The children whistled in victory as the Hornies sprinted away. However, as the horned demons were about to turn a corner, three arrows came flying and hit them. They fell dead. It was soon revealed that the arrows had been shot by soldiers brought by the kids I had sent to call for help. What more, King Ishvoor accompanied the soldiers.

Ishvoor strode to me with his arms wide and embraced me.

“Vicky,” he said, patting me on the back, “you have proved yourself to be a true Skhite by protecting our young ones!”

Meanwhile the soldiers lifted the bodies of the fallen Skhite soldiers and placed them in a chamber so that they could be properly buried later on.

“But are we succeeding in driving away the Hornies from the village?” I asked the king. Ishvoor shook his head sombrely.

“More Hornie troops are arriving,” he said, “I do not know what has gone wrong with them. We had cordial terms. I never expected this to happen. I tried to speak with the king of the Hornies, and he demanded that I give them something. But when I asked him what they wanted, he replied that he didn’t know exactly. But he told me they would wipe out our village if we didn’t give him the thing that they wanted. He has gone totally crazy!”

I thought that was very odd.

“Is there nothing that we can do to stop the Hornies?” I asked.

“We need to seal the entrances,” Ishvoor said, “I thought I wouldn’t have to do it, but it seems there is no other way. If we seal the entrances, it will be impossible to reopen them again for weeks on end. But considering the circumstances we do not have an option. The entrances can only be closed from the Room of Power, located at the very heart of our village. Would you like to accompany me there? You can help me climb up the throne.”

I did not know exactly what ‘climbing up the throne’ meant, but I agreed to accompany the king. The Room of Power as per Ishvoor was located even deeper than the quarters of the children, obviously positioned there so that any infiltrators would not be able to reach there easily. There were few torches in the passage that led to the Room of Power. As we moved along the dim tunnels, I noticed that the aged king was getting paler and paler and his gait was slowing down with each step.

“Are you all right?” I asked Ishvoor.

“Me? I am fine,” he dismissed my worries, but then he seemed to reconsider his words, as if observing his condition for the first time. “I do feel a bit tired though. I guess it’s because of all the stress I am in. Don’t worry for me.”

It took us about half an hour to reach the Room of Power.

The door to the Room of Power was built of two massive slabs of stone, and I wondered how it would be possible for us to get past it.

The King began to look around with impatient darting eyes. He had beads of sweat trailing down his temples.

“Where is it? Where is it?” he was muttering to himself.

“What are you searching for?” I asked him.

“There is the print of a hand somewhere here,” Ishvoor said, “we need to find it to get into the Room of Power. I came to this place so long ago that I have forgotten where it is.”

I searched for the hand print as well. It was me that found it. I observed some kind of a faint mark on the floor immediately in front of the door. I bent down to check and saw that it was the hand print that the king was talking about.

“Ah!” Ishvoor said, and he placed his palm and five digits over the imprint. His fingers had a noticeable shiver. Immediately the stone slabs effortlessly slid on their own, revealing a chamber. We entered the room, and the moment we did so three torches inside flared to life on their own.

Just then a great boom hit our ears. This explosion was of a much greater magnitude than any of the previous ones.

The king’s eyes went wide.

“They have brought the cannons inside!” he said.

There was a great throne, located at the center of the chamber, and I understood why Ishvoor had said he would need my help in climbing it--the throne sat on a platform of considerable height. While a tall Skhite would be easily able to climb the platform and sit on the throne, the king was one of the shorter Skhites, and it would be a task for him to get there unassisted.

We went to the platform and then I lifted Ishvoor by his waist. He was able to pull himself up to the throne,but then abruptly he went limp and he slumped down on me and the two of us crashed to the floor.

“W-what happened?” I asked the king, pushing his weight off me as gently as I could.

“I… I don’t know,” Ishvoor replied, his words coming in gasps. He was struggling to keep his eyes open. “I feel like… like I am about to exit this body of mine.”

“What are you saying?” I said. I was very frightened and confused. Yes, the king looked pale. But I had thought that was because he was tired. “Try to get up. You have to. We need to close the entrances like you said. The village is in danger.”

“Why don’t you understand,” Ishvoor said with a snuffle, and a teardrop rolled down the side of his head, “I… I want to, with all my heart. But I can’t. I just can’t. I do not know what is happening to me.”

It was then that I noticed that there was something embedded to Ishvoor’s neck, just above his collarbone. At first I thought it was a large pimple, but upon inspection, I realized that it was a foreign object. It was green in color like the king’s skin which was why I had not observed it earlier. I held the small object between the tip of my fingers and pulled it out.

The object had a needle-like metallic part that had been lodged in the flesh of the king. Blood oozed from the small prick. I realized the object was a dart of some kind. I displayed it to the king.

“This was on your neck,” I told him.

“Well, that… that explains things,” Ishvoor said, his words coming in faint gasps. “When I called a short ceasefire and went out to meet their king they must have shot it at me. I did not even feel it! Filthy bastards!”

I tossed away the dart. The king’s face was a leaf that was drying. I did not think he would last long. The entrances had to be closed before he died.

“Vicky, I am passing out…” Ishvoor said.

“Listen,” I told him, my heart hammering like it wanted to break out of the walls of my chest. I felt terrible for him since he had been good to me in the past. “First you must close the entrances… then I will carry you to the physicians.”

“Take off my crown,” Ishvoor muttered instead. I did so, thinking that the heavy crown on his head was adding to his discomfort. “Now… give it to me.” The king took the crown with his trembling hands. What he did next took me by complete surprise.

King Ishvoor set the crown on my head.

“I hereby declare you my successor and the King of the Skhites,” Ishvoor announced, as firmly as he could.

Immediately a message popped up in my vision.

Congratulations!

You are now the King of the Skhites!

Just remember, with great power comes great responsibility!

Your new abilities will be unlocked soon!

The message disappeared, leaving me dumbstruck. Just then the vibrations from a new explosion shook the chamber. Hornies were pouring into the village with each second that passed.

“Why did you do this?” I asked the king.

“Close the entrances, just sit… on… the… throne…”

Ishvoor stopped speaking. His lifeless eyes stared at me. I was in shock, but I had to act quickly. I kept my emotions aside for the moment. I left the king as he was. The task of climbing the throne presented itself. I was shorter than Ishvoor and had nobody to aid me. I tried leaping multiple times, before finally getting a hold of one of the arms of the majestic chair. Hauling myself up was a chore. A long time I had not exercised, and now my biceps and forceps burned as I brought myself to the throne. But finally, my heart pounding from the exertion, I was there.

***

General Information:

Name: Vicky

Affinity/Inclination: Evilun

Honors: King of Skhites

Level: 1

Health/Strength: 655/1000

Stamina:92/100

Mana: 93/100

Spells/Abilities: None