"Aaaargh!"
The chief agent of the Dark Lord roared and threw away the tumbler he was holding in his hand.
"Where did the beast come from?" he asked.
"No one knows master! It just flew from the forest and struck fast. Hundreds were killed by its single spray of fire!" a trembling soldier recounted.
"Did Baron Goshepa escape?"
"Sadly No! He was among the ones who perished on the first strike!"
"What a fool! Who told him to be at the frontlines?"
"He preferred it that way. He said we were too great a number to be defeated by a single prince with a couple of soldiers. He was so zealous!"
"And yet my entire army has been wiped out by that strange being in the name of the Prince! Did you say he rode the beast?"
"Master, nobody foretold this would happen, we didn't anticipate it. I barely survived because I was among the last lines at the most rear!"
"Get out of my sight you coward!" the agent rebuked his soldier in anger. The soldier left and the agent began pacing up and down with his hands on his chin.
"I have no option but to get Him here!" He finally sighed heavily as he resolves to do something.
The agent turned to the huge cauldron at the centre of his chamber and started moving his hands in an uncommon manner as he recites a series of enchantment. Suddenly a gust of wind glowed from the table and filled the entire room. Tools rattled and curtains swayed as the wind became stronger. Dazzling green light emerged and converged at the centre of the table, oscillating around it with the sound of gushing water downstream.
Slowly, a hooded man appeared in what looked like a hologram within the green lights. He was wearing a black robe that flowed down to his feet his eyes were extremely red as he turned to look at the agent. The sound and the wind suddenly vanished and it was all calm. The silence was foreboding. The agent bowed down a short distance away.
"Supreme Master!" He muttered.
"I see you have failed to capture that mere human! What with the whole army you asked for?" the Dark Lord burst forth in anger.
"There were unprecedented developments my Lord!"
"You incompetent imbecile! Such a small task you fail! I see that I need another person to manage earth as I proceed to conquer higher realms! But you! You are the only one holding us back! Listen, it is very important that those two do not meet! Get out and do everything possible to stop their meeting!"
"My Lord, I have no army left! The dragon burnt all of them alive! By now...."
Before he could finish a strange sound instantly filled the chambers and a green hand emerged from the lights and grabbed the agent by neck. He was being strangled by a force that could not be seen. He tried to struggle against it but he couldn't. Drop! The mysterious hand dropped him on the floor, finally. Limply, the agent got up and coughed severally as he tried to regain his breath.
"I can't come down to Amarkale right now! The key I stole from the Old king worked only one way to the upper planet but can't go back or beyond earth. But I need that woman's blood to unlock the golden spectre of the time traveller! With that I won't need any damn key to travel between planets. Get her now for me!"
"Yes, my Lord!" The agent replied weakly.
At that instant the lights and the sound and the wind all vanished without a trace. It was as if nothing at all happened in that chamber. Only the agent's pale face could say something was not right.
"How do I get to the Princess?"
****************
"Let us all celebrate this new dawn! Drink to the health and prosperity of Amarkale! To our Prince and Princess!"
"To our Prince and Princess!" all the subjects and noblemen and women of the kingdom cheered lively.
A great party was thrown in honour of the arrival of Prince Folan.
"My Prince, you are really good in keeping time! You arrived right on the most important moment!" the Old Seer said as he patted the Prince.
"Grandpa! I still can't believe you are the Old Seer!" Frank said.
"You better do! Unless you are not the Prince!" The Old man replied heartily. The two enjoyed every moment together as they watched the crowd below celebrating. Shortly afterwards the maidservants arrived with the princess. She was all glowing and glittering.
"My Prince! Chief Seer!" she greeted as she arrived.
"My Lady! Welcome to the banquet! It is a moment in history that we have waited for far too long!"
"I am glad you made it my Prince! I was so anxious!"
"A wise woman told me, nobody can overturn what fate has decreed, no matter who they are!" Frank replied.
The princess then stopped abruptly as her eyes connected with someone in the crowd. He was heading towards the position for lords and barons of the land. The man raised his eyes and the two looked at one another for a moment. Anger and malice could be seen in them.
"Is that not Lord Grupa, Duke of the Eastern Farlands, the one whom I suspended?" the princess asked without turning around. The Chief Seer got to his feet and also looked at the man who was still gazing at them.
"It definitely is him? But who let him out of the dungeons?" the seer asked.
"I should ask you Seer! Where is the palace knight's commander? He must know who let him out!" The princess spoke venom rising in her again.
"What it about that man, my love?" Frank came around to Noel as he asked that. He could tell that she was really offended by him.
"That man is a demon, I sure can tell even when others don't! My spirit forebodes his very existence!" she replied.
Frank turned to look at the man again but he was not there! He had vanished just like that!