Shadow Kingdoms | Book 1 ✔ (REWRITTEN AS 'THE EXILED KING')

Chapter 17 - Samuh

Samuh parted the under bush and stepped into a clearing. He thought of Daryn, sitting in that cave they had found, shivering and starving. He looked around and spotted a strawberry patch. Wild strawberries tasted the best and he hurriedly gathered as many as he could to bring back to Daryn. Twins, born only minutes apart, they had none of the same appearance. Samuh looked like an avenging angel, with his fair hair and pale complexions. Daryn had coal black hair and a more tanned skin tone. Still, they clung to one another and many whispered rumors about them. "Demons, the lot of them." Some said while other muttered prayers or thought them to be supernatural monstrosities and openly spoke their thoughts to the little boys. It didn't help that neither of them had inherited the strong magi powers of their family either.

Something rustled the group of bushes near Samuh. He jumped, startled, and dropped his berries. A feline paw reached out from under the bush and pushed a berry towards the bush. Samuh backed away and the creature walked clear from the bushes. It was a truly spectacular creature. About the size of a small dog, this creature had the body of a cat, the horns of a dragon and the feathery wings of an archangel. It also had a feathered tail, like a hawk. It had four, large cat paws and beautiful feline green eyes.

"Wow, you are beautiful..." Samuh muttered, wandering closer.

He reached down to pet the creature but it moved closer and he backed away a step again. Then, with lightning speed, the creature jumped and touched Samuh's forehead. Samuh collapsed, and the creature landed nimbly on its feet, a bit away from Samuh.

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He landed a few feet from his victim. The little boy had collapsed instantly when he had injected a magical potion into the child's bloodstream. This Grysan despised doing what it had to. This Grysan, called Tjarvic among his pack, did not delight in stealing the souls of people. He despised the bliss that came with each soul. Tjarvic knew that he needed it to survive, but he never took a soul for pleasure. He never took one for the bliss that came with it. Tjarvic took what he needed, and then he left. He looked down at the body of this child, regretting what he was about to do. Then he sank his canines into the boy's neck. The boy stirred and cried out, but Tjarvic clamped down his teeth harder. The boy bled, but no blood came from the wound. A silvery liquid gushed out the way the blood normally would. Tjarvic then drank from this silvery substance and pure bliss filled him. It was good, energizing stuff and he hurriedly drank more. He was about to open the wound further, to see more of the delicious goodness of this soul when a memory hit him. A memory from the boy who now lay at his feet.

Samuh was lying bed, dying when Daryn came to see him. They couldn't have been more than six at the time.

"Am I... dying?" Samuh whispered to his mother, who sat by his bed.

"No... you'll be fine." she replied hesitantly.

"She's lying." Daryn muttered, crossing over to his brother's bedside, "I can feel that you're dying."

Their mother paled, but did not deny it. Daryn took Samuh's hand in his own, and with the dedication of a six year old to his favorite thing, he whispered, "Stay with me. Please stay, Samuh."

Black sparks flared up where their hands touched, and their mother, Jiyla Starburn was, for the first time in years, afraid. Afraid of her children. Afraid of her sons, the devil and the angel.

Samuh passed out.

"Daryn Starburn! Stop that this instant!" she shouted, over the sound of their magi clashing.

He raised his head and looked at her, "No, ma. He'll die. I'm saving him!"

That was when Jiyla lost it. She whipped her magi out at him and cause him to cry out in shock and pain. He looked at her with a mixture of pure betrayal and anguish. Then he grabbed Samuh's hand and tried to resume where he had left off. No magi came. No black sparks.

"What have you done?" Daryn cried, tears running down his face.

"I took your magi. I'll give it back when you behave, you naughty boy." Jiyla scolded.

"No. I have to save him!" Daryn muttered as he grabbed Samuh's hand and frantically tried to give his brother the healing blood magi that he needed to survive.

"No! Devil, leave your brother be. I'll heal him!" Jiyla pushed Daryn roughly out of the way and projected her magi into her son. Samuh shuddered but remained unconscious. With desperation, Jiyla took Daryn's magi and gave it all to Samuh.

He gasped and sat straight up. His eyes were wide open. Once sky blue in colour, Samuh's eyes were violet.

No! Tjarvic recoiled from his victim. This boy had a family and a loving brother to go back to. Maybe his family was a little on the crazy side, but at least he still had family. Tjarvic could not give back the soul of this boy, but he could refrain from killing him and give him a new soul. Samuh deserved a new chance at living. Tjarvic closed his feline eyes and envisioned a new soul for Samuh.

"Who are you?"

"I know this is hard. I'm your mother. You lost your memories. Your name is Selsian Rardback, you are nearly thirteen. Your birthday is the fourteenth of Frostsun. You work as a stableboy at Thronesgar Castle and as soon as you are well, you will return to the castle."

Selsian was lying in a strange house, with a woman telling him that she was his mother. It was all too much to comprehend and Selsian fainted.

Tjarvic slunk away from the boy once he saw that he had been properly taken in and accepted by these humans. He would have a decent life with them. He left with the remainder of the sweet soul in his mouth. Just them, an arrow landed in his chest, knocking him over on his side in the clearing. Tarvic gasped and his legs twitched. A small stream of blood leaked from the wound. With the arrow still in his heart, Tjarvic had only moments left to live. Just before he passed to the Ether, he heard a voice.

"That's for killing my brother, monster."

Tjarvic wanted so badly to confess that he had not killed the boy, but fate would not allow him. Tjarvic rose from his body, and for a moment, he saw the Devil standing there, with the bow in his hand. Daryn glared at him, not the least bit afraid of the spirit that hover there. Tjarvic saw the boy, his heart full of hatred and anguish, before he was pulled toward the Ether. Flapping his feathery wings, Tjarvic sped on his way to the Ether. Daryn saw the spirit fade slowly, flapping those beautiful wings and then disappear entirely. Only then did he sink to the ground, crying for his brother.

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Edited: 01/12/2020

First Published: 02/08/2019