Royal Bloodlines: A Devil's Tale

The Panic

LODZ PALACE

King Adriel paces in front of his advisers, looking incensed.

"You morons devised this naive scheme, it's incredible how I fell for your half-witted plan. Now I am a king with no army, any kingdom can invade Lodz at will. Everything has fallen apart." He accuses while moving frantically around the room.

"Cool off your Majesty, no one could have anticipated the ambush. We were all under the impression that Edric bought into our deception. Instead of loosing our heads we should come up with a way forward." One of the men advises.

"You talk of a way forward when the only pawn left in our hand is a mare girl." The Adriel counters.

"As long as we have princess Mila they will not attack us." The adviser points out. But Adriel remains wrathful.

"What about the sword, do you have a remedy for that too?" He questions.

"No your Majesty. All our means to attain it have run adrift." The adviser answers.

"Perhaps not." Another chimes in. "We might have exhausted our means of force but not our skill in deception."

All eyes in the room focus on him as he continues.

"We can dispatch messengers to profess that we were not after the sword just for our own keeping, we have valid proof that the despot Zedon is back, thus we got concerned he may find and repossess the sword once again to the detriment of all races. We should send the Princess forthwith as a sign of our good will. Once our concession is accepted and a new alliance is forged we can figure out our way forward from there." He adds and everyone nods in agreement.

"You are the only one with a little intellect left in this council. I guess that is the only option left for us." Adriel states regretfully as an argument break out amongst his advisers.

PALACE OF ARWOS

King Edric walks with unsteady steps as he follows the guard leading the way to the top of the palace walls where they can witness the shocking scene outside the palace gates without obstruction.

King Tolis moves with grace beside his assistant, totally able to mask the worry in his heart with a frigid expression. King Edric on the other hand trembles with overwhelming fear. After King Adriel's failed attack on his kingdom, the man couldn't help but shiver at the news that a sea of refugees from the werewolf Kingdoms wait at his palace gates, their terrifying claims being that their packs were savagely attacked and completely run over by a dark army lead by a coven of witches.

King Edric was extremely alarmed when his guards woke him up quite early and gave him the appalling news.

"This . . . this cannot be true. Such an attack is improbable." He stutters in a hoarse voice.

"Come see for yourself, your Majesty." The guard urges picking up his pace.

"There are thousands of them. And we suspect that more will be arriving as the day goes by." He adds, finally reaching the palace battlement and pointing down at the sickening view of devasted men, women and children waiting camped out in the cold outside the walls of the city.

Many are barely dressed and some bear a few of their possessions that seem to have been grabbed in a hurry.

For several moments the king's are rendered speechless as they struggle to come to terms with the scene.

King Edric becomes the first to find his voice. "What does these wretched creatures want in my Kingdom? They only show up at my doors when they are plagued by fear and suffering!" He shouts angrily in a high pitched voice to be able to be heard over the series of coughs and apprehensive murmurs from the crowd below. "We should turn them back, show them the way to Lodz."

King Tolis shoots him a glare, realising that the man is even more unreasonable in the most dire of situations. "Stop your insanity! We must first ascertain the identity of the terror that attacked them. Don't you think that your kingdom may be next?"

Kind Edric visibly shakes. Then takes deep breaths to recompose himself before speak.

"Right. We will find out everything from them." He agrees.

"There is a man down there who claims to be their guide." The guard informs. "Shall I ask the soldiers at the gate to let him in?"

"Bring him into the palace. My great guests and I will have a meeting with him." King Edric orders and the guards dashes away.

* * * * *

In the palace meeting room a skanky man stands with his head slightly bowed

before the two kings and several other human and elvish officials.

"Your apparel looks noble though filthy. Where do you come from?" King Edric questions, his voice cold and demeaning.

"I am Prince Ardolf of Silver Moon Kingdom." The man answers throwing the king's into a state of disbelief.

"And what brought you and your people out of the forest and into human lands where you're clearly unwelcome?" Tolis poses his question.

"An onslaught by a mysterious army ravaged our lands, we are the only survivors. They attacked in the night one day ago, obliterating everything on their path. Our fortifications and formidable armies were ran over in a night, no hordes or weapon seemed to work on them. We barely escaped with our lives, my entire family is wiped out." The werewolf Prince reveals.

Vibrating clicks can be heard from King Edric's metallic decorations on his robes as he shudders with fear.

"You're the strongest species in all lands, how can your kingdom be ran over by a mysterious army in a night? Sounds to me like you didn't put up much of a fight." Tolis says despite his pounding heart

"Sir, the hordes who attacked us had enchanters within their ranks, their sorcery frustrated our counter attacks. I escaped from the front lines, I can confirm." The devastated Prince responds, magnifying the fear in the hearts of the men in the room.

All eyes turn to the elf King, regarding him with apparent sense of hope, like he has the answers they need to subdue the situation and ensure their safety.

But King Tolis affirms their biggest fears instead.

"Sounds like Lord Ordin's prophesy was undoubtedly right. The ancient evil King, Zedon, has returned." He says in a confident tone.

Everyone's mouth drops open and several gasps are heard.

The shaking from King Edric becomes louder and a couple of eyes in the room turn to look at him.

"Is it fear or cold that makes you tremble your highness?" Tolis taunts.

"I am infuriated your Majesty." King Edric lies with quavering lips.

"What shall we do?" One of the members of King Edric's council asks and everyone's attention return to Tolis.

This time he offers them the only way he believes their kingdoms can be saved. "We must turn every stone and swiftly reclaim the infamous blade. With it I believe this evil can be overcome. Time is of essence." He says and everyone nods in agreement.

"Where do we start?" Theo asks.

"We find out what your sister's elvish mother left behind." Tolis answers before turning to adress his assistant in a low tone.

"I need you to return back to Pearl City with my men and prepare our forces to protect the kingdom against any level of attack. We cannot guess where this evil will hit next." He orders and Lahore nod his head in understanding.