Chapter 48: Chapter Forty-eight: Falling apart like dominoes.
The other dragons made way in the center for the dragon to pass. It was the exact definition of an almighty, abominable that was never meant exist.
As the massive creature moved forward, the very air around it seemed to bend and contort, as if reality itself was subjected to its aura.
The dragons that made way for it were some of the most fearsome creatures in the land, with scales that shone like burnished metal. Yet, they cowered before this behemoth, bowing their heads in deference to this supreme, omnipotent giant.
The dragon stepped forward and stood in the middle where Damien and Lucian sat on the floor. Damien shivered at the sight of the dragon while Lucian had already passed out but the dragon didn’t do anything.
"Attravath." the dragon said simply in its thunder like voice.
Damien blinked in disbelief after hearing it speak. A dragon? Talking? They can talk?!
Damien let out bewildered scoff. It was just so unbelievable. He looked around to see if he could find the one he had met a few minutes ago but he wasn’t there.
At that moment, the massive dragon that stood before turned around and started walking away. The other dragons followed suit immediately and Damien took it as a hint to follow them. He turned around, grabbed Lucian by the arm and hurled him up to rest on his shoulders. The unbearable pain he had felt just moments ago had subsided quickly with just some momentary throbs once in a while.
As they walked on, the ground beneath them continued to shake but Damien held his ground.
After walking a distance, the other dragons that had come to probably eat them dispersed leaving only the biggest one alone with them. Honestly, he was relieved.
They continued walking until they got to the foot of a hill where a cave sat etched out above in the rocks. Below it were large, steep rocks leading up to the cave mouth.
Before he could think of how they were going to get up, the dragon turned around, grabbed them with its tail and flew upwards in a swift dash. There was not even time to scream. It all just happened so fast that by the time they landed in the mouth of the cave, both forgot to scream.
Suddenly, the dragon began to lose its great form. Its bulging eyes started to shrink, the scales began to disappear and the towering height broke off at the joints like its legs were being cut off inside the skin.
In the blink of an eye, the great, abominable dragon that had stood before them a while ago was no more to be found. In its place was something so impossible, it seemed time was now a joke.
..........
"Do we have any news on the two princes yet?" Isolde asked quietly from the side the king’s bed.
"Not yet, your majesty."
"Hmm."
Isolde appeared thoughtful for a while. She had tried to see through the magic ball, to know the outcome of this issue but it had showed her nothing. It didn’t even flicker a light.
But how come? She had clearly see Damien become king so why was it all going haywire? Did the prophecy change? Did the gods change their minds? Just what was going on!?
"Alright then. You’re excused." she said and watched the young soldier leave. Military men, trained archers, everyone had been dispatched to search the entire kingdom in search of the princes since yesterday but nothing came up. The only clue they had was the dragon scale. She had even wondered if the dragon had taken them...a
had it?
She quickly shook her head at that thought. Surely the gods wouldn’t be so cruel.
Heaving a heavily, she turned to look at the king lying stiffly on the bed. It had just been three days and he already looked like an excessively bleeding man. As she stared at him, her mind wandered back to when she had just been brought into palace as a concubine. The head concubine had just died and she had been chosen together with several other women from well-off backgrounds to compete on who would be the next head.
Isolde had been very happy and had given her all. At the end of the contest, she emerged as the winner. She thought everything would be roses from them on. But she was met with a bigger shock when the crown prince caught her. That had been the begining of her forever hell.
Alexandria stirred from his sleep, groaning softly. She immediately took his hand, squeezing it tight to offer comfort to him.
His face was scrunched up in pain, shaking his head from left to right with his eyes closed. Oh no.
In an instant, he became restless, thrashing about mindlessly on the bed.
"Somebody help!" the queen shouted from inside. Immediately, two muscular men who were guarding the room from outside, rushed in and stood in front of the king. They couldn’t touch the king unless given permission to by someone almost the same rank as him.
"What are you doing?! Hold him down! And call the physician!"
One of the men stretched over the bed, grabbing the king’s two arms and legs while the other rushed to get the physician.
Xypherion rushed in with his famous leather bag bouncing beside him. Even his apprentice wasn’t beside him.
"Leave him!" Xy shouted at the muscular man who immediately left the room.
"His condition is getting worse where are the princes?!" Xypherion questioned the queen in a rush.
"I don’t know! They still haven’t been found." Isolde said in her defence.
The physician reached into his bag and and took out the same glass cup with the green colored liquid. He rushed to the king, opened his mouth and poured some of it inside. Alexandria closed his mouth after the liquid was poured. But instead of swallowing it, the liquid bubbled out of his mouth with blood mixed with it.
Isolde and Xy stared in horror as the king began to convulse greatly.
"What is happening to him?! Do something!" Isolde yelled in horror at Xy as she watched the King shake uncontrollably.
The physician just stood there unmoving from shock and confusion. He tried to pour some more of the liquid into his mouth again but it only ended up the same way.
More blood began to flow in pools out of his mouth, staining his clothes and the bed. Some even came out of his nose. It was a bloody, sickening sight.
Xypherion rumbled through his leather bag searching for something like a mad man. The king convulsed the more vigorously, looking paler than pale. His eyes rolled back into his head, leaving only the white side showing. Isolde screamed in horror at the sight. He looked like an exorcism was being performed on him only that there was no demon casted out. His skin began to form small, round patches all over that just by looking could transfer its itchiness indirectly.
The patches seemed to spread like wildfire, covering the king’s body in a matter of seconds. They were a deep, angry red, and appeared to be some sort of rash or infection. Isolde’s screams grew louder, and she began to back away from the king, her eyes wide with fear.
He continued ravaging through his bag but the king’s convulsions grew more violent, and his body began to thrash about wildly. The patches on his skin seemed to be growing, spreading like a disease, covering more and more of his body. Isolde’s screams grew louder, screaming at the physician to act now.
Xypherion finally found what he was looking for. As he turned to the king, his eyes hung open in horror
The king’s body was now almost completely covered in the patches, and he seemed to be in some sort of trance-like state. His eyes were still rolled back in his head, and his mouth was open, as if he was screaming, but no sound was coming out.
Xypherion took a step forward, and then another, his eyes never leaving the king’s body. He eyes scanned through the patches, observing them momentarily by the way they seemed to be spreading, covering the king’s body like a second skin.
With every trembling ounce of strength left in his aged body, the old physician forced slammed a slender needle straight into the hollow of his left breast. The metal pierced flesh with a soft, sickening pop, and everything stilled. In an instant the king’s convulsions ceased, before collapsing flat onto the bed.
An astonished gasp escaped Isolde’s throat as the horror that had been building in her chest finally broke free.
Her hand trembled so violently that the bangles on her fingers rattled rather noisily. Isolde cautiously placed a fingertip under his nose to search for even the faintest hint
of life. In a second, her knees weakened and she collapsed to the floor.