"No," commanded the Mother, who quickly stood tall, sending the children tumbling away in a giggling fit of fluff, "Sarah, snap out of it. This story is too dark even for you." Whereupon she did stride forwards, and striking the book from the Wolfwoman's clawed hands.
"Wha-?" Sarah blinked slowly, her muted colours becoming more vibrant upon each blink. She then turned her eyes towards the exasperated Kitsune whilst Nox hopped onto the yellowed book with both curious eyes and perked ears. The twins soon followed his person, but sniffed around the book with swaying tails before perking their own ears at his self.
"Come on, Sarah," Sakura quickly pulled the Goddess to her feet, leading her away from the book the children sat upon, "Let's get you away from that book. Because something is making you read it, so let's get away for now."
"O-kay?" Once more, the Wolfwoman blinked, still unsure as to what was occurring, but went along with it until only the children and the book were left alone.
Whereupon Nox flopped to his belly, releasing a, "Muu," which then became a quick, high pitched bark. For his mother had stopped speaking of the tale within the book, and no one else was around to read it.
High above the Goddess's gardens, and latched onto the side of the castle, was a lone Watcher who was tasked with spying on Sarah. Whereupon it did view the comings and goings of her person, the Mother, and the children with widened eyes. So of course, it did see the Mother steal away the other, leaving behind the children to mill about the yellowed book.
This then led to its right, shadowed hand to slash at the air and create a small window of a portal. Of which allowed it to view and report directly to the Ageless himself, causing even the God King to fume with controlled anger whilst he recalled Brutus from his duties in order to have him continue the story at hand. Himself, on the other hand, ordered the Watcher to continue its duties, and to notify his person of any changes.
"Yes," hissed a soft voice, "my Master. Thy will be done," and vanished from its post.
Down below, on the other hand, a vertical oval of a portal erupted into being at the entrance of the gardens, causing the children to become startled enough that they yipped sharply at its sudden appearance, but soon calmed down once the being on the other end stepped out. Of which was Brutus in a white robe of fleece, and in his right hand was a white staff with many etchings of battles throughout the whole of it.
Once out in the open, the portal did close behind his person as his metallic skull did swivel to and fro. Of which allowed the blue flames within his sockets to flare into life, leading to the twins to snuggle up to Nox whilst their tails crept slowly underneath their bellies. However, the hybrid did pat their heads whilst bounding forwards with a light shout of, "Uncle Brutus!"
Whereupon the Skeleton did scoop up the child into his arms, and proceeded to stroke his back and neck fur in a slow manner. Yes. The child did enjoy such an experience, whereas the other pair milled about with some confusion. For their own mother had left them, the Lich King appeared out of nowhere, and their cuddle session with Nox had been interrupted.
"So," came the slow hiss of Brutus's voice, "she really did stop the tale." Whereupon he did lift up the child in his arms so that the pair may stare into one another's eyes.
However, the little hybrid did bark and yip with closed eyes as his lower end wiggled greatly from the attention given. Therefore, the Lich King did sigh and resume the petting he had began whilst wondering aloud, "Where could she have gone?"
"Mama is with Miss S," crooned the one in his arms, "after she stopped Mama from telling us the story." His eyes were upturn towards the other at this point, whilst the eyes dilated in an obvious attempt at begging, "Are you going to read us the next part?" At the given agreement from the other, he did let out a gladdened, "Yay!" and leapt from the arms of his Uncle, bounding towards the sofa in order to await the words which will send his imagination flying.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
At the sight of their friend sitting comfortably upon the sofa, Mia and Maya did leap into the cushions themselves before snuggling up to the other. Whereupon he did wrap his forearms around their waists, and brought them closer to his person. Here, they did sigh with happiness as Brutus sat across from them with both his own Story, and the old and yellowed book from which Sarah had told the story from.
"Now, let's see where she left... off... Oh my," his voice drifted off as the lights in his sockets flickered quickly to each side of the pages therein. If his features held flesh, then the brows at the base of the forehead would have been knitted as the lips below frowned greatly. Unfortunately, none of this was apparent to the children, who perked their ears and cocked their heads off to one side.
"Uncle Brutus?" called out Nox with some worry in his small voice, "What's wrong?"
To which the lights of the Lich King's eyes did drift upwards so that their tips were visible to each of them, "Well, children, it appears much of what has occurred is not entirely safe for your ears. Therefore, I will be skipping-"
The trio immediately groaned at the word, not at all pleased with the other treating them as though they were still in swaddling clothes. However, this was dictated by the Laws of Terra, and Brutus was a devout follower of such Laws. On the other hand, he was able to bend them in some manner, especially when it concerns the family of the Ageless, or himself.
Therefore, after the children were calmed, he continued with, "It is against the laws of our world to set apart the children with the Darkness therein. However," he held up a clawed hand to stall their groans once more, "I shall be giving you all a brief summary as to what they did within each kingdom, town, city, and village controlled by the two factions.
"Such as many of those controlled by the Beastfolk were slain in the most brutal of tactics imaginable, and some that were not thought of until just then. The usage of spears and pikes, however," the metallic Skeleton shivered with excitement, causing the children's ears to perk once more, "Let's just say that they were quite inventive. He claimed the idea came from a Vampire called Vlad.
"In any case," he shrugged slowly, "this was reserved for those in charge. Such as the royalty, merchants, guards, any of those, really," his right clawed hands waved the words off to the side."
"What about the Hoomans?" inquired Mia with a mew, who then hid her face within the fluff of Nox's fur when Brutus turned towards her person.
"They put up some resistances, yes, but we'll get to that one in a moment. For I do believe the last section before... meeting... Roj," the lights within the sockets drifted towards the books as his claws did flit through the pages until he found what he was searching for, "Here it is, the war. It appears to be safe for your ears, yes.
"But before we get into that one, I'll be needing to explain what happened to the Lizardmen and women, I believe?" With a quick search through his own Story, he did find a portion of it pertaining to such beings. Then, after a quick bob of his head, he continued with, "Yes. It appears they had decided to try and join with our Lord in His attempt to burn the world of Asha'ruun. This was decided, as I'm sure you remember, from the little chat with the Human of our group. Who spoke of Time and Space being rewound to erase everything that occurred.
"Yes. It is a real ability, and if you ever become Gods and Goddesses of your own worlds, then it'll become an option for you, too." Upon so saying, did the children become excited for something new, even if they were too young to understand what was spoken of by the Lich King.
"In any case," he continued slowly, "the Lizardmen and women were subject to torture and death."
"What?" mewed Maya, her eyes growing as wide as saucers.
Whereas the other only nodded before continuing onwards, "Yes. They were, and the reason for that came from Rojaahn, who wanted to search through their bodies for something called 'Magic Stones' which such a race supposedly had within their hearts.
"These stones, by the by, had the ability to allow others to draw upon the energies within to fuel a caster's spell in its entirety. Or, almost all or a portion, when you're as powerful as our Lord back then. For me, personally," he laid his right primary clawed hand upon his solar plexus, "one stone from a Lizard who lived for thirty cycles or more allowed my spells to come to fruition without draining any of my stores. Therefore, they were quite valuable.
"Now, the reason why they had such stones within them was due to the fact that they had been placed under the category of 'Monster' during the war between they and the Beastfolk at some point. Therefore, their bodies created such things, and it was another incentive for all other races to slay them.
"And no, I don't know why that was so," he spoke quickly, noting the inquiry slowly forming upon Nox's tongue. Of whom then closed his small maw with a light snap.
"Now then. Shall we continue the story with the war?" The lights within the sockets of the Lich King flared greatly before drifting towards his Story.