Lore of Eternal Shadow: The Fugitive King

Chapter Twenty-Two

Zicone opened his eyes violently and looked around the midday room. His companions and their tents were nowhere in sight. "Hello?!" Zicone called out loud, "Jannick!? Lauren?! Anybody?!" His bellowing was to no avail. The room rang out with the echoes of the names of his friends. Zicone took another look around the room. It was eerily quiet. The room held piles of dust and rubble which weren't there when Zicone passed out.

He stood up and looked outside. There was a procession of eight guards; four of them were Zey^Rey and four were Shol^Thol. The Zey^Rey had armor of pure gold that bore Zicone's family crest. The Shol^Thol wore striking blue armor and they carried the rare crest representing all three of the Shol^Thol Courts. Zicone could hear the clinking sound of plate metal as the guards marched slowly across the streets of the desolate city's afternoon.

In the middle of the procession was a tall figure in black armor, covered head to toe in chains thick enough to be the lines for a dreadnought. The ends of the four corner chains were held tightly by a Zey^Rey and a Shol^Thol each. The enchained figure had hair like raven's feathers and a gaunt, thin build. Zicone noted as he squinted that the figure had rather defined features and a long, sharp nose that seemed to jut out of his face like a dagger.

Suddenly, the figure looked over his shoulder towards Zicone's direction. He looked straight at Zicone and sneered. From his mouth jutted out several long, sharp, pointed teeth. His fangs seemed to pinch the lips firmly between them, making a slight indent in his lower lip.

"The Vampirex," Zicone gasped almost with joy.

A man with long white hair led the procession. He was dressed in regal, flowing white robes and an extravagant crown of gold. The eight guards, mysterious figure, and the white haired king stopped only when they reached the square at the end of the road. The white haired man turned to the figure and spoke. The place was so empty that his voice carried amazingly. Zicone still strained to hear what he was saying, though.

"General Thalos," the white haired figure said, "You stand before the delegation of the Shol^Thol-Zey^Rey Senate accused of heinous crimes against the people; including tyranny of the most high, mass murder, serial murder, mass torture, and above all drinking the blood of your fellow Zey^Rey. Do you have anything to say to these accusations?"

The raven haired man parted his lips to speak, "Eight thousand years ago, I was exiled by my own race, left to die in a land far lost. I was rescued a millennia ago. The actions I performed in the last thousand years were to repay the debt I had to the man who set me free."

"And you say you owe no allegiance to the same man," the white haired man added, "for he betrayed you."

"That is correct," nodded the raven haired man.

"The charges I raise onto you were not committed in the last millennia, but eight thousand years ago."

The raven haired man snorted. "I expected this. You should know that I was merely defending myself against my enemies, which is my right. I defended my people against the Shol^Thol and Zey^Rey who outcast us as something to be feared because of our 'sin.' We did what we had to do. You wouldn't understand."

"Hmpt," the man in the long flowing robes said whilst stroking his beard, "You show no sympathy and no mercy for what you have done and for this I find you guilty. Clearly your abominable transformation has made it impossible to just kill you. You will instead be thrown into the plasma reactor. We will allow what once made life possible for his people to now become his tomb."

"NOOOOOO!!" shouted the raven haired man, "You won't get the chance!" With great strength, he grabbed one of the four chains and pulled two of the guards in close as if they were sacks of feathers. He dipped his head down and nabbed his fangs into the Zey^Rey's neck, licking up the ruby red liquid as it gushed.