King's Anger

“Little insolent! You dishonor your father, you dishonor the royalty, you dishonor your kingdom! If only this creature hadn’t used a trick on me, I could’ve grabbed you and taken you with me. Now, you will need a harsher punishment. Shame on me – this is not what was supposed to happen. I’m the most powerful being in this kingdom! No one can vie with me! They will pay, all four of them.” The king yelled, alone in his training field.

He was shirtless, revealing strong muscles usually hidden under loose clothing. A huge vein bulged on his forehead, barely concealed by the fringe of his short black hair.

While venting his rage, he struck a training dummy with powerful punches. Each blow was so strong that the entire training field – and even the nearby castle – shook. It never took more than a few punches before the king was forced to move on to another training dummy. He was destroying them one after another.

A red aura shimmered around him, materializing his anger. The air grew hot, his fists wreathed in flames as he cast a spell onto them.

“I will do better than my father. I will take its head and seal it for eternity, to make sure that it is truly dead. No one will disturb my peace, even if I must use repression and make myself feared by my people afterwards. I will kill it. I will kill them. What a dishonor! Me! The king! They dared disobey me and make a fool of me.” His voice dripped with rage, each word sharp as a blade, slicing the ears of anyone who might have heard them.

As he destroyed the last training dummy, he called one of the soldiers guarding the training field.

“You! Bring me two death row inmates!” He shouted so violently that the soldier saluted at once and ran to obey, too terrified to stay a second longer.

When the soldier returned with the inmates, they cried and screamed at the sight of the king’s face, distorted by fury. His smile, as he prepared to unleash all his anger, was terrifying – perhaps even rivaling Iwao’s.

“Come forward! I offer you a quick death. You were going to die anyway, so better now than later.”

The two inmates obeyed – they had no other choice, too weak to resist. They stood where the training dummies once were, choking on tears as they waited.

The king stood still, laughing wickedly from afar. The flames covering his fists blaze hotter, warming the air. The inmates started sweating – but not from the heat. A cold shiver of fear crawled across their bodies.

They looked at each other, perhaps for the last time. Then, without a sound, in less than a heartbeat, the king appeared before them and whispered.

“That’s what I prefer.”

With clenched fists, he struck them down in a single blow. They were hurled to the ground, completely crushed beneath the weight of the king’s strike. Flames engulfed them, rising in towering columns that spiraled into the sky like fiery tornadoes.

The shockwave uprooted surrounding trees, sent training equipment flying, and even the guards had to cling to whatever they could to avoid being blown away.

“This was only a fraction of my strength. Behold! This is why they all call me ‘The Strongest’ of the Polmo Kingdom,” the king shouted.

When the flames subsided and nothing remained of the corpses, Rufus stepped forward with the king’s shirt and the royal cape.

“Here, my king, your clothes.” He said, coughing slightly at the stench of burnt flesh.

The king snatched the clothes handed to him with a swift gesture.

“It has already been a month since you’ve been venting your anger like this two or three times a week, my king.” Rufus uttered.

“Well, I feel better for now. But we must act quickly. Once we find them, it will already be too late for them to run.”

The king wiped the blood from his hands and face and got dressed again.

“Do I have any visits today, Rufus?” He asked.

An unfamiliar voice answered.

“You have one, sovereign. Me.”

They turned to see a stranger standing between the two charred corpses. Instantly, the king dropped into a fighting stance.

“Who are you, and what are you here for? Answer quickly, and don’t you dare lie!” The king roared.

The man laughed at the situation.

“No need to worry. I mean you no harm, sovereign. My name’s Urui, a robber and a bomber. I came today hoping to have an audience with you. I offer you my services, since you seem to be in a tough situation.”

The king lowered his guard and cast a spell, causing two stone benches to rise from the ground.

“Let’s talk here and now. Tell me more about yourself and what you have to offer.” He ordered.

They sat down. Urui reached into his personal dimensional reserve and pulled out a wooden sheep sculpture.

“Do you remember this?” He asked.

The king frowned at the strange object.

“Not in the slightest. Tell me what it is.”

“And you, advisor? An idea maybe?” Urui asked Rufus, who stood silently behind the king, ready to intervene.

As Rufus examined the sculpture more closely, his eyes widened.

“That’s the same sculpture described by our soldiers a month ago, before the explosion that killed twenty of them in Greyford Valley.” Rufus said.

“So that was you! Well, it’s in the past, and since I wasn’t affected, it’s not my problem, not my vengeance. But the soldiers said it was moving – how could that be?” The king asked.

“I animate my dolls with spells and control them to approach targets and then explode.”

“And how is that supposed to help me?”

“You didn’t hear me coming, did you? I can be as discreet as if I didn’t exist at all. Moreover, that explosion in Greyford valley was nothing compared to what I can do. If you hire me, we can set a trap for the ones you’re after and catch them by surprise.”

The king stroked his chin thoughtfully.

“You’re hired. But I will not face them myself – not yet. I had another plan in mind, but I’ll combine it with yours. If you succeed, you’ll earn my respect and great wealth. If you fail, you’ll only prove your worthlessness.”

“Pleasure doing business with you. You won’t regret it, sovereign. We can discuss the details in the coming days.” Urui said with a malicious smile stretching to his ears.

The king stood up as Urui left through the training field gate. He then leaned close to Rufus and whispered.

“Find her quickly, so we can send Urui and the others after them.”

Rufus nodded, remaining still as the king returned to the castle.

The stench of burned flesh lingered in the air. Unable to hold it back any longer, Rufus vomited, though he had forced himself not to in front of the king.

******************************

The little group moved through the pitch-dark night, always careful to make it easier for Iwao and Lo to move unseen. They were heading toward a swamp north of the Polmo Kingdom, following a path through a dark forest.

“I can sense it. The monster is in the swamp, actually sleeping. We could take it by surprise and finish it off before it wakes.” Lo said, trying to propose an offensive strategy.

“I know you’re the one who guided us here, but don’t forget you don’t have the same fighting experience as us, Lo. I appreciate the initiative, but to test our new strength we need to face it while it’s awake and able to fight back. Otherwise, it won’t be useful.” Celi replied.

“I said something I should not have. I should have said nothing,” Lo thought, disappointed, while Saya approached and put her hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t worry, Lo. Maybe we’re all a little rude because of everything that’s happened recently, but that doesn’t mean we don’t like you. You’ll see – maybe another time your strategies will be useful. And look, you can gain experience with us so you’ll be able to propose even better ones later.” She whispered with a big smile on her face.

“Thank you, Saya. You know how to comfort someone.” It replied, trying to replicate her smile.

“I don’t know what it means comforting someone, but that’s what they all say when some words seem kind. But I can see she cares for me. Thank you, Saya.” It thought.

As they arrived at the gloomy swamp, they heard the clacking of a horse's hooves on the ground.

“A horse? Why here? Everyone hide, now – it might be a king's scout!” Iwao ordered.

They hid behind bushes near the path, avoiding crouching too low to keep from getting covered in mud.

The horse approached, and so did its rider. When he reached the group’s position, he looked around carefully as if he was searching for something.

Saya looked toward the rider and managed to see him clearly in the dark. Slowly, she stepped out of the bush.

“Rufus… why are you here?” She asked.

Rufus got off his horse and knelt in front of Saya.

“Princess, I thought that it was time to contact you again after all this time, but not through a telepathic message.”

Celi came out of the bushes as well and stood beside Saya.

“Why is he here? Isn’t he our enemy?” She asked.

“Well, do you remember the servant I once mentioned – the one that told me about what my father did to my letter? That was him. Rufus is more devoted to me than to my father.” Saya explained, making sure Iwao and Lo heard her too.

She turned back to Rufus, her expression concerned.

“How did you escape my father’s grip and come here? You’re not supposed to talk to me.”

“May I?” He asked.

“Yes, please, stand up. I’m not a princess anymore while we’re out here and under these conditions.”

“She pretends not to be a princess here, but this is the first time I’ve seen her act with such seriousness… she really looks like a true princess.” Iwao thought, staring at her from his hiding place.

Rufus stood up, his eyes shining like two bright diamonds in the dark. A glimmer of fear crossed them.

“Well, I pretended to go on a reconnaissance mission to search you and confirm you were where I thought you’d be. That’s how I was able to leave without being stopped by the king. As for the real reason for my coming, I am here to warn you, princess, and even you, adventurer, blue humanoid, and the creature hiding behind the bushes. The king has accumulated enough anger this past month to feed his killing desires. He has trained hard to increase his power, and I fear that if he fights you, he won’t restrain himself. He will kill – even you princess.”

Lo and Iwao came out of their hiding spot, concerned. They were speechless.

“For the king’s closest advisor to make the trip here to say this, the king must be furious—and extremely powerful.” Iwao thought.

He stepped in front of Rufus, who didn’t react to his appearance like last time.

“You’re not afraid, Rufus?” Iwao asked.

“Yes, creature, I am not afraid. To me, the king’s fury is more terrifying than anything else in this world.” He replied.

“So, I’m not the scariest thing on Aruniol. I am somewhat relieved… but at the same time, concerned about the king.” Iwao thought.

Iwao sighed and returned to Lo, who was staring strangely at Rufus.

“You have something more to tell us, don’t you?” Lo asked.

Rufus was taken aback, as if Lo had read him like an open book. He turned his head toward it.

“You’re right… I was going to tell you. You should watch your back. The king intends to send a strange man and others to attack you. He doesn’t want to get his hands dirty – except as a last resort.”

As he said this, he mounted his horse again, leaving them all deep in thought.

“Take care, Rufus. Don’t let my father know you were here talking to us, or he will kill you.” Saya said.

“Thank you, princess. But you’re in more danger than me. I’m hoping for your safety.” He replied.

He then took the road back the way he came.

“So what should we do?” Celi asked Iwao.

“We continue what we were doing. After we kill this monster, we’ll prepare for war. I don’t want to carry the burden of having a king that wants us dead any longer.” He said confidently, a tinge of anger in his voice.

They all nodded and entered the swamp. The ground shook as the snoring of a huge monster echoed.

Lo was the first to act, casting a spell that heated the swamp water.

A massive roar echoed across the swamp as a monster emerged from the murky waters.