The Battle of Hallow's Eve

truth or dare

As the October breeze shook the willow trees like rattles, a lowly messenger dashed through the field, over the damp grass. Although the sun was just beginning to rise, it was chilly. The messenger wrapped his coat tighter around him, tucking the paper scroll into it. He really did not want to be sending messages at this hour. If only it was Sunday. He could be bundled up in blankets, sheilded from the cold. But of course, it had to be Monday. Not only that, but apparently "It's a 'very urgent message'", he mumbled to himself sarcastically. He continued through the field, hoping to catch sight of Quing Mock's castle. The morning mist made it difficult to see over long distances and even the castle - which could usually be seen from anywhere in the town - was hard to look for.

Eventually the messenger caught sight of the large brick turrets, and he was closer than he thought he was. The wall between the turrets was lined with trebuchets and cannons, and the turrets themselves had large metal spiked fences. Two guards, clad in armor, stood by the huge metal door. One of them noticed the shivering messenger boy and quickly informed the other, pointing their long spear in his direction. "Who are you? What are you doing here?" The first guard asked. "I-I have an important m-message," he stuttered. "F-for Their Majesty, from Tamilda,"

"Hm." The guard responded, and turned to nod at the other. "Alright, boy, you may enter. But if we catch you doing anything suspicious, you will be imprisoned or even beheaded."

The messenger nodded shakily and, as the guards pushed open the creaking doors, he scurried in through them. The metal doors slammed behind him, making him shriek in shock. He was then greeted by another set of guards who let him in through the second set of doors into the inner walls of the castle. Before him now lay a maze of hallways, entrances and exits which only the  Quing themself knew how to properly navigate so warily, he crept through the corridors, hoping to find either a resident of the castle or some sort of sign. He looked down at his hands - one of them holding the scroll containing the message and the other empty. Both were shaking. But while he was distracted, he heard a voice call "Hey, you! What do you think you're doing?" Which scared him a little bit again.

Abby, one of the generals, strode up to him; a solemn look in her eyes. "Why are you here?" she queried. "I have an important message. F-for Their Majesty!" The messenger responded, regaining his confidence. "B-but I'm not sure where they are," he added.

"Well... If it's urgent, I suppose I could take you to the throne room," Abby admitted. "Follow me. We need to go quickly," And she began walking through the palace's halls, the little messenger tagging along behind her. "Keep up!" she called.

In a matter of minutes, they were already standing before the decorated entrance; "throne room" engraved into it. A beautiful silver door-knocker was hanging in the center of the door. Abby knocked it and a loud, echoing TAP-TAP-TAP was heard. Almost immediately the door was opened, revealing a spacious, highly embellished hall with two balconies on either side, held up by concrete pillars. At the opposite end of the throne room was, of course, the throne itself. And there they were, Quing Mock. They seemed to be discussing something with one of the Knights, who was standing just beside the throne. The knight quickly spotted the messenger, and, laying their right hand on their sword's grip, shot him a stern look.

"It's just a messenger, Rio, don't worry," The Quing muttered. "Hey! Come here, boy."

He quickly dashed along the shimmering red carpet so he was just a few metres away from them, and then knelt down in respect, head bowed down.

"You may rise," They said a few seconds later, and the messenger stood up quietly.

"Your Majesty, I have an urgent message from Tamilda," He said.

'That filthy lump of beetle slime...' Thought Mock. They did not want to hear about Tamilda, especially after the many bouts of conflict between them. The monarch sighed frustratedly. "Alright then, tell me what it says," 

The messenger unrolled the paper, and read aloud:

"Good morning, Your Majesty.

It is with great displeasure that I must inform you that we are in need of assistance, once again. The recent "disagreement" with our neighboring city Lerces has left us in complete disarray. We request that you send one of your Royal Advisors or even the Head of the Royal Guard to discuss this with us.

I do hope you understand, and can send someone over as soon as possible.

Yours,

Mayor Tamilda"

Shuffling hastily, the messenger rolled the scroll back up.

"Well... I can't turn her away, that would damage my reputation," the Quing mumbled. "I suppose I could send someone... Rio?"

The knight's eyes had been staring off into space, not fully focusing on the conversation at hand. She snapped out of her dreamscape almost immediately and turned towards Mock. "Yes, Your Majesty?" she said.

"Go and see if Aether is in the study. I think we should send her - I don't want you to leave the castle grounds, just in case anything happens," they replied, a serious, and yet slightly playful tone in their voice.

"Of course, Your Majesty," Rio uttered and swiftly set off to find the supreme advisor. She could navigate the labyrinth of corridors pretty well, but not as well as the Quing. She was also quite surprised at how serious Their Majesty sounded - even in some of the most severe of situations, they still had a lighthearted tone in their voice. They must know something Rio did not about Tamilda. Tamilda may be subtly hinting at a malicious plot, or worse. But Rio had to focus on her current task - finding Aether.

The study was very close now; it was just at the end of the long hallway. There the knight would discuss the situation with the supreme advisor. Rio's footsteps echoed through the corridor, making a ghostly noise - and alerting Aether. The study door promptly swung open as if it had been open by a phantom, but Aether stepped out of the room and instantly noticed the knight dashing towards her.

TO BE CONTINUED!