The King's Remorse

Deal or No Deal?

My fingernails turn bloody as I claw at the barrier keeping me locked in the back of my mind. I ignore the cries of my muscles and the sweat making my hair stick to the back of my neck. Come on. I've got to escape the snake.

My desperation turns to anger. My whole life had been dedicated to Bryant. As a child, I stared at Bryant's castle in awe, watched Guard and Soldiers walk by, dreaming of the day when I could become 1. And when I finally got enlisted as a Soldier, I hung onto each and every word Bryant uttered. I trained tirelessly and took any task I could so I could serve my King. The 1st betrayal was when I twisted my ankle and watched in terror, the kind that makes your heart sink through your toes, as the doctors said my pain was all in my head. It never was. I remained stoic until I reached my room. Only when I knew the door was locked did I let the silent tears fall, but only for a few moments. Everyone took my refusal to see a doctor again as me proving that I truly was the model Soldier. I never was. It should've been any of the other top Guard and Soldiers; they never questioned their King and had the bloodthirsty restlessness that made them the perfect candidates to become the Dust Devil, the righthand man of the King of Ragdon. Why did you turn me into something I'm not? Why me? Why turn me into the Dust Devil when the Dust Devil isn't who I am? The 2nd betrayal was when Bryant let the Amethyst Throne invade my mind. The pain that had me curled on the ground as strangled cries slipped from my mouth and talons raked through my mind and an unwanted, foreign being took up residence there. The snake. The blood on my hands, blood I never wanted, burns. It will never go away. Guilt gnaws at my insides. The snake took over control of my body, and I was locked away as it used me like a puppet. Why?

Anger blazes deep in the pit of my stomach. How could you do this to me? Tears sting as they well up in my eyes. My lips curl as I take a deep, shuddering breath. I'll win, snake. You won't control me forever.

Monstrous cracks riddle the marble of Bryant's throne room. Guard and Soldiers pound away at the double doors, but they can't break through. The Amethyst Throne is the only thing that doesn't bear any marks from the fight. Phoenix circles my body, searching for a moment of weakness, and the snake moves my body to remain facing the black cat. "Had enough?" Phoenix murmurs.

"Never," the snake hisses. Clouds of dust spread out from around my body's feet, obscuring the ground. Phoenix snarls when tendrils of dust wind around his legs. The black cat tries to jerk a foreleg free, and when he's unable to, he bites down on a tendril and rips 1 in 1/2. Dust sprays as the tendril breaks and crumbles.

I rake my fingernails down the barrier, and blood cakes my fingers in a scarlet film. Bile rises in my throat. Let me go, snake.

The 1st crack forms in the snake's barrier when a commotion sounds out in the hallway, slightly muffled by the doors. Only a moment later, the double doors are knocked to the ground in a spray of debris and dust. The snake moves my body to face the intruder. It hisses, eyes flashing.

Guard and Soldiers stream into the throne room, but they soon find themselves falling to the ground and staying down, completely motionless. Through the 1/2-light of the hallway and the clouds of dust still hanging in the air, a figure climbs over the rubble, soon followed by another 2. Who are they?

"What the hell are you guys doing here? I already called dibs on killing him!"

"You will not lay a hand on my King," the snake snarls.

"Shut it," Phoenix snarls. "You couldn't stop me if you tried."

"Hush," Icarus says. "The Amethyst Throne must be destroyed 1st if you wish to kill the King." Bryant waves a hand, and the snake immediately reacts to the louder thrum of the Amethyst Throne.