The Uncrowned King

Death III

In the year that Winter stayed too long in the Kingdom of Caelum, the cold particularly harsh for all creatures on land. The tall trees in the forest are covered in white and wild animals small and big had been found frozen in their sleep by brave hunters in that harsh winter.

That year only the wolves were happy and trouble came to the Kingdom, the beloved Queen of Caelum had fallen sick. Her frail body notwithstanding the cold that the winds of the night brought in. The King had long stop caring for her, drunk on his power and its benefits.

In the middle of a harsh snowstorm, the Queen passed away. No amount of medicine nor magic could save her from the cold. Leaving the five year old Crown Prince alone in that cold night. The tall oak tree that the Caelum Queen nurtured with all her heart had turn into pure white sculpture upon her departure.

And there the First Concubine plotted, for her own son was only a year younger to the Crown Prince. If only the Crown Prince would die too in the cold then her son will take the Crown. 

The First Concubine turned into Queen plotted and plotted yet not one seem to work.

Sorcery! The boy is protected by unknown sorcery! He just won't die! 

Thus the Queen concluded, if the child was protected by magic then her child would be too. To compete against the Crown Prince in the future, her son would need the greatest of magic. 

What could it be other than the pact of the royalty and Dragons of the Old?

According to the Tales of Old, they are the ones which have the right to crown The True King of Caelum, be as they be a knight or peasant. Or a second prince. This was confirmed by her own Sorcerer.

One snowy night when the full moon shone the brightest, the summoning ritual had begun in the basement of the Former Queen. Four infants, all deep in magical sleep, were laid in the summoning circle. The spell was modified to benefit her son.

Normally, when the Dragons are summon in the land of mortals they have their own vessel but she cannot have that.

The Queen needed the Dragons to be loyal to her son, to serve and protect him. To choose him as the true Emperor when the time comes.

Thus, four infants were chosen to be their vessel. They will grew to serve her son.

As the ritual progressed the cold wind of winter had started to blow its harshest. The cold seeped deep in the basement, frost started to cover the walls of the palace as though the wind knew what’s happening underneath.

White light flashed in the basement interrupting the completion of the Summoning Ritual. Ice had broken into the summoning circle and a deep rumbling shook the Queen's palace.

The Queen’s Sorcerers started screaming, various parts of their body covered in frost. Two of the infants in the summoning circle remain unmoving, frozen like ice in their sleep while the other two started wailing. Sleeping spell forgotten.

A failure? Was it a failure? It doesn’t seem so. Two infants are still alive.

"It could only mean two had answered". One of her trusted Sorcerer had said, eyes glinting malevolently.

Two is better than none. The Queen nodded. Her spot at the top of the world was finally secure.

Faraway in the Capital City and deep in the Duchy of Callin, lies a lonely Mountain with a deep cave where an altar was build a long time ago. It was said that the Lonely Mountain was where the last of the Dragons of the Old laid to rest.

That was in the past.

Now it had turned into a monster lair. A monstrous hydra, taking advantage of the long Winter, had turned it into its nest inducing terror into the people of Callin.

Hydras are terrible monster. To slay one is a great honor. Yet at the time of strife where the death of the Lucian Queen in the cold was still fresh in the peoples mind no brave soul came to slay the monster. They might die in the cold harsh winter before they could even enter the Lonely Mountain’s cave. 

Thus started the reign of terror of the Hydra in the land of Callin and its demand of infants to eat.

At the seventh demand of an infant, the rumors of the Grand Duke’s return in the Callin from the capital city had gave a sliver of hope to the people. Yet it was not enough to stop the fear of the people due in offering another one.

In a night when the full moon shine the brightest, the seventh infant was laid in front of the entrance of the Lonely Mountain where the Hydra would come out. This child was newly orphaned, name forgotten by the very people that hold her in the previous nights. 

Her parents had opposed to offering her to the monster that is why they were killed by the desperate townspeople. Even with the news of the Grand Duke assembling his greatest knights to slay the monster was not enough to dissuade them.

This child was dead before she was laid in front the cave. No care was given to her by townspeople who had taken her. They had thought her lack of noise was due to contentment. She was silent child. Yet they couldn’t turn back at the moment and choose another child to offer or the monster will eat them instead. 

Thus, she was laid without care in the ground as her caretakers rode away from the Lonely Mountain. The cold winds of winter blew harshly in the air like a mocking laughter in the ears of the shivering people.