In The Shadows

Chapter 1: The Fall of the Queen

"RUN!"

The crackle of burning wood and distraught screams broke the quiet summer breeze in the White Forest, the skies bled red as the Queen fought for her life.

"I said, RUN!" Startled bare feet pattered on the mud as the little boy followed his mother's order.

Metal clashed on metal, guards fell one by one. The once peaceful forest now became a battle field. A big fireball came flying towards the young prince as he weaved through the trees, men in metal armour running behind him. Branches grabbed at his now mudded silk nightwear tearing them up as he fought his way through, he looked to the midnight summer sky to guide his way through the forest. His mother's sorrowful battle cries seemed so far behind him now.

A shadow fell over him as he struggled barefoot through the soggy soil, a figure far above the heavens shielded the moon's light dimming the boy's path. He ran much harder now. He couldn't let his efforts be in vain. He had to get out.

The shadow came freefalling towards him with the wind on its tail, blowing him away like a hurricane with a loud bang as it landed. The brave, young prince fell backwards on his back, soaking his sun-coloured locks in the forest mud puddles. The ringing in his ear and his blurry vision made it hard to recognize who this shadow was as it towered over his small, weak body but that didn't stop him from kicking and screaming his way out when they tried to capture him.

He was flung over a shoulder of one of the bandits chasing him and they went back to the burning cottage where his mother was held bruised and wounded by these evil men. His vision slowly cleared up when his ears started catching the rustling of what sounded like chains rubbing against another kind of metal. He looked up at the mysterious shadow behind the man carrying him but he was too tall for the boy to see his face but he surely didn't miss the gold emblem holding together the Shadow's cape.

It looked oddly familiar.

Like he had seen it once before.

A lion.

And a rose.

The Royal Crest.

The same one he wears on his clothes.

The same crest on the necklace he wears around his neck.

Were these men palace guards?

Then why were they attacking them?

The air in his lungs jumped out of his mouth when he was thrown down on the ground. His 9-year-old body almost gave out due to the force but he was strong, he got up on his weak feet and raised his fists up to his face like a boxer.

Laughter, mocking and arrogant, drowned out the sound of the cottage burning into ruins. It resonated across the woods, waking the owls and crickets.

The Shadow walked towards him, cupping his small face in one hand and with the other he gestured for one of his men to get a hold of the boy. He let out an amused sigh at the boy's confidence.

The prince fought against the man's strong hold on his arms, whimpering at the heat that seeped from the man's hand right through his sleeve. "You really are one tough angel, my prince. Just like your mother."

The sword from the Shadow's buckle glowed bright blue as he unsheathed it, the blade was laced with what seemed to be an unworldly kind of power; whispers hovered around its length. This sword seemed like it had saved thousands of lives but taken thousands more. "Too bad that won't be enough to save both of you tonight."

It tore the humid summer air with a whistle, it was quick and deafening. In a flash, it bore right through the queen's heart of gold, piercing flesh with a searing heaviness.

With all the strength the prince could muster in his legs he launched upward with an agonized scream, one flap of his wings sent him propelling high above the tall trees. Lightning sparked from his fingertips and feet, a burning glow engulfed him. He looked like he was about to supernova, his ocean blue irises now melted into the rest of his eyes.

The heart-broken prince plummeted back down towards the Shadow that had taken his mother's life with the strength of a thousand tornadoes. With a loud explosion the whole forest was filled with a blinding white light.

When the light and smoke cleared up the prince sat beside his lifeless mother, cradling her head in his arms. His cries painful to anyone who heard it, a broken scream escaped his chapped, pale lips.

A few feet away the Shadow gripped the hilt of his sword as he came to his senses. Standing up weakly and with meek steps he walked towards the prince and his mother.

An amused laughed resonated from the Shadow, a hearty one it almost sounded genuine. The prince looked up towards him, "you're going to pay for this." He said standing up.

"Oh, you really are charming; your Highness." The Shadow raised his sword arrogantly and walked straight up to the boy. Although the young prince was surely more powerful than this man but it was not to be forgotten that he was only a mere boy of 9. "You were a fine prince, you really were."

This time there was no whistling, or maybe the prince didn't hear it. A burning pain in his abdomen was the only thing he felt, surely the Shadow aimed for his heart but with the disorientation, he missed. The blade sunk through his body right to the hilt.

"It's a shame you'll never be king." The Shadow said and swiftly pulled the sword out.

The prince fell on the ground gasping for air, fighting for his life. His head lay right by his mother's, their eyes met. Hers lifeless, his hopeless.

He reached for her but she felt too far away, he had nothing left to do but cry. For his dead mother and his ending life, the world faded into pitch black and it grew quiet.

In the distance a figure watched as the Shadow left the prince to die there.

The prince laid in his own royal blood, staining his clothes and the ends of his hair. The blood started soaking inward and it didn't take long for his hair to be drenched completely.

The unknown figure stood towering over the boy's immobilized, bloody body. He moved the boy's head forward with his foot. Eyes scanning his features as life and light left them. He snickered.

"The queen and the heir are dead. Long live the King."