Chapter five

Chapter five

The sun crawled out from between the clouds, casting its warm light upon the fighting ring; a circular pavilion with the Royal canopy at the head.

It looked over a mass of sand within it, supposed to harbor the fighters meant to entertain.

Abraham was slumped on the throne at the head of the circle, looking down on the sandy ring where two brothers literally fought over some acres of land.

Most of the people of Decresh were present, taking up the whole circle of steps at the pavilion, screaming, cheering and grunting when the fighter they stood for was at the bridge of victory...or defeat.

The King smiled, a contrast of what he really felt within.

Mortals...why was he supposed to protect them when they were their own enemies?! Now...a brother was willing to kill the younger just to reclaim his birth right! And the people supposed to talk them out of this were cheering in excitement!

He watched in controlled anger, as the younger one tried to defend himself against the cold-blooded attacks of the other. It was obvious he did not want this. In fact, right now, it seemed he regretted wanting the land if such a condition came with it.

His face bled, muscles weakened, his life shortened and Abraham forced himself to watch, rubbing his temple eagerly to clear the urge to burn the entire place down.

Because no...he was supposed to...protect them.

Now the dominant elder brother had his opponent's head in his clutch. It almost looked like the praises he received intoxicated him beyond conscience. And now, he arched his brother's neck till his satisfaction, just before slipping out a knife and tearing through his captive's throat.

And the people who watched cheered!

Protect them...protect them; he repeated the words so he won't kill the guard standing beside him out of the pure rage and temptation that fueled him... As much as they did not deserve it.

With his brother face down upon the sand with a bleeding throat, Kendrick roared his victory with hands raised, digesting the cheers being tossed his way.

Greed...that was what urged them on, and Abraham could not help but frown.

"Silence!" He shouted into the void suddenly and a great deal of his intention was achieved. The roaring crowd quietened you could hear a whisper if one dared to make one.

All eyes fell on him, swallowing, nervous, expecting, trembling.

The King rose from his throne, managing to cast a smirk on to shield the contempt he was feeling.

"Now that you have proved yourself a worthy son," he turned to his left, beginning his descent down the steps leading to the ring of sand, "I must say I am impressed by you and would love to make you an offer as your King."

The expected murmur streak ran through the crowd. As they always said... no one understood the way of Kings.

Abraham paused in his speech until he had stepped upon the sand and taken a few steps.

Now it was him...this human and a corpse that happened to be a result of the display of greed and betrayal.

The djinn of fire preened his icy blue gaze into the man before him, knowingly releasing his dark aura that always seemed to scare the whole of Decresh.

While they waited anxiously for his next words, teeth gritted, mouths gasped...and bodies shivered.

Abraham Tonnel smirked again and stretched an arm towards his castle, "I will give you my position as King as well as your father's land...on one small condition."

The 'awe' was chorused by every soul around, adding to his pleasure even more. From the Royal foyer, his brothers glared in disapproval. One supposed demon ruling them was more than enough drama to swallow for one lifetime. But now a simpleton?!

The greedy brother flashed a nervous grin and bowed. Taking one look at the people around him watching, his smile increased. Something that made the King's blood literally heat up.

"What condition Your Majesty. Anything!" The man gestured with both arms spread.

Abraham still had his smirk on, tilting his head from left to right as though studying the man, "Kill me! And the throne is all yours."

And the grin on Kendrick's face withdrew.

***

It was the legend of shape shifting coming true.

The paws dashed forward, banging in an impossibly speedy rhythm upon the forest floor. An action that had been happening for hours now without any measure of fatigue.It was mountain cat, although bigger than it should have been.

Having picked up a scent, it slid to a sudden halt and twitched its nose in reaction.

Slowly, it hopped onto a rock and kept sniffing.

The motion behind a neem bush startled it.

And after another while of patience, a second animal graced the abode with its presence.

The red eyed, finger long fangs wolf...

Nothing to be worried about.

Releasing a disappointed growl, the mountain cat surged forward and buried its teeth in the skin of its enemy's neck. It didn't take much of its strength to fling the animal off the cliff they stood on.

And it was ended like it never existed.

The wolves of Azarath...

Demonic driven things that shot hatred through it.

With a whirl of its body and a small tingle of light, the cat shifted to human form.

An Asian. With a mildly built form, bare torso and linen breeches.

Now Ramon looked beyond the cliff and behold...was the mighty talked about Kingdom, tall in its borders and solid like concrete.

After inclining his head, he took his previous form of a mountain cat, flashing deep green eyes on the far away land below him.

Decresh...!

And it resumed the swift strides down the hill.

***

"Sam!" Razia screamed into the void, swirling her body left and right with her eyes grazing around. Her hair dripped of water, adding to the chills her nervousness already had on her.

"Sam!" She shrieked again.

After being swallow up by her own attack, all she could remember was...well nothing!

But now she had no horse nor her brother and it was more frustrating than it should be.

Just before she screamed again, the sight of human legs spilling out from behind a rock stopped her. And she recognized the boots immediately.

"Sam!" Her breath caught in fear and she started a half run motion to her brother's limp body, praying her father was the last person she would kill.

When she looked down on the wet figure of her brother, she pounced down and hovered above him. Whirling her hands in circles, then backwards, she drew out all traces of water that must have been within him, using his nostrils as a doorway.

"Brother," she whispered sadly and tapped on his cheek gently, tears blurring her vision.

Then in faith, she waited.

The body flinched beneath her hands and in the next second, coughed hysterically.

A relieved smile played across her lips and Razia pulled him up by the shoulders, patting him as he released more deadly coughs.

"We need to get you to shelter," she offered.

When he looked around to register what had occurred, his eyes stopped at the sight of what have him hope.

"People," he gasped hopefully.

As his sister turned to notice a badge of hunters at the south end of the forest, she smirked, "Let's join them shall we?"