A preview of my (WIP) Book, Wiltrich!

“The King will fall, and his reign of terror will end!”

The ringleader cried out.

The masses roared out in unison as they chanted.

“Kill the King, Behead his sons, Rape his wives, Enslave his daughters.”

The King, my father, was being overthrown. How did it come to this? Everything was so peaceful, they loved him, they loved us. This land was cursed after all. Era after Era, Dynasty after Dynasty, they had all come to the same conclusion. The Kings, Queens, rulers of these lands had all been executed by their subjects. All of us were adjourned to the same fate. My father had ordered me to stay in my tower and to keep my door locked from any intruders. That look he gave me, he was afraid. It was a startling change. He didn’t know what to do.

The king had lost his power over the people, and didn’t have enough men to fight back the masses. The recent war with the neighbouring kingdoms had taken a toll on our military. Now we had a civil war to finally crash and burn on our reign. All I could hope for was the slight chance that the masses would calm down and negotiate with us.

I shuffled to the bookshelves that contained various books of the history of our lands. Most of them had records of various civilisations that existed in these accursed lands, and I had to find out what was the cause of it.

“She’s over here!”

I turned my head to the bedroom door. Had the one been overthrown? I scanned my room for an object to defend myself with. The oak table top only presented stacked books and quills made for my education only. The door started to sound my demise. I had to think of something. I darted to my bedroom window and looked to the ground. A river leading to god knows where.

I looked towards the door as it gives its final stand. The rebels broke through the door and shouted for my capture. In a moment of panic, I jumped out of the window of the tower that I once lived in and dived head first into the river. Knowing that I had met my demise, I closed my eyes, hoping that whatever life I lead next would be better than this.

A lone hunter was out in the woods one day, and had stumbled upon the lifeless body of Princess Lancia, the Jewel of the Forbidden Woods. He had been told by many that a kingdom had resided in these woods, and the path to it was perilous, so no one dared to thread through them. A secret trade route however had allowed merchants to trade with the wealthy kingdom, allowing the kingdom to be supplied with countless materials. This information was useless to the hunter’s way of life. The hunter had caught wind of the revolution however, the rebels were offering a huge sum of money for the capture of Princess Lancia. They wanted her alive. The hunter couldn’t miss this opportunity of finally having a chance of living the wealthy life. The hunter threads carefully to the bank of the river where Lancia’s lifeless body had washed up on, and carefully lifts her up like a damsel. The hunter smiles, but flashes a greedy grin as he carries Lancia off into the distance, where his shack resides in.

“This world is filled with beauty, you just have to open your eyes and see it.”

My father’s golden eyes brimmed in the twilight as my eyes fixated on his gaze. He holds out his hand for me like a bastion at a ball, signalling me to follow. My small hands reaches out for his as his rugged hands holds mine gently. He leads me towards the ever-beautiful evening sky. We travelled to the castle walls where the guards were merrily drinking away after a well-deserved victory. We snuck out to the woods that had protected the lands for a millennia. My short legs were growing tired, but like a father, he lifted me from my feet and carried me to a peculiar part of the forest. The trees were soaked in a sort of dew that I’ve never experienced in my life. They glistened magically in the darkness, inviting me to gaze upon them like stars in the night skies. Father was delighted to see my awe in this mystical forest. Then there it was, a clearing in the forest where only moonlight could shine. An enchanting lake, with Moon-Bugs enveloping the never-ending starry nights. My eyes drifted to the scene, wondering into the deep space beheld in front of me. I climbed onto Father’s shoulders and…and nothing. A whiteness, a permeated whiteness, then a wooden roof. Planks upon planks filling my material plane.

Birds chirping in the distance. A warmness enveloped the air, coating me in a pungent smell. I rose from the pelted bed and recovered from my drowsiness. As I do, I felt a metallic coldness. I removed the pelt covering me and uncovered a shackle around my ankle. Had they found me? Another royal captive? Is this what God has bestowed upon me? I scanned the wooden room and found various pelts and hunting gear. A masterfully crafted bow and a bloodstained dagger. A stack of dirty books piled against the edge of the table. The pungent smell of freshly butchered animals lingered through the air. What kind of human can live in this stench? Then, there it was, strident footsteps approaching. I turned towards the rotting wood carved into a door, and awaited the inevitable meeting of my captor. As the footsteps grew louder and louder, I deduced the possibility of the hunter being friendly but careful. The chance of it happening was low, but I had to remain hopeful. The door slowly opened, and in came a rather built man clothed in pelts from the numerous animals he had hunted. He had a huge scar across his right eye, probably from a tiger or some huge creature. He had a hardened look on his face, implying a distrust to his own kind. He shuffled menacingly towards me, welding a piece of worn out rope and a hunting knife. I curled into a ball and felt the cold shackles hitting my legs again. I breathed heavily ignoring the stench that surrounded this entire shack.

The hunter turned to his table. I froze at my pelted bed and stared warily to my captor. What was he about to do? He took out a knife with fresh blood on it and cleaned it thoroughly. I looked at him in confusion, was he not going to do anything to me? He turned to me and smirked. I reacted indifferently and looked away from this awful man. He gave a hearty laugh and strolled out of the wooden door. What was this man’s plan? Was he sent by the rebels to capture me? Was there a reward for my head? Or is it just one of those men who would capture a dame and make them their slaves? These questions ran wild in my head, none of them gave me any sort of comfort or reconciliation that I would get out of here safely. My captor returned with a decently crafted wooden bowl in his hand. He edged towards me. I scanned his features as he closed in. His scar had rendered his eye blind. Somehow as he edged towards me, I noticed a slight change in his posture and attitude. It isn’t of malice, but of a distinct respect towards me. He must have known I was royalty. The hunter offered me his bowl, and I took it cautiously. In it was a white mushiness that resembled soup with carrots and meat items in it. As I smelled its fragrant scent, my stomach growled ferociously. How long had I been unconscious? I quickly gobbled the soup in a moment’s instance, leaving no trace of food in it. The hunter looked at me pleasingly. He took the bowl from me and came back with another bowl of soup for me. I accepted it willingly, and gulped it down again, filling my stomach up.

“You were asleep for 2 days.” The hunter spoke in a fatherly tone.

I leered at him quizzically.

“How did you find me?” I spoke softly.

“You were being carried away by a deviant hunter, I couldn’t have just left you there with him, my highness.”

There was someone out there who was still loyal to my family? I smiled to myself in relief, god has given me another chance.

I looked towards the shackles that chained me to the ground and questioned him.

“Why shackle me when you know who I am?”

“It was to be safe my highness, I couldn’t allow you to escape and let them capture you.”

His methods were unorthodox no doubt, but he did save me from a deviant.

“Thank you, for saving me. May I ask for your name?”

The hunter’s eyes lightened up.

“My name is Gilash, the forbidden woods’ oldest hunter.”

Gilash took the bowl away from me and placed it on his desk. He then grabbed a key, smaller than the size of his humongous hands, and came back to me. He unshackled me and offered me his hand. I took it with a contented smile and allowed him to raise me to my feet. I felt my legs shake weakly, but I manged to stand up normally. I walked towards the wooden door and scouted the area that I was taken to. It was a small clearing with a tremendous amount of trees surrounding it. In this clearing, a mini garden was formed as the shine shone mystically into it. It was as if by some magic that no trees ever grew on this soil. A peaceful little shack residing in a clearing of the forest. With this beautiful land comes a daunting question. How am I supposed to leave this place? Every direction I turn to is just another stretch of forest with no end. It was like a labyrinth of nature. I turned to Gilash, his eyes wandered around the familiar vicinity (To be continued at a later time)