Chapter 5: Lost Soul

Two small bells ring as a door brushes through them, slowly opening and closing again. A couple had just left what seems to be a small jewelry store, rings and bracelets and necklaces and all the different shapes and colors of expensive jewelry being held in cabinets and shelves.

Jon is speaking on the counter with the jeweler, a slightly dark-skinned short man, with a small bowl hat on his head covering his short black hair, wearing a fair-styled black coat.

"I don't know what you think you're doing here, Mr. Jon," says the man, in a very broken English, with an Arabic accent, "this ring is worth nothing!"

"You buy this stuff, right? Bracelets and earrings and... y'know, rings?" says Jon, holding up the dirty ring he got from the frog caves much earlier, showing it to the man. "Just take it, for two coppers or something, I dunno."

"Mr. Jon, I am jewelry dealer, not trash dealer! You want to sell your ring, you sell it to trash dealer!" says the man.

"Two coppers? You can't even do that?" says Jon.

"I don't deal in copper, it is beneath me." says the man. "The ring is worthless."

"It's not worthless, I got it from a guy in some frog caves who said that it was a gift from the uh, the God of Fate, or something." says Jon.

"You don't want it, you throw it in the trash, Mr. Jon!" cries the man. "I am not the trash, Mr. Jon!"

"I don't f- I don't want to throw it!" says Jon. "What if it's really a gift from the God of Fate? I mean... I don't believe that, but... On the one percent off chance that it could be... Will I really face the God of Fate and tell him that I threw his gift away?"

"How is it better to tell him you sold it for two copper?" says the man.

Jon stands still for a moment, thinking.

"... I guess when you put it that way..."

The bells ring once more. The jeweler looks at the person who just entered, attentively and suspiciously. Jon turns, and he sees a woman in a dirty cloak, covering her face. He stands, watching her closely, until she looks at him. He recognizes the woman, shocked, it is the same woman who was fighting Tiab from earlier. Her eyes meet his, desperation and fear clouding over them, he can clearly see a small cut on her face, she once again covers her face and walks into a corner of the store, behind some cabinets.

The jeweler scooches a little bit to the side to be able to see her. The woman gives Jon another very quick glance and looks away again. Jon hesitates for a moment.

"I'll be back, you better take my fucking ring." Jon tells the jeweler, before he starts to approach the woman. She glances at him once more as he comes closer.

"I know who you are." says Jon, giving her a concerned look. She stays silent, looking back towards the jeweler and then to the ground, still hiding her face. Jon feels regretful, he takes a deep breath, looking away.

"I'm sorry. I tried to help you but I couldn't." says Jon. "I should have stepped in but..."

"You are the only man who tried." she finally says, in a broken, tired voice, that almost seems like it is about to break into crying. Jon turns to look at her. She moves her face even further away, shameful.

"Let me help you." says Jon. "What do you need? I'll do it, I'll make it up to you, I promise."

She stays silent for another moment, thinking. The jeweler bends on his counter, eyeing them both attentively.

"Woman, if you want to buy, come to me here where I can see you." he says.

She quickly turns to the man, and then to Jon, slightly embarrassed, and starts to walk to the door.

"Come." she says. Jon follows her outside.

They leave the store, it seems to be in the middle of the dirtbag section of the city, near another set of dirty roads. Men are moving in the background, piling the bags atop one side of the road, to a pile that is almost a hundred bags large. Jon follows the woman to the alleyway behind the store. It is a dark, quiet place, surrounded by buildings and several empty trash cans. She stops a distance away from Jon, and turns to him. He stops, puzzled, still looking at her, trying to figure out what she is about to say or do.

She just stands there for a moment, she starts to breath quickly, her mouth twitching for a second, before she drops to her knees in front of him, burying her face underneath her begging hands, and exploding into tears. He watches her, opening his mouth slightly, shocked.

"Sir Jon... Please..." she says, in a low, begging voice. "Please, for the love of..."

"Hey, hey, hey, what's... what's the matter?" says Jon. "What did he do to you?"

"He ended my life!" she says, still crying. "He took my home, my food, and my... he took my dignity Sir Jon I..."

Jon looks at her, shaking his head in sorrow, he doesn't know what to say.

"What... Uh, can..." he says, putting his hand on his head. "Fuck, I woke up way too early for this... Can you give me some more information?"

She tries to calm herself for a moment and stop crying. She snuffles, wiping her nose.

"He was ruthless, he ruined me... and after he was finished I- I could... barely crawl out of my house, but then they all started to... humiliate me like they used to..." she says. "They've always hated me for what I am and where I came from, but I never... I never expected them to... I thought they had forgotten but..."

"Alright, just calm down now, just..." he starts to say, seeing that she was about to break into tears once again. He holds her by her shoulders and helps her up, she looks at him, still filled with fear and grief. He looks her in the eye, trying to calm her. "I'll get back at him for you, I promise."

A look of relief starts to overcome her, but not fully. She gives him a very slight smile. Jon looks away towards the road and then back at her, hesitant, though in a hurry.

"Will you be okay if I leave you now?" he says.

"I..." she starts to say, nervously. "... I don't have a place to stay, Sir Jon... I don't... think I will be okay."

"Huh." he says, thinking for a moment. "Well, uh... How about you come to my place, just until we figure something out?"

She nods, timidly. he nods back, giving her a reassuring smile to calm her.

"Follow me." he says. They both exit the alleyway and start walking across the road.

"Johnny!" calls a voice from afar, Jon and Rose both stop and turn to the source of the voice, Fangs, who approaches them calmly. He is sweating, hard, and looks exhausted.

"What's up, Fangs?" says Jon.

"Eh, my left ear's been twitching like crazy, but I'm good." he says, before he notices the lady with Jon. He starts to recognize her. "That's the woman from the... She is, isn't she?"

"Yes." he says. She subtlely hides her face with her cloak and looks downwards.

"If y'need anything ma'am, I'll be around, aight?" says Fangs. "Was a shitty thing that other guy did, we all wanna see him take a good beating for it, but just hang in there... Ol' Johnny's gonna break his jaw for ya!"

She gives him a quick glance, almost of slight comfort, before looking down again.

"So, what do you need, Fangs?" says Jon.

"Ah yeah, yeah right, listen," says Fangs. "I just wanted to remind you about Mark and his training tomorrow, y'know, with the wolves. The king asked me to grab someone to carry the bait but I'm gonna be busy with my preps and shit so you should take care of that."

"Sure, I'll uh, I'll start looking in a bit, yeah." says Jon. "Good luck, man."

"Break a leg!" says Fangs, smirking at Jon and pointing his fingers at him. Jon gives him a wide, smug smile, almost laughing, as he points back at him. Fangs walks away.

--

Jon opens the door, letting himself and the young woman into his house. The main room is a wide space with only two chairs and a table at the corner, opposite the doorway to the kitchen, the walls are painted in off-white, clearly still wet. She looks around, observing the room.

"Sorry about the smell." says Jon. "I'm still settling in, the walls were just painted and I haven't really had the time to get new furniture-"

"It's alright." she says, smiling at Jon. "It's great, lovely place, Sir Jon."

"Please, just call me Jon, and have a seat." He says, as he heads for the kitchen, looking back at her, still somewhat concerned. "So uh, I didn't quite catch your name."

"It's Rose, Rose Knil." she says, after she takes a seat on one of the chairs, patiently waiting. She looks out the window which is right next to her, watching the gentlemen and the ladies come and go, chattering about, all happy and relaxed, almost as if they had no problems in life. She takes a moment to ponder in her own thoughts. Her expression darkens, perhaps out of jealousy, or maybe she knows what will become of them soon, the fuck do I know?

"You got anything to drink?" she calls.

"Oh? No, no I don't drink anymore." he calls from the kitchen. "Uh... Water, I guess. I'll get you a glass of water."

She slightly nods, still distracted by her own thoughts.

"Are you from around here, Rose?" he calls.

"What?" she says, still barely starting to pay attention.

"Your family name isn't Nexonish, you don't look Nexonish, and you don't sound Nexonish, either." he calls. "If I were to take a guess, I'd say you're either Tefermorian or from around Southern Stratfort."

"You are quite attentive, Sir-"

"Rose, just Jon, please." he calls, before hesitating for a moment. "... You're not Ozish, are you?"

"No... Uh, 'Jon', I'm from Tefermore, but I had to move here a long time ago." she calls.

Jon comes out of the kitchen with a glass of ice-cold water, approaching her.

"Can I ask why?" says Jon, as he lays the glass in front of her. She holds the glass, the coldness of it courses through her fingertips, calming her. She looks at him, hesitating for a while. He shrugs.

"If you don't want to-"

"I lost my family to the Dark Army." she says. He pays closer attention to her, pitying her even more. "My whole town, in fact. I escaped but... I knew nothing about what happened to my family or my parents... I got here, and I started living by myself."

"And the other folks hating you, what was that about?" says Jon. Rose raises her glass and drinks some water, refreshing herself, before laying it down again and looking down, thinking for a moment.

"You see, when I was..." she starts to say, before she suddenly stops, her expression darkening. Jon could tell her memory wasn't pleasant.

"Listen-"

"I first arrived twelve years ago, I was only seventeen years old and I was just settling in. Just a young girl, alone in this poor city... it was natural to be afraid, of criminals, thieves, indecent people... but there was this man - his name was Drew. He... He took a liking to me, and... Well, so did I. He was a kind, caring, handsome man. He would aid me whenever I needed. But..." she says, stopping for a moment, shaking her head, then taking another sip of water. "It seems that Drew was high in demand. Almost every other girl wanted to be with Drew, and they felt... weird, about this poor, orphaned girl taking their golden boy, this foreign girl from Tefermore, all the way across the world. They mocked me whenever they wanted, they hurt me, they threw horse shit at me, they dropped vases, even as petty as tripping me when I walked in the market while I was carrying things, but worst of all is that they would play this 'game' where they'd whisper fake things amongst themselves... Little 'jokes' about me being dishonourable and indecent."

Jon grows angrier by the minute, not knowing what to say, slightly biting his bottom lip in rage while listening.

"One day, the other girls decided to play a bigger, more hurtful game. They spread a rumour that I was a... a paid whore, basically, and that I had engaged in indecency with many men in the city, and they managed to tag a few men along to make it authentic. The rumor grew, the mockery and humiliation grew, and the hatred grew."

"I can't..." Jon starts to say, shaking his head, shocked, barely able to process this information. His grip on the table hardens. "I can't even imagine what you'd been through... I'm sorry, that must have been cruel."

"It was cruel, and I was devastated, I tried to turn to Drew, since he was the only man I could turn to in this situation..." she says. She starts to bite her lips, angrily. Jon watches her, confused, waiting for her to continue. After a short moment of silence, she throws the cup in her hand and smashes it to the floor. Jon is startled, he quickly gets up to calm her.

"Hey, hey..."

She looks away, and starts to cry like a mad woman, covering her face and grinding on her teeth, her entire body shivering in rage and hatred. He looks at her, shaking his head.

"What happened? What did he do?"

"Nothing." she says, in a shaken voice, wiping her eyes and looking at the floor. "He wouldn't meet me or talk to me. He grew distant. He wouldn't hear my side of the story or even want to be in the same place as me. He disappeared."

"Fuck." says Jon. Silence ensues for a moment. They both stare at the floor, thinking. The rage continues to build up within Jon. She snuffles, wiping her face once again, but still looking down.

"I couldn't believe he would just accept it this way, the rumours, without giving me a chance to... to explain myself..." she says. "I felt weak, terrified, I... I roamed the streets, I went to the worst places imaginable, I suppose I was looking for something to kill me at that moment but... then I came across this... strange man."

Jon continues to listen attentively. He notices her starting to look up from the floor as she visualizes her next memory.

"He moved across the street on camelback, giving sacks of silver away to the poor folk... He was one of those merchants who had dark skin, from Kiyas, I recognized his type, the Nexonish always made fun of people like him, and I could see the other poor people near me whispering among themselves. 'he's a warlock.' said one. 'a cannibal.' said another. He reminded me of myself, a man condemned to live a life of mockery and humiliation, only because of the rumours about him, because of where he came from, but... this man was different, he had a proud, calm demeanor, his chin was always raised, his back straight, and he smiled at the people he gave his money to, even in dark, scary streets like these. He saw the ones mocking him, and he smiled at their faces." she says. "There was this strange aura about him, it made me feel safe, somehow. After a while, a group of thugs attacked him and tried to rob him of his silver, he did not flinch, he continued to smile, and he started to hum with a high-pitched voice, almost on the 6th octave I believe and then... the first thug froze in his place... Everyone was puzzled, scared, there was an eerie wind about... and after a few seconds, the thug started to... hold his head, roughly, he screamed and cried... and not even one second later, his head exploded and snakes started to shoot out of his body as it fell to the floor... It was a terrifying sight, yet I found comfort in watching this man stand up to the thugs. I froze, I just froze watching him. After the other thugs had escaped, and so had everyone else, I was the only other person standing there, still frozen from the sight... He looked right at me, and he called my name."

"He knew your name?" says Jon, moving forward in his chair.

"He told me that he heard about me, the various rumours that were going on about me. 'I never believed them', he said. 'People like us have to struggle, because of where we came from. We have to fight, you and I, because we are fighting not only for ourselves, but for our family, and for our homeland.'"

"Then what happened?" says Jon. "Did he give you money?"

"He didn't give me any money," she said, "but he smiled, and he gave me a flower."

"After all that? He can't be serious..." says Jon.

"A flower that I traded for a house and a cow."

"I'm sorry, what?" says Jon, raising his eyebrows.

"I learned that it was a 'Tres Montian Lily', a flower that was known to have gone extinct, or at least only a few of them existed and nobody knew where they were." she says. "It was a ray of hope, a new life, so I struggled on."

"What about the others? Did they continue to... you know, make fun of you?"

"They did, for quite a while, but I ignored them until they eventually found it pointless. I was no longer taking their golden boy and I was minding my own business, so they went to look for a new 'Rose' to pick." she says. "I went on with my life by myself until... until he came to take my cow."

Jon could see her become angry again, her breathing growing stronger and her lips twitching.

"I will punish him, Rose." says Jon. "Mark my words, I will. Just... not at the moment."

"Why not?" she says, angrily.

"Tiab is close with the King." says Jon. "His father used to fight alongside him, the King basically treats him like a second son."

"What can you do then, Jon?" says Rose. "Until when do I have to wait?"

"The prince will be crowned King very soon, after the battle against the Dark Army is won." says Jon. "I will make sure that he puts a stop to Tiab."

"And what if he doesn't? Are we going to linger around, waiting for some prophecy to dictate how we live our lives?" she cries, her anger growing, before she quiets herself and lowers her voice once more, although still angry. "You need to step up, fight the injustice yourself. The world is changing and the ways of the old are dying... Jon, prophecies shouldn't choose our heroes, we should."

Jon stares blankly, at the first glance seeming to be at her, but in reality, he is staring past her, into his own thoughts. Rose calms down, looking to the side and noticing the shattered glass on the floor from the aftermath of her fit. She hesitates, looking at the ground out of sheer embarrassment, before she gets up and runs towards the glass.

"I'm sorry Sir Jon I shouldn't have... I don't know what came over me, that was awfully rude..." she says, as she bends and starts to collect the shattered glass. Jon looks at her and quickly stands up to help her.

"I'll get that-"

"You invited me to your home and showed me nothing but hospitality and kindness and this is how I repay your... I... How could I..." she says.

They are both gathering the glass from the ground, for a moment, silently. Jon stops as he notices one of the whip marks across her arm from under her sleeve. He hesitates for a moment. She gives him a very quick glance and returns to her cleaning.

"If you're tired, Jon, I can-"

"It's hot in here." he says. "You're sweating. You have no reason to feel uncomfortable taking off your cloak."

"I'd rather not, Jon." she says, embarrassed.

"Don't think the marks would appall me. I've had... well... arguably worse." he says. Rose stops to look at his iron leg. Her expression darkens again, she doesn't know how to react, she hesitates for a moment. "Don't say anything, well, unless it's going to be a funny joke."

"I... I don't really think I can joke about something that-"

"Go ahead, gal, break a leg." he says. She laughs for a split second before catching herself and covering her mouth. They both stare at each other for a moment, before bursting into laughter again. She starts to loosen up a little, before she continues to clean the mess.

"Listen, listen.." says Jon, after they both quiet down, having just finished gathering all the glass. "I'll get Emit to fix you up. He's a top-tier healer. Don't worry about it."

"I can't thank you enough, Jon." she says, growing embarrassed again and staying silent for a few seconds. "... And... I can't apologize enough for my erratic behaviour and my- my-"

"You've been through hell, you have all the right to take it out on someone." says Jon. "And what's a better punching bag than a damn scarecrow?"

She pauses awkwardly, very obviously trying to hold another laugh, looking away. He smiles, before he looks outside. It is getting dark. He looks back at her, hesitant.

"It's uh... It's getting kind of..." he says.

"Yes, yes I suppose it is getting a bit..." she says.

"Late, yes... It's getting late.." he says.

"I suppose I should just..." she says.

He slightly and nervously nods. She starts hesitantly walking towards the door, head pointed downwards. Jon turns to her.

"You said you didn't have a place to stay, do you?" he says.

"I..." she starts to say, pausing for a moment. "No, Jon, I don't suppose I do. Would... erm, would you let me stay here, for the night or... I suppose a few nights, perhaps?"

"I don't know if it would be decent for a young woman as yourself to be staying here." says Jon. "A recently widowed man in his early fifties and a... traumatized young lady, I've read stories like this... Not that I read these types of stories in particular, but y'know-"

"Jon..." interrupts Rose, moving closer to him with pleading eyes. "Oh please, Jon, I... let me stay and I will do anything for you..."

"Anything, you say?" he says, staring into her eyes, thinking. She moves even closer, very slightly laying her hands on his chest, a tear almost dropping from her eye, her breathing and voice slightly shaky and broken.

"Anything.."

"Anything?"

"... Anything."

--

Rose stands on one end of the castle's training field, in the early morning, confused while holding a large tray filled with large bones covered in meat. Fangs grabs one of the bones and points it at Markus, who is dressed in full armor while standing alongside him and Jon.

"We know that one of the Dark Lord's greatest weaknesses is wolves, so we gotta capitalize on that." says Fangs, as he turns towards the other end of the field, raising his bone, for three summoned wolves to raise their ears and tails enthusiastically, preparing to pounce at any moment. "Now, summoning is easy... Well.. it's not, actually, but the only thing harder than summoning a creature... Is controlling it."

He throws the meat at the distance. Markus watches as the three wolves rip it to shreds, cleaning it completely and leaving it as a shining bone within 10 seconds. Fangs takes another piece of meat and hands it to Markus.

"You try." says Fangs. Markus takes it and starts clearing his throat. "Hum, just like I've been teaching you, and concentrate."

Fangs's wolves start to retreat to the side as Markus starts to summon his own wolves. Another pack of three, although smaller than Fangs's. They hungrily wait until he throws the meat away. The wolves grab the meat and start tugging on it, trying to grab it from each other. After some fighting, they start to eat from it, until it is just another bone, around 30 seconds later.

"Welp, that's our training." says Markus. "Should we... like, go home now?"

"Nah, that sucked." says Fangs.

"Pardon?" says Markus, puzzled. "But I... I did it, I did the thing... The wolves ate the... the..."

"I'll do it again, pay attention." says Fangs, as he takes another piece of meat. He smiles at Rose as he takes it from her. "How are you doing today?"

She nods timidly, giving him a slight smile.

"Don't stress yourself, if you need to go home, go home." says Fangs, before he turns to the wolves once again. She slightly smiles once again, out of comfort rather than courtesy.

Fangs whistles, causing the prince's wolves to retreat and his own to supplant. He raises his meat and flings it away. Markus pays attention this time, closer than he had before, he realizes what is happening. Two of the wolves are holding onto the bone, as the third one very rapidly rips the meat off the bones. It only takes a few seconds before the bone is clean and the wolves start to shred the skinned meat with their fangs and eat it.

"Leadership, Markus." says Fangs. "The hardest magic to master."

"How do I learn this skill?" says Markus.

"Only a part of what we conjurers do is actual conjuring, the rest is coordination, plotting, control." says Fangs. "You can summon an army of wyverns if you're good enough, but if you're not a master, the army will simply eat the shit out of itself. Listen, you already know that the essence of conjuration is focus, ain't that right?"

"But what is the secret?" cries Markus.

"Focus, Markus, focus." says Fangs

"Focus, focus, focus! That's all you lot keep telling me!" cries Markus, waving his arms around. "Focus, feel, let it enter you... Just a bunch of bollocks, a waste of time, and then I learn the most trivial form of magic weeks later! Listen, Fangs, I've been training for six months! We don't know when the Dark Lord might attack - Bloody hell, he could be doing it this very instant!"

"Oh, I see." says Fangs, nodding at him, obviously pissed but very calm. "You wanna learn how to control the wolves faster then, ain't that right?"

"Yes!" cries the prince, annoyed.

"Aight." says Fangs. He moves a small distance away from the prince and looks at the wolves. The prince watches him, confused.

"What are you-" the prince starts to say before Fangs whistles very loudly. Fangs's three wolves pounce at the prince all of a sudden, one of them grabs him by the armor with its teeth and drags him to the middle of the field.

"Aaaah! No! No! Stop!" cries the prince, as he kicks the wolves away and struggles to fend them off with his sword while on the ground. "I can wait! I can wait, okay?! just get me out of here!"

"Control 'em, Markus." says Fangs. "Don't worry, you ain't gonna die just yet, prophecy's still a thing."

The prince struggles to fight them off. He desperately tries to stare at them and get them to obey him, but they continue to attack. The prince cries in the background as Rose watches the battle unfold.

"Is.. this the prince?" she says.

"This is the chosen one." says Jon, approaching her. She looks at him, and continues watching the battle. He notices that the cuts on her face are gone, and with them a lot of her sorrows and worries. "So did Emit fix you up?"

"He did quite a good job. I couldn't even tell the marks were there." says Rose.

"He's a phenomenal healer. A great friend, too." says Jon.

"I could imagine." says Rose.

"I've been meaning to talk to you, about your parents." says Jon.

"Oh?" she says, paying closer attention to him, puzzled.

"Do you know whether they could be alive or not?" he says.

"I..." she starts to say, thinking, nervously biting her lips and looking away. "No, I don't know... They could be."

"Okay, listen, I-"

Before Jon could finish talking, he is interrupted by someone calling at him.

"Jon! Fangs! Mark!" calls Emit, dressed in his full armor, who just came out of the castle. They all turn to him.

"Where have you been, man? You're missing all the fun!" cries Fangs.

"The king requires you in the meeting room this instant." says Emit. "A very important strategy meeting. Some very important people are sitting there right now."

"Who's there?" says Jon.

"I don't know, Archwizard Rot'Nem, Captain Dormand, Captain Egnever, a bunch of old geezers - everyone." says Emit. "Just wrap up and hurry, mate."

Emit pats Fangs and Jon on the shoulder and walks back into the castle. Fangs turns to Markus.

"What about the training?" says Jon.

Fangs hushes Jon up, impressed, as he watches the prince. Jon looks as well and is surprised, and so is Rose. Markus is standing in the middle of the field, slightly crouching and pointing his arms forward, the wolves are surrounding him, all six of them. He turns from wolf to wolf, visibly asserting his dominance. It seems that the wolves are on their edge, prepared to pounce at him at any moment. He nervously starts to turn around with his body, and the wolves start to turn with him, like a large wheel surrounding him, being held by his command.

"Would you look at that!" cries Jon.

"Boy's a natural." says Fangs. "This shit took me years to get it nailed... but I guess he's got ol' Fangs to teach him, don't he?"

"Learning from the best, eh?" says Jon. Fangs whistles to Markus. Markus turns to him, grinning widely and raising his right arm victoriously from a very far distance.

"Meeting!" calls Fangs.

"What?!" cries Markus, from that very far distance, they can barely hear each other.

"Strategy meeting!!" Fangs calls louder. "With your pap!! Come on!!"

Markus starts approaching them. Jon pats Rose on the shoulder, she turns to him, slightly startled.

"Stick with me, okay?" he says.

"Yes, Jon, always." she says as she follows them all into the castle.

--

The five walk into a large meeting room, wide, strangely coated in red wool from the ground, walls, and ceiling with pointy stalactite-shaped objects on the walls, and in the middle of the room a large rectangular table, 5 seats on each side and two on each end, totaling at 12 seats.

Several guards stand idly in the room, and around three servants, one of them standing near a closed window looks extremely tense, trembling in his place, eyes gazing into the distance.

On the far end of the room, King Harry is seated. Jon notices that his eyepatch is on his right eye this time.

"He did it again! You see? Am I going crazy?" cries Jon, as he looks at his friends, seeing if any of them noticed. Emit slightly pushes him on the shoulder into the room.

In front of the king are several figures of grand appearance.

Archwizard Rot'Nem, A man in mage's robes, with a thick white beard and an intimidating presence, incredibly pale snow-like white skin, his robe a dark shade of blue and covered in runes and marks of ancient origin, engraved like carvings on a mountain.

Captain Dormand, a blond man in his forties, in full knight's armor, with a French mustache, carrying two sheathed long blades.

Captain Egnever, a bald man in his late fifties with a small white beard, dressed in a very heavy set of armour, seated in a serious and intimidating manner with a large sheathed blade.

And a fourth person, who seems to be...

"What's wrong?" says Jon, as he notices Rose stopping in her place, trembling, almost about to drop her plate. Jon looks forward and notices that the fourth person is Tiab Drolkrad. His expression instantly changes to that of anger, as he holds Rose closer to comfort her, and slowly and tenderly helps her into the room. Tiab doesn't seem to notice them as he is too busy talking in a loud and excruciating manner.

"Not a chance, this would never bear fruit." says Tiab, as he turns towards them. "Best drop it - ah, finally the snacks are here, I'm starving, get over here."

He still doesn't seem to be paying attention. Jon moves closer to her.

"If you need to go home, I will take you." he whispers to her ear, but merely a second later, one of the guards comes to take her closer to the table. She shivers in fear, her breathing tensing as she moves closer, her tray shaking, making a rustling noise from the bones colliding with the plate they are on. She looks back at Jon, he gives her a concerned look, then nods, signifying that it will be alright, somehow. She looks forth again, and is now right next to Tiab.

"We have no resources, it's summer and our men are fighting the heat wave and the drought," says Tiab, before he takes the piece of meat from the plate.

"That's raw-" Fangs starts to say, as Tiab instantly chomps down around a quarter of the piece as he speaks. ".. he ate the raw meat."

"We wouldn't want to send them to a battle they wouldn't even survive the road to!" says Tiab, turning to Rose while he is finishing talking. "Thanks dear-"

They meet eye to eye. A frozen, terrified stare from Rose, unable to move a muscle, met by a startled look from Tiab at first, but turning to a smile, an almost insidious laugh as he turns back to the others on the table. This reaction makes Rose break her stare, her breath tensing and her fear turning to rage which she tries so desperately to hide. Jon and his friends exchange awkward looks. Jon is enraged.

"Well, Sir Tiab, we need to act." says Dormand, who speaks in a fair accent close to French. "If we don't do that, the dark army will grow stronger before they get to us."

"Please, be seated." says the king, looking at the newcomers to the room, giving them a reassuring but obviously faked smile, he is concerned but trying not to look the part. The four men are seated, as a servant changes Rose's tray with a tray of cooked meat, bread, and sweets, signaling her to distribute it. She starts to circle the table once more, but she does not grow less terrified, Tiab's eyes continue to follow her around as he gives her a devious little smile. The guard standing right next to the tensed up servant turns to him, confused as he watches his face starting to turn blue.

"What's the matter, your majesty?" says Markus.

"Captain Egnever will update the newcomers on our situation." says the King, turning to Egnever. "Take the lead."

"The Dark Army is marching towards Nexonin." says Egnever, with a serious look on his face. "They are following a rather erratic pattern, trekking across the eastern coast of Alijone."

"We think they might be skipping their defenses and coming straight for us." adds Rot'Nem, who speaks in a Nordic accent.

"They could arrive at the city in weeks, if we don't stop them." says Dormand. "I have suggested that we send a substantial number of our men to fight with the Hawks to stop the Dark Army before they arrive."

"Terrible idea." interrupts Tiab, shaking his head, resting in his seat while still holding his piece of meat. "Our men are in terrible condition, our reserves have gone low, and we can't afford to send thousands of men cross-kingdom at this time."

"Well they're not your men, Tiab." says Egnever. Tiab turns to him, pissed. "You're in charge of the police force, the army is Dormand's responsibility, as it is mine, and we know what's best for the army."

"I know what's best for Nexonin." says Tiab. "And it's not this, this is a waste of our materials."

"We stand to lose everything if we do not risk our men." says Egnever. "We've put everything on the line for this war, and I should know. My only boy, Scar, is at the barracks at this very moment, preparing for the worst."

Rose lays her tray on the table and stands near it, almost about to explode from her rage, her hands trembling.

"I say we send the men." says Jon.

"Oh, shut up! Who invited the cripple here!" says Tiab, turning to him.

"The Dark Lord is a much bigger issue than you think, if this man reaches this city with whatever army he could pull out of the Alijonians - we're fucked!" says Jon.

"I didn't know you were experienced in leadership or resources or... frankly anything for that matter, I thought you were the chosen boy's mentor." says Tiab.

"Chill out, horn-head," says Fangs. Tiab turns to Fangs, startled. Fangs slightly smiles at him. "You're just sitting here cause your daddy owned the seat."

"Who are these- these-" Tiab starts to say, enraged, his face almost turning red. "These nobodies in here- who invited them to our prestigious round table! They know nothing about nothing!"

"Respectfully, I think we have enough knowledge to know that not stopping the Dark Lord at the borders will get us all killed." says Emit.

"Also, the table is rectangular." says Fangs, in a serious and almost unjoking manner.

"Oh shut up you drunken twat!" Tiab says to Emit. Emit turns to him immediately, starting to get angry.

"Drunken twat, eh? Well at least I'm not a bloody rapist!" cries Emit.

"I will take out my sword and rape your heart with it you wine-gobbling cuck!" cries Tiab.

"Silence!" the King shouts at the top of his lungs. Everyone goes silent once more, the whole room becomes very quiet, save for the low-volumed squeaking from the tensed up servant behind the King's back as his face starts shifting colors. "We are here for the people! The lives we do not want to waste in vain! This is an important discussion and I do not want any unwanted ruckus or noise or I swear to each and every god - I will have you killed on the spot!"

A very slow and smooth whistle noise starts blowing in the background, everyone is confused. The King turns and sees that it is the tensed up servant, releasing his fart, but rather than a big, explosive one, he is letting it out quietly and timidly as a whistling gust of wind. Terrible timing he picked, however, as everyone is now looking at him. He looks around, terrified, as his face starts slowly relaxing. The whistling stops after around twenty seconds. The King continues to stare at him for a moment, before he snaps his fingers. The guard right next to the servant instantly drives his sword right through his neck, lifts his legs and tosses him out the window.

"Anyways, the dark army." says the King, as the servant's body hits the ground outside and a very far squash is heard. "They're coming, yada yada, what are we going to do?"

"I think we should let Markus decide." says Fangs. Everyone turns to him, puzzled. "What are y'all looking at me for? He's going to be the future king, AND he's the chosen one, we should let him present his judgement."

"Tch!" Tiab waves his hands, resting even lower on his seat and shaking his head. "Yes, let the children decide our fate, shall we?"

"I think we should send an army." says Markus, looking at each and every one of them, following their reactions very closely. "... And I should lead it."

Murmuring rises amongst the men. The pressure increases. Tiab once again opposes and everyone starts shouting and arguing. Rose is about to snap, she grabs an empty glass of wine in the chaos and slowly approaches Tiab.

"I get the ruckus, but it is only fair!" cries the prince. "I am the chosen one, I will defeat the Dark Lord, so the only way we can win this battle is if I were there! This is my chance, your majesty, men of the round - rectangular - table, to defeat the Dark Lord before he could cause any damage to the kingdom- before he could even set foot onto our grass!"

Tiab starts feeling uneasy in his seat, his left ear starts twitching, for a second he starts turning his eyes sideways to see Rose slowly approach him.

"I think we should consider this option." says the King. "What about you, Tiab?"

"I think we should consider finding new servants." says Tiab. Everyone turns to him, puzzled. Rose stops in her place, terrified, almost directly behind Tiab, the empty wine glass behind her back. Tiab quickly takes his whip out of his belt and stands up. She smashes her wine glass to the table, she could only back off one step before he roughly whips her chest and drops her to the ground. Everyone is startled, instinctively standing up from their seats and backing off to the walls, unsheathing their weapons. Rose screams in pain as she falls, her empty, razor-like broken wine glass rolling on the ground, stopping right in front of the king's feet. The king stares at the glass, petrified. Jon immediately stands up and approaches Rose.

"What is the meaning of this?!" cries the King.

"Let me tell you what this is, King Harry." says Tiab, not for a second taking his eye off Rose, sustaining his devious smile. "This young lady is an assassin from Tefermore."

"She's not, he's lying!" cries Jon, bending to help her up, as she stares at Tiab, shrunken in fear in her place.

"And Jon was- I would assume- paid to help her in the assassination of the great King of Nexonin." says Tiab.

"Bite my-"

"Don't listen to him!" cries Jon, interrupting the King. "He's a ruthless man with no honor, he violated this young woman!"

"Will you let these killers roam free on your castle grounds?" says Tiab. "After they tried to murder you?"

"This isn't true, Harry!" cries Jon.

"Harry!" cries Tiab, laughing. "He doesn't even bother to call you his king, isn't that despicable!"

"You know who I am, I am Jonathan Eagle of Stratfort!" says Jon, as he helps Rose up and slowly approaches him. "We have always stood by your side, I lost a mother and a father to your cause."

"And he has returned for revenge!" cries Tiab.

"Silence!" The king cries, enraged, waving his arms around like crazy. "I don't want this! This is a mess! ... I... Listen, I have no reason to believe either of you are criminals or murderers, but the girl has committed a crime, and she must be punished."

"Nonsense!" cries Jon, becoming even angrier, closing his palms tensely and approaching Tiab. "This man can not be allowed to live!"

"Jonathan!" cries the king, maddened.

"Worry not, my king." says Tiab, smiling deviously at Rose once more. She gives him a look of horror and puts her hand on her heart, still breathing rapidly. "I will punish her for you, and I know just the right punishment!"

Jon snaps and immediately launches his fist at Tiab's face, almost dislocating his jaw as he drops him into the floor. The guards instantly stand to seize Jon and back him away, he is beyond angry, and so is the king.

"This is unacceptable, Jonathan!" cries the King.

"Fuck you, and fuck you, and fuck the two of you!" cries Jon, at the edge of his sanity, pointing at the king, the archwizard, and the two captains in the room, before turning to point at Tiab, who slowly crawls back on the floor, trying to stay as far away as possible, his mouth vigorously bleeding. "And fuck you twice, once from each end."

"Guards, take him away!" cries the King.

"I'm not here to serve you, or any of these old fucks!" cries Jon, slowly uttering every word very slowly, clearly, and madly, as he is being held by the guards back. "I am here to serve the realm, and if I need to, I will not hesitate.. to kill each and every one of you! You got that?! Did you get that into your thick fucking skull yet?!"

Silence ensues. The king doesn't know how to react. He stays still, shocked, his mouth slightly twitching. Rose looks at Jon, her mouth is opened in awe and amazement. Jon continues staring at the King in a maddened manner, as the guards bring him near the exit, but quickly he throws all the guards to the ground with one movement of his arms and starts backing away from the room, not once taking his eyes off of the King's.

"If Tiab isn't persecuted for his crimes, and if we don't get some order in this god-forsaken land, me and the other mentors will pull out, and you will have to find yourself a new set of mentors to teach your son how to save the fucking world." says Jon. "Come on, we're leaving."

"Wait, we, as in-" Emit starts to say.

"Jon said we're leaving, Emit." says Fangs. "C'mon."

Fangs follows Jon. Emit looks back at the King, nervous, slightly scared.

"Apologies, you're majesty, he..." Emit says, thinking about something else to say but ultimately deciding to bolt off as well.

The King looks at Markus. Markus shakes his head in disappointment and leaves. The King sits in his place, fear starts to cloud his face once more, he takes a deep breath and looks to the floor, thinking. He goes down to grab the broken wine glass and stares at it, but in reality, what he is staring at is his own sad reflection on it. He ponders at it for a while.

--

Jon limps about, back at his own house, with Rose crouching in the kitchen, heating up some water in a kettle, with a basin under her hand.

"Argh, gods." says Jon, in pain, as he struggles to reach his chair at the other end of the room.

"Get some rest, Jon, I'm preparing the water for you." calls Rose.

"I don't need water." says Jon. "I need to fucking sleep. Wake me up when ass-face gets here."

Jon throws himself on the chair, exhausted, taking a deep breath. He feels uncomfortable, he starts to move his legs about and stretch them.

"My legs are giving in." says Jon.

"You have been too hard on yourself the past few weeks." she says, as she comes out of the room with the basin and the kettle, hesitating for a moment. "I... appreciate what you did but you didn't need to-"

"I wanted to." he says, seriously. "When I see a man like him moving his lips, I just get the unstoppable urge to dislocate his jaw."

"I'm..." she starts to say, struggling to formulate the words she is about to say. She starts pouring the hot water from the kettle into the basin.

"You're.... What?" he says, puzzled, turning to her. She shakes her head, smiling very slightly.

"Never mind." she says, taking a deep breath and slightly shaking the basin around. "Do you have any salt?"

"In the... the top shelf, or the cupboard, I think- what was it that you were going to-"

Before Jon could finish speaking, a knock is heard on the door.

"I'll get it!" cries Rose, as she bolts towards the door and opens it. Jon tries to peak in and see who's at the door. He could hear Rose thanking the person and closing the door, as she approaches Jon with a letter.

"It's a letter from the castle." she says.

"Huh." he says, curiously. He takes the letter from her and opens it. Rose is anxious, she can feel that the letter has something to do with her, somehow. Jon starts reading the letter. He is surprised, almost shocked. "Huh!"

"What does it say?!" she says, madly curious.

"They put the fucker in prison!" cries Jon, laughing.

"The... you mean... Tiab?!" she cries, very tiredly breath-laughing as she puts her hands around her mouth, joyfully. "Oh dear- dear- I cannot believe it! You did it Jon you... you made me whole again!"

"You've always been whole, Rose." says Jon, smiling at her. "But I'm glad you're happy."

She cannot hold herself back, grinning very widely, but she quickly changes her expression when she notices that Jon is troubled. She approaches him, laying the basin next to his feet.

"What's wrong?" she says, timidly and concernedly.

"I'm just tired." says Jon. "I guess I just remembered a... well, a few things."

"Your wife?" she says. He turns to her, saddened. She quickly catches herself and gasps in embarrassment. "Oh dear- I'm sorry I didn't mean to... I'm- I'm sorry-"

"It's fine." he says, shaking his head in anger, resting his hands on the arms of the chair and pondering for a moment. "I felt whole for a moment when I punched that rapist in the face, but I guess that's what I am - a man who always had a love for fighting, I derive my comfort from violence and I constantly need action in my life to feel satisfied."

"You did the right thing, Jon." she says, as she starts to detach his iron leg. "You hurt a bad person who deserved it."

"I remember what I told Mary the last time I saw her... I told her that I miss that shit... War, that is. I missed war." he says. "Fighting is like a snake's venom, it's both my poison and my antidote, and this venom... It's a part of me."

"Jonathan... You need someone to heal you." she says, laying his iron leg aside and raising his other good leg into the warm water in the basin. He twitches and moans for a second from the heat, before she starts to empty the jar of salt into the basin. "Let me sing for you."

"You sing?" he says, looking at her.

"When I was younger, my mother would let me sing for the other folks." she says. "She told me that I had a special gift, in my voice, that although I am not a healer, I can... heal people.. from the inside."

"You're going to heal my soul and all that, right?" he says, shrugging and resting himself further. "Sure, break a leg."

She quiets down for a moment and closes her eyes, starts to calibrate her voice, and begins to sing in a very soft voice that dances upon the air, its velvety touch caresses his ears and sends him to a world of peace.

I swam across the river of the stars
Through worlds upon worlds, seeking salvation

Jon starts feeling the air untense around himself, he instinctively shuts his eyes, relaxing and letting go of himself. He can almost not feel himself laying, or even breathing, any more. He grows detached from the world.

She rised above the sky, she soared afar
If only the angels had been patient

An eerie feeling starts to overcome Jon, the world swirls around him and the chair he is sitting on almost turns to nothingness, he is floating in his own seat, he feels himself being lifted up into the air, with the speed of a million horses, until he finds himself in a strange place.

I am but a lost soul,
I am but a lost soul,
I saw it all, the life and death, I only want more

He opens his eyes and looks around himself, confused, yet still absorbed into his own mind. The sky is light purple and cloudless, and the floor and horizon is covered with clouds. As he sits, he can see three children hopping and playing around happily, in extreme slow motion, they are made of light and have wings behind their backs.

I am but a lost soul,
I am but a lost soul,
I've seen enough, and oh by the gods, have me atoned

Two grown men of the same attire stand in the distance, laughing madly, holding strange glowing bottles and tumbling about.

I'm a dying star
A fading heart
Take me away from the world

He looks in front of him and notices another man looking straight at him, at a very close and frightening distance, with a large white beard, almost staring into his soul with dead eyes. Jon is terrified, but he cannot move nor speak. He just continues to stare at him.

I've felt it all, I've seen the heavens fall onto the earth... and I've seen you before

He starts to rise once more into the sky, with a speed so high that his body starts to collapse and his vision starts to fade. The purple sky starts turning orange, and then becomes a blur, he shakes and trembles in his seat, as if he were rising in a rocket, but there is no noise, only a deafening silence. His vision fades away completely into a white light.

You swam with me across the river of the stars

Jon is awakened, in his house, still on the chair where he was rested, he opens his mouth, about to take a deep breath but he realizes that he doesn't need it - he feels better than he had ever felt. He looks at Rose, who is washing his foot in the basin. She looks back at him, it seems she had just finished her song. He still can't awaken completely, he feels slightly detached to the real world.

"Are you feeling better?" she says.

"Where did you take me?" he says, with an otherworldly feeling upon him, as he starts looking around himself, as if he is seeing life for the first time.

"I don't know." she says. "Are you feeling better now?"

"I..." he starts to say, as he takes his leg away, examining it. Rose starts to reattach his iron leg. He starts moving it back and forth without any trouble. He is shocked. "... That... That was some surreal shit... I've smoked a lot of weird shit, back in the day, but this... I mean, not even Emit could heal these so fast I... What did you do?"

"I sang." she says, as she carries the basin away and goes into the kitchen with it. He sits, still trying to process what he had just experienced.

"You have a gift!" he cries. She comes out of the kitchen and seats herself on the same seat beside him. It is very obvious that the seat was made for only one person to sit on so it is very tight.

"You are my gift." she says, looking him in his eyes, completely smitten with him, almost melting with passion as she sits next to him, in an almost uncomfortable distance. "You gave me everything, and I want to give you everything."

"I... Fuck this chair is tight... I uh, no, I can't." he says, shaking his head and trying to resist the temptation.

"Why not, Jon?" she says, still looking him in the eyes, half-pleading, half-seductive. "Do you not like me?"

"Well, I- yes, yes I fucking do, kinda, very." he says, staying silent for a moment and looking to the floor. "But I... I can't forget Mary."

"Don't forget her." she says, lifting his chin up towards her and moving closer, their eyes locked together. "Just let me heal you."

They continue to stare at each other for a few seconds.

Oh god. I promised in the beginning of the novel, didn't I? "No sex". Yeah, I kinda did... But I also promised a lot of twists, so...

***

A tree branch in the wind softly brushing on a rusty old window.

An ant, softly laying its mouth on a drop of water, sucking it in.

A leaf flying about, wrapping itself around a street pole, being unwrapped and wrapped several times by the wind.

A snake in the middle of a desert, shedding its skin and dropping it into the sand.

A lion drinking from a lake, continuously flinging its tongue at the cool water.

A pair of young hands in a dark place, playing with a yoyo.

A long train approaching from afar, as it completely inserts itself into a tunnel.

A large tree in the middle of a storm, arching itself backwards from the intensity of it.

Two dead deer falling on their backs, one after the other, onto the grass in the middle of a forest.

---

https://soundcloud.com/user-113626977/the-worlds-song-from-the-high-prophecy

This is me singing this chapter's song, by the way, just thought you might wanna check it out, just copy the link.