CHAPTER 26 -TWO PAWNS- (2)
DALE BAMFORD
The sounds of footsteps echoing through the closed hallway clogged my ears, how many years has it been since then? I asked myself as I kept walking towards a familiar pair of giant doors.
It’s been ages since I’ve dreamed this, more specifically this time.
As I got closer to the giant doors, I recalled my time and position here. It was two years after my wedding, by the time I already had my son, Vamir. At the time he was one year old and twelve years since the eleven races were at peace.
And as king of one of the eleven races, I had to host a banquet as a sincerity for the peace that we had obtained. The young night continued its time as all races had their celebration.
Until… High-rank demons infiltrated our forest and killed all races that were in the banquet, leaving on a trail of blood and burning trees.
“I have to do something,” I let out, grabbing the family heirloom sword. My wife and son were both scared of the event that was happening outside the castle, “Dear, save them, save them before something else happens.” pleaded my wife as I assigned two marshals to protect her.
Before I left, I took one more glance at my family –my wife and my son– seeing my wife’s mouth mutter words, silent words. That could only be described as, ‘come back to us alive’. Not being able to say much either, I nodded guaranteeing that I would come back alive to my loving family.
However, that is when my eyes suddenly opened revealing the ceiling that I would always wake up to.
I let out a growl as I covered both of my eyes with my arm, feeling my eyes get watery, remembering my dream —my past— opening the scars that have been closed since then.
I sighed once again before getting up from my bed, looking throughout the window that showed the working elfs in the garden just in front my window. Now is not the time to dwell on the past, I have better things to do aside from grieving on the past, I said to myself. Grabbing the closet door and aggressively opening them before grasping the clothes that were adequate for training outdoors and at the same time proper for outsiders eyes.
***
The research papers that were on the ancient ruin didn’t seem to have any useful information aside from sculptures and engraved sentences that they didn’t even bother to read. I thought, letting out a tiresome sigh before continuing the reports.
The papers and documents began to pile up in my office as I patiently checked each and one of them.
I couldn’t imagine what my daughter in law and my son are doing at this time with this much work, I mean that is the reason why I stepped down from the throne. It was too much for someone like me to handle the whole thing. Someone young enough to understand the importance of a job and its responsibilities that he is being tied into.
Before I let my mind wander more into these thoughts, I pushed them to the deepest part of my mind, “this can’t be any good for my health.” I said to myself, clenching my fist thing that my power might vanish at any given moment because of my old and pitiful body.
Even though I had some decades left in me, I felt like I was at the brink of death. Already almost knocking into the door that would bring me to the other side. However… I couldn’t die, not yet at least, I have to find Alter and tell him about the prophecy. If someone knows what it is about, it is him.
But patience is our only way in there, if we are not then we might lose our goal.
I grabbed a handful of papers that were suspiciously laying apart from the others. Upon opening it, there was a report that two individuals had joined the research team in the ancient ruin. Reading just that sentence, I smelled trouble. I got up and put on my coat before locking the door behind me.
“Let us see what these fools have found.”
CHARLOTTE BAMFORD
“An entertainment… of gods?”
“Yes, your fate along with those that were around you, were played with. Everyone you met in that world and in this one are nothing more than chess pieces at their disposal, something they use to kill time.”
“,,,”
“I expected your reaction to be that of a helpless child, but it seems that I was wrong.”
“W-What should I do?”
“You have many options to choose from, yet they all bring consequences and heavy ones at that.”
“Options? What are you talking about! You’re saying that from the two moments I was born, I became these so-called god’s plaything! How could I, a plaything, have options!”
“If that is how you see it then there is no more to talk about.”
“H-Huh?”
“You said it yourself, ‘I don’t have options’ so that means there is nothing to talk about. You’re interpreting that you don’t have options like, leaving this war and living far away in a different dimension where you can start from zero or the luxury of being killed right here right now and praying that you are still their toy.”
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“...”
“Or… to rebel against these gods along with my daughter to free yourselves from this wicked game board. After all, you and my daughter are the two pawns that could destroy this world’s disgusting play.”
“Can I– we really fight the gods and still win?”
“I guarantee you that you two could without a sweat.”
“But how?”
“I will give you something, a power more like. It will tell you what to do and sometimes will tell you the outcome of the situation you're in.”
“So this will help me with this ‘defeat the gods’?”
“It will, but first you must get stronger to be able to use it. As you are right now, you are no more stronger than a marshal.”
“B-But I fought your marshals all together and still won, doesn’t that make me stronger than a marshal?”
“You said it, ‘my’ marshals.”
“Are there more marshals?”
“There are many… even I don’t know how many marshals the other races have.”
“Wait wait wait, “other races”? Just how many races are there?”
“You really don’t know what you are into huh? But whatever it seems to me that the old you does not intervene when it comes to common sense but only to military subjects… To be exact there are eleven races excluding your race.”
“My race? I’m human, can’t you tell. I think that you being a demon king has filled your mind with something.”
“Is that what you truly believe? That you are fully human to the core?”
“Y-yes.”
“I absolutely pity you. You wish to be human but you are far from being one, you were never even one to begin with.”
“Y-You are lying. I know I am human, I have human emotions. I have–”
“Human taste? Human love? Human emotions? Human lifestyle?”
“...”
“Your race used to be the most powerful one in the whole universe, however, due to the fact that they were greedy they were punished in the most horrible way.”
“What was their punishment?”
“Their punishment was extinction.”
“And since they are now ‘extinct’, they would not expect you the last survivor of the–”
The words, they have stopped. There are no more words carved into the wall.
Whoever it was didn’t want other people to know what the extinct race is. That person is scared that people would learn the truth, the knowledge about the other existing races. I need to write this down and tell grandpa about this. He might know what to do with this information.
Recalling and re-reading the conversations, I wrote down in my notepad the most important things along with the twelve races that are existing. However, we don’t know if they are still alive or not, but, if there is a possibility that they are still alive, let us pray that they are not hostile.
Writing down the bare minimum of what seemed important information, six full pages were occupied in the process. I need to get to the council headquarters fast, I said in my mind as I ran full speed through the ancient ruin’s path, leaving Noah behind who fell asleep while I continued to read the conversation.
Amidst exiting the ruin, I was greeted by a familiar carriage. Around the carriage, a handful of soldiers were wearing armor as if they were protecting something or someone. Before I could see their emblem, the door to the carriage was opened and along with it, a person who I was in such a hurry to see appeared.
“Where are you going Charl?” He said while he got off the carriage, giving me a wide grin.
Why was grandpa here?
Was there a problem with me and noah–he probably doesn't think he was here– being in the ruin?
Many questions rose up to his sudden appearance, yet, it wasn’t time to be surprised. There were things that needed to be discussed before anything else, judging by grandfather’s expression he came here for something.
Grandpa noticed my facial reaction and ordered the guards to get an unoccupied tent.
A few minutes later, both Noah and I were sitting in front of our mentor. No tension—aside from ours— was felt in the air, but grandfather’s aura was still strong enough to make both of us feel like we were on thin ice.
Grandpa let out a sigh after only seconds of silence, the aura around him seemed to disappear in a moment and was instead replaced by a less serious look.
“Judging by both of your expressions, it means that you two found something. Am I right?” His comment left me overwhelmed. How did he get this conclusion after only seeing my expression?
Could he have expected this and if so…when?
Could there be someone with visual powers?
A person who could see the future?
Wait a minute, I have to calm down. This is getting me nowhere, a few breaths should help me here.
Taking a couple of deep breaths helped my nervousness to slowly disappear but not completely at all.
I pushed the notepad that was in front of me–the same notes that I took earlier– into grandfather’s front sight. His eyes narrowed into the notepad, he probably was thinking what this was about or maybe he already knew what it was.
It didn’t take much time before grandpa picked up the notepad and began scrolling his eyes, side to side, left to right. While Noah stared at the table, I focused my eyes on grandfather's eyes. The green eyes resembled an emerald gem, almost like a shiny green start in the night sky.
That is when his eyes came to a stop, paying close attention, I could see the reflection through his irises. The reflection showed nothing more than a blank piece of paper. The closing notepad alarmed Noah so blatantly that his slimmed body jerked in fear.
Nevertheless, the old grandfather began to speak in a more serious tone, giving me chills down my spine. “Is there more writing engraved in the ruin?”
I shook my head in response.
Dale’s facial expression showed displeasure in my answer, but was quickly replaced by a relieved emotion. Relaxing his eyelids along with a soft sigh. “To think that you fools would find this information after the research team tried to find something for weeks,” he said, opening one eye before adding on. “We are finally getting somewhere.”
‘We are finally getting somewhere’?
I displayed my confusion by staring long and hard in grandpa’s direction until he noticed. Yet he tried to ignore my stare and instead tried to talk his way out by starting a conversation with Noah.
“Grandpa, what do you mean by, ‘We are finally getting somewhere’”? I asked.
“I think Alter has some sort of relation with what is happening. At first I thought that it was merely a coincidence, but now I think that he might be causing something big. Something that could stir the domains of those higher beings that not only rule but watch over us.”