The Forbidden Demon Of Tapelis

The Spies

"Tapelis is in shambles my King, their kingdom is faced with this drought at the time of the season. They lack water, weeks from now and Tapelis will be dry. Their crops will die, starvation will be on the land, and their army will be so weak. If we attack now we will crush them" Tuzar said.

"If that's the case how have they survived the season for so long?" King Kramus asked.

"The previous King had it all under control but his recent passing showed the faults we see and hear now. The new King is 25 years old and is competent enough so their economy is crumbling. I have seen it myself my King, the people are complaining, and the army is struggling. Let's take advantage and wage war" Tuzar said.

"Are you sure of this?" King Kramus asked.

"I'm so sure, their market prices are so high due to the change in their season" Tuzar added. "Trust me and let conquer Tapelis."

"After I discuss with the war minister, we'll decide if we'll war Tapelis. You're dismissed" King Kramus said.

King Kramus thought about this news for a while but decide to wait till he got to speak to the war ministers.

King Kramus is the ruler of Dangari the arch-rivals of Tapelis. Even with their allies, they have never been able to conquer Tapelis and this made their King, Kramus so mad. All allies joined them so as not to lose in battle because Dangari had a large army. King Kramus hired Tuzar to spy on Tapelis for him, so he came back with pieces of information he knew King Kramus would love to hear.

King Kramus spent time with his war minister and he told them the pieces of information he got from the spy.

"The spy said Tapelis is in shambles and we should wage war and given our large army size we'll be certain of a victory," King Kramus said.

"Are you sure of this? we lose every time we face Tapelis. I don't want us to stress about this or waste our time on this. We start great each time and suddenly they win. We have nothing to lose, we have more allies, we have everything we would ever need" The war minister said.

"I understand why you sound this way, but losing makes me want it more, I came here so we can come up with a better strategy and develop a better weapon to wage war on Tapelis. We lost each time it must mean something cause they never give up even when the odds are against them" King Kramus said.

"What would you gain from this?" the war minister asked.

"I'll be the most fear ruler ever known and the greatest ruler ever known," King Kramus said.

"What if you don't win?" the war minister asked.

"Then we'll rebuild and prepare again, but while I live I'll never give up no matter how many times I lose," King Kramus said. "Now how's the improvement in our armours?"

"It has been enhanced but we need more quantity for all members of the army" the war minister responded.

"How long would this take?" King Kramus asked.

"This week we should be able to provide armour for all the troops" the war minister responded.

"I love the sound of this, once everyone has armour we wage war," King Kramus said.

"We can't lose this now our large army and our special wears and gears, we'll surely defeat Tapelis this time," King Kramus said as he looks at the armour. "Has this been tested?"

"Yeah, it is stronger than the other, the best we have created. Your majesty outdid himself on this one" the war minister stated. "Your majesty let's lay low, send the spy back to Tapelis when they are most vulnerable and when they least expect we attack."

"No!!! I don't do that, I don't ambush I attack and crush my enemies. What do I look like hiding to attack like am in fear of losing?" King Kramus yelled.

"We have lost a lot of troops every single time we attack Tapelis, and you know this I have to be sure so we don't lose troops again for nothing are you sure you can trust that spy," the war minister said. "If not we can send more spies and gather more information."

King Kramus saw sense in what the war minister had said and he paused to think about the past and what would be the difference.

"Like that time we were sure of winning but all of a sudden our luck turn around and we lost more than half our troops. The more we sent the more they killed, what went wrong we couldn't tell. We can't send any spy there at this time, let's make sure we motivate our men to win and we as leaders are ready" King Kramus said. "I'll visit the army camps later but let them know what is going on and also tell the blacksmiths to pick up the pace we need those gears."

King Kramus dismissed the war minister. He had never cared about gears before, all he cared about was troops count that's the reason in Dangari once a male child is 18 years old he immediately joins the army. Just recently did he start caring about equipment and gear.

King Kramus was very greedy and he paid less attention to his wife and son. He cared much about conquering lands and controlling more resources and people, he saw them as a means to own more resources. His allies stopped sending troops to support him during wars.

The message got out in Dangari and everyone was talking about the possibility of a war with Tapelis. The war minister had already told the soldiers and everyone else in Dangari had heard about it.

King Kramus went to the blacksmiths and he was welcomed and shown around the workshop. King Kramus noticed the armour and the sword in creation.

"How long would it take to get all our warriors with armour," King Kramus asked.

"We would be done in 3 weeks," the head of the blacksmith said.

"We are going to start a war against Tapelis next week, make sure we have all the armour ready by then," King Kramus said and walked away with his guards around him.

Dangari's marketplaces had people spreading different types of rumours of Tapelis about the war that had been fought in the past. Many of them had lost family members on the battlefield and the news of a new war made them so sad and furious.

"My king, you were right Dangari is taking advantage of our bad season to wage war on us the rumour has spread in the kingdom and I'm afraid they are coming soon," Brozo said. "They think you are weak and inexperienced to be king."

That comment made King Arkda so furious, he dismissed Brozo his spy in Dangari and called for the chief commander. He knew he couldn't let anger cloud his approach to the situation, so he discussed this with the ones he trusted first and if the news ever got out it wouldn't be from him.

"I had the feeling Dangari would come for war and they are. Our spy brought this piece of information to us he said the rumours are flying around in Dangari and it'll come here soon. He also said King Kramus thinks am inexperienced, I can't rule the kingdom properly" King Arkda said to the chief commander in his private chambers, his private library on the left down the hallway.

"He's trying too hard to kill our morale, but he can't we knew about his and we are so ready. The general would be here for the ceremony, are you sure we should still host such an event?" the chief commander asked.

"Yeah, we have to make the ceremony bigger everyone has to talk about it over the war noises. The ceremony has to be so loud they should hear about it in Dangari as well" King Arkda said.

"Ok, I understand you but on the side, we'll be preparing for the war. No distractions, rumors can cause distractions" the chief commander said.

"I'll contact the best designer, let’s begin the process," King Arkda said.

"I'll speak to the generals and the army, they'll prepare for the ceremony and also for war" the chief commander added.

“Yeah, let’s be ready. Do that and I will do this, let’s celebrate and fight” King Arkda said.

The chief commander left his private chambers and prepared to head straight to the 4 military zones to see the general and speak to the troops as well. King Arkda didn’t want fear in anyone that was the aim of the ceremony. King Arkda went to his wife and they both discuss how the ceremony should be hosted.

“How are you today my love?” King Arkda said as he had both hands on her waist.

“I’m good what about you?” Queen Liya said as they shared a kiss.

“I’m excited and I have decided this ceremony has to be so big and everyone is invited too. I need your help to plan this, my Queen” King Arkda said. “We’ll need the best designers for the decorations, the best caterers to assist our chefs, and we’ll also need souvenirs for everyone that shows up.”

“Let’s start with the venue, where do you want to host this ceremony?” Queen Liya asked.

“The palace of course” King Arkda responded.

“The palace can’t accommodate everyone from the kingdom, have you thought of a wider place with enough space like the market square or the Dougao garden after the river to the south,” Queen Liya said.

“Hmmm, that's true and I think the Dougao garden is larger than the market square. I’ll contact its caretaker to prepare the place for the ceremony and using the garden means we need fewer decorations but do you know anyone we can hire?” King Arkda asked.

“Yeah, I’ll contact her and the caterers to assist the chef and I’ll also contact the performers for the ceremony,” Queen Liya said.

“Contact everyone you know can help, I’ll go and speak to caretakers of the garden,” King Arkda said. “Let's have breakfast together.”

“I saw the chief commander this morning, are you sure everything is alright?” Queen Liya asked.

“Yeah everything is, we celebrate and then we prepare for war,” King Arkda said as he led the way for Queen Liya to the table for breakfast.

King Arkda pulled out her sit and when the food came he was surprised it was one of his favourite dishes. There was chicken, bread, pepper sauce with vegetables, corn, fruits, a glass of milk, and water. King Arkda couldn’t wait after their short prayer he took some corn, some sauce, a piece of chicken, bread, and a glass of water and milk. Queen Liya took a similar dish except for the corn, she ate hers as a dessert with fruits.

King Arkda left after breakfast and when he got to the Dougao garden he met with the caretakers they were excited about the celebration and the fact that it’ll make the garden known to more people even those that don’t travel a lot.

“Do you have a crew that can decorate the garden? although we have our team coming here to decorate it” King Arkda asked.

“We can decorate the garden ourselves, we’ll work with the team when they arrive,” the caretaker said. “I can take you on a tour around the garden.”

“Let’s do that and also I hope the garden is children-friendly?” King Arkda asked as they walk around the beautiful garden.

“Yes, our garden is child-friendly. It has beautiful and significant items like the sculpture of the man that decided to nurture flowers here and grow a garden. He did it because his lover died and the illness that took her life was incurable. All she asked for were flowers to number her days, after she died he noticed all the flowers were still alive cause she kept them well. He and his son buried her at home and brought all the flowers here to remember her.

“That was the beginning of the garden, his son got married and still came here with flowers expanding the garden more. That man is my grandfather, my father is still alive but he doesn’t come here much. I, my brothers and sister come here to make sure the garden is in perfect condition and since it got bigger we too as well have a duty to watch over it. My father has a farm, so we rotate the farm with the garden today am here. I’ll let my family know about your visit” the caretaker said.

“What did your grandfather name the garden?” King Arkda asked.

“He named it ‘The Garden of Heart’, most people that passed by call it the Dougao garden” the caretaker responded.

“I love it ‘The Garden of Heart’, I’ll spread the word and people will see the garden from your grandfather’s eye,” King Arkda said.

They tour the large garden King Arkda loved everything he saw and the stories he heard. At noon he left the garden to the palace. King Arkda contacted the messengers and they spread the news about the ceremony to celebrate Tapelis in the Garden of Hearts. The chief commander had summoned all the generals to the king's palace to discuss the war.