Fairy Tale Part 10 - Meeting with the King

Fairy Tale Part 10 - Meeting with the King

Trees falling together, splintering and eventually falling into a massive heap under an immense mass of weight met the ears of a soon awake Aloric. His eyes opened quickly as he realized most likely it was far earlier than he%u2019d have wished to be awake. He sat up and looked around groggily, presuming no one would attack him as they could have when he%u2019d been asleep.

The sight he met was a rather large and clumsy animal, its eyes were dark brown with what looked like a piercing, perhaps even accusatory gaze. It watched him carefully as it untwisted itself from the wreckage that was once part of the forest.

The morning dawn now pushed through brightly as if to proclaim that it has finally reached an area of the forest once unreachable. The sun seemed to cause the deep black of the creature%u2019s fur to become a grayish black, its eyes still watching him intently.

%u2018First the rickety old wagon woman, now this,%u201D Aloric told himself. He followed the beast%u2019s movements while he looked for any sort of weapon, his blade long lost in the cave so long ago. Long ago? It had only been a few days, his perception had changed due to these odd events.

The animal resembled a giant black fox, its breathing came strong and slow as if it waited for something, some sort of sign. It roared loudly and excitedly at something that Aloric could not see, his only clue being a vast and sudden gust of wind hitting both him and the creature.

The black fox was unaffected, its long tail swishing back and forth in happiness at the very thing that knocked Aloric clear to his feet. He turned around, unsure if the beast would take the opportunity to attack, thankfully he did not.

Though, the small time of thanking whatever gods looked down on him quickly dissolved. Aloric%u2019s breathing stopped as he eyes met the sight of something he wished had not appeared. A long stretch of silence echoed across the forest, the only break in it being the beast%u2019s occasional breathing.

The distinct sound of a sword being drawn cut through the silence as quickly as the weapon would soon cut through him. Though the black beast%u2019s fur had been lightened by the sun%u2019s rays, the darkness that shrouded the Black King did not. It seemed to almost swallow the light and use it to enhance the midnight color of his armor.

The sword%u2019s dark hilt held no jewels, only the same dark almost other-worldly blackness that covered all the rest of the King. Its blade, which pointed straight toward Aloric , seemed the only thing about the dark entity that seemed to adhere to the light correctly.

Aloric gulped, knowing he no longer had time to scrounge for any kind of weapon and could not escape. Either the giant fox beast%u2019s claws would rip him apart, or some arcane spell would destroy his flesh.

The blade edged nearer, the King almost enjoying this tiny bit of torture.

%u201CWhat of it boy? Shall I dice up your innards like I would a festival pig? Hearing your pitiful cries? Or perhaps hang you by your own intestines within this forest%u2019s branches?%u201D A cold and detached voice asked. It was dark like the rest of him, deep and threatening, filled with joy at the prospect of such a bloody murder.

Aloric spit upon his boots as his final word was uttered, unshaken by the dreadful imagery the King so happily spoke of.

%u201CThis is how the monarchy acts towards its people? Toying with those who are unable to defend themselves. You, Sir Tyrant, are simply a coward. Hiding behind power that isn%u2019t truly yours. Pushing them into a corner, back to a beast, front a blade,%u201D he called, not knowing where his words came from, not exactly knowing what he spoke of either,%u201D Oh yes. My options are very open, but they are not the different ways I shall be killed. They are the many ways I shall end you and your reign. When I shall destroy you, O Black King.%u201D

A quick roar came from the throat of the King as Aloric said this, yet he did not slash him with the sword in anger. He threw it across the forest, almost landing in the flesh of his fox creature.

%u201CI see your wretched soul has found the Truth and you think you can stop this? The End is not near fool! I shall stop it with Her blood, though I doubt my words are anything to you,%u201D he shook with anger that resonated through his body,%u201D You know not even what you say. Your soul drives you say these things, your mind is still ignorant.%u201D

The Black King pulled his right hand into a fist, it was soon encompassed in a green flame with an ethereal glow. The fist slammed into the side of young man as he fell over from the unexpected attack. The King%u2019s blow was far greater in strength than any punch Aloric had experienced.

%u201CFate smiles upon you today, fool. I need you, or else you would be long gone from this mortal plane. Your soul is safe for now, though the next meeting we have, it shall not be so,%u201D the King called as he snapped his fingers. The giant fox creature ran over to him and laid down as the King got atop it.

Aloric clutched his face as it stung and smoked, the magic coursing though his head as it attempted to injure all of him.

%u201CNow you are branded and stricken in Her fashion. May you enter Hell before she speaks with you and persuade you that death is not truly the best course for your soul,%u201D the Black King called, his armor%u2019s color still unaffected by the bright morning sunrise.

He pushed his fox creature into what seemed to be a gallop while Aloric finally found the strength to stand, his face throbbing in sharp stabs of pain. Unlike the mouse of the night before, the King simply seemed to vanish as Aloric looked up.

He trudged slowly over to the pool of water he had only a few days ago been bathing in and looked upon his wounds. His right cheek dripped blood from several cuts, it would definitely scar.

The wound resembled the chaotic webbing of a mad spider that did not wish to finish any one strand. Haphazard and random, the cuts were not something he would proclaim to bar wenches as a battle wound to receive a nightly stay in their room.

This was a mark from that sorcerer. What it meant, he knew not, but the simple random appearance of it showed its true complexity, and power. Aloric been branded, but as what, he did not know.