Chapter 64: Chapter 64

Resuming his movements, Henry gave the crew more orders, warmer and more encouraging this time, talking to each one of them individually and giving  them something to hold on to while telling the leaders of the other ships, using the skill of the shadow demons, to do the same, it was all to keep the soldiers focused on the presence by preventing them from being lost inside a labyrinth made of their own thoughts, their own weaknesses and fears.

“Your Grace, here!” answering the call, Henry walked towards the center of the ship, where a little crowd formed around one of the soldiers, judging by his lost expressions and their worried ones, the human king understood that the soldier, who was a young demon, was under the effect of the fog.

Standing in front of the soldier, Henry wondered what should he say to him, he was but a boy, fifteen years old at best, his thin built and pale skin indicated that he was an ice demon, the shadow demons were larger, something the shadows’ lord brought to his attention when they were waiting for the news from the ice queen.

The boy’s age wasn’t all what caught the human king’s attention, it was also the tears that formed in his eyes before they started falling, Henry was taking a back for a moment, not knowing what could have made the young demon cry, grabbing him by the shoulders, Henry called out for the young soldier, not missing the deep misery and sadness behind the tears, he knew the fog had affected him badly, but he didn’t know how deep until the demon flung his hands off his shoulders.

“You killed her!” the demon spat out loudly, taking the human king by surprise, for the later didn’t expect an accusation, nor did he understood it, all that he knew was that the sadness in the young demon’s eyes was replaced by deep hatred and rage.

The demon’s eyes were no longer lost and hazy but pointed and meaningful, his voice was clear, even the way he stood changed, and Henry knew that the young demon was no longer under the effect of the fog but something far worse, and it was all directed towards him.

Henry was grateful that he saw the animosity which made him take a step away from the demon, because the later out of nowhere tried to stab him with an ice dagger that appeared in his hand, the human king was quick to evade and so where the two demons who jumped to hold their young comrade.

Not willing to remain at the sidelines while another demon attacked their king, the human soldiers gathered around Henry with undeniable rage, one which was quickly caught by the night creatures who prepared themselves as well!

“What are you talking about?” Henry asked angrily, not just because the demon almost stabbed him, but because his stupid act created a crack in the already frail alliance.

“Answer me! Who are you talking about?” Henry’s voice was calm but not weak, if anything, it sounded more authoritative than before, even when he knew that it would provoke the already provoked demons, he still chose to speak in that tone, otherwise he would lose the respect of his own people.

Henry, just like any other human, did not have any inhumane abilities, no magic, no excessive strength, no super senses and instincts, even though he was one of the best fighters, his fighting skills were no match for a demon’s, he knew all of this, and understood his “weaknesses” better than anyone, yet he also understood his strengths, and they were not reserved to how good he handled a sword.

His strength was his intelligence, his rationality, and his ability to analyze things so quickly and understand what others found ambiguous, he was more reasonable than the demon lord and queen, he knew more about the lands and the art of war, and he had the numbers backing him up.

The humans formed more than half the army, and unlike the demons who had predatory fighting tactics which could have been useful on a one on one fight only, his troops were more organized and disciplined, their training didn’t only focus on enhancing their fighting skills but also their team work and resistance.

Unlike what the demons thought, the humans were not the weakest ring in the chain, they were strong, and he was strong, and he knew what he was in that war, and what he had to be.

The human king.

"You bas..." the demon swallowed his curse when he received Henry’s icy glare, the human king didn’t have a demonic aura like the demon lord and queen, but he still had his own terrifying presence, one that threatened the young demon and made him replace his curse with a low hiss. Henry on the other hand, refused to back down as he kept on staring at the demon with hard eyes, not willing to let the matter slide out of control any further, he was not going to allow anyone to disrespect him, because disrespecting him was disrespecting all the humans, not that he was doing what he did for humanity’s pride, but to keep the alliance balanced and strong.

"You will address me with respect, and you will explain the accusations you have led against me"

"you killed my mother, one of your own, and don't think you can fool me, I know you are planning to kill our queen as well"

Kill Rima? one of their own? Henry looked at the demon questionably, waiting for him to elaborate further, and from his peripheral vision he noticed how both demons and humans tensed up with anticipation, waiting for any gesture of escalation.

It was getting dangerous, he thought, the accusations, even when empty, managed to wake the napping enmity between the two kinds.

“How dare you accuse our King!” one of the generals stepped forward, his hand on the handle of his sword, ready to behead the vile creature that dared insult their young king who was being too lenient while dealing with the blood sucking bastards, the demons, as expected of them, started hissing, taking their defensive stances against the open threat.

The situation was escalating faster than he thought, Henry thought, understanding that the animosity which was oppressed before because of the urgency of their situation was resurfacing now, it was expected in a way, for the humans and demons relation never got the chance to heal properly, instead, the predators and their preys were thrown on the ships and were told to work together, and therefore, such disputes didn’t come as a surprise.

The timing though couldn’t be worse! Especially since both the demon lord and queen were gone and it was all on the human king’s shoulder to lead the united armies, but how could he when half the army was looking at him accusingly while the other half was looking at him disappointedly.

Henry knew how critical his situation was, he needed to protect and mend the alliance without making any compromises, he did not hate the demons, he knew they had every right to not trust his kind, but he couldn't favor them, he knew that demons considered humans as lowly weaklings, if the human king compromised to a mere demon, not only will the people, who were not so sure of their young king’s abilities and better judgment, turn against him, but the previous assumption would be confirmed.

Henry always believed that just like the bridge is built on two equally strong pillars, an alliance can only be formed by equally strong parties, if the demons started seeing the humans as the weaker ring, then they will surely refuse to fight by their sides and follow his orders, and if the war was won, than they will consider it their win and claim the lands as theirs.

"Are you sure it was me who killed your parent?" Henry asked calmly, the best way out of this is to reason things out, they all needed to remember and understand the reason they were there, and the necessity of their alliance, if they had forgotten, the Gods were planning to kill them all.

"Not you..." the demon replied in an annoyed voice before being cut off by Henry.

"Is it any one on this ship then? or in this army?"

"No, I killed those bastards long ago" The demon raised his chin in pride and satisfaction, his eyes glowing with a sinister look as he remembered the way he took his revenge with his own hands.

"So, some people killed your mother and then you killed them back, yet you still have the audacity to accuse me for it? and even attack me? " Henry's voice was neither angry nor loud, it was dangerously calm, like the calamity before the storm.

"Don't think I don't know what you trying to do!" the demon was starting to lose his control, blinded by anger and irritation at the way the human king was addressing him.

"My mother, even though she was a human, loved my father, a demon from the frozen edge, she run away with him, my father sadly was not strong enough to stay alive for her, so my mother, with a four years old child in her arms, went back to the family, and do you know what they did? They butchered her in front of my eyes, without showing her any mercy, I can still hear her pained screams until this very day!

I still don’t know how did I manage to escape death, but once I did, I hid like a scarred rabbit, trying to survive, remembering the gore, once I was strong enough, I returned to claim their lives the same way they claimed my mother’s, and then I lived like a rogue, until Rima took the ice throne and welcomed me, a hybrid, in the frozen edge, she gave me a home and an identity.” Taking a second to catch his breath, the young demon closed his eyes, when he reopened them, there was no trace of the earlier pain, hurt, and adoration, instead, all that henry could find was anger, and…fear?

Was the demon afraid for his queen and his comrades?

“I know how your kind looks at us, demons, I know you see us as monsters although it was your treason that made us this way, you are as much of monsters as we are, it is enough to put a helpless prey in front of you and see what would the finest of you do to it, this alliance, it is nothing but a trap, you somehow bewitched our queen and convinced her to join us in our war, I am sure you will betray and kill her with your own hands, and maybe hand the rest of us to the Gods so they can pet your heads as the loyal dog you are!"

Henry took a deep breath, refusing to lower his eyes that remained as piercing as sharpened steal, the demon’s insult resonating in his ears, but he refused to give in to his pride in that second, instead, he focused on all the pain and fear the demon’s words carried.

"You keep on saying this, your kind, your kind, but from what you just said, I can simply deduct that you are one of our kind as well, your mother, was a human, your father was a demon, those two found it on their hearts to love each other, to overcome all of their differences, they were able to love each other, for them, the past didn't matter, the hostility between their ancestors didn't matter, not even the fact that one of them was the other's food did not matter, but sadly it did not end well for them, and it was because of the same thoughts in your head" Henry gave the demon a pointed look, his voice then raised higher, as he started addressing everyone on the ship...

"I understand that you don't trust me, no one here trusts the other, and I understand why, for thousands of years we have suffered at each other’s hands, we lived in fear and lost our loved ones because of each other, and through the years, we kept on blaming each other while the real enemy was safely watching and taking our lives from us, this hatred and hostility did not come out of nowhere, I know! but it is time to let it go, we must let it go if we want to survive, now we know, who the real enemy is, and it is either we join forces and fight them together or fight each other and destroy each other for them like before, or just wait for them to destroy us, so what do you want? the past, or the future? and you better choose quickly because our enemy will not wait"

"As for the ice queen" Henry turned back to the young demon "I think you should have more faith in the person who changed the frozen edge and gave you a home! I have faith in her, and in the shadows’ lord, the same faith they have in me." with that Henry finally ended his speech, not giving them any obvious answers since there wasn't anything obvious in this whole ordeal, but at least he was able to remind them with the truth about their alliance and their upcoming fate.

It was not just a war against the Gods, it was a war against hatred, one which lasted for so long that it became a part of each and every one of them.

Will they be willing to fight this enemy as well? Henry’s question was answered after few minutes of silence, when the demon made his dagger disappear, bowing his head, he talked in a calmer, more respectful voice.

"Our queen trusts you, and I trust her, she is not stupid nor gullible, she must have judged you to be trust worthy, and if she did, I think I can too!” relieved by the young demon’s words, Henry walked towards him and offered him his hand to take which took everyone by surprise, even the demon himself!

“What is your name?”

“Kar, your Grace!”

“For the future!” Henry smiled as the demon took his hand, wordlessly sealing the path of alliance to fight not just the Gods, but the sequels of the past as well.

The rest of the crew were all looking at the human king with deep respect, for he just saved them all from being dragged into a blood bath, the young king, despite his age, had what it took to be a king.

wisdom, strength, and the power of will to change, to offer the hand of peace to an enemy who tried to kill him not minutes ago.

"Our lord trusts you as well, and I believe in him, so I believe in you as well, King Henry"