Oneshots!

#24 I Only Ask One Thing

Ten holy knights escorted the King down to the deepest parts of the dungeon. Normally this might have been overdoing it, however they were about to deal with one of the most dangerous monsters known to man. And even with guards and bars separating them... this was still a very dangerous task.

A beast, a creature of darkness, a monster. None of these words could even begin to describe what the.. thing they were about to face was. And yet they trekked farther down... to the deepest and darkest part of the prison. Where only one thing was kept and had resided since the king's father imprisoned it over three decades before. No food or water had been given.. and yet it still survived.

It was immortal, and yet fooled others with its human skin disguise. It was something horrifying wrapped in a blanket of apathy and a pleasant voice.

No one dared speak to it for fear of its manipulation causing them to do something that could free the beast. If that thing ever got freed.. humanity wouldn't last against it..

And yet the king still wanted to meet with it. This was the first time any contact had been made to the monster, however.. these circumstances were as dire as the meeting.

A rivaling kingdom with double the soldiers, mages, and firepower had threatened war on Liones. People were being drafted, several families were being torn apart... and so many people were being lost in vain. They were losing the battle, and soon the kingdom his father had built himself would fall..

They needed something strong to help them overwhelm their enemies. Something to show thay they were too powerful to be messed with. And with how overwhelming the enemy kingdom was.. he could only think of one thing.

He hadn't told anyone about his plans, even the guards escorting him thought this was a simple meeting. Which he supposed it was.. although the whole point of the meeting was to see if the thing could be trusted to help.

He already had a mountain of gold ready for it, hopefully that would be enough..

Finishing the trek down, he felt his nerves go on edge as he felt the presence of the beast nearby..

Its arms and legs were chained while its mouth was covered to prevent it from trying to say any spells or manipulate the guards into letting it go.

Emerald eyes met those of the king, although they showed no expression to them other than... amusment?

"Let him speak."

The guard seemed shocked by this order, but obeyed nonetheless. He carefully and hesitantly walked to the creature and untied the gag before jumping back to put distance between him and the thing. Curiously enough though, the beast didn't make a move against him.

"My my, looks like there's a new king, huh? You look just like your father when he was younger ya know. Although I can tell you're different, there's a kindness in your eyes even after thirty years he could never have."

"Don't disrespect the former king!"

One of the guards shouted before banging the end of their sword against the bars in warning. This however didn't seem to phase the creature in the slightest.

"So what are you doing here? I'm not used to having much company."

"I require your assistance."

A small twitch of a smile formed on the beast's face before it disappeared and he replied, amusment in his words.

"Oh really? What is it you need from little ol me?"

"The kingdom is under heavy attack and lives are being lost because of it. I'm already willing to offer you half of the gold supply. We will be put in a bit of poverty, but if it saves lives then I am willing to pay any cost."