" Open the gates '' one of the guards ordered the gate keepers. They railed up the gate shocked to see General Renoe in a panic state and noticed he was alone.
Renoe ran towards the castle, he had seen many horrifying things but this one threw him off his senses.He headed straight for the throne room. He had to let the king know about this.
Renoe barged into the throne room without hesitation, it looked like the king was busy with his royal advicers. They seemed to be deliberating on something important. They were now distracted when he barged into the throne room unannounced. The king was aware of the hunt led by General Renoe, he wasn't shocked when he didn't see the other soldiers. At least, someone was alive to tell the tale.
Renoe bowed to honour the king. " your majesty", still with his head down he added. " I bring words from our hunt but am afraid you wouldn't like to hear it ".
" stand" king Gabriel commanded him still seated on his throne. " you may speak ".
" sire am afraid what lies behind Oreb is far more greater than we expected, I can't put words together because what I saw is heavy for me to say"
" Do not keep the king waiting, for I am curious to know what you saw". The king said calmly.
" sire me and my men hunted down and killed the creature that plagued our lands until..." he hesitated for a while.
" speak up"
Renoe swallowed hard " A human like us attacked us, she wielded power never known to man, I lost all my men to her"
" What nonsense do you speak " The king got up from his throne in disbelief. " that's impossible". There was a loud murmur in the throne room among the advicers. The king matched forward and stood directly in front of the General. "speak the truth, did I birth a fool for a son?"
" Sire I speak the truth for I have no reason to lie, she said we trespassed in her Land and murdered her people". Renoe said unshaken by his father's words.
" Get out..." Every one was confused. The king turned to his advicers this time. " Get out all of you" The king was annoyed and disturbed by the news. Once everyone got out, he turned to Renoe and hugged him tightly, "am glad you are okay and made it out alive, are you certain of what you speak?"
" yes father. I won't lie to you" Renoe assured him.
" Guards! " King Gabriel called out to a guard that stood by the throne room door, " get me Morbius ".
Renoe had led the soldiers of Arish into all their battles although, he was the prince and only heir to the throne. He always wanted to be a useful hand in keeping Arish safe so, he joined the army and earned his way to becoming the general. Although his father wasn't happy with it, he was pleased with every victory they won under his son Renoe. They kept their work formal and had their time for family bonding. They needed to be professional. Renoe although had other reasons why he joined his father's army, because of his late brother Simon. Renoe believed he was taken away by demons when they were little. He replays the incident in his head.
***
Renoe woke at the sound of his mother's voice, although still sleepy, he cleaned his eyes and got out of his bed tracing her voice to the hall way. He was very little then. When he got out of his room into the hallway, he saw his mom walking around aimlessly searching for someone or something not until, she called out Simon's name. She was looking for Simon?, was he not in his room?, Renoe ran to his mother who was unaware of his presence hugging her legs from behind. His mom was so tall she seemed like a giant to him although he was eight and was still growing. Simon was his elder brother and they were close even though Simon was older by five years. Renoe his mother was troubled , where was her son?. Mary looked down at her son and came down to his level.
" Have you seen your brother Renoe?, I have looked everywhere for him and the guards are looking too". A little bit of hope lit up her eyes thinking he would know where Simon was.
" oh no mother! I just woke up when I heard your voice but am sure he'll show up". Renoe said cupping her face in his palms. " I'll even help you look for him ok". Mary got up and held his little hands in hers finding a little bit of comfort. Together they looked around every hole and every cranny until they were outside in the garden. The guard alerted the queen.
" My Queen, I've found something". He raised a piece of cloth stained with blood. It was Simon's. Mary grabbed it from his hands screaming and crying while falling to the ground. Renoe never saw his brother since.
******
Morbius entered the throne room with his long stick in his right hand. He wore a purple and black dress that looked quite elegant for his nature. He was the mage, he had knowledge of different supernatural being in existence and kept historical records of them. He was tall, handsome and was well built to an extent. He had beautiful Black hair that cut across his shoulders. He took over as the mage after his father passed away. The king had a good amount of respect for him due to the relationship he had with his father. " you sent for me sire?" he didn't bow low like the rest, he would just low his head and bring it back up in respect. The king explained everything to him, but he didn't seem to be shocked at all.
" what do you have to say about this?" The king asked.
" If I told my king would he believe my words" he simply said. His green eyes unreadable.
" I have heard it from my son's mouth and I would believe just about anything related to it "
" My king, we have ignored and thrown away the stories of old told by our forefathers and now, we face it today...