The Enchanting Rapture (#1)

Chapter 19

Soren

     Memory...

     His knees bleed as he kneeled in the pile of salt. Zyhed strode in a circle around him, oozing with suffocating arrogance. 

     "Why are you being punished, soldier?" Zyhed demanded. He never referred to Soren as his, not unless he was openly achieving something highly regarded by others.

      "I failed to acknowledge you as you walked by, my King," Soren immediately answered in his robotic voice. He was not even angered by the ridiculous reason, because there had been punishments done for less. He just wanted it to be done with.

     "That is right," Zyhed sneered, holding the short metal whip close to his chest, "and you will not do that again, will you?"

     "No, my King."

     "And how should I deal with this, soldier?"

     "I must be disciplined, for it is the only way for me to remember my mistake, my King."

     "Twenty lashes sounds fair, does it?"

     "Yes, my King."

****************

     "Faster, now!" His trainer commanded as they spared with their deadly swords.

     Soren moved like gravity did not apply to him, like he wrote the rules of agility for creatures like himself. He twisted his body, slashing the tip of his sword right across his trainer's chest. The man did not seem affected at all.

     They were in his usual training room, where the walls were blanketed in diverse weapons, and the floors were mats.

     Soren noticed his teacher was fighting harder than usual, meaning it was a test, an important one. One had to kill the other.

     Weeks back, Soren knew he surpassed his teacher, and that fight then was therefore futile. To kill a man who has already lost seemed unjust to him. By the accepting look in the man's blue eyes, it was apparent he knew his death would come as well.

     "End it," the teacher muttered, "my family will be paid handsomely, and I want to do this for them." It was if he sensed Soren was on the verge of rebelling. His words made the feeling in his gut worse. This was wrong, more so than any action he had taken before.

     "Let me die fighting!" The trainer claimed, paled to an unsafe degree.

     Soren realized the man had already come to terms with his fate, and that there was no turning back. He sighed, and with a swipe of his sword, he took the man's head off. It was an immediate death. Causing the man pain was something he was not strong enough to be plagued by.

     Zyhed growled in anger. He was standing off to the side. "Damn it, you know I hate fast deaths! They should always suffer for being weak! Why can you make me proud once? You there, servant! Give him ten lashes after his dinner. I would deliver them myself, but I have plans."

End of Memory...

     They had arrived in Soul, the capital city of Animal Kingdom, and Prince Rouhem suggested it to be best if they remained inconspicuous as they trekked to the royal fortress.

     Soren found it questionable that it was possible for Prince Rouhem and his guards to become invisible to a devoted crowd of citizens, but as they went in deeper, he acknowledged it was not a difficult as he predicted to execute. Most people who roamed were of large size, reaching ceaseless heights that even matched Soren's. Each creature was fit, slim yet packed with muscle.