Fantasy - Chapter 1

"Qderf," cursed the Dy imp. The Dy god’s, Malix’s god, Isha was imprisoned in the cold, ancient, and doomed-filled temple, Azcara, and the dark, grey imp’s wizened body could only take Malix so much further.

Pressing its left crippled hoof upon the cracked four-hundredth stair, Malix, took another slow heavy breath. The Dy imp’s thin white hair was fading and heavy calluses had lost their place on his now fragile body. Malix could not be more withered of constantly touring the land of Arcadia in order to find the temple.

Isha, ruled of the crazed-faith minions of evil, the DY, had a vision that there will be a time when Ihsa will return to the living world of Arcadia, and her evil followers called the DY will rule over all of the world. Nothing more, nothing less.

Malix climbed the last step of the Azcara staircase. The Azcara temple front doors were decorated with for warnings of how the world once almost completely died due to Isha and her evil followers. Carvings of the dead roaming the Earth. Beau-reliefs of various contorted creatures attacking the innocent. Bordering the carvings were historical instructions of a final capture of Isha and the evil god’s imprisonment here in Azcara, the final doom of the Dy.

The imp Malix coughed in front of the temple’s dark entrance doors. A small wind blew across the temple landing. Mysteriously it seemed that there were cries from the cold underworld, the Dy world, the evil that is held inside the cryptic prison of Isha. Malix pulled out a small book from a side pocket. Opening the book to the first pages, Malix began reading from the unholy scripture.

"Azrul y tore zam biere" read Malix. The doors in front of the imp magically opened slowly scrapping the ground with each inch. Malix put the book back in his gray pocket and patiently waited for the entrance to be clear while kneeling.

A burst of dust exited the temple doors along with a scary whispered scream from inside. "All hail, Isha," said Malix, the evil Dy imp, as the world comes to its final grim end.

* * *

The man is a prince. The woman is a princess. Tonight, together, they walk for the last time as single lovers in Artok‘s royal garden. Tomorrow their two royal families, two of the most celebrated families in Arcadia, are coming together for the wanting couple. Hundreds of people will view the holy event of a union between the two, the most glorious wedding ever in Arcadia.

The man’s side of the family is from Artok, the proud ruling kingdom over Arcadia. Arcadia makes up the lands from Easter Carpe Mountains to the Karvina Sea, west of Artok. The Artok family has ruled since the leaving of Sum, the half-man, half-god who was to lay down the foundation of the world ruling system just before leaving of Arcadia. The gods were common then, but today the Arcadia lands are peacefully cared for only by the Artok family.

The princess in the garden comes from a kingdom just living under the shadows of the mighty Myna Mountain spine, Cameron Spry. The princess lives in only the best of luxuries, and their royal family only has to whisper commands to have them done for her, with all the greatest of efforts by their servants and followers. Because of the woman’s beauty, Princess Janet Huela often intimidates men from courting her. Often young squires and knights dream of their days to be in princess’s company. All of them aspiring to be the next winner of her affection. But it took a prince to finally win her love, Prince Henry of Artok.

Glasses and spirits will be raised high for the princess and the prince as hundreds of onlookers watch the ceremony of their wedding by the local monks of Evian in the greatest church ever erected in Arcadia, Shamlomain. Over one eon old and not a blemished wedding ever left the church’s front doors.

The lovers stopped in the garden under the natural moonlight. They passed a kiss to each other but the Prince Henry turned hearing something in the distance behind them.

A large, dark horse screamed into the garden suddenly. From out of nowhere three others, dawned with strange riders, followed the first dark horseman. Hooves stomped on the ground in high tension. They surrounded the couple in case they were planning to make a run from the lover’s midnight intruders.

"Who are you?!" yelled Prince Henry.

The prince looked around him unable to distinguish any of the riders as they wore black masks and long heavy black traveling robes over their body, adding even more dark shadow to all of their bodies features.

"Answer me! I am Prince-"

"Henry of Artok," said an entering fifth horseman in a flat tone. "And we know Princess Janet Huela’s name as well."

Janet looked at the newest rider wearing a dark blue robe and blue boots, coming out northeast at the vulnerable lovers, when he mentioned her name. "What do you want?" the princess asked in fear of her life. "My jewelry is at the castle. I have nothing with me. Neither does my fiance’ have any of your coins. We are here without any luxuries but our clothes. Please leave us alone. Please!"

The horsemen ripped out sword blades and pointed then at the lover’s necks. "The Princess comes with us, tonight. Not your coins or jewelry." said the fifth rider and dismounted. Carrying a sword of his own he moved toward the princess to take her.

"No!" the Prince yelled and the horsemen moved closer to place the swords’ deadly tips even closer to their captives.

Prince Henry with his right hand desperately grabbed the hand of the fifth rider’s deadly sword and twisted it until it released onto the ground. Henry released his knee upward into the gut of the fifth rider twice and then smashed the villain on the back of the head until seeing him fall to the ground, hard.

The horseman to the west of the prince dismounted and the south horseman quickly did the same. Both swung sharp blades at the prince, planning on separating him from his sword. The moonlight was there to light the fight.

The prince’s new sword from the ground sword swung against his opponent’s attacks making close calls to their upper body. Princess Janet made a run for her life. "Get her!" groaned the fifth rider to the still saddled horseman. "Forget about the prince! Get the girl!" he grunted. "After her!"

With gust the horsemen took off like a set loose arrow pointed at its target. The princess ran away but ran up against a green ivy wall in the romantic but now deadly garden. Trapped.

The two rampaging horsemen left their horses to grab the princess. The prince made a mistake and let down his guard when seeing his princess being manhandled by the horsemen and lost his sword in his own fight. The garden battle was lost completely.

The princess was pulled to the leader, the fifth horseman, where she was put on the back of his horse threatening her life.

"Your finance’ is to be the bride of our master, young prince," said the fifth rider. "Tell your father that this is not the only interest of our master, Master Flanx. He also has a full army with a dragon at its side. Soon he will attack your kingdom and rule as a king over your lands. You have time to decide.

"Let Flanx rule without war or after an uneven battle. Either way the dragon will be our deciding weapon over everyone. We will destroy your leaders if you fight against us. The choice is your father’s."

"And by the way, "said the leader. Bam! He struck the prince on the back of the head with the blunt handle of his sword, knocking the prince to the ground unconscious. "That’s a goodbye gift for hitting me, you royal piece of stool." The princess gasped as he lover fell to the ground.

"I don’t know where we are going," she said.

"Your new home, my lady," the fifth rider, looking over the princess with certainty that his ruler would be very pleased with his new bride.

"We are leaving," said the leader to his men. With the stars and moon the only witness to their crime, an unconscious body was left behind in a trampled moonlit garden with no future left to find freedom inside its flowering borders.

* * *

His eyesight was blurred.

Slowly lifting his head he noticed only faint outlines of his surroundings. The royal, wooden, hand-carved furniture in his room first took formation in his sight. Prince Henry was in his bed and he didn’t know who put him there. Slowly making his way to his feet Henry pulled on a velvet cord that made a silent bell ring for servants.

The room wasn’t spinning too badly when he first stood but took cautious steps as his legs gained confidence. He put on his robe to cover himself. Walking in front of the full length mirror in the bedroom, Prince Henry looked over his condition.

There was a bandage covering around his forehead, making it difficult to know of his full think black hair underneath. His blue eyes looked like they were healthy with no signs of being punched in the face too hard to cause a black eye. His nose was still there in one piece. His face was beginning a beard which meant that he had been in bed for about six to seven days since his run in at the garden with his fiance’, Janet.

"Janet!" Henry yelled remembering the kidnapping of his lover and pulled even harder on the silent bell to his servants. "Sam, where are you?!"

At his fastest pace, Sam, the prince’s head servant arrived at the prince’s bedroom door. "Your highness, you’re awake!"

"Yes, but what happened to Janet, Sam? Is she safe? Did the guards stop her kidnappers?" Henry asked and felt a little dizzy from standing as he put on his purple robe with the family crest of a roaring lion and the upright sword of virtues. Henry’s family crest was on almost all of his clothing to remind people who he was and station, second only to his father Adam Artok, the king of Arcadia.