The Forgotten Light

10. Darksen

Darksen, in fresh clothes, shortly after a quick shower, walked through the long corridor, submerged in his thoughts. His footsteps echoed off the empty golden walls, on which the morning sunlight fell.

He was exhausted. After the night's hunt, which totally stood out, they had a long conversation with his father, which was still going round and round in his head.

"You were gone for a long time. I hope the hunt was fruitful," said the King, pouring red wine into four crystal glasses. His long, raven-black hair fell in waves down his broad back.

Neither Arvy nor he spoke. Finally, his father turned to them, watching them closely.

"What's with your faces? Could it be that the world has finally run out of human kind to exterminate?"

Darksen accepted the glass from him, but still remained silent.

"Wait a minute, and where did Roge go?"

Arvy was broken by the King's heavy gaze. "He has fallen, my lord. His body rests in his chamber until..."

"By whose hand!" burst out the ruler, putting the vessel down violently. His huge beast - a black wolf - bared its fangs, growling menacingly.

"A certain human..." began Darksen.

"A girl," interjected Arvy grimly.

"They fought alone...

"...She killed him."

Darksen could probably never forget the expression on his father's face. Thandor perched on the edge of the heavy wooden table, as if he had suddenly felt dizzy, and looked at them as if they had told him the most frightening and funny story at the same time. Then, anger began to shoot from his eyes. "What happened to this human girl?"

Arvy looked fearfully at Darksen. But the Prince was not afraid of his father.

"She was seriously injured. Kendra is taking care of her, although she feared she wouldn't be able to do much."

The King pushed back from the table and faced him. The anger disappeared, replaced by curiosity. "What made you not get rid of your friend's killer?" he hissed quietly.

"She's not like other people I've met, father."

Thandor laughed grimly and leaned back on the table. "I want to know everything from the beginning."

Arvy began the story from the moment they saw four people approaching the abandoned house from the hill. They sneaked up and separated, as one of the girls began circling the hut. Roge watched her from the roof while they stepped inside suddenly. Arvy jumped quietly through a hole in the wall and snapped the nothing-expecting boy's neck. Then the other two people reached for firearms, but Darksen pushed the idea out of their heads by using his power. The fight began.

"Shortly after the boy I wounded screamed, we heard a gunshot," Darksen spoke up grimly, to which his friend nodded his head in agreement.

"Did she shoot him?" King asked threateningly.

Arvy denied it. "His breast was gored with a sword. After the fight, she took the blade with her. The bullet mark was only on his coat. She must have missed."

There was silence. Thandor looked at him then at Arvy. Finally he reached for the glass and drank its entire contents. "What happened to the other two?"

"Killed right in front of the girl," Arvy answered proudly.

Darksen clenched his fists tightly to avoid hitting the door he had just passed. If only either of them had known that the boy was not mortally wounded, this meeting would certainly have ended much worse for the Prince. He would probably have been accused of fraternizing with the enemy, as several Invicta before him once were, and those were no longer among them. The strict law of the Beings dealt with traitors of their kind much worse than with the remnants of humanity.