Fall of The Lost Kingdom

Chapter Two: The Storm Gathers.

The carriage was moving slowly along within the center of the military procession. Three men sat inside staring at the crowd together. The youngest-looking man inside let out a sigh of disgust as he stared out the window at the mass of people just outside. He hated how the commoners always swarmed around and slowed his pace. They resembled insects and rodents swarming food that fell to the ground. He watched as the villagers all gathered on the sides of the main road and stared in awe at him.

"My god, they are filthy things, aren't they?" The man asked while he watched a small child in the crowd get pushed into the mud, or what looked like mud. He laughed as he continued. "Look at how they all writhe to get a chance to see me. Must it be the most exciting thing to happen to them? If only they knew that they would all be gone in the next few days." He laughed again.

"Yes my lord, how they writhe, yes." Said the portly, greasy man that sat across from him. This was the new duke of the region. He was a short pimply man with a receding hairline that unflatteringly extenuated his pimply scalp. Grease covered the remaining black hair that hung on his shoulders from the side of his head. "My spies have told me that the key will be in the hands of some girl that frequents the tavern in this village." The duke explained. "But I am a little concerned as well, they have also told me that they believe it to all be a lie, my lord. Just rumors, you see." He looked towards the carriage's other occupant as he spoke, not daring to look the lord in his eyes. The other man was covered from head to toe in a long cloak and hood that hid his face and features.

"Your spies? Oh, Malachi if I relied on some puppet officials' sources then I would have lost to my sister for a chance at the throne long ago. My men, on the other hand, do not lie.” His tone darkened. ”Malachi, they have matched the relic to the object we have been seeking completely. The girl most definitely has the key. Are you suggesting that your men are better than mine?" The eyebrows of the youth rose with the question. The greasy-haired man finally looked back towards the lord with fear in his eyes.

"I dare not suggest, I dare not, I only imply..." He was cut off by a glare from the lord.

"Oh? Well then, Malachi. How could I, The Crown Prince, punish you for insulting my methods? Should our friend from Skagar show you how he deals with those who insult him?” The prince's face contorted into what looked like a smile. He turned toward a third man in the carriage. This man wore a cloak that covered most of his features, the only things visible were his eyes, and very sharp fangs that protruded down his chin. “Oh, I have heard of the wonderful torture methods they use. My favorite is the one with those special insects your people have. Scar, what would happen to a greasy fat man who got covered in those nasty insects?" The crown prince ignored Duke Malachi's grimace with a smile as he addressed the third man in the cabin. The man named Scar took one look at Malachi with a sinister glare. Then turned his gaze back to the prince and responded.

“Needle-horn scarabs. I sometimes bring them with me to deal with unwanted individuals who annoy me. Their specialty is that they don't kill their victims right away. They slowly use the unfortunate soul's fat and muscles as nutrients to breed and only after emaciating their victim do they finally burst out. I hear the victim's pain is immeasurable. It is quite a gruesome sight.” Scar stated and smiled a fanged grin. “someone like you, My portly duke, would suffer for probably a year before dying.” Malachi shuddered horribly as he saw that the man named Scar was enjoying the description. Malachi squeaked and turned towards the Crown Prince.

"That won't be necessary my lord, won't be necessary, of course, your men are correct, please forgive this one's transgressions. Please forgive" Malachi stammered as he began to kowtow at the prince's feet. The carriage hit a bump and caused the duke to jostle up and down even more. Seeing this the Prince laughed and waved the man up.

"Oh my look at how he begs, you see Scar, this man used to be so ruthless he even poisoned his predecessor and his wife with the most peculiar poison. One that caused them madness before they killed themselves. Causing this village's downfall id say. But sure as rain, this man took over with an iron rule before I searched him out.” He waved towards the fat duke. “Now he's my little dog, see how he begs like one?" The Prince laughed as Malachi took back his seat. "Now where were we, ah yes, the information I received is accurate Duke. We have established that” He kicked Malachi in the shin hard. ”We can move on to more pressing matters. We need this artifact in our grasp or our plans cannot come to fruition, Father needs to see that I am the only one suited for the throne, not my sister, ME!" Yelling that shook the whole carriage startled the duke and shook him to the core. Malachi hated this young lord and was planning on using him for his ambitions originally but was proven powerless against him in the end. The young Crown Prince Andross was not an easy opponent to deal with.

"Yes my lord, the girl, and her party will be apprehended immediately" Replied the Duke, assurance washing his pimply face.

"Oh no my little mutt, we cannot do this out in the open, these disgusting things would resist on behalf of their kin if we tried. No, we must do this in one fell swoop, I think our friend here” He gestured towards Scar. “Prefers it that way." Lord smiled. This smile caused Malachi to shiver to his core.

“My men and I will handle this swiftly.” The carriage fell deathly silent after Scar's reply and they continued toward the center of town.

…

Old man Lewen had been lurking behind Riley when he saw the crystal unfurl out of the cloth. He had been the one to yelp. Riley ignored it and looked back at the object in his hand. It was a strange thin rectangular crystal, with intricate carvings that looked like interconnected lines that ran across. The size of the crystal fit perfectly in Riley's palm and had to be no more than a few centimeters in thickness. The edges were angular yet felt smooth to the touch. Whoever made this knew what they were doing.

"Isn't this wonderfully strange? we found it in a small ruined village at the edge of the border, under the floorboard of what we believed to be the village leaders' hut. but that's not the weirdest thing we found, look at the cloth it was wrapped in." Sarin pointed toward the cloth in Riley's hand and he looked down. "That is a family crest of some sort, worn down with the years." The image on the cloth was faded, with dirt and dust destroying most of the image. But the thing he could make out was the strange beast, a massive-looking wolf with a piercing blue-grey eye. Something was off about the wolf. its fur was too sharp and almost metallic.

"Where do you think this came from?" Riley asked, handing back the crystal and cloth to Sarin.

"Seems rather important if you ask me. the care they took to wrap and hide it away is a dead giveaway." Piped up Aiden sarcastically. Riley shot him a glare.

"Not only is it important, but we theorize that it's the seal of a prominent family from the lost kingdom. We cant pinpoint its direct origins though. Professor Taywin and I think that whoever owned it must have been a part of the family or that they were to keep it safe for the true owners." Sarin said as she lifted her tunic, wrapped around her abdomen were bandages. "It was trapped with explosives that shot out strange rocks... it was most exciting." Her eyes lit up as she covered herself again. Aiden swiped the rock from her hands when she went to put it back in her carrying pouch.

"All that for a crystal? oddly light 'init?" he tossed it in the air and it seemed to float slightly before it fell back to his palm. Squinting one eye he held it up to a candle. "You guys know what these words mean? the ones inside it." He tossed it back to sarin and she nearly missed the catch. His question seemed to catch her off guard. Riley, Kiva, Sarin, and Kit all had blank looks while they looked at Aiden and the crystal.

"Words? what words?" She asked at stared intently at the crystal. Trying to see what Aiden saw. She ultimately gave up and gave Aiden a cold stare. He always played jokes like these.

"The words inside the bleeding thing, you know. Suresh de La Canthum, Auti De Duatim" Aiden replied. His eyes widened as the stone flashed for a second. Old man Lewen stopped staring into the nothingness and finally spoke. His eyes showed anger and fear as he began to shake.

"You little shites don't know what you're dealing with, you don't, throw that bleeding thing back where ye found it. Not again, not again." he frantically clawed at his head as he spoke. "They coming, oh shite they be comin'. That's cursed that is, ain't nobody 'posed to find the keys, no no no no no, they coming they are." His head violently began to thrash about left and right and he started to run around, crashing into tables and spilling people's ale. Aiden tried to stop him but to his surprise, the old man was overpowering him. Riley jumped over to help when Lewen began to try and go after the two girls, and even the tavern people started to get ready to help. In reflex Sarin wrapped up the stone and tucked it away, and at the same time, thunder began to quake in the sky.

“THEY COMING!!! THEY GONNA EAT US ALL!!” Lewens screams were of pure terror.

"Old Lewen!! you calm down now, your makin' no sense! well, when do you ever?" Aiden was struggling to contain the old man. The fire seemed to light up the dead eyes Lewen usually had. "What do you mean THEY are coming, who's they?" He frantically tried to stop the old man from clawing at the girls. The other patrons all started to back away scared.

"The lost ones, it's the lost ones" Shock and terror-filled, Lewens voice softened as he finally slumped into Riley and Aiden's arms. “The words have been spoken” Lewen mumbled. His eyes lost the light they held as he went back to mumbling to himself. Freaked out, Aiden let go reflexively and let Riley keep hold. Riley sat Lewen down and looked back toward Aiden.

"Lost ones, like the ones in his stories?" Riley asked as looked back toward Sarin

"It's an old folklore from the Skagarian country, about lifeless beings who resemble men that steal children from their beds with no signs of struggle or damage to the house they sneak into. like they almost vanish from their beds." Kit finally spoke after seeing the shock in Sarin's eyes. "But those are stories, just stories.” He Reassured, his usual gruff voice softened. ”Ones that parents tell their kids so they will do their chores and listen to what they are told. " Lewen is full of it." Kit looked towards the old man as he explained. The old man was in a catatonic state now, not responding to anything any of them said. He just kept repeating “they comin’” over and over.

"What were those words that you spoke Aiden?" Sarin finally Asked after staring at the old man. "There are no words inside the crystal, and the professor and I examined it and the cloth extensively, we did not find anything close to these words you spoke."

"They were inside when I held it to the candle, clear as day...odd." Aiden looked unimpressed and perplexed at the same time. A hint of confusion passed in his eyes.

The atmosphere of the tavern shifted after the excitement died. Dark moods were cast over all the patrons as they began to murmur in the direction of Lewen, he sat very still in his spot and refused any help from the group. They decided that tonight's festivities were over and began to get ready to leave. Kiva fawned over Riley as usual while Aiden and Kit played darts. Sarin on the other hand decided she needed to see Professor Taywin as soon as possible and left before the others. An hour passed as they all drank and played games

"Well, I'm as tired as a pig in the hayloft, Riley, ill head out with you. Thought I saw Mari' and his trogs pop in here and leave so he might be tryin' to get revenge fer' earlier. Kit you coming? Kiva?" Aiden looked around at his friends wringing his hands.

"Well then Riley let us be off" Kiva snorted, not responding back or even waiting for her friends to follow. She was always a bit of a brat.

Riley and the others all left Lewen where he sat and headed toward the door. Kit spun around when they stepped out into the street.

"What is it, mate?" Aiden asked, looking in the direction Kit was staring.

"I felt a chill run down my back like we were being watched." He replied, touching the back of his neck. "Maybe I am a little buzzed, I can never keep up with you Aiden." Kit shrugged and they started walking again.

They all walked towards Aiden's place near the edge of town and began to laugh and make jokes at one another. Little did they realize the sunset sky was overcast with an ominous grey blanket, causing the average passersby to shiver as they looked up. Rain seldom fell in the village around this time of year so most people took this as a bad sign.

"Hey guys, did you notice the look on Sarin's face when Aiden blurted out those words? She looked kind of scared." Kiva mentioned as they passed by the apothecary. "Almost as if she knew about what he said."

"Hogwash, She must have been scared by Lewens rantings, I know I was" Aiden replied, kicking a small stone down an alleyway. "I mean Lost Ones, Shite man he's lost it completely now, Next time he throws a fit he's getting a boot to the back you know" He kicked another small rock down the next alley, but this time it hit something that let out a grunt. The group stopped as they watched a large shape form from the shadows of the alley. The figure was a hooded man that stood about six feet and what looked like a mask obscuring his features. In his right hand, he held a dagger with a blade that was just shy of being considered a short sword, blood dripping from the edge. His left hand held a bit of strawberry blonde hair. All of the group's faces dropped as they looked past the hooded man and saw just what, or who, he had been standing over.

The lifeless form of two people lay just a few feet from the shadowy man, a terror-filled face staring at the group as its last breaths were taken. Screams permeated throughout the night air.