Chapter 4: The Kingdom of Dresil

A young boy runs out of his house. He grabs a bag of newspapers on the porch, reading “The King: Killed by His Own Brother”. The boy puts the bag over his shoulders and runs off, turning at the end of the street, where a large crowd of people is standing in front of a massive silver castle. They are chanting "no sword, no king" while forming a giant circle. In the middle of the circle is a shirtless knight fighting a group of tall, muscular men.

The young knight is Leo, Isaac's brother and the new king of Dresil. His hair, as black as night, is tied in a long ponytail. His unusual white eyes are focused on the enemy in front of him. He is easily dominating the fight, dodging all attacks. With every punch, he knocks another man to the ground.

Eventually, there is only one man left to fight him. The man puts his guard up but hesitates to attack, seeing his friends unconscious on the ground. Leo smiles and gestures to the man to attack him. The man, offended by Leo's confidence, charges. Leo dodges his punch and throws one himself. Hitting the man in the face, breaking his nose and knocking out five of his teeth. The man falls to the ground, crying out in pain.

Leo stands up straight as a knight hands him a towel to wipe his sweat. “That was a decent morning exercise.”

Leo looks to the audience. “You claim to believe in these prophecies, these myths. Whoever possesses the sword is the true king? But who are the common folk to decide the validity of these myths?”

No one steps forward. Leo looks at the crowd and smiles. “That is a right held only for royalty. We will feed you whatever myth we so please.”

Still smiling, his gaze sharpens as a spark of lightning flashes through his eyes. “Now get off my castle grounds.”

The crowd disperses. Alice and Eric, Leo's right-hand knights, emerge from the crowd.

“Heartwarming,” Alice sarcastically addresses her king.

Leo snickers. “Clean up the body. I don't want his blood getting on the flowers.”

“Cause you care about the roses,” Alice replies.

Leo laughs loudly. A laugh so loud that it feels like it could be heard throughout the entire kingdom.

“Sire,” Eric replies, interrupting his laugh.

“What is it?”

“More vegetables came in.”

“And?”

“Rotten again.”

Leo sighs and begins to walk off.

Alice interjects. “Do you want us to go with you?

“No, I'll go alone.”

Eric backs her up. “But sire.”

Alice follows up as well. “We insist.”

Leo turns to face them with a confident smile. “He's an old man who retired years ago. On top of that, do you really believe a member of the branch family stands a chance against the rightful heir?”

“Of course not, sire.” Alice and Eric reply simultaneously.

Leo leaves. Alice looks at the bodies and then at Eric.

“Looks like you have work to do.”

Alice walks away, leaving Eric standing there, bewildered. “But he told you to do it.”

A wide field rests on the outskirts of the kingdom near the wall's edge. It is one massive farmland. A small wooden house, which could be called a hut by some, rests in the center. Several people are working in the field growing a variety of crops. Dresil’s farms do not depend on the seasons. Through their magic, they are able to grow any crop despite the time of year. Unlike the Kiri, they do not aim to live amongst the land, but to control it.

The workers are caught off guard as Leo, now in full armor, walks through, heading towards the house. Leo arrives at the house to see Caleb, an old man sitting in a chair on the porch smoking a pipe.

“Come by for a drink?”

Leo walks up the steps and stands beside Caleb. Both have a view of the wide fields.

“You gave us rotten vegetables again.”

Caleb takes a puff of his pipe before answering. “They're hard to grow when all my workers are dead.”

“I gave you new people.”

“And killed my old ones.”

Caleb takes a puff of his pipe again.

With a blank expression, Leo addresses Caleb’s concerns. “I didn't come here for your excuses. Get the job done right or…”

“You'll kill me?”

Leo draws his sword, pointing it at Caleb's neck. “I remember you saying my swordplay would never match Isaac's. Care to test that?”

“Go ahead.”

“Careful what you ask for, old man.”

“Oh, I didn't ask for any of this.”

“Meaning?”

Using the pipe, Caleb points to the fields. “Look out to the farm.”

Leo looks, seeing the sun shine brightly on the field and its workers. Caleb looks at the fields with a nostalgic smile. “There is a lot of history within these lands. My daughter knew that, and she passed that down to my grandson.”

“Your daughter is dead, and your grandson is a coward.”

“I'd rather be dead than betray my family.”

Leo smiles. Caleb takes another puff. “I've given too much to this kingdom to be afraid of death.”

Leo stares into Caleb's eyes. Caleb stares back unmoved. Eric appears as a holographic light behind Leo. He kneels. “Sire, Darius has returned.”

Without breaking eye contact with Caleb, Leo replies. “Understood. I'll return at once.”

Eric nods and vanishes. Leo sheathes his blade and turns to walk away. Curious about Caleb’s words, Leo questions the retired knight. “You said, 'There is a lot of history in these lands.’ What did you mean by that?”

Caleb laughs and leans forward in his chair. “Ask the Kiri”.

Leo smiles again and shrugs his shoulders, dismissing Caleb’s words as the rambling of an old man. “Then it is irrelevant.”

Leo walks off. Caleb leans back in his chair and smiles. His sleeve rolls up slightly, revealing a small dagger hidden within. The retired knight had lied, but only about one thing. He was indeed scared of death.

Within the throne room of Dresils large silver castle. There hung no portraits of previous kings. Nothing but silhouettes of frames where the portraits should be, as if they were ripped off the walls. Leo enters the throne room. Darius, Alice, and Eric, along with the rest of the knights, are lined up. They bow as Leo takes the throne.

Darius, Alice, and Eric walk into the center of the room. They stand side by side and kneel as Leo addresses them. “Report.”

Darius speaks first. “We found him.”

“And?”

Scared to deliver the results, Darius reluctantly answers his king. “We...lost him.”

Leo begins laughing very loudly, then slams his foot on the ground, standing up and cracking the floor, sending jolts of magical energy throughout the room. Leo does not seem angry, but entertained. This, however, scares the knights even more as they back away in fear. Darius, Alice, and Eric are unmoved, but Darius begins to sweat.

“How did he get away?”

“With the help of a... Kiri.”

“Kiri?”

Shocked that they came up again, and so soon, Leo remembers Caleb's smiling face. His usual grin widens.

Trying to take advantage of the situation to get in Leo’s good graces, Alice proposes a plan. “I'll put together a new search party to head to the Kiri village. I promise, sire, I won't fail you.”

She smiles at Darius, while the red-eyed knight glares back.

“No”, Leo says pensively as he begins to think.

“Sire?”

“My brother may be a coward, but he is no fool. He's no longer in that village. Most likely deeper in the forest.”

Leo begins to pace back and forth. “But where? He doesn't know the forest, so he would need a guide.”

He looks to Darius. “What was the name of the Kiri that helped him?”

Darius touches his cracked armor, getting even more frustrated. “Emilia.”

Leo looks at Darius's damaged armor. “Was she the one who gave you those injuries?”

Alice snickers. Darius glances over to her and then back to his king. He hesitates, embarrassed to admit that Emilia got the best of him. “Yes...Sire.”

Leo smiles again. He is even more entertained now. “So the forest peasants want to play with Gods?”

He looks at Alice and Eric. “You two will go with the army to the Kiri.”

“We're beginning the expansion so soon?” Eric responds, confused by the sudden change in plans.

“Why wait?” Leo replies eagerly. “The death of my brother will usher in a new era, and the kingdom will grow with its rightful blood on the throne.

“And what of you?” Eric follows up.

“We must not fail to show these forest dwellers what happens when they defy the natural order.”

Darius and Alice look up in shock. Leo looks at Darius, smiling. “I will be the one to kill my brother, and you will get rid of that Emilia girl.”

Alice clenches her fist, upset that her plan was pushed to the side in favor of Darius getting a second chance.

Darius bows his head in obedience. “Understood.”

Leo walks past them, heading out of the room. “We leave in thirty minutes.”

Alice stands up facing Leo. Trying to seize one last opportunity to outshine her coworkers, she pleads. “But Sire…”

Leo turns his head. He addresses Alice sternly. “I have already given my orders.”

Taken aback by Leo's change in tone, all the knights fall to their knees, kneeling to the king.

“Yes, Sire!” they shout simultaneously as Leo exits the room. Among the knights are Davis and Edward, two younger knights who were very close to Isaac. They both look disturbed by the new governing ruler.

Deeper into the forest past the Kiri village, Lira stops running. Emilia throws Isaac off Lira, then hops off herself. Still rattled by the fight with Darius, she screams. “You're the king?!”

Isaac gets back on his feet, trying his best to wipe off the dirt while his hands are still tied. “You could stand to be more gentle.”

Emilia begins to pace back and forth, talking faster than usual. “That explains everything. Why the knights were in the forest in the first place. Why they were so adamant about searching our village. It's a coup. You brought them here.”

She begins to pace faster. “And I brought you to the village; I led them straight to us. Then they killed Riya, they killed him and…”

Isaac grabs Emilia by the shoulders, interrupting her spiraling mind. “Okay, calm down!”

Emilia breathes in.

Isaac continues, “Just give me the sword, and I'll be on my way.”

“The sword?” Emilia’s calm is broken by Isaac's seemingly inconsiderate response.

“Yes, the sword.”

Emilia looks to the broken sword on her side and then back to Isaac. She pushes Isaac off her, now feeling more anger than guilt. “After everything that's happened, all you care about is this stupid sword?!”

“If you weren't going to give me the sword, then why did you run away with me?!”

Emilia stops, looking away from Isaac. His words are harsh but true. She chose to take him away.

“YOU brought me here. Remember?” Isaac says sternly.

Just then, another thought passes through Emilia’s mind, and her expression changes once more. She looks back at Isaac with a puzzled look. “Why did you run?”

“What?”

“Your kingdom is in the middle of a coup d'etat. What king runs from that?”

Isaac looks away. Emilia, seeing she has started to ask the important questions, presses on.

“Even if you had to run, back in the village, you didn't even try to fight. You just ran. Why?”

“I can't…”

Emilia stops Isaac from saying his famous line. “No! No more of that. You tell me everything right now.”

Isaac stares into Emilia's eyes, seeing how serious she is, reminded of the fact that she saved his life several times in the prior fight; he resolves to tell her.

As Isaac tells the story of how he ended up in the river, Lira, now a lion cub, pounces on a lizard. Unlike her feline counterpart, Emilia sits down and listens to the whole story.

“Your brother, huh? And I thought my clan hated me.”

“You see why I need to go now. They'll be coming after me in no time.”

“But that still doesn't explain why you need the sword?”

“It's a magical weapon that's been passed down to the king for generations. Even broken, it may not be able to defeat my brother, but it does give me enough power to escape. I lose that sword, and I’m as good as dead.”

“I see.” Emilia stops to think. A lightbulb goes off in her head. “The blacksmith of the forest! We can go there to get your sword fixed”.

“What?”

“You said that even the people of Dresil despise your brother. So if we take the sword to the blacksmith, get it fixed, and defeat your brother, you'll be king again, and the Kiri will be in good graces with the kingdom.”

“Why would you want the Kiri to be in any sort of grace with Dresil? I thought most of the Kiri hated us.” Isaac says, confused by her proposal.

“To stop pointless deaths like Riya's from happening. We share the land and benefit from one another.”

Emilia, excited about her plans, picks up Lira and begins heading toward the blacksmith. “This is great! We can stop a coup and save two groups of people. Of course, it's going to take a couple of days, and I've never been this deep in the forest. But we'll be fine, I think.”

Lira meows.

“Yeah, I know the way; it's just south of here.”

“No,” Isaac says, standing still.

Emilia turns to look at Isaac.

“Yes, it is,” Emilia replies, reassuring him that she knows the way to the blacksmith.

“Not that. No, I'm not going.”

“What? Why?”

“Because…” Isaac hesitates. “Because I'm not going back to Dresil.”

“Come again?” Emilia says, confused by his defiance.

“I'm not going back to Dresil.”

“A lot of bullshit is coming out of your mouth right now. I can't hear you. Say it one more time.”

“I'm not going back to Dresil!” Isaac repeats himself. Emilia can hear the fear behind his voice, but she can not wrap her head around the logic.

“Why not?! You get to rule over an entire kingdom, lead people to prosperity, and help thousands live a better life!”

“Because I lost! I used to be able to beat him, but...not anymore.”

Emilia backs off, seeing Isaac’s mood was only getting worse. Isaac calms down, collecting himself before explaining further. “I'm sorry. I just...want to get out of here. Can you please just give me the sword?”

Emilia looks to Lira. She sympathizes with Isaac; he is afraid of his brother. Afraid of dying. A logical free, Emilia understood that not everyone is built to be a warrior, but before she can fully sympathize with the fallen king, the image of Riya's dead body and her father appears in her head. She shakes away her sympathy and looks toward Isaac.

“Fine, but you can't get through the forest alone. There are creatures everywhere. You'll die.”

“You have a point.” He holds up his tied hands. “Can you at least untie me?”

Emilia walks over and proceeds to untie the ropes. “As soon as we get to the edge of the forest, I'll give you your sword back.”

“Sounds good.”

With the ropes now untied, Isaac pushes Emilia and reaches for the sword. Emilia catches her balance, grabs Isaac's arm, and pins him to the ground. She begins to tie him back up.

“Okay, I deserve that,” Isaac says, accepting his fate.

“Mhm.”

She picks him back up and pushes him to walk on his own. “Not including today, we'll be out of the forest in three days.”

Isaac proceeds to walk. Lira climbs on Emilia's shoulder and looks at her. Emilia pets Lira and, without Isaac hearing, whispers to him. “We'll be at the blacksmith's soon.”