While Wilbur and I journeyed along the path leading towards the kingdom in the distance, I noticed a group of three people ahead of us. As we approached the group, I saw they were not human, but were some sort of cat hybrids. They were stopped in the middle of the path discussing something before Wilbur abruptly started to charge and bark at the group. One of the members of the group turned in our direction and said, “Oye! Control your pooch.” I stumbled back seeing the face of the man who turned to me. His face was like a cat’s and his body was like a human’s. We stared at each other for a moment before I shouted to Wilbur, “Come here boy!” Wilbur ignored my request and started to sniff at the man’s cloak. He hissed at Wilbur and stepped back yelling, “Bad dog! Bad dog!” His eyes were full of fear until another member of the group said, “Come on Fa’darsha, he only wants to play with you.” This member was the most human of the group, her face was human, she had short orange hair, she wore a long blue dress, and upon her head were a pair of cat’s ears. She started laughing at Fa’darsha who was trying to get away from Wilbur who would occasionally bite at his long cloak. “Please, control your dog!” Fa’darsha begged. The girl continued to laugh as I called Wilbur once again, this time Wilbur came to my side and started growling at Fa’darsha. After I called Wilbur, the other cat man gave me a terrified look. The girl approached me, shook my hand and said, “I’m Sam, nice to meet you. I haven’t laughed like that in years.”

“I’m Jeremy.” I responded, “And this is my Basset Hound Wilbur.”

“Oh? A Basset Hound? I’ve never seen one before.” She said as she bent down and started to pet Wilbur on the head.

“Yes, yes, very funny.” Fa’darsha said with sarcasm, “Now, Sam, let’s move on, we have a long way to walk.”

“Come on Fa’darsha, just look at his cute face.” She said while stroking Wilbur’s long ears.

“Cute alright, until he starts tearing you limb from limb.”

“You are always so negative when it comes to dogs, I bet if he were a cat, you’d love him.” She sighed. She started to rub Wilbur’s face before Fa’darsa grabbed her arm and started to pull her away from Wilbur.

“Okay fine! I’m coming.” She slapped away his claw and started walking along the two cats. As they walked away, I heard the other cat say “Did you hear what he said to his dog?” But by the time one of the others responded, I was too far away to hear them.

Wilbur and I continued along the path towards the kingdom, “Wilbur please keep me out of trouble next time.”

“Sorry Jeremy, I was only trying to keep you safe. That cat had something suspicious about him, I could smell it.” I turned to Wilbur in shock,

“You can talk?” I asked in surprise. When these words came out of my mouth, I realized I was not speaking English anymore, but a language that felt more natural to speak.

“Of course I can, I was more surprised when I learned you could talk.” He said with a grin on his face.

“When did you learn I could speak?”

“Remember when you called me away from the cat man? Well… that’s when I heard you speak for the first time.”

“So, you speak all the time, just not in English?”

“That’s correct. Is that what you call those silly sounds you make when you talk to other humans?”

“Well I’m glad you can understand me now, it feels like you’ve always ignored me before.” I said as Wilbur gave out a joyful howl and returned to our journey towards the kingdom.

As we approached the front gates of the kingdom, the more crowded the streets got. I noticed that most of the people in the streets were human and not animal hybrids such as the cats we met earlier. Wilbur and I entered the gates which opened up to a beautiful medieval city. Golden carriages bloomed the streets of the city, each one having a row of guardsmen defending them. Everyone was wearing very formal attire such as suits and dresses, I felt the dirty looks of the citizens who were gowned in fancy attire, I felt out of place. As we made our way through the city, the traffic started to veer from the roads as guards yelled, “Make way for Lady Elizabeth!” The crowds disperse to the sides of the roads as a large carriage carried by two white horses slowly rolled through the streets. Inside of the carriage was a young girl with long platinum hair, her eyes were a bright lavender, and she embellished a long white dress along with white gloves that reached to her elbows.

While I was admiring her, she made eye contact with me and sneered, but suddenly she took a second look at me. Her eyes sparkled as if she noticed something of interest on me, she whispered something to her guard who was walking alongside the carriage. After she was done whispering to him, he told the coachman to stop the carriage, then he approached me. “Lady Elizabeth would like you to ride with her, along with your… dog” He looked down at Wilbur who was rolling around on his back.

“Why would she want me to ride with her, I don’t even know her.” I looked back at the carriage seeing the girl was now standing outside of the carriage waiting for me.

“She said she would like to have a word with you, that is all I know.”

“Fine.” I said to the guard, “I’ll see what she has to say.” Something was telling me not to go, but I went against my instinct and started walking towards the carriage.

When I approached the girl, she grabbed my hand and said, “Why, it’s a pleasure to see you again.”

“Again?” I asked in confusion.

“Yes, again, I’ll explain when we get inside.” She grabbed my arm and pulled me into the carriage as Wilbur followed along. She sat me down into one of the seats and closed the curtains. She poured me a drink and set it on the table in front of me

“Sorry, I don’t drink.” I said nervously.

“Don’t worry, it’s non-alcoholic.” She said with a smile. She sat across the table from me and started petting Wilbur on the head. I tasted the drink, it was sweet and had the flavor of flat soda.

“Well, don’t you remember me?” She asked with a hint of anger in her voice.

“No, I’m kind of new to this… world.”

“I don’t think that’s true. You’ve been in this city for at least a month, don’t you remember?”

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

“No, this is the first day I’ve been here.” When I finished my sentence she started to laugh.

“Well that’s odd considering you stole that sword from me a few weeks ago.” She said while she drew a dagger from her side. I tried to stand up, but my legs collapsed underneath me. My body started to disobey me, it was like I was being paralyzed. The girl started to laugh, “I expected you to be a little stronger than that.” she said with a smirk, “You’re quite a fool for drinking a cup of poison, aren’t you?” I tried to answer, but I felt too weak to move my jaw, “Kind of makes me think you couldn't have stolen the sword…” As she said this, the world faded around me. The last thing I remember hearing were the barks and yelps of Wilbur.

Suddenly I woke up in a large bed in a massive bedroom. When I tried to get out of the bed, I saw that I was chained in shackles that were bolted into the frame of the bed. I tried to slip my hands through the shackles, but they were locked tight around my wrists. My stomach still hurt from the poison the girl gave me, I felt I was going to die any second. While I laid in bed for a few minutes, I heard steps that started to make their way towards the door of the room. When the steps stopped, I heard the creaking of the door opening. I looked towards the doorway and saw it was the girl. She was carrying a bowl of soup, when she saw I was awake, she smiled and started to make her way towards me. “Thank goodness you’re not dead.” she said with relief “I think we got off on the wrong hand, so I made you some soup. And, don’t worry, it’s not poisonous this time, it’s quite the opposite” She chuckled, climbed on the bed and held a spoonful of soup in front of my face.

“Can’t I eat by myself?” I asked.

“Yes, of course. I was just trying to be hospitable.” She said as she placed the bowl of soup on my stomach and started to unlock one of my shackles, when I swallowed a spoonful of soup, my stomach instantly felt better. As I was in the middle of eating, she moved closer to me and asked, “I know you didn’t steal the sword, I just wanted to know, how did you get it?”

“Well, it was given to me by my neighbor, but later, I found out a purple haired lady gave it to me and-”

“Wait, did this purple haired lady have a long black dress with ravens on the sleeves?”

“Yes, she could also shape shift into things.”

“She didn’t appear in your sleep right?”

“Well… yes she did.” As I answered, the girl gasped and started muttering a different language under her breath. During her muttering, her hands started to glow, she placed them over my chest. She did this for about a minute before a thick black mist started evaporating off of my body. “This will sting a little.” She warned me before pushing both of her hands onto my chest. It felt like a flame made its way through my entire body and cleansed me on the way through. The black mist suddenly dispersed and the girl’s hands stopped glowing. “Well, how do you feel now?” She asked nervously.

“I feel fine. It feels like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders.” She heard my response and smiled,

“Good. It seems you had been cursed by the Demon Queen, sometimes if you aren’t treated in time, your body becomes corrupt, and you become her slave.” She said with relief, “Now, finish your soup please.” I started to finish my soup trying to absorb what she had just said to me. “By the way, my name is Emily, I’m sorry we had to meet this way. Anyway, you’re free to go if you wish, but I wouldn’t mind if you stayed, it would be the least I could do for how I treated you.” She said while unlocking my other shackle,

“I’m Jeremy, and don’t worry about it, thank you for removing the curse from me.” I said as politely as I could, trying not to upset her. “By the way, where's Wilbur?”

“Your dog? My maids were giving him a bath. He decided to roll around in a mud pile in the yard.” She chuckled as she started to make her way out of the room. “Feel free to make yourself at home, I’ll bring Wilbur up as soon as he’s dried.” She walked out and shut the door.

When she left the room a surge of sleepiness overtook me, so I decided to rest my eyes for a while. Suddenly a familiar eeriness overtook my body as I rested my eyes, “You don’t honestly believe her, do you?” I opened my eyes and saw the familiar face of the purple haired lady lying next to me in the black void. “Remember, I’m the one who helped you get here so you could avenge your beloved neighbor. All I’ve done is help you, and what has she done for you?” She asked, trying to suppress her rage.

“Well she did-”

“She poisoned you, and imprisoned you in her house, right?” She interrupted.

“Well, yes she did but-”

“There are no buts.” She held a finger to my lips, “Don’t you see, she's trying to use you.”

“How?’

“Do you really think she’s the true owner of that sword? No, she’s trying to steal it from you, and since you’re just a poor no one, who will care if a rich noble stole something from you? They won’t, people will always side with the person with more money. I crafted that sword for you Jerry, don’t let anyone take it, if they do, you’ll never get that sweet, sweet revenge you’ve thirsted for since that day.” she started to fade in the darkness, “Well, looks like my time’s almost up. Jerry, I want you to kill that girl as soon as you get the chance, and if you don’t,” her eyes started to turn to a dark shade of red “there will be major consequences, for you and the girl. We wouldn’t want that, would we?” As soon as I was about to respond, she faded away. I woke up to a knock on the door, “Come in.” I said, still thinking about the words of the purple haired girl. Emily walked in with Wilbur in her arms, “Here’s your dog, he’s very heavy.” she said as she placed him on the bed, “Your armor is in the wardrobe if you need it.” she added. I got out of bed and opened the wardrobe that was placed in front of the bed. Inside was my armor I had been wearing previously. Next to my armor hung the sword that started to glow its greenish aura. As I set eyes upon the sword, Emily said, “Since you were the first wielder of the sword, you have claimed ownership of it. It was specially crafted by my father as a gift for the commander of this city’s army until it had been stolen by the Demon Queen. Now if anyone else tries to wield this sword, it will lose its magic and sharpness making it nothing more than a stick. It’s such a nice sword, it would be a shame to destroy it.”

“You’re giving me the sword?” I asked with a hint of joy.

“Yes, as long as you use it for good and not evil. Remember my father enchanted the sword, he may destroy it any time he wishes.”

As she finished, I grabbed my armor from the wardrobe and started to put it on. “Are you going somewhere this time of night?” She asked.

“Night?” I asked in confusion.

“Yes, you’ve been knocked out for at least five hours.”

“Well, are there any shops open?” I asked politely

“I doubt it. The only shop that would be open would be my dad’s forge, he doesn’t close until midnight.”

I grabbed my sword from the wall of the wardrobe and slid it into its sheath. Emily climbed into the bed and started to pet Wilbur, “What kind of dog is he, he’s very cute.” At that question. It felt as if time froze around me. I heard a whisper in my ear, “Now’s your chance, you’re one slice away from completing your mission. She’s unarmed, in bed, completely defenseless, and you are well armed.” I looked deep into Emily’s eyes and saw innocence.

“I can’t.” I replied to the whisper

“Come on, I asked you before, don’t you want to avenge your neighbor?”

“I do, but what would killing her accomplish?”

“Accomplish? If you kill her, you will gain my trust, and with my trust, you can have anything your little heart desires.” I felt my hand grab the blade of my sword as she said this. “Yes, go on” the voice coaxed me. I felt my heart pound as I slowly started lifting the blade, then I looked inside the girl's eyes once again, she was still frozen in time, but she was smiling as if she saw me as a friend. At that moment, I took my hand off the sword and said, “I won’t do it. She’s my friend” After I said that, the voice started to laugh maniacally and said, “What a shame, and I thought you were a smart boy. Oh well. By the way, I hope weren't planning on going home any time soon.” As those words were said, time unfroze and the ground started to shake. That once calm feeling I had when I entered this world had left me. Emily jumped out of the bed, grabbed me by the hand, and pulled me under the night stand. Picture frames started to fall off the walls and shatter once they hit the floor, “This is strange, we never get earthquakes here.” Wilbur jumped off the bed and climbed under the nightstand with Emily and I. The shaking continued for a few minutes before we heard the door swing open and hear one of Emily’s guards yell, “We must evacuate the estate at once! We’re under attack!”