The Scars of the Damned

Chapter 1: The Scum of Luk

It was cold and nearing the dawn of a new day. The ground was littered with corpses, and the army of Mondus charged at King Zerick's castle gate. They were breathless, but that didn't stop the blue skinned, red eyed warriors from attacking. Meanwhile, in the throne room of the castle, a knight approached King Zerick.

"Sire," the knight said, "the Mondus are almost through the gate!"

"Let them through," Zerick said, "but make prisoners of the bastards! I want those blues in the cellars and the leader kneeling in front of me in chains!" 

The king's elder brother, Calton, heard the conversation from outside the door.  He was worried.

The knight responded, "Yes, sire. I'll give the order," and left to do so.

The Mondus were relentless with every strike on the gate as their leader cried his words of encouragement. With one last strike and cry from the leader, the gate collapsed to the ground. They charged in with furious rage, bearing themselves to strike any guards in their way, but the leader noticed something. The masked castle men took no lives and only went as far as giving concussions. The reality of this situation finally hit him.

"Retreat," the leader yelled in panic, "Get out of the castle! Hurry!"

His warning came too late, and the battleground was quickly flooded with gases before any of the foolish warriors could leave the castle. The leader along with all the other Mondus fell on their knees and onto the ground, and with a tired breath, the leader whispered violently, "Dammit," and fell asleep.

He woke up to what seemed like a half-second sleep. He opened with eyes, but it was pitch black.

He yelled out, "Take this filthy fucking rag off my face! Take me to your king!" He then heard a voice that said to him calmly, "Well, that's no way to talk to a king. Is it?"

"That voice," the leader yelled, "It's you! Isn't it? Zerick, the scum tyrant of Luk!"

"A tyrant? Is that you people call me," Zerick asked, "You are correct in guessing who I am. Yes, I am your king, King Zerick. How perceptive of you! Though, I cannot speak very well of your tone. Next time, you talk to me with respect, or there will be serious consequences." He took off the blindfold. When the leader caught just a glimpse of Zerick face, he spat on it and said, "Fuck you! You're no king! You're a being of pure evil! Your actions show no sign that you wish to help anyone! A king?! No, you're a fucking tyrant!"

Zerick's expression turned from calm and collected to a vicious and violent one. Meanwhile, Calton spectated the scene more worried than he was. He asked himself, "What's with that look? Why is he doing this? What will Zerick do?"

"What did I say," Zerick asked, "about your tone?!" A beam of light came out from behind Zerick knocking the leader to the ground. Calton now looks upon the scene with fear of what's to come from Zerick, and Zerick continued to speak to the weaken Mondus, "You hold no grounds of speech in my castle! The only reason you're still alive along with your men is because I wanted to ask you a question. Do you feel powerful?!"

"What," the leader asked with a withering breath.

"I'm going to keep asking you the same fucking question until you give me an answer," Zerick furiously said, "Do you feel powerful?!" He put his foot on the leader's head and continued to ask the same question while simultaneously stomping on the head. This continued until the leader finally yelled out, "Yes! I do feel powerful... because I live in this world, because I could take the abuse, because I have the guts to stand up to you! I feel powerful! So, why do you?" 

 Zerick kicked the leader to the side and calmly said, "I had enough of you. Guards!" The guards along with the lead commander, Kichly, approached pushing Calton out of the way, but Calton stayed.

"Yes, sire" asked Kichly.

Zerick responded, "The Mondus, I want them all dead. Every single one of them on the face of Luk, I want dead!"

The leader wanted to scream out begging Zerick not go through with it, but he couldn't. His jaw was broken. His ribs were cracked, and he could hardly breath. He couldn't say anything, but when he couldn't, someone else did.

Calton charged in the room spouting, "Zerick, don't do this! Think of how many lives you are taking! The sheer number of people you want to kill is insane!"

"Calton, good morning, big brother," Zerick said disregarding what Calton had just said, "What are you doing here? Go back to your room."

"Are you listening to me," Calton asked, "Kill the leader and Mondus in the cellars, but don't commit genocide upon an entire race!" 

"The Mondus are a risk to this world. They have to be taken care of. I'm doing Luk a favor," Zerick responded. 

Calton was enrage by Zerick's speech, and angrily spouted, "Who the hell do you think you are, because I'm damn sure you're not a king! You think can play 'god' with people's lives! You think they will follow you, and you think you're my brother! You no brother to me! You are what they say, Zerick, the scum tyrant of Luk!"

Zerick asked with a depressed expression, "Is that right," but that expression quickly turned to madness. He sentenced his elder brother to death and ordered the guards to retrieve Calton's wife and child to watch the execution. The guards dragged Calton, but he was able to get out his final words to Zerick, "Damn you, Zerick! You were never a brother in my eyes! May your soul live forever in the pits of darkness after your death!"

Zerick watched Calton as he struggle with an uneasy look rested upon his face. After his one second of grief, he composed himself and said, "My order is final! Kill the Mondus and Calton Wutend!" He pointed to the Mondus leader and continued, "Begin with this one!"