Chapter Seven: Pieces on a Board

With the morning air feeling like cuts on his skin, Elwood walks through it and wishes he had dressed in more layers. Though his scars were starting to hurt when he walked, and a breeze could send him shivering endlessly, he knew that this winter would be hard and that maybe he was simply growing too old.

He used to be stronger than this…

Valentine’s room was next to his, but he had to do a couple of morning duties before completing the contract. He wonders, though, if a spell has been cast on him because he doesn’t feel in his element when he encounters this peculiar, blunt man. He feels more free to speak about topics that would have been otherwise too harsh to others, but maybe he just liked seeing how this person would respond to him.

When he got to the particular man’s room, he was surprised to see that He was sitting on his bed with a perfectly straight back. Elwood, who has just entered the room after two knocks on the door, sighs with relief. Good thing he didn’t flee, he mindlessly thinks as he approaches the table and sets down the scroll containing the contract. He really didn't want to chase someone down today.

He really hopes he hasn’t forgotten what they agreed to; he didn’t make any irrational requests in the scroll—just a summary of what he said in his original response.

Additionally, he believes that if he doesn’t delve too thoroughly into the contract’s terms, he can uncover more loopholes and easily control this man if he so wants or needs to.

However, it also leaves him at risk.

“Are you prepared?” Elwood inquires before loosening a little blue ribbon and pulling back his puffy long sleeve to show Valentine his wrist. Without responding, the other merely exposes his wrist to Elwood.  

“I’ll take that as a yes, then.”

He takes out his little blade and cuts into his flesh, placing a tiny ceramic basin beneath it to catch the blood. He then transfers the knife to Valentine, who proceeds in the same manner.

They hold both wrists above the small bowl until it is almost halfway filled.

“Are you sure you don’t want to read the contract first?” Elwood picks out a feathered pen, swirls it in the bloody mix, and dips it in the blood one last time before signing his name.

“Even if you have nefarious intentions with the contract, and even if I read it, you are not that stupid to leave information that would raise my suspicions or to leave your tracts behind.”

“You know, that’s how you get taken advantage of. Truly, you should question every aspect of your life before all your bad decisions pile up and crush you.” Elwood holds up the pen toward Valentine. “Though you are right, I wouldn’t allow you to find out any deeds I wouldn’t want you to.” He confesses.

Valentine scoffs, grabs the pen from his hand, and scribbles his name on the scroll.

Once it was done, Elwood could feel his blood run warm in acceptance of the contract. He looked down to watch as it glowed for a second before he clutched his stomach.

He’s shaking so hard, and Valentine wonders if something went wrong in the process before Elwood bursts out laughing. “Hahaha, that’s—that’s your handwriting! Did you learn from a monkey?” He laughs even harder as he compares both of their writings. “That kingdom fucked up your education so badly! How can you even read this chicken scratch? I know the contract worked, but it was a miracle that it understood what you were signing down.” Valentine’s face, emotionless as ever, looks away. Still, Elwood knew that if he put a hand on his cheek, he would feel how hot it was. He could see how tense he was, and Elwood stopped laughing, only snickering at times. “Okay, okay, I’ll stop teasing you.” He grabs the scroll and places it in a small pouch on his waist.

“Have you eaten breakfast yet?” Once again, silence falls, and Elwood becomes irritated. “Okay, you know what? Fine, then come and join me. If you don’t want to respond, I guess I’ll have to answer on your behalf.” Without checking to see if Valentine is following, Elwood exits the room.

He walks over to a small pond and sits down at a table that has some dried leaves on it that he quickly brushes off before calling a servant to bring them some breakfast. “Do you have a particular breakfast item you like?” Elwood asks, but this time he doesn’t care to take an answer and instructs the servant to bring two of his regular breakfast platters.

When the servant does not leave immediately, Elwood looks up to see her pull a letter from her pocket and place it in front of him. “The Smile Knight wished for this to be delivered to you.” She then bows and leaves to continue her duties.

Elwood rips it open and looks inside to see a neat handwritten note seemingly written in a hurry. ‘My dear Elwood, I will be heading to the village downhill this afternoon after a large number of villagers went missing.’

"This is too close to the kingdom for people to begin disappearing," he mutter’s as he quickly examines the rest of the letter. Elwood’s head was spinning. Raya shouldn’t be in his territory, or else his alarms would be going off; he continues to read, ‘Don’t worry, I’m sure this will be resolved, but just in case, I will lock down the kingdom until this mess is cleared up. Stay safe, and don’t step outside the barrier. -Hazel’ Crushing the letter in his hand, he stuffs it down into his pants pocket and finds Valentine looking at him with a puzzled look on his face. 

“What is it?” Elwood snaps at him.

Valentine, stunned at his anger, wills his mouth to open. “Who…Who is in the wrong?”

Elwood blinks for a couple of seconds before speaking again. “What do you mean by that? You need to specify exactly what you need to ask someone instead of having them guess what the fuck you’re talking about; I might need to enroll you in some classes at this point.” Elwood huffs but stays quiet as Valentine tries to put together a sentence.

“You do not follow Raya and isolate your people due to her methods, so your people suffer from your neglect to give them pure food and water, but on the other hand, the Goddess Raya helps the people by nourishing them so they don’t need to suffer, but her solution to provide requires the blood of those same people she is helping... In this case, who is correct?”

Smiling, Elwood answers with cold eyes, “What if I told you no one and everyone is correct and also in the wrong?

For your first lesson with me as your teacher, Valentine, I will tell you that there is no absolute truth about human beings. There is no absolute right or wrong because everyone has their own set of moral principles and believes they are doing the right thing to varying degrees. My people will not be cattle, though, if I can prevent it. We are not in the best of times, but they are also neither starving nor living in poverty.”

Elwood applauded him silently in his head; it was actually quite bold of him to ask such a question, and he found it slightly enduring that he had the confidence to ask.

They are both interrupted by a platter of rice, eggs, and a side of chopped chicken being placed in front of them.

Valentine, in confusion by Elwood’s claims, speaks up: “But everyone talks about how your people are dying and can’t survive in this region, and no one has ever seen one of your people down the mountains and—”

“Rumors are like viruses, Valentine.” Elwood cuts him off with a sharp click of his tongue. “For fucks sake, it’s nothing more than propaganda; my people would not leave this region because I warn them not to trust those assholes beyond my borders, and they realize how other nations treat us like trash under their feet. The folks here are smart enough to only have faith in themselves.”

He sighs then points towards the mountains behind Valentine while squinting: “We live by cultivating vegetables in our caves and dwellings rather than outside, where the eclipse’s touch has contaminated the land; we get rain and snow more frequently than other realms, so we have an adequate water supply.” He punctures the egg yolk with his fork: “When I spoke with the other kingdom heads, I found that they were all already under the power of that bitch of a god, and they wouldn’t take my teachings nor listen to a word I said.” As he spoke, frustration carried over in his voice. It was clear that he tried to reason with the other nation heads in command but instead was left with a bitter taste in his mouth.

Elwood was exceptionally different compared to his king, as Valentine notices. He had managed to find a way to survive and thrive despite the challenges posed by the eclipse’s touch, while others found it difficult to change due to the backing of a god. The Belladonia were able to survive because of the peculiar methods of cultivation that they developed inside their underground chambers, and even he had to admit that Elwood’s capacity to create such a method for cultivation in such a short amount of time was amazing. The Belladonia kingdom was a force to be reckoned with; just how did his king think of killing such a powerful foe?

Elwood feels he should wipe out the other kingdoms’ heads for being as corrupted and stupid as they were, but he removes that thought from his mind, picks up his fork, and takes a bite out of his eggs. “The piece of shit leaders that everyone looks up to are as clueless as every other person is and corrupt to the core. You should not follow anyone who you truly do not know.”

“So I shouldn’t follow you then,” Valentine replies quickly.

“Yes, even me. However, you have already fucked yourself by binding a contract with me, so you no longer have that choice.”

“Has anyone ever told you that you have quite a mouth? My comrades don’t even swear as much as you do.” Crossing his arms, he points out

“Ah, I’m sorry,” Elwood says mockingly, his tongue dipped in sarcasm. “That my mouth of mine has a wider range of words than most others, and I don’t speak in riddles to get my points across like other aristocrats, oh fuck off! I know I’m not the most polite person in the world, and I don’t give a rat’s ass about how people perceive how I speak, much less a brute of a knight.”

Valentine then, with eyes wide, looks at Elwood in stupefaction, revealing, “This is why everyone says that your people don’t serve you. They really don’t... You told them not to.”

“I may be king in writing, but you will soon figure out that the people here do not bow to me.” Elwood leaves it on that note and continues with his meal, suggesting that Valentine should start to eat too. “I didn’t poison it, if that’s what you were worried about.” Elwood rolls his eyes.

After that, Valentine bites his tongue, and they eat in silence. Elwood asks the maid to show Valentine the courtyard and its limits when they finish their meal. He proceeds toward the castle’s main wing, knowing that Emmett must start preparing to leave the realm if more and more individuals go missing.

“Emmett, I’m coming in,” Elwood exclaims, pushing the door open without any more warning than that. As he entered the sparse room filled only with plants and succulents, his younger brother Emmett lay in bed in shock at his appearance.

“Brother! What are you doing here?” Emmett rasps softly and straightens himself in bed before attempting to pull himself up.

“Don’t get up. All I am here to do is inform you that you will be visiting our summer home and departing for a while. The sun's rays should be beneficial to your health. Elwood gives a silent nod and turns to return to the entrance.

“Wait a minute, brother! I can help with whatever is going on right now; please do not send me away… I know I’m ill, but I’m not useless. I don’t want to be wilting away somewhere far away from home.” A violent shaking and coughing fit breaks out in him. “I’m no longer a child!” He squeaks the last bit of breath out.

Sighing, Elwood states, “We’ve already had this discussion.” As he speaks candidly, his voice reverberates throughout the room. He then gently lowers the volume and continues, "You will not be gone for long; I located a couple of doctors out west who have been a tremendous help to those infected by the eclipse's touch. You won’t be alone either; I’m sending Doctor Judith to travel with you and Arthur,” Elwood adds. “I’ll come pick you up once I learn about your recovery.”

But Judith is the best physician we have, you can’t send her away! I heard you had just returned from a battle where you were severely hurt; they wouldn’t even let me into the room where you were recuperating. I can’t take her; she’s the only one who can look after you.”

“Emmett, this is final.” Elwood grips the door handle. “You don’t have to worry about me. I–uh, I got a bodyguard now, and I won’t have you away for long, so you can consider it as a little vacation.” Elwood quickly finishes, then steps out and closes the door behind him, sealing out his brother, who is still attempting to persuade him to listen to him.

Emmett has always been the peacekeeper in his family, so keeping him away from the battle would spare Elwood the trouble of keeping him in his line of sight at all times.

His family used to frequently refer to Emmett as a lil’ Elwood because of their black hair and similar facial features. However, he inherited his mother’s hazel eyes, unlike Elwood, who had his father’s sky-blue ones.

Elwood and his brother Emmett had very radically different personalities while having a similar external look. In contrast to his brother, who usually smiled and exuded warmth in his gaze, Elwood was cold, harsh, and cruel.

Elwood returns to his room and already feels an uncomfortable headache coming on in his head; annoyingly, he knows that he will need to start acting quickly and putting all of his defenses in place before anything happens, which, to be honest, will happen pretty soon given that the goddess has united the five leading kingdoms. As he contemplates the situation, Elwood’s mind drifts back to the goddess, whose power and influence are undeniable and whose conquest seems unstoppable. The thought of facing her forces alone sends a shiver down his spine. He is the only one left in the north, and apart from the Ionoe Region, the other realms would be more tricky to subdue.

His kingdom doesn’t exactly operate like a regular one, but it should be able to get by if it were invaded. With a heavy sigh, he realizes that the first step towards safeguarding his kingdom is to strategize their defensive measures. 

Once he confirms that Emmett can safely travel to their summer house, the one major thing that worries him will soon disappear. To his great relief.

As he strolls around the garden, he raises his gaze to the sky, framed by long stone mountains that rise to heights that are unfathomable even to Godea’s sky nation.

“The mountains will testify to my oath that I won’t let this kingdom fall.” He sharply declares and turns away.

Due to the nation’s ability to defend itself and the mountains serving as barriers, it has already been impossible for any of its enemies to assault it. But nothing can stay stagnant forever, and for Elwood, a seasoned military strategist, he understands that complacency can be dangerous, even for a nation with natural barriers and a strong defense. Their world is constantly changing with the times, and he understands that with it, more potential threats may emerge. He knows that relying solely on geographical advantages is not enough; proactive measures are necessary to maintain control over their defenses.

To Elwood’s dismay, a large number of thieves and outcasts from other countries flock to his country in search of protection many times a year. Elwood and his fellow citizens face a serious dilemma because of the inflow of these people. He is aware of how crucial it is to give those looking for refuge an opportunity to reside, but he also recognizes the drawbacks. As more and more outsiders arrive, Elwood witnesses a rise in crime rates within his once peaceful nation. Petty thefts, robberies, and even organized criminal activities have become increasingly common. The local authorities struggle to maintain law and order amidst this growing population of miscreants.

However, the other countries are unaware that he does not offer them protection; rather, as soon as his people learn that they are here with a wicked heart or one that seeks evil, they immediately put them to death. The Belladonia kingdom can loudly boast the lowest crime rate of all the countries, yet the other countries would still believe they are sheltering several criminals despite the lack of evidence supporting their claim. Such ignorance has fueled his hate for outsiders even more. He refused to have these rumors tarnish his kingdom’s name; it was a baseless accusation, yet no one gave it any grounds to be challenged, except him, of course.

Anyway, he was well aware that reinforcing the borders would provoke criticism; however, as someone who had done it numerous times before, it not only gave him greater physical protection, but it also sent a clear message to those who questioned Belladonia's dedication to law and order that they would not be swayed.

First, he needs to investigate the missing person’s complaint that he received this morning. If Hazel is already downhill, then he should be able to find more evidence, but just in case, Elwood should prepare a few tracking spells for when he returns.

As he makes his way to his chambers, he soothingly rubs his cold hands for better circulation and asks Ali to get him some pig’s blood. Elwood discovered when studying cursed magic as a young child that blood works far better for casting spells and talismans than ink and is more effective for the intended purpose. The dark crimson liquid was potent with energy, possessing a connection to the mystical realm, and its unique properties enhanced the potency of incantations, making the blood more powerful and capable of manifesting desired outcomes.

He should also keep Valentine nearby in case the barriers break or for any other reason. Ali returns with a small vial containing fresh pig’s blood, carefully collected from a sacrificial ceremony held earlier that day. She hands it to Elwood with reverence, aware of its significance in their magical endeavors, and Elwood gets to work but remembers his last thought.

“Bring over Valentine; I won’t allow him to slack on his first day as my bodyguard!”

He places a stack of papers next to his desk before filling a tiny stone bowl with pig’s blood, cinnamon, spider’s legs, and a concoction of different animal bones he crushed up a while back and stuffed in a spice container before crushing everything with a mortar and pestle. As he meticulously grinds the mixture, a pungent aroma fills the air, blending the earthy scent of crushed bones with the sweet and sour notes of cinnamon. The mixture comes alive after a while; a small burst of energy puffs out of the mix and fills the air.

Waving his hand softly, he rids the air of the smoke, and with the utmost care, he sprinkles a pinch of the powdered concoction onto each paper in the stack. As the fine dust settles onto the surface, an invisible transformation begins to take place. The once-ordinary papers now seem imbued with an otherworldly essence.

They are no longer mere vessels for information but gateways to realms beyond our own. With tentative hands, he reaches for a quill pen dipped in ink made from rare squid ink mixed with moonlit dewdrops collected on a full moon night. As he delicately touches the pen to the parchment, a surge of energy courses through his veins. The words he is about to inscribe hold the power to unlock secrets that have been hidden for centuries. Each stroke of the pen feels like a connection to the ancient scribes who once wielded similar tools, their knowledge flowing through him, allowing him to glimpse into their world for a second. As the ink flows onto the parchment, intricate symbols take shape, forming a language long forgotten by the world.

As a result of the messy process, Elwood’s white, unrolled sleeves get dirty with blood, and he instructs Valentine to roll up his sleeves as soon as a door opens to his right.

“Valentine, come here.”

Valentine approaches, seeing that he has already stained his sleeves with blood. Despite this, he slides his hands to one side and pushes the sleeve up, earning a little sigh from Elwood: “I said roll them up, not push them up my arm; they will fall more easily if not done right.”

Valentine nods and feels the silk of the shirt from the inside as Elwood wiggles his arm, causing the sleeve to slip down again. This time, Valentine rolls them up easily before moving to Elwood’s other side and rolling them up. He heads to the nightstand and then returns to Elwood, who is now writing down symbols on a piece of thick yellow paper after finding two pieces of ribbon. Valentine doesn’t pay much mind to what he is doing and wraps the ribbon around Elwood’s slender, narrow arm before tying it in a knot. “Ow! You dimwit! It’s digging into my flesh; try it again, but with less force.” Elwood appears ready to stab him with the pen but instead huffs once more, picks up more paper, and gets back to work.

Valentine again undoes the ribbon while paying attention to his strength this time; he wraps it around his arm again and gently tightens it before doing the same with the other and stepping back.

“You need to learn how to control your strength!” Elwood huffs, “What did they even teach you in your nation anyway?”

“How to battle, kill, and protect the king.” Valentine maintains an upright posture and speaks in a rhythmic manner, as though he were repeating this phrase frequently.

“I suppose I didn’t anticipate any other response than that… Valentine, you questioned me previously about who was right and wrong. I wonder. Who do you believe?” Elwood raises his eyebrow while asking.

Before responding, Valentine pauses, “You informed me that both are right and wrong.”

Elwood rolled his eyes. “I know what I told you, but ask yourself if you’d still think I was a tyrant if I hadn’t told you what I did.”

“I do not know what to believe; your statements make sense, and I can tell you are not lying when you speak to me, but…” Valentine averts his eyes. “I also do not trust you; you are filled with cursed energy.”

“Is that a problem?” Elwood questions again, and Valentine begins to believe that this man in front of him likes making him go tongue-tied with questions.

“The use of cursed energy corrupts the user and brings misfortune to the consumer.”

“And who told you this? How do you know your assertion is true? Have you used cursed energy to know the side effects?” He asks before biting the tip of the pen in front of him and turning to face Valentine. He grins and waves the pen, wanting Valentine to respond.

“The kingdom head and the elders have punished many people who have used cursed energy; nevertheless, I have also been on the hunt for many of these cases and have brought back unstable and dangerous individuals who have used cursed energy. The same thing happened to them all.” Valentine glances down at Elwood and notices that he is waiting for him to continue speaking and anticipating more details. “They are people that lash out and kill anyone who gets in their way, including killing family members and friends. Cursed users could never maintain a steady state of mind for very long, and in many of the cases I’ve seen, they would spiral into lunacy, taking their family with them.” Valentine ends his sentence on a depressing note, but Elwood immediately breaks out in laughter.

“You… do you feel bad for the family’s downfall? Hahaha!”

When Valentine lashes out at him,

“Do you not have any humanity left in you?”

Elwood snaps out of it.

“What! Don’t give me that look. People who allow themselves to fall into corruption like that can only have themselves to blame; if they brought their entire family down with them, it means that those who should have intervened on the fool’s behalf did not take action until it was too late. This has nothing to do with curse users and everything to do with foolish people and their errors. How many of these cases have you been involved with?”

“Approximately 42 incidents.” Crossing his arms, he replies.

Elwood hums and adds, “You can’t tell me that you haven’t witnessed the worst atrocities come from people who didn’t even play with cursed energy. And how many incidents have you seen of regular people killing family members or going on a killing spree? I cannot deny that cursed energy does have some negative side effects, but the only reason you believe there are many occurrences of it is because you have no other statistics with which to compare it.”

Again, Elwood trapped Valentine in a corner. Watching Valentine swallow deeply, Elwood finishes the last talisman and stacks them, putting them into a small pouch on his side before motioning for Valentine to follow him.

“You’re silent again; what are you thinking of?” Elwood questions.

“What are the side effects of using cursed energy?”

“Hah, are you interested now?” Elwood jokingly pats him on the shoulder.

“No!” Valentine yells but then quiets himself as he notices a couple of servants gazing. “I just want to comprehend, and you should be capable of understanding the dangers of cursed energy because you use it.”

Elwood seemed to be thinking for a moment before nodding to himself and returning a frigid smile to Valentine. “I’m not going to tell you.” Then he walks off again.

“Huh.” Valentine halts in his tracks before hurrying after Elwood, exclaiming, “But you already gave me so much information; why won’t you tell me this?”

“Oh, so you wish me to give you all the answers in life? Sorry, but sometimes you won’t get the answers you want so easily.” Elwood arrives at the front gates and leans on a pillar, looking off into the distance. “I wouldn’t touch the gate if I were you.”

“Why?”

Silence.

“Fine, I won’t.” Valentine gives in and stands next to Elwood.

“You’re not curious?”

“…”

“Do you want me to do it for you?” Elwood asks, extending his arm toward the gate with a big smile.

He bites his lip. “I’ll do it.” Valentine glares at him and goes for the gate with his palm raised, but is suddenly stopped by a barrier and flung a few feet away, which causes Elwood to chuckle at Valentine’s misfortune. “You’re too easy to manipulate.”

Valentine rises to his feet to throw Elwood a nasty look, only for him to see Elwood’s backside racing outside the gate towards a soldier on a horse heading towards them.

“Did you find anything?” He asks the soldier.

“Yes. We located the villagers, but… The soldier pauses and explains, “The Smile Knight is asking for your help; it was truly a disturbing sight.” He admits and unmounts his steed and hands control to Elwood.

“Valentine, hurry your ass up!” After mounting and steadying the horse, Elwood directs it toward the mountainside. As Valentine draws nearer to the horse, he swiftly pulls himself up, and Elwood spurs the animal to start riding toward the village down the way.

It wasn’t the biggest town, but it had some credibility because it was close to the kingdom. However, the fact that people went missing while the village was so close to his domain was a big concern. Finally getting to a distance where he could see the outlines of the town, Elwood stopped the horse and turned towards a clearing of land filled with dead crops and a flock of his men surrounded in a circle.

He dismounted his horse and approached the group cautiously, his eyes scanning their weary faces. They looked exhausted, their armor caked with dirt and sweat staining their brows. Elwood knew they had been tirelessly searching for any trace of the missing townsfolk, but so far, their efforts had been in vain.

“What are you guys doing?” Elwood demanded, his voice laced with concern and frustration as he got closer before the stench of rotting flesh reached his nose.

A group of dead bodies lie next to one another, their faces drained of blood and foam oozing from their mouths. “What happened?” Without turning to face him, he asks Hazel, dismounts, and approaches the bodies up close. He spots two kids caught up in the pile of bodies as he takes a closer look and quickly turns his head away to see the corpse of a woman below him. He kneels down to the woman’s body and uses his gloved fingers to open and examine her mouth before removing his gloves and tossing them to the side once he is done.

“My king, we discovered the missing villagers’ remains and a message outlining a mass suicide plan. However, I have reason to think that this was murder rather than a suicide attempt. Many of these villagers had plans days prior, and the narcotics they consumed would not have been accessible in our mountains but rather in the plains, close to the Ionoe kingdom.” Hazel explains and hands him the suicide note.

The hastily prepared letter discussed the decision to commit mass suicide, yet it lacked any sense of humanity, as if no emotions had been expressed. It was as if the authors had detached themselves from their own humanity. But Elwood knew better than to dismiss Hazel’s intuition. Over the years, he has witnessed his uncanny ability to perceive things that others couldn’t. His instincts had guided them through countless challenges and dangers, always proving to be accurate. If Hazel sensed something was wrong, Elwood trusted his judgment implicitly. Elwood tensed and glared down at the letter. He must get Emmett out of here as soon as possible, since if it were a murder, this would further complicate everything.

“Go to town and gather as many people as you can who have any relation to these individuals, and have them prepare preparations for funerals; support the people as much as you can,” Elwood instantly commands the soldiers. “Hazel, I need you to help reinforce a barrier over this town as well. If it were murder, then it would lessen the possibility of someone slipping in and out as they like,” he says before hopping back on the horse.

“I agree, my king. I’ll be very vigilant.” Hazel bows, and Elwood moves the horse in the direction of the settlement while nodding.

“We are going to head into town, Valentine; you too must be on your toes,” Elwood emphasizes, and as they slowly reach the town, he sees the townsfolk in many states of despair. No one approaches him; instead, he hears a high-pitched voice from the crowd. A tiny boy in tatters pushed through the crowd towards him just as the barrier was set up and the cover darkened the sky. “My sister wouldn’t kill herself! King! She would have never killed herself; please find the fuckers who killed her!!

When the little boy looked up at Elwood, his golden eyes were angry and shone with such intensity that Elwood could feel his suffering; he understood the pain of losing someone dear. As Elwood delved deeper into the depths of those anguished eyes, memories of his own past resurfaced. He recalled the ache that had consumed him when he too had lost someone dear to him. The pain had been all-consuming, creating an indescribable void that seemed impossible to fill.

Elwood came to a stop and further said, “We have identified holes in the account of this mass suicide and will investigate further. I will get to the bottom of this, but for now, restitution will be provided to the town.” He then turned to face the audience below him. “You must all report to the guards and give your own accounts of what happened; do not resist, or we will have to take additional measures.”

Elwood saw them all line up in front of the guards, and he could tell that the bulk of them had lost someone today based only on the look of anguish on their faces. He was unable to assist them with their loss, but he would do his damnedest to aid in the slaying of the person responsible. He circled his hand in cursed energy and felt it grow into a swarm of wispy, dark tendrils that were ready to hunt. They dispersed, but as soon as a loud bell rang, they began to pour back into him. As they entered his body once more, they knocked the air out of him, and he anxiously looked to see where the bells had started to chime. Bells rang wildly, and a loud bang echoed through the air as the barrier that encompassed the kingdom crumbled.

“Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck, FUCK! Hazel! Valentine! We need to get back to the castle!” Pointing to a small group of men who were interrogating the residences, Elwood declares, “You soldiers! Stay here and protect the people, and if anyone tries to flee this way, kill them.”

Elwood could scarcely see his castle through the dense forest of dried-up evergreen trees, save for the smoke that arose from it. His mind was muddled from all the cruel thoughts racing through his mind, and he urged the horse to hasten faster.

It felt like it took him longer to get to the castle than it did to leave it, and when he finally reached the front gates, they looked like they were ripped open, and there were soldiers strewn all over the ground leading up to the great castle hall. The sight before him was a grim tableau of destruction and chaos. The once majestic court yard now lay in ruins, its grandeur reduced to rubble and ashes.

His mind raced with questions. What had happened here? Who could have orchestrated such an assault on his beloved castle? Elwood’s thoughts were clouded with anger, grief, and a burning desire for vengeance. He clenched his fists, feeling the weight of responsibility pressing upon him.

As he made his way through the wreckage, he leaped down as he saw Judith on the floor, gripping a soldier’s stomach close as it fought itself to open up, and she wept as the screams of the soldier she was attempting to save stopped, and his head rolled to the side.

“Judith! I need you to pay attention to me right now.” He turned her face to face him and looked him in the eyes. Her eyes were glazed over, and tears streamed down her cheeks. “I need you to get Emmett and get out of here!” He dragged Valentine off the horse and towards Judith. “There should be a carriage near the stables; find Emmett and accompany them until they leave in the carriage; they should know where to go next.” Then he looked over to Judith. “I’ll have some guards meet you at the carriage, and they will escort you the rest of the way… Be safe…” He took a knee and leaned his forehead against hers. “Take care of Emmett for me.”

Unable to speak, Judith nods and flees towards Emmett’s chamber; Valentine does not follow her but instead remains in his place. “The contract only specifies I’m your bodyguard, no one else.” Valentine grits his teeth as an enraged Elwood raises his hand and strikes him, snarling, “Hell to the contract! My fragile, sick brother will not be lost because of your refusal. Save him if you’re so virtuous! Despite the fact that I am his brother, he has never done anything wrong.” A pain strikes Elwood on his face as a red hand appears. Elwood reaches out to touch his face. ‘So this is the contract’s side effect; if I attempt to harm him, I will be subjected to the same suffering… what a pain in the ass.’

“I don’t have time for your nonsense.” He growls, glaring at Valentine, and dashes towards the main hall.

Valentine bit his lip before racing off to find Judith, his feet feeling like lead.

After slamming the door open, a lone figure could be seen sitting at his throne and lounging in golden-laced furs caped around her neck and in a long, tight-fitting garment. She was surprised for a moment before regaining her composure. “Oh, Elwood, I wish it hadn’t come to this. Why couldn’t you simply comply and join us when you had the opportunity?” She leaned back on the throne and gazed down at him, her dim brown eyes turning red as she moved her gaze to the light shining through the windows.

“You knew I was never really willing to bow down toward any woman who used her allure to get her way. She was adept at manipulating you, and I’m astonished at how stupid you were to fall for her methods.” Elwood shouts and snickers. “However, given your age, it’s no surprise you’re losing your touch.”

Outraged, the woman screeched, “How dare! You will regret that comment!” She slammed her hand on one of the armrests of the throne, and Elwood jolted up when a presence appeared behind him. His legs were kicked down, and a powder was flung in his face as he contorted his body to look for the person who had appeared. “How convenient to locate some Royal daze this far up in the mountains… When you awaken, we’ll discover the truth about your tyranny and put you to death immediately.”

Elwood became paralyzed, dazed, and incapable of responding, but he could feel his body being maneuvered up until the moment he fell unconscious.