Reaching the wooden arch the view upon which was on the other side was like hell. Every plank of wood was ablaze, the cinders littered the air and ground. Ribbons strewn across the dirt which once marked the joy brought by the festival now only contributed to the spreading of the flames.
But the lit homes weren't the only things in this hellish landscape, there were black mounds scattered all over the place in strange odd shapes. Smoke was rising from them and the surfaces looked rough and charred. Ivan couldn't make out what they were but upon closer inspection the horrifying truth hit him. Those black mounds weren't dirt or burnt wood, rather they were people.
People most likely burnt from the flames, their hands reached towards different directions, probably towards the exit or towards loved ones. Their mouths wide open from the screams of their agonising fates. But why were they in mounds? Stacked atop each other. If this was the case then it was not some accident that these people died. No, rather it was the work of someone.
The guards had already begun searching the village, disappearing into the fire to look for survivors. Ivan walked in the main road, through the carnage, heading to the village square, his eyes sickened at the horror. The bodies were of all different sizes, each different people of different ages. Some men, some women and even the children did not survive. There was even a corpse of a mother clenching her baby.
Ivan thought he had seen it all when something caught his eye, something bright and shiny which stood out from the rest of the bodies. It hung from the face of a corpse, no the ear, it had some burn marks on it but its colour was distinct.
No, it cannot be, thought Ivan to himself.
The thing that caught his eye was an emerald earring and not just any one. The same earring that Laila wore which meant that this body was...
"P...plea..." came a voice from below.
Suddenly a small warm hand touched Ivan's leg, he peered down to such a horror he could not put it into words. A small young girl with tears streaming from her eyes clasped desperately to life. Her dress burnt to a crisp, no hair remained on her, just a head covered in scorched flesh, burns coated her entire bodies, the blood incinerated that it looked as if it had popped right out of her veins. She summoned all her strength just to speak.
"P...please...ave...sis...ter."
Her weakened finger pointed towards the earring, and as she did it hit Ivan who this was. It was Ella, the little girl who played with Andrew at the festival.
"Oh my..." said Ivan disgusted and shocked.
Suddenly, as Ivan stood there not knowing what to do, the fire from a nearby burning building rose in a spiral like shape and came down upon the poor girl with fury of the devil. It slammed down and roasted her like a pig being prepared for dinner. Her harrowing screams channelled through Ivan's eardrums and into his brain but he was unresponsive. Only his survival instincts kicked in and he fell back and just watched at the little girl before him rolled about on the floor screaming for her mummy to save her.
"MUMMY! MUMMY! MUMMY! MUMMY! MUMMY! MUMMY! MUMMY! MUMMY! MUMMY! MUMMY! MUMMY! MUMMY!"
Over and over and over, that word rang through Ivan's ears and into his brain, still remaining unresponsive, maybe it was the shock of seeing something so brutal that he had never seen before happen so fast, maybe he was still trying to process it all. Why, although he was immortal, although he had seen death with his own eyes, why was he afraid?
"L...Laila....Ella...I am...sorry."
Why did he feel the need to apologise, nothing made sense, this wasn't real, he kept telling himself, this wasn't real, this wasn't real, this wasn't real, the putrid smell of burnt corpses, the raging heat of the flames. She was innocent, Laila had never hurt anyone, sure she could be a pest sometimes but she...the feeling she felt for him...
"Now, now, you mustn't hit our lord," a voice familiar to Ivan began to speak. He turned to his left to see who it was and standing there were 2 white robed men with their hoods up.
"I knew it, it was...you."
They bowed, "Of course you knew, I'd expect nothing less of our lord and master," said one.
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"W...wha...who are you?!" Ivan prostrated himself against these villains, no these murderers.
"Yes my lord but first we should make the space more fitting of someone of your majesty."
The one who was speaking raised his arms in a swift manner and large gusts of wind came out and seemed to either extinguish the nearby flames or push them further away, dust from the bodies although were blown away.
This was, magic.
"Now then, we can talk."
"Answer me! Who the hell are you?!"
"My identity will be revealed shortly, but first, a question my lord. Why do you weep for such low life commoners."
Weep? Am I weeping? Thought Ivan to himself. No tears had appeared in his eyes yet he felt so disgusted by the sight before him, although he cared little for peasants as a whole, conversing with them only opened Ivan's eyes to a realisation he couldn't understand yet and wouldn't come to understand for a while. But then the thought crossed his mind, a basic rule of a leader, of a king and so Ivan took a gulp against these men who had massacred so many and said...
"Is it not the duty of a king to weep for his people? Is it not my role to protect those under my banner and follow me?"
"But my lord, you are not a king."
Indeed he was right, he was no king, yet. With the pressure of this situation building up, Ivan took a breath, grasped his missing heart with his hand and bravely stated his intentions.
"I will emerge victorious in this royal selection! I am the best candidate for the throne! Julius, Barclay, all the others, I will come out on top because I already am at the top, everybody in this world perishes, that fact is none more evident by the scene I stand in now! But I, I am above death itself!"
Ivan readied himself for some sort of attack but instead he was greeted by the sound of clapping. The 2 men clapped and smiled under their hoods.
"Well done my lord, as expected of our master! All hail, all hail!" they cheered merrily.
"Why...Why do you address me as such? Who on Earth are you? You make no sense."
"My lord Ivan," the man who had been speaking this entire time began walking forwards, "soon you will understand, yes you will understand who we are and what we do but for now I will indulge you on a piece of why we do what we do. Why we killed these villagers and the filthy prisoner in the castle. It's because of their crimes against you."
Befuddled Ivan asked, "What crimes? These people have done nothing against me."
"So generous, as expected of our lord. No these people have dared to exist amongst you as if they are equals. They touch you, look at you, breath the same air as you!"
Ivan could tell instantly, these were the ravings of a mad man, a mad man who was obsessed with him it seemed.
"And of course, the worm that tried to kill you had to be severely punished."
"You are insane. Answer me dammit, who the hell are you?!"
"In due time my lord. Please allow me the satisfaction of explaining some more before I remove this hood."
He recognised that voice from somewhere but where? Ivan couldn't think properly with all that was happening.
"As I stated we do this all for you. For your assured victory and not for praise. It's because of the great man you are that we devote ourselves to you, you, who rules over all, who is..."
Ivan had had enough of this lunacy.
"TELL ME WHO THE FUCK YOU ARE?!"
That was the first time Ivan had swore in a long time, the murder, the carnage, the confusion, it had all pushed Ivan passed his limit. The man seemed to recognise this and kneeled down, as did the other man behind him who hadn't said a word.
"I am deeply sorry my lord.
He raised his hands to his hood, grasping firmly.
"The reason that I do this my...well I suppose I should drop the formalities if you would allow me. I mean it as to make this situation a little less awkward for you."
The hood started to come off, slowly, the man's face became visible as the darkness from his hood vanished.
"I kill people and would do anything for you because you are my world because..."
The hood had been fully removed now, there kneeled a man with short black hair brushing against the wind, his red eyes glowed with affection. Ivan's eyes widened the most they ever had.
"No...no...no it cannot be..."
That distinctive face, the reason it reminded Ivan of his father was...
"It is not you, why are you here? This is a dream, it has to be, it makes no sense, please, tell me this is not real."
Stumbling back Ivan could no longer comprehend the situation.
"Hadrian, why? Why are you? No, you. You are the kill...no, it cannot."
"...it's because I love you Ivan."
"Hadrian, my adopted brother, you...but I thought you were missing."
"I came here because soon the uniting shall begin."
"The uniting?"
Ivan fell to his knees next to the pile of corpses, ash staining his trousers, repeating the scene that had just occurred in his head, trying to understand it all.
Hadrian stood up to help Ivan but as he did a voice came.
"Prince Ivan!"
It was one of the guards. Hadrian quickly pulled his hood back over his head so he did not recognise him.
"Prince Ivan are you alright?"
Ivan didn't understand anything and he hated that. He stood up, composing himself and looked to the guard.
"Any survivors?" he asked.
"No my prince," the guard replied in a sombre tone.
"Unfortunate but now we have our culprits, those 2 men there," stated Ivan pointing at his adopted brother.
The guard gritted his teeth at the men and unsheathed a sword, ready for combat however he seemed slightly afraid.
"Can we beat them if they did all this by themselves?"
"They can use magic but I believe we can so long as I call for the others."
Tired of being left in the dark, Ivan readied himself for a battle between his pawns and the enemy. He wanted answers and he would get them straight from the horse's mouth, from his adopted brother, from Hadrian.