Obscure Old Tales

Chapter 6: Punishment

Men were deployed from the aircraft. Or at least it seemed like it.

Leading them a woman, chocolate curls with a striking pink stripe framed her fair skin, they clang out of her helm, her suit padded with armor a red so deep it seemed black on the dark, a few lights barely colored her stand.

"I'm sorry kid, this isn't personal."

She spoke before she landed the first hit: a powerful kick, imbued with kinetic energy that sent him back.

"I thought you were a heavy hitter."

Achille's brushed it off like it was nothing, Warmth healed his spine and stomach in record time.

"Oh, I am, but my brother has to have some fun."

Out of nowhere a sting hit him in the neck, as instant drowsiness came over, like he had not slept in a whole week, his arms turned heavy, his limbs betrayed him, and suddenly, napping was all he could think off, he heard ringlets and a clang approaching, he managed to look up, as the king's assistant smiled at him.

"Hush now, this is all protocol."

The next thing he remembered he was tightly gripped by guards at both sides, each bigger than him, their armor heavy from head to toe, surrounding them was the same female guard with a pink stripe on her hair, now her silhouette defined, her helm off. She was beautiful, like a poisonous flower, her features soft and alluring, but her gaze sharp and pitiless.

Next to her was a male presenting guard, he on the other hand had geometric features, like a mirror had distorted the reflection of the woman guard with sharper edges. he had chocolate curly hair, with a blue strike. His suit all black with a royal blue capelet, he had a plasma-blaster-mini- gun on his right hand, on his back a sniper rifle, and cartouches with all kinds of ammo.

Behind them the newly crowned king paced inside from side to side inside the unknown chamber.

"Do you have any idea of what you've done?"

The monarch's voice bellowed in an angry tone, rage tainting his face red entirely.

"You have any idea what this will become?"

The king was dressed in a blue blazer, red riding pants, knee-high boots and a Black feather cape clinging to his shoulders held together by a golden pin with intricate gemstone buttons, glitter sprinkled to make a pattern inside the cape.

His face notably untamed, elegantly held in neutral bitterness.

Raeb took his right hand to the cheeks of the huntsman, squashing his face as he came closer to his sun-kissed skin.

"Why did she send you?"

His hand began to get warmer.

"¡Answer me!"

The warmth began to boil, a sizzling sound came from his touch, but nothing came of it, even after he took his hand off.

By the time everyone had realized they were incapable of hurting him Achilles laughed.

"Someone told her, that perhaps the princess, would be the one to undo her."

He spoke once his laugh had come to a close.

"What do you mean?"

Raeb's sight sharpened, this time gripping at his luscious hair.

"Isn't it obvious Pretty bird? She wants her dead."

The monarch shifted, just for a second.

"I understand that you fool, what I mean is, how?"

The huntsman uttered the words:

"Forth the end of the forever winter comes by the kiss of a sun child in sorrow.

The feathers bound by same birds, at the zenith of royal shadow.

A child forgotten by a race now ended, the mirror breaks for lights to follow."

Raeb stepped back.

"She found it, who told her? How does she know it?!"

The monarch commanded as he let go of his calm sweet realization came to his throat: treason, mockery, conniving, his board of trustees were not at the best interest of his intentions, no one in the raven court would ever be.

A thousand names crossed his minds, the queen was everywhere, she knew everyone, the inner circle, in the raven court, there must have been a spy.

Peri, Vlad, they would all be suspects.

"How does she know the words of the child of the tree?!"

He screamed as he squished the huntsman's face desperately, trying to enact a mind-reading spell he learnt from an old friend, a boundary he had sworn never to cross, unless...

"How would you expect me to know, I'm just the messenger, you know your close friends, don't you?"

The sorcerer let go of the invulnerable man's face, maybe his queen had placed a psychic barrier as well. Thankfully, his mother had taught him the ways around, using the heart of a boar and a barely even transgressive ritual. He learned it expecting never to use it, but this desperate action from the north called desperate measures for sanction.

Perhaps he could use this in his favor.

"So far, you've only proven to be the most disloyal of all."

The mage uttered monotonal as he opened the box one of his servant droids held.

"Take comfort knowing I am my mother's child, and I know how to take the most despicable aspect of a person and take advantage of it."

Achilles flinched, as the king brought out the heart still palpitating from the box.

"Take comfort, this is as displeasing for me, as it will be for you."

The ravenous child sneered and signaled the guards to make the huntsman kneel, from his angle Achilles saw the king poured a green dust onto the piece of meat while chanting in a language he did not recognize.

Raeb then bit the heart, blood smearing his face as he mewled the meat between his teeth. Then he kneeled upon the huntsman and forced feed him the emerald meat with a kiss so grotesque it was hardly even a kiss.

After all that mess the Venras King flickered his eyes pink and whispered something in his ear.

"Your prized hunt was here."

In surprise Achilles gaged and swallowed the mix.

"Laela told me you'd come, that she had big plans, she always had, now I have to find a way to help you before I'm too late."

Heat then overcame the body of the huntsman, his eyes burned as he began to respond to the ancient allegiance spell lady Galia had learned from her mother.

"But for now you will serve me, until I release you."

The huntsman's eyes glowed pink for a second.

"Now, my pet, there is much yet todo."