Chapter 11 The Forgotten Kingdom Part II

Inferos: Hello fans did you miss me? I certainly missed you. I wonder what chaotic things have happened in your alls lives. It must be absolutely dreadful huh? Well enough about you this is my segment to talk. I plan to make the fullest of it.

Today we will be talking about Blood Beasts and how they function. I’ve got to treat all of the readers like idiots since this hasn’t yet been explained. Blood Beasts are a curse I’ve plagued humanity with since the dawn of time. Every individual Blood Beast is different, but they all must follow the same general rules. Every three days the cursed one must abide by the curses rule and consume blood. Every person who is a Blood Beast will have their blood possessed by a demon of sorts I’ve instilled in them. Each Blood Beast is different, but all share a common goal: World Domination. Each is their own little cinnamon bun that will act as a harbinger of chaos and destruction in my name.

Blood Beasts individually have their own weaknesses, but they all have one common weakness. They can not be infected with the curse of another or they will die. Essentially if their blood mixes with another cursed one or they take up another curse they will be consumed and then die. As we all know the Blood Beast has to have a host or it’s powerless. Each Blood Beast tries to consume its hosts humanity and tries to take over control.

Alright folks that’s all I have time for today. Next time we’ll discuss my plans for the world. I hope chaos blesses your life. Just don’t do anything rash like end your life or anything because I want to tell you all about my evil plans and we can’t have you dying on us. Let’s get back to Ruthven’s Story shall we?

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I rolled the map back up and put it in my satchel. “Let’s set up camp here for tonight. We can set out in the morning. I’ll take first watch.”

“I’m hoping tomorrow turns out to be eventful.” Vivian said picking at one of her longer nails.

“What do you mean? Of course it will be eventful.”

“I want to believe that this is the real deal, but many legends are just made up.” Vivian said skeptically.

“This one is real and I can promise you that.”

“If your so certain then I guess I’ll have to put a little trust in it. I’m going to hit the sack”

Vivian pulled a bag out from under her cloak and pulled out a blanket. She put her head on the nearest tree root and covered herself. That reminded me that I had forgotten to bring my own. I hadn’t put much thought into grabbing one from the house considering I was in a bit of a rush. I could be a bit absent minded at times. I wanted to make a campfire, but considering where we were, that would be an incredibly bad idea. Although we were on the boundary of the Forgotten Kingdom so that wouldn’t be quite as bad. It wasn’t really all that cold despite it being late november because of my cloak.

I pulled out my sword from its sheath and looked at the blade. There was nothing bizarre about it. When I felt it against my hand it was still sharp. For the life of me I could never figure out how it stayed that way. Several times in the past I had thought perhaps it had been blessed, but when I took it to be appraised no magic was ever detected. I for one typically liked sharpening my weapons, but it never made a difference with this one because it was always sharp. The other weird thing I had mentioned previously is that this blade was also abnormally weighted. Normally short swords were sturdy and durable, but light to wield as they were made for quick attacks. This one weighed as much as a broad sword.

When I had originally bought it as my first sword from the market it was nothing special. In fact back then I think I almost remember it being lighter. My memory is hazy of that time. I remember it was marked down and nobody claimed that it was special. The odd thing is nobody actually had been interested in it before me. Not a single person had asked about it before. In that regard I felt like the weapon was perfect for me and so I bought it. I used it daily from the age of seventeen to twenty without it ever getting dull. Whoever made this weapon was a one of a kind black smith and I hoped to meet them one day. As I finished thinking about it I put my sword back in its sheath and sat against a tree opposite to Vivian.

Once again my mind drifted back to Mira and the red door. What lies behind the red door? I certainly wouldn’t know for awhile because Ruth said I wasn’t anywhere near strong enough to go past it. Where had Mira even been taken to? It was some unknown land and I couldn’t even reach her in my current condition. That bothered me considerably. How could I be so weak even given this power. How could my opponent who owned only two twelfths of my soul be so significantly powerful compared to me?

These thoughts bothered me a lot. Perhaps Ruth would be able to answer my questions. It was a one way door with Ruth. I could call him out, but ultimately it was always his choice as to whether or not he would work with me and answer. There was no harm in asking for his help although it did seem like he wanted me to figure everything out on my own.

“Ruth are you there?” I asked quietly trying not to disturb Vivian.

No answer. I called out to him again.

“Ruth are you there?”

A few moments later I heard his gruff voice. “What do you want at this hour? Shouldn’t you be sleeping?”

“I have to keep watch. I wanted to talk with you in that room we were in before.”

“Make it quick I’m busy with other things at the moment.”

A few moments later I was in a library that was being lit by a single lantern. It was the ornamental one that resided in my house.

“What do you need?” Ruth asked me while reading a book intently.

“What lies behind the red door?” I asked him.

“Your not ready to face what's behind there yet so don’t ask about it.” Ruth replied without looking up from his book.

I walked over towards him and sat down at the table he was sitting at. “What are you reading?” I asked looking over at the book. The book had a red binding and its pages were rather thin. The writing on the pages either wasn’t legible or wasn’t a language I could understand.

“Why do you ask so many questions? These things in here aren’t things you can understand and yet you keep asking questions. You leave me so much work already I hardly have time for your questions. Especially not when they are beyond your comprehension.” Ruth said with a sigh. “This book that I’m reading is a list of all the things that I have to keep check of to keep you in your natural attitude. When I fall behind or somethings too difficult to take care of it translates into the real world and you have to start dealing with things you can’t quite explain. From your simple actions the past two days I’ve had work non stop.”

“So everything I do gives you more work that you have to understand and sort out?”

“That’s exactly what I just said isn’t it?” Ruth said flipping the page. He frowned for a moment and then said “Look you can clearly see I’m busy. I already know your going to ask more questions. It is quite very clearly written on your face. I can’t exactly leave you to your own devices or you’ll self destruct so I’m willing to cut a deal with you. You’re going to want to keep asking me questions, but because of complex your life has become and the fact I have to keep Eribus at bay I’m giving you three questions a day. Sound fair?”

“Ok, I think I can agree to that. Who is Eribus?”

“Eribus is the curse that is currently inhabiting your body. When you took on the curse from Inferos he attached himself to your blood and that’s why you must feed every three days. It's so you can sustain him.”

Ruth got up and walked over towards the library shelves. He closed the book and put it back on the shelf where it belonged. He then walked to the opposite side of the shelf and grabbed a blue colored book. “This one will answer your next question.” He said to me looking at me in the eyes. His eyes were piercing and it felt as though he was staring through my soul.

“How could you possibly know what I would ask next?”

“That’s a silly question. I’m just going to ignore the fact you asked that.” He handed the book over to me.

“At some point tomorrow you’re going to have a minor epiphany and want to ask me more questions. Instead I propose you read this and answer your own questions. As you can see I have more then my fair share of work to sort through.” He said pointing to shelves lined with books. He snapped his finger. “Now get out.”

I was back in the real world and I saw the blue book. The front was blank and when I flipped the pages open the language was illegible. Ruth was rather odd. He didn’t much like answering my questions. Although based off the size of the library back there I could very well assume he had as much work as he claimed he did. Since I couldn’t read the book I put it back in my satchel and leaned back against the tree. Nothing really happened while it was my turn to watch and so I figured we would be safe for the rest of the night.

A few hours later I woke up Vivian with a small shake. She mumbled something and started drifting back to sleep. I shook her harder and she sat right up.

“My turn?” she asked groggily yawning.

“Yeah.” I said rubbing my eyes from exhaustion.

I went back to where i was sitting and laid against the tree. As I was drifting off I saw a hooded figure looking at me. I couldn’t see its face. I opened my eyes wide again and they were gone.

“Something the matter?” Vivian asked looking at me with concern.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

“I thought I saw someone. Must be my imagination. I am a bit sleep deprived after all.”

“I’ll check the area. Get some sleep.” She said with a smile.

I started to drift off again. This time I didn’t see the figure. I passed out against the tree a few moments later. While I was unconscious I had a dream. I was sitting on my bed back home and there was a lantern next to me. Despite how bright the lantern was I could see nothing more than five feet into the darkness. I grabbed the lantern and got up to look around. In the darkness I heard a voice. It was Mira’s and she said “Ruthven I’m over here.”

“Where are you?” I asked trying to hide my concern.

“I’m over her Ruthven.” I heard her say from farther in front of me. I started running forward towards where I heard her voice.

“Ruthven hurry!” I heard her yell at me.

I ran as fast as I could towards the voice. I saw her sitting in the same chair and there was a red carpet rolled out the same way as before. I ran towards her as quick as I could. I got about fifteen feet from her and the carpet yanked out from underneath my feet and pulled her behind the red door. This time however the red door remained. I walked towards it and I heard beating on the other side of the door. I was now in front of the door. I reached for the door knob and turned it.

When I opened the door all that was behind it was the same abyss I was currently surrounded by. I started to close the door and a chilling wind started flooding out. The door was halfway shut when I heard Mira’s voice behind it. A burst of wind blew the door open and I heard her call out for me again. I started to walk through the doorway and then a gust of wind blew me back on my ass. A figure stood in the doorway. It was the same hooded figure I saw before i passed out.

It walked closer towards me. As it got in closer proximity the air around me grew colder. The figure walked even closer and I was freezing. I started to shake out of fear. It had an overwhelming presence. “Ruthven.” I heard a dry crackling voice say.

“Who are you?” I asked terrified.

“Ruthven why did you run away from me?” The figure asked me.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I said now worried.

“Ruthven why did you run away from me?” The figure asked again.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Who are you?” I asked.

“Ruthven… Ruthven you’re supposed to be mine!” The figure said raising its voice.

“Who are you?!” I asked crawling backwards.

“Ruthven don’t run from me. You’re mine! You belong to me!” The figure said yelling in a crackling boom.

I got up and started turning to run away. The figure was in front of me before I could even turn all the way around. It walked towards me. The figure pulled its hood back slightly. I could make out a facial structure. It got right up in my face. The hood was still covering it enough I couldn’t see it well. The figure removed its hood revealing a skeletal face and it yelled “You cannot escape me Ruthven. Your soul belongs to me!”

I woke up and it was day time. I was shaking bad from the dream and I had cold sweats. Vivian stood over top of me with a worried look. “Are you ok?” she asked me.

“Yeah….. Just a bad dream is all.” I said trying to shake it off.

“Are you sure? You look a little pale.” Vivian said with concern.

“It’s nice of you to be concerned about me, but I’m fine.” I said giving her a wide grin. Truth be told that dream frightened me. While it did have dream physics and by that I mean didn’t make any real world sense, it was far too vivid to simply just be a dream. Almost like it would happen at some point in time in the future and I was being given a warning in advance. I needed to get started we were definitely going to have a long day.

I pulled the map out of my bag. I looked down at it to try and find our current position. The castle was about five miles from our current locale. I then looked around for any other places listed on the map in the Forgotten Kingdom of significance. I couldn’t see any from the map, but it looked as though there were several towns and other cities in the nearby vicinity. Those of course were probably abandoned or if not abandoned were probably infested with monsters. As much as I wanted to set up shop in the castle, I couldn’t help but feel like it would be the most monster-ridden area in the whole kingdom.

“Ruth sorry for being a pain in the ass, but could you zoom in on the other places around the kingdom? I want to go explore those areas first.” I said emphatically.

“Who is Ruth though seriously?” Vivian asked me with a worried expression.

“I’ll explain in a little bit. Just let me finish this up first.”

“I’ve made your map zoom in so that it only covers the Forgotten Kingdom.” Ruth explained. “Furthermore I made note of all the places you’re most likely to visit and in the order you’d visit them. Now if you don’t mind I have work to be doing.” He said sharply.

“Thanks Ruth.” I said looking for the new details.

On the map there were several cities listed. There were two caves in this region, a small mountain, and a lake. Aside from the the main territorial markers there was actually a rather large cemetery listed as well. I looked around for the number one marker on the map. It was next to one of the medium sized cities.

“So who is Ruth again?” Vivian asked with a puzzled expression.

“Basically he is my subconscious given form. He resides in a library of sorts in my head. Apparently he handles all of my problems and what not. He sorts through the issues I have and I guess kinda catalogues them.”

“Sounds very complex for an imaginary friend.” Vivian snickered.

“Oh quite. He is rather complex isn’t he.” I said sarcastically.

“Does he handle attitude adjustment too?” Vivian joked.

“I’m sure he’d more than happy to handle you. You’re looking troublesome.”

“What were you asking him to do with the map?” Vivian asked curiously wandering towards me.

“Here” I offered the map over for her to see.

Vivian stared down at the map for several moments before she said anything. “This is a map of Carlisle isn’t it?” She asked with a confused expression.

“Originally it was, but Ruth has adjusted the map for me so I can use it anywhere as a guide.”

“I don’t see anything special about this map.” Vivian noted.

“Of course there is give me it.” I said extending my hand for the map.

I looked down at the map and pointed at our current location on it. We were a few miles away from the castle’s position. “We are right here at the current moment.” I said.

“You’re pointing at an alleyway.” Vivian said bluntly.

“Are you blind? I am clearly pointing at a forest at the outskirt of the forgotten kingdom.” I said raising my voice.

“You’re certain?” Vivian asked me looking a bit worried. “I’m starting to think you’re a bit crazy.”

“Whatever. I’m not going to argue with you about such trivial matters. Just shut up and follow along behind me. I’ll get us there soon enough.” I said angrily.

“You’re being unreasonable. However I’ll follow along behind.”

“I said shut it didn’t I?” I said once again lashing out at her.

Vivian mumbled something under her breath and followed along behind. The map had us positioned about a mile and half from the number one marker on the map. We could get there in twenty minutes easily.

“I’d like to explore the other cities before we actually get to the castle. I want to know our terrain and I also think it would be easier set up house in a city rather than the castle itself. We should get there in about twenty minutes.” I said turning around to watch Vivian mock my words. “I’d heavily advise you stop that. Just because your a woman doesn’t mean I won’t strike you.” Vivian mocked me again. I reached over and flicked her in the nose and then turned around to keep walking.

I kept my eyes fixated on the map to make sure we didn’t make any wrong turns along our path. As we got closer Ruth zoomed the map in further to cover exclusively the city. I studied the map extensively looking for the best entry point. It the back part of the city there was a break in the city wall. It was rather small hole, but it could easily fit a person through. It would be the easiest way to get into the city unnoticed and I figured that it would allow us to quietly slip into the city.

A thought popped into my head while I was thinking all of this over. How in the actual hell was Ruth able to change the way I experienced things? How could he change a map that to everyone else looks normal into a personal map that not only keeps track of me and my destination, but also changes to match my own interests. Yes it did make sense of sorts that Ruth could talk to me. He was my subconscious, but I couldn’t understand how he affected reality. I didn’t understand how he did it or what he was even capable of. To be entirely honest I’m not even sure who he really was as a person. He may have been my subconscious, but he acted as his own entity and as far as personality went he was much different than I was. So once again the thought came to mind. Who was Ruth?

“How close are we?” I heard Vivian ask from a distance back.

This snapped me back to reality. I looked down at the map to find our location in comparison to our destination. In the mile marker above it said we had roughly .9 miles left. “About a mile left” I said without looking up.

As I was looking down at the map I remembered what Ruth talked to me about yesterday. He said I would have an epiphany and that the book he gave me would answer it. While it would be helpful to know the answer to my current question which was: Who was Ruth? It only brought up even more questions to ask like: How can he predict the future? What does he do with all of the books? There were so many questions I wanted to ask him and yet I had the feeling knowing would only drag me further down into the abyss of wonder and questions.

I stopped where I stood and sat down against the nearest tree. I pulled the blue book out from my bag and looked down at the front cover. I paused for a moment. If i opened this book I’m certain my answer would be there, but it made me wonder how much of it I really wanted to know. I contemplated putting the book back, but before I could make up my mind Vivian spoke to me.

“What’s that?” She asked with boundless curiosity.

“I don’t want to talk about it. You wouldn’t understand and you’re just going to give me more flaque about it so I’m not going to talk about it.” I said resting the book in my lap.

“Seriously what is it?” She asked me again trying not to laugh.

“I literally just told you I’m not going to talk about it because you can’t understand it. This is exactly like the map. If I open this book you probably won’t see any of the text and think I’m a mad man. Its called magic so you can either shut up or fuck off.”

To be honest I didn’t really even understand everything about Ruth or even about myself so I couldn’t fathom the idea she would understand it any better than I would.

“Ok well I’ll leave you to your magic book” She said air quoting magic.

I decided it would open the book. Who was Ruth was the question I had in my mind at the current moment. I flipped the cover open and looked at the first page. Where the index was supposed to be there was the same symbol that was tattooed on my hand. I looked over it for a second and then turned the page. The top of the page was listed A Quick History in bold text. I started reading the passage.

The first part was just a biography of the important events in my life. It showed when I met Mira and all the events leading up till now including my encounter with Vivian. As I continued to read I saw mention of Ruth. He was even listed by the name I called him by. However, it did also say he had another name he was called by. That certainly didn’t help me any though. I continued reading towards the bottom of the page and discovered something interesting.

Ruth was not my subconscious like he claimed he was. It said in the text that Ruth as I called him, was not actually my subconscious, but he was the better part of an entity known as Eribus. Not much was listed about Eribus aside from his age and his name. Eribus was known to be four million years old. It also said one final thing about him as a side note which is that he was forced to reside on our planet Terra for all of his life.

That meant that at the very least our planet must be no less than four million years old. Modern science said that they figured based off of their own evolution theory that the planet was no more than two hundred thousand years old. That of course could simply not be true after reading this.

I wanted to read more of this, but I also wanted to share my findings with Vivian. Although she might think me crazy, I certainly could not keep this information to myself. There was so many things I wanted to know and learn. I didn’t know the extent of this book’s knowledge, but Ruth had gifted me with something extraordinary. That made me wonder something about something a little more malevolent. If Ruth wasn’t my subconscious then who was he really and why would he share that information with me?

Regardless of these thoughts that plagued me I needed to talk with Vivian about this book. I looked up to the sky to check the time of day. It was around dusk. I would have a little bit more time to go over the book and talk with Vivian about it. Almost instinctively she started walking towards me.

“Vivian I found something interesting in the book.” I said with a big grin.

“Oh? What did your imaginary friend tell you this time?” Vivian said slyly chuckling.

“If you keep that up I’d rather keep it to myself. I do sometimes wonder if you have it in you to stop being such a bitch.”

That clearly struck a nerve with her because i saw her clench her jaw and look off into the shrubbery. She looked down and then said “Ok what did you want me to see?”

“Well I’m not handing the book to you, but I just read a passage I found interesting. Apparently Ruth the person I thought was my subconscious is actually not a part of me, but a part of an entity known as Eribus. Eribus lived for over four million years on this planet which means modern science is completely wrong. They think that we’ve been around for two hundred years, but in this passage it says “Eribus was forced to live on Terra for over four million years as his homestead.”

“So your fascinated by the idea modern science is wrong?” Vivian asked a little puzzled.

“No, I’m fascinated by the fact that this book technically speaking has records dating back four million years. Is that not astounding?” I asked with amazement.

“That is rather interesting. You mentioned your subconscious in that passage could you reread that part for me real quick?” Vivian asked deep in thought.

“Ruth acted as the the better half to Eribus. The two of the them have lived side by side since birth. That’s all it said about those two for the time being.” I said as I read it.

“You claimed that Ruth was your subconscious, but you just found out he is not. It also specifically said they lived side by side. That could very easily be translated as they lived in close proximity. If you know of Ruth’s existence then why do you not know who Eribus is?” Vivian asked me.

I had never really thought about it before. I had no idea who Eribus was. I also had no idea about Ruth’s past. Maybe this book would answer my questions about them. What I read was a lot to take in and for the time being I didn’t really want to pick the book back up. I closed it and slipped it back into my bag.

“Don’t you want to know more?” Vivian asked me with a giddy expression.

“I want some time to think. Reading that passage only makes me have more questions and I don’t think they will be soon answered.”

“Who gave the book and what does it do?”

“That’s just the thing Vivian. Ruth gave me the book and I have no idea what it even does.”