The Emotion Factor: Chapter II

CHAPTER II

DARK JUDGEMENT

NOTE: This chapter is also in my book folder as well, along with whatever changes that had to be made. This will be left "as is" just cause I feel like it.





         King Sarnaman, his wife, the queen with their child, and Augster, were still going on ahead heading towards the rendezvous point. The storm has slowed them all down a bit, and they had to make sure no harm came to the young prince. The sound of the thunder stirred the young one out of his slumber, but was soon cared for back to sleep. From the first encounter at the castle, they have been making their way towards the rendezvous point town to the south for twenty minutes.

         “My king,” questioned Augster. “How much longer till we get there? I’m feeling a bad omen.”

         “We are still some ways towards Tranquidor, but we can’t slow down now.” King Sarnaman looks back towards Augster as they continue forward. “Why did you ask?”

         “I feel something bad has happened back at the castle. I also feel something dreaded is about to occur.”

         “Just more reasons to keep moving. Once we arrive there, we can create a plan to take back what we have lost one day in the future.” As they moved forward, the king silently looked at his wife and his son, for he hopes nothing bad happens to them. Just then, he heard the stomping of horse hoofs through the mud behind him, approaching fast. “Everyone, get down now!” Without hesitation, the king, queen, making sure she safely protected their son as she dropped to the ground, and Augster hit the dirt as the horse ran by. As King Sarnaman would have guessed, it was Revil who caught up to them, and he was attempting a pre-emptive strike upon them all with his blade, but missed since they avoided a possible beheading from his attack. He pulled back hard on the horse to stop immediately. The king and the others got to their feet after the short mishap, now covered in mud from the ground. “Revil you fiend, isn’t seizing my castle enough for you!?” he demanded in rage.

         Revil jumped off of the horse, looked at the king, and shook his head in pity. “Fool. Don’t you remember what I said? That’s not enough. I have to kill you and your family, in order to keep your kingdom for good.”

         Augster rose up from the ground. “Greaves, what has become of him?” he shouted.

         “Him?” Revil gives a small chuckle at his question. “He was a fool to have fought me, and he paid dearly for it too.”

         “Damn you Revil!” Augster was enraged, for he knew Greaves ever since King Sarnaman brought him into his kingdom ten years ago. After Augster left Revil for his own reasons, and being pursued by his own men, the king saved him, defeated the pursuers, and took him in. He met Greaves when he got back to the castle, but they didn’t start out as friends, but grew respect for each other over time. “Just leave us be!”

         “That has to be a joke, but I’m not laughing.” He brings out his blade from its sheath. “You think I’ll let you all go, just so you can challenge me in the future to take back the kingdom one day? I won’t give you—any of you—that chance!”

         Revil begins to charge in, but Augster intervenes in order to stop him. The swords clash against each other as each one tried to push the other back. Revil raised his left leg up and delivered a harsh kick right into Augster’s kidney. He was forced to the ground from the attack, even though Revil didn’t even put that much into it. “You were always strong offensively, but your body never could take much. I’ll deal with you last, traitor.” Augster couldn’t move as he was struggling from the hit. Revil looks onward towards his target and walks in for the kill. The king braced himself for the assault and didn’t take Revil’s casualness for granted. Revil runs some thoughts through his mind. “I have to use only as much of my strength as necessary, or else I’m sure to be defeated. If the legends told to me from my father about his sword are true, then this will be my toughest fight.” He slowly brings his sword up to strike. “I should test him and see how he fights and act accordingly to his attacks. I can’t afford to go all out and run the risk of discovering that I was overpowered all this time.”

         The sky began to get darker as the storm clouds grew thicker. Radical lightning started to rain down around the area, but not too close to the battle that was to come. Revil and King Sarnaman stood face to face with their weapons drawn as the rain became a squall. A dark crow perched atop a nearby tree branch, as if waiting to see how the battle will turn out. A shot of thunder stirred the crow and furiously flapped its wings to fly away. The sound of the crow’s wings caught the king’s attention for a fraction of a second; that’s when Revil saw his opening and struck first. He brought his sword horizontally from the ground up, but only made contact with Sarnaman’s sword. The king’s guard was more alert than he anticipated. They both throw each other back from the force of each other’s weapons. As both regained their footing, King Sarnaman started his counter attack and rushed in.

         The queen was taking cover in a nearby bush safe from harm as Revil and her husband, the king, commenced on their fierce dual. Still in her arms was the small prince, being cared for as to not stir his slumber. Due to his age, and constant sleep for feeling secure, he was unaware of the events that were unraveling in the distance. The queen gives him a soft, love kiss atop his forehead. The queen then looks onward at the two fighters.

         Augster was also taking witness onto what was unfolding, for this fight would decide who would take over all of Enerjest. Still hurting from the blow to his side, he could only turn his head in order to view the battle from the ground. The king was starting his counter attack onto Revil with all intent on stopping him from spreading any possible wicked plans he may have if he were to come out on top of this fight. Revil was either dodging or barely blocking each blow, but could not find a chance to really strike back at the king. Augster was aware on how strong Revil was, but he also knew how strong the king could become if really set off in anyway by anything he saw unjust. “My king, you mustn’t lose this fight,” Augster spoke, but it was not audible enough to be heard. “You mustn’t lose against this dark tyrant.”

         The king’s assault was fierce, and Revil had doubts running through his mind as it continued. “I knew this fight wouldn’t be easy, but this is quite a struggle.” The blades continued to clash each other with great force. Then suddenly, the two were in a stalemate pushing against the other’s blade, for if one slipped up, he was through. The king was putting all he had into his sword, while Revil was using his strength just to keep his sword from slipping. “I don’t know how long I can keep this up. My strength is being exhausted too quickly at this rate.” Right there, the king put all he could into his attack and managed to get trough Revils defense. Revil was shocked that he could not hold off his sword, as his sword got parried out of his hands and landed close behind him. The king’s sword came down upon Revil’s chest from his left shoulder diagonally downward.

         Revil’s body was thrown back from the attack, as it damaged his armor quite well. However, that’s all it did; Revil was still standing. He was actually astonished that he survived an attack with that much power put into it. He looked at the king’s sword and discovered something that would change the flow of battle. The material of the sword’s color looked dull with no shine to it, unlike what he was told about in legend from his father, who depicted that the sword glowed in a bright platinum shine with an odd radiance of gold. That exact sword in the king’s hands had no such glow. As he was observing, the king was catching his breath while questioning how his attack didn’t finish Revil off for good. Revil then started to chuckle, then went into laughter.

         “What are you laughing about?” the king shouted towards his awkward behavior.

         “It’s so funny, because now I know that you aren’t any trouble for me anymore,” he replied calming down from his laughter.

         “Explain yourself!”

         “All right then, I’ll tell you, since you wish to know so badly.

         “Before this bout, I knew of the powers of the sword you hold. It was told to me from my father who raised me. He described a sword in the royal family of Enerjest that was said to wield the strength of a hundred men; maybe even that of a legendary beast called a dragon. It was also said that its power radiated from the sword made it a platinum shine with a small radiance of gold surrounding it. This sword was handed down through the family to the next heir to the throne since King Sarnaman I.”

         “King Sarnaman I? How do you know of that name? He ruled Enerjest five hundred years ago. Also, not many know about that but the most observant of people and our family itself.”

         “True. Most don’t know, but my father did, and because of that, so do I.” He took a slight pause. “Tell me, did you know that your grandfather, King Sarnaman XVI, had two sons?” The king’s eyes slightly grew in amazement, for that was a well kept secret within the royal family. “I see you do know about that.”

         “Yes I do. King Sarnaman XVI, my grandfather, did indeed have two sons. But later, the younger one was exiled from the kingdom.”

         “And do you know why?” Revil exclaimed. The king was silent, for he was never told of the reason by his father or grandfather. Revil continued. “It was because your father’s brother tried to assassinate him, but failed in his attempt. Being second born and bound by the rules of the family, he was doomed to never be king unless the one next in line was incapable of claiming the throne. Thus, on the night of your father’s eighteenth birthday, he sneaked into his room and attempted to kill him, but he was caught and stopped by your father himself. The next day, King Sarnaman XVI exiled him to the Sinister Sahara for the rest of his days. He was eightteen years old as well at the time of his exile. When he was exiled, the king at the time announced to the kingdom that a desease did him in, in order to cover up the younger brother's assassination attempt on the heir.”

         “You seem to know a lot about our family,” the king intruded in on Revil’s story. “Do you happen to know their names as well?”

         “I thought you would never ask me that, but I’m glad you did. Your father was Galdon Sarnaman. And his brother, who was exiled, was Lucifer Sarnaman, he was my father.” After revealing the name of his father, it all became clear on how he knew everything about King Sarnaman’s family, including on where Enerjest was, since he never traveled out of the Sinister Sahara until now. King Sarnaman was shocked at who his father was. The queen, still looking from afar, was also taken by surprise at what she heard, though only at the fact that her husband never revealed that part of his history to her. Even Augster, still injured from the blow, but no longer needing to clasp his injury, was also stunned by this unraveling event.

         “So, that would make you…” The king began to speak.

         “That’s right; I am one of blood of your family bloodline.” Revil quickly replied. “And thus is why I will defeat you, take your life, and become the new king.” Finishing up, he reclaimed his sword from behind him and brought it up in front of him, shoulder height, towards the king. “And since that sword’s powers seem to be myth, you hold no merit towards me now.”

         “You are a fool to think that,” the king began to counter state. “For it is not my sword that makes me strong, but it is I that makes this sword powerful.”

         “You speak some truth there, so let me apply your words onto myself and see which one of us will come out victorious.”

         Revil brought his blade up, ready to strike, as was King Sarnaman. The storm around them seamed to intensify as did the battle. It seemed the storm had no likeliness of letting up even the slightest bit. Dark crows seemed to be gathering around in the nearby trees as the fight was progressing, almost as if signifying an omen approaching of ill fate. The sky was so dark; storm clouds so thick, the stars and the moon vanished. Revil pulled off the first move in what seemed to be the final round in this battle, launching himself towards the king. As he got into striking distance, he swayed to the king’s left side and attacked with a rotating backslash. The king blocked his attack with his own backslash. The blades clashed with great force that rivaled the very ferocity of the storm around them. Revil attempted to strike again, but the king was able to parry the attack away from him. As Revil’s blade was being parried, the king brought down his sword swiftly to finish off Revil for good. Despite being thrown off balance, Revil was able to stop his attack. However, he stopped the king’s sword using his left bare hand. The force of the sword hitting the gauntlet caused a very deep gash in the palm of his hand, causing blood to flow freely from his palm, turning the ground stained with blood that the rain couldn’t wash clean.

         “It’s over Revil. Surrender now or die,” exclaimed the king.

         “I don’t think so.” Focusing his rage and power onto his left injured hand, he gripped the blade to prevent it from moving. The king, try as he might, could not relinquish his sword from his grip. The king thought of striking him with his free arm or legs, but would risk having them sliced by Revil’s blade. Revil then took a tight grip upon his blade. “As you said, it is the person wielding the weapon that makes it strong.” He brings his blade back and pointed towards the ground. “And it appears that I, with my blade, have trumped yours.” He swiftly brings his blade towards the king and slashes him across his torso, cutting through his armor. The king flinches from the slash and unconsciously releases his grip from his sword. Revil follows up with the finishing blow; aimed at the cut through the armor, he runs his sword through the king.

         Blood from the spot of puncture ran out onto the blade. The blade went right through the king’s torso and the tip of the blade could be seen through the back. The king hacked up blood upon Revil’s face. A look into the king’s eyes showed them staring out into the distance, slowly dilating. Revil withdraws his blade from the king’s body. “This can’t be,” King Sarnaman got out as his dying words. “I....failed…my people.” His arms limp towards the ground; he drops to his knees, and then he finally falls forward to the ground, lifeless. Blood slowly continues to flow from his wounds as it stained the earth.

         “No. My king!” Augster yelled out in horror at his king’s defeat.

         “See here Augster; your king has fallen to my blade,” Revil said in a victorious tone. His voice returns to its normal tone as he speaks to Augster once more. “I shall give you one last chance to join me once again.”

         “Stop flapping your mouth, I’m never joining you again.” Just then, Augster could feel the ground ever so slightly vibrate of approaching footsteps. “Revil, don’t tell me you brought them here!”

         Revil gave a small chuckle at Augster’s concern. “Well it seems that they finally caught up with me to aid me.” The group of men stood to attention in front of Revil ready for their next command. They stood in a row, showing a line of ten people in total. All ten of them were in the same type of armor as Revil was armed in except for some minor differences: their armor was a bronze piece protecting their torso, and they had their emblems on their chest plates. They also didn’t have capes or a helmet like Revil did. Instead they each had head gear made out of tough leather capable of protecting the head from harm. From the center, it seemed the leader of the group stepped forward. Unlike the other nine men standing there, he stood as tall as Revil did.

         “Cornel Shear, as well as the rest of the Venom Viper, have arrived and awaiting your next orders my lord.” He turns his attention to the dead body of King Sarnaman. “Who did you have a battle with my lord?”

         “That is King Sarnaman of the Enerjest Kingdom—or should I say, he use to be.” He gave an evil laugh of satisfaction at his last statement. Quickly ending his laughter, he gave out his orders to Shear. “As you know, I just killed this kingdom’s king, but my task is not over yet; for now I must get his wife and son in order to truly secure my hold on this kingdom. Those two must’ve hidden in the bushes in this surrounding forest somewhere. I want you all to find them and finish them off.”

         “As you wish, my lord.” Cornel Shear gave a hand signal to command the other men to spread out and scavenge the surrounding area for the queen and her son’s whereabouts. In a flash, they vanished into the surrounded woods. “Pardon me asking, but what about him?”

         “Oh, you mean Augster,” Revil said looking at Augster with just his eyes with a slight turn of his head. “I will deal with him last; I want him to suffer the loss of those he honored.”


         The queen was already on the run through the forest the moment she saw the Venom Viper appear. She was still carrying her son with her in order to protect him. She treaded softly as to not stir him from sleep and to reveal their whereabouts. She witnessed the king’s death with her own eyes, but had the courage to keep from screaming in horror. The feeling from the loss however, was slowly seeping out through her tears now. As she ran, memories of herself and the king first meeting together began to reemerge in her memories; their first date under a spectacular full moon night; the night the king purposed to her; their glorious wedding day at Enerjest’s cathedral; the birth of their son; all of this came and went as she remembered the precious times that they had. Just then she was thrust back into the present as she heard someone approaching. She looked around towards the source from the sound. She then saw a tree out of the way and hid behind it in order to avoid the oncoming danger. After a few tense moments, she sees a shady man appear in front of her on her right, luckily with his back turned towards her. He was unaware on here whereabouts as he looked around. Before he could glance in her direction, she shifted around the tree, completely out of his line of sight. The shady man walked forward to continue searching for here, in the opposite direction to where she actually was. She softly sighed and proceeded to continue fleeing. Before she could react however, a second shady character spotted her on her blind spot and placed his arms around her to prevent any struggle or escape. The slight stirring awoke the child and caused him to cry out. The sound of the cry alerted the other man of their presence and quickly arrived at their location. The two men looked at their next victims; just as her eyes filled with terror at what was to come next.


         Meanwhile, Revil and Cornel Shear were chatting about Augster, still on the ground. Shear asked on who Augster was, so Revil explained it all to him. Cornel Shear was very impressed from what he heard. He lowers himself to the ground on one knee to speak directly to Augster. “I am truly honored to meet the esteemed Augster, the Phantom Assassin. I’ve heard of your name as I made it up through the ranks of the Venom Viper, but much was left out when I asked of you. That is until now.”

         “I acknowledge your appreciation of my presence, but I no longer care for the Venom Viper anymore,” He grunted at Shear. “So you are the Venom Viper’s new leader I see.”

         “That is correct. I’m Shear, given the title of Cornel by Revil for his army outside of this group. I keep the rank of Cornel in the Venom Viper however because it seems to suit me well. But enough about that,” He stood himself up. “Despite myself seeing you as my idol, it is time for me,” He pulls out a small, single-handed katana. “To surpass you.”

         Just then, some rustling was heard from the forest area. Shear only turned his eyes halfway in the direction of the sound while keeping Augster in his sights. Two men appear from the woods with two figures. One a female, the other was a small infant; they captured the queen and the young prince. “Sir, we captured the queen and her son.”

         Not moving from his spot, or from Augster’s sights, Shear replied in a slightly angered voice, “If you got them, why didn’t you just kill them off already?

         “Forgive us sir, but we thought that you would want that honor. We do know it’s been ages since your last kill.” They were pleading in pity for they knew Shear did not tolerate incompetence while still holding on to their hostages. Shear shrugged off their plea of forgiveness, but also accepted it since he found them bothersome. Besides, they did have a point; have him kill them to feed the lack of destruction in his blood.

         “You know, you’re right.” Shear walks over towards the queen and gives a bodily command to tell him to release his hold on her. Before she had a chance to run however, Shear quickly grabbed her by the neck with his right hand. He then got behind her as she was rendered immobile since she had to use her hands to prevent from passing out from lack of air. He then pushed her back into a tree as he got a katana in his free hand. All the while, Augster’s eyes were full of anguish and rage as he struggled to get up to save her. But by the time he got to his knees, it was too late. Shear readied his katana and pushed it right through her. Her eyes widened, and then proceeded to dilate as she slowly lost life. Shear relieved his grip from his katana as it pinned her body to the trunk of the tree. Blood leaked onto the blade of the katana and began to drip onto the ground. Blood from the backside of the piercing was staining the tree and flowing down to the roots. Her body lay limp, with the only thing holding her up was the katana. Shear turned towards one of his men and said, “You know, that did feel good.” He showed a grin of demonic characteristics that his men were still not use to seeing, though they learned not to show any disturbance. He then turned back to the queen’s corpse. Her dress was now stained red on its white color from the wound. He grabbed the hilt of his katana and pulled out the blade from her body, causing her to fall to the ground from the tree. The katana was completely covered in blood—its old silver finish was no longer visible.

         Revil was still looking from afar, not taking his eyes off of what was happening. He smiled at the fact that his plans were all falling into place. With the king and queen dead, all that was left was to kill the prince, which one of the men had in their grasp. Revil gave a signal to kill off the young prince.

         Augster was slowly getting to his feet when he saw Revil’s signal to kill the prince. At that very instant, the king’s words rushed back through him on what he promised.

If anything should happen to me,
I want you to protect my wife and son to your utmost ability.

         He knew he failed his king’s wife, but he would not let the king’s son die as well. Something must have snapped within his mind, for despite his injuries, he pulled out a small kunai from his ankle and tossed it at the man not holding the prince. The kunai penetrates the front of the skull and the man falls backwards without a grunt. Revil, Shear, and the one man holding the prince were thrown off guard from the sudden attack. As they were all comprehending what just happened, and before the first man even hit the floor, Augster rushed in with another kunai he pulled out towards the man holding the prince. He slashes the man in the neck, causing him to lose grip of the prince. The second man falls to the ground, and Augster is able to catch the prince from hitting the ground. He began to cry from the unstable stirring. Augster had to think fast on his next action.

         “Augster, how can you be standing after that attack I gave you earlier?” Revil demanded.

         “True, your attack did get me,” Augster began to reply. “But remember, I wasn’t your top member for nothing. I’ve suffered worse than what you delivered, though it was pretty effective to keep me down for that long.” Saying no more, he pulls out a smokescreen bomb, throws it to the ground and runs south, heading towards the rendezvous point with the prince in hand.

         “Damn you Augster.” He turns to Shear.  “Shear, get him and the young one at once! I’m heading back to my newly acquired castle to recover and plan my domination. I leave the rest to you.” As Shear gives the command for the other seven men to gather, Revil calls the horse he rode, gets on, then proceeds to head back north. Shear, with the rest of his group, rush off in pursuit of Augster and the child.

         Augster runs with all he had towards the rendezvous point last mentioned by the king while carrying the prince. “If they catch up, and if I’m close to the rendezvous point, the rest of our people will be killed.” He tries to think of a way out of this. “I got to drive them away from the rendezvous point. But first, I have to hide the prince from danger.” After gaining an adequate amount of distance, he spots some shrubs and bushes that could make a great hiding place. He quickly and carefully puts the baby down in there. The child has tired himself from crying. “Stay safe, young prince. I shall return for you once I eliminate our enemies.” He starts to hear some faint footsteps. He places his right hand to the ground and closes his eyes to feel out their distance and position. He used this technique when he was on assassination missions as a Venom Viper general. Now he’s using it against them, and only he knows how to fully utilize this skill, since he created it for his own use. He heads off straight into their direction.

         Shear and the seven men left were searching for Augster and the young child. “Men, be on guard. He used to be one of us, so don’t underestimate his skills,” Shear spoke out to his men in a stricter tone than normal. “We will find him and the child, no matter what. Understand?” Shear looks ahead and sees something approaching straight into him. It was Augster, and he was charging in fast. He manages to see Augster pull out eight throwing knives and alerts his men. “Brace yourselves; he’s launching a pre-emptive strike!” But right in the middle of his sentence, Augster already tossed his eight knives towards them all. The knives hit their targets with deadly accuracy. However, Shear was able to deflect the knife aimed at him with his katana. Seeing that his attack was deflected by Shear, he changes his direction towards the east and disappears into the woods. Shear sees him disappear into the woods. He then turns towards his fallen men who were taken out so utterly easily. “Augster, I will have your head for this!” He dashes headway into the east part of the forest to pursue Augster.


         Augster managed to make it out of the forest. The view in front of him was a small field of plains. He looked up into the sky and noticed he could see some stars. The storm that was overhead was beginning to let up. The rain stopped along with the thunder and lightning, but the clouds were still around, but not as heavy as during the battle between the king and Revil. He then grabbed his side that was injured by Revil’s kick, feeling pain returning. “Oh no, I might have pushed myself too hard back there in that pre-emptive attack, but at least I shortened their numbers and got Shear’s attention.” The pain felt like a small pricking feeling that seemed to slow his reaction somewhat. “This may hinder my battle reactions when Shear catches up with me. He’s fast but not as quick as me, though this injury may see to that I’m afraid.” He looks around the area to get his bearings of the coming battlefield. He walks forward for a few meters then suddenly stops; there’s no more ground up ahead. “Damn, I sure put myself in a real pinch this time. I ran into a dead end—much less a cliff.” He looks beyond the cliff’s edge. “That’s some thick mist. No telling what’s below if one falls.” He turns around and heads for the center of the field to prepare for the inevitable battle about to occur. He checks himself out to calculate what weapons he had left on him, and then chose a katana of medium length for his bout. He hears approaching steps from within the forest from foliage being stepped on. He then hears it suddenly stop. He stands still in order to focus where a sneak attack could occur from within the forest. Then all of a sudden, slightly to his left, a barrage of shuriken came darting out towards him. He brings up his katana and deflects the shuriken as they approach. However, his reaction was slower than he anticipated as the stress to defend his life made his injury more noticeable and caused the last shuriken to pierce his right shoulder. He let out a small shout of pain as he removed the shuriken from his shoulder. He then heard Shear finally showing himself as he charged in for the finishing blow.

         “Now you will die for what you’ve done to my group and by order of Lord Revil”

         “Heh, don’t get too ahead of yourself there,” said Augster. With his left hand, he grabs the two poison daggers that were hidden in his boots. He didn’t hold one in his right hand for he had concerns of his shoulder injury would hinder his aim. With both daggers in his left hand, he threw them at Shear in a way that one aimed for his torso while the other one was aiming for his legs. Even if the daggers didn’t kill him, the poison was so lethal it could take out a man in three minutes. Augster prevents the poison from infecting him because his boots actually have small, thin sheaths to hide the daggers from anyone’s view. These small sheath packs were inconspicuously on the outside of his boots.

         “Nice try, but it looks like you’re getting desperate.” Shear brings out a second small katana exactly like the one in his right hand and deflects both daggers to the ground like flies. He continues to charge towards Augster.

         “I’m not through just yet,” declared Augster. As Shear approached, Augster picked up his katana from the ground, blocked and parried one of Shear’s katana, but the second one struck him on his left side of his body. Augster stumbles to the ground from the slash.

         Shear appeared on Augster’s blindside after the attack. He turns around and says, “Don’t tell me you’re kissing dirt already. This is almost too easy.”

         Augster looked at himself. The situation was looking bad and dire. “Ugh, this wound is really going to hinder me now. What am I going to do? I can’t allow myself to die here.”

         “Face it, it’s all over for you,” Shear said preparing to attack. “You will die here and the kingdom will belong to Lord Revil.”

         Augster starts to talk to himself in his head. “No. It cannot, I will not let it end like this.” He then looks at his left arm that was in heavier armor and remembered his trump card. “Ah, that’s right, I still have that left.” The words of the king ran through his head on what he was told on that day:

Augster, I have given you this power that has literally been in my family’s blood. From the history books within this family’s secure libraries, it was said that this power was how King Sarnaman I became the first king after fending off the ancient rebel army from the Sinister Sahara. However, the texts never described how this power worked, what it’s capable of, or how it was triggered by the first king. Some say it caused fissures, others wild fires. When I found out about this, I tried to unlock this power, but I was unsuccessful. If you are able to somehow, it would make you a very formidable force.

“After a long time, I finally found one part of its secret. But then…”

Oh Augster, that was too close. Your stress levels and heart rate were near fatal after that. I don’t know if this had any effect on my family’s blood history, but I’m guessing that since you got it artificially, there must be some dangerous limit factor on it within you. I’d advise caution in the future with that, or you may expend your very life.

         “After that day, I tried to control it, but it seemed my loose emotions during battles back then allowed it to seep out from time to time. After a while, I got control of my emotions to an extent, but I still didn’t feel safe. That’s when I got this armor placed on my left arm, where the king’s power was transferred through a blood transfusion. This armor has made sure that if I ever lost it, the power would not release. But now, I must release it again. It doesn’t matter now. I’m either going to die here by his blade, or by my own hand!” He grabs his katana with his injured right hand. “My king, young prince, please forgive me if I don’t make it out of this alive. If I have any regrets, it will be to have failed my promise.” He cuts the armor on his left arm straight down the arm. His precision didn’t even leave a cut on his actual skin as the armor fell off to the ground.

         “Hahahaha, and here I am looking at you thinking you were going to take your own life, not having the guts to die by my blade,” Shear said in slight satisfaction that Augster was not going to take his own life.

         “I’m not like that,” Augster replied with a small grin, seeing that Shear had no idea on what was going to occur. “I’m just preparing your grave.”

         "What? How do you plan to accomplish that?” Shear then notices an odd marking on Augster’s left arm. “Wait, what is that!?”

         “This is the last thing you will ever see!” Augster’s voice raged as he said this. The odd marking began to appear to slightly resonate. Augster got to his feet and with all he had, punched the ground with tremendous force. The ground shook all around them as fissures ran across the ground to the edge of the cliff side.

         The violent shaking forced Shear to focus on keeping his footing. “What is this? What kind of power is this!?”

         “It’s a gift from my king, and your demise, Shear.” The edge of the cliff side began to give way, and the rest of the ground began to follow suit as the ground gave way into a landslide. Shear began to lose his footing as the collapsing ground caught up with him. He tried to run, but the ground gave way right under his feet. He yelled in a mix of horror and disgrace as he fell with the ground and vanished into the mist below. “There, I did it. He’s been defeated.”

         Augster tried to get up from the ground, but then, the pain that got him from his first try years ago struck again. “No. Damn it. It’s happening again. My head; my heart; it can’t happen now! My body’s losing it!” His body was stricken with great pain as his heart rate and stress levels reached critical. As he tried to fight it, he realized something even more troubling; the crumbling ground caught up and began to surround him. “I guess I’m not getting out of this either it seems.” His voice began to weaken. “I guess Revil got the last laugh after all.” The ground gave way under and around him. As he began to fall and lose consciousness from the stress on his body, one last statement ran through his mind as he vanished into the mist below:

My king, I’m sorry. Young prince, forgive me for not returning to you.

         The night sky had become clear and filled with the presents of starlight and the moon. Calming winds blew through the forest. Within the forest floor, some scurrying of some kind can be heard. A dog of about medium size is seen sniffing around the ground, as if searching for something. Soon behind it was a man with a one-handed sword in some casual wear. He was about six-foot-two, had some hunting tools and harvesting bags, and black hair, although gray strands were starting to show. He seemed to be in his early to mid fifties from the looks of it.

         “Man, I can’t believe we have to go this far from the village at this time of night for special herbs and fruits that my wife needs for some ‘special occasion’ for tomorrow, huh boy?” The man spoke. The dog responded with a bark. As the man found some rare fruit from a nearby bush, the dog began to bark excitedly and ran off towards the forest edge. “What is it boy? Wait up!” The man finishes getting enough fruit into his bag and pursued his dog companion. He reaches the edge of the forest where the dog stopped by a bush and barked at it repeatedly. “You know I’m too old for this kind of thing. Now what is it?” As the dog barked, crying was suddenly heard from near the edge of the bush.

         The man pushed aside some branches and was surprised to see a small baby boy hidden within it. He was still wrapped up inside his blanket that he was placed in. “What is a baby doing here in the middle of nowhere? Someone must have left him here. I wonder why?” He bends down and picks up the child. He opens the blanket a little bit and sees that a name tag was on the child’s right arm. “Hmmm, ‘Burbont’ huh? Well, I can’t just leave you here. Come on, I’ll take you back with us.” The child began to quiet down and began to slumber as he felt secure in someone’s arms. The man takes a bag and attaches some rope he had on him to make a small carrying pouch with what tools he had on him. He carefully places the child and slowly places the bag on his back with the rope securing on his shoulders. Softly, he says to his dog, “Let’s go, boy. We’re done here. We should head back now; it’ll be dawn by the time we get back.” The dog gave an agreeing moan as he knew not to disturb the child. With everything set, the group head back; heading westward through the forest.

         Unbeknownst to him, he has just saved the one hope for Enerjest’s future—the heir to the throne.


         Meanwhile back at the castle of Enerjest, Revil was sitting on his new throne enjoying what he has claimed at long last. The morning sun had begun to rise for a new day as the morning rays went through the glass stained windows of the throne room. General Gorno was nearby in the throne room as well.

         “Lord Revil, there has been no word from Shear or the Venom Viper,” Gorno said concerned on their mission. “Dawn is approaching and they have not returned.”

         “Worry not, general. If they had lost, Augster would probably be back here by now foolishly to take me down. And even so, he wouldn’t have the stamina to get here after the battles he could have possibly had with them all.”

         “But still—“

         “Enough general,” Revil cut him off. “Don’t be troubled by these things. Even if they somehow were defeated by Augster, who use to be one of my best, they most likely carried out their task and got the young heir as well. And I have a pretty strong feeling that Augster won’t be bothering us anyway. The only way he could have won would have been to take down Shear through a suicidal attack into his weapon while striking him down.” Revil stands from his throne. “But enough talk for now, whether they’re alive or dead—Augster or Shear, or the Venom Viper—is of little importance. I must continue my plan while I have the edge. Send one of your men back to our homeland and gather any forces left that we have; it’s time to siege this land under my rule.

         “At once, Lord Revil,” Gorno said.

         “And from this day forth, I am King Revil.”

         “Yes, King Revil.”

         General Gorno told one of his men to head back to the homeland on his horse. With that, he dismissed himself from King Revil’s presence. The king was alone in the throne room as he gazed at what was before him.

         “This kingdom, and all the land around it, now belongs to me. Now I will rule this country the way it’s supposed to be ruled. My reign begins now!”