The Kingdom

It was raining cats and dogs and the rain pounding down on the roof somehow heightened the excitement inside me. As the night progressed and the sky blackened, I started preparing for my pre-planned move. When my preparations were complete, I rechecked over and over again, so that not a hint of mistake remained. I wanted no mishaps at the last moment.
The owls were hooting, indicating a manifestation of life somewhere nearby. Exactly, at midnight, I got up and quietly advanced outside closing the door behind me as silently I could. I reached the village’s boundary i.e. where the forest starts and the branches that were swinging in the light breeze. According to our beliefs that was a good omen. No one was in sight therefore I sprinted into the dark and dangerous clump of trees. I pushed my legs faster and gracefully, with every nerve and bone of my body working in pure harmony and let the quiet side of me disappear behind me.  It was still raining but after a while it ceased and the clouds floated away. Now when the massive clouds were out of the way, the Moon, looking beautiful, decided to shine bright as it had never glistened before. The thin but radiant beams from the Moon sparkled through the ruffling leaves .The sweet smell of the forest filled my nostrils and I felt the strong wind cutting through my skin. Soon, an hour after midnight I had reached my destination. I halted to an abrupt stop when the magnificent fortress came into view. I stopped breathing for a second and admired the large fort my great-great-great grandfather had built. For a moment the castle’s grandeur stunned every person and the same happened to me at that time. It was hard to believe that my people, my forefathers, had constructed this superb structure. The people who created this wonderful piece of art, who once lived honorable lives, were now living in a position worse than animals. And this was all because of the filthy people who had betrayed His Highness and provoked the army to overthrow him. For about a century now, the Chagatai, were struggling to survive in a condition of agony and despair. But today, I had been bestowed with the honor of getting back at the dirty people. Even with the cold blast of wind in my face, the raging fire of revenge and passion burnt inside me. I hurriedly threw a last glance at the building as I might not be able to see it again and revive the memories of my glorious past. I dashed off into the woods that continued after the castle finished.
My father, being the last Son of the Mighty King, had all the sacred scriptures of the kingdom and was assigned the duty of guarding them till his last breath.
It all happened when one chilly night I and my siblings were huddled together to beat off the cold and my father was trying to decipher something from a scripture written on an ancient scroll, when he sprang up and a shocked gasp escaped his lips. We all got up suddenly and stared at him, horrified and trying to understand what had happened. It was after several minutes when my father’s deep and authoritative voice boomed through our shabby abode and what he said was:
“The offspring of Chagatai can be brought back to power only if one of his descendants gain the blood of Mortisimo, the immortal enemy, and dip the holy amulet, scepter and crown in it. In this way, the throne of the Mighty King shall be revived and his unending rule will prevail over the nations.”
These words sank deep and from that day onwards the only thing on our minds was to attain the blood of the evil king of the Desduarians, Mortisimo. I, being the eldest heir, was assigned the noble task of attaining something that would lead to the fabulous beginning of my new and respectable existence.
It had been a day since this incident occurred; I wanted to kill Mortisimo at any cost. Finally, the day arrived and I, with the blessings of my beloved parents, set off to complete my humble mission.
Now, after seeing the Qila, I had advanced further into the forest, thinking of the great honor conferred upon me and the respect we would get after finishing Mortisimo. Mortisimo….just thinking about the nasty name made the fire of freedom blaze inside me with a greater strength. The fiery spirit of rage and revenge burnt inside my soul and that was the very indication that I was a true heir of Chagatai and capable of doing the job.
I was getting impatient with every passing moment and the monster had aroused and was ready to do what it was destined to do. At one end of the forest was the village in which we resided and on the other end were the lofty mountains of Kohaalia. It was beyond the mountains where Mortisimo had established his rule. In the mornings he would listen to the people’s woes as if he were a kind and passionate ruler but at night he became a disgusting creature whom nobody knew about and designed evil plans to destroy his archenemies, us. I hadn’t noticed how time flew by and in a little while I had reached the Kohaalia Mountains. I sat down for a while even though I couldn’t get tired. Not getting exhausted was another talent that I had. I just wanted to sort out the thoughts running in my head and review my plan.
When I was a child, my mother used to sing me a song when I started crying. She sang it so many times that now each inch of my body knew it by heart. To calm down my electrified heart, I started to sing the melodious song. As always, it seemed that the whole world had come to a standstill and was in a trance. It seemed that the song had magical powers.

After a while, I leapt up and darted into the valley Dahlia. The bright petals against the black mountains instilled a sense of ecstasy. I knew every blade of grass in the valley because in my past I had roamed the whole of it to achieve solitude. River Voda continued into the city of Desduara and by tagging along it I arrived at the city’s gates just when the Sun broke into its first rays.
The gate was guarded by hundreds and thousands of soldiers with spears in their hands. This meant that these cowards still feared us. The guards were no problem for me because of my unparalleled speed and tactics. I chose the Eastern side of the wall where there was lesser security and ran towards the tallest minaret so that I could not be spotted. I crept along the top of the wall more carefully than ever. I didn’t want to ruin my perfect plan. At the end I saw some people on horses galloping towards the central gateway. I wrapped my cloak around me and disguised as a lost traveler, I advanced towards the horseback riders. They, not understanding my language, pointed towards the castle and made some movements with their hands which meant to go ask any guard at the castle.
As I approached the main doorway of the palace, the guards mistook me for a king’s advisor which was expected to arrive. My plan was succeeding. When I entered the hallway, two interrogative protectors asked for my identity. Damn! I was caught !
I got confused for a second as I thought that they had sighted my characteristic flaming hair and vivid green eyes. But they mistook me for a Creman. Cremans were the tribe of people closely related to Mortisimo. I sighed in relief and continued my pursuit for the evil king. From my findings, he was supposed to be holding the early morning court session. The court wasn’t hard to find .I took out my grandmother’s diadem from underneath my cloak and put it on my head in order to be unseen by the Desduara. Mortisimo was seated on his perfect but stolen throne, completely unaware of the grave danger he was in. I silently crept towards the throne and for a moment I felt thousands of eyes scorching my existence, but the diadem started working its calming effect and I felt tranquil again. To kill Mortisimo I had to sink the divine dagger into his heart and the last thing he must see was his killer. Now, I was right behind the throne, I took out my dagger and stabbed him. To complete my mission, I went in front of him and took off my diadem. The horrified and confused look in his eyes let all the happiness of the world loose on me. I felt like dancing with joy but behind me all the courtiers stared at me and then the silence was broken when each and every creature in the palace started running for the sake of their shameful lives. I didn’t care what happened; Mortisimo being killed by my own hands meant the world to me. For a second, the expression on my face made me look like a prisoner who had attained freedom... I collected his blood in a phial moved towards the gates.
Once outside, the belt I had snatched from the corpse, I held it above my head and closed my eyes to summon the Army of the Souls. This was the powerful army that was destined to rise and execute every Desduarian that existed on the surface of the Earth. The people were still running hither and thither and with an ear-splitting noise the earth opened into a gaping hole and the powerful Souls broke upon them. Within a moment or two, the army having slain each being, was returning to its eternal abode.
My work had been done here. The people who had the fled the land would be so terrified to come back and would die of starvation. Far off, towards the western horizon, the Sun was setting, turning the sky into a palette of colors. The sky was a shade of deep magenta and a faint orange glow was emanating from the Sun. I gazed at the castle at pondered over it fate for what seemed like days .I wondered how could such a beautiful place be home to such wicked creatures.
Picking a handsome white horse, whose flowing, black mane shone in the gloaming, and climbing onto its back I galloped out of Desduara’s gates, my hair fluttering in the gentle breeze.
This was it. My flight to freedom.