WALK : CLASH OF SERPENTS

Chapter 3: Approaching Future

Three hundred years ago , King Chrome XIX with help of King of East and North destroyed the man who threatened to eradicate the world when he first appeared four hundred years ago . Events ensued from betrayal and thirst for power leading up to Selvesters , Weselton and others facing each other in a long battle to capture Venefics from land of Ardania and gain more power .

CHROME ERA 416

Silence ensued in the room after Prince Keith's request , immidiaetly leading to outcry.

"Has Prince Keith lost his marbles ?" Minister of defense remarked.

"Even for you brother , to know that you would stoop to such a level as to break rules is really a disgrace and pains my heart to be the one not to stop you before you headed down this path ." Eldest Prince fondled his hair giving Keith a pitiful look.

"Are you sure of what you just said ?" King Lucius stared at Keith .

"Yes, your Majesty." Keith replied without hesitation.

"Ridiculous ! To think such a rant would come from Prince of Selvesters himself ...oh my ! " Minister of Finance sighed.

"But isn't that just the thing . Do we even know it is Prince speaking?" Minister of Defence cut in. "What do you mean ?" As he drew attention of other ministers and King.

"Well! He was with a Venefic when he broke out . And then why would such a being take him to secluded location just to talk ? It is quite clear that his mind is being possessed by that vile magic ." As there was a murmur in hall with several of the ministers who seemed to accept the conjecture already .

"As hard as it pains me to say , I have to admit that my brother is not weak enough to be possessed by a Venefic especially at large distance since we clearly can't detect Venefic inside Palace and it's neighbouring areas . So I found it utterly hard to believe." Milan said proudly.

Keith wondered whether he should be grateful to his brother but just kept his silence. It wasn't like he expected everyone to be calm and agreeable especially with the proposition he had just made.

"Explain yourself, Keith ." King Lucius demanded with his sharp gaze falling upon Keith .

"I know that we have been fighting Venefics and of course our end goal is eradication of them all but I believe since it is already made clear by now that we cannot extract magic from that specific Venefic , it means keeping him in captivity is nothing more than acknowledging his existence as independent of our mutual benefit . His presence is clearly as same as not even as being here so I think that we cannot reap any benefit from him . Now he claims that he has huge power stored up after these thirty years and yet the fact that he clearly isn't wrecking havoc means he is not out for destruction . In last war that you caught him , I remember that no one died due to his attacks so I believe if he is allowed freedom like he wants and yet remains under my supervision , I can even ensure that he doesn't wreak havoc or becomes a threat to us . That is the real I , Prince Keith of Selvesters am willing to stake my status on him . Because he would truly be indeed valuable partner for me ." Keith's red eyes shone brightly in the lot room gleaming into everyone who met his eyes .

Lucius had a smirk on his face as all were looking at him . Ministers just gave a look of despise at Keith while Prince Milan had a bemused expression.

Several minutes ago

""You are ... annoying." He sighed ruffling his hair.

"Now ! Now ! Don't be like that . I believe I have an offer that can grant you the freedom you want ." Keith smiled.

"You do? " He raised his eyes in disbelief. Keith knew that in order to allow him freedom, he would need to take responsibility for his actions in future which means supervising him. If he just asks his father to allow him to roam free in city , it would cause mass panic and a chaotic situation . That is why if he decides to take him out with him on his journey, then both freedom and aversion of chaos will be achieved.

"So you want me to follow you if I want to get out of this iron cell and enjoy myself ?" He facepalmed himself after hearing what Keith had in mind .

"Yes ! "

"You don't look hesitant at all." He asked surprised at which Keith just rolled his eyes .

"Why would I be ? I told you that I would grant you freedom so I will convince my father one way or another . After all , you were pretty sure that I had authority to let you go when you were blackmailing me , didn't you ?" Keith stared at him .

"Fine ! Fine ! Don't stare ..it is like we are having an intense moment "

"We already are having that though, aren't we ." Keith tilted his head as if he couldn't understand what he was trying to say .

"Just hurry, Prince. Before I change my mind ." He said in deep voice .

"You aren't fooling me ." Keith sighed as he left the Venefic.

Now

King Lucius VII ever since he has ascended the throne had always lead his kingdom in one of the most victorious battles ever. Due to his grand splendour, he was regarded only third to King Chrome XVII and the King Chrome XIX . Even so while his soldiers cloak and armour came back drenched in blood , he wondered whether those who couldn't access magic were worthy of pity since they could only work as foot soldiers in war or respect for the valour they showed despite having not any of that .

In the end , he couldn't decide just as he couldn't decide whether to understand Venefics or not . After all , there was an opportunity to talk to one of the Venefics in war that happened ten years ago but even so he couldn't bring himself to and just focused on capturing them and when that couldn't happen, he found himself marooned by dead soldiers on both sides .

Even so , he didn't feel any sort of feeling towards dead Venefic who were fighting for their own reason like they were . It was certainly a discriminative judgement that had been seeded into him ever since he was a child and perhaps he had also accepted it more easily than anyone else.

The war against Venefics and eradication of them was nothing more than a duty passed down generations and he just reiterated same thing his father told him to his sons and yet here he was . His youngest son Keith was looking at him with sense of determination and something that he couldn't bring in himself all for sake of a Venefic .

He had a smirk on his face .

Maybe Keith could bring himself to understand these creatures unlike him even though he wanted to .

"Very well . I will allow it ." He could hear the atmosphere changing rapidly at his words but he had decided .

Keith took his leave after getting approval from his father and walked in the palace hall steadily keeping his composure .

He could hear familiar footsteps approaching behind him as he gazed back to look his brother Milan walking with his blue robes shimmering down to the floor as usual .

"Be mindful of the future approaching you , brother. Today was indeed a bold step ..too bold if I might add ." As Milan leaned closer to his ear and then walked silently without looking back .

"I know . I am well aware ." Keith bit his lip realising he still had no way to know how to find the Venefic . He had managed to not let guards attack him but where would he find him ... should he go back to the spot where they were talking earlier ?

He shook his head at balcony . How could he forget to ask such a thing ? He sure was careless .

"Looking for me ." A sudden voice shook Keith as he jumped aside clutching his heart to see smiling blonde haired Venefic .

"How did you get here ?" Keith asked composing himself . Did he really have to surprise him like that ?

"Don't go into details. I mean you probably slipped past the guards since it is quite clear that no way they would allow you to go out alone and since I am smarter than you , I can definitely get inside too." He chuckled.

"Smarter than me . I suppose that is right but still you don't have to say it so bluntly ." Keith internally thought .

"So I take it you got permission?"

"Yeah." Keith put his hands on railing while looking at garden outside as the night air blew past them .

"On what condition?"

"What do you mean?" Keith looked at him pretending to be unaware but sighed .

"I guess you would know that there would be a condition. It is nothing to worry about. You won't be harmed by it ." Keith assured him .

"I am going to be your partner if I remember correctly. I believe sharing is one way to achieve good partnership ."

"Oh! How nice of you to care .." Keith chuckled.

"Don't be silly . I simply wish to know all the info that is there to matter concerning us ." Came back an instant reply.

"You have no restriction on speech, do you ?" Keith internally groaned.

"The condition is that if you harm any of the people of Selvesters or its property or go without my permission in uncharted area, I would be responsible for it . ...

"And ..." He stared at Keith.

"And if that happens , I would have to rescind my claim to throne as a Prince and lose all royal rights ."

"I see . Then you better hope that I don't do that ." He looked away at crescent at which Keith just blinked his eyed .

"Sure." Keith wouldn't say that he would be completely fine with losing his right to throne or couldn't care less . It wasn't simply about proving that he was right in choosing this Venefic as a partner but also because he wanted to ascend to throne too and meet his father's expectations along with cultivating his own beliefs .

He was sure if this Venefic was like that , then there could be more of them . More like him who are not interested in killings and just interested in freedom. Even so , he was going to keep a watchful eye on him .

"By the way , I have picked up a name for myself. Just happened to hear it along the way or something." As Keith was broken from his thoughts .

"Oh ! Good for you ."

"Aren't you going to ask me ?" He rolled his eyes.

"That is a given , isn't it ? I mean why would you tell me that if you weren't already going to reveal your name ." Keith tilted his head .

"I am supposed to be the smart one ..." He internally thought.

"Fine ! What shall I call thee , partner ?" Keith sighed as the silence continued after his statement.

"Felix Adelbert."

"You came up with that in just one hour . Well! It is not bad ." Keith remarked.

"And what do I call you ?"

"Keith . Lucius Von Keith ." As both shook each other hands . "To the future approaching us ." Unaware of person hiding behind the pillar connected to balcony watching them both .

Somewhere else

The trees move gently , as if they can't muster enough force to break away from the pull of the roots . The lightning crackling in air posed threat of abalzing bonefire in an instant it may struck them.

Despite that , she couldn't stop. With her feets getting stuck in vines again and again, she pushes on barely managing herself to stop from tripping over. Her red hair flowing as if gleaming her presence away in ephemeral transit of darkness that night goddess provided as a cover .

"You really think you can escape us , little girl." A harsh dry voice vibrated through the calm air reverberating throughout the forest as she tried to remain steadfast to stop her ears distract her from pushing forward.

She clearly remembered the conversation she had just heard.

"Finally that foolhardy 's light went out . It seemed like it wouldn't ever end ." One guard muttered

"Well it had to . Or ours would have definitely gone there to crush them all." The other replied.

"Ha! Ha ! You aren't wrong , Snel . That is just the what madness would have droven towards .."

"Then how are they planning to subjugate it now ?"

"By taking out the new brat there ...I think they already sent someone to silt her throat ."

"That is good . Any more delay or trouble in acquisition and we would be dancing day and night like crazy ." The other sighed relieved.

The girl hearing the conversation widened her eyes running as quickly as she could but even when tried to be sneaky, it appeared that she was noticed by few guards who are following her now .

Even so , she had to reach the Princess in time in order to warn her . It was necessary at all cost . But the way she had been running for past one hour and they moved, it was quite clear that she was getting more tired than they were since they had been training longer than her and usually took long walks .

She hid herself in trees when she approached the thick again as guards following here looked around confused.

"Where did that runt go.?"

"I have been following as same as you . There is one thing I do know though . She was never going to outpace speed so she must be here hiding somewhere .." the other remarked .

"Ha! You are right . Where are you hiding ..you think you can play this all night . If you come down yourself , we might just kill you in one strike ." The guard tightened his spear as if garnishing a weapon to chaff her skin off.

The girl remained hiding. She wasn't sure herself that taking refuge here was best choice but she knew that her legs couldn't outpace them long so she had to bet on that they can't find the tree top where she was hiding.

That was just a faint glimmer of false hope . Knowing that , and yet she had chosen that to stake her fate on.

She was not exactly in leeway situation but even so she was sure that she could hear sounds clearly here . So why was there peace? Why was there silence all of sudden when just few moments ago , she could hear threats and chatter of guards who were trying to find her .

Her eyes widened in horror as yellow colour reflected on her iris . The flames were set near the trees . Without waiting to find her, the guards had set all trees in vicinity abalzed with little of the magic they could use back in South .

She was in state of panic at the scene . She hadn't considered they would have even little magic or would resort to that . But then again , what was she expecting after hearing the conversation from Earlier ? She sighed internally.

She had to hold out . That was the only choice . The flames and smoke will go into her lungs so until she could spot a moment when they were bit careless , she had to jump and use the chaos caused by abalzed trees cutting off their path to escape .

"Two...three...four ...five. minutes..no ! " As she could barely hold herself conscious waiting for the opportune moment . But even after five minutes, it didn't look like it had come .

She tried her best to heighten her senses but her body failed her as smoke continued to fill her lungs slowly and she found herself losing consciousness.

"I can't..." She groaned as her vision got blurry . As she was about to go to unconsciousness , she heard cries .

"What the devil?" As a guard who was holding a spear found himself sinking in earth while other tried to drag him back but quickly all got pulled into it as one of the guards jumped back .

"What was that ?" He held his spear even after realising it's futility against what he saw just now .how could anyone posses such magic in South.?

"I have to inform .."

"I don't think so . " As he fell down with blood flowing from his neck from the cut he got .

The girl opened her eyes to see herself being carried by someone few moments later as he put her down leaning on a charred tree.

"So it was you who saved me." She rubbed her eyes as the figure kept his silence.

"Thank you " She looked back at the scene to see one of the guards lying dead and other were gone . It looks he died from silted throat . That was good . That could be regarded as normal method of killing.

She breathed deeply relieved "It seems that existence of Venefics in South still remains hidden . The future approaching is still not in clear just yet ." She must reach the Princess soon.

......