A Sorcerer's Flame

Chapter 11

‘what…’ Ink froze at the command, luckily Splotches slithered to the inside of his cloak when they ran, they were away from the eyes of everyone present. He patted their heads in a certain order, just like they learned. 

‘Go, it’s unsafe.’

He could feel their hesitance, so he repeated the order, adding the code for ‘home’ after. He didn’t want Splotches to get taken with them, they were the only other beings in this world to remember ‘him’. He didn’t want to lose them too. He held a sigh of relief at the feeling of Splotches slithering out of his cloak. He made sure to keep his eyesight away from the direction Splotches went in to not draw attention to them. 

Ink felt hands roughly pick him up and restrain him. He looked over at Cross and could see the same was happening to him, however he also seemed more distressed. He tried to move over to Cross and help but was pulled back. He looked over and glared at his captors, his eyelights were probably red at this point. 

When Ink agreed to the mission, he had expected it to be difficult. However, he hadn't expected to make a new friend and get kidnapped. It had only been 2 weeks after all! 

Ink had his arms trapped by magic-cancelling handcuffs and was led by an unfamiliar skeleton. A guard, certainly, with what seemed to be tears falling from black eye sockets. The guard’s shiny armor interested him, but other than that, it brought him no curiosity. He already knew what region the armor's design came from. 

He took his eye lights away from the guard in front of him and towards Cross next to him. 

Cross had a complicated look on his face, the guard in front of him was wearing the typical armor with an added hood. Ink was confused about how he was allowed to wear it. 

Ink glared behind him and felt sweat build up as he caught sight of Horror walking behind them. Horror didn’t seem that threatening anymore, as he was simply walking with a neutral look on his face. He quickly glanced away as they met gazes. 

He looked at the sky, something was following them. It wasn’t large, but he hoped it wouldn’t be a problem.

Finally, they had arrived on the other side of the forest. 

The town seemed to be in ruins. But none of the guards looked to be in shock so he assumed it always looked like that. There were overflowing trash cans everywhere and several buildings were falling apart. Broken glass was scattered all over the ground(he luckily did not feel the sharp edges on his bones, despite his bare feet)Even the edge of the kingdom felt gloomy, ‘I guess people don’t call it the kingdom of dread and terror for nothing’ he thought. He noticed all the gazes of the townspeople, most were hostile but he could see that a few were terrified of the monster walking in front of them all. They looked unhealthy, he felt his hands twitch to reach out and help. Unfortunately, his restraints held him tight. He frowned. 

“Don’t look so upset, at least they’re not dead.”The guard in front of him turned his head to look at him and chuckled, it did not reassure him whatsoever. After a few seconds of silence, he coughed and gave a grin, “So, what were you doing in that cave back there?” 

Ink was confused by the monster in front of him, “Don’t you know? I thought you knew?” The skeleton gave him a blank stare, “Of course I do, I wanted to hear you say it, you haven’t talked much you know?” 

“Usually when a monster gets caught by the King himself they either beg for their life or start throwing curses at him, you can guess why,” the skeleton continued, a sadistic grin on his face. Ink did not understand it. 

“Why should I do the same? Torturing me will do nothing, and death is not my end.” He found himself saying, unable to catch himself and his words, his habit of rambling finally catching up to him. ‘Maybe I should have taken my vials this morning,’ he thought.