What Lurks Behind The Trees

Destroyed soul

*Guy in the image is Venkalth*

Venkalth jumped up from his chair and clapped his hands excitedly, "Hey, hey, hey!" he paced around the room, then he got closer to Cedric and looked him dead in the eyes "Let me tell you a story," he whispered. "Okay, okay this is interesting, listen," he sat down again and leaned forward, making the other three men lean closer too. "I believe you've heard of Jarin Randoul, yes? He was my father, the greatest sorcerer there ever was, he made Edmund king, he made me his rat, his slave," he laughed. "He gave Edmund a mortal name," he laughed harder, slapping a hand on his leg.

"Mortal name?"

"Yes, Edmund, what a dull name. My older brother was everything my father wanted and more, he connected the dots, finalised my father's plans of overtaking the throne discreetly," Venkalth scoffed, "My older brother excelled in magic, outdid everyone with his skills, he was the best, even I couldn't deny it. Usually magic can be learned, unless your the child of a magician, then you have natural talents, Jarin taught us both the ways of magic, forcefully, without a break, without the affection of a parent," Venkalth frowned bitterly, "I despised him, I hated him with every drop of my blood, every bone in my body," he rubbed his face and peaked at them through his fingers, his eyes bloodshot and insane, "He ruined me, destroyed my soul, driven me to do things, things that have caused death, things that have caused conflict and corruption within our magical society," He sighed and stood up, walked towards a wall and stared at it.

Dyron looked at him strangely, and as if he sensed it, Venkalth snapped his head towards him, chest heaving in anger "I STARTED TO HATE MYSELF!" he gasped for air "I... hated everyone...everything...I was a monster," he said it like a whisper. He sat back down on the chair and crossed his legs "After Edmund became king, he killed Jarin...and I..." he laughed "I was relieved, but also afraid, of what Edmund had become, behind his neat hair and filed nails, he was a beast, waiting to come out of his cage when needed,"

"What?" Cedric said.

"When we were young, Jarin was training Edmund to be king, behind concealed rooms and away from the public's eye. We rarely spent time with each other, but one time Edmund said that after he becomes king, he would take me with him, he would make me rich and take me away from Jarin, after he gets all the power. He lied," A heartbreaking sob ripped out of his throat, "HE LIED! I was abandoned, left to rot in this mountain, I was lost, I was not alone but I was lonely...but then I realised I had Zaveo, my own creation, the one being that cared for me,"

"Venkalth I'm sorry this all happened to you," Cedric said.

"Sorry?!" Venkalth laughed, like a maniac, "After all this, look at me now, I have my people to lead, I have revenge to seek, after all this, I have become stronger than ever," he closed his eyes "I know Raymond is the rightful king, I know where he is, but I'm afraid Blackwood, that I can't help you,"

"Why not?"

"I don't have the men to overcome my brother, my first mistake was being too arrogant and thinking that I could defeat the most powerful man in the kingdom,"

"Let's form an alliance then," Cedric blurted out.

The look of surprise crossed Venkalth's face "What are you talking about? I stole your riches, I am your enemy,"

"Not if we become allies. I don't care about these little things anymore, we have a storm coming, it's been quiet for many years,"

"My first alliance huh?" Venkalth thought for a second "not bad,"

"So where do we start?"

"How do I trust you, Cedric?"

"We have the same enemy, all of us,"

Venkalth nodded and hummed in agreement "This is going to be a difficult decision,"

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They rode their horses back to the crystal castle, along the thick snow, the chilly wind.

"How were mother and father when you last saw them?" Julian asked.

"wonderful, healthy as ever,"

Julian nodded his head slowly "I remember when I first came here, I was your age, I would think about them every day, then I noticed it got in my way, too much sentiment, I decided to erase emotion from myself, forget my family because I knew that I wasn't going to see them anytime soon, but as soon as I saw you, all that collapsed, now I'm yearning to see them again," he smiled bitterly.

"I still think about them. Do you know we have a younger sister?"

"Really?!" Julian's eyes brightened.

"Yes! Her name is Celia, she's fourteen now, that little lamb," Gregor laughed "so smart for her age, so kind and gentle,"

"You're making this hard for me Greg, now I just want to fly back and see them,"

"Hey, you two! Faster!" Raymond yelled from where he was further along their path. Gregor and Julian realised how far behind they were, they laughed heartily and rushed to join the others.

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