[READER'S NOTE; The Warrior Realm is a mythical world of witches and warlocks. Set in no particular time period, it parallels the journey of a young barbarian (Nomad), a young magician (Liam), and a mystical minotaur (Hoof), as they search for self...]
____________________________________________________________________________ WARRIOR REALM Chapter-7/The Executioners
"Get away from him...!" yelled the mighty ugly Ogre as he climbed over the edge of the Castle's highest Tower with his missing limb wrapped in blood soaked bandages. "...get away from my father...!"
Liam jumped back in fright, fearing the 10 foot tall giant as he went to the King's resting place and peered in. Liam stood stunned as tears suddenly filled the Ogre's eyes as he reached into the coffin to gently stroke the King's cheek and wept. "I will get you from here, father..." whispered the Ogre, pulling the King's lifeless body from the Coffin.
"You can't do that...!" cried Liam in the King's defense, receiving a back slap from the ugly giant which sent him sailing across the floor like a doll.
Liam was instantly rendered unconscious, missing the Ogre as he stole the King from his Tower.
MORNING...
In the Royal Hall: Nomad, Hoof, and their gracious hosts the Royal Family (Prince Vincent and his step mother --The Queen) sat before a banquet of precious fruits and berries as they had morning breakfast. Servants waiting the guests every need as ale was poured plentifully in their mugs in constant celebration of their arrival..
"Is it not good to see our guests eat so hardily, mother...?" smiled Prince Vincent gleefully as he addressed his step mother.
"Yes..." said the Queen, frowning her face as she watched Hoof and Nomad eating with their bare hands. "...now if only we can teach them the proper way of dinning..."
"Mother...!" scorned Vincent, "...they are our guest..., it matters little how they eat when they fight so valiantly! You should have seen how Nomad soured into action..., slicing off the Ogre's arm with but one swing of his might sword! It was very impressive!"
"It was nothing..." blush Nomad, exchanging eye contact with the handsome Prince.
"Nothing...?" responded Prince Vincent, "...you call salvaging my entire Battalion and making them save face in the hunt, nothing...?" asked the Prince, causing Nomad to blush. "...then you are as humbling as you are handsome, young Nomad!"
Hoof paused in his feast at the last compliment, watching the two human men exchange bashful gazes.
"humph...! What I want to know is where is your friend the Magician, Nomad...? He is missing a feast of grand proportion this morning in your honors!" responded the Queen, ignoring the flirting at the table.
"Perhaps he partied a little too much last night?" laughed Hoof, winking suggestively as he recalled his lust filled night with several of the Castle's female servants (many of which now lay in recovery with sore vaginas).
"Are you not concerned where your companion is...?" asked the Queen, making a motion to the Guards to go look for Liam.
"He's a grown boy, your highness..., I worry little when I am in a city as majestic as yours!" smiled Hoof.
"You are most kind, uh..., Hoof, is it...?" said the Queen, turning up her nose as her eyes gazed upon the rest of Hoof's animal body. "Perhaps you would feel better in the stables with the horses...?"
"I wouldn't do that, your Highness..." laughed Nomad, "...unless you need a herd little of Minotaur galloping through your garden?"
"Nomad...!" called Prince Vincent from across the table, sitting at his Throne beside his step mother. "...what are the chances of you and your travel companions staying here in our fair city indefinitely?"
"Indefinitely...?" questioned Nomad, nearly choking. "I...I don't know, your Highness..., it's flattering...!" smiled Nomad, humbly. "...but we already have a Qwest!"
"Oh...?" said the Queen, gathering interest. "...what might this...Qwest be, if I may ask...?"
"It's a mission, really..." said Nomad, somewhat embarrassed. "We are seeking our travel companion Liam's birthright!"
"His birthright...?" asked Vincent, curiously. "Is the Magician a descendant of Royalty...?"
"Why would you asked that...?" asked Nomad, suspiciously.
"Well..., why else would anyone wish to seek their birthright if not a descendant from Royalty?" questioned Vincent. "A common man hardly need look far for his destiny!"
"I suppose..." said Nomad, taking another bite. "As it is, Liam IS the descendant of Royalty. WE travel with him to seek his family's legacy!"
"And who does the poor boy believe is his parents...?" asked The Queen, amused.
"Now mother..., poor Liam's family Qwest is not our concern..." said Vincent, sensing Nomad's reluctance to go into detail. "...however..., if there was anyway which we could help...?"
"Thank you, Vincent..." smiled Nomad, looking into the Prince's eyes. "...but our journey is a long and perilous one...!"
"Perilous..., how enchanting..." smiled the Queen. "...now I AM curious...!"
"Perhaps when your dangerous journey is complete, you might like to come back to reside here and help lead our Royal Guard...?" offered Prince Vincent.
"Holy crap...!" responded Hoof, surprised by the offer.
"And of course we would have a place for YOU as well, Hoof!" smiled the Prince.
"Yes..., perhaps somewhere in the stables...?" said The Queen sourly, receiving a frown from Hoof.
"You WILL think it over, won't you Nomad?" asked The Prince.
"Yes your Highness, I will..." said Nomad, stunned by the offer as well.
"Good!" said Vincent, contented. "Then while you are here..., is it impolite of me to ask you another favor...?"
"Ask!" said Nomad, eagerly.
"Would you do us the honor of joining our battle Battalion in hunting the giant Ogre, and killing him once and for all before you leave our fair city to continue your Qwest...?" asked Prince Vincent, pleasantly.
"That would be the least we could do, your highness!" accepted Nomad without hesitation.
"Vincent..." intervene The Queen with pursed lips of distain. "...it is not polite to ask such grand requests from guests!"
"But mother..., we could use a warrior like Nomad to help us track down and destroy the Ogre! You didn't see how deeply he wounded the monster in the Forrest! He alone was the only one whom came close to killing him! None of our Centurion Guardsmen have been successful at locating the creature's hidden lair!" defended the Prince. "We need to find the beast and kill him once and for all!"
"And find your Maiden...!" added Nomad.
"Yes..., yes, of course!" said the Prince.
"But son..., we cannot burden outsiders with our battles..., it makes our government look weak!" insisted the Queen, glaringly. "Besides..., in a matter of hours it all will matter not!"
"What happens in a matter of hours...?" asked Liam, curiously.
"That is none of your concern, Barbarian! It is a matter of the Royals!" answered The Queen, directly. "So as you see..., we will NOT be needing your aid, and do not want to keep you from your Qwest any longer! So please, feel free to continue on your way at anytime!"
"Mother...!" scorned Prince Vincent, embarrassed by his step mother's behavior.
Just then, the Royal Guardsmen returned, with a shackled Liam in arms...
"My Queen...!" called the lead Guard, shoving Liam to the ground. "...we found this outsider in the King's Tower!"
"Liam...!!" called Nomad, jumping up from the table as his friend was forced to the ground.
The Guards drew their swords in offense. Nomad drew his own sword as Hoof tossed the table with the morning's bounty across the room.
"Guards, stand down!" ordered Prince Vincent, jumping between the two forces.
"Wait...!" yelled The Queen, stepping from her throne. "...what was he doing in the Tower...?"
"Your Highness..." spoke the lead Guard. "...the King is missing!"
"Missing...?" asked The Queen in shock. She walked over to where Liam lay (now posed on his knees), and slapped him hard across the face. "What have you done with my husband...??!"
"I assure you, Queen..., my friend Liam had done nothing with your King!" assured Nomad, defending his friend.
"Do you see, my son...? They have come here to kidnap your father and aid the Ogre! They are working with him! Arrest them!!" yelled the Queen.
"That cannot be true, mother..., I saw Nomad attack the creature myself...!" countered Prince Vincent.
"You saw what they wanted you to see, my son!" insisted the Queen. "They are trying to dethrone you from your rightful place! We must not let that happen! Take them to the dungeon!"
"So much for hospitality...!" said Hoof, preparing to fight.
"No Hoof..., lay down your weapons...!" ordered Nomad, lowering his sword. "...we will not fight our hosts! They will realize our innocence when they come to their senses!"
"You hope!" snarled Hoof, being taken to the dungeon.
"I'm right, son..., you will see. The humans are not trustworthy!" said the Queen, standing behind her son as Nomad, Liam, and Hoof were escorted to the dungeon.
"You worry too much, mother..." said Vincent, watching Nomad disappear with the Guards. "...we have already succeeded far more than I ever dared dream we would...!"
"Do not let your new appearance and wealth cloud your better judgment, my son..." warned his mother. "...all is not within your grasp yet, we still have to contend with the Ogre and find the Maiden Joy...!"
"No...?" questioned Prince Vincent without a care. "...did you not say yourself that all will not matter in a few hours anyway, mother...? Victory is so close at hand I can practically taste it!"
"Are you sure you taste victory, my son..., or the Barbarian you had in your bed last night?" smirked the Queen, knowingly.
"Why mother..., I do believe you're jealous!" smiled Vincent, gloating. "Are you angry that I got to him first..? You are not as young as you once were, you know...!"
"Don't be daft...!" responded the Queen with a snare. "...I am far too wise than to fall for a savage!"
"Is THAT not what people called me once, mother..., --a savage?!" asked Vincent, bitterly.
"We shall make certain no one will never call you that again..." said the Queen sympathetically as she touched the Prince gently upon his handsome face. "...not if I have anything to say about it! We must focus is on the prize, my son! Don't allow your lust for human flesh you once feasted upon to cloud your goal! You need to get rid of that barbarian and his friends! They are outsiders..., and far more dangerous than you know!"
Hours pass as the warriors sit in opposite cells, awaiting retribution in the cold darkness of Newtonian's underground cells.
Its there that Liam fill his friends in on how he saw the Queen coming out of the Tower late last night, and how he conjured a spell of disguise to sneak into the Tower where he discovered the sleeping King in a coffin.
"A coffin...?" asked Nomad, curiously. "Why would Vincent lay his ailing father in a coffin if he wishes him recovery?"
"Exactly!" said Liam, agreeing. "Prince Vincent said his father was sickened by poisons and lay gravely ill..., yet they had him laid out on display as if he was already dead!"
"Well...if his father was indeed on his deathbed..., perhaps they were preparing for the worse? Cutting out the middle man so to speak...?" reasoned Hoof, unsympathetically.
"That's morbid...!" said Liam, thinking of his own adoptive mother's death (chp-2). "...placing someone who's sick in a coffin! Who does that?"
"This is a new city..., far from where we lived and with a culture of its own! Who are we to say how they treat their sick?" asked Nomad.
"While I was there I saw the Ogre...!" continued Liam.
"The Ogre..., here??!" asked Nomad, clutching his sword.
"He climbed over the side of the Tower to see the King!" explained Liam.
"Why would the Ogre want to see the King?" asked Hoof, confused.
"I don't know..." admitted Liam, unsure. "...but he was there, weeping...!"
"Why would an Ogre weep for a dying King?" asked Nomad, suspiciously. "A King HE is accused of poising?"
"I don't know..." said Liam, thinking back, "I..., I think he may have been feeding him herbs..." he recalled.
"Herbs or more poisons!" snarled Nomad. "Vincent said the Ogre poised his father..., perhaps he enters nightly to feed him an new unhealthy dose to worsen his state! We must warn Vincent...!!"
"No...!" yelled Liam from his cell. "I don't think the Ogre means any harm...!"
"The Ogre means no harm...??" asked Nomad, dumbfounded. "How could you say such a thing? Is he not the sworn enemy of Prince Vincent and his people?! Are they not bitter enemies? You saw them in battle just yesterday...! If the Ogre is sneaking about the Castle after dark, it is no doubt to strike revenge, not peace! We must tell Prince Vincent!!"
"But I don't trust them...!" said Liam, going on gut feeling.
"Vincent and his mother has shown us nothing but kindness since our arrival! They have taken us in and treated us like royalty ourselves! What have they done to cause mistrust but to feed, bath, and give us warm bodies in which to fuck?"
"Do you have any idea how many human girls I have fucked in this place since last night...??" asked Hoof in fond memory. "Twelve! Twelve human girls in one night! I LOVE this place!!" he laughed, hardily. "There's nothing like a good shot of womanly pussy to make you feel like a new man!" he smiled, recalling last night. "Of course..., a female Minotaur would have been better..., --human women are so fragile...!" he signed, recalling that some of the pussies from last night might be out of commission for awhile...
"Just because a caged bird sings doesn't mean he isn't a prisoner!" warned Liam.
"Huh...?" asked Nomad.
"It's just a feeling I get..., I can't explain it..." continued Liam. "The Queen is hiding something! She has more power than she pretends to have! I need you to trust me on this!"
"Not when the King's life is at stake!" said Nomad. "Your powers are new to you, --raw..., they're still in their infancy..., what if you're wrong about this? What if the Ogre was giving the King the last of a deadly potion? What if he's kidnapped the King to do him more harm? What if he dies? Are you willing to put the King's life on the line for this Ogre? Are you THAT certain he meant no harm?"
Liam said nothing as he lowered his head. It was true, his powers up until late were believed to be the skill of a magician..., it wasn't until his adoptive mother confessed his heritage as the son of a sorcerer did he realize his powers were far more formidable than once believed. He could not truly say if his feelings were indeed correct.
"Relax little magician..." said Hoof, lying in his cell with his four bull legs tucked under his black bull body. "...all will come to light once the Royal Family realize we are not in league with the Ogre..., that we mean them no harm!"
"That's just it, Hoof..., I don't believe the Ogre meant to do any harm to the King either...! I believe the Ogre cares for him..., he sat by his side, gently rubbing his cheek, --what kind of monster that's bent on killing him sits by his side and weeps over him?" asked Liam.
"Enough...!!" yelled Nomad from his cell.. "The Ogre is Vincent's enemy, which makes him OUR enemy!"
"Vincent...?" said Liam, sarcastically. "...since when are you two on first name bases?"
"Since the two of them have been boning like bunnies!" laughed Hoof.
"Is that true, Nomad...? You and Prince Vincent...?" asked Liam, surprised.
"Don't deny it, Barbarian..., the Prince is smitten with you! Admit it..., you're knocked that off last night, didn't you?"
"Of course not! He is a Prince..., and I'm just a Barbarian...! What would that look like...?" asked Nomad, defensively.
"Like two horny humans bumping it off...!" joked Hoof, pleasantly.
Just then, the wall opened to a secret entrance into the dungeon as a shadowy figure dressed in a long flowing cape swifty entered.
"Nomad...!" whispered a voice, catching all three prisoner's attention.
"Vincent..., is that YOU...?" asked Nomad, rushing to his cell bars.
Prince Vincent used a special skeleton key to open Nomad's cell.
"Come..., we must talk..., its important...!" said Prince Vincent, urgently.
"What about my friends...?" asked Nomad, at the foot of his cell.
"Come quickly..., before the Guards see us...!" urged the Prince.
"I'll be back...!" said Nomad to his friends, following the Prince back through the secret exit.
"This way, quickly...!" said Prince Vincent, leading Nomad through a maze of catacombs beneath the Castle. When they came upon a a dead end, the Prince triggered a secret lever to open the wall, allowing them passage into the city's outskirts. "I have arranged a rendezvous for you just beyond the forest..., go there and you shall find freedom! I will meet you in a day or two..."
"Why are you saving me...?" asked Nomad, curiously.
"I like you, Barbarian..." said the Prince, placing his hand on Nomad's rounded shoulder. "I don't believe you had anything to do with my father's disappearance! I don't want to see anything happen to you...!"
"What about my friends...?" asked Nomad, concerned. "What about Liam and Hoof?!"
"Mother is determined to have someone pay for my father's abduction..., I'm sorry, but your friends will have to be sacrificed!" said Prince Vincent, sorrowfully.
"You plan to execute my friends...??!" asked Nomad, disturbed by the idea. "After ALL we've done for you...?!?"
"You have no choice, Nomad..., the execution has already begun!"
"Fuck that!" said Nomad, running back into the catacomb.
"Nomad..., NO!!" screamed Prince Vincent, standing at the exit.
Nomad ran through the catacomb maze just as the Executioners came into the dungeon. Liam and Hoof watched anxiously as the horde of Newtonian assassins came upon their cells. "Outsiders...!" announced the lead Executioner, hidden under hooded vale. "...you have been accused of conspiring against the Royal Family and kidnapping our King! Our Queen has sentenced you all to death!"
"What a crock...!" yelled Hoof, backing against the wall. "You kill the people who fought beside you in battle...?! A battle that wasn't ours...?!!"
"What's done in past is past, creature..., you are judged for your current actions!" answered the Executioner.
"You have not seen us do anything...!" defended Hoof.
"Executioners..., take aim!" yelled the lead man, done with discussion. The Executioners all raised their bow and arrows, aiming at the two helpless prisoners..., "Fire!!"
"Noooooo...!!!" Yelled Nomad, running into the dungeon full speed, just as the Executioners released their arrows.
Liam stepped back, raising his hands defensively as a spell of protection conjured a protective invisible barrier before him, deflecting the arrows from his path. Hoof however, was not so lucky as several arrows pierced his bodies, both human and animal.
Nomad leaped into the air, charging into the band of armed Executioners, knocking many of them to the ground. In their confusion, Nomad began punching at will, hitting anyone in his way. "Get the Outsider...!" yelled one of the Executioners. Just before Nomad socked him in the face.
Liam stood back from the bars, chanting a spell to free himself when the air in the dungeon began to stir. Hoof (severely injured by the assassination attack) ripped one of the arrows from his chest, blood poured from the wound as his eyes focused on the fight happening outside his cell. In a last valiant effort to aid his friend before his death, Hoof weakly limped over to the cell bars, and turned his back to the bars. Balancing himself on his front hooves, he reared his hind legs up and kicked backwards, banging his hoofed feet into the bars. The cage rattled but didn't break until his third hit which caused the bar doors to expel outward, slamming into several of the Executioners.
At that same moment, all the moisture in the air began to form into a rage of water. Liam noticed his cage ankle high in water before a flood came rushing in from nowhere. The force of water slammed Liam into the bars as the water level quickly raised. The Executioners ran for the dungeon stairs and the dungeon doors as Nomad and Hoof worked to free Liam from his caged prison.
"Go, Nomad..., save yourselves...!" said Liam, the water rising over his head.
"Stop the flood, Liam! Stop it...!" yelled Nomad, yanking on the bars as hard as he could.
"I...I can't...!" gasped Liam, going under again.
As the water reached the top of the dungeon's ceiling, Hoof yanked another arrow from his shoulder, then jammed the head into the lock. With considerable force the lock broke, flinging the bar doors open under the weight of the water. Liam's body followed the water current out, flowing into the catacombs and running out of the secret exit where Nomad and Hoof lay, gasping for breath.
"Hoof...! Hoof..., he's here...!" yelled Nomad, as Liam's body washed up in the grass.
Nomad rushed to his friend's side, turning him over face up. "Liam...!" called Nomad, gently slapping the Magician against the cheek until Liam spit up water from his lungs. "He's breathing...!"
"Good..., we need to go...!" said Hoof weakly, getting to his feet.
Nomad helped load Liam onto the Minotaur's back before they ran off into the dark forest. In the distance they could hear the sounds of dogs and men on horses with torches, looking for them, to finish their executions.
"Hurry, Hoof..., this way!" yelled Nomad, leading his companions through the dense bush.
"I...I think we're lost..." said Hoof, going in circles. "The dogs are getting closer..., it's only a matter of time before they find us...!"
"Not necessarily...!" said an ominous voice, startling our unarmed Warriors.
"Who the hell...??!" yelled Nomad, completely caught off Guard as he posed to fight.
"If you wish to live, come THIS way...!" said the voice, hidden by the darkness of the trees.
"It must be Vincent...!" assumed Nomad, "Come on..., this way...!" he said, following the voice.
"Here...!" Here...!" called the mysterious voice, leading the trio through the darkness and away from the flaming torches.
20 minutes later they came upon a clearing. A long latter leading up one of the forest highest trees hung from the sky.
"We have to go up...!" said Nomad, intuitively.
"There's no way I can climb up there...!" doubted Hoof, with Liam's limp body draped over his back.
"Then let ME help you...!" said the Ogre, stepping out into the open.
"The monster...!!" yelled Nomad, picking up a tree branch as his only weapon.
"I am no monster..." said the Ogre. "Now do you want to live..., or do you want to be found by the hunters...?"
"We don't have a lot of choices...!" said Hoof, getting weaker.
"Okay, monster...! But if you try anything funny..., I will drive this tree branch straight through your ungodly heart!" threatened Nomad.
Nomad grabbed Liam from Hoof's back as he began to slowly climb the latter upward. The Ogre easily flung Hoof's big bull like body over his good shoulder before scaling up the tree as easily as a monkey without benefit of the latter.
At the top of the tree, well hidden in a dense cloud of leaves, lay the creature's lair.
"It's a tree house...!" said Hoof, being let down off of the Ogre's shoulder.
"I built it...!" said the Ogre proudly, just as Nomad and Liam came up over the edge of the baseboard. "I needed a shelter the Royal Family could not easily find! It keeps my tracks off of the ground floor!"
"That's why they haven't been able to find you!" surmised Nomad, helping Liam to stand.
"Vince..., who are your friends...?" called a female's voice, coming from a darkened corner of the tree house.
"Relax Joy..., they are friends..., I think...!" said the Ogre, unsure.
"Joy...?" asked Liam, finally coming around as the women came into the lighted part of the house. "...the Maiden Joy...? Prince Vincent's fiancé...?"
"Yes..., and who might YOU be...?" asked the lady, dressed cleanly in woman's garments.
"I am Nomad, the Barbarian!" said the warrior teen, proudly. "And these are my friends Liam the Magician and Hoof! We have met you fiancé Prince Vincent, in the city's Castle!"
"That's impossible..." said the Maiden Joy, confidently. "...the Prince is standing beside you!" she added, referring to the Ogre.
"HIM...??" asked Nomad, shocked.
"Yes...! Do not let the rough exterior fool you...!" said the Maiden, walking up to the Ogre affectionately. "I knew something was wrong the moment I saw the fake Prince..., he was so arrogant, so...full of himself! I knew instantly that he was not MY Prince!"
Nomad watched as the two lovers looked longingly at one another before kissing. It was like a Princess kissing a toad as Nomad frowned his face distastefully.
"Nomad...!" yelled Liam, getting everyone's attention just before Hoof fell over, collapsing on the floor of the tree house bleeding from his open wounds.
"Your friend...!" gasped the Maiden, as they all ran to the Minotaur's side. "He has been shot with arrows..., he is losing a lot of blood...!"
"The Executioners...!" said Ogre, recognizing the arrows. "We have to help him quickly..., or he will not survive the night!" added the Ogre, picking Hoof up and taking him deeper into the tree house.
"Hoof...!" called Nomad, seeing his friend lose consciousness...
Continued...!
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