IV
“Ulterium! You’re awake!”
Foku’s suave voice resonated through the hall, alerting the other guild members. Hilton Fokurama was his full name, but he preferred the abbreviated “Foku”.
I blinked a few times, clearing my vision. Above me stood a tall embellished golden-red ceiling, and the four golden pillars at the four corners of the hideout gleamed under the weak light in front of the crimson walls, a golden dragon coiled around each column. Sitting up from the couch I was lying on, I winced in pain as I glanced around my father’s hideout; the Blood Guild’s home. Glo Lyte, our guild medic, was tending my wounds as I cleared my eyes.
“How are you feeling?”
“Glad to be alive.”
Glo smiled gently.
“Glad you’re doing well. By the way, the Night Guild heard about your...um...incident...with Tyrannust VI,” Foku said.
I groaned in annoyance, making my head throb.
The Blood Guild’s chamber doors flung open as Kadava Lee rushed in. Seeing me awake, he ran towards me in a hurry.
“I saw it,” he spoke excitedly. “I saw it all happen!”
“He rescued you,” Glo added on quietly beside me.
“What happened?” I asked.
“It was early in the morning when Arcanor told me something was going to happen to the high lord. So, I quickly left to scout, before King Fulcan summoned you. I saw the prince, with his red dragon on one side and the high lord’s Oracle, Zordonia, on the other. But Zor had quickly left soon after, while the prince entered his father’s throne room. He was in there for a short while, and I couldn’t step inside, but when he opened the door to leave...”
“Well, what happened?” I asked impatiently.
“His father - High Lord Tyrannust V - was dead, a cold face and a still body on his bed. His own sword was deeply nailed into him, pinning him to the thick headboard. And...Tyrannust VI had the high lord’s crown in his hands. I don’t know how, but he transformed into this dark figure--”
“With golden armour and no legs nor ears nor face,” I finished, recalling the chilling image earlier.
“It didn’t just end there. I stayed a bit longer, and it wasn’t a pretty sight to see. The prince corrupted Zor and cast a curse on him. The oracle fell down, as if he was plagued by some fatal disease. And somehow, just somehow, Tyrannust turned towards me. There I was. Face to face, eyes locked with the demon he became. But then you arrived, and his head swivelled your way, intercepting my fate. It was actually you who saved me, Ulterium. When you were knocked out quickly after, I brought you back here immediately.”
“But...what could’ve led to the murder?”
“Not sure,” Kadava answered. “I’ve monitored Tyrannust the prince before. I’ve had a strange feeling about this guy. It was like the noble prince held a long-term grudge against his father, or so I felt.”
“What if it was his crave and greed for power?” I questioned. “I mean, he impressed the nation countless times and even tried to overturn his father once or twice, right?”
“His father was in power for only twenty-three years, the shortest reign of all high lords in Grozorg’s history,” Kadava mentioned.
“He never spoke a word to me,” I thought out loud, recalling my encounter. “He just...smiled…”
My voice trailed off. Suddenly, the unlocked chamber doors flung open again as a figure in golden-barbed armour stepped in uninvitingly.
“Tarsus?” I guess, surprised. The figure came under the light as he approached closer, revealing to be the man himself.
“What are you doing here?” I started angrily. “Get out! You aren’t welcomed here!”
“Only news I bring to you is that Grozorg is falling apart, if you didn’t already know. You know Lord Helterium and Lord Pyrrhus? Yeah, well, hate to break it to you, but both lords have turned to the evil forces. Darkness has already consumed them both.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked disbelievingly. “You’re saying...both the lords of water and fire have become corrupted from an evil force? Yeah, sure they did. Get out!”
“Oh, not only them,” Tarsus continued. “Lords Nythar, Crothus, Illya and the others have too.”
I furrowed my brows. “What are you saying?”
“What do you mean ‘what are you saying?’ Get it through that thick skull of yours that Tyrannust VI - you know, the one you o so valiantly tried to single-handedly defeat – he’s been corrupted with darkness, and now he’s infusing it into the neighbouring lords as well.”
“So, Lords Nythar of Life and Death, Crothus of Time, and Illya of Illusions has sided with him...” I spoke, still with a tone of incredulity.
“Are you still comprehending that? What are you, deaf? Hard of hearing? Do I have to talk slow-”
I hurled myself at him, pinning him onto the ground. He threw a quick jab at my right eye and quickly regained footing before getting pushed back against the wall by Kadava.
“If you got something to say, say it now or leave,” Kadava demanded, pinning Tarsus’s neck between his arm and the guild wall.
“I have a proposal,” Tarsus spoke with a twisted smile, unhindered by the vulnerable position he was put in by Kadava. “It’s a rather simple proposal: your weak guild will not participate nor interfere with any of this anymore - this situation you caused. It’s a law soon to be declared by his royal majesty King Fulcan anyways,” he added.
“What?!” Foku yelled, fumed.
“What gives you privilege over us?” I demanded, taking Kadava’s place in holding Tarsus against the wall.
“Everything,” Tarsus sneered. “You’re just gonna screw everything up even more, as if you didn’t already!”
“Doesn’t this ring a bell?” I continued, ignoring Tarsus. “Remember the War of Zxyx? Your hometown was destroyed by him when he gave into darkness! If it weren’t for King Fulcan and us who slaughtered Zxyx, Grozorg would have been over by now!”
“That meant nothing!” Tarsus exclaimed.
“We can stop Tyrannust before it’s too late! Wake up, Tarsus! It’s not all about you and your stupid little guild!”
“To think you would have given us logical advice for once,” Kadava mocked.
“Oh shame,” Tarsus sarcastically stated. “Well, I’ve got a nation to save rather than hang out all day in my hideout like slugs. It’s a shame to see you guys miss out on such a great adventure.”
“Try to stop us,” I scowled.
“Won’t be hard,” Tarsus responded, quickly knocking my arm away from his throat and jabbing his fists into my stomach, slipping out of our hideout.
“Dammit! I’m gonna kill that man the next time I see him!” I yelled, bent over.
A moment after Tarsus left, a royal guard suited in white and gold knocked on the guild doors. The emblem on his chest resembled a sword with a pair of angelic wings behind; evidently, a knight from King Fulcan’s elite Army of Light and Purity.
“Sir Prokun Ulterium, His Majesty wishes to see you.”
I looked around the guild, with only blank faces in reply. Without hesitation, I followed the golden-white plated footmen alone to the king’s abode.
Our hideout was fairly close to Tenebris, the capital city of the island where King Fulcan’s palace was located. In time, we exited the dense forest and walked through the towering ivory-gold portcullis, past the busy marketplace and across a grand, bridged, white walkway to the extravagant snow-white palace where I was greeted by many who knew of my identity. We stepped through the south entrance, past two substantial pearl-iron doors, snaking down tall gleaming halls carpeted in white with pairs of golden pillars lined up densely. Our footsteps echoed through the grand expanse as we approached another set of tall golden-white doors with two golden handles. Four guards were posted outside, opening the door as we approached.
“Ulterium!”
“Your Majesty,” I addressed, kneeling down.
“I trust you have heard of the...accord...of Lord Helterium and Lord Pyrrhus.”
“I have indeed, though from a source not too credible. From what I’ve heard, Lord Crothus of Time and Lord Illya of Illusion has given into the power of darkness as well.”
The King fell silent. Evidently, he had not heard of that yet. Or Tarsus lied to us.
“Light and order has yielded to darkness and chaos. They have been enticed by the prince, or should I say, the high lord,” Fulcan spat in disgust. “Tyrannust VI has bribed them, lied to them. He has ‘shown’ them how much more power darkness has over light. And after your encounter with him, it seems he has grown even more powerful.”
“But is that true?” I asked.
“Is what true?”
“That darkness is stronger than light?”
“Ulterium. You know the answer to that.”
I thought for a moment, to no avail.
“Recall your memories of the War of Zxyx. The question wasn’t about the ‘strength’ of light or darkness. The darkness fully consumed Zxyx, if you were to rate the strength of that darkness. But he was defeated in the end anyways, even with the full force of darkness. I tell you the truth, Ulterium, we won not from our own strength; no, we won because we mastered the way of Light and Purity. Zxyx, alternatively, was too corrupted by the power of darkness; he craved it so much he had never learnt to master its ways and therefore achieve the full potential of the powerful darkness he wielded. Hopefully, this is so with the new dark lord Tyrannust VI.”
“Aren’t you going to declare a decree regarding the Blood Guild and this, uh, matter?”
“What decree? What is it your guild wants?”
“Never mind,” I replied instantly, gritting my teeth. “So, what should we do now?”
“Honestly, my brother-in-arms, I am uncertain. I called you here to let you and your guild know that I may need your assistance soon, now more than ever. For now, only destiny - or fate - can tell. We shall wait.”
“As you command, Your Majesty.”