"Uncle! Let her go!" Helena shouted.
"No, I don't think I will." Valor replied.
"Guards! Seize him!" Silo shouted.
"They follow their King, I am the King." He said.
"What have you done!" Helena yelled.
"I am doing this for the good of Stonebrush!" He said angrily.
"Sir!" Shouted a guard. "The Demon."
"Let him in!"
"What!?" Flora struggled to break free from his grip but could not. "Why would you let him in?"
"He came the day before you." Said Valor. "He killed Elton and demanded a spouse of royal blood stating that he would return after the setting of two sun's."
"It's best if I show you."
He touched Flora's forehead.
She was in a different room, it was a memory, one of Valor's.
He and King Elton were in the King's chambers.
"Is that all my lord?" Said Valor.
"Yes, there is no more." He answered.
"Sir!" A guard stormed into the room. "Some of the guards reported seeing a mist-like vapor roaming the halls of the-"
He was silent, a sword had pierced through his chest from behind. The Demon appeared holding the sword. He claimed his soul.
"Demon!" King Elton shouted as he drew his sword.
He twisted his fingers and snapped the King's neck using his magic before claiming his soul.
"My King!" Shouted Valor. His fists sparked with electricity, ready to strike.
"Your magic has little to no effect on me old man." Said the Demon.
"You..."
"Tell me" Said the Demon. "Has the world wept since my absence?"
"You are supposed to be locked away!"
"Yet I stand here now."
"How is it you've returned!?" Asked Valor.
"Count yourself lucky I don't slay you for what you've done... Or more accurately, what you didn't do."
"How!? We buried you!" He shouted.
"Not deep enough!" Said the Demon. "A foolish flower set me free, I've come to finish what I started all those years ago."
"What do you want!?"
"To make you an offer," he grabbed the dead Kings head, dangling it above the ground. "I demand of you one of his offspring's, one of royal blood. I will return after the second sun has set to claim that which I seek."
"Why would I do this?" Asked Valor.
"Because I have what it is you desire."
"What?" He asked.
"Power."
Valor lowered his fists.
"I am going to destroy this realm. I will bring the darkness of hell to this land, and make the skies as dark as the souls of man. When it is done I will leave Stonebrush at peace in return for what you have done. You will be King and Emperor of what is left of the human race."
"But..." Valor was weak. "What of Nirmal?"
"Tis but a small price to pay for your ascent."
"I... I..." He failed to form the words that he wanted to say.
"Imagine the power you could wield, everyone taking knee to thy every demand. The weak will cower beneath your feet, and the strong will break at the tip of thy sword. Do you see it? Do you see your empire?"
There was a moment of silence.
"Yes."
"Good." Said the Demon. "All I ask of you is but one small task, are you prepared to do so?"
"Yes."
"Then await my return."
He vanished into a cloud of smoke.
"I can... I can do it... I will be King..."
He noticed an eavesdropper at the door. "Oberon!" Valor shouted.
The boy ran.
...
Flora woke from the memory.
"Now you see."
Guards barricaded the doors of the great hall, preventing the people inside from escaping. Most of them stood in shock, Silo had hidden under the table.
She looked at Valor, he had the expression of a madman drunk with power.
" The Demon marked you, that must mean you are important. I will offer you to him."
"You are insane." She said.
"No!" He shouted. "I am the new King! I will be the ruler of the new world!"
He laughed. "All of this, is because of you my dear. I have you to thank."
"What?"
"You are the foolish flower who set him free. Without you I would never have become King."
"But you're not King!" Shouted Davon. "My father still holds that title! You have no right!"
He drew his sword and approached Valor.
"Guards! Do none of you remember your king!? Won't you follow me to end this treason?"
Valor laughed. "They are sworn by oath to obey the rightful King of Stonebrush, after Elton died that title fell unto me!"
"You are no King of mine." Davon charged.
A bolt of lightning shot out of Valor's hand, knocking Davon down.
"Davon!" Shouted Flora. "Valor, stop this madness!"
"But we're only getting started my dear."
"Valor!" Helena said. "What have you done with Oberon!?"
"Bring him!" He shouted to a guard. "He saw the King die, he ran, and I couldn't have him telling everyone. He will be my offering to the Demon."
"Coward!" Said Helena.
Four guards dragged Oberon into the great hall, his wrists bound by chains. "You will never get away with this Valor!" He said.
"Get away with it?" He laughed. "My dear boy, I will be the greatest King to have ever lived, I will be an emperor! A God!"
"God?" Suddenly the room was silent. It grew cold as if a chill had crept in. "You want to be a God?" The Demon's voice asked.
Valor's grip on Flora loosened. She broke free and ran to Morgana.
"I never promised you that you'd be a God." He appeared beside Valor.
"I brought him to you!" Said Valor. He cowered below the Demon's stare, his confidence quickly fading. "I brought Oberon to you, one of royal blood! And! And I brought you the girl! The one you marked."
"Hollow words from a hollow man."
"I did as you asked, now I am King, yes?"
"You have done all that I have asked of you." Said the Demon. "And I will make you better than any King of this land. Wasn't it a God you so desire to be?"
He was silent for a moment.
"Yes."
The Demon reached into Valor's chest and ripped his beating heart out. His body fell limp to the floor.
"God, is dead."
The Demon faced the crowd of people screaming in panic. "On this day, stone shall burn..."
The windows of the great hall shattered, from them poured out a small army of possessed bodies. Swords in hand, they began attacking the crowd. The guards fought back, but were little to no help. The possessed began slaughtering everyone.
Flora and Morgana hid under one of the long tables. Morgana picked the lock on the handcuffs around Flora's wrists with ease. She then took the dagger from her boot and held it firmly.
"Do you remember what I told you Elf?" Asked the Demon. "I said..."
With his magic, he threw the long table in front of him out of his way.
"Next we meet..."
He tossed aside the table above their heads.
"I'd kill you."
She was powerless as he lifted her off the ground by the neck.
"When I marked you I saw everything you saw, I felt how weak you truly are. You are alone little Elf."
"No." Said Morgana. "She's not."
She through the dagger at him. He evaporated into a smoky mist before it could touch him.
Flora collapsed to the floor.
"You okay?" Asked Morgana as she helped Flora to her feet.
"Yeah."
The great hall unexpectedly lit up in flames, everything they came in contact with began to burn.
"Let's get out of here!" Morgana said.
A black cloud of smoke charged at them, knocking Morgana away and pinning Flora to the wall.
The Demon appeared from the smoke, clutching Flora's neck tightly.
"I see how fragile you are, how weak, after all, you are just an Elf."
"I'm not... weak!" She said gasping for air.
"You are. Yet, you are also strong, I see that. You are brave, as I stand here prepared to claim your soul. You are not afraid.. So, I will make you an offer."
"Like the one... you made... Valor?"
"No." He said. "Valor was weak, he deserved to die. You are different."
He loosened his grip enough for her to catch her breath.
"Join me, I can grant you powers others only dream of. With me you never have to be afraid again."
"You want to destroy the world!"
"You have seen its sickness as well as I. You have seen the vile creatures known as humans, they want only to use and destroy. They would do the same to you without remorse or regret... They must all die."
"This world is good!" Said Flora.
"This world is black, the hearts of men tainted with sin. I ask you to make this world anew, to recreate this rechid land by my side."
"I would never join you!"
"Even if I promised your sister's safety?"
She couldn't respond, her mouth was unable to form the words.
"You could see her again, you could both live in the new world together. So, I ask you, will you join me?"
She was silent...
She remembered what he had done. She remembered her father and the last words he spoke to her. She saw the people he'd killed, her village he'd destroyed, her grandfather he'd murdered.
"No..."
"I am disappointed in you, Elf." Said the Demon. "Yet it only shows how brave you truly are, or how foolish."
He tightened his grip around her neck.
"This is the last you will see of this world, for thy soul will be consumed by darkness."
The amulet on his chest lit up, expelling its magic to take her soul.
Moments passed and nothing happened.
It reached out again...
Nothing.
"How is this possible!?" Asked the Demon. "You... You resist its power!.. How!?"
The Demon released his grip and shout in pain. Davon had slashed his sword across the Demon's back.
He swung his arm and tossed Davon aside.
"You are no ordinary Elf..." He disappeared into a cloud of smoke, the souls of the dead leaving with him and the possessed fleeing the grounds.
The majority in the room had fallen.
"They took him!" Shouted Helena.
"They took who?" Asked Flora.
"Oberon, he's gone..."
...
Flora waited outside the castle doors, watching the sun rise. Everyone in Stonebrush had suffered a great loss. Their King was slain, their Mage was corrupted, and their Prince was taken.
"What now?" Asked Morgana.
There was a new kind of silence. All of Stonebrush remained quiet as if a whisper would tear through flesh.
"We stop the Demon." She answered.
"How?" She asked.
"There is something different about me, there's a reason the mark was black, a reason I resisted the Demon's magic. I need to know why..."
"They set out farther East." Said Davon, he had appearing from around a corner. "Brighton is the next kingdom to the east, that is where he will strike."
"I'm sorry about your brother." Said Flora. "I will bring him back to you."
"No princess, we will bring him back." He said.
"What?"
"I'm coming with you."
"I can't ask that of you."
"I know." He said. "He's taken my bride to be, he's taken my brother, killed my father... I have little more to lose, so I will join you."
She nodded.
"Don't you need to be King or something?" Morgana asked.
"With me gone, Silo will be my replacement."
"I can't replace you brother." Said a new voice, it was Silo.
"I am not fit to rule, when the Demons attacked I hid like a coward, I am no King."
"What are you doing here?" Davon asked.
"I'm coming too."
"What!" Shouted Flora. "No!"
"I have as much right as the rest of you!" He said. "I am going to kill the Demon, and then I will finally bring honor to my family!"
"You'd only slow us down." Said Flora.
"I'll carry your luggage, I'll feed the horses and do all the chores that need be done!"
Morgana tossed him her bag. "You're in."
"What!?" Flora asked.
"He is my brother." Said Davon. "We may need him."
Flora didn't want him to come, but she did admit to herself it would be nice not to worry about any chores.
"I'll prepare the horses!" He said as he ran off to the stables.
"And I need to speak briefly with Helena, as she will be the new Queen of Stonebrush for a time." He left to the castle.
Flora and Morgana were left staring at the road ahead.
"Flora." Said Morgana.
"Yes?"
"It looks like something is bothering you."
"Something is."
"What?" She asked.
"I'm afraid." Said Flora.
"The road is tough, but it's not so bad when you have others to travel with."
"That's not why I'm afraid." She said.
"Then why?" Asked Morgana.
"I'm scared because when the Demon was here, when chaos erupted in the hall, he asked me to join him."
"That's why your scared?"
"No." Flora answered. "I'm scared because I wanted to."
ns 15.158.61.48da2
