White Roses Bloom

Chapter One

      A king stood upon a balcony, staring down at his kingdom. The silence was overbearing as anxiety ate away at him. He ran his hands through his black hair, which was starting to grey due to stress. His problems were just getting worse and worse, and his ability to do something was fading. The king knew his chances were running out, and soon, his kingdom may perish. “Are you just going to stay out here all night?” a female’s voice called out from behind the king. The king turned and forced a small smile. His eyes were still saddened by his hopelessness, although his queen did know how to put some life back into him. “You know I must do something to protect my people,” the king murmured. The queen approached slowly, staring up at her husband. She gently brushed his cheek with her fingertips. “Everything will be okay, I promise,” the queen whispered before pressing her lips against her husband's cheeks. The king’s smile became more real, but it never quite reached his eyes. He ran a hand through his queen’s brown hair, staring into her blue eyes,which seemed to sparkle in the moonlight.
     “Your majesty, the West Gate has been breached,” a young man’s voice called out. The king turned around slowly to see a young knight standing there. There was a deep gash going across the man's chest, dark rings started to form under the skin surrounding the wound. The king tensed, realizing that his time was running out. “Take my wife and daughter down to the river, get them out of here on a canoe. I'll start encouraging the people to evacuate,” the king ordered. The queen’s eyes widened in horror, as she was not ready to abandon her love. She opened her mouth to say something but her husband cut her off. “Listen, this kingdom can't lose both of us, our daughter can't be brought up without us either. They need a leader, and she needs a mother. I'll find you. We will be together again. I promise. Just take care of her. Just do this for me, my love, everything will be okay,” the king begged. The queen’s mouth closed, unable to think of anything to say. Her hand wrapped around that of her husband's for a moment. The queen’s throat tightened as she looked for something to say to her love. The king placed a kiss upon his queen’s lips then walked away, heading into his kingdom.
     The queen stared in horror as her husband left her. “Come on your highness, we should move before the city is overrun,” the knight ordered. The queen glanced at the knight then nodded silently. She gulped, feeling her conflicting emotions get trapped within her stomach. The queen followed quickly, her shoes clicking on the stone floor of the castle. Regal-red curtains hung over the windows of the castle, adorned in a golden rose, the crest of the kingdom. A low growl echoed down the empty hall, making the knight and queen freeze in their tracks. The knight turned slowly to see a horrifying creature behind him. The creature, which somewhat resembled a wolf, was dripping a black ichor and emitted a dark smoke. “Run your highness! I'll hold it off!” the knight yelled. The queen broke into a sprint down the hall. The creature started to bound after the queen, but it was too late, the knight drew his sword and stabbed it into the creature’s back. A blood curdling screech emitted from the creature’s mouth. Fear ran over the knight as he glanced down the hall. More and more of those creatures were closing in on him. The castle was flooded with evil that could not be as easily beaten as the first creature. It was at that moment that the knight accepted his fate, he was sixteen years old and he was going to die. A smile crossed the knight’s cheeks as he knew, he was dying for the good of his people, and his death would not go in vain. The queen ran down the hall, hearing the growls, screeches, and screams behind her. All she could think of was one of those creatures ripping into that knight, tearing him limb from limb as his blood pooled onto the floor. Even though the queen was horrified as to leaving the knight behind to die, the queen knew that his sacrifice was necessary for her and her daughter's survival.
     The queen opened a large, wooden door, the hinges creaking as it opened. A small child, awoken by the commotion, sat on the bed. She was yawning, blinking the sleep from her eyes and brushing the brown strands of hair from her face. “Come on honey, we need to go,” the queen called over to her daughter. The princess stood, her body trembling slightly as she stretched out. It was obvious to both the queen and the princess that their lives were in mortal peril. As the princess approached her mother, the queen grabbed her daughter’s hand and started in a sprint down the hall. A thick smell of smoke filled the hall, making the air burn the lungs of the queen and her daughter.
     Running was just getting more and more complicated for the two women. The princess stumbled and tripped upon a rug. The queen froze and turned to her daughter. Before the princess had a chance to scream, one of those creatures ran up behind the queen and stabbed its claws into her back, the sharp tips poking out through her chest and stomach. The queen’s eyes widened as blood began to run out of her mouth. She gasped and let out a choked cry of pain. The creature pulled its claws apart, tearing a large hole in the queen’s flesh, going straight through her body. “MOMMY!” the princess screamed as her mother’s lifeless corpse collapsed to the ground, empty and soulless. The creature lapped at the queen’s flesh before it turned to the princess, its fangs dripping with the queen’s blood. The princess was young, only reaching the age of five. Her flesh would be sweet and nutritious to such a violent creature. Tears filled the princess’s crystal-blue eyes as her grief overwhelmed her. The princess was alone, helplessly alone. The creature took a step towards the princess and a cry fled her lips. The princess was now without any guide or protector. She had no idea where to go or what to do. The princess had never even been exposed to the evils that made up this bloodthirsty creature in front of her. The creature broke into a sprint towards the princess. A trail of ichor formed behind the creature as it bounded forward. The princess braced herself for impact, expecting herself to be torn apart just as painfully as her mother was torn open.
     A loud hissing noise filled the princess’s ears. The creature never reached the princess. A large explosion blew up the hall and fire lit up all the wood and fabric within the room. The princess was thrown backwards into the wall. A pile of rubble collapsed down upon the princess, trapping her underneath. She lay, cold, alone, and in agony from her now damaged body. The creature was hissing in pain from outside the debris, fatally injured by the explosion. It soon gave up looking for the princess in the rubble, and started down the hall. In just a few seconds, the creature sank to the ground, dead. The princess began sobbing under the pile of rubble. Cries escaped her lips as the pain grew worse and worse. The weight of the debris was crushing down upon the princess’s tiny body, only adding to the pain that was caused by the explosion. This left the princess writhing in an overbearing agony. With hopelessness taking over, the princess began to realize how bleak her chances of escape seemed. It wasn't long until the princess’s eyes fluttered closed and the young girl was pulled into the dark, empty void of unconsciousness.