The King's Wrath
1074 Words
The beast roared again.
Its howl ripped through the forests surrounding Vale Estate, shaking ancient trees until their leaves fell like emerald rain. Every window in the manor shattered. The marble floors cracked beneath its footsteps.
The creature's crimson eyes never left Alina.
It had found its prey.
Lucien stepped forward, placing himself between the monster and Alina.
The Nightfall Blade burst into black flames.
"Kael," Lucien said calmly.
"Protect her."
Kael smirked.
"You finally trust me?"
"I trust your desire to stay alive."
Kael laughed.
"I'll take that as progress."
---
Outside the manor...
The household guards formed a defensive line.
Martha stood at the front, her obsidian spear pointed toward the beast.
"Shields up!"
Dozens of circular barriers of shimmering black light rose around the estate.
The creature slammed one massive claw against the nearest shield.
The impact sent shockwaves through the ground.
Three guards were thrown backward.
The barrier cracked.
Martha's eyes widened.
"It broke the First Shield with one strike..."
Lucien's voice echoed from behind her.
"Fall back."
"My King..."
"That's an order."
The guards obeyed instantly.
---
The beast lowered its enormous head and sniffed the air.
Its nostrils flared.
Then it spoke.
Not with its mouth.
Inside every mind.
"QUEEN..."
The voice was ancient.
Hungry.
Broken.
Alina felt her knees weaken.
She had never heard words that carried such unbearable loneliness.
The creature wasn't simply hunting her.
It was searching for her.
---
Azrael watched silently from the archive entrance.
He made no move to interfere.
Alina noticed.
"You aren't going to help?"
His expression remained unreadable.
"This battle belongs to my son."
Lucien didn't even glance back.
"Stay out of this."
Azrael nodded once.
"As you wish."
---
The beast attacked.
Its massive body disappeared in a blur of black crystal.
It crossed nearly a hundred meters in less than a second.
Lucien met it head-on.
The Nightfall Blade collided with the creature's claws.
The explosion flattened nearby trees.
The sky darkened.
Birds fled in every direction.
Lucien was forced backward several steps, carving deep trenches into the stone beneath his feet.
Kael's smile faded.
"I've never seen anyone push him back."
---
Lucien steadied himself.
Black energy gathered around his body like smoke.
His silver eyes glowed brighter than ever.
For a brief moment...
The illusion of an ordinary billionaire vanished.
Behind him appeared the translucent image of a king clad in obsidian armor.
A crown of black crystal floated above his head.
The very air bowed before him.
Every guard instinctively dropped to one knee.
Even Seraphine, watching from the forest, whispered,
"So... the Obsidian King has awakened."
---
Lucien raised the Nightfall Blade.
"I've spent seven hundred years trying not to become this man again."
The blade answered.
Ancient runes ignited across its surface.
Darkness spread from its edge, swallowing the morning light.
The beast charged.
Lucien vanished.
The two collided high above the estate.
To the human eye, they were only flashes of black and crimson light.
Each impact echoed like thunder.
Every strike carved deep scars across the mountains surrounding the estate.
---
Inside the manor...
Alina couldn't take her eyes off the battle.
"He's going to die..."
Kael shook his head.
"No."
"He'll win."
"But he'll pay for it."
"What do you mean?"
Kael looked toward the sky.
"Every time Lucien uses the King's Power..."
"He shortens his immortal life."
Alina turned sharply.
"I thought immortals couldn't die."
"They can't."
Kael's voice became unusually serious.
"They can choose to burn away their own existence."
"He has been doing that for centuries."
Alina stared at Lucien with growing horror.
"He never told me."
"He never tells anyone."
---
Far above the clouds...
The beast drove Lucien through the roof of an abandoned skyscraper.
Concrete exploded outward.
Steel beams twisted like paper.
Lucien crashed through thirty floors before stopping himself.
Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
The beast landed before him.
It tilted its head.
Almost curiously.
"You smell..."
"...like him."
Lucien slowly stood.
"I am his son."
The creature's crimson eyes narrowed.
"No."
"You smell..."
"...like the Queen."
Lucien froze.
Before he could react...
The beast lowered its head.
Not in attack.
In respect.
Its monstrous voice softened.
"Where..."
"...is my little Queen?"
---
Back at the estate...
The Heart of Obsidian burst into brilliant light.
Alina cried out as another memory returned.
She saw herself...
Not as Queen Aeloria.
But as a little girl.
She couldn't have been older than eight.
She was laughing.
Running through the royal gardens.
Behind her bounded a small black wolf cub with oversized paws and bright crimson eyes.
She threw a wooden stick.
The cub chased it enthusiastically before returning and dropping it at her feet.
She hugged its neck.
"Good boy, Umbra."
The cub licked her face.
Lucien laughed from nearby.
"You spoil him."
"He deserves it."
"One day he'll grow too big."
"Then I'll love him even more."
The memory shattered.
Alina gasped.
Tears streamed down her cheeks.
"It isn't a monster..."
Kael frowned.
"What?"
"The beast..."
She looked toward the battlefield.
"...his name is Umbra."
---
The giant creature suddenly stopped fighting.
Its ears twitched.
It turned toward the manor.
Slowly...
Very slowly...
It walked toward Alina.
Lucien didn't attack.
He sensed something had changed.
The guards prepared their weapons.
"Don't!" Alina shouted.
No one moved.
She stepped beyond the shattered gates.
Lucien's voice thundered behind her.
"Alina!"
She ignored him.
The beast towered above her.
One swipe of its claws could erase her from existence.
Instead...
It lowered its massive head.
Alina reached out with trembling fingers.
Her hand touched its cold crystal fur.
Instantly...
The crimson glow in the beast's eyes disappeared.
They became a warm amber.
Umbra let out a quiet whine.
Like a loyal dog finally finding its family after centuries apart.
Then, to everyone's astonishment...
The thirty-foot beast knelt before Alina.
She wrapped her arms around its enormous head.
"I found you."
Umbra closed its eyes.
A single glowing tear rolled down its face.
Lucien watched in stunned silence.
Kael whispered,
"The legends were true..."
"The Queen never ruled through fear."
"She ruled through love."
But far away...
Hidden inside the ruins beneath the Seventh Gate...
The Devourer smiled.
Everything was unfolding exactly as it had planned.
For every memory Alina recovered...
The seal imprisoning it grew weaker.
And soon...
She herself would unknowingly become the key that set the greatest evil in existence free.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD