King of Darkness and The White Flame

Chapter 3

The beast is almost 9 feet tall and approaching. His growl is low, coming from his core. He stands on two hind legs and his thick tale whips behind him. The wind picks up slightly and for a moment, there’s a flicker behind him. Can’t be, I think these things are rare and I’ve never seen two together before. Another set of eyes in the distance has it’s lock on me, this time neon blue and another flash not far from it, neon yellow. “There’s more than one,” I whisper to the others. When I turn slightly, I see that I am alone with this beast. So much for protecting their king. I try to see if I can get the attention of some of the other men, but every sleeping bag nearby is empty. How is it possible? Everyone was just here. I will have all their heads if I ever get out of this alive. Maybe that was what they were counting on? The beast growls again. I realize at that moment that his growl might be because he’s hungry.

Slowly, I back away, still praying that the fire torch in my hand doesn’t die out, or I will be this beast's dinner. I use my other hand to open flaps of tents and spot some food inside. Instead of reaching in to get it, I unhook the flap on top, exposing the inside. The beast's eyes flicker toward the food and I know instantly that I was right, they’re hungry. They must not get a lot of food out here. Its side steps toward the tent, eyes still fixated on me. The other two behind it come closer, as I back away flipping tents open without focusing too much on what is inside. 

The second beast leaps forward on its hind legs and pounces on the rods that hold the tent up, ripping apart the fabric and tearing into the meat and bread that lie there. This sudden movement has me fumbling on my feet, I fall on my backside and scramble to get as far away as possible. Beast number one and two are no longer focused on me. I’m about to get up and flee when I feel it. 

The breath of the third beast. He’s still standing in the distance, in the dark, his eyes are not fixed on the first or second beast, they’re zoned in on me. How can I feel its warm, musky breathing on my neck when it's standing miles from me? I need to leave, I need to run!

He’s on me! I’m pinned beneath the largest creature I’d ever seen. His face is so close to me that I can taste his breath, I struggle to not gag as the smell of fish hits my nose. I remember my hand on the fire torch and bring it closer to see the flame die out. I’m whimpering, or is it him? I can’t tell anymore as I feel my ribs start to crush. The pain explodes within me and I yelp. Tears flowed from my eyes. The neon yellow nearly blinds me. I search with my right hand for something, anything that I might clobber this beast with and get free before I reach the end of my time. Suddenly, my right hand warms, I’m still holding onto the torch I realize. I’m about to swing it when it brightens. A sharp white flame brightens the end of the torch. From it, the heat is overbearing and the whispers come out of it. Leave! It says. The beast yelps and gets off me. The other two look in our direction and run. The one with yellow eyes has finally left my gaze and stared frighteningly at the white flame. It backs up slowly till it eventually reaches the darkness of the shadows. 

When I no longer see glowing in the darkness, I let out my breath. The torch is still glowing brightly in my hand. “Thank you” I whispered. My heart fills with a joy I’d never known before and my eyes start to well up with tears. My gratitude is indescribable. No longer am I afraid. I pack up my belongings and head for The Chosen, in the dark, with the white flame being my only guide. I have so many questions, but somehow know that now is not the time to ask. 

I make it all the way to The Chosen before the sun comes up and just as I reach the outer gates, the White Flame is gone. I spot a crowd lying just outside the gate of the city. The soldiers. Asher runs up to me, his surprise is obvious. He didn’t think I’d survive. I raise my hand “Save your apologies.” I say. I walk past them all without another glance and head inside the gate. The guards take one look at me and nod. Asher falls in behind me, but the guard stops him. I smile and walk on ahead. 

“Your Highness,” Asher calls behind me “please tell them, I’m with you.” I stop and turn to the guard, Asher looks smugly at him. 

“They can wait here till I’m done with my business with the King.” I say to the guard, who nods in agreement. Asher’s expression turns sour. I turn on my heel and head to the castle with my head held high. 

The King lets me into a room with an oval table. He sits at the end of it. “Jo Bones,” he smiles, stands up and stretches out his hand to shake mine “welcome to The Chosen City”. 

“Thank you Jessie. How’ve you been?” I take his hand, shake it and sit down in the seat closest to his right hand side. 

“We’ve been better, to be honest. There’s been no provisions for meat in a while.” 

“Yeah, that’s because Mesha has been skipping out on us. He’s decided he doesn’t want to pay anymore.”

“Well, that’s not good. What are you going to do?” he asks.

“That’s why I’m here. I’ve decided to go to war against them. They need to know that everyone contributes in this society, whether we agree on how to live or not.”

“Agreed, but what does that have to do with why you’re here?”

“Well,” Just then, the door opens and a servant walks in with a tray. On it is an assorted array of fish, bread and cheese As well as two cups. 

“Thank you Tasha.” Jessie says to the servant. She puts the tray down before us. “I hope you don’t mind, when I heard you were at the gate, I had them prepare something for us to eat.”

“I don’t mind at all, thank you for your hospitality.” I’m taken aback for a minute at the kindness this man shows me, we barely know each other, barring our letter correspondence about business. “Like I was saying,” I continued while grabbing a piece of fish and bread. 

“Excuse me,” he says, holding up his hand and bowing his head. When he’s done, he nods to me to continue. The customs around here were strange. “I was saying that although I have enough manpower to take down Mole City, I thought it wouldn’t hurt to have a few extra men. Would you march with us?” They finish off their meal and Jessie looks like he’s thinking for a minute. 

“Where you go, I go. What happens to you, happens to us too. Of course we’ll join you.” He smiles. “Tasha! Ready the men!” Jessie calls out. Tasha peeks in and nods her head. 

“Where are your men?” Jessie asks when we leave the castle. “Outside your gates.” 

“Why? You know they’re welcome here too.” He responds.

“They proved to me how disloyal they are, when they left me for dead with not one, or two, but three mutated beasts.” Jessie's eyes grow wide. 

“How did you survive?” I couldn’t answer him. No one would understand. I shrug and stay silent. When we reach the gate we are joined by hundreds of The Chosen soldiers. “Which way?” Jessie asks me. I nod towards the left and we head through the wilderness.