by Ian Carter
The man wore layers of brown and black, mostly obscured by a sort of leather overcoat. His heavy black boots were awash with red stains that matched the ones on the floor, and he tucked his faded black pants under his socks. A sheathed sword hung at the man's side, but the scabbard was more substantial than usual, preventing Kai from knowing if it was a Blade or just a standard sword. The man's faded brown leather hat obscured part of his face, intentionally obscuring Kai's view. Had Kai not been held captive at the moment, he would have been at awe at how pirate-like he appeared. A dark laugh emanated from his lips as he moved his chair back from the table and placed it before Kai. His deep blue eyes met Kai's.
"Welcome, Your Highness," the man's heavy and scratchy voice rang out as he swept his arms outward as to show off the room. "It is a true honor to meet a member of the exclusive royal family. You folks never leave the capital, so I doubted this moment would ever come."
"Now I know why that's a thing," Kai sarcastically replied. "Are you the one responsible for the children disappearing in Erkau?"
"I wonder, Your Highness. My name is Wolston, and you could call me somewhat of a lifetime criminal."
"I'd be lying if I said it was a pleasure," Kai said. "Enough sarcasm, where are the children?"
"Your Highness, how bold of you to assume I had anything to do with the children! I'm hurt! But I wouldn't fret about their situation, as I think yours is much, much worse," Wolston joked. "Don't worry about the dead lad, worry about the living."
◆◆◆
"Mason, what's going on?" Hayleigh asked as she ran into the City Post with Josiah right behind her. Her hair was slightly dishevelled, and Mason couldn't discern if it were from sleeping or not.
"Prince Kai was kidnapped from his room while I was here and you were on rest," he explained. "Somehow, the idiot City Guards posted around his room were so useless that they couldn't hear the prince of their kingdom get taken from right under their noses."
"How could you allow someone to take our prince!?" Josiah roared out across the room as the guards sank their heads in shame.
"And you, Josiah," Mason continued. "I'll make sure to have your head for this for raising such incompetent soldiers!"
"But Mason," Hayleigh let out, her voice shaken. "How did he get taken when there were half a dozen guards outside his room?"
"I'm guessing the window," Josiah answered from behind her. "All of the windows here are big enough for someone to get through in case of a fire."
"Great," Mason replied sarcastically. "If you had put as much thought into protecting the prince as you did when shacking up with Hayleigh, your guards may have been properly trained to be able to do something." Josiah couldn't say anything as he dropped his head as Hayleigh wrapped herself around his right arm and looked at Mason with a stern look on her face.
"It's not like he did it on purpose, Mason!" Hayleigh defended her fiancé. "We need to calm down and figure out what we're going to do to get Prince Kai back."
"Oh, I already know what we're doing," Mason shot back. "We're going into that mountain, and we're going to find the prince."
"Those mountain tunnels are an absolute maze," Josiah countered. "I know you're not going to like me saying this, but leave the tunnels to my guards and me. We know the rough layout of what we have explored so far, and I'm sorry, but you two would just slow us down." Josiah locked eyes with Mason and patted Hayleigh's arm. "You two should be at the mouth of the tunnel system. As we flush out the tunnels, the kidnappers may try to escape through the main entrance or another exit. If they do, you two are capable enough to guard outside yourselves, leaving as many of us to search as possible."
"You're mad!" Hayleigh yelled. "There's no way Mason and I aren't going in there to help you find him." Mason enthusiastically nodded to agree.
"Look, if we flush out the caves, odds are their leader or leadership group will be getting out of there with haste. They could be anywhere in there, and if the three of us disperse through the cave system, the odds of them slipping by raises considerably. If I just have my men guarding this entrance, they may not be able to stave off someone capable of running this operation. You two are a measure above even my best men, so this way makes the most sense to me.
"Besides," Josiah added dejectedly. "The ones who did this aren't run of the mill. To be able to sneak into the City Post with our current security is remarkable. They probably have a Stone that grants them invisibility. They will be skilled and tricky to deal with, so we need our best to be available to take on their best at the most likely exit."
"Stones that grant invisibility are incredibly rare," Mason said. "There must be less than a hundred in existence."
"Yes, and spotting the traces of distortion in the dark is impossible," Josiah concluded. "If you two stay out here, you have the best chances of taking them dead or alive. This setup is our best bet."
Mason and Hayleigh looked at each other, and they could each tell that the other one didn't like standing on the sidelines. Still, Josiah was the City Watchmen, and he knew the caves. They had to trust him.
"All right," Hayleigh finally answered. "We trust you, let's go."
"Speak for yourself," Mason quipped.
◆◆◆
"Wait ... the kids are dead?" Kai asked, shocked. "What did you do to them?"
"You are assuming some dangerous things about me, Your Highness," Wolston stoically responded before he launched into a deep belly laugh.
Kai froze in place. Wolston's laugh rang around inside Kai's head as he sorted through his realization. The stains on the floor and the cages weren't from animals as he had first guessed, but from humans. Kai instantly felt nauseous and vomited outside of his prison onto the floor, which led to more laughter from Wolston.
"Ha, that's a very human reaction, Your Highness," Wolston joked. "I see you're more of a normal human than a stoic superhuman like your father seems to be."
"Why would you take children?" Kai asked groggily. "How does taking kids help? The only thing that taking kids will get you is the entire city hunting you down. What sick pleasure do you get from this? How many more children do you need to murder before you're satisfied?"
"Ho, ho, I'm sorry, but I won't reveal that to you," Wolston began. "As confident as I am that you will die here, I'm not dumb enough to tell you anything that would get me or my associates in trouble." Wolston walked back to his chair and sat down before crossing his arms and his legs as well. "I'll throw you a bone, Your Highness. We aren't just your normal run of the mill villains. No, no! When I say that I'm a lifetime criminal, I mean it! How long do you think I've been doing this for?"
"I don't care."
"So harsh Your Highness! I guarantee that you will when you find out. I've been a thief and a scoundrel since I was barely a teenager of fourteen! In a few weeks, it'll be my one hundred and fourteenth birthday. My, how quickly one hundred years of thievery just flies by ..."
"What the hell do you mean, one hundred and fourteenth birthday? That's impossible. You are around forty at the oldest, stop making up stories."
"I assure you I'm not joking, Your Highness," Wolston sternly responded. "There is a definite method to our madness. Are you aware of the phrase 'too good to be true?' I know you're sheltered and all."
"Who do you take me for? Of course I have," Kai responded.
"Well, I found something too good to be true, except that it was!" A deep laugh left him again as he reached into his pocket to pull out a flask. "It's human nature to be greedy, no? I'm going to hang onto it and be greedy for the rest of my eternal life." Wolston took a deep hit from the flask.
"So, the kids are connected to your eternal life somehow? That must be it."
"I can neither confirm nor deny your theory, Your Highness. But you're free to spout your theories as long as you'd like." Another drink from the flask.
"But I'm not a child, why would you take me? If I'm correct, I don't help your situation. I would hardly consider myself a child un
less your math skills have seriously devolved over your long life," Kai asked with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
"You're correct. Bringing you here does nothing to satisfy my needs. I honestly couldn't pass up the chance to meet the Prince of Orilia himself. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity! Considering how long my life has been, that's quite the compliment." Wolston undid the cap to his flask and took another deep drink. With disgust, he threw the now empty container into a corner of the room. "Damn thing only holds three drinks. Ridiculous." Wolston again flashed his evil smile before he licked his lips.
"Look, Your Highness," his voice trailed off. "We all do what we can to stay alive and thrive in this crazy world. Some conform to the rules, and others rebel against them. Everything we do is to stay alive and keep going. But this ... you being here with me. You're here because I want you to be here. Not because I need you here."
At that moment, Kai's eyes met those of his captor. In contrast to earlier, Kai could see something different in Wolston's eyes. Whether it be from the fear or panic altering his vision, Wolston's eyes held neither light nor color now. They only held darkness.
"I'm afraid you've made a mistake, though," Kai countered. "If you think Erkau was panicking over the children, they will immediately storm and search every inch of these tunnels with every able-bodied man in the city. You had better kill me soon, or else the valiant men of my city will track you down and strike you where you stand."
"I wouldn't worry too much about that. The guards assigned to the watch outside your room were under my thumb. It's astonishing how quickly someone will turn on their core values if you promise them something as priceless as immortality, Your Highness. It should still be roughly another hour until they notice you are gone. When they finally realize what has happened, you'll be long gone, and we will have escaped the mountain through our hidden exit. Though I suppose that won't stop you from holding some kind of hope, and I hope that's true. Something about that makes it so delicious to me."
"Well, what are you waiting for then? Hurry up and kill me."
"Unfortunately, I cannot obey your order," Wolston sighed. "There is a due process at play that you couldn't comprehend even if you wanted to. Rest assured, you'll die soon enough."
"That makes no sense. You won't get a single thing out of me, or a single benefit from killing me either." A light bulb suddenly went off in Kai's head.
"You can't kill me because you're not the leader. You're waiting for approval of something of the sort. Don't tell me I've been wasting my final moments chatting with some loser of little consequence."
"A loser of little consequence, you say," Wolston said through his crooked teeth. "Let me tell you what the situation is, you little runt. No, I'm not the big bad I come off to be, but I am still very high up the ladder. I hold as much sway as someone in my position could hold, and when he gets here, I will ensure that he makes you suffer before you die. You will wish for the sweet release of death!"
"Oh, so your boss is a man then? Why don't you stop pretending I care about you and tell me about the real man in charge? Where is he from?" Kai asked. "He is from Nalon, isn't he?"
"I won't be telling you a lick of information about him! As our saviour, I would never do anything to betray him or the position he has given me. Besides, it's pointless to wonder. He could tell us he was a God for all we care! Let me tell you, boy. When a man comes along offering you eternal life, you do absolutely nothing unless he tells you to do it. That's the price for this gift, but one worth paying a hundred times over."
"You're from Orilia, are you not?" Kai spat. "How could you do something like this to your people? Each child pledges allegiance to the kingdom and its mandates at the age of ten. That means that you would have taken that same pledge. Breaking that pledge does not come with a light penalty, you scumbag." Wolston erupted in laughter at Kai's remarks, but the laughter slowly faded into more deep sighs as Wolston turned a sharp eye to Kai.
"I'm older than your old man, son. I took no such oath, do not lump me in with your other cattle. You can also bet the children suffered, Your Highness," Wolston said in a monotone. "I am many things: a thief, a killer, an abductor. I take glee and pleasure in murder and rape. Above all else, my favourite thing in this whole world is watching hope in a child's eye fade to black and the child begging to be put out of their misery. It is my deepest regret that I cannot do that to you in my normal time frame because of our lack of time. But I promise you I will take the utmost joy in peeling your skin from your flesh. Only after I know you have suffered a sufficient amount will you die, begging for the tip of your Blade to plunge through your nasal cavity."
Tension filled the air as Kai and Wolston left their eyes locked, both full of resentment towards the other. However, a knock at the door led to the woman sitting at the table to get up and investigate. She opened the door and another man nodded to the woman and motioned to Wolston.
"Sir, the men have finished eating the children and are loading the freight onto the carriages."
"You fool!" Wolston roared in anger.
"You eat ... you eat the children?" Kai stammered. "That means you must eat children to extend your life. You're a monster!"
Wolston snarled in anger and walked over to the man in the doorway, who quivered in fear. Wolston reached out and threw the man to the floor and viciously beat him. Multitudes of kicks and punches connected as blood from the man on the floor began to flow from his mouth and nose. Kai looked on in horror with his mouth agape at the scene in front of him.
"Oh, and don't worry Your Highness!" Wolston called out and turned to Kai. "He is immortal like me, so this won't kill him. Just teach him his place." Wolston landed one more kick to the man's stomach. He dusted off his arms and wiped his bloody knuckles onto his pants.
"Eating children doesn't make anyone young. Don't tell me that the man who runs your outfit—"
"Interrogation time is over, Your Highness!" Wolston bellowed as he grabbed the downed man by the collar. "I'll be dragging this disgrace to the carriages, and when I get back, be assured that you will feel just as much pain as this bastard just did."
Wolston motioned to the woman, and they dragged the bloodied man from the room and down the hall to the left.
As their footsteps trailed away, Kai felt around the cage and searched for where the cage was locked. His hand swept across each of the metal bars until he investigated all of them. Kai soon realized that the cage's lock had to be under its floor, and he reached down and searched each inch of the bottom ring of the cage, only to come up empty. It must have been less than an inch from his outstretched fingers.
Kai's heart and thoughts raced. What could he possibly do to get this cage open? Could he swing it side to side until the chain broke? Would that even work? As Kai contemplated, the wooden door creaked and vaguely moved, which caused him to pause and stare at the door. He dismissed the noise and returned to his thoughts, but soon after, a recognizable voice softly called out to him.
"Your Highness, are you okay?" The voice asked.
"Josiah?" Kai whispered as not to alert any suspicion. "Where the hell are you?"
"Right..." Josiah suddenly appeared before Kai's cage, holding Initiation in his hand. "I've brought your Blade. We need to get you out of here, Your Highness." With a small jab of his Silver Blade, Josiah broke the lock in two and Kai fell through the bottom of the cage. He deeply groaned before Josiah held out his hand to get Kai back to his feet. "Are you hurt, Your Highness?"
"My shoulders are a bit stiff from the cage, but I'm all right otherwise. Wolston is a crazy, crazy man, but he didn't hurt me."
"He didn't hurt you yet, you mean. I assume he likes to play too much with his food, then," Josiah joked as he held Initiation out to Kai and then hesitated. "I had my ear to the door and overheard your conversation with him. I had my fears regarding the children, but I am glad I managed to save you, Your Highness. We will need to leave immediately, so please take my Invisibility Stone
." Josiah plucked the solid black Stone from his Blade and held it out to Kai. "If things get dicey and I can't protect you, use that to hide from the cannibals and find one of the City Guard. They'll have studied the map, and they will guide you out of the mountain safely."
As Josiah plunked another Stone into his Blade, Kai ejected his deep blue Stone and dashed it away into his breast pocket. He gave it a brief examination before he clicked his new Stone into Initiation. A small ripple flowed through the Blade as if to welcome it. In the flicker of the nearby flame, the blue glow that had emanated from the dragons near the base of Initiation's handle shifted from blue to black to reflect its new ornament. Finally, with a Stone housed with an ability he knew, an extra bit of confidence filled Kai. Though he hoped he didn't have to use it, a small part of him did.