Chapter 20: Chapter 20
Shia stared in horror as the dark, inked figure of a bird – a heron, perhaps – became more and more pronounced at the left side of his highness’ bare chest. She would have remained in trance if she did not realize that Prince Langrion’s left eye has started glowing fiercely in time with the appearance of the marking in his body.
“Cover your eyes!” she began to frantically shout at Lady Khailis, and the girl heeded her instruction immediately.
Shia began removing his majesty’s mask, and saw that the menacing red glow was starting to become fiercer and fiercer despite the physical contact she had with the prince. It has also started affecting his majesty’s other eye, making him look more like a monster instead of a person.
Shia’s heart beat began to escalate even further. ‘What the hell is happening?!’ she asked herself. The figure on his chest started to turn blood-red as well.
Without a thought, Shia began weaving a dome of vine to separate his majesty and her from Lady Khailis. If she would not be able to prevent whatever transformation is happening to him, at least she would try to contain the glow between the two of them as much as she could. She cupped one side of his face and placed her hand on his left eye. This did nothing to abate the light emanating from it. Sighing deeply, Shia turned her hands on the glowing tattooed form on his highness’ chest and touched it, praying earnestly that this act might do some sort of magic.
As soon as her skin touched the twisted inked figure, it hissed and crackled, and she felt a burning sensation in the palm of her hand, but in a matter of seconds, the figure and the glow emanating from his majesty’s body disappeared. The forest fell silent once more as if nothing had transpired. Only the pain and the red blemish on Shia’s hand became living proof of what had just taken place.
As the dome of vines came crawling down away from them, Lady Khailis approached Shia and took her hand. “Are you and his highness okay? What happened to your hand?”
“I-I’m alright,” Shia replied calmly although her body was visibly shaking.
Lady Khailis immediately produced a leather water bag from her side and handed it to her. “Drink up,” she said.
After Shia had finished drinking some of the cold water from the bag, Lady Khailis poured the rest of it in her swelling right hand. “We need some ointment for this.” With a flourish, she produced a small vial from inside her robe, and she started putting some soothing salve in Shia’s palm.
“What just happened to his majesty? What was that on his chest?” Shia inquired.
“It is the Mark of the Beast.”
“What is the Mark of the Beast?”
Lady Khailis started sighing deeply. “Have you ever heard of the children’s story about the queen who made a pact with the devil?”
Shia blinked. What sort of connection does a fairytale have to her question? “Yes,” she replied.
Shia knew this tale from her mother. The story starts with an old, barren queen making a wish on an enchanted well to produce an heir to the throne. As she dropped a coin for her wish, an impish-looking creature appeared and offered to fulfil her deepest desire. There was one catch, however: the child’s mortal body will belong to the Demon himself – the Lord of the Underworld - and if one day, should the Demon himself reclaim the child, she must not refuse it.
This story was well-known to everyone, old or young, in Gascone, and even the neighbouring kingdoms have different versions of it. Later on, this story became the basis of the Prophecy of the Demon King – an old, sacred manuscript foretelling the breaking of the whole world that will start once the Demon’s child takes hold of the seat of power in an unidentified, influential kingdom.
“Only that story is not just a mere fairytale. It definitely happened in the lineage of the current Royal Family, right here in Gascone,” Lady Khailis muttered from under her breath as if she was afraid that the Devil will hear what she had just said.
Shia could not believe her ears. “What are you trying to say?”
“Langrion...he could be the son of the Devil...The one who might fulfil the Prophecy of the Demon King...”
Shia still couldn’t believe any of the words that Lady Khailis had just been saying. “How can you be so sure?”
“On the day that Prince Langrion and his brother were born, the seers from the temple received an oracle from the divine. It mentioned the fulfilment of the Demon King Prophecy in the princes’ lifetimes. They accused the former queen, Queen Cashmere, of selling her soul to the devil to conceive the princes. Of course, their father, the old King Sagrass did not believe any of it. However, on the day of the princes’ baptismal rites, a rather unfortunate accident happened: all the nobles who had attended the hall turned into sand, and only the former queen, the king and the two princes survived.”
Lady Khailis continued her rather outrageous story. “That incident was buried in the kingdom’s history, and the seers who have received the oracle where put to death to conceal the truth. Shortly after that, King Sagrass slipped into madness, and he needed to step down from the throne. He opted to live a quiet life away with the queen and the princes. This was how his brother-in-law, our present ruler, King Caldwell, came into power.”
“Of course the princes did not know any of this until King Sagrass died a few years ago. In his deathbed, he left several letters to Prince Langrion and his brother.”
“I was right there when Langrey read his letters. He confessed about what happened on the day of their baptism, and he confessed to another secret. In one of the letters, he said that the oracle mentioned that the Demon King’s existence will be known for sure with the appearance of the Mark of the Beast – an inked birthmark in the shape of a bird in flight that will become visible when the Demon King comes of age,” she said further on.
“King Sagrass implored Prince Langrion in his letters to find a way to stop his curse before he reaches the age of twenty one. We have been searching in vain for a cure for about three years now, but it might all come into nothing once he turns of age in about six moon cycles from now...”
“Then, three months ago, the Prince had started experiencing what you just saw – the appearance of the Mark of the Beast. This means that the prophecy might soon be fulfilled; the Devil might soon take over his body, and thereafter, the War of the World’s End will commence.” Khailis shuddered as she ended her story.
“So, that mark on his chest... It is the Devil’s attempt to take over his soul, isn’t it?” Shia exclaimed.
“According to the king’s letters, yes,” Lady Khailis said while sighing deeply. Suddenly, she started holding both of Shia’s hands tightly into hers, “Shia – can I call you just that? - This is precisely why we need your help! We have tried everything to stop the prince’s curse, but our labors had always left us empty-handed. But you – it seems you can really help him! Please do help him until we can successfully find a way around this curse! We will definitely find a way to break it, and if we do, you won’t only save the prince’s life, you will end up saving the world!”
“But what happens if we cannot break his curse before his twenty first birthday?” Shia asked.
“Then, either you or Khailis must take my life,” the prince replied. They did not realize that he had already woken up from his stupor. Prince Langrion slowly propped himself up, with some difficulty, in a semi-sitting position. “Should I fail to find a cure and the Devil succeeds in taking over my body, there is no way I should keep living. You or Khailis must kill me.”
“Aha, ha, ha! That is such a negative thought, your highness,” Khailis nervously exclaimed as she tried to change the mood of the conversation.
“We must face that reality one day, Khailis, and the earlier that you and Shia know what must be done, the better,” he said. “As I am still of sound mind right now, I should give you this order then. If the time comes, you or Shia must make sure that I die so that the prophecy would not be fulfilled. Will you execute my wishes?” he said turning to Khailis.
“Sire, I –“
“You are a sworn servant of the Imperial Palace of Gascone of which I would be a threat if that time comes. Do you swear it?”
“I- I will...” Lady Khailis meekly replied.
He turned his words to Shia, “and you, as a citizen of Gascone, will you swear to fulfil my wish? If the Devil takes over my soul, will you promise to kill me and stop the prophecy?”
“Of course... ” Shia began, a glint of rage burning in her eyes “of course, I won’t! Are you crazy?! Lady Khailis and I tried so hard to save your life just now, and she said you have been trying to look for a cure for three years! How could you ask us to become your murderers?!”
“You must do it, if the time comes -”
“If that time comes, I will make sure I kill the Devil himself!” Shia exclaimed, “I will surely make him pay for his crimes, so please stop this nonsense of making us kill you!”
The firmness in Shia’s resolve felt laughable, but neither the prince nor Khailis said anything.
******************
Meanwhile in the outskirts of the Capitol, the Tainted One scratched haphazardly at the side of his neck. He felt the Mark of The Dark One light up and fizzle, and a small, almost invisible light began to stir in his body, warming up the insides of his chest.
‘What is it this time?’ he thought lazily. The last moment that he had felt something akin to this was in Soccora, when he encountered a group of travelling people. It had been fun to watch them look at him in suspended terror as they perished with the sand. All of them – men, women, and children - had a terrifying glare in their eyes as they realized that their bodies were slowly ebbing away with the wind and turning into nothing more but just fine bits of dusts.
Somewhere from within him, a young boy began sobbing uncontrollably and fiercely calling him a ‘murderer,’ but the Tainted One ignored it. He focused on relishing the thoughts that his victims had loathed him in their deaths; No, they probably feared him, at the very least. It was the feeling of control and dominion which he liked best whenever he uses his powers – a feeling that his beloved Freya would never understand despite the many lifetimes she chooses to spend to cleanse him.
He was forced to go back to reality when one of his minions brought a man with a sack cloth in his head.
His assistant removed the cloth, and it revealed the bloodied head of the man he had commissioned to do some menial works from before – a work that did not require much thinking but only a sliver of physical force and will. However, this man looked like he did not even have the physical strength or the spirit to fulfil his task. He sighed heavily as he began to speak.
“Didn’t you remember the last time we spoke, Hadrian? You promised you will get me as many cursed ones as I like, so how come you return here empty handed?”
The laid back coolness of the Tainted One’s voice seemed to make the hairs of Hadrian’s body stand up. The poor man must have been remembering how he had killed his comrades one by one in front of his very eyes. Hadrian’s trembling head crouched down lowly to the edges of his boots and began kissing them.
“My Lord, forgive me! I-I had captured a cursed one for you – a young one talented with the art of making plants bloom! B-but that A-grade, he set her free!”
“An A-grade? Your excuses are getting lamer and lamer now, Hadrian... Do you think I am a fool to believe in such lies?” the Tainted One remarked.
Hadrian’s body trembled even harder. “My Lord, I swear it’s the truth! We captured an A-grade. H-he turned the boys into sand and stones and escaped with the girl!”
The Tainted One’s eyes flickered as he muttered softly within himself, ‘they turned into stone?... Could it be?...’
After a while, the Tainted One spoke again, “pray what does the A-grade look like?”
“H-he was tall and muscular, My Lord. One of his eyes was red. It shone so fiercely upon the boys, and the next thing we knew, the boys were gone!... They had become ashes!” Hadrian cried out.
“And what of the young, cursed one, the other one you have captured? Had it perished into stone as well?”
“N-no, My Lord. She lived! She looked at his eyes and lived!”
‘How curious!’ the Tainted One thought. His mind brought him back once more to the image of the silver-haired girl by the desert whose murderous gaze made his chest heat up in excitement. ‘That girl looked through my eyes and lived as well...Could it be you once again, Freya?...’ The Tainted One’s heart danced in anticipated glee.
“Well, well...Lucky for you, Hadrian, I still have some use for your body...,” the Tainted One said. Hadrian began to cry tears of joy. “Do you think you will know if you see that cursed one again, the one who was immune to the A-grade’s power?”
“Of course, My Lord! She stabbed me in the back! I won’t forget her face!”
“Well then, I will let you escape long enough to bring her to me...”
“Thank you, My Lord! I promise you I won’t fail!”
“Oh, don’t thank me yet,” the Tainted One said, stirring from his seat, walking close to Hadrian’s head. “I only needed your body, but not your soul...”
As he spoke his last words, the Tainted One touched the tip of Hadrian’s head, and his body was wracked with a million and one pain as he screamed.