Reign ✔

Prologue

The wind howled in the night sky, carrying a scent that would change the world. The Dark Shade hovered in the sky, circling round and round. The boy trodded towards the Dark Shade, tip-toeing on his toes. He was scared, and shivering not from the cold, but from the Shade. He was his lord. The boy reached the area, dark and damp and covered by shadows. It was like a dark cave, extending to miles. The boy was scared, very scared.

"Where. Is. The. Girl?" The Dark Shade thundered, his back to the boy. The Dark Shade was, like its name, a dark figure, almost a shade. He was not human, not supernatural, not extraterrestrial . . . he was something different. He had deep crimson hair, covered in mud and dust, but he doesn't care, he never cares. The Shade had had a troubled past, a troubled future too, and the boy knew it. The boy, thus, wanted to help.

"I'm so sorry, my lord," the boy whimpered, utterly scared, "I don't know where she has disappeared!"

"You come here without the girl?" A dark look swept across the already dark face of the Shade.

"Yes . . . no! She ran away to the forest," the boy whimpered.

The Dark Shade abruptly turned around. "HOW COULD YOU LET HER ESCAPE, YOU FOOL!" He roared. The boy fell down on his knees, his hands praying to the Shade. One glare of the Shade, and the boy was out of his wits, the Shade was that scary. His face could hardly be seen, his limbs were covered in scars and wounds. Those wounds reminded him of the brutality of his past, how neglected he was.

The Dark Shade was brutally murdered by a family, no one knew why. But just when he was declared dead, though he wasn't, he was rescued, by the boy. The Shade, after that day, had been loyal to the boy. Loyal only to the extent that he ordered the boy to do all his works and provided him shelter and food. The boy, being young and scared, couldn't disagree to the Shade. If the boy refused to do any work of the Dark Shade, he would get beaten up. The boy was scared, and tears pricked his eyes.

"I'm so sorry, my master, I'm so sorry," the boy apologized, tears falling down his ckeeks. This time he was given the task to capture the royal family of Spine, but unfortunately, they ran away.

The Dark Shade took in deep breaths, sharping the ends of a sword he had picked up from his collection. "You have completely disobeyed me," the Shade started taking circles around the crying boy, grinning boyishly, "Now, what should I do you with you, my loyal doggie?"

The boy trembled with fright, he didn't want to die. More tears flowed out, rushing down like a stream. He joined his hands together and prayed to the Shade to let him go, "No! No! Please, don't kill me, please don't. I m too young to die, please don't. I promise you I wi-"

"SHUT UP, YOU!" The Dark Shade roared like thunder. The boy wondered what was making him so angry. The Shade stopped behind the boy and leaned down toward the boy. His trembling, vibrating body could be felt by the Shade too. He put the tip of the sword on the boy's neck.

"You have disappointed me, foolish boy!" The Shade traced his sword down his back bone, cutting the thin frabic of the muslin. The boy's body was trembling so much that the sword traced a mark along his back. He winced in pain but the Shade smiled. The Shade was enjoying the pain he was causing. After all, he too had felt it once.

"I'm sorry, lord, please, spare me this time," the boy pleaded.

The Dark Shade leaned back, took back his sword away from the boy's body and threw it on the floor. The 'clang' with which the sword crashed the floor jerked the boy's body. He was scared, very scared.

"Please, spare me," the boy pleaded again.

No, the Shade did not reply. He instead walked up to his broken throne and sat there.

"Please," the boy begged, for the last time, before looking down at the floor, surrendering himself to death.

"I want the throne of Spine," the Shade finally said. The throne. Spine. It was the kingdom they lived in. The boy's jerked up and he wiped his tears. He wasn't going to die, not so soon. Because the boy knew that he would be benifitted too.

"Give me one more chance," the boy stood up on his legs, "And I will get you your prize!"

The Shade didn't utter a word, he just looked at the boy, pitied him.

"I'll get you the throne of Spine!" The boy whispered; his whisper loud enough for the Shade to hear. The corner of his mouth hitched upward, revealing a devilish smile.

He leaned forward on his broken throne, "I'm giving you the last chance, you will get the years and powers, but until then . . . I want you to search for that girl, bring her to me, alive. I'll kill her myself, with my own hands," the Shade looked up at his hands, praising them, "Understood?"

"Yes, master, yes!" The boy curtseyed and turning on his heel, walked out of the dark cave.

The Dark Shade roared in laughter, the entire area booming with his hoarse voice. The boy's chest was painfully heaving up and down. He walked away, he had to find her. Find that girl.

"Spine, you're soon going to be mine!" He laughed, "No one can destroy me! No one!" And he leaned his head back on the wall of the broken throne. The Shade had already seen death, he didn't fear of death anymore . . . but that girl? She was a danger to the Shade. She possessed dangerous powers that could kill the Shade; the dead.

The dark Shade shuddered at the thought of her but quickly snapped away from it. He didn't want to afraid, he was far from that. Soon, he thought, soon I'm going to be the king!

He laughed, a bittersweet laughter and all his workers bowed down. The workers, too, were not human. They were dead shadows of people who were rescued from the mouth of hell by the Shade. So, they obeyed him for his help, not knowing why they actually do so. Oh! How the Shade liked to see them obey him. He laughed once more.

He was already dead, could he be dead again? Oh no . . . no . . . never . . .

But there was a possibility though. That small, little, young girl. Could she kill him? Could she?

Ah! That girl.

The Dark Shade shuddered once more, but then, he laughed again, until flying off into the darkness.