Age Of The Red Demons

Three Strange Men

On the same night that Daerys and Smaragdus returned from the end of the world, another group of men met with King Morrys. They also had an encounter with Zathryon, the red king.

Barely had the king watched the two men dissapear from his sight when those people emerged and made their way towards the throne room. Seven they were in number.

When they came into clear vision, four of them were clearly soldiers who had come from warrior duty while the remaining three men looked as though they had just returned from hell.

The royal guards would not have allowed such company entrance into the throne room, but for his majesty who said they could pass.

"What brings you here, all the way to the palace." He inquired.

The leader of the group could be easily picked out using his special armour as judgement. He spoke for the men, "Your majesty, my men and I were keeping watch over the cave of shadows when these three crawled out of the earth. They say they had an encounter with Zathryon, the red".

The king stared thoroughly at the three men in question. They looked tattered and miserable, with their faces bruised and their expressions pestilent.

They wore the uniform of the dark spies of Meredith which was almost unrecognizable due to the blood and dirt that foiled its usually dark color.

"Speak". The king motioned to one of them who made a subtle bow before he began.

"We are the men sent by the Lord Roberts to check the cave where Zathryon was held for two hundred years", he said in a low audible voice.

"And what have you brought back as news?" The king demanded.

"Death, my lord! Death!" Another one of the dark spies spoke. He looked the most miserable of the three, and his voice shaked like someone who had just escaped the close claws of death.

"He shall come for us all! Very soon! None shall live! None shall live!" His voice loudened with each word he spoke, creating fear in the hearts of the guards and fury in the eyes of the king. And he kept repeating himself.

"Shut him up!" The king raged, "and lock him up. I have no place for soldiers with faint hearts!"

Two palace guards stormed forward, and dragged the man away. As he was being carried out of the throne room, he kept on screaming, "Death! Death! None shall live! None shall live!"

The king then turned again to the man who had spoken first, "Lord Roberts did send ten men to the cave of shadows, how is it that only you three have returned? Where is your captain? What is it you witnessed in that cave?"

"All ten of us made it to the cave of shadows, but only we three made it out." The man continued, "We could not even see it, the beast that slayed our comrades. It was like..a shadow that came and went again, pulling down a man at every visit." There was an ice cold sensation in his words as he tried to create an imagery of his experience.

"Our captain died while saving one of our men. The soldier was being dragged away by a figure in the darkness but the captain held on to him, and kept pushing his sword into the darkness.

"I was watching from the cave entrance as I had almost found my way out. Vagus, the man who your majesty has just locked up was beside me, and that was when we saw its eyes. Burning red eyes of death! In the midst of all that darkness, staring at our captain! It is the most terrifying thing I have ever seen, so it is for Vagus too, and I am certain it could not have been any different for the captain.

"What happened afterwards is unspeakable my lord, and I couldn't dare to watch it to finish."

As he concluded his words, he shook his head emphatically.

King Morrys took a deep breath at these words, and composed himself from the news.

His son had just come back from an encounter with Zathryon at the end of the world, and at the same time these people claimed that Zathryon attacked them in the cave of shadows.

Could that beast appear in two places at once?

"When did this occur?" The king asked with a striking gaze.

"It is almost a fortnight, your majesty." The leader of the group who brought them replied the king. "I could not take them to the palace as there was a plague. Thus I waited to see that they didn't have the burning sickness."

Now it made some sense. The red one could have left for the end of the world after facing off Lord Rivers' dark spies. That was why Jordan the blacksmith said that he bled.

But even then, how could he journey to the end of the world in such a short amount of time?

As the king wandered in thought, a golden pigeon arrived at the royal palace bearing a message for the king.

It was from the wizard, Ul Thera. He had received the request of the kings to come to Meredith.

King Morrys requested of the dark spies to dwell in the royal palace for now. Then the royal council will listen to them again the following day.

After the men had gone, the king tore open the paper to read its contents. It was a rare thing for wizards to write letters, so he wondered what the wizard had to say.

"Your Majesty,

The wizards of the reach have sent to me a message saying that the gates of Meredith, which was forever closed to us wizards, have once again bestowed upon us its shelters.

That the great house of Arnold have finally beseeched our service after all these years.

And that I, Ul Thera, am the first one of my kind upon whom this honor is returned.

To this I felicitate. But that is not why I write to you, my old friend.

The storm clouds seem to be a little closer than we thought. And the waves have began to push, threatening to sink our lot.

A warning comes unto you from the witch mother Marina herself.

She warns of a danger within the walls of the royal palace. A certain fire that might burn away the royal seat.

Never you accept a visitor to reside in your palace. Those are her words.

As of this moment, I journey to you but this writing is sure to reach you ahead of me.

Till we meet again. It is I.

Ul Thera,

Your old friend."

Squeezing tight his palms against the letter, Morrys sighed deeply.

Of what danger does Ul Thera speak? Is it something to do with Zathryon?

Whatever it was, King Morrys resolved not to welcome any man into the royal palace from that moment onwards.

Little did he know that the letter had come late.