The Kings Son

Chapter 35

Dabbing at the blood on his lip Oliver winced as the cloth brushed against his sore nose, despite the tenderness he was happy with the knowledge that it was not broken, although it was red and a little swollen. Changing his shirt and vest he checked himself in the mirror, blinking several times he rubbed at his eyes.

On his way up to his room he had stepped through one of the many doorways and found himself blinded by a bright flash of light. When his vision came back, he looked around, seeing the guard standing by the wall had made no reaction; he marked it as a side effect of his own fist slamming him in the face.

On his way out of his room, Oliver stopped, excitement gripped him, his Uncle Gabriel had caused all the commotion, his Uncle like himself loved to fight, no matter the time of day or what was going on Oliver had always been able to count on Gabriel to provide him with a good challenge.

Turning around Oliver rushed over and opened the large cabinet where he stored his weapons and armor. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to challenge his Uncle to a friendly bout until after all the formalities were over and done with, his hands shook with anticipation as he swung his two handed sword over his shoulder. He knew he'd have to hide the weapon somewhere before he got to the great hall because his Mother would vehemently disapprove and possibly even threaten him with it.

A flash of lightning outside of his window and the sound of rain starting to beat against the glass dampened his hopes, for a moment he almost put his weapon back. Realizing that if they cleared a place in the great hall they could still duel, Oliver turned and rushed from the room, his ten minutes to get back were almost up and he feared his Mother more than he did his Father.

The muffled sounds of his boots on carpet were the only noise Oliver could hear besides his labored breathing as he hurried down the hall. The torches in the sockets on the wall burned low casting the large hallway in an eerie glow, stopping to listen. He heard nothing but dead silence, even the boom of the lightning that flashed outside the windows and down the hall was barely audible.

Feeling as though someone was watching him, Oliver spun around, the hair on the back of his neck stood up; looking hard his eyes jumped back and forth, but the hall was empty, drawing his sword halfway out of its sheath, he continued walking taking slow deliberate steps, he could definitely sense that something was wrong.

As Oliver walked, he passed several tapestries painted with the pictures of a destructive and bloody past, as the lightning's glow streaked through the windows Oliver recalled the stories of these particular tapestries. His Uncle Gabriel on one of his many visits recounted for seven-year-old Oliver the story of a blood soaked and war torn nation ready to destroy itself and everyone else.

Looking at the pictures sown into the cloth Oliver remembered his Uncle's words as he spoke describing each set of events on each hanging tapestry, his heart beat faster with each bloody scene as he walked, until the final piece fell under his gaze. Across the top of the tapestry rested a kingdom soaked in fire and blood, with the bones of countless people surrounding it.

Lowering his gaze Oliver saw a throne, scorched black with ash falling down around it; bodies lay scattered on either side. Resting on this throne sat a skeleton covered in black armor, one elbow resting on its knee as it leaned forward, a crown of gold sat on atop its brow, its other hand held a sword in place, the weapons tip pinned a dove to the ground at his feet.

The blade stained red held many nicks, chips, and cracks along its length, staring into the skeleton King's face; Oliver could feel its lipless smile surrounding him like the man had welcomed the destruction of himself and his whole world, as if he had purposely burnt it all down. Continuing to look into the skeletons black void eyes Oliver found himself gripped by a sudden gut wrenching fear turning he rushed down the hall, he knew his family was in danger.

Throwing caution to the wind Oliver barreled down the hall as fast as his legs would carry him, the harder he ran the darker the hall seemed to become, relying on the fact that he'd known these halls his entire life Oliver ignored the darkness as it closed in around him. Skipping down steps and racing through the corridors, he just knew he had to make it to his family before it was too late.

Rexseal floated through the air his senses on high alert, he wasn't sure why but he could definitely feel that something was not right, the very air seemed to reek of something foul it came at him from every direction. Speaking aloud to himself, he could feel evil magic everywhere "I need to find Stonehammer." He flew off looking for his friend.

Oliver was breathing hard as he finally saw one of the side doors leading into the Great Hall, without slowing he barreled into the door knocking it open. He could feel everyone's confused expressions as they all turned to look at him. Trying to catch his breath he walked around looking for any sign of danger, unable to find anything, he rested his hands on his knees in the center of the room.

Seeing that his Son had a weapon in his hand the Bear King grew irritably amused, "Your Uncle is going to be staying here for quite some time."

Queen Isabel came to stand beside her husband. "You could wait until tomorrow after he's settled in before you try to challenge him to a fight." Her ice blue eyes glared hard in Oliver's direction.

Shaking his head Oliver held up his finger, he could see that most of the people in the Great Hall for the most part had left or were on their way out; even Gabriel's guards were gone. "I admit that was originally what I had in mind, but I suddenly had this terrible feeling of danger," Standing up straight Oliver took one last deep breath. "I had to make sure I got back here to see that everyone was alright."

"I'm not crazy." He stated as everyone looked at him, "I don't know why, but I just got this really bad feeling and I think that Gabriel should call all of his men back just to be..." His voice trailed off as he wondered why everyone was looking at him, he realized they were staring past him, he turned as a large shadow fell over him, surprised Oliver froze.

The sound of Kings Samson's voice echoed around the room as he screamed. "Oliver!"

The air around Oliver grew cold as he looked up into the yellow glowing eyes of a large, red, horned scaly creature, shouts and screams went silent in his ears as the Demon's hand shot out, it's long sharp claws pierced deep into the young Prince's chest. Time stopped as Oliver looked down, shocked he watched his blood flow freely down the front of his shirt for the second time that night, he felt his heart suddenly falter, his whole body went numb and his sword slipped from his grasp.