The Cursed Souls of Liriethem - Forgotten Lore of Liriethem Volume 1

Death to the dark hearts!

It was the dark heart she was looking for. She could feel it: it was getting closer.

She started hearing voices in her head: "Oril III...", "...who could kill the queen...", "If I were the king...", "They are all bastards...". Liriam realized that the voices were the thoughts of the many people who were close by. Too many indeed... She couldn't concentrate on just one; all thoughts were full of hate against the Liriethem's royalty. Liriam ceased to be the princess she once was and transformed once more, just as she had done in the Liriethem Desert, in the messenger of the souls of Liamsa: Her eyes had already lost all pigmentation and her look was murderous. She went out to meet the people she had heard, or "felt", and prepared to fulfil her destiny.

The first ones she found were two soldiers who were resting and talking about the "convenient death" of Oril III. Liriam appeared in front of them and, without giving them any time to react, stole a sword from one of them at superhuman speed and, with two quick movements, both men were beheaded. Blood sprang profusely, staining Liriam once more. The heads rolled on the ground and the bodies stood for a few seconds before collapsing into a pool of blood. She tied the soldier's long sword around her waist, next to the bow: she was ready, but her task was far from being completed.

Next in line were two peasants whom were walking towards the exit of the Heart of the Hydra and whom had had lustful thoughts about Princess Larem. The first of them felt the cold iron of Liriam's sword pierce his back and saw it come out of his chest. The other man tried to run, but the princess reached him by cutting one of his legs. The man fell to the ground, screaming in pain, clutching to a leg that was no longer there. Liriam approached him slowly, with the sword in her hand, as the man screamed and asked for mercy, but the princess took the weapon with both hands and stuck it in the centre of the peasant's face. The sword stayed erected, Liriam did not bother to recover it.

No more screaming was heard, only the silence of death. The souls' messenger continued, immutable, with her task: it was for this that she had returned to the Heart of the Hydra, to carry on the slaughter of the dark hearts.

(Footnote: It is said among the people of Liriethem that it was thanks to this massacre that the next generations of rulers were so good; for fear that the chosen one would return to Liriethem and purify its rulers once more.)

The royal guards were now on alert: they had seen the lacerated corpses on the floor and were looking for the bloodthirsty warrior who had the nerve to enter the king's castle, killing people for no apparent reason and with the violence of a beast. As Liriam advanced through the royal castle in search of that dark heart, blacker than all the others, a hundred soldiers were deployed to protect the royal family and the nobles of Liriethem.

She now reached a huge room, full of soldiers waiting for her. Liriam didn't wait for them and went on to take the offensive. As quickly as she had taken a single step forward, the men attacked her all at once. Covered in blood as she was, and nervous as they were about what the enemy could do, the royal soldiers wanted to attack first and ask questions later.

Liriam unfolded her bow and began shooting arrows of light in all directions; every time an arrow hit a soldier's body, it would explode, causing blood to burst profusely. If the arrow hit the head of any of the men, it was their end. When the soldiers got too close to her, since they were in large groups against Liriam, the princess used the bow itself to hit them and keep them at a distance.

Even though she had the powers of the souls flowing through her body, the soldiers were too many and Liriam was losing ground. Suddenly, three men attacked her at the same time with their long swords. Liriam could dodge the first man's attack, but the second one managed to touch her face with his sword, even if just barely, leaving a long red line of blood on her cheek. The third sword hit fully in her right shoulder.