The King and I {Damien X Shayne}

Chapter 18

In another part of Youtubia; Wes stood there with a melancholic expression gracing his face. Nearly a month had passed, and he had no word if his friends were safe, if Damien had received his message, or if there was any hope for stopping Flitz and his gang. As Wes thought of the name, he poked his head forward to spy the man sitting on a stool to the left of King Ian up on the alter of the throne room. He was uncomfortable with him being there, whispering into Ian's ear, but he could do nothing but watch on as he descended into a hypnotic state.

Flitz was being careful about his moves too, and Wes could see it. He never tried to overthrow Ian, or do anything so drastic that the people of Smosh would notice, but over time would do things to his own gain and that of his comrades. Wes now knew pretty well of who these people were. Lasercorn was the ammunitions expert, but more of a borderline arsonist; with Sohinki being their tactician, and had hobbies in historical studies. And of course, the ringleader was the wizard Flitz. But he wasn't like his dear friend Mari, rather, he was a dark magician; someone who tapped into the realm of the spirits and gained their knowledge to advance their pursuit of power.

He also knew that they hailed from The Nether, as Lasercorn had let it slip when wandering the halls one day while he was on patrol. So Wes had the one piece of knowledge his friends didn't have – their occupations. But getting the information to them would be far too risky, seeing as one knight had already been allowed out on a 'mission' and unbeknownst to Wes, was now with King Damien.

He could only wait, and hope for their arrival. And wait he did, by King Ian's side, with all he knew of his friend deteriorating from his very being with each passing day.

***

A day and a half had passed, and Shayne had taken the Smosh knight with him to meet Matt, and the pair now returned a trio to the palace; while Damien, Boze, Mari, Courtney and Olivia had finalised their plan for infiltrating Smosh.

The palace gates opened, and Shayne rode in with the two knights, relaying the plan to them the entire trip back. "So, before we get going, we need to introduce you to the King." Said Shayne dismounting his horse, addressing the Aveilian knight. This shocked them as only hours before they had been plucked away on 'the King's request' at a training camp. "Okay, lead the way sir." The trio then handed off their horses to the stable workers, and walked inside.

With Shayne leading the way, the Smosh and Aveil knights trailed behind, like wandering puppies following the heels of their owner. A stationed guard advised Shayne of the groups location, and swiftly weaved through the corridors to make his way to them. The room wasn't guarded at the door, but further out in either end of the corridor, blocking people's entry through the area. But without hesitation they let Shayne pass through, to then allow him to knock on the door of the room in front of them.

A muffled voice rang out, neither of the knights can make out the caller, but Shayne promptly responded in a way to allow the doors to be opened. They walk in, to a sight of piles of parchment stacked on tables and the surrounding floor, heads in books, and trawling over maps and a very calm man was seated in the corner. Shayne first introduced the pair to the women.

"Ladies," Shayne said with a nod, "let me introduce the knight from Smosh that Wes sent out to find us, Josh Mattingly. Josh this is Mari the sorcerer, Boze the tactician, Olivia the oracle and Courtney the healer. They were all displaced by Ian, as you may know." Josh bows politely to the women, and Shayne then continued to introduce the other new face. "And this;" he says ushering the younger man forward, "Is Tanner Risner. He is what Matt believes to be the most promising knight in training Aveil has seen in a while. So he'll be our way in."

To this Tanner spoke up. "Way in? Could someone please explain what's going on?" The stagnant figure in the corner then rose from the armchair and walked over beside Shayne. "Well good day to you both." answered Damien, greeting the pair. Without hesitation, Josh nearly snapped his back in half bending so low to bow, aiming to keep up formalities. Tanner, finally put two and two together, and with wide eyes did the same, now realising who was in front of him.