Alan lied unconscious on a silky cushioned bed and it seemed he was in the middle of a dream. His pupils showed movement under his eyelids.
"Hahaha, you are such an idiot, Ruther," A man remarked while laughing.
Five young men in silver battle armors with a 'Burning fire' emblem on their chest chatted and laughed to ease themselves under the dark shaded sky of the night. They sat around the bonfire over which they grilled the flesh of a rabbit they hunted earlier. They could hear crickets having a duel with the silence of the night.
That Burning Fire emblem on their chest was the official emblem of Alabusia. The men who comforted themselves around the bonfire were the honorable second prince of Alabusia- Argus Devonte Albus, and his private soldiers.
"How can you call her sister if she proposed to you?" A man with a long dense beard asked while trying to control his laughter. The others along with young master Argus also tried to control their laugher when they saw Ruther's embarrassed face.
The bearded man had a strong built and his name was Magnus Steel Albus.
"You know I don't have experience in these kinds of things. I only know how to kill enemies," Ruther said while he looked away and tried to hide his embarrassment. They all laughed hard and their laughter spread like waves around in the rocky barren land they were present.
"Master Argus, we should teach him the art of dealing with women," Magnus said.
Argus rotated the stick over the bonfire with a smile to let the rabbit's meat cooked from all the sides. Another man among them said, "As if you know this art, you bearded monster." They all laughed at this, including Argus.
"Did you like that girl, Ruther?" Argus asked Ruther who sat parallel to him.
"I liked her but…" Ruther paused and hesitated to answer further.
"But you called her sister, and you feel embarrassed now," The bearded monster Magnus teased him and laughed. Ruther glared at him with a sour face as if he was telling him to stop making fun of him.
When Magnus held his laughter, Ruther spoke while staring into the fire, "I liked her but I don't think I loved her. I don't know but I think I had never considered her as my love interest."
While the men listened to Ruther, Argus said, "I think it's cooked." He removed the stick from over the fire on which they tied the rabbit and handed it to the soldier next to him.
The soldier was a young teenager with curly hair. He was so young his beard looked like a leopard's facial hair. He tore out small pieces from the meat and handed them over to others.
"Whoa, it is not bad," Magnus said in appreciation of the taste. "It always heightens our morals when we get to eat something delicious in hazardous conditions like these." They all nodded in agreement and chewed the meat in silence.
After a few seconds, Ruther looked at Argus and said, "Master Argus, you are a prince. You are also a good-looking man. Many women die over you."
The others looked at him with curious faces as they wanted to comprehend what he tried to say.
"But I have noticed that you don't even look at them. Why is that? Are they not your type or do you already have someone in your mind?"
They all wanted to know the answer as they were equally curious. They stared at Argus's face hoping to get a reply from him.
Argus chewed the crispy meat, stared into the fire, and answered after swallowing, "I have responsibilities on my shoulders. Being a prince is difficult. As you know, we are going through tough times. I can't waste my time on these things." His eyes looked purely honest when he spoke, that is why the soldiers did not ask further even if he had comforted them to act as his friends, not soldiers.
When they talked, some mysterious people crept towards them in the pitch darkness.
"We should sleep. We have to reach the Shaman tribes tomorrow and deliver the letter father gave me to their supreme leader," Argus said. "It is an important letter which is why father has trusted us for this task."
Suddenly, something dropped from the sky, rolled on the ground, and stopped near them. They all heard something dropping but they could not see what it was in the pitch darkness.
"What is it?" Magnus said when they all got on their guards.
Ruther stood up and pulled out his dagger that was tucked inside his waistband. "I will check." He headed in the direction where the dropping sound came from.
"Be careful," Argus said and stood up while looking around. "We are in the enemy's lands." They all stood up and unsheathed their blades.
Ruther saw something wrapped in shabby dark bandages on the ground. He picked it up thinking what it was and took it to Argus.
"Don't drop your guards. Someone might lurk around to ambush us," Argus said and looked at the weird object Ruther brought. "Unwrap it," He ordered Ruther.
Ruther unwraps the bandages around the object and could not understand what came out of it. It was a small skull, could be of a squirrel, on which they could see weird ancient patterns carved around it.
"What is it?" Ruther mouthed as he tried to read the patterns but could not.
"Give it to me," Argus said and placed his arm forward for Ruther to hand it over to him. When Ruther was about to hand the skull to him, the carvings shone.
The skull crumbled into pieces when the shining dimmed. They could not comprehend what happened. Suddenly, Ruther felt dizzy and fell to the ground with a thud.
"Ruther!" Magnus shouted, and they all reacted quickly to see what happened to him. He lied unconscious on the ground when Argus slapped him on the cheeks lightly to wake him up.
"Ruther? Ruther!" Argus uttered in anxiousness and pushed up his eyelids from his thumb. They all looked at each other with dumbfounded looks when they saw his eyes had turned blood red. Blood had gathered around the borders of his eyes and could flow down any moment.
When they were busy figuring out what happened to their friend, they heard some noises that came from all directions. It was the howl of the Wild Shaman people. They usually howled when they found the prey to kill.
Argus and his soldiers stood up and surrounded Ruther with their backs facing each other, and blades facing the ambushers in the darkness.
"They must have placed a curse on Ruther using that skull," Argus said. "We need to save him and ourselves from these wild maniacs."
They saw the wild people whose numbers were in hundreds surrounded them. They were almost naked with weird enchantments tattooed on their bodies. They all carried weapons that were carved from bones and stones.
"How would we fight all of them, Master? They even use curses," The boy with curly hair said.
"We have no choice but to fight," Argus said. "We can at least die with honor. Before that, we will show them what Alabusian warriors are made of." These words filled some courage into the brave hearts.
When they expected the attack to happen from their front, someone stabbed Argus a few inches under his right shoulder from behind.
"Ah!" He moaned and turned around to see who it was. They all turned and got shocked to see that Ruther was the one who stabbed him with his dagger.
"Ruther?" Argus uttered in disbelief. He could see the blood flowing down his eyes which meant something was not right.
…
Gunther sat beside Alan to take care of him. He noticed Alan uttered something in his sleep and seemed too disturbed as if he had a nightmare.
"Ruther…" Alan uttered. His forehead got sweaty, and he looked discomforted.
His dream got messed up and he could see different disturbing images one after each another.
"I f*king hated you!"
He could see when Ruther backstabbed him during the war with Nigrosia.
"Argus…"
He could see when his wife Layla died at the hands of Nigrosian assassins.
"Help! No! Ah!"
He could see the burning of Alabusia and could hear the screams of his people.
He took uneven breaths in his sleep, and Gunther noticed it.
"Alan?" He shook him from his shoulder and tried to wake him up. Alan suddenly opened his eyes while he panted. He saw the colorful paintings of naked women and monsters on the ceiling the first thing after waking up.
"Thank God, you are okay," Gunther said in a relieved tone.
Alan turned his head and looked at him. "Gunther? Where am I?"
"You are in the Emperor's palace, Alan. The emperor treated our wounds," Gunther replied with a smile.
"Oh." Alan remembered he lost consciousness when he received a massive cut wound on the chest. The bandages covering almost his entire body confirmed that he was right.
He looked around and saw that two servants in gray attire stood with their heads bowed down behind Gunther. It was a vast chamber with candles and fire torches around. The decorations and paintings on the walls and ceiling gave it a royally beautiful yet disturbing look.
"What happened to Marya?"
"She was here a while ago but her father took her with him," Gunther answered.
Alan nodded and heard someone's voice.
"Emperor Blood Victor Nigros!" The doorkeeper said and a dark man with open long hair and a giant-like buildup entered the chamber. His shining red eyes gave a terrifying yet oddly soothing aura. Gunther stood up and bowed his head in respect.
"How are you doing, young warrior?" Victor asked Alan with a crafty smile which made his carnivore-like canines visible.
Alan groped the bedsheet tightly when he tried not to burst out in anger while looking at Victor's face.