the people on the inside. There must be more people out there than in here; maybe twenty thousand in the courtyard and maybe thirty thousand on the outside of the castle wall, Ty estimated. Celestial had a population of about eighty thousand.
He couldn’t say for sure about how many casualties there had already been, but the number was probably as many as there were people in the courtyard, and that was being optimistic. Ty couldn’t begin to estimate how many visitors were in town for the weekend of celebration. Whatever the number is, most of them are probably dead because they had no idea of the defense protocol or where to go for shelter during the attack.
Ty also thought about Celestial’s force of 5,000 warriors.
I wonder if there are any left? Ty would miss the laughs and company of his warrior brothers who had passed on. He hoped his brother Steve Brightflame had somehow survived, but reality told him to bet against his hope.
When he had first entered the courtyard, everyone had been packed in tightly, but now the space around him was even more compact. He felt like he was being pushed in from all sides. Kari was having trouble breathing next to him. Ty could tell she had a fear of tight spaces. She was focused on the emptiness and open area of the sky instead of the people surrounding her, crushing her ability to breathe.
Ty was able to reach up and rub her back. He tried to comfort her, but didn’t think about the burns she had received from the phoenix. Kari winced and awkwardly flinched away from his touch. At first Ty thought he had offended her, but then he saw that he had hurt her. “It’s okay,” Kari said, before he could apologize. Ty felt like an insensitive jerk for causing her pain.
Kari felt bad that Ty felt bad. All he was trying to do was help. He’s caring and sensitive.
The only thing Ty could do was keep encouraging Kari that it would all be over soon. The fact that they stood in the same claustrophobic conditions for two more hours proved him a liar. The huge y
ellow-orange sun was beginning to set behind where they stood.
Monsters were everywhere Ty looked. Probably two-thirds of their entire force was stationed around the courtyard. There were thousands of monster archers along the castle wall. Some aimed in toward the courtyard while others aimed toward the large group beyond the castle wall. A security line of all types of monsters with every weapon imaginable stood at the front of the crowd on the steps of the large stone platform that led into the castle. Featured front and center on the platform was a wooden gallows.
Ty’s focus, along with everyone else’s in the courtyard turned to the front doors of the castle when they were opened, and the portcullises were raised.
Ty knew the man who walked out the moment he saw the color of the armor. In a full suit of bright white armor, Prince Silvanus strutted out onto the platform. The Prince always wore white. Normal clothes, ceremony clothes; Prince Silas had ridden a white horse and wore white armor in every single one of his exhibition jousts, and today was no different. He wears white so that he can look majestic, stand out, and be noticed by everyone.
Ty heard a rumor that an elderly castle seamstress had asked him why he liked the color so much. Supposedly, he felt her tone was mocking him. He got angry and cut off the woman’s hands so she could never sew again.
There is a legend of a White-Armored Warrior. Perhaps Prince Silas wants to steal that name for himself. The White-Armored Prince.
The physically strong prince that lacked charm and charisma walked forward with a brazen confidence. He stood next to the gallows and looked over the huge crowd of civilians. Everyone was able to clearly see him from anywhere in the courtyard. The setting sun caught the reflection of the golden crown he was wearing.
“Silence!” the prince yelled, even though very few people were talking. Ever since he was a child, Silas loved being the center of attention. He was a spoiled brat of a boy then, and now, at nineteen, nothing was different. His need to always be in the spotlight had only gotten worse with age.
“Silence!” he screamed louder. Other than a couple of people still quietly sobbing, there was no noise at all except for the crackling of flames. For no reason whatsoever, the prince made one swift motion to the monster archers on the walls.
Thousands of arrows rained down into the crowd. Everyone ducked down and covered their heads. The women and children started screaming in fear.
Ty covered Kari. Cassandra covered Lucan.
When the sound of arrows whizzing through the air and pelting into people stopped, everyone stood up. Luckily, none of the four had been hit. The woman standing in front of Ty had been hit, and she stayed down on the ground. Ty bent down to examine her injury, but she was already dead. The long arrow had pierced through her hand and penetrated through her eye and into her head.
After a couple minutes of screaming and crying from people who had lost loved ones, the crowd stopped and gave their undivided attention to Prince Silas. He unsheathed his golden sword and lifted it up for the crowd to see.
“The Aurelian Sword” Ty said out loud to himself. If he has that it can only mean one thing…
The prince poked the tip of the blade down into something round that lay in front of him on the stone platform. He held it up for the crowd to see. At first, only the people in the front part of the collected crowd could see what it was. Many of them screamed and yelled in shock, terror, and despair. Ty realized it was the head of a Human.
“I present to you, your beloved KING!”
Chapter 24
The middle and back part of the crowd gasped. Cries filled the brisk night air.
King Zoran, the one who singlehandedly killed Draviakhan, who built Celestial from the ground up, who reigned over his kingdom consisting of all the cities of Element, and who ushered in three decades of a global peace never known before, was dead.
“One man with one sword killed one five-headed dragon and suddenly the world changed. Celestial was built, and a kingdom was born. But that man is now dead. And with it you lose your city, your kingdom. How can the life and death of one man cause so much change? Did you know you were this fragile?” The prince shouted as loudly as he could to be heard by as many people as possible.
“I always knew this day would come eventually. I dreamed of it since I was a child. I don’t know what makes me happier: the fact that he is dead, or the fact that I am now the king? I hated the man you people loved. How many times have we all heard the legend of his famous defeat of Draviakhan? I grew tired of hearing that story. Answer me this: What is the point of that legend if this is what it has led too?
“People expected that I, as the next king, would be just as noble and heroic as he was. At first, that’s what I expected of myself too. I’ve always dreamed of myself as the future king, protecting Celestial from any and every monster. When I asked my grandfather if I could learn how to sword fight and join the warriors he said, ‘No. It’s too dangerous.’ I was never allowed to do anything I wanted to do.
“Zoran kept me trapped inside the castle walls, forcing me to learn manners, relations between the four races, and politics. I just wanted to be king already and be the one in control of my own life. Even though I was the prince, I was powerless. So I spent my time gambling, drinking, and spending quality time with the willing ladies of this city. I figured if I had to wait for his death, I would have as much fun as possible in the meantime.
“And then one day, a couple months ago, I finally found a way to break out of the waiting. My father came to me. The man who Zoran told me was dead was still alive. No longer was his identity kept a secret to me. My father told me that the evil god believes that I am the one who will fulfill the ancient prophecy hidden in this very sword I carry.” Silvanus waved the sword through the air to show off his newest prized possession.
“After meeting my father and learning about my part to play in the planned siege of Celestial, everything made sense to me. I realized the monsters were just like me. All of their lives, they too feel trapped and are only seeking a way to break out of their miserable lifestyle. I realized that my life finally had purpose. I would help lead monsters to take control of the greatest city on Element. I was given the ability to control the element of water and told that the more I serve the evil god, the more I will prove myself to him. He will give me more elements to control as I lead his forces to victory.
“And so, today, I carried out the plans my father gave me. Myself, Visuvis, and a small group of trusted monsters murdered the warriors in the four outside towers, with help from Nightstrike, before they could sound their alarm. Our monsters were able to breach the outer wall and get all the way to within one thousand feet of the inner wall before we were noticed. By then, it was too late for you. We attacked with wave after wave of monsters, overrunning the warriors on the inner wall. Then we broke through and got into the city, just as we planned. And then finally, I did what I have wanted to do every day of my life. I killed the king.”
Prince Silas swung his sword upwards, launching the head of the king off the tip of his sword and into the crowd.
An angered man yelled out from the crowd, “How does it feel to betray your kingdom?”
“Kill him,” the prince calmly commanded nearby archers. The archers sent a fleet of arrows into that section of the crowd. Since most of them were not experts with the bow, they ended up killing the man, along with twenty people standing near him. The prince issued a warning to the crowd. “You do not have to like me, but you will respect my authority. Or else you will die.”
A woman on the other side of the courtyard had seen the man die, but chose to be equally defiant. “We will never respect the man who murdered our king!” The monster archers looked at their leader. The prince annoyingly nodded in the woman’s direction. Arrows rained down on that part of the crowd too, killing more innocent civilians. Ty prayed that no one around him would be fool enough to say a word.
A man dressed in a hooded black cloak, with pieces of silver
armor, appeared on the castle’s balcony, high above where the prince stood. Ty realized that this was the rider of Nightstrike. The huge obsidian-scaled dragon landed on the top of one of the front castle towers and let out a blood curdling scream. It seemed to Ty like the whole crowd took one giant step back in fear.
It wasn’t Nightstrike the people were mainly afraid of. It was his rider, the Hooded Phantom. His ominous presence stood above them all. The man was pure evil and commanded the full attention and silence of everyone without having to ask for it. Even babies and children seemed to stop crying as the Hooded Phantom began to speak. His voice was slow and raspy, but very strong. It carried across the courtyard with more command and power than the prince’s voice had. Ty questioned whether or not King Zoran had even had this powerful of a voice. The Hooded Phantom spoke in a tone of hate, malice, anger, and disgust.
“I was once like you. I grew up among you. I was raised in this city. I know how you people think. I know how you act. You care only about yourselves. You think monsters are the evil ones? No! You are the evil. You are selfish. You horde food for your winters. You fill your stomachs three times a day while
the monsters starve. It shouldn’t be that way! Why should you be allowed to live a higher quality of life than the monsters? You are no better than them.
“For them, it’s a cutthroat world, survival of the fittest. They live in inescapable misery, constantly fighting for food and shelter. They fight for their lives. They live every day not knowing who to trust because the monster next to them might betray them at any second, just to live to see the next day.
“You people live in your fortified cities with no worries at all: your health, your gold, your safety, your food. You take every day and everything for granted. You don’t know what it is like to live in constant fear. It’s time you learn what fear is. It’s time you feel the pain the monsters have endured for so long. No longer will this imbalance stand.
