King of the South

As soon as the door came open, Nilailah barged in, ears closed to the suppressed growl of the guard as she not so nicely nudged him aside and the slamming of the door against the wall. Striding up to the recliner where the beast sat lazily, she grabbed the back of his seat, spun it around to face her and spat, “I don’t know what game you are playing at, neither do I want to know, but know this. Every drop of blood that you have made me lose, I will take the same from your soldiers. That, I promise you.” The pure rage that she emitted had talons that dug into the room, dragged through the walls and left every shred of peace ripped to pieces. At the door, the alarmed guards made to step in, but a look from their king had them confusedly filing back out. Then, glancing at the door with all the laziness of a sloth, he gently mumbled, “Close the door behind you, please,” and waited till his request was done before facing her again, as unfazed as the cool morning dew. Then he smiled mockingly. “And just who are you to do that?” Slightly pushing his chair back, he stood up, clasped his hands behind his back and made a show of looking her over like she was nothing more than a strange specimen. From the top of her scattered, dirt-matted hair to the hairs on her bloody, sore feet, his eyes perused down and everywhere in-between. Scoffing under his breath at last, he found her eyes again and said, “What have my soldiers done to have their bloods spilled, pray tell?” “I will not justify that damned question with a response,” Nilailah hissed, eyes narrowed. “My land might be at your mercy, but I will not take your abuse anymore.” “What abuse?” “The one I go through everyday at the hands of you and your people!” He lifted a perfectly trimmed brow. “I see. So, you came here to complain?” “I don’t care what it is you want to call this,” she threw, pointing between them. “Call your dogs off, or I'm leaving.” That had all the humor draining from his face like a pin had all the air from an inflated balloon. A new kind of tension slowly entered the room, but Nilailah had thrown all decorum out the window the second she stepped her feet into the room. “Do you threaten me?” he almost growled, getting in her face. It was her turn to smile, and she did so like she was admonishing a slow child, injecting as much venom into her voice as she could. “A king is free to exhaust all the words in his books, so call it what you so please, your highness.” Then her smile dropped instantly, menace taking its place. “Just don’t make the mistake of doubting me,” she said with a promise. “Your braveness is foolishness. Leave while you still can, woman!” “No!” Nilailah exploded on a harsh growl, seeing red. “Because if fighting for my life and that of my son is foolishness, then I am as foolish as a blind thief, but I will fight you until you let me go. I will fight you with everything within me,” she swore with rabid anger and desperation. “I will take away every single thing that you hold dear! Cage me here and I will make sure that you know no peace, this I promise you, my king,” she literally spat out his title. “And you plan to do this in front of or behind our son?” he shot right back without missing a beat. On any other day, Nilailah would have been bothered by the lack of space between them, but not today. “Keep my boy out of your mouth!” she bellowed with righteous anger. “And get your delusions out of your head!” he whispered right back, the aura of his quiet anger crippling. “You are nothing more than the replication of a slave to me. A mere dot on my robe. Have no further thoughts about whatever power you think you hold, Nilailah. It is more pitiful than your people. Leave if you want, but you will not be taking my son away from me.” “Oh, if you think that I will leave him with you, you are as stupid as all the f*****g leaders of your council combined!” her hurt bled through. When his loud, respect-demanding growl filled the room, Nilailah chased it away with one that rattled the windows. “You think I don’t know how your council and advisor plotted to have me thrown out? How you were so eager to do away with me? How I was nothing more than a role subject and an object of s****l pleasure to you? I once had delusions of what I mattered to you, but never again. You don’t deserve even that. You and your bloody kingdom can go to hell for all I care, and your stupid bimbos can lead the way there, too, but if I hear another word about my son from your mouth—” “Enough!” he bellowed with a voice so deep, the walls shook. A troubled night bird let out a troubled cry of imminent danger, but she was in too deep. “Listen to me, oh king! Step on me and I will tarry, but step on my son and you will kiss my sword! I warn you for the very last time, and that for the sake of my land. Call. Your. Dogs. Off.” “Your deceit knows no bounds, does it?” he whispered into the choking tension, having the gull to look shocked. And Nilailah would have laughed at his theatrics… but something told her he meant what he said. Her deceit? “My council? My advisor? Not only are you a murderer and a cunning cheat, but also liar.” “Murderer?!” she sputtered. What on God’s green earth?! “You ran out on me, and I forgave that,” he continued like she was a mute, “but you raised my son with another man. That, I will never forgive,” he vowed wickedly. “Nilailah Ray, by the creator and all you hold dear, you will pay.” And for the first time, Nilailah felt fear. Deep, cold fear. Because what was he saying? Why were offences she had no business with being thrown at her? What narrative had Jaffar spun? How would it affect her and her son? A son who now stood on the lands of a father who hated her very essence. “I-I don’t know what you're talking about,” she stuttered. “What are you saying?” He laughed a laugh so cold, her skin crawled. “What? You don’t know now?” “I don’t! I don’t, I swear!” she shouted, even more petrified at the crazed look in his eyes. “I don’t know what you are talking about, Alithius, but leave me and my son alone, we have done nothing wrong! Please,” fear drove her to add with a racing heart. Because if he waged war against her and the South because of her, neither would survive. But that only added to his sick smile. “Keep this promise along with your pleas. I will bring down such hell upon you and whom you hold dear, that the favors of all the men you have slutted yourself to combined will not save you.” Nilailah had done many foolish things in her days, and what she did next topped the list. At his derogatory comment and the meaning behind it, her hand flew to defend her quicker than she could compute. Just as the sound of the strike she had delivered to his face registered, she came to and gasped. As he growled for all the world to hear, she stumbled a few steps back and fell, her face drained of color. She watched him tremble with righteous anger, fighting his beast’s desire to change. “I’m sorry,” she whimpered pathetically. “Guards!” his voice was no longer his. Guards instantly bled into the room like they had been waiting. “Take her. Lock her up in the deepest, darkest part of the prison. Now!” What? No!... As they dragged her away, her throat raw with her shouts and pleas, only one thing played on repeat in her head. Alithius was going to kill her. It was her destiny to die… Right from the beginning. Prologue I… The beginning. A long time ago, earth thrived and her inhabitants dwelled in harmony. Yes, there were the occasional disputes and disagreements, but what was a successful universe of so many diverse creatures and species without them? Humanity went about their days, trading, working, laughing and simply living, as did the unknown. The peaceful unknown. While some called them beings that once lived, others called them false myths to scare their children at night. A few more deemed them as punishers to arrive at the end of the world, and to the rest, they were just characters in fictitious novels, but they were real. Very much so. Vampires, the were people, witches, ghouls, fairies, necromancers, demons, dragons, jinns, goblins, griffins, wizards, even sphinxes, they were all real, but were very… different from how people painted them to be. You see, the supernaturals were a very peaceful species. The ones for land stayed hidden in the shadows, the ones for the waters stayed hidden in the depths and the ones for the sky remained there, and they thrived under the rule of their leaders, chosen by the creator himself, and only warred when all round dialogue and long meetings failed. Still, even in war, they were quiet, ensuring beyond all temperament to maintain the balance between species, because that was the golden rule. Keep the peace, and keep the balance. It was a strong commandment that they abided by, because what were they without balance? What was the universe itself without balance? So, the balance, they did their best to keep, and peace was maintained for countless centuries… But all good things must come to an end. As the supernaturals grew in numbers, so did the humans, and where there was an increase in numbers, there was a want for power over the masses. Sadly, wherever want went, greed and death followed. Humans perished under the hands of their greedy kind, but as they died, so did the innocent supernaturals, who lived and breathed off what the humans fought over and damaged. The earth. Humanity killed nature and poisoned her very essence all because they wanted industries and more machines to make things easier for themselves. Bah! Selfish, the lot of them! Their animals, big and small, perished, but they didn’t care. They killed them for medicines and purposes as superficial as fashion. Just to be on top. Because one brand had to thrive above its competition, and one country over the other, no matter how much blood or crude oil they spilled into the waters. To them, it was all a quest for power, everything else be damned. Couldn’t they see that they were disrupting the balance? That they were reducing their time on earth? There was only so much the planet could take! As more and more supernaturals and humans died, both races cried up to the creator for help… But… for once… the creator was silent. Not a word, nor or whisper. So, distraught and panicked, the supernaturals took matters into their own hands. They crossed their borders, into human territory. And that was how the war began. The plan had been simple. Meet with a world leader, talk and give him or her the time to gather the other leaders, inform them of their poor treatment of the planet, sort it out and live peacefully again. But, perhaps the supernaturals had been too gullible. Maybe they had overestimated humans and their desire for peace? No priest nor mage could have foreseen the great destruction ahead. Upon discovery, the supernaturals were seen as nothing more than a means to an end. The means to the end of each other. As, one by one, all the world leaders privately began to approach them with offers, seeking their favor to help them take down each other in a brewing war, the supernaturals became regretfully aware of their mistake. Maybe the creator’s silence hadn’t been nothing. Maybe he had just been showing them what they should have done. Held their peace... Maybe the destruction of the planet had been in his grand scheme of things and they had been the selfish ones… But it was too late.