Chapter 5 KING OF KINGS

They reached the spot where their carriage stopped and the royals of Carliff stepped out. The two twin princes ran around the field chasing the birds and the squirrels. They picked the flowers and after they had had fun for some time their father, King Aurelius called them and they returned to his side, beaming with smiles.

'My boys, I know you are young, and stupid sometimes, but both of you have been blessed and cursed from birth. Because of Draecon's recent feat of going through fire unscathed, the high king of Eradia has heard about both of you and what you're each capable of. In no time he will make a move to get you and I cannot imagine what he would do to both of you when that happens. I cannot guarantee your safety within the castle any longer and that is why I have brought you here...'

'I don't understand, what are you talking about father?' Raeco asked.

'Soon you will understand my sons, what it means to have a mark of destiny,' he said nonchalantly, as though that perfectly answered the question. 'You need to get stronger. You must get the strength that no one else possesses; the knowledge of the whisperers. You must find them and learn everything you can from them.'

'Whisperers? What are you talking about?' Draecon asked and his father pointed to the top of the mountain.

'They have been living in Carliff even before the walls were built. Up on that mountain you must find them. The whisperers, they are a group of strange men who are thought to wield blades like gods. No one can find them unless the whisperers themselves want them to. You my sons must find them and learn from them and you must do it on your own. I'm sorry to leave you in the middle of nowhere but it must be done for your own good. You need to start climbing now, it gets harder when it's dark,' he said, entering the carriage and leaving without looking back. The boys, as much as they were perplexed, saw the determination and seriousness in their father's eyes and voice. They knew the king loved them more than any other, and this was something he had to do to protect them. A duty he had to fulfill no matter how hard his heart rejected it. It was treacherous to climb a mountain that high, and many other dangers lay with the journey the boys had to take. They did exactly as they were told, and before long they were already quite high off the ground. It was the highest mountain in Carliff, and many had died trying to get to the top. They knew for their age it was impossible, yet they climbed anyway. He had left them some food and water and they hoped it was enough.

Days passed as they kept climbing and they hadn't reached halfway to the peak. Raeco couldn't go any further and Draecon was tired as well. They had run out of food and water and they felt the strain of the altitude. The top still wasn't visible and a thick cloud of mist had covered the place making it difficult to see. They climbed nevertheless, their last bits of strength and endurance withering away.

Draecon suddenly reached the top, seemingly pulled up by someone as his last ounce of strength faded away. His brother also made it and he also felt as though he had been pulled up. The mist was thick but it began to clear, and as it did they could see a strange figure standing in the distance. It showed clearly as the mist cleared; a slender man with pale white skin, piercing green eyes, and a flat nose which made his white face plain and flat. He was clad in dirty tattered rags and his nails were extremely long and curled. The boys looked on at the eerie yet humorous sight and were stupefied by its strangeness. He raised an index finger across his lips, as if to tell them to remain silent, then he turned and whispered to them to follow. A whisper so silent it almost made no noise, yet they heard it pretty clearly as though it was said directly into their heads. They followed him, and as they went forward the fog cleared to show them the way. In the distance was a small temple for which the whisperer headed, slowly and silently. The boys couldn't explain how they had reached the peak of the mountain or when two other whisperers came to join them. It was almost as if it just happened. They were supposed to find the whisperers but the whisperers found them instead. There was some kind of village where the whisperers lived and there, everything was silent.

Draecon opened his eyes and Lexa was sitting right beside where he lay. She smiled with relief and called someone to take a look at him. She checked the bite on his neck and noticed it was healing nicely, then she spread something on it.

'You're going to be fine,' she said when he shifted in pain.

'What happened?' He asked and Alexa told him he was bitten by a ghoul, then some people came by to save them when he passed out. He sat up immediately and yawned:

'How long have I been unconscious?' He asked her.

'Three days, you must be hungry,' the other woman said and handed him some well sliced fruit and green vegetables.

'I need wine and meat, I don't like greens,' Draecon said and she scratched her head.

'I'm sorry, but here we scarcely get meat, and wine will not help your condition,' she told him.

'Here? Where are we?' He asked and Lexa explained they were in a settlement within the Black Forest. The natives were a tribe of mostly women who lived in and protected the forest.

Someone came in just as she was done talking and she introduced herself as Adana. She was an elderly woman with long dark hair which would've fallen all around her shoulders if it wasn't tied in two with a ribbon. She requested that Draecon follow her as she takes him to the village elder who wants to see him urgently. Draecon looked at Lexa, who seemed to trust her completely.

'Don't worry about me Raeco, I'll wait for you here,' she assured him and after a moment he finally left with Adana.

The place was just as Lexa had described it, only a bit more dramatic. It was a society in a clearing in the middle of the forest and filled mostly with women. Adana walked first and Draecon followed her. As they got far enough from the hut Adana finally talked.

'Raeco? Why does the princess call you by your brother's name?' She asked him and his eyes glanced at her surprisingly.

'That's the name I gave her, you could say she doesn't know my name yet and I'd like it to stay that way. I should be asking you how you knew that it wasn't my name.'

'Oh because I know you. I used to sell vegetables at Carliff, and I happened to see the two princes once in a while when they came by.'

'Is that so? I can't recognize you at all,' Draecon said.

'Probably because you were young. It's a shame, Carliff hasn't been the same since that day. You don't find a lot of people there, and the Queen is trying her best to keep the country stable. I'm sure if you returned you could bring change to the place.'

'Where are we headed?' Draecon asked her and she pointed to a small hut a distance away.

'You're going to see Nana. She is the village chief. She doesn't like taking visitors but she personally requested to 'see' you.'

'She did? I wonder why?' Draecon said as they reached the hut and she beckoned him to walk in alone.

The village chief was a gray old lady who waited for him in an old twig woven chair that creaked even when she raised her head to look at him. She was clad in an old black cloak which was torn around the edges and when she looked at him, he noticed her pale white and lifeless eyes.

'Ah, sit down my son,' she said and pointed to the left. There was no chair there and Draecon felt silly having to sit on the ground in front of the blind old woman. He sat on the grass carpeted floor and looked up at her as though he waited for her to tell him a story.

'Destiny never lies,' she said and stretched out her hand as she had done before.

'It was destined that you will sit at the very place that I pointed, even when there was no chair. You see you cannot run from your destiny, and you cannot always change or defy it. Just like the destiny of one who bears the mark of the king. Such a person is blessed and cursed to be king of kings, and rule from the throne of the great west.'

'What are you saying old woman? I don't think I understand what you mean,' Draecon said and she only smiled and looked blindly at him.

'Some destinies are the same in one, others are different yet linked, others are joined and intertwined and much like the destinies of you and the Armenian princess. She is your destiny, and you are her's. Both of you will usher in a new age, much like the one of the first high king. And then the third string; the destiny of the scarred that goes in the same direction as yours. When the time comes for you to decide, you should not hesitate. Cut that strand. Say, do you know the story of the first high king?' She asked him.

'I've heard parts of it, rumors I guess,' Draecon replied.

'There was a Great War between humans and the dark creatures, after which ten nations emerged. All men in the west were finally united and all ten royal families of nobles who ruled the different parts of the west came together to form our world in the west; Westexa. To show they were truly united they needed one king to rule them all. One king, loved by ten nations. One king to rule over ten kings and become high king of kings. But then they couldn't settle on who would become king. In each test they found a different man worthy. They tried to battle and they tried to select by majority decision. They might've even drawn lots and yet none of them proved superior and a high king couldn't be selected. Then one day when they were at a council a stranger arrived, appearing out of thin air and entering the palace undetected. Some say he emerged from the floor, others say he came out of the roof. He just appeared amidst the ten kings and got them by surprise. He had one eye on his forehead and another in each of his palms. His fingers were lengthy and ended in long curved claws. As he spoke thick black pus flowed out of his mouth, nose and eye and everyone in the room instantly fell into a trance due to the strain of his presence. The room became cold as ice as this man with no shadow spoke of the future; that the only true king who was fit to rule over the ten kings will be born with a mark on his body. A mark he could never run from, whether he tried to or not. A mark given by destiny itself.'

'How you describe that man, like you were there centuries ago,'

'Young man there are many things these lifeless eyes have seen. That man was destiny incarnate and what he spoke was only truth that could not be avoided. The first high king was born and he bore the mark of a crescent in a flame. Most of the kings opposed him and the mark, and tried to destroy it. No fire was able to burn it, no knife was able to cut it and nothing could completely hide it. The mark was as indestructible as the destiny he was born with, and he became the first king of kings after surviving many attempts at his life. He ruled forty years as the high king of Westexa and had two sons by his death, one born with a mark and one without. The marked son became the second high king eventually and he ruled thirty eight years. He also had a son and a daughter, none of them bore the mark of destiny. However another royal family from another of the ten nations was born with the mark and after conflicts and disagreements, destiny prevailed and she became high queen of Westexa and ended an impending war. She had two sons; a bastard and a pure blood. The son with royal blood had the mark, but the bastard son killed his marked, royal, half brother in cold blood and seized the throne. He was the first unmarked high king and he initiated the reign of the unmarked. Some nations withdrew their allegiances and broke their oaths and he lost reign over a part of Westexa, however he ruled the larger portion of the west and he named it Eradia from the center. He was a respectable man who ruled with iron hands and he appointed the priestess his right hand. It was from his reign that it became treason to bear a mark of destiny. He called it a cursed mark. Anyone who destiny chose and marked was a threat to his throne and he hunted them down to the ends of the earth. All who succeeded his reign were not born to be kings of kings, and so they as well kept their crowns by force and eliminated every marked royal; man, woman or child. This started many wars as kings and queens wouldn't allow their families to be slain just because they were born marked, and after a great many battles the ten nations and the ten strong countries were reduced to six, with only six royal bloodlines remaining in Westexa. In the far north were Calimont and Armenia. West to southwest were Zora and Gerada. Farthest south was Redwell before the White Sea. Southeast was Carliff, and all the countries in between from north to south became part of Eradia which was in the center of it all; The Golden Capital. The grandest nation in the middle, where lies the throne that rules them all. The throne whose true heirs, the marked royals feared to take it.'

'What does all this have to do with me being here?' Draecon asked her and she requested he be patient.

'The marked will take back their throne. Destiny has spoken, and this time the rightful heir will get the throne. However a great many dangers await you on your path and you must make sure you protect the Armenian princess no matter what comes your way. Never leave her side, for it is your destiny to protect her. If you leave her, I fear things will not end well,' she said and he sat back and began to look around the room.

'Before you leave I have something else to tell you. You cannot take the throne of the high king easily. You will not change anything unless you first take down the high priestess of Eradia,' the blind old woman said and coughed loudly.

'Who is this high priestess of Eradia?' Draecon asked and she tried to force her coughs to cease.

'She is a sorcerer of some sort who supports the king behind the scenes. No one knows her true origin. She is very powerful and performs very strong magic and she supports the high king in every way. I suspect she is no mere human for she had been around since the time of the bastard. Be very cautious, she is strong and she can see more of a person's destiny than I. She is the person who blinded my eyes, crippled my feet and twisted seven of my fingers. You will recognize her when you see her Draecon. Do not hesitate to kill her, for that will be your worst and last mistake. She did put your brother through the worst pain and his execution was on her orders. The priestess of Eradia is strange and she plays a key role in your destinies, one I have yet to know about.'

'You need not worry about me hesitating when I meet her,' Draecon said.

She smiled and called Adana in, then asked her to escort the two out the forest before nightfall when the ghouls will come out. Draecon and Lexa were lucky their horses had fled and reached the village. If they hadn't, the people wouldn't have come and the two royals would've definitely died or worse; been turned into ghouls. However everything turned out for the best in the end. Lexa was brought to where Draecon waited by the horses and Adana noticed she had covered up the mark on her arm.

'You keep it hidden, smart. That way you will not make any enemies as you travel,' Adana said and she smiled.

'But if you keep it hidden you will not make any allies as well. It might not seem like it but some people still believe in the mark of destiny and they'll follow you against even High King Dareg if they have to. I know for sure that I will. You should be careful who you show it to anyway, it will open the right doors, and some of the wrong ones too and it might be your death or your salvation.'

'Thank you Adana, I will try to be as cautious as I can,' Lexa said and climbed on her horse.

'Follow the dull brown flowers towards the south, stay away from the thorn bushes, they will lead you out of the forest. You should travel fast, you don't want to be in the forest at night, I'm sure you know why,' Adana said and Draecon nodded.

'The ghouls, what are they?' He asked Adana and she thought for a moment.

'I don't really know, but Nana says they were made with the power of destiny's mark. They've been here long before any of us so we cannot tell,' Adana said.

They started riding away and picked up speed as they went.

'I can't wait to get out of this forest already, I need to eat some real food,' Draecon said and Lexa giggled at his remark.

The high king's troops had already started marching south from Eradia. This time it wasn't an escort team like the one that accompanied him to Armenia, it was an army of six hundred well trained knights and they marched south towards Redwell. The king's tent which was large and luxurious sat in the middle of his camp and inside it King Dareg talked with a woman dressed in black with a slithering venomous creature around her neck.

'You say we should march towards Redwell but I don't see the reason why. Do we still have to gather more troops in each country as we head south? People will think we are heading for war,' King Dareg said and she fondled the snake around her shoulders gently.

'No need to worry, you will soon understand why we need more soldiers. True, we are heading for war, and even though it doesn't seem likely, some of the nations will still follow you. You will not have your full army but just enough. The Armenian princess was the greatest threat to your throne and yet your soldiers allowed her to escape, you should've allowed me to kill her myself, it would've been swift and painful, and it would've helped a lot.'

'No, I couldn't allow her to live any longer, in whatever case you are the only trump card I have now. I'd be sure to let you have her next time,' the High King replied and she smiled.

She was young and beautiful, her thick black hair fell graciously on her back and her eyes shone a beautiful velvet color in the light of the fire that burned to keep them warm.

'True, I am the only ace up your sleeve and if you listen to me you might finally be able to get rid of that Armenian the same way you got rid of the marked prince of Carliff.'

'I sure hope so,' High King Dareg said and poured himself a cup of wine. 'And you're sure she's headed for Redwell?' He asked the priestess.

'She is. Redwell is the place where she would be most guarded. They will not agree to surrender their troops to your army and instead they will join her, but without that man around her the princess is as good as dead. I will break the yarns of destiny and undo his wretched mistake of interfering with men, just like I started with that bastard a long time ago. This time I will end it.'

'Sometimes I do not understand what you say at all,' the king said and she giggled, stood up and left the tent. She had something to do, something extremely important.