51. The Altar
2118 Words
The leader of the Saints was called Lord, as they did not accept any other royal title.
Lord Timbo was ruling the Altar these days.
He could not believe his ears what the Crown Prince of the Warchild House was sharing in the Saints Council. All this news about this New World, that they have all thought it was dead and lost.
It have all been a lie... all they knew, all they had ever imagined... it was now real... And they had a proof right in front of their eyes, with this... royal blood princess.
-So, the houses are united in one right now, there?
They were all gathered around her, asking for information, and they could not stop wondering.
-Yes, Lord Timbo, the woman spoke in front of the men, and the men could not have enough.
No woman was speaking in their world, at least not as easily and freely as this one was. It was a wonder, or a miracle, whatever it was.
-And your king, is a female??
-The king is my mother, yes. And... there is something I need to share, the princess looked at the crown prince Kaion.
The old men saw it and they realized there was more to the story than they knew already.
-What is it, child? Lord Timbo asked her.
-My mother, the king in our world... is here too.
-What??
-How??
-Where??
-They need help!!
The old men seem to catch things up really fast, and that was giving the princess some hope.
-Yes, my both parents were dragged into this world as well and they are here somewhere, in the Assassin's territory.
-What?
-No!!!
Moon could no doubt read the horror on the old man' s faces. Why were they so terrified?
-My mother is with child and she needs help. My father is a healer, and he is a pure Assassin, so he will keep them safe, but if she loses control and feels threatened, she will release her saruman and they will figure it out she is a Warchild saruman.
-Child, is alright, the sarumans we do not release...
-Oh, but we do... the princess looked worried and they could not believe her words, looking at the Crown prince for confirmation.
-Yes, they can... The Crown Prince Kaion nodded his head in confirmation.
-What?
-But... how??
The old men just could not understand. So the princess stepped back. She spread her arms wide on either side of her body, closed her eyes, and her demon appeared as a dark smoke spreading from her chest, growing outward, and showing itself in all its greatness, right there, materialized. in front of them.
The old people looked at her with admiration but also with horror.
There it was, in all her might, her saruman demon, black as the night. Only the eyes were bluish turquoise, reminding them of the Assassins's traits. They were speaking the truth, there was no doubt in that.
-They need protection... Moon heard Lord Timbo speak to the others. The others agreed and nodded their heads in confirmation.
-My mother first, please. I don't know where they are...
-Then how do you even know they are here?
-Because...
The saruman in front of them was astonishing big, but within seconds had increased in dimensions, and the eyes changed color to black as the night, and even the scales got blacker than the night, if there could be such comparison. Something had changed within the princess, because her demon had surely changed and started speaking with a different voice, that they felt penetrating to their bones. Such strength so far, they never met.
-I am Iris of Warchild and Shadows Assassins, ruler of the New World kindom of shadows. Where is this place??
The dark saruman demon searched around the room and clearly was not very pleased because the eyes became cold and merciless and the tone even threatening. It just turned its back on the elders and faced the princess locking in her eyes but kept silent, as they were speaking through their minds. Was it possible to have so much power? Were the lost powers of the shadows reemerging with this outsiders from the New World?
-Yes, they are using their mind control, the Crown Prince Kaion confirmed their suspicions.
"I told you to keep her safe, Prince of Warchild!!" The saruman turned towards Prince Kaion upon hearing his voice.
-I am, Your Highness, the prince bowed in front of the saruman. This is the Sanctuary, where she will be registered in order to be protected if anything would happen in the war of the Houses here. I am keeping my promise!
-Mother, where are you? They are going to help!
-Your Highness, I am Lord Timbo, ruler of this Altar, and...
-And why would you need protection from the war, my princess?
The saruman demon turned towards the princess, interrupting the Lord speaking. That was rude, and in their world, no female would have dared to do such a thing! How extraordinary these women were, Lord Timbo thought.
-Because here they are only enemies to the death, Your Highness, Lord Timbo tried to explain, not caring about the rudeness of this leader. He was used to them, leaders, being rude, anyway. But he gained her attention, because in a silent turn, her demon fixed its eyes on him, almost penetrating his mind with that deep look.
In a matter of seconds, another saruman demon had materialized just along side of her, only that it was a turquoise one, and bigger than the dark one, because this one was a male.
The old men gasped at the same time in both surprise and fear. The Assassins demons did not possess mind control, so that only meant that this male saruman was sustained in the materialization by the female behind him. And for a saruman to be outside of the body, and for a Warchild to be so close to an Assassin and to even collaborate, it was unseen before.
-Father! the Princess was barely holding on her tears. We need to know where you are at...
The turquoise saruman demon checked them all out, in silence as well... These shadows did not talk much, Lord Timbo thought. Impressive! And this princess called that one "father?" Again... so strange...
-Lord! We need to know where you are in the Assassin's territory... If your wife is with child, we will get you out of the war zone. The Altar is neutral territory, we can get you here safe!
-I am the Lord of the Shadows Assassins' House. We are safe!
-Not if she gets out that saruman like that, and the Assassins see it... Make no mistake, they WILL kill her!
-We need to know where are you in the Ice kingdom right now?
-Give us a location, so we can get to you...
-We are more at North West, not quite North. They also claim to be kings here, they call themselves King of the West.
-Ice kingdom? The Princess asked the crown Prince Kaion.
-Yes, the Shadows Assassins' kingdom is called the Ice Kingdom. There were once two kingdoms, but the northern one had conquered all the West, and now it is ruled by King Tor, the Shadows Assassins' heir. You do not want to meet him...
-Nobody does... one of the old men said, backing up Kaion.
-Why?
-Because he is ruthless, and he does not have a heart. He hates the Warchild and he will stop at nothing to kill one without even asking any questions.
While the old men were taking coordinates to locate her mother, the princess and the Warchild prince set up a plan to recuperate them. An elder men brought a big map that he unrolled on the big table, taking notes and drawing lines on it. They were on a mission already.
Moon felt happy, and she started to look at Kaion with different eyes. She could not forgive him for dragging her into this world, but at least he was trying to help her recuperate her family, which was something.
The next few hours they had made preparations and Moon even met Lord Timbo's daughters. They were twins, Layla and Aola, and they were close to her age. She missed Shade, her twin, and seeing how much different these twins were, made her feel melancholic. She wanted her life back. She wanted to go home. She was missing her brothers and sisters, and she was missing her life back there.
But she was not worried, things were about to change and pretty fast, if her mother would get there soon. And her father too. They lent her clean clothes and a room to get some rest.
The next day they had prepared a team of extraction, and Moon was taken for a walk outside the Altar. Lord Tibo wanted to show her something. Outside the Altar, right in the middle of the city, there was what it looked like an archeological site, in which artifacts of thousands of years old were hidden among ruined columns.
On a hill, a huge tree with a rich green leaf sat in the middle of the site, hiding a secret room under its roots. The room where Lord Timbo led her, it was huge, and among the cracks in the ceiling were parts of the strong, aged roots of the tree.
And there she saw it. A gate, as big as the portals that were opening in her world. She could not believe it!!! There was a portal there!!! They could go home!!
-No Warchild, nor a Shadows Assassin must know about this!! i am showing this to You only because you are Different!
He pointed towards the bracelet that Shane made for her, the bracelet that was encapsulating the crystal she could fuel the portal with.
-We also need to restart working on the portals! We had no idea our people from the New World made it.
Lord Timbo looked at her, wondering if he did well in entrusting her with their secret.
The princess had teary eyes.
-My mother needs to know about this, so we can go home!
-But I do not know how to open it...
-I think I can... I just need them to get here first!
The old man looked at her. So much strength in such a vulnerable body of a female! She should have better been in a male body!
Right at that moment, he thought she could do so much better in their world... But she did not belong there... He knew that.
After they came back from their little secret walk, the princess was all happy about how things turned. Even the extraction plan was ready, the location of the Warchild king was known, and the team was getting ready for the extraction. The princess offered to be part of it, which of course the Saints did not approve.
-Oh, trust me, you want these shadows on your team rather than against you, the crown prince of the Warchild tried to make a joke, but he did not give the impression that he was really joking.
-I said, I am coming, and you will not stop me!!
The princess just grabbed one of the spears and a bow that was already on the table where all kinds of weapons were displayed for the team to arm themselves. They all looked at her doubting.
-Look, lady, we do not have time to babysit you in the war zone... maybe you...
-Good! You do not have to babysit me! I will be fine!
One of the Saints who were part of the rescuing team, just placed himself in between the table and the princess, noticing that the crown prince was chuckling now, and he did not realize why.
-Look, lady, those are dangerous weapons, please put them down, or you will get hurt...
-You are right, the princess put down the spear, but she had taken a long and curved sword from the table, making the man flinch, realizing that, that stubborn female will get hurt in that blade who was very sharp.
-Look, wait, that is very sharp, you will cut yourself in it!
-No, but I will cut anyone who would stand in my way...
The princess just smiled at him and turned to leave away from him, before he had a chance to say anything else to stop her. She obviously could not be stopped.
-Trust me, she will...
The crown prince patted his shoulder smiling with arrogance and passing by him, following her knowingly.
The rescue team was on the way to rescue a king.
- Writer
