King Of Monsters
“Will you?” Shazir asked, as he turned his eyes lighting the key. “I’m guessing the only way I can leave is to take the key. Will it really do as you say? Can I really return?”
Kagan stood the chain floating from his hands to just in front of Shazir. “See if it does, and the next time I call you, I’m sure you’ll come willingly.”
Shazir clasped the key, and then only knew blackness.
Xoxox
Kagan smiled, as he walked through the hallways, until he reached the podium that overlooked the courtyard, looking down at the monsters and people alike that mingled. He always got new interesting specimens each time he sang through his pipes. As he did so long ago, to help that little town infested with rats. It was not his fault that the council had chose not to pay. That he’d been forced to take the children next. His eyes lighted on one of those very children, now a young lady who had chosen to take the immortality he offered as well as his hand.
“Hello wife.” He murmured, as she came into his embrace.
His Violet.
“My husband, you were gone for a long time.”
“I needed Shazir to choose to take our bargain.” Kagan murmured, placing a kiss on Violet’s head.
“Did he?” She asked quietly.
“He will, he has the key. I’m sure he will more than happily take his revenge on those who took his kingdom away, and then he will be ours.”
Violet smiled, up at Kagan before holding him tight. Her eyes lighted behind her as a silver crow rose up in flight a small scroll within its palm. She could only hope her sister would believe her and would find it within herself to help.
Kagan had reigned as King of the Monsters for long enough.
Xoxo
In a dark secluded forest, a blind woman unrolled the scroll and read the raised letters of her sister and smiled. It was finally time to make the man who had stolen her sister to pay. To make sure he would never take another child into his kingdom of monsters.
To never again see Kagan smile.
Not that she would know if he had. Her sister had made sure of that. If only she had been brave to do the same to herself. The lady walked back inside gathering a cloak and her carpet bag that always was ready to go. She then grabbed her black staff and tapped twice, disappearing from the home she had stayed for the past a hundred years.
She materialized at the edge of a pristine crystal blue lake, the castle behind it gleaming in the midday sun. She smiled as her eyesight slowly returned, the magic on the staff working to return her eyesight and change her features back to her twenty-year old form. She walked closer to the lake watching the reflection of herself shimmer in the light it had been nearly eighty years since she’d seen this form. She watched as her image seemed to ripple, just before a man burst out of the water. He coughed up lake water, pulling himself out of the water, kneeling in front of her.
“You must be Shazir. My sister told me about you.”
Shazir wiped his face as he looked up at the lady before him, taking in the black staff etched with silvery runes, down to the robes she wore that hung loosely on her frame. “Who is your sister?”
“Kagan’s wife. Now tell me, will you help me destroy him? Or take his deal to seek out revenge on those that have wronged you?”
Zara was flung suddenly on the ground, her eyes flying open as she found herself on the ground. She lay on the ground for a moment getting her bearings together. She leaned up on her elbows and looked up at where one of the lamps was swaying rapidly side to side. She sat up, grabbing hold of the wood structure of the bed, and used it to level herself into a standing position. She leaned heavily against the walls, holding on as she swung the door open and ran outside.
Using the same method, she made her slow descent to the main floor. Bracing herself on the railing she looked above the stairwell to the opening of the main deck of the ship. All the men had tied themselves to different areas of the boat, Aariz himself was braced against the ship wheel as he tried to navigate, she looked to the side and found Seraphina and Tariq braced against the railing, Nasir between them both.
Beyond them was a scene of terror.
On either side of the ship were dark crevasses of black stone, where they traveled was an ocean churning with rapids, and to make matters worse, tentacles would lift lazily above the waters. Zara leaned back down on the stair, her hand flying to her neck, breathing deeply as she tried to calm her suddenly rapid heartbeat. While she sat there, she felt all the movements of the ship as it was tossed side to side, up and down within the waters.
Suddenly Seraphina started to scream at Aariz, the dragon sounding suddenly terrified. “Left! Turn left Captain!”
“I’M TRYING!” Aariz screeched back.
Zara took a breath, and ran out of the stairwell, pushing herself to land on the door of Aariz’s Quarters as she looked where everyone seemed to be focused on. The Crevasses on either side of the ship had opened leaving two paths. One on the left side seemed to lead to further rapids, but the other was a dark tunnel, that seemed to be a simple void of darkness.
Zara watched as Aariz’s wheel seemed to fight against him until he finally fell back the ship immediately plunging into the dark….