The King

They walked along the dark hallways in silence, always on the lookout for any kind of sound or movement. Berus was happy he didn’t have a heart, or else it would be hammering in his chest right now. Even the creaking of his joints was too loud for him in this moment.

They made their way through the castle as best as they could.

“Where do we have to go?” Mikkah whispered.
She had taken out her blast glove, and looked ready to use it at any moment.

“We’re on the upper floor,” Berus said. “I don’t know where the king’s chambers are, but…”

“Oh, he is in the throne room,” a demonic, yet familiar voice said. “Should I show it to you intruders?”

Moonlight reflected off the golden mask of the demon they had just seen before. Berus froze for a moment, before he picked up Mikkah and Iuria and ran. The laughter of that demon followed him together with the pitter-patter of many hands grasping stone. He did not look back to confirm the demon was moving that way, but he felt like he didn’t need to.

Instead, he let his instincts take over and just book it. He didn’t know where they came from, or which way they should go.

“This is bad!” He shouted.

“Yeah! So let’s fight that demon!” Mikkah said, and pointed her glove at the demon.

“Lucine’s justice: Elven Blast!”

Her voice didn’t sound as confident as before. Still, the beam of energy hit the demon in the shoulder. It didn’t do anything.

“Oooooh, you’re fun! What is that thing, hm? Did you make it? Did you find it? Did you steel it?”

“Faster! We have to get away!” Iuria screamed at him.

They were all panicking by now. Berus ran as fast as he could, down some stairs, up some others, down hallways that had to be different ones but that looked all the same. They were loud enough that they had to wake up the entire castle. But by now, they didn’t care about that anymore.
“There! That’s the throne room!” Iuria pointed to his left. “That’s my father!”

Her voice sounded both happy yet concerned.

“Then let’s meet him!” Berus answered.

With those words, ran towards the throne room, with the demon right behind them. Only then did he notice that despite the speed of said demon, she never caught up with him. Almost as if she had herded them right where she wanted them to be.

He came to a halt in the middle of the room.

It was different from what he remembered. The throne room had an extremely tall ceiling, with stained glass windows set into every wall. High chairs were lining the room and led up to the throne, with humans and demons alike sitting on them. They looked at them with cold eyes, but didn’t move. What once was an impressive seat made out of the same stone the castle was made from now was studded with sickly yellow-brown crystals growing out of it. Next to said throne was a rock with some sort of metal decoration.

But he didn’t have time to look at anything in detail. He didn’t even have time to think.

“We have some guests,” the demon laughed.

“Hmmmm?” King Flavis smiled at them.

He looked like a kind man. He was small and round, with enough wrinkles to both show his age and how much he liked to laugh. His kind, light blue eyes were hidden under bushy brows the same color of his hair: ashen blond streaked with white. And in the way he smiled at them he looked just like Iuria for a moment.

“Thank you, General Gyria,” he said.

His smile widened a little.

“Father! Father, it’s me, Iuria.”

She ran forward, past the chairs and towards the king.

“You did not forget me, did you? You just wanted to protect me. What is going on?”

“Hmmm?” He looked at her for a moment without saying anything more.

“Iuria! You haven’t visited me in years,” she pleaded. “But it’s me. It’s really me!”

With that, she showed him her hand, and the royal insignia glowed faintly in the light. Around them, low mumbling broke out.

“Aha!”

But the king’s words silenced them all.

“Of course, of course. My daughter… I remember you now.”

Her gaze became fiery. “We’re here to save you, and the kingdom.”

“Save me? But why?” He genuinely sounded like he didn’t understand.

“We have get ready,” Mikkah whispered. “I don’t like this.”

“Agreed,” Berus whispered back.

Something was wrong.

“But… Aren’t the demons keeping you hostage? I don’t understand… You’re just pretending, aren’t you?”

Iuria didn’t cry, even though his words clearly hurt her. She still stood tall, with her faith and warmth for all to see.

King Flavis laughed in her face. “You have a strange image of the world, my dear daughter. Everything is turning out just how I want it to be. Do not worry, but do tell me how you managed to escape. If you hadn’t shown yourself like this I might have completely forgotten you. You have my thanks for that.”

“I… Something is wrong.” She stared at him with tears in her eyes. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing. Everything is just how it is supposed to be.”

The king got up. Even though he didn’t look dangerous, there was a strength hidden in his body that didn’t match his appearance. His smile widened even more, showing off his teeth.

Berus and Mikkah were already ready to fight. Ki-Rai floated in his vision, and her laughter ran in his ears.

“This is good! This is fantastic! Fight them! Gut them! Kill them all!” She giggled.

But he held back. First, he had to make sure that both Iuria and Mikkah stayed safe.

“General Gyria? What do you think, hm?” King Flavis asked the many-limbed demon outright.

“They’re intruders. Useful intruders, maybe, but still nothing more than scum.”

“Good.”

His smile stretched beyond human limits.