Dumon's expression turned grim as he listened to the tale, it was far worse than he expected. "I can inform parties that would be interested in such information; Nathaniel has a growing list of enemies due to his intentions," he stated, but followed up with a sigh, "that doesn't help you right now, though."
"What do you mean?"
"While you were undoubtedly lied to and I wholeheartedly agree with your choice to back away, you still refused to carry out your orders and insubordination is not taken lightly," Dumon warned the young mage. Nathaniel knew full well that his target was a demon settlement; the plan had only been broken by Amnur spotting the young child. Amnur froze, that was something he hadn't thought about, potential punishment. "Do you have any idea how you're going to contend with that?"
Amnur tried to respond when a knock on the door drew their attention. With a gasp, his eyes darted to Dumon. The healer took a deep breath and approached the door, his hands shaking as he unlocked the door and opened it up a crack.
"Did you get injured on your very first assignment Amnur? Oh dear," Nathaniel teased, making the mage shudder. "Come, let's recount the details in private."
The demon wished nothing more than to run and hide, but it was impossible. Amnur stepped forward, and Nathaniel put a solid, powerful arm around his shoulders. Seeing no other option, he simply gave Dumon a silent plead as he departed.
Dumon stared in horror as they departed, he had to do something to try and save Amnur from too much harm. He searched underneath a cloth for a glass orb, feeling the warmth of mana tingle his fingers when he located it. A magical relay orb, designed for communicating with others who possess a similarly linked one. Sounds reverberated around the healer's mind; evidently, his target on the other end had noticed his presence. "Listen to me closely; Nathaniel has made a move, in a different manner than we expected. Amnur's been caught up, and he's in grave danger, but we're too late to stop whatever happens to him now. I just hope that Nathaniel intends to keep him in service, rather than killing him and finding a replacement to do the same."
"I'll come down and meet with you. If Amnur survives this, he'll appreciate knowing he has allies," the voice on the other side replied, cutting the transmission dead as they stepped away. Satisfied but still wary, Dumon hid the orb and set out to prepare himself for possible surgery.
* * *
Amnur struggled to steady his breathing as Nathaniel marched him on. The King's smug expression was failing to calm his nerves. He believed that Amnur had carried out the task, trying to convince him that it was so was going to be difficult. With the brisk pace being led by Nathaniel, he soon found himself once again at the ornate doors that lead to the audience chamber. A sweeping gesture knocked him inside the room, once entry had been granted. Amnur glanced around the room, but to his relief, there was no one else there. It would be harder to lie to two individuals, assuming they were of similar minds.
"Why don't you take a seat on the throne while you recount the details?" Nathaniel spoke with a wry smile, gesturing to the carved seat. The mage gulped, being sat down would require him to have to keep his head craned upward, keeping eye contact. Whether it was intentional or it was just Nathaniel being overly prideful in his Court Mage, he was unsure, but Amnur was certainly uncomfortable. Either way, he had to oblige, refusing the request would be suspect. Taking a deep breath, he settled down on the cool stone.
"Well?" the King teased.
"I followed the directions that one of the gate guards had given me and ended up at the landmark they had mentioned; a distinctive tree," Amnur spoke, pausing for breath and to measure his response. Nathaniel's expression remained cheery, pleased that he had located the place successfully. "When I arrived, there was no one around. I did however easily spot the encampment, to which I set it alight with a barrage of furious flames." That second half had sounded better in his head, he had to admit. Still, he desperately hoped that it was convincing enough.
"Anything else?" Nathaniel queried, catching Amnur off guard.
"Well, I did manage to graze myself by accident after being startled and colliding with a tree," he stated with false embarrassment, hoping to give a legitimate reason for why he was visiting Dumon. "I'm not overly confident with the outside just yet." That remark earned a chuckle from Nathaniel, which calmed his nerves a pinch.
The conversation went silent. Nathaniel didn't come up with another question, or even a statement. He did, however, appear to be thinking, perhaps to give him another assignment; though that thought filled him with just as much dread. Without a word, the King came up and placed a hand on his shoulder, holding on with an uncomfortably firm grip. He was facing away, leaving Amnur unable to see his facial expression.
"You know," Nathaniel started, tightening his grip on the mage's shoulder, "I don't appreciate being lied to." Amnur froze, biting his tongue as he felt the King turning towards him, his crimson eyes drilling into him. "I know when someone's lying to me, and you were doing a pitiful job of hiding it," the King said, a growl emanating from his throat. His grip was starting to become painful as he dug his fingers into Amnur's shoulders.
"What did you expect me to do? That was a demon village, there were no angels in sight," Amnur spat, cringing at the pain radiating out from his shoulder.
Nathaniel laughed at the comment, making Amnur wish he could shrink into the chair. "Details," he replied, "what I expect you to do is follow your orders. Evidently, that's difficult for you, so I guess I'm going to have to teach you a lesson."
Before Amnur had time to respond, he felt himself being hoisted from the chair, still only being held onto by the shoulder. The hand moved down to the arm and threw him to the floor, before being lifted back level. Nathaniel was escorting him out of the room and out of the castle. Amnur knew exactly where he was headed, but he didn't know how to stop it.
They arrived back at the target village, where Amnur was forcibly dumped on the floor. He raised his head, sore from the aggressive handling. Nathaniel marched up to the huts, banging on the door of the nearest one. A demon wearily answered it, only to be met with a flash of the King's obsidian blade, before being thrown down to the ground below. Amnur stared in horror as the body slammed against the floor, blood seeping onto the grass. Nathaniel went through the occupants one by one, cutting them down regardless of their age and Amnur felt unable to stop his rampage.
Moans arose from the downed demons, making Amnur realise that Nathaniel wasn't outright killing the villagers; he was leaving them to die an agonising death. "If you want to end their suffering, you'll have to do that with your own hands," the King remarked, pausing for a moment to observe the mage's reaction. "Otherwise just leave them. They'll die in a few hours, maybe a day maximum."
Amnur sat still, unable to respond to the cruelness of the words being uttered. Cries of pain arose around him, clawing at his mind. He could end this, swiftly and with less pain than they're experiencing now but then their blood would be on his hands. Bellowing laughter broke his thoughts as Nathaniel finished off the rest of the village, leaving a trail of bodies. With tears streaming down his face, Amnur approached the first demon and placed his hands over his heart.
"I'm so, so sorry. I didn’t know this would happen,” he sobbed, directing a concentrated burst of mana at the demon’s heart, rendering it useless. The demon’s pulse faded instantly, and the body went still. His suffering had ended.
Amnur went around the demons one by one and repeated the procedure, ending their lives. In his distraught state, he failed to notice that Nathaniel had finished and was stood watching him, a twisted grin present on his lips. Eventually, all the victims were still. Amnur had completed his task. Tears streamed down his rugged face as he surveyed the scene. It was horrid, everything was horrid.
A sharp pain and a feeling of being launched brought his mind back to the other fact in this situation; Nathaniel. The King had just kicked him hard, moving him from the spot. “Now, what have we learnt?” he enquired, towering
above the mage’s hunched body. Amnur turned his head up and just glared, but the lack of responsive unnerved him. With a sigh, Nathaniel reached down and grabbed Amnur, pulling him up level. One thing Amnur could tell was that his aggression wasn’t appreciated, a fact being made obvious by the discontent in the King’s crimson eyes.
Nathaniel glanced behind his captive, before throwing him to the ground. He landed straight in a pool of blood, which splashed up and covered his body as he tumbled. Amnur tried to react, but he felt himself being lifted once more, being flung into another blood puddle. The King repeated it again and again; Amnur was feeling sick with all the innocent blood saturating him, along with the ache from the rough handling. He laid there panting, any fight he had remaining had left his body; Nathaniel’s lesson had been a success. “Now, that’s better; be a good little subordinate, and things like this won’t happen again,” Nathaniel spoke, towering over his mage. “However, if you dare disobey me again, the consequences will be much, much worse. Understood?”
“Yes, your majesty,” Amnur replied, not willing to make eye contact. The whole ordeal had thoroughly disgusted him. Nathaniel was truly ruthless, the blood split appeared to fill him with glee, opposed to dread.
“I thought as much,” the King grinned, hoisting Amnur back to his feet and dragging him off into the distance, leaving the bodies to rot in the summer air.
They arrived back at Shadekeep after maintaining a rigorous pace, numbing Amnur’s body with the pressured march. The gate guards saw the mage’s dishevelled state, but due to the presence of the King, opted to turn their heads away. He wasn’t going to get any help from them, Amnur knew; he wondered how many shared the same opinion. Nathaniel wasn’t one to cross, not for anyone.
“You may wish to consider a shower,” the King spoke now they were away from the door, giving Amnur a firm slap on the back as he departed for his chambers, alone. Amnur whined at the pain caused by the action as he stood in the middle of the entranceway, unsure what to do. Blood dripped off his body and clothes, leaving a small trail behind him but the gate guards still refused to acknowledge his plight. Desperate, he opted to try the one person and location that he could think that would help: Dumon in the healing chamber.
Chapter 8: Dark Thoughts
Dumon was stunned by what greeted him, but he knew how to react. He hurried Amnur into his private chamber, locking the door behind him. Deeper in the separate room was a single shower cubicle, designed to give the resident healer access to all the services they would need without having to leave the main healing chamber. Amnur allowed Dumon to herd him into the cubicle, feeling the warming stream of water once it had been turned on. Demon blood itself is toxic, with their dark skin pigment being a side effect of the poison; to a demon themselves the effects are significantly reduced, but the healer wished to remove it either way.
“What happened out there? You were gone for a fair few hours,” Dumon enquired as he scrubbed Amnur’s skin, noticing him flinch periodically. Amnur, however, remained silent, keeping his eyes closed, just allowing the water to pour over his skin. Dumon worked around his body, removing more and more blood and discarding his blood-soaked garments. One thing that was blatant to the skilled healer was that the blood was not Amnur’s; given the amount of blood present, the mage would be in a dire state if it were his. Blood loss was not the cause of his weakness, though, whatever Nathaniel had done to him had caused it. “I’m not going to judge you or rat you out to Nathaniel. You can trust me; that I can guarantee.”
Amnur remained still, before turning his head towards Dumon. He stared into his eyes; they spoke of his honesty and of his concern. Eventually, he broke down and told the aged healer everything, taking up a hunched over position on the ground. Dumon took a sharp breath as he processed the story; he always knew Nathaniel was cruel, but this was extreme. It made him query if other acts could be related to the King, instead of the standard angel attack excuse pinned on them. He knew that it was impossible to prove, however; even if he could find who committed the act, convincing them to come forward wouldn't be something he could manage.
"You offered them a kindness, it would've been cruel to allow them to suffer," Dumon spoke up in response to the story, tending to the grazes he could find now the blood had been washed off.
"I still killed them, with my own hands.” His hands felt so dirty; the consequences of magic had been well taught to him, killing innocents violated everything he knew. "If I just carried out the mission as instructed, then they wouldn't have been placed in that situation; dying on the floor and terrified, knowing their King has decreed their death."
A sudden, sharp sensation snapped his attention away from his sorrow. Dumon had slapped him, hard. His expression was filled with anger, his breath was a pant. "This was not your fault, don't let Nathaniel make you think that. He's a bastard through and through; if it weren't you, it would've been someone else. You're just the first that's willing to admit to such acts and the first to find someone willing to listen," Dumon replied, his anger cooling as he saw Amnur's body calm. "Sorry, I got carried away; it's just that's exactly how he wants you to feel."
As Amnur was about to speak up in reply, a new sound interrupted him. Someone had cleared their throat, and it wasn't Dumon. Nervously he turned his head up, noticing a familiar face as he did; Kyrith.
"I had been speaking to Dumon previously," Kyrith explained, seeing Amnur's wary but curious expression, "don't worry, we're on the same side here."
"Kyrith's one who's been noticing the increasing aggression from Nathaniel, he's being working with me on the issue."
"Isn't that dangerous?" Amnur queried.
"Dangerous? Of course. Do I care? No." Kyrith shrugged; Amnur noticed his hostile posture, but he knew it not to be directed at him, his mind was elsewhere. "Dumon's got his own reasons, he's lived long enough to see the tell-tale signs of a destructive king, as well as the damage caused if one is allowed to reign."
"If Nathaniel continues the way he is, the Central Isles won't have a demon population to rule over. That, or we'll end up baiting the full wrath of the angels or worse," Dumon said, all eventualities were drastic, and none were something he wanted to experience.
Amnur observed the two for a moment, Dumon was keeping a straight expression as he continued to tend to his body but Kyrith was bothered by something. "What's your motivation in all of this, Kyrith?" He enquired, unsure if asking directly was overstepping the mark.
"My sister has been on the receiving end of Nathaniel's habits. It varies from comments on a woman's weakness to full on sexual advances," the demon spoke, "why do you think she disappeared so quickly when you first arrived?"
To hear such things happening to Shae, simply because she was female was sickening, but it came over a strange comparison to Amnur.
"I can't stand anyone threatening my sister, I won't let it continue," Kyrith continued, arching his wings in a sign of contempt. "I have considered a way to end all of this, but I need to be sure on some issues before acting. Cutting off the head of the snake will not end well if there's no one to pick up the pieces afterwards."
"Regicide?" Amnur gasped; it was a heinous crime regardless of the tyranny of the King. To think Kyrith was considering it, he was obviously one with nothing left to lose or thought himself adept enough at planning to pull it off without receiving the blame.
"I don't care if people consider me a monster if my actions bring peace, Shae shouldn't have to suffer any longer at the hands of that bastard, or you for that note."
"You're determined on this, aren't you?" Dumon responded, attracting Amnur's attention. Evidently, he didn't agree with the method, even if their objective was the same. Kyrith just nodded, unwilling to allow Dumon to dissuade him.
"There is something you can do for me though Amnur, if you're willing," Kyrith remarked, directing the conversation back to where he wanted it.
"Go on."
"First, report any assignments Nathaniel gives yo
u to Dumon or me, as well as their outcomes. Second, try and get closer to Sebastian to see his opinion on the whole situation; if we're taking down the King, we'll need someone to fill his shoes. Given all the interactions I've had with him, I would say he disagrees with his father's actions, but I need that confirmed before placing him on the throne and not after."
"Any reason why me for the second half? Not that I'm complaining, just curious," Amnur queried. Considering he was the new person in the castle, it appeared an odd choice.
"You're someone who can get close to Sebastian without it being suspect, under the guise of teaching magic or something similar," Kyrith explained. It made sense now, Nathaniel had enough innate mana to be able to cast some spells and logically Sebastian should also possess similar amounts.
"I was scheduled to test Ciel regarding magical potential in a few days, so I could use that as a way of talking to him." Testing for the quantity of mana present within the blood was a standard test for young children, as it informs the parents of their child's potential as a mage, as well as setting up the needed support network if the tests show strongly. Teaching control and acceptance of their abilities allowed them to grow up balanced, not fearing their own power but not being so hyped on power that they use it for wrong.
"Keep quiet on what we've discussed here, it's not the most reassuring thing to hear when someone's handling your child, more so when Sebastian is protective over his son," Dumon warned. Amnur thought it fair, given what he just had to do and the blood on his hands, telling the father of the child you're handling was a poor idea indeed.
Skies of Fyir Box Set Page 6