August

Chapter 1

Deep is the depression of a mindless soul, and shallow is the heart of a malicious smile. Curled fingers of mist around stone, shadowing the rocks from sight. A boy slipping into the night.

August watched the bloodbath from a tree. The trees on the planet of Urbanus were tall, and August could smell the smoke of the flaming arrows as they soared across the battlefield and sunk into men's flesh. He wrinkled his nose in disgust at the acid spewing from the war monster's mouths as they gulped down any soldier that dared to come near.

The great monsters roared with fury as the riders on their backs whipped them into devouring the men below, chomping on their bones with gruesome crunches. The beasts were three times the size of a horse, but ten times as hideous as the ugliest horse one can imagine. Blood mixed with mud caked their scaly skin and their dozens of sharp toothed mouths opened and roared acid breath upon the rampage that lay before them.

Fires erupted in trenches, swords glinted in the moonlight and men ran to their deaths with fear in their hearts. Screams of pain filled the air and medics ran back and forth, setting splints and carrying injured bodies away from the wrath of the beasts.

The other side, the army of Summanus, did not have monsters, but they did have technology. Catapults were launched and giant rocks soared through the air like black ghosts before they curved to the ground and smashed into the heads of the beasts. A monster's head was crumpled under the rock and it slumped to the ground, crushing its rider beneath its heavy body.

August's eyes widened in fright. There.... was a spider on the branch he was sitting on.

"Get back you filthy creature," he spat at it. He drew a knife from his sleeve and pointed the sharp tip at the eight-legged insect.

The tree shook. August risked taking his eyes off the spider to look down. A man with an arrow in his belly had crumpled at the base of the tree. The man looked up.

August, using his inherited powers of illusion, became invisible. The man died.

August turned his attention back to the spider. It was scuttling closer, wondering if August was there or not. It could sense him, but it couldn't see him. August stood up in the tree, his feet braced on two branches. As the furry spider reached August's foot, August stomped on it with all his might. It smushed flat and August made a disgusted sound.

Not wanting to remain in the tree with the dead spider, August started to climb down, being careful not to get dirt or twigs in his shiny black hair. As he lowered himself from branch to branch, the view of the battle disappeared behind the tree's enormous leaves. August swung from the last branch and dropped to the ground, next to the dead man.

He looked at the soldier. The rebellion soldier had walked a mile with the hopes of escaping the war and escaping the medics, who simply kill patients that don't have a chance. August smirked, his green eyes full of humor.

"What were you even fighting for?" he asked the dead man. The dead man didn't reply.

"Were you fighting against my father?" August continued, "The King of this planet? Do you know that he doesn't even plan on keeping Urbanus? You just lost your life for nothing!"

August laughed, but it was short, cold, and humorless. He sighed. Leaning down, he patted the man's head. "Don't worry partner, we both have been played by King Summanus. And I'm the Prince! His son!"

August left the dead man to contemplate that and started making his way back to his palace. The war was drawing a little too close to his position in the tree. He wasn't worried about a couple stray soldiers wandering in the woods, dying from the battle or running from the battle, but the beasts were monstrous things that he didn't want to encounter. He just hoped they would stay within the city limits and not wander to his hidden palace in the country.