CROWN ON A HOUND.

Part 1:ICE AND FIRE

The dark,wet and obstreperous black woods stood as high as the skies on the eastern boarder of NeverEnds,a turbulent vast kingdom drenched in the depths of conflict,disorder and mayhem.

How much power, influence and social supremacy you had in NeverEnds depended on how many wars you have fought in and the number of men you have killed. Men in the kingdom took a tooth from each of the numerous men,women and children they massacred in their never ending wars,lootings and raids that they descended upon the rest of the vulnerable world with and put a string through them to make necklaces. To be a high lord with remarkable ranking,you necklace of teeth had to be congested with an infinite number of them. Power resided where bravery and courage was in NeverEnds.

The people of NeverEnds were also known for their savage ways;there
had to be three or more deaths on every royal gathering and one or more on other occasions like weddings,trials, bonfires, executions among many other cruel norms.

There was no unity in the kingdom especially because they had no unifying divine faith. The wild and chaotic society believed in a number of gods each for a reason; Asqam (the god of war) for success in warfare,the god of life Amedon for health,the infamously fierce and cold twin gods of death Gaelon and Gaelan for catastrophe upon their foes ,to list but a few. King Vaelon the sovereign of the tragic NeverEnds and those before him were believed to be the supreme divine authority ,as will his heir Prince Tyrnan and oldest son be and the one next after him. He was prayed to for the gift of the seeds of marriage, prosperity,justice and peace.

To keep their bloodline pure and untempered with,sister married brother,father married daughter ,uncle married niece and so on. Incest was looked at as a sign of purity, preservation and unity.
Adultery was done for amusement and leisure; men and women were allowed to have as many sexual partners as they wished, gender being a non factor depending on what their soul desired regardless of their marital status.

As it was a cultural obligation for every man in the kingdom,Prince Tyrnan was out in the black woods on a hunting party with three of his childhood mates.
Dylos,the second son of the royal army lord commander Phylos,Agdonus,one of the youngest and most feared warriors of the land known even beyond the kingdom for his unbeatable combat skills,speed and intelligence and lastly,Nando a young low born handsome man whom nearly the whole Kingdom had failed to unravel why he had been so inseperable with the Prince since they were a decade and a three years old.

The prince,very tall you couldn't see the top of his silver helmet that he wore on his head rode on his strongly built and battle hardened black stallion Xauris with the carcass of a wolf they had effortlessly killed in the hunt lying between his separated lap. It's neck ,with his dagger still planted in it gradually bled on his shiny armour . It was so hard even the finest silver couldn't penetrate through. On his right was Dylos and Agdonus,left was Nando who held Tyrnan's spear. The four trotted on their horses through the forest over fallen trees due to a recent storm as they made their way back to the Mendaula,the capital of the kingdom where the palace stood.

The moment was of no conversation since the arrogant Tyrnan had demanded peace and quiet because he was so exhausted from the hunt until Agdonus stopped his horse all of a sudden. "You hear that??" He asked in a suspicious whisper turning his head in all directions in a slow and smooth yet observant way. The other three all stopped their horses to listen. Sounds of breaking sticks on the ground with the stomps of an approaching horse came rushing to their ears from a distance Infront of them . They all snatched a tight grip on their reins and reached out for their swords in the sheaths tied around their waists. They converged closer to each other getting ready to cut through whatever was coming for its demise. The approaching horse hooves became louder and more intense every minute and this made Dylos's horses scared. It started snorting in a sequence of terrified sounds and in a minute,it lifted it's front limbs,standing on its hind ones, dropped it's master on the ground and fled for it's life.