Spirit Warrior - The Keeper Of The Northern Gate

The Keeper of the Future - IIII

Where am I? I wake up, lying on the cold hard ground. A growl makes me jump from my laying position on the ground. My heart is beating wildly.

I look around trying to find out where I am, but it's very dark, but the light of the moon tells me I'm outside, but the square patterned shadows the moon cast from above also tells me I'm now held captive.

The back of the wooden cage is facing a wall, so I decide that would be the best place to be. I crawl over to the wall and lean up against in making sure I'm far enough away from the cage's sides that no one would be able to touch me. Well, at least from outside. I draw my leg up to my chest and hug my knees trying to stay warm; it's a cold night here in the North. Not even my heavy cloak can keep me warm.

Blood is running from my spit eyebrow and lip. My head is soaring and it feels as if the day after a great feast with too much mead. The bastard must have hit me. Around my cage, there's loads of activity. People going about their daily routines, but no one notices me. Or so I thought from across the village someone's looking at me. He's leaning on the wall of the house.

The houses are build of the surrounding trees. The tree makes them blend incredibly well in, with the rest of the forest. Just when I thought things couldn't get much worse, rain starts trickling down. People start to go their separate ways, as the night gets darker.

I must have been out for almost two days by the looks of it. As everyone clears out and retreat to their houses away from the rain and cold. I try to curl myself up even more to preserve my body heat, but it doesn't work as well as I had hoped. The murky forest ground beneath me has now turned into a muddy pit.

I look up at the sound of footsteps. I've learned by now, to read the weight of one's footsteps and by the weight of these, it's definitely a male and a big one at that.

"Look at the future queen now," he sneers at me. I just settle on glaring at him from my muddy pit, half of me hoping it would swallow me whole, but the other half wants to scratch his eyes out.

A smirk slips on his lips when he sees my defiant glare, or that's what I would like it to be.

"What a change, I remember the scared girl that arrived with a ship not too long ago, but still I find myself staring into the same eyes, but still they are not quite the same anymore," His words are meant to humiliate me, make me feel like nothing, I know those words far too well to fall for them.

"You're already connected to the beast's strength," He says smiling in a calculated way.

"So, the great King has a weakness now,"

If his smile was less calculated and mean, he would have been quite handsome in his own way. Nothing like my betrothed though, nothing like him. Even though he's big he could not compare to my future husband even if he tried.

"Kwan," I snap my head towards the sound of the voice. It's an old and rusty voice, sounds like it's been well used over the years. A woman is standing behind the kneeling man. Even though she said what I presume is his name, he still doesn't acknowledge her.

He keeps looking at me with darkened eyes and a heated look. I feel the hair on my neck stand straight up. I don't like the way he's looking at me like he's suppressing something. He looks at me like I'm a piece of meat, but maybe I am.

"Do not anger the Lion, Kwan, he may still be in his den, but you keeping his charm captive does not lessen his rage," The woman's voice is pleading as she tries to reason with him. I look at her rugged face intently trying to figure out why she would referee to my future husband as a lion and I his charm. I decide to play along with her.

"She speaks the truth you should let me go before he comes for me himself,"

"I will not be overruled by an arrogant king, that's been hiding behind his stonewalls for too long, his roar has not been heard for decades!" He angrily slams his fists against the cage making me shrink back from him. He then turns his rage to the aged woman.

"You know he's been hiding behind those stone walls for too long, there's nothing left of the Lion! No one can dwell for that long, no one!" He grasps her shoulders throwing her to the ground. She lands in the mud by the side of the cage with a thud.

She gets to her knees to once again face the terrifying creature.

"Have you gone blind? Have hatred blinded you?" The beast starts pacing repeatedly back and forth. His eyes have gone darker and none of the white is left. His chest is heaving with the heavy breath he's taking, he's fighting something unknown.

"You may have gone blind and deaf, but I have not! I hear the lion roar," She gets to her feet. I wonder how this woman could have the courage to face a monster like him, a monster like my own snake.

"You have awakened him, I hear him pawing fiercely, in a frenzied of exigent he eats up the ground," He uses all his strength on holding back whatever his fighting in his inner. From his bawled fist blood is dripping slowly on to the ground. I'm fascinated to see how the blood hits a puddle and colors it crimson red.

"The Lion is coming,"