Chapter 31: Chapter 31
King Malik
Kingdom of Howard
“That stubborn, arrogant shithead!” Malik roared, slamming down his fists in the table. The other Ecanus that had gathered around him flinched at the king’s recently shortened temper. They had tried to contact the missing prince but he just would not answer their telekinetic calls.
“That idiot…” the king continued, exasperated at the mess that his younger son had left the kingdom in. “If he only had self-control, if he could have practiced a bit more of patience and majesty, the kingdom would not be in this awful situation.”
“Deity Flora” Malik said calmly, the oracle was standing by, watching them with serene eyes. “What should I do…?” his voice sounded weak and pathetic, as if the past few weeks had drained him of all his resolve.
“In order for things to go as foreseen” the deity told him quietly, her eyes showed no pity or remorse at the king’s sorry state, “I must not interfere. I would give you my apologies, King Malik but it seems at the moment, I will be of no use.”
Malik knew better than to snap at the oracle who had helped the kingdom all these years, so he just sighed and buried his face in his hands. “There are talks of him crossing the portal” he said in a muffled voice, his face still squarely planted in his hands “I think we should send someone to bring him back.”
He lifted his face from his palms and glanced around the table. His eyes landed on Vergil who was stoically standing guard over them.
“Vergil” Malik said and the royal guard turned to face him at once, “You were once called the torrential ocean, were you not?”
The silver haired Ecanus nodded wordlessly, the King smiled knowing this man’s history in battle and how he and Colter are at a stalemate during combat practice.
“Yes, it was your own hubris that allowed Colter to escape” the King continued and the royal guard looked ashen, “Had you commanded the rest of the royal guards to help you, Colter would be in custody right now.”
“I believe that they would have only gotten in the way, your majesty” Vergil answered the king coolly, meeting his eye level. “Colter is renowned for his prowess in various forms of combat, the other royal guards would have only suffered serious injuries if they had tried to get in between me and your son.”
“It doesn’t matter!” Malik roared but Vergil stood before him, unafraid, “Your own pride allowed him to escape and by your honor, you will cross that portal and bring him back.”
Vergil took a step back and glared at the king’s new personality, yet orders are orders.
“Should you fail, Vergil of the torrential ocean, I will sentence you to death.”
The others who had watched this transpire gasped at how wanton the king’s behavior was recently, he was willing to put one of their greatest warriors to death just to satisfy his own ego.
“Your will be done, King Malik.” Vergil answered coldly, bowing his head towards the king.
The crowd stared after him as he turned his back and walked away, Malik also watched Vergil’s visage disappearing into the palace doors, “There is no better person to send after that boy than him.”
As if on cue, Flora shook her head and told the king, “You would send another one of Howard’s finest warriors and leave us exposed?”
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Impostor Ecanus
Kingdom of Howard
Word of the prince crossing the portal finally spread throughout the kingdom. The only problem is, they had no idea where this forbidden portal was. They had been embedded into the kingdom for days now and the information they had was meager.
This impostor had changed his shape and gender just to get in with the other Ecanus of the kingdom, trying his best to find the location of this forbidden portal. Yet they were only able to harvest vague answers and idiotic riddles that were passed on from time immemorial.
“My little birdie…” King Dyron’s voice whispered in his ears, a chill ran through his spine at how deadly, venomous and loving it is all at once, “Tell me that you have news on your front?”
“It seems our only lead is this Samuel, your lordship” the impostor thought and he felt joy radiate in his head as Dyron’s happiness filled his brain.
“Yes… this sinner Samuel indeed. But to breach Tralfagar is tantamount to suicide. Very well, my beautiful minion, prepare yourself for some slight pain…”
It was as if a jolt of electricity tore through his body, he had to muster all of his strength just to not cry out, but it was extremely painful. It was like being barraged by spears, impaled over and over as his body tried to struggle with the overflowing power of Dyron filling him up.
“Take it all in, my beautiful birdie...” Dyron crooned in his head, “Have more of my essence and be my favorite.”
Dyron was giving him his essence once more; it was a painful experience that would harrow even the greatest of people. His bones felt like they were about to break and shatter into a million pieces. His flesh felt like it was set on fire and his blood boiled to a point where it felt like he was an active volcano.
He felt the king’s powers course through him, and Dyron laughed in joy.
“Now fly, my little birdie. Fly towards Tralfagar, use your new abilities to blend in and not be noticed by their guards. Find Samuel and take from him every bit of information you can take.”
The vulture’s eyes gleamed with power as he took off flying in blinding speed, towards the direction of Tralfagar.
It was a dreary place to say the least, many of these Ecanus were criminals and are now being forced into slave labor to pay for their sins. Many of them were dirtied, some of the hardened ones bore scars that were made by whips.
But the vulture paid no mind to this, he was only searching for this Samuel that the king needed. His body was cloaked in a strange aura that made him invisible to anyone and everyone. Then, he spotted the target.
He was sitting all alone, staring at the skies with a sad smile pasted on his face. His face showed the signs of age and sorrow, it was lined with regrets and pain. It Samuel the sinner Ecanus.
Focusing the dark energies gifted to him by King Dyron, he shapeshifted his body once more into a young lady. The breasts were ample, eyes were gold and a mark on her left chest for good measure. Taking advantage of the silence, the impostor Ecanus, now a she, landed behind Samuel and took off her invisibility aura.
“It took me a while to find you” she announced as she approached Samuel, who only stared at her in wonder.
“Who might you be…?” Samuel asked, “Do I know you?”
She shook her head with a smile and gave him a name: “Call me Erica.”
“It is my pleasure to meet you, Erica.” Samuel told her politely but frowned, “Citizens are forbidden from entering this place. How did you get here?”
Erica smiled at Samuel, who also returned it calmly, “It matters not, dear Samuel. I have been looking for you for quite some time now.” She approached him and made her movements and tone sensual.
“Young lady” Samuel told her with a chuckle, “I am not the one you are looking, I have no longer any interest in such things.”
“Oh, I’m not here for that” Erica told him gently, sitting down beside him, “I’m here because I am curious about this place you came from”
Samuel shook his head as he remembered the portal, the human world and Hazel once more.
“I am astonished that the young Ecanus today are quite curious, you are like that young man who asked me about it.”
In her mind, Erica was grinning and she felt that Dyron was grinning along with her. There could only be one ‘young man’ and that young man is Prince Colter Howard.
“Did you mean Prince Colter?” Erica asked innocently, and Samuel nodded solemnly, “We’re friends” she lied trying to get into Samuel’s good side.
“Good to know that the young prince has friends. When we spoke, it was as if he was fighting his battle alone. It was a lonely thing to see” Samuel said sadly, remembering the echoing sadness within the prince that he buried with curiosity.
Feeling comfortable with this beautiful woman, Samuel told her about the world he had just came from not knowing that there was another one listening, Dyron grinned maliciously, triumphant at the information that he was now receiving straight from the sinner himself.
“And where would one find this forbidden portal that you have been telling me about?” Erica asked sweetly, after some time and Samuel sighed.
“You know it is forbidden, right? It is the main reason I am trapped in this prison.”
“Let’s just say it’s only for my curiosity’s sake.” The fake ecanus replied with a beaming smile.
“Very well” Samuel said, gazing into Erica’s golden eyes, “Traverse the forests of Vikalyn, run around blindly and go deep into its woods. It doesn’t matter how you do it, but keep going further and further in. You’ll encounter a magical rabbit and it will lead you right to it.”
As soon as he finished, Erica got up abruptly, leaving Samuel astonished. There was a faint grin on her face as she said goodbye and turned away from him. With a whooshing sound, she took off leaving Samuel dumbfounded as he stared at her slowly disappearing figure in the sky.
“Have I done something wrong…?” the old Ecanus told himself worriedly.