The King's Game - Blackbarrow Arc (Part 1)

Chapter 3: Blackbarrow Guards and the Freedom Game

"Hey, don't you think it's strange, yet amazing how the flames are sustaining themselves on nothing?"

"What yer talking about? You, stupid drunk! Make sense when yer, when yer ... Waiter! Bring me some more ale!"

"I'm talking about The Desolate Plains. How can those flames keep burning when there is nothing to fuel them? Then again, nobody knows what dwells upon that cursed land, and those who have entered were never heard from again."

The waitress brought two flagons filled to the brim, and slightly overflowing, to the two guards. The one guard slapped the waitress' behind, however this didn't incite much reaction out of the waitress. She had long since gotten use to the sexual harassment from the drunk patrons. The waitress simply gave the guard a smile and shuffled off to help the other patrons in the tavern.

"Oi! Listen to me when I'm talking to you, this is a serious matter."

"As serious as the time you thought a monster was hiding in your closet?" The drunk guard said as he begun to laugh, "That was quite the monstrous little mouse wasn't it?"

"Stop ridiculing me! You would've thought the same if you heard the noises it made at night. To this vrot I still get shivers down my spine thinking about it. Back to the matter at hand wh- "

"All I hear out of anybody's trap these vrots is: 'Oh dear did yer see The Desolate Plains?', 'What do yer think caused it?', 'Yer think the monsters all died in those flames?'. Shut it already! Where do yer think we are? This is bloody Blackbarrow yer fool! We're the notorious, unbreakable keep, our leader is Baron Garnet! We here, 'cause the royal guards are too piss scared of these 'monsters' that people claim are from The Desolate Plains! Now I ask yer, have yer ever seen one of these 'monsters'? No, yer haven't 'cause they don't exist! Even if they did, we would just cut them down. What do yer drunkards say?" the drunk guard exclaimed, as he stood from his stool and raised his flagon, "Cheers to bloody Blackbarrow, cheers to bloody Baron Garnet, cheers to the fine women in this establishment, cheers to good ale, and most importantly, cheers to all us noble and brave guards, that even the Gods quake in fear of!"

The tavern broke out into a large roar of cheers, as guards thrusted their flagons to the air, spilling ale all over.

"Yer best run from 'ere, yer best quake in fear. The bloody guards of Blackbarrow are 'ere fer yer! When the Gods see us, they piss their pants. No mortal is dumb enough, to stand before us. We need no swords, our notoriety is enough. And when night comes, the taverns await us. So bring our ale and yer finest women. We bloody Blackbarrow guards, we're heroes, not villains!" The guards sang in unison into the night. Little did they know the dangers that awaited them in the future.

The people in the street all gave way, as the Baron walked towards the keep's gate. There was a murmur as a young boy was seen being tugged along, his hands and feet shackled, which made it difficult to keep up with the Baron and his guards. Each time he fell a guard behind him would whip him, however the whip was no ordinary whip. This particular whip was an invention of the Baron's, small, sharp thorn like spikes protruded from the whip. The spikes were coated in a special poison, that slowly numbs the body and makes the person see hallucinations. The Baron called this whip the Freedom Bringer, as it was used in his sick and twisted game he played with slaves he had gotten bored of.

"Oh no, it's just a young boy." One lady whispered under her breath to her husband.

"Foolish child, he should've known better than to anger the Baron." A man jested, clearly enough for even the Baron to hear.

"Cover your eyes dear, you don't need to see this." A mother said to her daughter, as she covered her eyes.

The Baron motioned for one of the guards to come closer to him.