Chapter 171 Chapter 171: Please, take me to Raven

Chapter 171 Chapter 171: Please, take me to Raven
~ Liam's POV ~

We crossed into Belgravia territory three days after leaving Grok.

The change of environment was immediate, colder and darker forests, rockier roads, villages that looked half-abandoned.

This kingdom had always felt cursed to me, and now I knew why. A man like King Alaric ruled here.

"Your Majesty, we're approaching one of Duke Hastings's villages," Dorian said, riding beside me. "Should we stop to rest the horses?"

"No. We keep moving." My hand went unconsciously to my sword. "Raven is close. I can feel it."

We'd been riding hard for days. My men were exhausted, but none of them complained. They knew how important this was to me.

As a king, I would do the same for them and knowing they would do the same for me gladdens my heart.

Duke Hastings village appeared and it was small, maybe twenty buildings clustered around a central square. Smoke rose from a few chimneys. It looked peaceful.

Too peaceful. Most villages are always filled with noise but this one is just too quiet.

"Something's wrong," I muttered.

Dorian's hand went to his weapon. "Your Majesty?"

"Where are the people? It's midday. The streets should be busy."

The village was completely empty. No farmers, no merchants, no children playing. Just silence.

"Spread out," I ordered quietly. "Stay alert."

My soldiers moved into formation, hands on weapons. We rode slowly into the village square.

A man stood in the center of the square. Young, maybe mid-twenties, with dark hair and a guard's uniform. But something was wrong with him.

His eyes were completely black.

"Dorian," I said carefully. "That's…”

"A Darkling possession," Dorian finished, his voice tight. "Your Majesty, we need to leave. Now."

But it was too late.

The possessed man smiled, and suddenly dozens of villagers emerged from the buildings around us. All of them had the same black eyes. All of them moved with that same jerking motion.

"It's an ambush!" one of my soldiers shouted.

The villagers attacked.

They moved fast. My soldiers fought back, but these weren't just possessed people. They had Darkling strength meaning they are already changing to one of them.

How is that possible?

I drew my sword as three villagers rushed me. I cut down the first one, blocked the second's attack, and kicked the third away.

Around me, my men were fighting for their lives.

"Don't kill them if you can help it!" I shouted. "They're possessed! It's not their fault!"

But that was easier said than done. The possessed villagers didn't feel pain. And they didn't stop even when wounded.

We had no choice. My soldiers started killing them.

I hated it. I hated cutting down innocent people who'd been taken over by dark magic. But it was them or us.

The fight lasted maybe ten minutes. Bodies littered the square. My men were wounded, bleeding, and exhausted.

Finally, only one possessed person remained.

The young man from before. The one in the guard's uniform.

He stood in the center of the square, surrounded by my soldiers, black eyes fixed on me.

"Surrender," I said, breathing hard. "We don't want to kill you."

He laughed. The sound wasn't human. And then he attacked.

He was faster than the others. Stronger as well. He moved like a trained fighter, not a regular possessed villager.

He cut through three of my soldiers before I could reach him and even wounded two more.

"Hold him down!" Dorian shouted. "Don't let him…”

The man's sword came at me. I blocked it, barely. The force of the blow made my arms shake.

We fought across the square. He was good. Really good.

Every time I thought I had an opening, he blocked it. Every time I tried to disarm him, he twisted away.

My soldiers tried to help, but he was too fast. He wounded five more men before Dorian managed to get behind him.

"Now!" Dorian grabbed the man's arms.

I kicked the sword out of his hand.

But the man wasn't done. He broke free from Dorian's grip, he spunned, and his blade, where did he get another blade? Came at me too fast to block.

Pain exploded in my stomach.

I looked down. His sword was buried in my gut.

"Your Majesty!" Dorian's voice sounded far away.

The man pulled the sword out. I fell to my knees, and I pressed my hand to the wound. Blood poured between my fingers.

"Kill him!" Dorian screamed at the other soldiers. "Kill him now!"

"No!" I forced the word out through the pain. "Don't... don't kill him."

"Your Majesty, he stabbed you!"

"I know." My vision was getting blurry. "But look... look at his uniform."

Dorian looked. And saw what I'd seen.

The crest on the man's shoulder. Grok's royal crest.

"He's one of ours," I gasped. "He’s.. he's Raven's personal guard. Tate."

I remembered him now. The young guard who I’d assigned to protect Raven and sent to gather information on Raven's mother.

He never came back. So this is why? But what pained me most was the fact that I had forgotten his face and almost killed him.

If I had killed him, Raven would never have forgiven me.

"I don't care who he is!" Dorian's face was twisted with rage. "He nearly killed you!"

"He's important... to Raven." Each word hurts. "She... she'll want him alive."

My soldiers had finally managed to tackle Tate to the ground. It took six of them to hold him down.

"Get the chains," I ordered, my voice getting weaker. "The special ones... from the cart."

We'd brought chains made of blessed cedar woods, the kind that repelled dark magic. They were meant for capturing Darkling agents if we found any.

My soldiers brought the chains and wrapped them around Tate. The moment the chain touched his skin, he screamed.

The black faded from his eyes, replaced by his normal brown.

"What... where am I?" Tate looked around, confused and terrified. Then he saw the bodies. "No. No, what did I do?"

"You were possessed," Dorian said coldly. "And you nearly killed the king."

Tate's eyes found me. Saw the blood. His face went white. "Your Majesty, I didn't... I would never..."

"I know." My hand was completely red now. So much blood. "Not your fault."

"We should kill him anyway," Dorian said. "He's dangerous. Even chained, he could…"

"No." I tried to stand, but my legs wouldn't work. "He comes with us. Raven... needs to see him."

"Your Majesty, you're bleeding out! We need to get you to a healer!"

"Then... let's go." My vision was going dark around the edges. "Hastings Manor. Raven's there. She can... she can heal..."

I tried to take a step forward.

The world tilted and I was falling.

Someone caught me. Dorian, maybe. His voice sounded like he was shouting, but I couldn't hear the words.

"Raven," I whispered. "Need to... get to Raven."

Then everything went black.

The last thing I remembered was the feeling of being lifted onto a horse.

And hoping I'd stay alive long enough to see her face one more time.