Back within the Soul kingdom, the soul guards have been placed on high-alert. The ratbags and loyal soldiers are ordered to begin frisking anyone with a suspicious look. Overseeing the orchestration of the soul guards stands General Aries, a towering muscular pale man with piercing yellow eyes with a faded burn draped over the left of his face. In the corridors of Osirio’s castle, the General walks side by side with one of the soldiers.
The general speaks “I want answers. Fortify the outer perimeters of the kingdom. Make sure they are secure. Coordinate with the crimsons to monitor who’s been through the area. Your majesty demands that no one be allowed into the kingdom without his permission. Do you understand that welp ?” With a stern look upon his face, Aries turns his head towards his soldier dressed head to toe in crimson red armor. Shaking in his red boots, the soldier raises his arm to salute his general. The soldier shouts “Yes sir!”
The General turns his back to his subordinate. To him, this soldier has no backbone and therefore has no value. And in his mind, those who have no value are of no use to those with power. “Then get out of my sight.”
The soldier runs away quickly. As the general continues walking down the hall, he notices something. Out of the corner of his eye, Aries notices someone stalking him. All of a sudden footsteps can be heard. In the split of a second, the general turns around and grabs the individual by the throat.
“What do you want, you ugly dark elf?” He speaks with little patience. Nahash,feeling disrespected and frustrated, grasps at his neck. Barely able to speak, he pleads to the general. “I’ll tell you if you can let go of my throat!” Aries lets Nahash’s throat go. As he stands, he reveals his skinny stature. “Thank you, you heedless brute. I assume you're aware of the atrocities committed against our queen.”He says, very subtly rubbing his neck. The general crosses his arms as he looks down upon his lowly companion. “Of course I am. I’ve been handling the consequences of it since it happened. Did the news not reach your monstrosity of a lab?” He scolds.Nahash scoffs at Aries. These two, while both serving as advisors for the king, have a hatred that defies reason. Neither can remember when it started, nor can remember why it is. Nahash steps up to Aries and points at his chest.
“Everything I do, I do to help our king. Even if that means helping maintain that thing you call an army.” Nahash scolds. To belittle him, the general leans down slightly towards Nahash. “Help our king? Your delusions know no bounds. You are nothing, merely but a lab rat.” Unafraid of the general, Nahash gets closer to Aries, now putting his finger into the general’s face. “Watch your tongue.” The elf speaks.
The general pushes Nahash’s finger away from him. “Or what you weak-”
Before anyone can make a move, a knife comes flying in between the pair, separating them. Nahash turns his head to see a shadowy figure standing just above them.
“I was wondering when you would show up.” Nahash speaks.
Standing at the top of the throne room stairs is an average sized man with flowing hair and a mask,hiding in the shadows. Aries rolls his eyes as he recognizes this man as well. This man before them is their third advisor to the king, Capala.
“You two are children.” He speaks with a raspy masked voice. In a graceful swift motion, he jumps down from the stairs. “Our queen’s grave was disrespected and our friend is hurting. Instead of being the responsible generals of his court, here you are..”
Standing in front of his two fellow advisors, Capala stoops down and pulls his knife from the ground. “Bickering like infants.” With his blood boiling at the very presence of Capala, Aries takes a step towards his fellow advisor.
“And what pray tell, have you been doing during this travesty?” As Capala stands up, he turns his back to the general. “I sent spies to conduct reconnaissance into the other kingdoms.” The general and Nahash faces become appalled. “Reconnaissance? For what purpose?” Nahash replies. Making his way towards the staircase, Capala becomes annoyed. “Do you two not recognize that this incursion may be the start of a kingdom wide war?” He scolds. Aries and Nahash follow closely behind Capala, hoping to catch their fellow advisor in a lie.
“Impossible. I didn’t authorize any travel into the other kingdoms, much less for the purposes of war. Who granted you that power?” The general speaks.
In his sarcasm, Capala stops walking and points towards Osirio’s throne room.Before anyone can respond, a soul soldier quickly opens the door to the throne room. He slowly approaches the three of them. With a nervous voice he speaks to their attention. “Uhh..excuse me?” The general stares intensely at the soldier, a member of his own military, scolding him. “Why have you decided to interrupt your superiors?” The soldier gulps as he forces the words out of his mouth. “Your majesty requests your presence.”
The three advisors all look at each other before slowly walking into the throne room doorway. Nahash tries to walk in first but is pushed to the side by the general and his broad shoulders. Aries smirks at him. Capala slowly follows behind Nahash, mumbling under his breath. “Children.”
The doors immediately shut behind them. Leading to the throne is a long hallway filled with raven colored torches filled with empty flames. As they continue down the hallway, the empty flames become infused with the eternal emerald kindle. Finally approaching the throne, Capala, Nahash and Aries all begin to bend the knee.
The three of them speak at once. “My liege.”
The skeleton king stares down menacingly at his three trusted advisors. With a blood red glow in the center of his eye and fingers clasped into his skeleton hands, he speaks.
“Thank you all for coming. I am sure it is no surprise of the tragedy that has transpired. The injustice that has been carried out. Someone has defiled my wife’s grave. And taken the only hope I had left in repairing her corpse I-”
As Osirio tries to hold back his immense frustration, he briefly closes his eyes to gather himself. These are his most trusted allies. Surely, there is an explanation for the events that have transpired. As he reopens his eyes, his pupils burn a bright blood red.
“I do not need to explain the severity of the situation. That is why I have summoned you three. My three most trusted advisors. To help me understand why. Why has this thing happened to my wife?! “
As Osirio yells, his voice echoes through the room. His three advisors stand there silently, each with a different expression of terror. NAHASH, the dark elf looks at his king and speaks cautiously. “We’re not sure, sire. We have our best people working on it.” Aries follows suit. “The thief could not have gotten far, my king.”
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Unlike the other two, Capala says nothing. He instead, looks at the other advisors and exchanges glances with his king. In utter frustration, the skeleton king glares. “And you Capala? Do you, my friend, have nothing to say?”
Capala takes a deep breath and bends his head slightly. “I don’t believe you brought us here to ask us questions about why this has happened.” Capala stands up. “Oh? Then what purpose, do you think I’ve summoned you here for?” The skeleton king questioned.
Without hesitation, Capala boldly turns to his fellow advisors. “You believe one of us had something to do with this.”
Aries and Nahash become shocked at the accusation. “Your true loyalty shows Capala. How could you think so poorly of our king?” The general speaks. Capala turns his head towards Aries in utter frustration.
” How could you overlook the obvious? The three of us are THE prime suspects. A mere handful were privy to the knowledge of our queen's burial site, and those entrusted with guarding her were under our command. It's evident why you've summoned us. “ Capala turns around and takes a step towards his king.
“However, understand this, my king—the three of us would never inflict harm upon our queen. She was OUR queen.” Without hesitation, the other advisors walk up behind Capala. Nahash speaks, “More than that sire, she was our friend. We mourned her just as you have.” The general steps up further than Nahash and Capala and bends the knee before his liege. “Forgive me my king, but we should rather focus our efforts on finding the thief before they escape our grasp rather than point fingers amongst ourselves.”
Even in his immediate anger, one thing is sure to the skeleton king. These three, each fueled by their own desires and ambitions, were not behind this. His three advisors, who had been his comrades beyond his wife’s murder. Beyond the destruction that he brought upon the kingdom. They were still by his side.
Osirio chuckles softly. “Very good, old friend. If there was indeed, a usurper among you, I was not going to rest until I found them.”
The room falls silent. The general looks up to his king. “But now?”
“But now I am more concerned with finding the thief who escaped our forces. The scum who decided to steal from a king of DEATH. So, tell me, my three most trusted advisors.Tell me. Who is to blame for this? Who shall I direct my hatred and everlasting fury upon?”
The general, always hungering for the chance to obliterate their enemies, stands to his feet. “Is it not obvious my king? There is only one person that could stand to gain from this travesty.”
Nahash, sarcastically looks towards the general. “And who pray tell would that be, General Aries?” He scoffs.
The general, in minor annoyance, turns his head towards Nahash. “Ikabod, the titan king of the wastelands.”
The skeleton king grunts slightly in frustration as everyone else in the room scoffs.
“And what makes you think he would DARE cross me?” Osirio stares deeply at his general. Despite his immediate fear, the general holds his composure in front of his king. “Sire, there has been chatter among the Crimsons that he has been gathering warriors for some time now. And that ever since your last battle, he’s been aching for a chance to claim vengeance upon you.” The general explains. In their long history of being the tools of Aries and members of the skeleton king’s army, not once have the Crimsons been trustworthy enough to pass along intel this vital.
Immediately skeptical of the words coming from the general, Nahash crosses his arms and very loudly criticizes Aries. ”Ha! And you trust the words of those degenerates? The crimsons are nothing but thieves and scoundrels!” Aries quickly retorts. “Thieves and scoundrels loyal to us.”
As the words ring familiarity through his skull, OSIRIO clasps his boney hands together and remembers burning the eye of the titan king he once called ally.
“You still have yet to tell me general, what would Ikabod, a titan king, gain from angering a kingly god of death?” The skeleton king commands.
Aries turns his head to the side. “I am not sure. Maybe he hired a thief in hopes to lure you to his kingdom to challenge your authority.” He ponders. Nahash rolls his eyes. “Or perhaps he isn’t involved at all..” The elf’s disbelief has begun to peeve the General.
“If you have something to say, ELF. You best come out and say it.” The general speaks. With his own goals in mind, Nahash gestures his bandaged hand towards Aries. “I would surmise that the people behind this incursion was a combined force of the Diamond and Magic kingdoms.”
Aries scoffs. “Ha! A very bold assumption.” The general stiffens his voice. “But where is your proof?”
“Think very carefully about it general. The combined effort of both magic and defensive weaponry would be enough to topple our forces. The kingdoms are still practically allies and they would gain a significant amount of land if they invaded our territory.” Nahash concluded as he parades around the sanctum of his king.
The general walks towards Nahash. “You forget yourself, Nahash. The last time they attempted so, they were defeated. What chance would they have now?”
Nahash and the general stand chest to chest. Pointing his bandaged hand at Aries, Nahash speaks in fury. “They have more advanced weapons now you dult! Do you not understand-”
As Nahash and Aries continue to argue back and forth, unaware of how their arguing makes them small, the phantom once again appears behind the skeleton king. Invisible to the naked eye, With his vile smirk, the phantom jeers at Osirio’s court.
“These are the advisors in which you entrusted your wife’s grave upon? The other kingdoms threaten your way of life and here they are as useless as a dull knife.”
The phantom zooms to the other side of the throne changing his sinister voice to one of passion, and one of indulgence. “You are wasting time. Time that your wife’s body does not have! Command them! You are their king.”
The skeleton king would hear no more. “ENOUGH!” His eyes become glowing green as he sends a shockwave of wind into the room. “I have asked you here for real solutions, not to point fingers and assign blame.” Nahash and Aries take a step back from each other. As the skeleton king commands the room, the phantom dissipates once again.
Osirio looks around the room at his three advisors and notices Capala staring at him. With a slight change in his demeanor, Capala grips the side of his sword tight. Unable to understand the ramifications of what he could sense but not perceive with his eyes, Capala stands ready.
“And you Capala, do you not have any further input to this discussion?” The skeleton king demands. Capala lets his sword go. ”May I speak freely?”
Osirio nods his boney skull. Capala lowers his mask. “It should be said that both the general and Nahash may be correct in assuming the other kingdoms are behind this attack.In that case, it would be foolish to accept any other option but enacting war.”
His fellow advisors suddenly became baffled that this was the conclusion that Capala had reached. One that had agreed with the both of them.
“And how would you suggest we wage war on three opposing kingdoms? “Nahash sarcastically asked. Capala turns his body towards Nahash.
“We weaken them. By focusing a small amount of the undead towards the three kingdoms,we may better yet reveal the usurper.” In deep thought, the general ponders Capala’s idea.
“That could work. But who would be trusted to lead this small forces?”
Capala steps towards his king.
“If our liege would approve, I would volunteer myself, and my own military leaders, to execute it.” Capala pulls his mask back up looking around the room to each individual present. “But if we do this, if we unleash another Marvelous Holiday upon Harmony, without caution, there is no going back.”
As the three advisors debate their strategies for the coming war, the Skeleton King broods over Capala’s warning, a dark shadow creeping into his hollow gaze.