Traitor to the King

by Clare SM Keating

  “You don’t have to screech at me like I’m a child, I know full well how dangerous it will be, but you said it yourself that the king needs the stones. I couldn’t imagine a world without our beloved King Otzell around to keep us all from harm… he’s treated us like his own children after everything that’s happened and no one else would afford us that affection until you took down your first demon.” Damara snapped, suddenly feeling tears welling up inside her eyes for how much doubt her sister had in her. She also wondered if her sister really understood how dangerous the situation was and how much they needed their king. From Damara’s point of view Otzell was her grandfather, he was the wise one that had always been kind to her when she’d been brought to the ceremonies on her father’s back. He had ensured that no one had commented on her being an orphan and if not for his constant words of kindness presented by Yeruell, she would have become morbid and depressed even more at Jarl’s change in heart.

  “Don’t talk like I don’t understand the consequences… I have my duty to prepare the patrols for battle rather then to go off on a ridiculous search for something we have no proof over.” Anouk grunted before straightening herself up and grabbing a black scarf from the nearest set of drawers to cover her red hair in. It was an obvious sign she was going to go out for a walk and when she gave a whistle to the eager yellow Dreggs, it was obvious she was going to go to the kennels and do some training. But Damara continued to scowl towards her and just before she left the room, knowing she did not want to leave her sister on a bad note as she had done her father before his death, Anouk turned around and looked pitifully towards her baby sister. “Look, I love you very much Damara and I don’t want you to get into any kind of danger. If you could find someone else who has seen the stone in that area, then I would believe you and go out after it with my own squad… understand?”

  As she walked off Damara nodded her head but grit her teeth in frustration at her sister’s reactions. She did not want to leave the matter when she felt so sure and in many ways she assumed those last words were just to placate her. However, Damara knew that she could put this theory to the test and that there was one person she could look to who might be able to answer the question. Insistently she called her sister back and with a grunt Anouk returned to view only to grimace at Damara’s new suggestion.

  “Can I take the Dreggling to Karayan? After-all I’m feeling much better and you know he’s probably worried about how I’ve been doing and he did save me.”

  Thanks to Karani and Talon agreeing to go with her and carry the fat bubble-blowing mahogany brown baby across the pathways to the Karayan’s home, Damara had managed to leave the household. It was the day in which he was able to encourage people to take stuff from the building that had no meaning to him and the trio watched in surprise as even a few lords were stepping inside to collect expensive items. The Karayan had simply put everything he wanted in three rooms, his and his two assistants’ as well as anything the pair of them felt was needed. Practically everything outside the kitchen and bathroom were being removed and he was sitting in the middle of a blank floor with a glass of the mineral milk and what might have been a grimace on his masked face.

  “May Nabuto’s light shine on you, good day Lord Karayan.” Talon called out calmly as he brought the two young girls and the fat reptile into the room. The servants were busy rushing about screeching in upset over the removal of items but Karayan was telling them to take things too. It was another ridiculous situation brought about by the stranger’s odd manners, but Damara found herself laughing over it all and the sudden wide eyes of the stranger as they looked at the creature in Talon’s arms. When Talon noticed he put the fat reptile on the floor where it gave a curious sound before galloping straight into Karayan’s lap.

  “Awe… he likes you! Anouk always says if the Dreggling comes to you then their loyalty is eternal… so what are you going to name him?” Karani beamed in delight as the fat little creature waddled about along Karayan’s lap, his striped tongue lolling out of his mouth and his nostrils squirting globs of snot onto the large deep brown robes of the stranger. Karayan however stared out at the trio, trying to ignore the creature on his lap, with an expression of disbelief as if he were fed up of them. It was obvious though that his displeasure was more for the fact that they had once again leapt into his household without him having the option to say, ‘go away’ and without his permission had just deposited a pet upon his lap. With a groan he lifted one of his gloved hands and patted the creature’s head, only for his small black eyes to swirl with a golden liquid that made Damara squeak.

  “Oh dear… when Anouk learns you’ve got a Golden Eye she’ll hit the roof. She was only going to retire old Slobber when he fathered one and now it’s yours as the rules of the society dictate… still… what are you going to name him?” She stated with a vivid smile of affection towards the stranger and Karayan rolled his eyes in frustration. He really could not deal with another creature snooping about his living quarters, it was bad enough with the servants and with Droy and Martum, but he could not refuse a gift from Anouk. “Make sure it’s a good name, after-all everyone laughs when Anouk introduces Slobber in the ring!”

  “Ring? You fight them?” The sudden bark of disbelief from the Karayan made the little creature jump and slap its long tongue about in frustration. Its concern urged Karayan to stroke its back gently and he regretted accepting its need for affection, but his companions look confused. They could not understand why he could be upset over such an animal involved in a sport when it was something maintained in every culture. The Karayan snorted at them and gently pulled the little lizard close against him as if protecting it from their plans on the future. “I do not believe you should force any animal to fight for entertainment… I do not even believe in eating them or what they produce.”

  “Oh.” Karani produced the noise but almost from disbelief then feeling concerned about the matter. She was not focusing on the thought of the Dregg Fighting but rather the statement that the Karayan was in fact a vegetarian. Somehow, as she looked at the figure, she could not quite believe that someone so massive and terrifying that bore claws and goodness knows what beneath his mask, could not eat meat. She tried to figure out a way to state her confusion but instead found her eyes locked upon the glass of mineral milk in his hand that was untouched. “If you don’t… then why do you have the mineral milk?”

  “Manners and acceptance of unfamiliar cultures is a very different matter. I was told that as a lord I must drink some of the first batch of the season in respect to those that gather the mineral and tend the cattle. I will only do it for that sake… and even then, I’m still worried that this cocktail is poisonous to non-Deep elves.” He grunted in frustration as he put the lilac coloured liquid back down on the floor with a growl. He looked toward the curious colouration of the cocktail and then towards the curious skin tones of the Deep Elves themselves and pondered if it might just be related, after-all his own tan skin was turning pale within the shadows of the caves. “Why do you fight your Dreggs then?”

  “It’s not to the death… it’s part of the breeding ritual – female Dreggs won’t breed unless their partner is proven as the greatest fighter, so each noble family owns the big brown male Dreggs and present them to all the females that have started to sing for breeding partners. If the female shows interest in more then one then the males are permitted to fight… it’s not a bloody situation at all, all they do is wrestle until one is on the ground beneath the other. It’s as natural as we can allow it when we need the Dreggs present to protect our boarders.” Talon snorted in frustration and shook his head angrily. “Next you’ll be assuming we castrate or execute them when they’re too old or their sickly!”

  “Forgive me… but I still do not quite understand it.” The Karayan stated and more conversation continued over the subject until their heads started to spin. All around them the variety of people within the underground kingdom came back and forth to collect things of var
ied worth or interest. For some it was the opportunity to own something valuable, for others the chance to sell something and make money or pass it on as a gift, but most of the people that came as Karayan had hoped, were people working at the orphanage to collect furniture they could give to the children. The bedding material and some clothing Karayan could not guarantee was suitable had been burnt and he had ensured the servants were specific in what they gave to the kind ladies that stepped in covered up in blue robes and hoods to collect.

  Talon watched them go back and forth and the moment he recognised one of the younger and more delicate looking beings to be Annaballa, he hopped up and insisted he had to help her out. Although it was considered rude to just abandon a conversation as he had, when the others noticed he was helping to carry a table they refused to comment. Instead Karani then got herself up and shuffled over to assist carrying a few more things that Annaballa and two other women from the order could not carry all on their own. Damara watched almost wanting to help as well until she recalled that she was not fully recovered just yet. As she grimaced watching them, the Karayan suddenly lifted the little Dreggling and stared at it curiously.

  “I’d call him Cuddles… but that wouldn’t be an appropriate name for a wrestler, just kind of funny. Maybe you should call him Crusher or Kigat… that’s a type of smooth brown coloured stone we see in river beds. That suits.” Damara chuckled as the little creature gave a few funny gurgling reptile sounds of pleasure as he was sat on his back and had his rotund belly scales itched gently by Karayan’s claws. Damara watched with amusement the casual and familiar manner the Karayan showed, as if he’d owned a Dregg before or perhaps had owned a dog. Once again, she was reminded of her thought when he had been with the children and though she could not bring herself to say it, she had an idea though that the Karayan was still in love with someone and with a nervous gesture she questioned his mouth. “So… what’s the truth behind your mask?”

  “Beneath my mask is a strange kind of black tattoo over my lips, like extra tusks or fangs painted into the flesh to make me appear more threatening. Where I came from, it was a tradition and yet when I was cursed, it did something else to my mouth that means all who are touched by my breath seem to just die. I do not understand it, but I do not want to bring harm to anyone here so I will remain wearing the mask. Is that enough for you?” Karayan stated as he continued to tickle the Dreggling and Damara’s eyes were widened in shock over his words. He could only imagine what she assumed to be beneath the mask and though he did not have a beak as Droy had once asked, his tattoo was not the only terrifying feature of his jaw, though he would not tell her any more.

  Damara then gently reached a hand to tickle at the little monster’s belly, nodding her head in agreement to Karayan that she did not need to know more. Somehow the thought of the tattoos reminded her of the books about demons in the Orcreich and those human imitations created by the demons that lived savage wild lives on the coast, their dream to rip Nabuto from the sky to own him. She felt her head lowering and her jaw clamping as she became uncomfortable with the idea that her friend might have been made to look like such a being purely to make people hate him. The reason for is curse bothered her greatly, Karayan had never produced one but he had been to so many places and told her so much about the world already, so Damara decided to ask him finally about the stones.

  When she asked him what they looked like and whether he had learnt anything more about them, the Karayan simply shrugged his shoulders. He could not describe them to her or whether he had possibly seen something similar within his life time, but could tell that she was thinking something important. Karayan did not know Damara as well as he might hope in this place, there were a lot of reasons socialising was different then it was on the surface if only because of position and fear. Of all the beings within this land she was the most fearless around him and somehow, she was able to trust him where no one else was willing or happy to and he appreciated that. As he lifted the little Dreggling again and cuddled it gently he passed the creature over to her, so she could hold it as he stood himself up.

  Strolling towards the nearby bookshelf that thankfully had not been emptied; the Karayan pulled out a tattered and ancient piece of scrap and stepped back to her side. Settling back down on the floor on his knees, the great being opened the crumbling pages until he found the description of the stones within the old book. Damara was startled by the book, never seeing such a thing before but recognising the name of the author as one of the Royal Secretaries of the Togoll family, but she did not recall the first name as any of the members alive today or spoken of in history. From staring into the pages and looking at the nearly hand-written pages herself, let alone the curious musty smell of the paper, Damara could only imagine that this book had been exposed to the surface at one point and possibly confiscated. She did not want to ask anything about it, knowing that Karayan would hardly know anything himself, but she focused her eyes upon the writing that was in Deep Elf script, something illegible to any non-Elf.

  Upon the page was a curious and crude sketch of the basic stone, a large naturally crystal shaped object with ragged edges as if it had literally been pulled from a groove in the earth. It had some slight squiggle upon the centre of it but that alone was the sign there was any kind of unique ability to the image. However, the notes upon the page were far more fascinating and Damara’s eyes widened in excitement to see a more thorough description of the stones that made her own thoughts even more astounding. It stated plainly that each stone was slightly like a crystal in its overall pallid cloudy colourisation with the edge of colour about it, the size of a head but unusually light in weight. It was said it could be wrapped up in swaddling and appear like a baby for when separated from its fellows, the stone turns from a crystal to something more like soapstone. It was a curious image to come to mind but beside it was more notes on how only a full demon could touch it, that even an Archdemon needed to possess a body in order to touch it. The stones shone light and truth onto their holder, so all demons would be burnt and forced to drop it and all cursed beings would be cured. There was nothing more to the page, but it was shocking enough, and Damara looked up to Karayan with wide eyes of fascination and delight for the information he had shared with her.

  “This is it… this is just what I needed to know!” Damara stated and the Karayan screwed his face in frustration. He was not sure what was going on with her, but he felt suddenly concerned and steadily he stretched out a hand to touch her shoulder in reassurance. He could tell by the excitement in her tone as well as the unequivocal determination in her eyes that there was a reason she’d come to visit him. He could not tell whether it was because she wanted him to know that she was indeed safe after what had happened or that she wanted to be around some kind of friend, but he wondered if her sister had something to do with this need to prove herself.

  Yet the moment they touched Damara’s eyes shot upward and locked firmly onto his. For a second he was able to read something strange within her eyes and then he realised that something was very wrong with her indeed. Damara’s blue eyes seemed to be swallowed by the light of the Karayan’s yellowed orbs as they seemed to swirl with blood red lines and stretched out to meet her, as if she were staring at the Hive Demon again. Suddenly the pair of them appeared to vibrate together as if they were being grabbed by some spell and violently shaken about by the demons that must still be connected to her. As Damara opened her mouth to scream but could barely force breath out of her lungs, the Karayan shot his other arm out to grab her and held her firmly in his gaze, pushing her down to ground her in reality.

  “Cut them out Little One… imagine the pain being pushed out of you and aim it for me….” The Karayan growled at her, making the people walking past freeze in surprise. They were watching the situation with whimpers of concern and then they began to rush off in search of Talon and the others like Molwesa to give them some assistance in the matter. They were not sure if the Karayan was killing D
amara or if he was trying to help her fight. Damara could hear him, barely and when she heard him she tried to relax her body and copy the techniques she’d learnt in the academy to see the dark energy leave her, although she did not want it to go into the Karayan.

  He remained holding her tightly and staring deeply into her eyes as if he were cutting away into her very mind. Karayan could feel the darkness bubbling up within Damara’s delicate aura and though the other beings scampering around the household could not see such a thing, the stranger could. The foreigner could see a massive black bubble forcing its way up Damara’s throat, trying to push itself backward into her and avoid him. The moment it wheezed its way past her little pink tongue, she gave a sudden gasp and began to breathe more freely with her body no longer shaking. Karayan held her steady with one hand as he used the other to lift his mask slightly. Damara was able to blink her eyes gently for a moment, but in that moment she was sure she witnessed a great forked tongue slap out from under the mask to taste the air like a snake, unaware that the black bubble had come from her and been burst.

  The moment Karayan felt it pop, he lowered his mask again and suddenly he found his head aching and his jaw trembling. He could not allow anyone to see what was about to happen to him but he had to fight it back, so he could help Damara out. Swiftly he straightened his body and hooked her limp form into his arms, wobbling and grunting breath as he carried her towards the bedroom, Karayan wanted to scream for help. However, he would not call out and instead he was able to get the door open to the clustered piles of items he wished to keep and hobbled to the bed. He dropped Damara onto it and was able to pull the blanket over her moaning form before he collapsed upon the floor. Damara’s eyes flickered slightly again as she felt something like a roar vibrate the air, but there was no noise to it and she was sure in that brief moment she’d seen a shadow upon the wall turn into some kind of creature with horns and wings she’d never seen before… but perhaps it was another hallucination.