A Damned Domain

Chapter 5: Who are you?

TW! Cussing

The silhouettes of Branzy and Ash appear across the horizon. The duo travels across the plains as the sun moves to its highest point. Up ahead they spot a crumpled figure in the grass. Intrigued, they move towards the heap. Branzy lowers himself from the horse and cautiously approaches the figure.

Prince Zam lays in the grass, unmoving and unconscious. Branzy pokes him, wondering why a man is asleep in this area.

(Branzy POV)

"Sir, sir, are you ok?" Branzy asks, repeatedly poking him.

Suddenly, I see the man stir. He shoots up, gasping and sputtering. "H-huh?! Who are you?" He questions.

In the background I hear a gasp and a thump. I whip around and find that Ash had fallen off the horse.

"Ash are you ok?"

He sits up. "Yeah, just startled. I thought that guy was dead." He says, looking over at the yellow man.

My eyes follow his back to the previously unconscious person. "I suppose I should ask you the same question, are you alright?"

He looks disoriented for a moment. "Who are you two?" He asks.

"My name's Branzy." I point to Ash, "and that's Ash."

He looks over at the purple adventurer before turning back to me. "My name's Zam, Prince Zam."

Ash looks surprised and he shouts, "You're a prince?"

Zam nods and replies, "Yes, from Vulkrat."

"Vulkrat...?" I echo, confused.

"It's on the edge of Fallshire territory. It's not the most known kingdom, but it's a kingdom. Y'know, the place near the volcano?" He explains.

Ash snorts, "Well, your kingdom name is ass."

"Yeah?! Well, your name when said too fast sounds like 'ass!'" The royal man retorts.

The purple adventurer gasps in dramatic offense. "You take that back! You're the one half-dead in some grass!"

"GUYS! Shut up!" I scream at the two. Taking a second to calm down, I look over at Zam. "Hey, why were you in the grass anyways?"

"I was heading to the black hole, or void hole, whatever name is most common. I was hoping to fight a Lurker there... maybe bring some fame to my kingdom..." He says, a desperate longing in his eyes.

Ash and I share a silent glance. We both know about the void hole, its basic geographical knowledge. And we both know that this man isn't going to survive there.

"Are you sure you want to go there?" Ash asks, completely serious.

Prince Zam makes a pained expression. "Do you see any other way?"

"No but- "

Ash gets cut off by Zam. "Then I've made up my mind." He speaks.

Ash and I share another expression, one of agreement. We'd both try to convince him otherwise, but first we had to get moving. The day doesn't last forever!

I look back at Zam. "How about you come with us? We're heading to Rysara and we can drop you off on the way there?"

The royal man nods. "Sure, that'd be convenient."

Ash moves over to the horses and beckons for Zam to follow him. "Here, we can ride together on Sylvester." He says, patting the stallion.

I watch as the prince scours the grass for a moment and picks something up, a locket of some sort. He drapes it over his head and walks to the horse. Simultaneously, I also walk over to my new horse (Lola is still missing) and climb onto him. With three people on the team now, at least temporarily, we set off into the distance.