The Guardsmen

Chapter 48: A Battle to Remember

"My liege", says Dr.Nizo, "Are you alright?"

King Rathon sits on his throne. His body looks like it had aged decades.

"Yes, yes..." he says in a shaky voice.

Rathon covers his mouth and deeply coughs. It sounds as if his lungs were about to escape from his body.

"Your highness!" exclaims Nizo.

Rathon's hair suddenly starts to grow. It extends from his shoulders down to his chest. The wrinkles on his skin become more and more visible.

"I'm sorry..." he says in a raspy tone.

"What are you-" asks Nizo.

The door to the throne room bursts open with a loud boom. Callum steps through it with a smug expression on his face.

"Callum! Help! Something is wrong with the king!" shouts Nizo.

Callum snickers to himself. Nizo realizes that something is wrong. Kokuro and Calina step out from behind Callum with Acacius in their arms. What seems like a literal army stands behind Callum in a zombified state.

"What is the meaning of this?" Nizo sternly asks.

Rathon softly places his hand onto Nizo's wrist. His skin seems so thin that it looks like it could tear apart at any second. Nizo looks at King Rathon in confusion.

"How much did you sacrifice, my liege?" Nizo asks with concern.

"Do enlighten us! How much time did you lose?" Callum chimes in with glee.

"Silence!" shouts Nizo.

"I tried for years...there's no way for me to stop him here...just leave and save yourself!" Rathon says in a raspy tone.

Nizo clenches his jaw, and then stands straight up to loosen his tie.

"I can't do that, my liege. I am a sworn advisor, and I will guard you with my life" Nizo says while glaring at Callum.

"No!" exclaims Rathon.

Callum smirks and snaps his fingers; blue and green willpower swirling around his hand. Nizo suddenly stands at attention.

"What is this??" he thinks to himself.

A creeping pain shoots up his side. The veins in his neck begin to bulge and writhe underneath the skin. A small flower sprouts from the base of his neck. And in that instant, all life in Nizo's eyes extinguish. Rathon drops his head in sorrow and regret.

"A few years you say?" Callum asks in delight.

"Please...let the kingdom go. If it's just the throne you want, take it" says Rathon.

"Oh no no!" sings Callum.

Callum practically skips up to the throne.

"Your time of perfect decision-making is over. It's time to let this kingdom run as it is meant to!" says Callum.

Rathon covers his mouth and roughly coughs once more. Callum winces.

"Oh my. That sounds harsh. You shouldn't have extended yourself so much. You can hardly move now!" says Callum.

Kokuro and Calina toss Acacius into the center of the throne room. Callum and Nizo help Rathon from his throne and carefully walks him towards Acacius.

"I'm sure in your time, you know what this is. Correct?" asks Callum.

Rathon softly nods his head and slowly sits onto the floor.