The moment I sat on the throne, the chamber blew away like smoke. I could see what was playing out at the entrances as though they were right in front of me. In fact, I realized that ‘I” was the three entrances of the village.

There were dead Hornies and Skhites strewn about each entryway. The Hornies had already taken control over one of them and were dragging in iron cannons. I had to stop them from causing further damage. It dawned on me that I could control the boulders that surrounded the entrances simply with my mind. So, I began to roll the fat rocks over the entry points one by one.

I did not stop at that. Once the boulders had blocked the entrances, I melted the edges of the boulders and fused them with one another, completely sealing outside access to the village. This drained me of considerable energy, and I felt increasingly weak.

The Hornies outside were flabbergasted, as they had not expected the entrances to close suddenly. They fired cannons at the boulders, but the boulders were so tough in their fused state that the cannon balls bounced away.

The Hornies inside the village were seized by fear, for there was no route out for them. This lowered their morale considerably and the rejuvenated Skhites now pounced on them, and the horned demons fell one after the other.

A sadder aspect of sealing the village was that some of the Skhite warriors that had gone out to battle with the Hornies were unable to return. The Hornies murdered them in cold blood, chopping off their limbs first and making them bleed. And just when the Skhites were on the verge of dying from blood loss, the Hornies would decapitate them.

I had seen enough. Way too much gore for hemophobic Vicky. I should receive a gold medal for not passing out already.

I knew that at least the Skhite population inside the village was safe. The images of violence still playing in my mind, I weakly descended from the high placed throne. My stamina levels in my peripheral vision were near zero. The throne demanded the king all his energy.

I knelt down next to my lifeless predecessor on the floor. I tapped his cheeks lightly and checked his pulse. He had really passed away. The crown on my head felt heavy. I was well aware that the crown would be heavy not just on my physical being, but it would bear down on me mentally too. I wished now that I had not accompanied Ishvoor to the Room of Power. Perhaps he could have come with one of the soldiers. For a while I just sat on the cold floor beside the fallen king and pondered over my fate. I was the caretaker of the Skhites now. How did my life come to this point?

As a kid, I had often fantasized becoming a king someday so that I could preside over everyone. That had all been the wishful thinking of a child. I could still see the brutal way in which the Skhite soldiers had been butchered outside the village. I could see the deranged expressions on their faces as their limbs were severed from their bodies. I knew that as a king I would have to become accustomed to the suffering of my subjects, because there would always only be a limited number of things that I could do to help them.

Even as I was lost in thoughts, a new message dropped into my vision.

As King, you are the most important Skhite; hence you receive an additional life! For anyone to completely kill you off, they would have to wipe out your health two times. This is the maximum number of lives that anyone is allowed to have in the world of Dharti.

Immediately, the icon for my health status became ‘2x’ from the ‘1x’ it had been earlier.

A second message quickly followed:

Congratulations!

You are receiving your first ability!

The Merge Ability!

You can now merge with another Skhite, and use their strength for a limited duration. This is different from the fusing ritual of the Skhites. With the Merge Ability you can have up to four arms and two heads at a time.

In order to activate the Merge Spell, you simply need to say ‘Activate Merge’.

I gauged such an ability would come in handy during combat situations.

Then I received a third message.

Congratulations!

You are receiving your second ability!

Transform

You can now transform your body to that of a Skhite.

To activate, say ‘Activate Transform’.

A final box:

You have been appointed King of the Skhites now. Your followers already have respect for you. Preside like a wise king. Do not let them down!

The messages stopped coming. They had lifted my mood a little bit, the dead king beside me wrenched me back to reality. I heaved a sigh.

I would have to carry his body to the others, since it was unlikely that anyone would be coming towards the Room of Power soon. All the Skhites were probably busy exterminating Hornies trapped inside the village. I waited for some time, letting my energy replenish. After a few minutes, I was able to lift Ishvoor’s corpse on my shoulder, and I began the laborious process of transporting him to the Skhites.

It was back breaking work carrying the king. Death had made him heavy. And he was getting colder by the second. A long time later I reached the chambers of the children. Seeing me with the corpse of the king, the soldiers came running and took the burden of the corpse from me.

“What happened to him?” one soldier asked, eyes wide in great alarm.

“He has passed,” I said.

“But… how? We didn’t see any Hornie going towards the Room of Power. The Room of Power is the safest place in the entire village!”

“It’s not safe from Death,” I said, lost in melancholy. I held out the dart that I had found on the king’s neck earlier. “The Hornies shot him with this.”

The soldiers refused to let go of the belief that they could revive King Ishvoor, despite the absence of a pulse on him. They sent for the healers who had treated me the first time I had come to the village with a hole in my stomach.

Somehow it was only after half the soldiers had gone to fetch the head physician that it was finally noticed that I was wearing the crown. In fact, it was not one of the adults, but a kid, in fact one of the littlest ones, who pointed it out.

“Is ‘e our new ‘ing?” the toddler squeaked in a voice of innocence, a curious green finger locked at the headwear of premier authority on my head. A soldier blurted an incoherent profane remark out of surprise. The older children gasped and shrieked.

“Apparently, I am,” was all that I could say.

***

General Information:

Name: Vicky

Affinity/Inclination: Evilun

Honors: King of Skhites

Level: 1

2X(Health/Strength): 801/1000

Stamina:61/100

Mana: 98/100

Spells/Abilities: Merge, Transform