Shattered Kingdoms | Book 2 ✔ (REWRITING AS 'THE EXILED KING')

Chapter 25 - Fated Meeting

Up ahead, Leyon heard a commotion and picked up his pace, "Hurry! I think Halian's in trouble!"

"Less than a minute out of our sight and that bloodsucker gets himself into trouble!" Adrian grumbled, "How about we ditch him and just go looking for the Guardians?"

Leyon sighed in exasperation, "No. I've told you this already! Come on, Adrian!"

The group burst into a clearing and Leyon had to cover his eyes from the sudden bright light that assaulted his eyes. When he lowered his hands and could see again, he started. Halian was crouched there, and a girl held a sword to his throat.

Leyon ran forward yelling, "Hey, hey! Put that sword away before you hurt someone! Halian's with us!"

The girl looked up and glared at Leyon, pointedly leaving the sword exactly where it was.

"Okay, okay!" Leyon put his hands up and walked slowly up to her, "Please don't kill Halian? We're not here to hurt you."

At that, the girl scoffed, "You can't hurt me! Pathetic humans like you probably can't even tell the difference between one of yours and a vampire! Go away before I really try to hurt you!"

That was when Leyon noticed her ears, slanted, and very pointy.

"You're an elf! And yes, we do know that Halian's a vampire... it's a long story. But you should let him go - He's not attacking anyone."

The girl rolled her eyes, "You're an idiot. He's a vampire! It's in their natures to attack people!"

Leyon shuffled closer, "Yeah, be he's really trying to keep the instincts at bay. And with some help, maybe we could cure him," Leyon said earnestly.

"Hah! Do you think you could? No way! A vampire is a cursed being, and we should end him now."

She turned away from him and gripped the sword tighter, pressing it against Halian's throat. A trickle of blood dripped from where the sword met his throat. Such a delicate balance - press too hard and Halian would be on the way to the Ether; press too lightly, then it was nothing.

"NO!" Leyon yelled, throwing himself at the elf. His sudden movement surprised the elf, and he bowled her over.

His eyes widened, "Oh Pelos! I'm sor- I didn't mean... I mean! Argh!" He stuttered, then tried again, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it. I just don't want you to kill Halian. Are you alright?"

The elf got up quickly, and pointed her sword at him, "Now look what you've done! The vampire will kill you!"

She glared at him then turned to Halian. He sat there in a daze, massaging his throat. He had calmed down, but his fangs were still visible.

"Wh- why hasn't he moved?!" The elf demanded in shock.

Leyon sighed, "I told you! He's fighting it! Come on! We don't have time to waste - we're looking for the Guardians!"

The girl jumped to her feet, "Guardians?! So. You know. I'm afraid that I can no longer afford to spare your lives. Please forgive me."

Leyon stared at her in shock, but then she charged at him and swung the sword. He froze. Leyon's legs simply didn't move and he stared down the impending death.

<--<< >>-->

He was seven years old when he got to choose what he would continue to learn. Adrian was four years his senior and had been practicing swordsmanship since he was seven. Zaiela was one year older than him and had decided to focus on archery. Now it was his turn. Leyon remembered the day that he was supposed to decide. Watching his elder brother and sister masterfully handle their chosen arts, Leyon doubted that he would ever surpass them. Adrian sparred with a palace guard, and Zaiela shot bullseyes from far away.

"Now, now! Leyon... it's your turn to choose. What do you want to focus on?" The captain of the Royal Guard knelt and spoke to the seven-year-old Prince.

Leyon thought about it. He knew that he'd have to choose a more offensive choice, such as swordsmanship or archery, as healing was out of the question for the second prince.

"Hmm... Captain Aart? What choices do I have?" Leyon asked quietly.

The captain pondered and then said, "Well... you can follow his Highness your brother and learn the arts of the sword. Or I suppose you could learn to use the lance? Hmm... the other options would be archery and... well, I suppose magic. Do you prefer to attack up close or to have some distance between you and the potential enemies?"

Leyon frowned, "Well obviously I wanna have distance! I don't want them to come at me and attack and kill me!"

"Okay. So, in that case, swordsmanship is out. Then you just have to choose: Archery, lancing or magic? Personally I'd recommend one of the first two."

Leyon asked what was wrong with learning magic, and the captain replied, "You see... there aren't many mages in this world. People hunted them. Although people don't hunt them anymore, most people fear magic and finding you a tutor wouldn't be easy. You'd fall behind."

Leyon thought about it, but then answered, "I've decided. I want to study magic! I'll work twice as hard to catch up!" He said firmly.

The captain sighed but stood up saying, "It's your choice, my Prince. Some of us are men who prefer to hit things, but sometimes people like you come. People with enough brains to study a new field. Someday, Prince Leyon, you may just save the life of a person who matters through magic. So, go on your chosen path with pride."

<--<< >>-->

Leyon's eyes widened as Halian threw himself in front of Leyon just in time for the blade to sink deep into his stomach.

"Halian!" He cried and stumbled as Halian collapsed in his arms.

"H-He saved you!" The elf stuttered, her blade shaking. Drops of crimson blood dripped off the blade.

Leyon wasn't listening but instead had put Halian gently on the ground.

"Halian? Halian. Get up! This shouldn't be your end!" Leyon cried, frantically cycling through every spell he'd learned, hoping, praying that he'd memorized a healing spell.

But he had none.

Halian was fated to die.

<--<< >>-->

Published: Saturday May 2nd, 2020

Fate isn't set in stone... or is it?

(I'll not be posting any more chapters for a while. Fear not, I'm still writing. However, I need some time to write without deadlines. I'll try to stick with the deadline myself, but if I fail, at least I'll be disappointing no one but myself. I've got the remainder of the book planned out - about 15 more chapters are planned, give or take a few.)

Big thanks to anyone who's read this far and probably voted at least once (I hope!)

Lastly: 

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