Realm Drifter: Cruel King

~Chapter Twenty-Six~

Chapter Twenty-Six; Presenting Before the Court

~

Entrusted in the envelope written in black cursive sat delicately written words that held my fate. Luciana had just left in a huff, vowing to never warn me again. Which, after the next trial... she wouldn't have to. And that same thought swirled in my mind, preventing me from opening the letter that rested between my fingers as I played with the edges.

 My back was against the wall, my head gazing at the roof as I gathered up the strength to open it, but I couldn't. I couldn't. 

Some ignorant part of me thought that if I perhaps didn't open the letter, I wouldn't have to go. And with that same thought, If I didn't go, I wouldn't have to compete in the final trial. No one would have to die anymore.

But I knew that was a ridiculous thought, but I couldn't shake that thought that probed me, pushed me to reconsider what I was doing. What I could do. What I wouldn't do. 

I could not let it take over, I had a path and a destiny to follow... so why did it seem so wrong?

I let out a final sigh, gathered myself before tearing open the letter, giving it no further thought as I carefully pried the letter from the envelope and began to read.  

~

Dear Participant, 

You have been summoned to precede before the Royal Court where you will be presented with your final trial. 

If you are not present at dawn, you will be automatically disqualified from this tournament.

-Royal Court

~

I felt a shiver encase my body, fear taking over my mind as the realisation hit. Luciana was right, this letter held nothing but death and destruction and my fate laid on the line.

How daft could I have been, mocking this ominous letter with the royal stamp on it. What good had ever come from anything royal? 

I twiddled my hands, my feet pacing my bedroom floor as I thought of all the possibilities this last challenge could present me. 

Strength, Intelligence, Endurance, and what could be the last challenge? Would it be a challenge of beauty or wit? What if it was a challenge of mortality or cruelty? I was drowning in a sense of overwhelming. 

Would I be prepared for what was to come, would I even make it out alive?

~

My back laid pressed against the floor, my chest heaving as my leg screamed in pain. I had spent the last half an hour pushing my body to be ready, pushing it to be able to survive. But it didn't matter, no matter how far I pushed it, my mind would never be able to cope. I was struggling to stay together as it was. I wasn't strong, I wasn't ready and I was not willing. 

Memories kept flooding and fading my mind as I struggled to hold back the tears. Memories of a better time, memories of my friends and family, memories of the things I love but will probably never be able to experience again.

 And it hurt, it hurt so much because I wanted them all back, but no matter what I did, I can't have them back. The one thing I have a chance of recovering requires me to sacrifice hundreds of people, people with parents, partners and children. How many lives was I ruining to save my own? How selfish could I have been? Why hadn't I seen it earlier? And there was nothing I could do, if I leave I ruin the chance of finding my mother, I place a massive amount of stress and pressure on this world and I could cause it to collapse. 

~

"Darling, concentrate. I'll repeat myself but once more, and then you'll recite it back to me. Listening?"

"But, mama... you tell me dis every day." Alannah groaned, her eyes rolled up as she let her body sink to the floor from her seated position. 

"Back in your seat, be a lady!" Her mother scolded, "Now, I tell you this every day so you remember it. It is important knowledge, passed from one generation to the next, however, our genetic line relies solely on you now darling. Without you, we are gone. As far as I know, you are the last living person of the Hartgroves legacy." 

"Why, mama?" This question hit her hard, she had explained it once but didn't know how to quite explain the brutality of her future. 

"The Eyes. Do you remember what they were, darling?" 

"Nuh uh." 

"The Eyes are an Interrealm... government- per se. They are tasked with... hunting... down Realm Drifters to-" She paused, clearing her throat, "Harvest our powers. They follow a Demi-God, a very cruel man with impossible powers, however, he cannot do what we do. His powers can only take him so far, and he wanted more.

"So, one day he started a War with our Kind. Wars are devastating cruelty that only the wicked partake in. Our kind didn't know his plans, and before we know what was happening, he had captured hundreds and harvested them, using them to create his own realm. 

"Realm Drifters decided to fight back, and trapped him in his realm, but we conjured all our strength to lock him in a single Realm. However, this killed many of our kind, to save very little left.  And over time, he grew stronger, creating these creatures our family call The Eyes. 

"With the left of the power the wicked god had, he... pushed... his creations to thousands of different realms to watch and wait for any detection of Realm Drifters, and to harvest their Powers. That was hundreds of years ago, and I have hidden us so well, that even I have no clue what his plans are. If he even is still in his realm." She sighed, rubbing her temples at the strain of the memories.

"Now, back to the lesson. What is the one sacred rule Realm Drifters must follow at all costs?"

"Al-always w'eave a realm in the-the state you en..." She paused, her young impressional eyes searching for answers. 

"Always leave a realm in the state you enter it in. Do you know why we have to follow this sacred rule?" She shook her head, "Because if we leave a dent in the world, an imprint onto the world we enter, then when we leave, it can cause the entire world to collapse in on itself as the equilibrium of the world becomes unstable. What does equilibrium mean?"

"I 'don-know" She shrugged. 

~

I opened my eyes, the sun had begun to set and I knew it was time. It was time to meet my fate- or meet my maker. 

~