BXBX NOVEL Chapter 64 - Prelude To Damnation
"Let us in, damn it!" I tried to barge in.
"Calm down, calm down. We were told to let no one in," said the soldier.
We had arrived at the castle but the guards wouldn\'t let us in. it was infuriating. But they weren\'t attacking us either. Which meant we weren\'t branded as enemies…yet.
"I have an appointment with your princess. Now let me in!" I tried to push through but the guard was very persistent in keeping us out.
"Settle down man. I\'m just doing my job." He raised his arms up in an attempt to calm me down.
"What\'s with the ruckus?" A familiar voice appeared from the shadow. It was Gorgan. Was he in it too? I looked at him containing my hostility but some of it still slipped. "Oh, Daarc. Glad to know you made it. Are these your companions?" He genuinely looked glad.
I made myself clear. "We don\'t have time for this. I need to meet the princess." I couldn\'t possibly explain things here and besides, Gorgan was on the suspect list too.
"Her, eh? But I\'ve been ordered to let no one in." Gorgan himself looked uncomfortable but he wanted me out too. It didn\'t look like he was about to let us in.
"Please, this is an emergency. It\'s far greater than just the undead\'s uprising," the elf boy said, his eyes raging.
For some reason, I felt he might know something but he was hesitating. I\'d be sure to lecture him thoroughly if I survived.
"If you say that then I have no choice. LET THEM THROUGH!" Gorgan led us.
Just like that? Just who is this elf-boy? Although I was somewhat doubtful and skeptical I didn\'t ask unnecessary questions. Might be a pipsqueak of elven nobility or something. He did look noble and all, but I didn\'t expect too much. He looked like a kid after all.
We went inside. The castle always made me feel uncomfortable. The fragrant scent in the air was no longer prominent. It made me even more uncomfortable.
There weren\'t any guards, which was rather odd. The throne room of all places was completely unguarded.
"How come there aren\'t any guards outside this door?" I asked Gorgan.
"There should have been at least two. Let\'s head inside. I don\'t like where this is going." Gorgan was agitated. "Maybe she ordered them outside?" Gorgan mumbled to himself. I didn\'t like where this was going either.
We made our way into the throne room as quickly as possible, passing through the massive double door. The princess was inside, alone. She was sitting on the throne looking all pretty. She looked just like I when I first met her in this room, except kinder.
Gorgan bowed to show respect. Without bowing I threw my questions. I didn\'t care for courtesy not after what she\'d done. "So after leading countless undead into the city you sit there like nothing is wrong?"
Gorgan looked at me with questioning eyes but he didn\'t say anything for the princess said nothing as well. She was sitting there wearing a kind smile over her beautiful face. The sheer guts of that woman pissed me off. She was just smiling and said nothing: almost like a doll?
"Well? WHY PRINCESS? WHY! AREN\'T YOU SUPPOSED TO PROTECT YOUR PEOPLE?" I roared. And before I knew it, I was screaming at the top of my lungs.
"Something\'s odd," Lianne whispered into my ears.
Honestly, I too could feel that something wasn\'t right either. Gorgan didn\'t say anything at all. He was too quiet.
I went closer to the princess. Nothing changed. She was just the same. Is it possible that…?
I tried touching her hand.
"Hey! What are you doing?" Gorgan finally shouted.
I ignored him. Upon touch, she immediately turned into water and flowed straight to the ground. What the hell? I kind of expected something like this but I was still a little surprised when it did happen.
"What did you do to the princess?" Gorgan screamed with his spear pointed at me.
He was more confused than angry. He must have realized at least something. I betted on that and continued. "As you can see, I did nothing."
So this was just a double?
Gorgan didn\'t seem convinced. He was about to come at me for real. But before he could do so… A man barged in haunted by pain and terror.
"Lord… Go-Gorgan."
"What is it?"
The soldier\'s face was pale. He couldn\'t speak as he was drowning in his own sweat. "A-tida-tidal-"
Gorgan forgetting his primary concerns for a moment looked genuinely worried. "Calm down. You\'re not making any sense."
"A tidal wave is coming. Look outside the city. What\'s wo-worse… her high-"
Gorgan exploded with excitement. That was the first time I saw him losing composure. "WHAT IS IT?"
"Th-the princess is seen in the west gate: alone."
I wasn\'t surprised and nor were the two elves but the same couldn\'t be said about Gorgan. His face went pale and he sweated. After a moment\'s pause, he lost it.
Gorgan snapped with a grinding tone. I was surprised his teeth didn\'t break. He ran outside. We hurried out as well. There really was a huge tidal wave above the city, covering the entire western region. The tidal wave floated in the air. It flowed normally and held its place. How is it standing there against gravity? Magic? Even if it was magic, the odds of accomplishing something of that caliber was definitely beyond humans.
"I-I think we can speculate the enemy now," Lianne said as her face was leaking sweats of terror.
"And that would be?" I stared at the tidal wave as well.
The elf boy pointed at the wave. "See those red dots inside the water?"
I couldn\'t tell water from waves, let alone dots. "Even with my good vision it\'s indistinguishable for me to identify them," I said while getting sucker-punched inside. Good eyesight was my selling point and if that was taken away then what did I have left?
"Those are undead," he said with a soft tone, barely audible.
"Undead!?"
"Undead mermaids, to be exact," Lianne said.
What if that thing falls? Hey, isn\'t the slum that way too? I couldn\'t shake the feeling that something bad might happen to those siblings. And by extension something very bad was about to happen to this whole city. Please find some shelter guys.
Gorgan was very shocked. The poor guy was speechless and didn\'t know what to do anymore. He was on his knees.
I couldn\'t blame him. I was shocked as well. Anybody would have been. However he was probably more shocked to find out that the princess was behind all that. But I got the impression that he didn\'t believe me. I didn\'t force it upon him either. He\'ll have to see it for himself.
"Lord Gorgan, mermaids are falling from the tidal wave by the west gate," Another soldier declared. "The slums… the slums would be overrun!"
Gorgan didn\'t respond.
"Lord Gorgan, a massive undead force approaches from the east gate!"
"Lord Gorgan, the princess is missing!"
"Lord Gorgan!"
He still didn\'t respond. He was bombarded with responsibility but he looked miserable. His eyes quivered and he held his head in his hands while on his knees, panicking. If someone was shouting in my ears like that I might have ended up punching the guy, but Gorgan just stayed on his knees.
Lianne couldn\'t contain herself anymore. She went close to Gorgan and patted his back. I was shocked. So you\'re not going to slap him?
If it were me I\'d have slapped him to his senses. Guess that was unnecessary.
"It\'s okay; we all face the impossible at some point in life. But it\'s up to you whether you make a choice to overcome the impossible or not. Don\'t you want to save the princess?" Lianne\'s voice was kind and she knew exactly what to say. Gorgan stared at Lianne. It took a second but he regained composure.
He calmed down and nodded. If he hadn\'t I would have surely punched him, as this wasn\'t the situation for melodrama.
"Damn it! Order the men to form three units. One unit go up the wall and one stay here. The rest follow me," Gorgan said as tears streamed down his cheeks and his eyes breamed with determination.
He got up. Did he get back his resolve?
"Wait! What good, will protecting this castle get us? We need to protect the people first. If there are no people then there can be no king," said the elf-boy beside me.
Well said. Obviously, I agreed. For a little kid, he sure knew his way with words.
"Very well. It seems I too have a lot to learn. You heard him, MEN. Unit two will protect the people instead. Unit three, follow me!" Gogan\'s shout ignited something in the soldiers.
"Sir!" with a unified shout, the soldiers present saluted Gorgan. Everyone started running around but there was no sense of chaos, it seemed too coordinated. They were trained soldiers, after all.
Was this holy knight really the most powerful knight here or was he just respected? I couldn\'t tell. What I could tell was he was no different than me: a broken man deep within. So, I had no right to judge him.. But I respected him if only a little.