The Seventh Son

Chapter 5

"It can't be, Darrell..." King Jerald stammered, his gaze fixed on the figure in front of him. It had been seven years since they had last seen each other.

"You...died in the Forest of the Deadman," stammered King Jerald.

"Yes, you sent us to our deaths seven years ago," Darrell said, his face turning cold.

"Is this your family?" Darrell wondered.

"How could this be? How are you alive?" King Jerald was curious.

"How did you do it? Why is that? Why is that A or B is all you're interested in? You're not going to inquire about my knights, are you? The men you sent to their deaths. " Darrell yelled.

"No, you have no right to blame me; Clarris was the one who fled into the forest, and I had no choice but to send you back."

 Darrell's expression soured.

 "My fault!" 

The massive window glasses shattered as a cold voice echoed through them. 

The little boys screamed in terror. Rachel raised them and concealed them behind her dress, "Mom, we're afraid."

"You stupid man, it's all my fault! I dare you to say that out loud!" The voice echoed again as King Jerald and Rachel were both lifted into the air and pinned against the wall, while the two boys were knocked down by the sound of snapping fingers.

"Please not our sons; they're just kids." Messan!_

"Wake up, Hello, Mark!" Rachel screamed, "Say something, Mommy is here!"

"Messan, Mark!" King Jerald cried out, "Say something, sons!" 

The boys, on the other hand, were as icy as rocks.

"Show yourself, witch; how dare you touch defenseless children?" he demanded, his gaze fixed on his wife.

Rachel tried whirling her hands but to no avail; "my powers are also gone!" she exclaimed.

"Darrell, I'm ordering you to do something!" The king ordered

Darrell smirked and sat down, whistling a soft melody.

The room went black, the walls split in two, and a door appeared, revealing Clarris, who was as courageous as a goddess. 

The king's heart began racing with anxiety, and he exclaimed, "It can't be!" he stuttered.

While Rachel felt a lump in her throat, they both noticed how different and powerful Clarris appeared. 

She was dressed magnificently, and her live snake-like hair added to her allure.

"What happened to you, Clarris?" King Jerald inquired.

Darrell knelt down and said, "Welcome, my queen." 

At the mention of that, King Jerald stared at Darrell in disbelief and exclaimed, "What's going on!!" 

"Please get up; you've done an excellent job. Is the castle safe and secure?" Clarris inquired.

"Yes, my queen, I sent the entire army and dark knights to Arthora," Darrell said with a smile. 

"After I fooled them all with King Jerald's ugly face while the sorcerers are stuck in the castle basement."

"Excellent, I knew you'd come in handy with your shape-shifting abilities," Clarris pointed out.

Rachel felt a lump in her throat froze in her stupor. They could both see that she looked different and powerful. 

She wore a magnificent dress, and the live snake-like hair symbolized power. 

"You fool, what have you done?" Jerald yelled at Darrell.

"Shut up, fool!" Clarris exclaimed, shattering more glass.

"I cried for you for seven years, mourned for seven years, while you lavished in luxury and created beautiful babies," Clarris said as she walked over to the two sleeping boys.

Rachel cursed, "If you touch my son, I will kill you and take you back to the pits of hell where you came from."

"Ha ha ha, I dare you, you have such lovely sons, so innocent, but unfortunately..."

"Please forgive me, Clarris; don't kill my children; it was I who wronged you," Jerald tried to persuade her. 

"Yes, what I did to you was wrong; I accept full responsibility; please spare my family."

King Jerald fell to the ground as Clarris snapped her figures. 

He got up quickly and attempted to set Clarris on fire, but all he got was smoke. 

Both Clarris and Darrell burst out laughing.

"Are you looking for this in particular?" Clarris enquired, her hands aflame. 

"You once said I'm just a flying girl. What is it like to be just a small boy?"

With fear in his gaze, King Jerald stared back at her. "Please Clarris, have mercy on us. I'm so sorry, you can't punish us for falling in love," he said now, confused and panicking.

Seeing the situation, Rachel spoke up too. "Please punish me, Clarris. I was supposed to be your friend. We shouldn't have acted on our emotions," 

King Jerald quickly stepped in, Rachel please be silent." 

Clarris was enjoying the blame game. 

"I was the one you were betrothed to. I broke the marriage," King Jerald interrupted his wife. "Please take my life."

Clarris recalled a dream she'd had the night before her wedding seven years earlier. She'd seen the exact scene before, Jerald pleading for Mercy on the floor while kneeling. Despite the fact that she needed answers from the witch, the pleasure she derived from such a scene was so great that getting answers was not a priority.

She grinned when she stared at Darrell, then her eyes went black and her hair hissed behind her. "I'm not going to show you mercy, and I'm not going to kill you. I cried for seven years without you stepping outside this castle in search of me seven years ago..."

"Please accept my heartfelt apologies, Clarris." Jerald cried.

"Shut up, don't disturb me," she said, breaking more glass in the process.

"I cried for seven years; you will weep for eternity." The room was filled with a thick black fog. "You will bear six children for me in seven years, and I will come and get them one by one on their eighteenth birthdays. After I get the last one, you'll have six more male children in seven years, and I'll come and collect them on their eighteenth birthdays. This circle will go on for eternity."

In disbelief, Darrell's mouth stayed open.

"What exactly are you talking about, and what exactly are you implying?" the King asked, confused.

"In other words, she cursed you?" Darrell responded.

"You already have two sons and another on the way; you'll have three more in three years, and we'll meet when I come to collect Mark, your oldest, on his eighteenth birthday," Clarris continued.

King Jerald burst out laughing.

Rachel reminded her, "You can't do that; you don't have the power to give me children; children are a gift from above."

"We'll see about that in eleven years," Clarris said, a grin on her face.

"She is only scaring us," Jerald continued, laughing like a lunatic. 

"You may have made a deal with the devil, but the devil does not bring children into this world."

Clarris walked over to where King Jerald was lying and lifted him by his throat. "Look into my eyes." He looked into her eyes, and within those eyes, he saw his entire eternal life. He felt every pain and anguish. He was left numb. 

"Look at it this way: you get to live for eternity," she said as Rachel collapsed to the ground and screamed in agony.

"Ouch!" 

"Just kill us, kill us," King Jerald kept chanting.

Clarris opened a portal and walked through it, followed by Darrell.

"Just kill us, please kill us, kill us," he kept chanting.

The two boys suddenly woke up "Mother, get up.What are you doing on the floor?" the two boys asked as they approached their mother. 

"I believe my water just broke, my king." Rachel was overcome with pain.

The sorcerers who were imprisoned beneath the castle finally escaped, and the scene they discovered shocked them. The castle's windows were all smashed, and it was filled with a thick fog.

While assisting the king, the eldest sorcerer inquired, "My Lord, why did you lock us in the basement?" while the others ran over to assist Rachael.

Rachel screamed in agony, "My water just burst!"

They called upon the servants and lifted her. "My king, my king!" Rachel cried out but to no avail. King Jerald kept chanting the same words over and over again. "Just kill us, just kill us..."