Of Kingdoms and Chaos (REWRITING)

Prologue

It was a night like any other. The cold early winter wind blew softly outside the castle walls, and the snow was coming down in small soft flakes. Like every other night, King Talon stood behind his large desk in his reading room, and looked out the large glass window. Winter had arrived, and even though it brought with it coldness and dormancy of crops, he could not help but admire the beauty of snow falling. Darkness covered his quiet Kingdom, and he sighed. His body shivered, and almost rolled his eyes. He was getting old. The cold was seeping into his bones, even though a large fire burned in fire place.

The door suddenly burst open and Theo stood there, out of breath and eyes wide. His cousin looked like he had seen a ghost and King Talon immediately hurried around his desk.

"Theo? What's the matter?".

"My King, an attack. Avaria is attacking."

"What? That cannot be! We have a peace treaty with King Zion." King Talon said, and quickly moved around Theo, and out the door.

"They have defeated our border guard, and are marching at a fast pace. They will be here in the next hour or so." Theo explained as he followed Talon to the war room. General Leon and other military officials were already present, and Talon moved to stand at the head of the war table.

"What is the meaning of this? There have been no troubles with Avaria. Why would they attack us now." General Leon yelled over all the talking and yelling.

"My king, what about your sister, Queen Abella?" Someone else yelled.

"According to reports from the border guard, their army is and endless stretch of men."

"What are we going to do?"

"Enough!" Talon yelled, and sighed.

"I don't know what is happening, but I will find out. I will ride out, and try to speak with King Zion. There must be a reason behind this."

"I don't think that's wise, my King. We should alert the Kingdom, and prepare for war. They have crossed the border already."

"Communication is the key to many things. I have to try and see what is going in. Maybe this is all just a misunderstanding. I don't want any unnecessary killing." Talon answered General Leon, and his expression must have told Leon much, because he immediately nodded.
"You will ride with me." Talon told his General, and ran upstairs towards his bedroom, where his Queen was fast asleep.

She woke up the minute he opened the bedroom door, and yawned.

"What is it, my love?" She asked when she saw the look on his face.

"I don't want you to worry. All will be well." he whispered as he kissed her forehead, and then pressed his against hers.

"What is going on, Talon?"

He did not answer her, and quickly wore his riding boots. As he finished wearing his boots, he noticed a dark shadow in the corner of the room. Jumping from where he was sitting, he unsheathed his sword, and called Elise to him. She immediately jumped from the bed, and came to stand behind him.

"Who are you? Reveal yourself!" Talon yelled, eyes going wide as the dark shadow suddenly disappeared.

A loud gasp behind him made him spin around, and he stumbled back. Elise had her hand on her throat, as she attempted to stop the blood that was flowing out of the large gash. The dark shadow appeared behind her, and before he could call out her name, it stabbed a dagger through the back of her head.

Stumbling backwards, his sword fell from his hand, and he screamed.

"Guards! Guards!"

As his wife's body fell to the floor, he ran out of the room with one destination in mind. Horrifying screams tore through the castle, as dark shadows came out of nowhere. He ran towards the end of the hallway, and burst into the room his twin daughters slept in. He came to a stop right in front of their beds and fell to his knees.

"NO! No, please no!" he cried out brokenly.

He got up slowly, and stumbled to Liana's bed. Her dead eyes stared at him, and he screamed her name before moving to his other daughter's bed. Lily's eyes were closed, and she had the same gash as her sister on her throat.

"Why? They were innocent!" he yelled, as he cradled her lifeless body in his lap. Screams from different parts in the castle tore into the quiet of the night, and slowly got up from the bed, and laid a kiss on his daughter's forehead, before repeating the same on his other daughter. Stumbling into the hall, he felt loss and anger. It tore at his heart, and he ran downstairs. He stopped and gasped. Bodies filled the floors and crimson blood tainted the walls. Everywhere. Dark shadows moved in and out of the blood tainted walls, and Talon slowly walked forward. Bending down, he picked up a fallen sword, and continued towards the war room. He saw many of his military officials, their dead eyes wide, and their throats cut. As he stepped over bodies, he saw Theo in the corner, a sword clutched in his hand, and his throat cut.

A swooshing sound made him jump, and he spun around. The torches that lit the war room, died out, one by one, until only one was left.

"Come on! Come on! Face me!" he screamed at the terrors that have taken everything from him.

Slowly, dark shadows appeared and within seconds, he was surrounded by almost a dozen of them. They had a form of a person, and he swung at them. His sword went straight through them, but that did not stop him. As he continued swinging, the shadows came closer and closer, until they formed a small circle around him.

A sudden pain in his back made him gasp, and then another, and another. His sword fell from his hand, as the shadows continued stabbing him, all at once.

He fell down, breathing heavily. Looking up, he looked at the dark shadow standing right in front of him.

"What are you?" he whispered, and spat out the blood that had been filling his mouth. Before he could mutter another word, the dark shadow slashed his throat before stepping back.

How had it come to this. His wife, his daughters.

He knew why. He was being punished for the horrible crime he had committed, a long time ago.

He had tried to make things right, but now it was too late.

He had failed his Kingdom. He had failed....them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kade sat atop his horse, and gazed at the carnage his army brought to the Kingdom of Viridia. The so called powerful Kingdom his father had signed a peace treaty with. He had attempted to talk his father out of it then, but the old man had been adamant about letting go of the bad blood between him and King Talon. We have been at each other's throats too long, my son. It is time to move on and call a truce, his father had told him before letting him know he was to marry Talon's younger sister, for peace purposes. He had then married the woman against his wishes, and had never had anything else with her besides a physical relationship. She had a body of a goddess, and he would be really stupid if he didn't take advantage of that.

He looked up to the sky, and took a deep breath. The scent of fire and ash was strong, and he smiled. This is what his father had prevented by signing that peace treaty. And this is what the result was, of Kade getting rid of the old man, and taking matters into his own hand. Stabbing a dagger in his gut had been delightful, and Kade remembered the look on his father's face, as life slipped out of him. Now, Kade was king, and he would take what he wanted. Viridia would be his.

A dark shadow appeared next to him, without making any sound.

"According to my beautiful wife, Talon had a couple of bastards he sired with different women. Make sure you get rid of them, and leave no witnesses." Kade ordered the soundless shadow, and proceeded to list the names of the women.

He couldn't leave any of Talon's blood alive, now could he.

The shadow then disappeared, and Kade grinned.

He had achieved his goal.

He was....King of all.