Starfall (The Fables of Chaos Book 1)

by Jackson Simiana

  Wesley smirked as he watched his father’s life slip away before him, eventually letting out a small chuckle of relief. He clapped his hands together, looking at Sen Dorval gleefully.

  “Well done, Dorval. That was glorious. Simply glorious,” Wesley commended.

  His tone was the opposite of how a son should sound after seeing his father die so brutally. Yet Wesley was no ordinary son. Isec had always known this.

  But he never could have imagined Wesley going so far as to kill Tobius.

  What the fuck is happening? Isec could not take in a strong enough breath of air.

  Wesley Seynard bent down to pick up the bronze crown that had fallen from Tobius’s head. It was sitting in a rapidly growing pool of blood, but Wesley did not seem to care one bit.

  He placed the dripping crown atop his brown locks with an eager smile before nodding appreciatively to Sen Dorval. The gesture was beyond macabre.

  Then, the two maniacs before Isec turned to face him, the only other person with them in the throne room. Isec felt panic welling up in his stomach, but he knew that running meant certain death.

  What was going to happen to him?

  He quickly tried remembering where his weapon was against his side, where the nearest exit was, and where he could go if he did indeed need to run.

  “Now, what to do with you,” Wesley queried, a thick drop of his father’s thick blood slopping down his cheek.

  Isec wanted to beg for his life. He felt the urge to fall to his knees, to claim he had seen nothing, that he would say nothing.

  Yet, the captain of the city watch stood tall and true as he always did, maintaining eye contact and anxiously waiting to hear what Wesley had to say before he decided how to react.

  Wesley tapped his chin, looking at Batir judgingly.

  “Batir, get the guard and advisors in here at once. The king… the king has had a terrible accident.”

  Isec gulped. “An… an accident?”

  Wesley nodded. “King Tobius climbed atop his throne in a drunken stupor, proclaiming his power to us, before slipping and impaling himself upon the backboard. A horrific tragedy, if I do say so myself.”

  Isec felt sweat running down his face as he tried to make sense of what was happening.

  “You don’t actually expect people to believe such nonsense, do you?”

  “We have witnesses! Myself, Prince Wesley. The king’s own bodyguard, and the captain of the city watch! Can’t get more reliable testimony than that, can we?”

  Wesley looked to Sen Dorval, still hovering by his side like a lumbering beast. The soldier tilted his head only once, acknowledging Wesley’s comments without uttering a word.

  “The king was prone to drinking too much, we all knew that,” Wesley added.

  “But my prince, you can’t-”

  “Uh, uh, uh. ‘My king’,” Wesley corrected.

  Isec wiped the sweat from his forehead, considering each and every variable in his current predicament.

  The prince. A king killer. Moon Mother, protect me.

  As if he had read his mind, Wesley shook his head. “You have no options here, Batir. You will do as I command, or Dorval will cut you down as well.”

  The brute lumbered forward with clenched fists and huffing deeply from underneath his helmet in anticipation for another murder to commit.

  Isec held an open hand out, signalling for him to stop where he was. His head was pounding, his heart was racing, his chest was aching.

  Isec was out of choices.

  “I will do as you command,” Isec muttered. He could not believe what he was saying.

  Wesley grinned. “Wonderful.”

  Isec did not want to die. That was all he knew. He would serve no good by dying in the throne room.

  As Wesley ordered Isec to bring in his guard and the king’s advisors to the throne room, Isec’s world stirred into a blur. He felt as though his free will had suddenly been snatched away. A mirror had been held up to Isec and he had failed Tobius, the kingdom, and himself in the moment when he was needed the most.

  Oren Harrin and Hart Moralis entered the throne room before the guards even arrived after hearing Isec’s calls for help. The royal advisors shared expressions of horror and audible gasps upon seeing the king’s motionless, slumped body impaled upon the throne.

  “Get him down! Quickly, before he is seen in this state!” Oren Harrin barked, shuffling forward towards the throne with pointed fingers.

  Harrin appeared to be more worried about the king’s reputation than the king’s death.

  Hart Moralis floated in, dressed in black robes as usual, looking more wraith-like than human. He simply stared at the scene; Isec was sure that his reaction to the deceased king was, at least, somewhat genuine.

  Sen Dorval did as the advisor ordered, lifting Tobius’s limp body from the top of the spear-shaped backboard of the throne. His body made a sickening squelch as he was released, the two near-cleaved halves flopping about, followed by a mass of slimy entrails and slick blood falling from the cavity ripped through his abdomen.

  Wesley feigned shock by forcing himself to cry and cover his mouth with his hands as the king’s bodyguard dropped his body to the floor. Isec could see straight through the act he was putting on, but it appeared genuine enough that the advisors were believing him.

  Oren Harrin, known for his focus on detail, demanded an explanation of what had happened. His shock manifested into a booming voice and a desire to understand the circumstances.

  Hart Moralis, on the other hand, remained quiet. He was just as taken aback as Isec, despite not knowing the real truth.

  A procession of guards and city watch entered the throne room seconds later, establishing an organised perimeter and ensuring no one else would enter at that time, just as they had been trained with situations like this.

  Isec was asked by Oren Harrin as to how the king had managed to impale himself. He glared at Wesley, seeing the threatening gaze in the prince’s eyes.

  Isec gulped and regurgitated the story Wesley had implanted in his head, fearful of the repercussions of saying anything other than what he had been told to say.

  Officials moved in and out of the room. The True Luminance was brought in to bless the body.

  Even he was horrified by the sight.

  “My king, what have you done to yourself?” the True Luminance muttered as he knelt by the pale body before whispering a prayer to the Moon Mother.

  Most did their duties. Some wept. Some whispered. Almost all were horrified.

  It was a bizarre sight- the king, taking his own life in such a freak accident.

  Oren Harrin recorded details in one of his many record books in a frenzy of words. His trembling hand scribbled across the paper, determined to write down every important fact he could get.

  Wesley was escorted to his quarters by Sen Dorval for both his protection and to spare him any further hardship. He glared one last time at Isec, a stare that not only made sure Isec was going to stick to what he had been ordered to say, but a warning of what would come if he did not.

  Isec felt the walls crumble around him. Fear took over. A deep, insidious fear. Fear of death, fear of what the maniacal Wesley would do to him if he spoke up.

  The court believed Wesley without a spot of doubt, it seemed.

  King Tobius was dead. A tragic, drunken fall.

  No one could see through the charade of tears. No one but Isec.

  Chapter 45 - The Light and the Dark

  Katryna Bower sat proper at the table in the dining hall where she had reunited with much of her family almost a week previous, as House Bower’s council entered.

  Daylight flooded in through the drawn curtains of the floor-to-ceiling arched windows, allowing a cascade of colour to shimmer across the room’s modest décor.

  “Please, be seated,” Katryna said, offering an open hand to the seats around the long Efferven pinewood table.

  Immediately after the attack at Stonesilt Harbour by
the monstrous hunchback that had lumbered from the steaming ocean, Katryna ordered the formation of an emergency council to bring peace and security back to Ravenrock.

  The people were scared.

  With the king and queen dead, Prince Finnigan badly wounded, Prince Rowan on the run, and the threat of assassins and monsters, Katryna felt it was her duty to do something about the dangers that Camridia was facing.

  The kingdom had no single ruler anymore.

  Ser Arthus Medonia sat by Katryna’s side having changed out of his bloodied clothing and armour. He nodded to Katryna with an expression of pride, clearly grateful that they were both still breathing.

  A physician had applied some dressings to the High Sword’s head after sustaining some minor injuries from the explosions of debris during the attack. The cloth was already beginning to get splotchy with red stains.

  With the High Sword was Ser Daren Wood, the commander of Ravenrock’s garrison and one of the soldiers lucky enough to survive the fight against the hunchback. He was young, perhaps a few years older than Katryna, with a chiselled jawline and a shaved head. His face was still dirtied from the fight, having not had a chance to clean.

  Katryna had not yet officially met him but had requested that Arthus find and bring him to their council. Any man willing to risk his life to save others and protect his city was a man she was willing to trust.

  “It’s good to meet you, my lady,” Daren said, bowing his head.

  “Shame it isn’t under better circumstances, but nonetheless I am grateful to meet you too. Please, have a seat.”

  Jerrem Denar entered the dining hall shortly after.

  “Princess, I am so very glad you are alright. I was so worried for your well-being after such a horrific event,” said Jerrem Denar as he shuffled to his seat, huffing, and groaning in his old age.

  “It’s for that reason I have called us all here,” Katryna said. “I believe we need a ruling body to not only help lead House Bower and our city, but also to prepare for the road ahead until my brother has awoken and is capable of ruling, that is.”

  Katryna made sure to make her true intent known. She did not want to take her brother’s rightful place upon the throne; she had no such interest and felt warmly about Finn’s potential as king of Camridia.

  What she wanted was to maintain order and figure out what was happening to their kingdom and capital.

  “There seems to be more and more danger arising with each passing day,” Katryna continued. “We must prepare now for any future events; be they monsters or madmen, until we figure out what is happening.”

  “An admirable objective, my lady,” Arthus said with a supportive thump of his fist against the sturdy tabletop.

  Daren Wood lent forward and spoke. “Ravenrock is currently secure. I have the soldiers helping the city guard to aid those affected by the attack at the harbour.”

  “The people are coming together to accommodate those made homeless in the attack. I have some of my best physicians taking care of the critically injured,” Jerrem said.

  “Very good,” Katryna said. “Do we know how many people were lost?”

  “Current estimates point to twenty fatalities, many dozens more wounded, my lady,” Arthus said, reading from a rolled piece of parchment.

  Katryna bowed her head solemnly. It was a hard thing to hear, especially having witnessed it firsthand. Twenty people killed.

  Could we have done more? Could I have saved more?

  “Do we know what that… thing was?” Katryna said.

  Her three councillors shared uncertain glances between them, shaking their heads and shrugging.

  “I’ve never seen anything like it,” Arthus said.

  “Nor have I, or my men,” Daren added.

  “Jerrem, I’d like for you to find me the top minds in the city to study the creature’s corpse once the area is safe and the people have been cleared. We need to know what we are dealing with,” Katryna said.

  “Actually, my lady,” Jerrem began. He turned around in his seat before clapping to signal for a servant to enter.

  A young boy came into the dining hall with a letter, handing it to the old physician before promptly leaving.

  “I received this letter several days ago by messenger hawk from King Ulmer of the Broken Coast. Given the events these last few days that have kept us rather preoccupied, I did not see its relevance until now.”

  Katryna appeared intrigued, her eyes fixating on the broken seal of the letter.

  “What does it say?”

  Jerrem read the letter out to the councillors in his dull, monotone voice. It was written by a one of Ulmer Stoneheart’s scribes from Shadowshore.

  The letter had apparently been sent to every capital and contained detailed reports of not only the events of the ongoing invasion along the northern coastline by the Akurai Empire, but also descriptions of an attack at the Grand Repository, where the Magister’s Imperium were located.

  Other strange writings mentioned “unnatural assaults” upon not only the Broken Coast, but the other northern kingdoms.

  Fishermen claiming the sea turned to blood, and that those who fell overboard were pulled beneath the waves by “ghostly hands”.

  Villagers fleeing their homes after vicious attacks by creatures unfamiliar to all. “Monsters”, they wrote.

  Deadly rainfalls of rock, fire, and ice.

  It was unbelievable. Without the attack by the giant hunchback on their city, anyone would have found such writing preposterous. However, Katryna realised that the strange attack may not be an isolated incident after all.

  “Write back to the Stonehearts and the other royal families at once. Tell them what occurred in Ravenrock today,” Katryna ordered. “It seems we aren’t alone in this.”

  “Is that supposed to comfort us?” Daren Wood said sarcastically.

  Katryna smirked, brushing her hair back behind her ears as if to accentuate her bright smile.

  She turned her attention back to the attack and how the Emberian ship in the bay had fired some form of projectile at the giant to kill it.

  “And do we have an explanation on the Emberian ship?” Katryna asked Ser Arthus.

  The High Sword nodded. “The vessel belonged to the two diplomats from Aurora, my lady. They were exiting the harbour, under your orders, when the attack occurred.”

  “They saved the city.”

  “And probably our lives,” Arthus added.

  Katryna regretted sending J’rillo N’va and Siah R’no, the two diplomats, away, despite their reasons for being in Ravenrock. Her words and actions may have harmed Camridia’s relations with Ember permanently; something she did not want to admit, yet could not deny.

  In spite of their last heated meeting in the throne room, the Emberians had killed the monstrous hunchback when no one else could.

  “The weapon they used…?” Katryna began, drifting off from still being shaken by the event, and unable to describe what she had witnessed.

  “I have only heard rumours about it, my lady,” Arthus said. “It is a chemical called blast powder; an Emberian technology involving using a controlled explosion to launch iron projectiles at great speeds and distance.”

  “Fascinating,” Jerrem gasped with intrigue.

  “Sounds dangerous,” Daren said cautiously.

  “It is,” Katryna responded. “It took out that behemoth in just a few strikes. They could have levelled the block with such a weapon if they wanted to.”

  “A show of strength, I wonder?”

  “Let us not be too quick to jump to conclusion,” Arthus warned. “They made it clear by only firing three shots that it was to help kill the creature.”

  “That is true. They could have caused a lot more destruction,” Katryna said. “Nonetheless, it is something we must keep in mind.”

  “What do you propose?”

  Katryna rubbed her chin. She suddenly recalled the conversation she had had with her Aunt Risha days earlier when they ha
d eaten breakfast together, back before everything had fallen into chaos.

  Aunt Risha had told her all about the food in Ember and how diverse and different it was compared to Camridia.

  “Perhaps we can travel together to Ember, when all this is over. I would love to see the capital and the red deserts again.”

  She could practically hear her aunt’s comforting voice and the excitement in her words at the prospect of travelling together.

  A dream that had all but been shattered.

  “We have many affairs with the Emberians which need straightening out,” Katryna said, standing up from her chair to call an end to their meeting. “When Finn has awoken, I will go to Aurora. I will meet with Queen Virala and sort out this whole mess. My mess.”

  Arthus launched from his seat unexpectedly. “My lady, is that a good idea after your… address with the diplomats?”

  “Right now,” Katryna responded, “I think we need allies. Camridia and House Bower are vulnerable. The king and queen are dead. We do not know where Rowan is or what he is planning. Finn is badly hurt, and our city came under attack from an unknown force. I screwed up with Ember, I did. I have potentially given us a dangerous enemy. It is my duty to fix this.”

  It was a bold move, but one she felt deep within herself was the right thing to do.

  “So… you will be staying with us, then? You are staying in Ravenrock?” Arthus said with a cheerful smile, recalling that she had previously intended on leaving her home.

  “I will for now… but don’t get used to it,” Katryna replied half-seriously.

  Both Arthus and Jerrem seemed most pleased with her response.

  ※

  Katryna took her time descending the stone steps to the Bower Castle dungeon beneath ground-level, using her lit torch to guide her through the gloom. In her other hand was the handle to a heavy bucket of water. Her shoes splashed in the dirty puddles of collected water across the floor and a dripping sound echoed down the single long, eerie corridor.

  Several matted rats with long tails ran between her feet squeaking as she walked.