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I wrote a thing that needs to be cleaned and edited but I'm sharing anyways. -throws confetti-
Ps: There ended up straying from the original idea a bit so eventually I'll revise it
His name was Kerry. He was our friend.
Our small city had remained a peaceful place for a long time. The king ruled silently paying little attention to the daily happenings. My friends and I spent the days exploring the caves outside our city walls, fighting monsters and hunting for treasure. It was a good life.
The young boy Kerry came to the city one day with a few other traders. He told us his plans to stay and we fixed him up a place to live. He joined us in our adventures and soon it seemed like he had lived there forever.
Our first warning should have been the day the King summoned him to his castle. We didn’t know why he would suddenly be interested in a stranger. Kerry returned shaken and pale that evening. He told us the King was mad. That he had seen a huge beast at the castle. A creature with horns like a bull and was as large as a bear. None of us believed him.
Whatever had spooked him didn’t stop him from returning to the castle each day. He never spoke of the monster again. “I’m to be the King’s squire.” He told us. It was hardly odd since the rest of us had long become knights.
One night Kerry didn’t return. I remember following Mogar to the castle to see what had happened. Kerry was nowhere to be found.
When we asked the king he only replied, “My squire is very busy helping me to prepare for an upcoming tournament. A tournament I plan for all of you attend. I grow bored sitting here day by day and it’s time I see how fit my knights truly are. Yes a champion will be crowned. Perhaps a champion to take a turn on my throne!”
Something about the King had seemed off to me. There was an odd look in his eye and his mouth twitched as he tried to smile. When we left I could feel his cold glare watching us. But the others were too excited for the tournament to notice. They told me not to worry. The subject changed instead to jokes and talk of what would happen if each of us win.
Kerry finally returned a few days later. I tried to talk to him. Tried to invite him to go hunt. I can’t explain it but something was off. Like the King something about him seemed almost… mad.
I had become too curious to wait for an answer. On the night of the new moon I snuck into the castle cloaked in my creeper skin. I scaled the walls making not a sound… That’s when I saw it. A beast. No! A monster of unbelievable size. It had glowing red eyes and dark horns as sharp of knives. I made the mistake of releasing a gasp and in a flash its head turned towards me. I don’t know if I managed to escape its glare but the split second our eyes met I felt like the darkness had pierced right through my soul.
I ran back to town to warn the others. I shouted in the streets that the castle was under attack. The beast Kerry had first seen had returned and was sure to be after the King! The other knights followed me to the courtyard in a desperate hurray expecting the worse. But when we got there everything was silent. The King appeared from his throne looking over each of us with an unhappy glance.
“Why have you come here so late? Did you forget there is a tournament tomorrow?” His eyes finally met mine and I quickly looked away.
“Ser Gavin told us he spotted monster in courtyard, your highness. We had to be sure you were safe.” Mogar answered with an apologetic bow.
“And what were you doing sneaking around the castle so late?” His eyes never left me. I had no answer only managing to fumble out a few words. “Only a fool would believe such a monster could exist in our peaceful world. Off with all of you. I will see you tomorrow for the tournament.”
We bowed but I could not muster the courage to look the King in the eyes. I thought, had my eyes deceived me? I thought, perhaps, I was going mad?
The others talked amongst themselves as we returned. Mogar laughed and called me a fool. They joked that I should be thankful I was still allowed to compete in the tournament. The thought of the tournament made my stomach sink. Something was going to happen. Something felt wrong.
I wish it had just been a feeling. I wish the others had believed me.
The tournament ran smoothly to begin with. The Rose Knight seemed guaranteed to win. My worries and my fears disappeared as the day passed. I was distracted by the noise, the food, the excitement…
The final challenge ended. A blind duel with the Rose Knight as victor. We thought that would be the end. The King suddenly appeared announcing there was one more challenge still. He told us there was a maze hidden beneath the castle and there was a cow hidden within to be slain for the evening feast.
I hesitated at the entrance to the tunnel staring into its cold darkness. The others ran in blindly still excited from all the activities of the day. Behind me I heard him speak, “What’s wrong? Don’t you want to join the others.”
Something told me if I entered that tunnel I might not return alive. “Where’s Kerry?” I finally asked not turning to face the King.
“Why are you asking now?” He replied. When I finally turned to face him I could see clearly his disappointed frown. Suddenly there was a terrified scream from the maze behind me.
“What have you done with him?” I asked again. There came another scream.
“I guess a fool is not as easy to trick.” The King smirked at me stepping closer. I thought to draw my sword but I felt so stunned by his glare.
“You’ve gone mad.” I shouted. “Stop this. What are you planning?”
The King chuckled. It felt like an unknown force pushed against me and I tumbled backwards into the tunnel. I looked up to see him holding my sword. He looked at it a moment before tossing it aside. “Don’t worry it won’t matter for long anyways.”
The door to the tunnel slammed shut and I found myself encased in darkness. There was a small light at the end of one passage where the screams echoed from. I pulled myself to my feet and guided myself along the wall inching closer to whatever was concealed inside.
I passed the Drunk Knight first. Alive but slumped on the ground in a heap. He saw me and with a terrified look tried to mutter what he had seen. But his injuries were too much and he slowly fell over to the ground, empty eyes staring up at me. I took his sword from amongst the blood and continued to forward trying not to collapse from fear.
I passed the Bearded Knight and Mogar their bodies lying not too far apart in bloodied heaps. I finally found my way into an open room. The Rose Knight lay breathing heavily beside the entry. “He’s here…” He coughed. “The beast… he’s too strong.”
I heard the monster growl before I saw him appear from the shadows. The beast I had seen before now stood before me eyeing me up for a kill. That’s when I noticed the hat between its horns and the torn blue robes across its chest.
“Kerry?” I said.
“Kerry!” I shouted.
If he heard me he did not acknowledge it with any more than a strike at me with his claws. I managed to block but just barely, rolling to the side out of the way.
“Kerry listen to me! I’m your friend.” I shouted desperately. “Stop this madness.”
I knocked blow after blow aside calling to my friend as loudly as I could muster. I felt like I could hear the King’s mad laughter watching me fail to reason with him and slowly become more and more exhausted by the fight.
I tripped and found myself pinned against a wall. I remember looking up at the beast as he crawled closer preparing his final strike.
“Oh Kerry… What has he done to you? To all of us?”
The beast attacked but I held the sword before me piercing the monster through the heart. I blacked out after that beaten and exhausted from the battle.
I wanted so badly to awake and it had all to be a dream. Everything was a blur and suddenly I found myself kneeling before the King. I didn’t question him. I didn’t question the knights behind me suddenly returned from their graves.
He placed the crown upon my head speaking words I paid no attention to. I had done what he wanted and hardly felt the guilt the crown carried. I had killed my friend and still returned to kneel before him.
But now it was my turn to play with the pawns.
Ps: There ended up straying from the original idea a bit so eventually I'll revise it
His name was Kerry. He was our friend.
Our small city had remained a peaceful place for a long time. The king ruled silently paying little attention to the daily happenings. My friends and I spent the days exploring the caves outside our city walls, fighting monsters and hunting for treasure. It was a good life.
The young boy Kerry came to the city one day with a few other traders. He told us his plans to stay and we fixed him up a place to live. He joined us in our adventures and soon it seemed like he had lived there forever.
Our first warning should have been the day the King summoned him to his castle. We didn’t know why he would suddenly be interested in a stranger. Kerry returned shaken and pale that evening. He told us the King was mad. That he had seen a huge beast at the castle. A creature with horns like a bull and was as large as a bear. None of us believed him.
Whatever had spooked him didn’t stop him from returning to the castle each day. He never spoke of the monster again. “I’m to be the King’s squire.” He told us. It was hardly odd since the rest of us had long become knights.
One night Kerry didn’t return. I remember following Mogar to the castle to see what had happened. Kerry was nowhere to be found.
When we asked the king he only replied, “My squire is very busy helping me to prepare for an upcoming tournament. A tournament I plan for all of you attend. I grow bored sitting here day by day and it’s time I see how fit my knights truly are. Yes a champion will be crowned. Perhaps a champion to take a turn on my throne!”
Something about the King had seemed off to me. There was an odd look in his eye and his mouth twitched as he tried to smile. When we left I could feel his cold glare watching us. But the others were too excited for the tournament to notice. They told me not to worry. The subject changed instead to jokes and talk of what would happen if each of us win.
Kerry finally returned a few days later. I tried to talk to him. Tried to invite him to go hunt. I can’t explain it but something was off. Like the King something about him seemed almost… mad.
I had become too curious to wait for an answer. On the night of the new moon I snuck into the castle cloaked in my creeper skin. I scaled the walls making not a sound… That’s when I saw it. A beast. No! A monster of unbelievable size. It had glowing red eyes and dark horns as sharp of knives. I made the mistake of releasing a gasp and in a flash its head turned towards me. I don’t know if I managed to escape its glare but the split second our eyes met I felt like the darkness had pierced right through my soul.
I ran back to town to warn the others. I shouted in the streets that the castle was under attack. The beast Kerry had first seen had returned and was sure to be after the King! The other knights followed me to the courtyard in a desperate hurray expecting the worse. But when we got there everything was silent. The King appeared from his throne looking over each of us with an unhappy glance.
“Why have you come here so late? Did you forget there is a tournament tomorrow?” His eyes finally met mine and I quickly looked away.
“Ser Gavin told us he spotted monster in courtyard, your highness. We had to be sure you were safe.” Mogar answered with an apologetic bow.
“And what were you doing sneaking around the castle so late?” His eyes never left me. I had no answer only managing to fumble out a few words. “Only a fool would believe such a monster could exist in our peaceful world. Off with all of you. I will see you tomorrow for the tournament.”
We bowed but I could not muster the courage to look the King in the eyes. I thought, had my eyes deceived me? I thought, perhaps, I was going mad?
The others talked amongst themselves as we returned. Mogar laughed and called me a fool. They joked that I should be thankful I was still allowed to compete in the tournament. The thought of the tournament made my stomach sink. Something was going to happen. Something felt wrong.
I wish it had just been a feeling. I wish the others had believed me.
The tournament ran smoothly to begin with. The Rose Knight seemed guaranteed to win. My worries and my fears disappeared as the day passed. I was distracted by the noise, the food, the excitement…
The final challenge ended. A blind duel with the Rose Knight as victor. We thought that would be the end. The King suddenly appeared announcing there was one more challenge still. He told us there was a maze hidden beneath the castle and there was a cow hidden within to be slain for the evening feast.
I hesitated at the entrance to the tunnel staring into its cold darkness. The others ran in blindly still excited from all the activities of the day. Behind me I heard him speak, “What’s wrong? Don’t you want to join the others.”
Something told me if I entered that tunnel I might not return alive. “Where’s Kerry?” I finally asked not turning to face the King.
“Why are you asking now?” He replied. When I finally turned to face him I could see clearly his disappointed frown. Suddenly there was a terrified scream from the maze behind me.
“What have you done with him?” I asked again. There came another scream.
“I guess a fool is not as easy to trick.” The King smirked at me stepping closer. I thought to draw my sword but I felt so stunned by his glare.
“You’ve gone mad.” I shouted. “Stop this. What are you planning?”
The King chuckled. It felt like an unknown force pushed against me and I tumbled backwards into the tunnel. I looked up to see him holding my sword. He looked at it a moment before tossing it aside. “Don’t worry it won’t matter for long anyways.”
The door to the tunnel slammed shut and I found myself encased in darkness. There was a small light at the end of one passage where the screams echoed from. I pulled myself to my feet and guided myself along the wall inching closer to whatever was concealed inside.
I passed the Drunk Knight first. Alive but slumped on the ground in a heap. He saw me and with a terrified look tried to mutter what he had seen. But his injuries were too much and he slowly fell over to the ground, empty eyes staring up at me. I took his sword from amongst the blood and continued to forward trying not to collapse from fear.
I passed the Bearded Knight and Mogar their bodies lying not too far apart in bloodied heaps. I finally found my way into an open room. The Rose Knight lay breathing heavily beside the entry. “He’s here…” He coughed. “The beast… he’s too strong.”
I heard the monster growl before I saw him appear from the shadows. The beast I had seen before now stood before me eyeing me up for a kill. That’s when I noticed the hat between its horns and the torn blue robes across its chest.
“Kerry?” I said.
“Kerry!” I shouted.
If he heard me he did not acknowledge it with any more than a strike at me with his claws. I managed to block but just barely, rolling to the side out of the way.
“Kerry listen to me! I’m your friend.” I shouted desperately. “Stop this madness.”
I knocked blow after blow aside calling to my friend as loudly as I could muster. I felt like I could hear the King’s mad laughter watching me fail to reason with him and slowly become more and more exhausted by the fight.
I tripped and found myself pinned against a wall. I remember looking up at the beast as he crawled closer preparing his final strike.
“Oh Kerry… What has he done to you? To all of us?”
The beast attacked but I held the sword before me piercing the monster through the heart. I blacked out after that beaten and exhausted from the battle.
I wanted so badly to awake and it had all to be a dream. Everything was a blur and suddenly I found myself kneeling before the King. I didn’t question him. I didn’t question the knights behind me suddenly returned from their graves.
He placed the crown upon my head speaking words I paid no attention to. I had done what he wanted and hardly felt the guilt the crown carried. I had killed my friend and still returned to kneel before him.
But now it was my turn to play with the pawns.
