‘Spare my child. Please!’ A woman, heavily dressed in a dress followed by a cloak over it, pleaded. To her side, a child could be seen whimpering away in fear, his eyes moist with tears. ‘You can kill me but, please…please let my child go.’ The knight looked down at her through the gap in the helmet. His blade was on the standby.

  ‘Sure,’ He said, unknown to the woman that there was sarcasm to his tone and he stabbed her at the heart. The mother fell dead before her child. ‘Now then, off you go, peasant!’ He paused and tapped the ground with his sword. ‘ I shall reward you, kiddo, with five seconds to escape.’

  The boy, hesitantly, left his mother’s side and ran away as fast as he could. He thought that he could survive the death that befell her. He thought that he would execute his revenge when he grew older on these much despised knights. But, he never thought that as he was running with his back to the knight, a sharp steel with its surface reflecting the sunlight was pointed at him. Never once did he think of looking back to where he came from, for the sword has now escaped the clutch of the knight’s fingers. And, he too, fell the way his mother did with the blade protruding from his chest.

  The knight burst out laughing from atop his horse at the sight before him. To him, it was nothing more than a form of entertainment. The stream of blood making its way down the blade seemed to send his mind lusting for more. He looked around him, searching for more to be his victims. Just then, his eyes caught something motioning towards his direction, from behind the crates a few metres away. ‘Foolish resistance,’ he thought.

  Alicia knew that the knight has noticed her and a smile instantly flashed across her face. She trusted her friend’s mind more than hers and she was prepared to lay down her life, though it was something she wouldn’t want to try if possible, for it. It was quite a daring of her to do that, she thought, for she knew herself as a person who would not want to get into a fight should she be given a choice. But, somehow, after taking up the form of the vampire friend of hers, in a matter of seconds, her heart and mind has become firmer than before, encased in steel. Arlin has made me a better person on the inside.

  It’s my turn now, to claim the spotlight. Arlin telepathically said before the line broke off.

  The armoured man advanced towards where Alicia hid. His lips broadened into a grin underneath that helmet and his fingers tightened around the hilt of the sword. One strike was all he need to strike her down, he thought.

  Meanwhile, within the enclosure of the castle, upon the throne, a man could be seen sitting on. A man or perhaps, a devilish creature to many who have known him for long as they could remember. On his chest, a pendant the form of a jewel hung over it. His hands rested on the manchette and his gaze locked on the room he was in. There was little left of his skin to be described as his look could only be distinguished by the whiteness of it: Bones exposed to the graceful touch of the air. At where his eyes should be, has now been replaced by empty sockets, filled with darkness. Vines crawled out from within them and entwined the body in a fashionable manner. Leaves sprouted out from the stems as they blocked the full view of the body. On the head, stood a crown made of layers of gold, carved onto it the chronicle of the long history of great kings that has brought light to the kingdom. All but one king had not his tale among them. For that ruler was now dead, in his throne.

  The guards on duty, pushed the massive doors open at the presence of the Great Knight. Despite the long-sleeved tunic he wore, the ends folded till the top of his forearms, the build of his body could not be hidden completely as muscles bulged and pushed out against the tunic. Below his nose, he bore a thick moustache that curved upwards near the tips. He spoke in a hard, slurred voice when he neared the throne. ‘I have warned you, old friend. You should have learnt to submit to a power greater than yours when you were born else, you wouldn’t have ended up like this. The aura of death enshrouding you as your thread of life is slowly torn off your heart. Even now, you are still staring at me from those black holes of yours, and on the inside, you are hoping how good it will be if you could stab me with those bony fingers you have.’ He paused momentarily to giggle before saying, ‘However- ‘He raised a hand and pointed directed his fingers at the skeleton. A stream of lightning zapped burst into existence and zapped across the room towards it. The very core of the king turned into ashes within a split second. ‘Dead, you are.’ Sound of footsteps approaching the room could be heard. Sound of foot cladded in a metallic surface, clanking with every step they took. ‘Not even a dead guy deserves your mercy, eh?’

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  The Great Knight replied, ‘A dead king is not needed, Stranx.’

  Stranx, donned in a full armour, returned his reply with a surprised look on his face. ‘Trying to take up his place, aren’t you? Your ambition never ceased to amaze me, Trident.’

  ‘Pray keep your thoughts to yourself.’ He turned his body to face the knight behind him. ‘A king is but a useless tool if the power resides within others and not him. And that power, Stranx, is in my hand now.’ His hands rose with the tone of his voice; His eyes widened as the future he so desired flashed before his eyes. ‘A new age has dawned. A time when I, the Great Knight of Trandafir, am the definition of king.’ The onlooker stood and smiled at his declaration.

  ‘The devil is let loose.’

  _________________________________________________________________________________________

  With the knight now directed all his attention to Alicia, Arlin silently slipped towards him from behind. Her nails sharpened at the end as veins surfaced and thickened on her skin. She grinned at the thought of being able to take down another knight with her own hand. And, with that, she lunged at him. He turned his head, and she found empty sockets glaring down at her from behind the helmet. ‘The hell?’ She jumped back, in response to the sudden increase in beats at her chest.

  The skin that bore the characteristics of the knight gradually melted off the bones. The muscular arms that once held the armours in place was now swinging weakly in the air, seemingly about to crumble at any moment to come. He or it, to be precise, could not spoke through his mouth but could only groaned and growled at me. His thoughts, unexpressed to her. His words, died off before they reached his mouth.

  ‘GAHHHH!'

  Arlin shot a glance at Alicia. It’s high time we retreat now.

  ‘B-but…’ Alicia thought, hoping that Arlin could read her mind. A massive hand swung down at the little vampire, forcing her to take another huge leap backward while locking her sight on the hideous creature who has seemingly, just return from the dead with its bones in the open air. Not a second was wasted for Arlin instantly made a dash towards Alicia, then, grabbing her hand, they ran like never before. Or maybe, it was just Alicia. Well, only they know the truth! The armour that became the shell for knights, slowly melted away into a pool of silver liquid at its foot.

  Trident, in the throne room, raised his glass of wine, to the cheers of the highly ranked knights and authorities. ‘To the birth of a new era!’ Axtec, the Great Knight’s most trusted knight, shouted. His drawn blade in the air, glimmering with the rays of light bouncing of its surface.

  ‘ALL HAIL TRIDENT!’ The others followed.

  Trident, seated in the throne chair, put up a warm smile before the guests to which everyone naturally responded with a smile. However, what they did not notice was the dark, malicious aura enshrouding him. A tinge of darkness could be seen pulsing in his eyes as the low ranked knights across the kingdom had their living body exchanged for bodies from the realm of the dead, in return for a greater strength. ‘Mhm.’ He grinned. ‘I am returning to my chamber first, Axtec.’

  ‘Very well, my lord.’ Axtec leaned towards him, and whispered something at his ears, which widened his eyes for a brief moment.

  Back in his room, his door locked, he went to the nearest window, scanning the landscape that laid out before him. ‘I missed one, eh? Now, that is something I must not overlook, unfortunately.’ He raised his finger to his shoulder-height and pointed it at a certain direction, over the mountains at a distance. ‘Begone.’ A stream of light burst out from the tip and across the sky.

  The skeleton knight was chasing after them at the back as they ran as fast as they could, turning around the alleys and entering buildings before exiting them, before eventually losing it in the process. It was when they thought they managed to by- passed several similar creatures that they managed to escape from the town and arrived at the woods surrounding it when suddenly, a bright light burned brightly above them and shot down at them. Alicia opened her eyes afterwards, only to find Arlin had a hole in her chest. She died a quick death. Everything happened so fast before she could find a perfect response to the scene before her. A girl enveloped in her thin, brown cloak lying on the grass. Her eyes gazing up at the sky above her. ‘ARLIN!!’ She clenched her fist tightly as tears ran down her cheeks and dropped to the ground. In a mere one day, a friend was made and a friend was lost. ‘Arlin…’

  Just then, a storm brewed in the sky. Thunder roaring in the distant and lightning scattering across the dark clouds. Her blue eyes darkened into a shade of red and the blackness that covered the surface of her hair faded away slightly, revealing the green core underneath it. Small fangs replaced her once normal teeth. ‘Your death… shall be AVENGED!’ she cried after undergoing a metamorphosis into a close lookalike of her dead friend, Arlin.

  Axtec entered the room and found Trident still with his finger up. ‘You did it, I supposed?’ Trident replied with a smile, his back still facing him as he lowered his arm.

  ‘I cannot sense their presence without knowing about it. A great job indeed, Axtec.’

  Axtec bowed to him proudly, knowing that he had served his lord’s desire.

  ‘So, what do you have for me?’

  ‘The guests have dispersed after knowing of your sudden absence from the room.’

  ‘Very well. You may go now.’

  He closed the door behind him and walked down the hallway, back to his chamber. The power over the kingdom now rested upon the new ruler, the Great Knight, Trident.