The king listened with open ears as Archer recited his encounter with the maid outside of his bedroom. This is the first time the prince had ever gone through something like this is his "catered to lifestyle." Upon finishing, the king leaned back in his chair and readjusted his sling that was supporting his arm. He sighed and looked his son in the eyes, "It's not an easy burden to bear but it is something that you must live with. As a person who is chosen to lead our people, one thing to understand is that all you can do is whatever is your ability to help, thinking you can save everyone is a foolish ideal. There will always be slip ups, but there is something to always be learned from it. It is brutal world, and it is only going to get more so. This is a harsh truth that comes with the responsibility."
"But she was alive father.. I'm the reason she died." Archer said looking into his fathers eyes, half expecting different words to come from his lips that were soothing.
"Whether she was or wasn't, what can you do at this very moment to change what has happened? You can either move on with your life and learn from your mishap, or you can dwell on it and live miserably. Dwelling on something that has no possibility of changing will only eat at you till you become a cold, heartless person. Use it as a driving force for the future."
The words King Smitten said stabbed at Archers heart as he weighed the words in his mind. "I can't do anything to fix it.."
"Exactly, this is where you learn and try to prevent it from happening again." said the king, with sad but hopeful eyes that seemed to slightly reassure to troubled prince. "This is a thought process you need to pick up when it is your turn to lead. Even before then."
Shoving the current thoughts out of his head, Archer decided to address the real issue at hand. Remembering the fissure in the courtyard, he brought it up.
"What happened today? Why did the ground shake and split like it did?"
"I don't know son. This has taken the everyone by surprise. We were the only ones affected. The other four kingdoms felt the tremors, but had no damage whatsoever. The kingdoms of Roakin and Wyndren are sending assistance in the morning for repairs." The king pondered the following day through his mind as he said these words. Smitten rose from his seat and headed towards the door and as he opened it, he said "Archer, be prepared for a busy day tomorrow. I will need your assistance to make sure everything goes smoothly. You will be acting as a direct extension of me and I cannot be everywhere at once."
Seeing his queue to leave, Archer crossed his hand over his heart and bowed. "I shall see you in the morning father." The prince crossed the threshold and walked back into the hallway. There wasn't a soul in sight as he walked back to his quarters. He stopped briefly to look at the bloodstain on the steps as he briefly flashed the memory of the maid back through his mind. He got back into his room and not even bothering to move his bed back where it was before the tremors decided to move it. He crawled under his linens and proceeded to try and fall asleep. When the moon hit its highest point in the sky and shone through Archers window, he stared at it and the snowflakes that were beginning to fall outside till exhaustion finally overtook him and he fell asleep.
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Alirick stretched his wings as he saw his first glimpse of the moon in almost a millennium. Standing up and flexing his claws into the snow till dirt tilled up from underneath it, he began shuffling towards the sliver of light that laid before his eyes. Small creatures steered around him, being careful not to hit him as they headed towards the same location. There were a mix of howls and screams as Alirick stepped through the rift and adjusted his eyes to the moonlight.
All these years he had spent building his strength for this one moment. The one moment when he breaks the shackles that bound him into this void and take revenge on the insects that locked him away. The feeling of movement was new to him, the confines of this space made living tight and compressed. Being with the inferior species locked away with him disgusted him just as much as the livestock outside for 800 years. Finally, after kneading his claws into the dirt that now laid under his palms, the mighty dragon stretched the skin in his wings and gave them an hefty beat that knocked any creatures nearby away from him.
"I. AM. FREE!"
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The sound of footsteps and clanking armor rushing down the stairs jolted Archer awake. As he tried to rub the sleep from his eyes, he heard screams coming from his window just as he had the day prior. The prince rushed out of bed and sprinted to his window. The catastrophe that had commenced just the day before paled in comparison to the slaughter his eyes settled on now. Steel was clashing with claws and armor deflected teeth as the men and even the women of his kingdom were fighting for their lives. Although Archer had only had a moment to look through the book his father had given him, he had seen enough to know that he needed to find the king, and he needed to do it with a sense of urgency.
Archer dashed to the wall and began to done his plated cuirass. The cuisses and greaves went on quickly, and were swiftly followed with the sabatons. The weight was nothing, this was a perk to being stronger and larger than most at his age. Bursts of adrenaline soared to his heart and back towards his fingertips when he realized what was ensuing. After grabbing his sword and buckler off the wall, he dashed to the door and opened it, only to find his father standing there as though he was already in the process of reaching for the door.
The king had his armor on with the exception of his helmet which was under his left arm. His sword hung off his right hip and seemed to clank against the metal as he joined his eyes with Archer, a fire appeared to have been lit within them. The only time Archer had seen anything like them was when he had gotten in trouble the other day for barging in the council room. Even then, there was no comparison to the look within them now.
"No! You will remain here. I know what I said last night, but this was not foreseen. I will fetch for Shuien to meet you here." the anxious king said.
Before Archer even had a chance to argue, King Smitten turned to the knights that were a part of his entourage and ordered two of them to have the prince remain in his room till the king was able to fetch for him. King Smitten turned on his heel with the rest of the knights and he slide his helmet down his head as they proceeded back down the hallway.
The two knights that remained were fully armored in full crimson plate mail that seemed to weigh them down, Archer pondered possibly using this to his advantage but advised himself against it. They then gently shoved Archer back into his room, "Sorry my lord, Kings orders," as they stood outside on either side of the door.
He was furious and walked back to his window as he watched the chaos ensue. He understood his fathers intentions only from the talks they had the day prior, but he couldn't bear to watch what was happening just past the castle barricades. "Am I not the prince and these the people I've been training literally my entire life to protect? Fuck that!" He couldn't sit by as this happened to his people. Looking around the room, he furiously hunted for a means of escaping the tower.
Finally, it came to him. He dashed to his bed and grabbed the linens that he had thrown previously off of himself and to the stone floor. Archer commenced to quietly ripping the linens in halves and tying them to each other, end to end. Once a rope was made, the anchor end was tied off to the dark brown oak bedframe and the other end was tossed out the window. The chill of the morning brushed his skin as he readjusted the linens along the edge of the window. After giving them a hard tug, Archer was satisfied so he grabbed his sword and ensured it was fastened securely to hit hip and slung his buckler on his back. Slinging his leg over the side of the threshold, he nervously began his descent.
The young princes adrenaline coursed through his veins as he listened to the screams and roars of the spectacle happening beneath him. He had trained his entire life for this moment. He cautiously watched his surroundings as he continued. The cold air was chilling his armor as he descended, and very slowly Archer began to feel his fingers begin to tingle. He paused long enough to see how much space remained till his feet touched the ground, but his face twisted in horror as he watch one of the knights from father's inner circle get eviscerated from behind by a creature he had never seen before.
The creature was very dog like, but was somehow larger than a human by about a foot. It appeared to have a gray tint to its blood matted fur that didn't blend well with the 3 inch long bloody fangs that protruded out of the front of its mouth. The "wolf" jumped on the guard, and just as quickly as it came, it left again, only after effortlessly removing the heart from the torso of the man. Blood stained the little patch of snow nearby as the creature took a bite of the heart that was still throbbing in its clutches, then it tossed the heart aside and left the remains behind, steaming and twitching amongst the snow.
"Look away. Look away. Look away. Just get down. It's gone. Remember what you're doing. Do not falter." Archer kept whispering to himself, trying to reassure himself over the doubt that was steadily rising in his chest. In his panic, his foot slipped from the stone he was braced on. When Archer went to catch himself, the oak bed that the linen was strapped to shifted to the window. At that moment, after finally composing himself, the two knights tasked with overseeing the prince looked through the window and begin shouting, however; their yells were drowned out by the sound of hooves stamping the ground and the the howls from the wolves were all over the place.
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Left hand.
Right foot.
Right hand.
Left foot.
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Archers muscles screamed in agony at him as they resisted the planets natural pull against his body, wanting to send him plummeting to his death. Besides the fatigue from the climb and the cold biting at his limbs, everything seemed to be going as smooth as it could be despite the situation. Once he was past the halfway point, the glint of the sun among a red silhouette caught the corner of his eye. Before he could calculate his next move, there was an abrupt explosion of stone and a flare of intense heat that rattled ever fiber in his body. His vision blurred and ringing pounded through his ears as he felt his grip release from the linens. Looking through blurred vision, the last thing Archer saw was another glint of red scales as the mighty beasts horned head was turning around, seemingly making another pass at the tower.