The Segmented Empire

Chapter 12

(TW): Slight yelling and small showings of abuse

  The outside of the cave was quiet, they had all been expected to watch the entrance. The soldier closest to the entrance sighed, leaning his back against the cold stone. He has already been threatened once by his commander and he wasn't looking to be yelled at again, so he stood and listened. Everything was peaceful, and the slightly cold breeze along with slow falling snow led to nice scenery. It was enough to lull him to sleep.

  "No!" he thought, pulling his back off the cave wall, "I can't sleep, not now.."

  He sighed, resting his hand on the handle of the sword in his holster. His ears perked up at the sound of approaching footsteps, he readied himself for combat. He and the soldier on the other side of the cave opening looked inside the cave, listening close to any signs of movement. The footsteps got closer, speeding towards them with immense speed. They weren't able to get a good look at the figures before they quickly pushed past them, almost knocking the men off their feet. They were barely able to steady themselves again before a loud hissing sound in front of them, an explosion pushing them back quickly after. The rest of the soldiers ran to the noise, helping pull the soldiers up again, the man felt completely on edge and the pain from the blast kept him from standing straight.

  Their commander sauntered out of the darkness, another figure with chains on his wrist following closely behind. Everyone cleared a path, the man taking a moment after to study the new figure. He looked grim, his expression was dark and his movements uneven. The soldier could only assume there was a struggle beforehand. His blonde hair was dirty and he could easily make out the small grey hairs he had. He wore a black cloak that was ripped, presumably to keep his now chained black wings from hitting against the cave walls. His eyes were a light blue, darkened with obvious hostility. The soldier couldn't make out any more of his features before he was dragged away, he and the rest of the piglin next to him followed their commander out into the cold tundra.

  Nobody dared to say a word, the way their commander's fur was puffed up made them all shiver. The soldier walked close by him, having been pushed to the front in case the taller man was still angry. They reached the portal quickly, the heat from the nether warming all of them as they walked through the purple mist. The brute huffed, turning to look at the crowd of Piglin before him.

  "You are to watch all exits in case this one," he pulled the chains of his prisoner, causing the shorter man to almost fall, "tries to escape."

  All of the soldiers nodded, rushing to the stairs of the dungeon.

  "You." The brute grumbled to one of them, "Are to come with me, you've already proven yourself untrustworthy towards a task."

  The man nodded, following close behind the brute. They made their way to the throne room in silence, the absence of communication left the soldier feeling more and more uneasy as they walked. The silence only seemed to grow once they reached their destination, finally being broken by their king.

  "You've returned without the boy." He hissed, his tone dark and cold.

  The taller of the two bowed, the shorter only following he noticed the king's glare. They both stood straight again, the taller pushing his prisoner forward. The rattling of his chains as he fell filled the room for only a few seconds.

  "We found this man using the compass, he seemed to have picked up the boy's locator." He paused for a moment, looking up at his superior. "We suspect he knows where the boy is."

  Everything was still for what felt like minutes before the king stood, he walked closer to the disheveled man. The man looked up at him, grimacing at who he saw.

  "Welcome back, Phil." The King said, not at all trying to welcome the man.

  "Séverin.." The man responded, a slight mock in his voice as he spoke.

  The King growled, reaching his hand up and swiftly striking him across the face. Phil, as the king called him, fell sideways. He lay on the floor with great hostility shown on his features.

  "You are NOT," The King shouted, "to refer to me in such a way!"

  He crouched down over Phil, his features also showing hostility. The soldier almost found this hard to watch, he had never met the man and had no idea as to why the king knew him. He quickly looked away, holding his eyes on the red carpet below his feet. He continued to listen, his ears perking up at the sound of the king's voice.

  "Tell me where the boy is and you won't be hurt. He growled.

  Phil let out a chuckle, the rattle of his chains sounding again.

  "I have no fucking idea who you're talking about Séverin," The King let out a growl at that "is it normal for you now to just send your men after an old god.."

  The sound of the king striking the man again filled the soldier's ears, despite his better judgment he glanced at the scene again.

  "YOU HAVE THE BOY'S LOCATOR!" The King scowled, he pinched the bridge of his nose while letting out a huff.

  "If you didn't know where he is," he continued quieter than before, "then how could you've gotten his locator.."

  The room grew silent again, Phil stared up at the king's face with no sign of fear or regret. He chuckled again, his wings flapping lightly before the chains stopped them.

  "He's completely harmless Séverin..." he let out, attempting to pull himself up before receiving another strike to the face.

  The room grew silent once more. The immobility of the man received a huff from the king. He stood, stepping over Phil and walking towards the two men before him.

  "Bring him to the dungeon and don't let him out until we get answers out of him." He growled to the brute, "I'll have the queen create a truth elixir."

  The brute nodded, bowing once again to his superior and going to pick up Phil.

  "You." The King growled at the soldier, "you are to guard the portal, we can't have him escaping in any way, understand?"

  The shorter man nodded, quickly bowing like the brute did and rushing off. The brute followed closely after with Phil over his shoulder. 

  1099 words

  Thank you for reading chapter 12, it was really fun for me to make and I enjoyed making a lot of the character interactions. As always, if you have any tips or criticism please let me know. It will really help me write this book and others in the future, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and that you have a good day/afternoon/night!