Year 983
The Royal House of Vallarta receives devastating news.
Lord Torsten Arden of Ardenurve and wife, Lady Tora Arden are brutally murdered within their castle by an unidentified group. Bearing witness of this gruesome occurrence is their young heir and her protector.
-The Royal Archives-History of Vallarta.
~Previously
This time however, the voice did not terrify Myrina, rather than terror Myrina was consumed with the need for vengeance.
A rage that consumed her very being filled little Myrina, a rage that destroyed all rational thoughts, all Myrina saw was red and the only thing chanted over and over in her mind was one word.
'KILL!'
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Myrina rose slowly to her feet , her body no longer felt like it was hers.
The ring in Myrina's palm burned increasingly hot but instead of hurting her, it felt familiar to Myrina, it felt comforting even,
Like it was a part of Myrina, and Myrina knew it was, because the ring in her hand was the very same passed down from generations through the Arden family,
It was the symbol of authority, worn only by the Lord of Ardenurve.
Myrina's gaze flickered past a gravely injured Kare on the floor, and up to the masked men advancing on him.
Myrina lifted a hand slowly in their direction and willed for a gruesome death.
The ring in Myrina's hand was now as hot as larva, but still Myrina was not affected, not when a strange power filled her, surging through her meridians ,
Not when Kare released a shocked gasp and definitely not when a massive lighting bolt tore through the roof of the castle, striking down the masked men
The masked men burst into flames , reducing to mere ashes in a matter of seconds.
At this point, as astonishing as this was, Myrina was too far gone to care. The young Arden was completely consumed with rage.
"Ha! The flames of the Arden family have always impressed me, but an Arden that wields lightning? Never have I seen this before, Unbelievable! You are indeed the one I have been waiting for, the woman destined to stand at my side...My Queen." The dark and terrifying intruder laughed out.
Myrina's gaze moved to the dark intruder and his lips stretched into a terrifyingly excited smile.
Myrina moved towards him slowly, the killing intent pouring off her in waves was enough to show her intentions.
However with each step further Myrina took, the smile on the dark intruder's lips only widened.
The dark intruder lifted a hand to halt his men who approached to aid him, now wary of Myrina after seeing their comrades consumed by flames incited by Myrina's lightening.
"Do you hate this king?" The dark intruder asked little Myrina, crouching down as she stopped right before him, a murderous look in her eyes.
The dark intruder chuckled when Myrina did not reply, even tilting his head to the side amusedly, as if everything that had happened here was merely an amusing display to him.
"That is too bad, because this king feels the opposite for you... this king loves you." The dark intruder whispered, reaching a hand to Myrina's face,
Myrina stepped back in barely concealed disgust and the dark intruder grinned.
"You fear me, as you rightly should. In this East continent, there is not a man that does not fear this king..." The dark intruder whispered darkly, his voice was a low, intimidating drawl and his very being oozed power...dark, terrifying power.
Myrina unconsciously took another step back and the dark intruder grinned.
"Why?" Myrina asked him slowly, swallowing down her terror and steeling her heart.
Myrina could not understand what this dark and terrifying intruder stood to gain from killing her family.
Lord Torsten Arden of Ardenurve had a lot of enemies, that was expected of the most prestigious arch prince of the royal court and one of the most excellent warriors of Vallarta,
Lord Torsten's standing and status was one where he would definitely offend countless people be it intentionally or unintentionally.
However, despite this, most of lord Torsten's enemies did not dare act on their hate, this was because they knew Myrina's father was a major pillar of Vallarta and one of the few people whose terrifying strength kept the other kingdoms of the East continent as well as the barbarians on the unclaimed lands at bay.
"Why? Because they hid from this king what belongs to me... you." The dark intruder replied simply, as though it was the most reasonable explanation.
Myrina's eyes widened at the dark intruder's words and she stepped back again, shaking her head in denial.
"What...what do you mean?" Myrina asked in a trembling tone, the dark lord shrugged.
"Ask the flame beast lord, he was your father's companion and should know..." The dark intruder replied, rising to his feet.
Myrina's brows furrowed as she pondered fearfully what the dark intruder's words might mean.
The flame beast lord was a fire beast that could take the form of a human due to his unmatched strength, he was the bonded beast of the Arden family and resided within the firestone ring in Myrina's hands.
Myrina was drawn out of her confused thoughts by a pained yell from Kare.
Myrina spun around swiftly to see Kare in the air, lifted by an invisible force that seemed to be coming from the dark intruder who stood before her.
Myrina's rage returned in full force and the young Arden felt the strange power gathering within her, just like it had before.
The power rushed through Myrina's form as it built up, drawing out every ounce of spiritual energy from within her till there was nothing left.
Myrina then released the accumulated energy at the dark intruder.
The accumulated spiritual energy took the form of a massive lightening bolt that pulsed with a blinding light making all except Myrina have to shield their eyes.
The dark intruder was caught off guard and the massive lightening bolt slammed right into him, the force of the hit throwing him against the wall.
Myrina collapsed to the ground, drained of all her energy, she felt her strength leave her and a heavy feeling of fatigue replaced the all consuming rage.
However Myrina's fatigue was quickly replaced with horror as the dark intruder rose to his feet again, chuckling in dark amusement.
'How had he survived that?' Myrina thought, moving back in terror as the dark intruder approached her.
Myrina was well aware of the kind of force behind that lightening bolt, it should have not been possible for anyone to survive a direct hit from it.
"What...What are you?" Myrina asked the dark intruder in a shaky tone, finally realizing just what kind of tyrannical power she was facing, The dark intruder chuckled.
"Over my long years of existence, this king has been called many names, by a lot of people. Different times find me with a different title." The dark intruder began in his lazy but intimidating drawl.
" However this king prefers to be known as the most powerful force of darkness, the dark king. But to you my dear, all you need to know is that...we are meant for each other." The dark intruder said to Myrina, whispering the last part in a tone of dark promise.
Myrina whimpered, hurriedly shuffling away from the dark intruder as he moved closer to her and crouched down before Myrina's trembling form.
Myrina struggled against her terror, forcing herself to lift her gaze to the dark intruder and that was when Myrina noticed the burn mark on the side of the dark intruder's face, marring his previously perfect and otherworldly visage.
The burn mark was fresh and Myrina felt a slight comfort to know she had inflicted it.
Seeing the mark on the dark intruder's face eased her terror by a little, this was because now Myrina knew that this dark intruder was not indestructible.
"It does not matter to this lord who you are, whoever you are, this lord will end you. The scar on your face, let it be a reminder of my words today." Myrina vowed solemnly, addressing herself with her status,
With the passing of lord Torsten, young Myrina Arden was officially the lord of Ardenurve. The dark intruder laughed, nodding in agreement.
"Indeed... this king shall bear your mark with pride, as for mine, it will have to be inflicted another day, till then, this king shall comfort myself in the fact that, whenever you remember your loss today...you shall think of me." The dark intruder said in a disgustingly obsessed tone.
Myrina glared hatefully at him, forcing her trembling body to stay still as the dark intruder reached out a hand and caressed the side of her face before abruptly standing up and turning to leave, however he stopped halfway.
"Ah, one last thing, this king believes you will want to investigate your subordinates. Your reverred father becoming so pathetic disappointed me."
"I was expecting a worthy fight and not a one sided victory against a poisoned man, besides do you not think it funny how this lord was able to infiltrate the impenetrable Arden castle so easily?" The dark intruder said, his words stirring up a new rage within Myrina as they confirmed what she had already suspected...there was a traitor in Ardenurve.
Seeing that his words had been taken to heart, the dark intruder spun around and left the hall, his men trailing out behind him.
The moment he was gone, the sob stuck in Myrina's throat made it's way out and the hall was filled with Myrina's heart wrenching sobs as the young Arden finally broke down.
Little Myrina laid down on the castle floor, staring at the bodies of her deceased parents and wondering...
'Where do I go from here...?'