Rise of a King: part 1

Crimson castle, sitting upon Destiny Hill lining up perfectly with the rising sun. An evil tyrant who has the audacity to call himself king of Halo Island awakens to the scent of fresh roses laid out on the ground. He opens his eyes and gazes upon the three other women sharing his incestuous bed. He throws his long hair behind him and gets up off the bed. His chiseled body covered in scars aches as it does all mornings. He walks over to his robe and covers his body, allowing the silk to gently graze his face. He takes a crisp bite into a bright red apple and walks out to his balcony overlooking Crimson City. The King gazes down at the city, letting a familiar madness stir within him, and slowly begins to laugh. He madly throws his hands in the air as he exclaims, “Good morning my kingdom, today is a new day!” His laughter continues, echoing throughout the city.
Bellita Beach, 3 miles west of Crimson City. The morning sunlight and the calm waves brushing gently against the beach as the day begins. A young man dressed in torn rags, rows his boat to the shore. He hops out onto the hot sand, walking up the beach turning himself to face the rising sun. He breathes fast and heavy; as he lets his muscles relax, pushing the hair away from his face. A cool gentle breeze from the sea kisses the sweat from his brow and forehead. He slowly inhales, stretching out his arms and closing his eyes, embracing the gentle rays of the sun. He slowly opens his eyes and whispers softly to himself, “Today is a new day.”
Walking through Beguile forest. The sounds of the mysterious wood surround the young man as he searches for the city. After an hour of wandering around the forest, he sits down, and leans against a tree.
In the distance the Young man hears a noise. He slowly rises to listen more closely. The noise draws nearer as the young man steps silently closer toward the noise. From deep inside the forest, two monstrous wolves dart toward him, their mouths watering with anticipation of a new meal. One of the wolves with a scar over his left eye slows down, as the other takes the lead. The young man quickly unsheathes the sword on his back, a beautiful sword with a lighting bolt down the handle, the steel blade forming a perfect tip at the end. He gracefully jumps over to his left and strikes down one of the wolves. The other wolf nears and begins to slowly circle around the young man, showing him his fangs. The young man slowly exhales and calmly puts his sword away. He stands in front of the wolf and slowly comes down to the wolf’s face. Looking directly into the wolf’s eyes he silently says, “There is a beast in this forest, one more monstrous than any creature alive.” The wolf begins to slowly back away, still snarling his teeth. The young man staying close, glares into the wolf’s eyes. The wolf stops and howls for the forest to hear and quickly turns to run away. The young man sighs, looks down, saddened at the sight of the corpse of the wolf. “You had no control over your hunger.” He slowly begins to walk away.
A mystic pond with a single stone in the middle. The young man, exhausted, falls to his knees and begins gulping the water from the pond. From behind he hears a noise. He quickly jumps up, wrapping his hand around the sword handle. The young man sees a majestic white horse standing near, looking over at him. The young man wipes his mouth, and waves his arms to try and scare the horse away. The horse slowly begins to walk over to him, appearing to have some trouble. The young man looks down and sees the horse’s leg has been cut. The young man rips both of his sleeves off and soaks one in water. He slowly walks over to the stallion. “You do not fear me?” he says. He slowly bends down to wash the cut with his wet sleeve, wrapping the wound with the dry one. He stands up slowly stroking the mane of the angelic animal and begins to turn and leave. As he walks on he hears the stallion follow him. The young man stops as the horse affectionately rests his head on the young man’s shoulder and neighs softly. The young man turns and rubs the horses face smiling. As he gently pats the horse’s stomach he whispers, “Okay.” They both begin to walk. The young man whispers to the horse, “I will call you, Chloe, twas the name of my mother.” He and Chloe continue on until finally he finds the city gates.

Gimora Gates, the entrance to the city on the west side. The young man arrives but not ready for what he sees. Dozens of sick starving people, wearing nothing but sheets, their feet bare against the jagged rocks. He watches in horror as three children savagely fight over a loaf of bread. One of the children is thrown to the side and looks up at him, piercing the young man’s eyes with his stare. The young man says to himself, “I pray a higher being enter the lives of these suffering people, for it appears since their birth he has remained absent.” He slowly walks over to the gate, when suddenly the doors open as six guards surrounding a beastly man, walk out. Towering over all of them the giant walks, his face red with anger. Two trembling soldiers behind him hit the back of his legs and the giant falls to his knees, crying out in pain. A puny commander walks over and yells in the giant’s face, “You will pay for involving yourself in official business.” The commander walks away with arrogance in his eyes and stupidity in his voice as he yells for all of the soldiers to begin savagely beating the giant with wooden staffs. Chloe begins to stamp in place and nudges the young man. The young man turns trying to ignore what was happening as the soldiers continue to beat the giant, showing no sign of stopping. The young man begins to feel a burning in his chest as his hands begin to shake. He finally quickly turns and runs over to the commander. “I beg you sir, whatever crime this man committed, needs not a punishment this severe.” The commander snaps his fingers as the soldiers fall back into a perfect line. The commander, looks up at the young man’s eyes and whispers, “Perhaps you would like to see what it means to interfere with official business.” All of the soldiers instinctively rush over to him. The young man quickly darts over to his right and knees one of the soldiers in the chest. Before dropping his leg, he spins around and drives his heel into another soldiers face. He drops down to his knees and elbows another in the leg. As he tries to stand back up the commander knocks him hard in the back of his head. He slowly stumbles clutching the back of his skull as the soldiers all pile on top of him. He sees the earth turn upside down as a ringing sound carries him into sleep.

A dark wet cellar. Vile rats scurry around the young man chained to a wall with one window above him. As he wakens his head begins to pound and he begins to remember what happened at Gimora Gates. The young man gently shakes his head as he slowly closes his eyes, and concentrates on his breathing. When the young man slowly begins to calm down the cellar doors fly open, and numerous guards pour in the room and line up on either sides of the door. The evil tyrant enters quickly; his face squinted, looking around the cellar in disgust. “I am truly sorry for putting you in this dreadful place…what is your name?” The tyrant inquires. “Shall I go first? I am Carlucious, King of Halo Island.”
The young man looks up under his brow and says, “I am Khan, I am from the prison sector of Skull Island.”
“You lived in a prison sector?” Carlucious asks.
“I was brought up there.” Khan whispers. Carlucious smiles and calls over one of his soldiers. He falls to his knee and holds out Khan’s sword, Carlucious takes it from him as he tell the solider to fall back. “Where did you get this sword Khan?” Khan lowers his head and gives no answer. Carlucious quickly puts the blade to Khan’s neck and exclaims, “If you do not wish to have your throat cut open now, you will talk!”
Khan turns his face away from the blade and yells back, “The sword is not my own!”
Carlucious moves the sword away, running his finger over the lightning bolt on the handle, than says, “It was your fathers, was it not?” Khan quickly faces Carlucious and glares up at him. The King kneels grinning in Khan’s face and says, “I knew your father well, I can recognize this sword as if it were my own. I fought by his side for years, he was the greatest warrior I will ever know. When he would battle the heavens would cry and the gods would rattle the skies. The earth would rumble when he screamed into battle.” Carlucious leans in closer, “How is it you, the son of a god like warlord, ended up on a Skull Island?”
Khan slumps his body, feeling weak and overcome with sorrow as he replies, “When my father was about to leave for the final battle of the New Land War, he told my mother to leave for the Skull Island, he said he would meet us there. We would leave and begin our new life here in Crimson City. He gave me his sword that day. He told me, never to allow my own demons to control who I was. Those were his last words to me. When my mother and I arrived to the prison sector, I imagined it to be what hell was like.” Carlucious stands and turns away from Khan to hide a wicked grin, than says, “What of your mother, you left her there?”
Khan muscles tensed as he screams, “Never! One night when she was putting me to sleep, bandits stormed into our house, and when my mother fought them, they beat her, they...they raped her. All in front …OF ME! When they finally left, I ran over to my mother and I grabbed her hand. She was…so weak. She told me to run and wait for my father. She told me I was an angel, and I’ll never change, and she had never loved another like how she loved me. She died in my arms that night. I ran away, hiding in every vile and disgusting corner I had come across. Growing in the dust. Months later, I heard of my father’s death, and I knew right then, all worth living was lost.”
Carlucious turns to face Khan and says, “When I heard of your father’s death, I wept for him...but I am glad he never had to see his son reduced to this pitiful creature that lay before me now.”
Khan fights his chains and kicks his feet wildly in Carlucious’ direction but realizes it is useless. Finally with pride in his voice, he screams, “My father knows me well! He speaks to me…in storms.”
Carlucious laughs loud and long than says, “What are you doing here boy?”
Khan begins to breathe and composes himself than says, “I need a new life. The Skull islands are being invaded by the Tri-Islands, with the coming of war, I fled to the place my father wanted us to live. Here.”
Carlucious, giving Khan’s sword back to the solider, puts his hands around Khan’s neck and says, “For the memory of your father, I shall set you free,” Khan trys desperately to escape Carlucious’ suffocating grip, “But listen to me boy when I say, that if trouble follows you where you go in Crimson City, you will not enjoy the spoils of my mercy.” Carlucious calls over a soldier, who brutally knocks Khan out, they release him and carry him out. Carlucious walks over to his Captain and says, “Malcom, keep a weather eye on him, we need this boy dead no longer. Also send a message to the Tri-Islands, inform them of there failure.”
The blistering midday sun in Crimson City. The hot sandy ground greets Khan’s face as he regains consciousness. As he stands and looks around the streets of Crimson City he hears thunder rumble somewhere in the distance, and a gentle wind cools his face. He whispers to the wind “I am here now father.” From behind him he hears a man yelling in his direction. He turns to see the giant from Gimora Gates coming over to him with a huge smile taking up half of his face. Before they can exchange words the giant lifts Khan up off the ground and hugs him, nearly crushing his ribs. “Bless you sir, had you not intervened I’d be under the ground right now!” The giant exclaims. Khan laughs as he is put down and says, “Your gratitude is not needed sir, I wish I would have stopped them earlier, had I not been so hasty. My name is Khan.” Khan extends his hand as the giant says, “I wasn’t given a name, but my friends call me Bear.” They warmly shake hands and begin to walk, Khan asks, “Bear, what had you done to provoke such a beating?” Bear’s mouth seems to almost disappear beneath his thick beard as he replies, “I was stopping the Round…every three weeks a small group of soldiers goes to every village, and picks the three strongest men for soldiers, and three of the most gorgeous women, for the King himself. My sister was chosen today, and I was not going to allow them to take her.” A sad silence was shared between the two. Bear smiles and says, “That reminds me now, my sister wanted to meet you, will you come to see her? I have your horse there waiting for you.” Khan smiles and replies yes.
Bear’s village, full of sorrow and misery. Huts falling apart as little children starving in there doorways sit and watch the cloudless skies. They enter Bear’s hut as he yells for his sister. Out from the back room she walks out, her hair flowing gently behind her from a gentle breeze. Her powerful brown eyes look over at him. Khan looks at her, hypnotized by her beauty as he stops breathing. His heart begins to beat slower and harder, as his ears became warm. His stomach begins to tighten, and his throat begins to dry as she steps in closer to him, her wonderful body moving toward the warm rays of the sun. Her thick beautiful lips seductively begin to move as she says in a deep sensuous voice, “So, this is the brave hero, who rescued my little brother from those monstrous soldiers?” Bear walked toward her and said, “Julia, this is Khan.” She looks at him in his eyes as Khan starts to feel his knees tremble. “Well say something, brave warrior.” Khan slowly begins to ignore her beauty as he is annoyed by Julia’s rudeness. “Not incredibly bright is he Bear?” She snaps.
Khan steps in close to her and says, “Such a beautiful face should not have such pestering things to say.” She looks surprised than asks him what he said. Before Khan was given a chance to speak again a man wearing bear fur and covered in jewelry walks in, and kisses Julia softly on the lips. He looks over at Khan with his round soft face and dry green eyes and says with a high voice, “Who have we here?” Julia with a less eager tone says, “Obrean, this is the man that saved Bear this morning.” Obrean walks over with a slight limp in his step to Khan and says, “I suppose thanks are in order, for saving my future brother in law. He is my best soldier.”
Khan looks over at Bear confused, “Soldier?” He asks.
“Yes, he along with many men in this village, and neighboring villages, are part of my militia, the Crimson Resistance.” Obrean says with a triumphant sound in his voice.
Khan with interest replies, “Resistance against what?”
The room went silent, “Resistance against what? Resistance against that tyrannical monster Carlucious and everything he stands for. Your eyes cannot be shut, you have seen the horrors…the people in this city cannot live, because there days are filled with service to that monster. The people of this city suffer and we intend to put that to an end.”
Khan lowers his head and says, “You think rebellion will put an end to that?”
Obrean feeling agitated begins to walk out the hut, than turns and says, “We are having a celebration tonight to acknowledge the first time a Rounds has been prevented, it would be appropriate I believe for you to be there.” Obrean turns to Julia, “Come Julia, finish getting ready.” Julia rushes out with Obrean, darting one final glare over at Khan. Bear follows as well, as Khan is left alone in the hot tent.
Late at night in the center of town, a large fire illuminates everything as people dressed in colorful clothing dance around it celebrating. The children all sit on a log, tired, but with joy in there faces. Khan walks around observing everyone. He says to himself, “What a wonder man is that in times of trial and strife, a celebration filled with laughter and dance may occur.” He notices Obrean standing with Julia, Bear and a few other people. Julia sees him and quickly walks over to Khan. Furious, she yells at him, “If you be a log travelling down stream, I beg you leave now! This Resistance is vital to my people’s survival, whoever takes such things lightly need leave now.”
As Julia continues screaming in his face, Khan begins to feel uneasy. He looks around the dark wood surrounding the village. He interrupts her and inquires, “Do you have watchmen at this celebration?” She stops and stares at him, “Tell me!” Julia looks confused and says, “Yes…they report to Obrean every 5 minutes but-”
Khan walks over to Obrean and tries to talk but Obrean puts his hand in Khan’s faces and says, “Please, I have things to do, you can understand that can’t you?”
Khan grabs Obrean’s arm forcefully and says, “When was the last time a guard reported to you.”
Obrean throws Khan’s hands off him, pushing him back and says, “I say thee get off! Do not test me pilgrim.” Obrean storms away as Khan begins frantically looking for Bear. Suddenly from somewhere in the distance an explosion rattles the earth. The King’s soldiers begin coming from all directions, surrounding everyone. The rebels try desperately to fight them off as they yell to for the children to run, but they are quickly overwhelmed. Malcom walks into the center of the screaming crowd and yells above everyone, “You, infectious waste of Crimson City, you have spread your plague of unnecessary rebellion for far to long, we therefore plan to execute all villainous scum who do not submit to King Carlucious’ rule…tonight!” The soldiers begin to attack everyone savagely, as Khan unsheathes his sword to fight back as many as he can. He frees many rebels and tells them all to run. He see’s Julia trying to fight off Malcom, she is struck to the ground. Khan rushes over to her aid to fight off Malcom.
Malcom turns to Khan as he smiles and removes his armor. “Let us see boy, if you are worthy of that sword.” Malcom quickly knocks Khan in his head with the back of his fist. He quickly overpowers him and clutches Khan’s neck, bringing him down to the ground. Khan feels a burning in his chest and begins to shake as Malcom continues to speak, “Your useless gesture of sacrifice was rather foolish, I beg thee stand up to a mountain and blow, see if the mountain will move. You and your people shall all die. Death, like a wolf, is relentless, we cannot escape it.” Khan closing his eyes loses control and finally lets all the anger in him burn as he lets out a terrible scream and slowly pulls Malcom’s arms off of him. He continues to scream as he feels his entire body burn with rage. Khan quickly spins and gives Malcom a devastating kick to the chest, causing him to spit blood and fall back. He yells wildly as three soldiers grab him and beat him. They struggle but are unable to subdue him. Two more desperately try to hold him as they finally bring him down to the ground, beating him madly with there staffs. He quickly throws all of them off as he jumps up and darts over at one of them and wildly punches his face, screaming over the sound of all the madness. More soldiers run over and begin to beat him viciously. He knocks a couple off of there feet but Khan slowly begins to blackout. Suddenly Khan see’s a luminous white light engulf everything around him. Khan passes out from exhaustion.
The highest mountain far away from the city. It’s highest peak overlooking the entire island. Carlucious walks out onto the edge of the highest cliff as the sky turns to Twilight. He puts on a beaded bracelet with markings of a forgotten language as a light begins to descend from the sky. Carlucious begins to fall to one knee as the light takes shape of a fairy, emitting a green glow.
“Guardian of Twilight, I humbly ask, permit me a glimpse into my future.” The Twilight fairy nods her head as she tells him to stand, “Tell me, when will this troublesome rebellion be over?”
The Twilight Fairy replies in a voice of chimes, “Soon-” Carlucious grins, “Soon great King your castle will be invaded, you cannot stop it. Soon the light who adores the serpent will join the son of lightning, you cannot stop it. The earth will shake as your rule will be brought to an end, you cannot stop it. A storm follows close behind you, you cannot stop it.” With a blinding flash of green, the fairy disappears. Carlucious stands in silence, shaking in anger as he whispers to himself, “Foolish witch.”



The darkest cave with a flame burning bright. Khan and Julia are alone as Julia tends to his wounds. Khan begins to wake as the wound across his eye is washed. He jumps up as his voice echoes in the cave. “Calm yourself!” Julia screams, “Come back over here, those wounds need to be cleaned.” Khan sits over by her as she takes care of his scars. Khan looks at her and asks what happened. “We were attacked by Carlucious’ soldiers…you see what he does? Killing and taking what ever he desires. A man like that does not deserve life nor death, only suffering. I do not know what has become of Bear, the others, or…Obrean. I stopped the soldiers, and carried you here.”
Khan looks up and says, “You…stopped them?” Julia nodded than places her warm hands over the wound on Khan’s chest. She hides her smirk as she feels Khan’s heart begin beating faster. She slowly closes her eyes. A white light begins to brightly shine from her hands as the wound closes up completely.
Khan looks back up at her as she opens back her eyes. “Julia…what…how…”
Julia stands up and stands over the fire shivering. “I don’t know. I’ve…since birth, I’ve always been able to…It was only since I met Obrean he and I realized I could, destroy.” She kneels down gazing into the fire, “I have no knowledge of what I am supposed to do, I have not heard a voice, nor had a dream or anything at all so expected telling me what this light is meant for, if it is meant for anything at all.” Julia’s tears roll down her cheek and fall into the fire. Khan pulls himself closer to the fire and adds more wood, as he picks up his shirt and places it over Julia’s body. He rubs her back gently as he asks her if she’s cold.
“Of course I am!” Julia exclaims. Khan than begins to throw more wood into the fire. The warmth begins to fill the cave. Julia wipes her tears away as she pushes Khan back onto his back and continues cleaning his wounds. “What happened to you? I have never seen anyone behave the way you did when the soldiers attacked.” Khan pushes her hand away and gets up away from the heat of the fire. They remain silent until finally Julia looks down than says, “Khan, I think we should rest, in the morning we have to try and find the others.” Khan nods his head and lies down as he slowly dozes off, his mind restless. From far away Khan hears thunder as he begins to fall into sleep.
Carlucious’ room filled with seductive women all sprawled on his floor sleeping. His doors fly open as his queen enters the room. She kicks the women on the ground as she yells at her King, “Oh my faithful King, tear yourself away from your duties if you can and attend to your vistor who said he would speak to no one but you.” Carlucious slowly gets out of his bed throwing a woman off of him saying, “Watch your tongue Caterina, you are my queen yes, but no one speaks to me like that.” He strikes her down to the ground as he storms out of his room. Caterina lay on the ground crying as she holds her hand on her face. The King goes down and sees a man with his face hidden by a hood. “What is it you want?” As the enigmatic man slowly removes his hood the king says, “Ah, come for another deal have you?”