The Twelve Kingdoms

The Golden Age Is Over

/// Beauty [& the Beast]

Light Kingdom ///

It was a sunny day, like it almost always was in the Light Kingdom, and birds sang their songs like their lives depended on it. The mountain air was fresh and sweet with the scent of spring flowers. The sun glinted off the castle's many windows in the distance.

Prince Liang was walking through the meadow, occasionally tripping over something, his nose stuck in a thick tome titled "The Wild Adventures of Sir Timn." When he got to the big oak tree, he leaned against its trunk and slid down into a sitting position, not once tearing his attention away from what he was reading.

He was on a particularly tense scene in the story, involuntarily leaning closer to the words printed on the paper. His light brown bangs slid into his eyes and he lifted his hand to brush them away.

All of a sudden, his thin wrist was snatched and twisted behind his back. The prince cried out in pain as his book was knocked onto the grass and his other hand reached the same fate as his first.

Before he could try to distinguish the dark-clad figure behind him, a cloth was clamped over half of his face making it impossible for him to breathe or scream.

All of a sudden, his whole body became paralyzed and his eyes rolled back into his head. The last thing on his mind before he fully passed out was that he enjoyed reading about Sir Timn's adventures but he wasn't ready to live them yet.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Liang woke to distant thunder and the sound of rain hitting the windows. The room he was in was shrouded in a bluish semi-darkness. A weak shade of evening light filtered through the three long windows on his right.

A long shudder went through his body, and suddenly he felt very cold. He tugged the thin blanket closer around him, toes curling into the sheets.

There was a flash of light, which illuminated the tiny room he was in, instantly followed by a loud rumbling of thunder. His whole body tensed and he tightly shut his eyes.

Dark vines of fear gripped him, circling their chilling hands around his throat until he was afraid to breathe.

How did he end up in such an unfamiliar place? For how long has he been out? How far away is he from home? What was going on?

The questions swirled in his brain without finding plausible answers.

He vaguely remembered reading one of his new books beneath his favorite tree and then feeling absolutely paralyzed and then nothing.

He slowly opened his eyes. The bare walls around him seemed bleak and gray, and the ceiling was a dull black. Something about this room was so full of melancholy and sorrow that his throat closed inexplicably and tears sprang to his eyes. It was quite odd.

There was a door at the far side of the room and the handle turned slowly.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Liang woke up to a flash of light and a rumble of thunder. The room was dark and silent, other than his own ragged breathing. There were goosebumps on his skin from the cold and he was terrified.

Pulling up the thin blanket up to his chin he tried to remember how he ended up here. He vaguely remembered reading one of his new books beneath his favorite tree and then feeling absolutely paralyzed and then nothing.

The room was tiny and dark and ...

The dark windows and ...

The door ...