A silver haired girl was pacing up and down the room. She was rubbing her hands and muttering something under her breath. A dull boom sounded ringing echoing in the room. She was startled once again as she tried to hold back the tears in her eyes.
“No,no,please no…”
Vines started to grow out of the stone walls forcing their way in. The girl desperately looked around. She felt like a caged animal as the vines grew larger and larger covering the entire floor. She tried to avoid touching any of them frenziedly but it was hopeless.
Suddenly, a vine touched her left elbow. She pulled it away but it was useless. The vine started grow rapidly as if it was hungry. Soon it coiled around her and the other vines in the room advanced as well restraining her completely.She was hanging there for more than an hour before she felt someone nearing her.
“How does it feel not being able to use the magic you’re so proud of, huh?”
The girl tried to speak but her mouth was bound. The vines parted as a man dressed in a white robe appeared. A tree branch was floating on his right.
“Haha..miserable,isn’t it?” The vine gagging her face retreated as she breathed in and coughed.
“You...why are you doing this?”
He grabbed her chin looking straight into her eyes and said:
“I want your ”
Her eyes widened as she tried to keep a straight face.
“Well, I won’t be killing you anytime soon so you can calm down.”
A vine covered her mouth again and Drahat turned around and left.
---
--
-
Drahat looked on as the men picked up the men,women and the children tying them up and flinging them into the carriages.A vine was coiled around their their necks. All of them were mortals. Drahat liked to employ them from time to time. However, it would be a stretch to say that he employed them to be honest.
The valuables were directly taken by Drahat and stored in his tree branch. Living beings wouldn’t be able to survive as such, he had to transport them manually.
As soon as all of the cargo had been loaded up the vines around their necks twitched as a purple flower bloomed. All of them rushed to climb into the last four or five carriages and started to faint one by one. The ones who hadn’t made it in time were ignored by Drahat as he climbed up on a carriage.
The beast pulling it was a six footed phantom king. It was six feet tall with beautiful purple mane and a pitch black muscular body.
“Lets go…”
The beast started to trot steadily and the normal phantom horses on the other carriages followed it on their own. It was the basic instinct of the normal phantom horse to follow their leader.
Drahat wasn’t worried about them getting lost, at all as he had other countermeasures in place judging from the vines coiled around their necks which looked oddly similar to the necks on the mortal slaves.
---
--
-
A few days later:
A group of men and women dressed in red robes with a crimson eye stitched on their backs looked bewildered as they gazed at the majestic Elreon Castle. Vines and trees covered the entire expanse of the castle. A few trees were even growing on top of the castle with fruits hanging off the trees. The scene looked oddly strange and beautiful.
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“Go and check if anybody is alive.”
Nobody responded and the man asked:
“Did you hear what I said?”
“Oh….”
“Yes…”
“Sorry…”
A few mages separated and went into the castle.
“You guys check the surroundings. Find me an explanation.” He said with a hint of anger. The remaining mages seperated and spread out in the surroundings.
The mages who went into castle returned about half an hour later.
“Did you find anything?” The man asked.
“Nothing. There was absolutely nothing…”
“You’re telling me there wasn’t a single body in there?”
The scout captain reluctantly nodded.
“Great, that makes sense. The Elreon’s just let walk in, huh?”
“How do you know it was him?” A woman standing on his right asked.
“Look at the castle. Nobody other than him is capable of doing something like this.”
“True but still it doesn’t prove that he was here.”
The man scowled and was about to retort when the scouts inspecting the surroundings returned and said:
“Sir, we found something.”
“What is it?”
“It’s humans or maybe mages but we can’t tell who they are.”
“What do you mean?”
“It would be better if you saw.”
The man raised his brow but didn’t say anything as he walked along.
Soon they were in front a forest and a few bodies were lying on the floor. The scouts were surrounding them with fearful expressions. All of them were completely taken aback.
“What is it?”
The scouts seperated and and the captain said:
“It’s their heads…”
A giant blood red lily was growing on top of each head. The man frowned as he knelt down and ripped the lily off of a head. Underneath it was a grotesque mass of vines that had pierced their eyes,ears,nose and had even invaded their mouths.
The man got up and said to the woman:
“It was him. That fucking bastard!”
“Alright.” The woman shrugged and backed off.
“Sir!” A scout suddenly said.
“What is it?”
“The flo-flower it disappeared…”
The scout pointed at the place where the lily was supposed to be lying at.
The man’s face paled as he ordered the scout captain:
“Burn them! Burn all of the bodies!”
He motioned for the woman to follow him and headed towards the castle. He had to burn the castle.
---
--
-
Drahat was whistling cheerily while looking at the bound old man. The vines bounding him started to rustle before a yellow coloured flower bloomed around his neck. As soon as the man smelt it he regained consciousness.
“Where am I?”
“Heaven…” Drahat replied with a cheeky smile.
“What?”
Suddenly, the man’s eyes flung open and he shouted:
“Who are you!?” “Why are you doing this?”
“Shh….” Drahat put a finger on his lips and continued:
“You’re family’s silver hair is really beautiful. Has anybody told you that?”
The old man didn’t know how to reply but Drahat continued oblivious to the awkwardness:
“Of course, lots of people must have said that but have you ever wondered why in the entire continent only the Elreon Family has silver hair?”
Drahat patiently waited for the old man to reply.
“My father said that it is the proof of our nobility and it would do you good if you let us go, young man. You cannot endure the wrath of the Elreon Family.”
“Oh,really…”
The old man nodded urging him to make the right decision.
“I refuse. Do you really think i’m that dumb?”
“Listan, young ma-”
“Shut up! Now i’m going to ask you a few questions and you will answer honestly. If you don’t I will make sure that you regret it for the rest of your days. Do you understand?”
“Ye-yes. The old man nodded.
“Where are the Elven Tombs and how many of them do you have?”
“We possess many tombs but I don’t think we possess what you ask for, sir.”
“Wrong answer.”
Drahat grinned as he turned around and a few mortal men carried a large vat about four feet tall and set it down. The vat was covered in green vines.
“You can leave.”
Drahat stood aside making sure the man had a clear view of what was about to happen. The vines moved and the vat cover rose up. The vines inside the vat rustled and rose up revealing a beautiful women hugging her knees. She was completely naked. Her light grey hair was tied up in a ponytail and her eyes were closed. A vine collar like the one around the mortal men was also around her neck.
A yellow coloured flower bloomed and she woke up. She blinked her eyes and climbed out of the vines stumbling a bit before regaining her balance.
“Welcome back!” Drahat hugged her enthusiastically but she just stood there like a doll.
“Open your mouth.” The girl opened her mouth and Drahat took out a white coloured beetle. It had eight green coloured legs and a single red line extended across its back.
“Do you know what this is?” The old man shook his head.
“It's an invention of mine. You see, it eats your blood and flesh from the inside but you can’t die…”
“Because it keeps on healing you as well.” Drahat started laughing maniacally.
“It eats your flesh and blood but keeps on healing it at the same time. How funny is that? Hahaha.…”
Drahat forced open the old man’s mouth and shoved the beetle inside.
“NO! NO! NO! PLEASE!! AHHHHH….YOU BASTARD!!!”
“I’ll be back tomorrow…”
“Hahahaha….”