Magic and Monsters

Lost in Love

"Impossible! The Demon Lord hasn't stirred for the last ten thousand years!" called out an elegant nobleman dressed in a slick red suit.

"Antonio Lyon, the imbalance of chaos levels have been fluctuating at an increasing rate. The mere appearance of the candidates as the Chosen One is evidence that something powerful and evil is stirring." replied the King calmly.

Antonio Lyon growled. "And that man you call Charles Lancaster, he murdered my brother!" He pointed at Charles with a gnarled finger.

"That's a false allegation! Your brother was first to attack, and was hung for his own crimes, which included bribery, blackmailing and mistreatment of servants!" retorted Beatrice.

Antonio glared at her. "You, just because you're -" he was interrupted by another person.

"ORDER! ORDER! We cannot have chaos within our own ranks! How can we expect to defeat the enemy if we cannot control our own forces?" cried another large, round man with a thick brown mustache.

Antonio spat at the ground and stormed towards the doors before slamming them open. He turned and glared at Charles one last time before leaving.

"Antonio Lyon shall be dealt with, however we have more pressing matters." said the King, regaining the attention and control of the crowd. "Whilst the Demon Lord is still deep in slumber within the nether prison, guarded by the ancients, unusual activities prove otherwise that something is happening. Too many accounts of unnatural occurrences for the norm have fell upon us.

A walker outbreak in Abbotsford, werewolf clans forming in multiple zones, animals of the wild growing hostile intent in the elven forests, and decay falling upon many crops and trees to only begin to name them." continued the King.

"They could be random events, occurring under the lack of vigilance." said a woman who had purple hair twisted to resemble a spiralling seashell. She smoked on a long, sleek, black cigar.

Baron Burns suddenly stood up from his position a few rows behind her.

"They were most certainly not random. The necromancer behind the walker outbreak is still at large, and very powerful. I have no doubt that it was not an isolated event, but one with an ulterior motive!" he yelled. He then took a massive swig from a ceramic bottle, no doubt an alcoholic drink, before kneeling back down.

"Werewolf outbreaks in multiple zones, pretty hard to believe they coincidentally just happened all at once." confirmed another noble.

The King raised an arm, and all eyes were on him once again.

"Now the call to action, is to report any further unnatural occurrences. Every plan can be read with enough information. Every code can be cracked, and there is always a pattern left as a clue." said the King. "I shall continue to monitor the prison and watch over our country, and I expect you all to keep an eye over your territories to protect us from the unthinkable - the awakening of the Demon Lord!"

"Yes, your Majesty!" yelled everyone in the room at once.

"That concludes this assembly." whispered Beatrice from behind Charles.

The noblemen began forming a procession leading out the entrance in a single file line.

Beatrice looked at Charles' smoldering and torn clothing.

"What happened to you?" she asked. Charles shrugged and let out a sigh.

"Went sight seeing at the Nether Prison, fought a demon and got tossed around like a ragdoll by the King. That sums it up about right." said Charles.