Kyler surveyed the city with indifference. It was squalor, objectively speaking. The absolute abandon of a race glutted with food and strong drink carelessly destroying whatever they wished.
He yawned. This was not his desire. For the first time in over ten years, his body was fit, truly fit, for battle, and yet his older brother and that absolute coward, King Roland, had fled without so much as a skirmish.
People were the worst. Too cowardly to fight for their beliefs, too self indulgent to care about anything other than themselves.
He stretched and lazily looked toward the city center.
On a great throne made of the finest stones of the dismantled City Hall sat Beast, receiving his daily worship with satisfied faces gazing about, daring anyone to give less than their maximum effort. The two chained-up former giants struggled halfheartedly, weakened by extended time of little water and no food.
People threw themselves at Beast's feet, begging for the honor of being his next meal, or putting forth members of their family, even their children.
Most who begged for the honor were fed to the goblins instead.
Kyler wasn't sure where the portals were opening, but more and stranger creatures appeared at the smashed city gate daily.
He yawned again, rolling his shoulders back and trying to feel nothing at all as a horse with the head of a snake hissed in his direction. Glaring back at it evenly, he waited until it turned away to make a mocking face. Its long tail whipped toward him and he jumped back in time to avoid being bitten by a secondary venomous head at the tip.
Two snake heads on one animal seemed a bit much. Who had made these stupid things?
The two-headed creature left with a final snarl, apparently deeming the human not worth the effort of killing, or fearing the repercussions the Beast visited upon those who defied his desires.
Today, Beast seemed to be preparing for something. He was accepting more human sacrifices than normal, one after another until it seemed he might burst. Kyler would have been disgusted by the sight, but the great leader could do as he wished.
There was nothing Kyler could do, or really, wanted to do to stop it. If he defied Beast, or even seriously considered trying, he would revert back to his useless, crippled state. His lip curled in distaste.
No, he would never go back to that, no matter what.
A sort of electrical excitement began to buzz in the air amongst the monsters under Beast's command. Serpents along the walls of the buildings lifted their heads as more adoring humans passed into Beast's gaping mouths. Kyler stood a little straighter as the atmospheric change bloomed.
He blinked, looking toward Beast's belly where something seemed to grow. Kyler watched in fascination as the frenzied people threw themselves towards their master. Beast was changing.
His throne seemed to strain under the weight, though the solid stone should have been able to bear many times' the being's load. Kyler pursed his lips.
The sun was at its peak, and beat down mercilessly on the city. Sweat trickled down Kyler's back, when suddenly, the temperature dropped by at least twenty degrees. The sun was gone, obscured from the sky.
He looked up. This had happened before, the day Beast took the city. What was the master doing now?
Beast froze, all seven heads swiveling towards the sky. Silence fell over Klain. All creatures, great and small, went quiet, and waited for the sun to return. Minutes passed. Strange shadows moved across the ground, as if alive. Kyler jumped back, shivering, as one passed near enough to nearly touch him.
He could have sworn he heard it laugh.
The light around him, what little of it there was, seemed distorted and eerie, as if it were dying, being strangled by the moving shadows.
The darkness devouring the light.
Kyler frowned in concentration. The eclipse passed, but the sun seemed different somehow. Weaker, anemic.
It would have been unnerving, if Kyler had cared at all. But he didn't. Beast had promised a war, and none was forthcoming.
The last war he fought in, he was an embarrassment. He wouldn't be one this time. He was eager to prove to himself, to the world, that he was more. He was better. Nothing could stop him this time.
It was somewhat distasteful to be on the side of goblins, but apparently they had incredibly short life spans. The little ones grew to adulthood in a matter of weeks, and with the murderous infighting, few lived to be more than five or ten years old.
None of the ones he'd fought before were likely to be alive now.
He grinned. Stupid, vile creatures, all. He would fight the whole world to prove his worth, but it was enough to be under Beast's leadership. It ruled the world, and Kyler would rise in the ranks to be the best. Not the cannon fodder of the common people. Valuable. Needed. Relied on.
Not babied.
A sound like a trumpet bloomed in the silence. From the East, the mountains. Kyler pushed off the broken pillar he'd been leaning against at the edge of the square and walked a few steps for a better view of the cliffs towering over Klain.
From there, the light seemed brighter, though the sun was moving to the West. Atop the cliffs were a line of horses and riders, looking down upon the city.
Kyler tilted his head. Unless their horses could fly, there was no purpose or plan of attack from that height. Their arrows would be aimless at this distance, and there were no great boulders left at that level to roll down and crush the city.
After the great War with Rhone, Klain had seen to that.
There was no easy path down the sheer cliffside. Any encroachment would involve backtracking down the slopes and moving around the lake, taking a half day or longer for any size army, no matter how swift.
So what were they doing up there?
Kyler squinted, trying to pick out a few key figures. Riley, the 'brave' General of Klain, his oldest brother. Ridiculous man, good fighter though he was.
Coward King Roland, as the people now called him, was beside him, but not on a horse. It looked like his great pet cat, that Shayn had ridden. Useless animal.
Shayn must have made it back, then, he supposed. That was good. He wanted the pleasure of killing his younger brother himself. The symbol of his weakness, his help for so many years. With Shayn, he could kill his past, finally being rid of it.
He spotted the man near Riley's flank, and grinned. This was his chance!
Kyler looked toward Beast, who lumbered to his great feet and turned toward the mountains.
"PREPARE FOR WAR!" His voices bellowed. It was music to Kyler's ears. He drew his sword and lingered, wondering how the enemy force planned to descend from the cliff. The cat could probably make it; he'd seen the speed of the creature before.
The horses and soldiers, however, stood no chance whatsoever. What was Roland thinking? There was no strategy behind this maneuver. Intimidation?
He laughed. Nothing could intimidate Beast's forces. There was no army in this world that could defeat Beast. Most of them would become his soldiers before they shed a single drop of blood, and the tide would turn against the flimsy king of Rhone, Commodore of Ceto, and official of Klain.
So many titles for one pathetic man.
"Where to, Master?" Kyler called to Beast.
"Hold your ground," Beast intoned, swaying and shifting as he assessed the humans' plans. Like Kyler, he likely knew there was no way off the cliffs and was curious as to their intentions.
Were they gathering intelligence to attack later? It was foolish to lose the element of surprise in such a way. Kyler could easily count their forces from here. They couldn't have many more than the number perched so high.
Did he bring his entire army just to stand up there, staring? It was odd indeed.
"COME DOWN AND FIGHT, COWARDS!" Kyler screamed up at them, knowing there was no way they could hear. Those nearest to him took up the call, and before long the entire city was shouting up insults and taunts at their former king.
The creatures of the other worlds hissed and screeched laughter at the sad little king with his small force up on a high hill.
"Do you mean to throw yourselves down and crush us?" One man called. "For that stands a better chance than any other plan!"
Kyler grinned slightly, but noticed Beast had not moved. That was unusual, for his seven heads were usually in constant motion, observing, seeing. They now focused all on Roland with an intense stare.
"Prepare," He said. "They come in numbers greater than they appear."
The echoes of his voices rippled across the ruined city. Those who were drunk stumbled to their feet. Those who were sleeping rose and picked up their swords. All heeded the call of beast, and prepared for war.