Chapter nineteen

I felt countless splinters enter my skin as I sank into the hard ebony gates that led into the palace like they were made out of soft mud. The two dark elf guards in matching uniforms who were standing on either side of the gate didn't even blink at my misfortune, they just wedged their spears underneath me and pried me loose. They didn't even ask if I was alright before they started to berate me.

"Hope you have some gold or you are going into the dungeon. The gates you just destroyed are made our of ebony from the forest of nightmares. Unless you want to go get the ebony yourself, you better cough up some money."

"What makes you think he has any money? Look at him, I'll be surprised if he has two bronze coins to rub together. I'm more concerned with how he ended up in these doors. Did some warrior throw you?"

The chortling guards pointed at me and said, "Is that what happened to your clothes? Or did you get mauled by some beast?"

I looked down and saw that my clothes were in tatters. I guess that it was to be expected, I did go through several walls on my way here but I didn't have time to explain things to the rude guards. I was just about to take out my sword to remove the two idiots when a third guard came running from my right.

He quickly bent his waist in a formal bow and said, "I am sorry for their conduct sir, be assured that they will be severely punished. I'll call one of the maids and she will take you inside and find you appropriate clothing."

I was still pissed because of the two guards so the answer I gave was a little irate, "What makes you think I want appropriate clothing?"

He suddenly turned pale which looked really strange on a dark elf's ebony skin.

"But sir, the crowning ceremony is a formal ceremony..."

"And?"

He made an audible gulping sound and his shoulders slumped in defeat, "And nothing sir. The maid is on her way, she will guide you to the ceremonial chambers."

I was slightly mollified by his apology and I decided that it would be too much of a hassle to kill all of them. The third guard sent the two idiots away and brought a pretty woman to guide me into the castle.

The woman led me into the palace and it was as lavishly decorated as one would expect , with jewels adorning every magical light fixture , paintings hanging on every wall and golden statues placed at every corner but I cared little for such things so I just ignored them.

After going through a maze of corridors we finally arrived at an open door where the maid stood to the side and motioned for me to go through.

Inside there was a crowd of dark elves who looked even more pompous and stuck up than your garden variety dark elf which was an impressive feat since a garden variety dark elf is already pretty pompous and stuck up. In the middle of this crowd, sitting on a raised chair was the most pompous looking one of them all, Prince Selanus. Or rather King Selanus now.

I must have missed the coronation because the asshole was already wearing an intricate looking crown made of some silver metal and several large jewels, chief among them a fist sized chunk of glowing violet rock which was probably the heart of darkness Loki sent me to get.

The moment I entered the room his eyes zoomed in on me and his smug smile turned even more smug before he spoke in a loud voice that carried through the room,

"You made it my champion! Have you come to congratulate me?"

I started walking towards the prince while I replied, "You know why I'm here. Give me the heart of darkness."

Everybody in the room broke out into whispers and there was a lot of pointing at Selanus but nobody made a move and I could see why, there were five large guards standing behind the royal asshole.

"Hmmm....We shall discuss that a little later but first let's talk about your attire. Isn't it fitting that you are dressed like a pauper and I a king?"

"That crown is on your head Selanus, it will do little if I decide to cut your neck."

"Stop being grumpy, it was just a joke. Your clothes are torn up because you were using the anklets, right? Well, I would like you to return them to the royal treasury. They were gifts bestowed to our best fighter and now that he is dead they will go to our next champion."

I scoffed at his request, "The anklets are spoils of battle, they are mine by right," as I spoke I continued to walk towards the prince, "I won them in a fair fight," the dark elves in fine clothing who were surrounding Selanus only a second ago scattered like mice, "I took them from the cold dead body of their previous owner. If you want them , feel free to try to do the same with me. Now stop harping on about the anklets and hand over the damn jewel."

By the time I was finished speaking , I was only a few steps from Selanus and my voice had transformed into a growl. Strangely Selanus didn't seem very worried, in fact he was still flashing that annoying smug smile.

"Do you like enchanted objects so much? Fine, I'll give you these bracelets to go with your anklets."

Selanus threw two bands of unadorned silver towards me but as they traveled through the air they seemed to turn into a liquid and this silver liquid started to flow towards me. I tried to dodge it but it just shifted its direction midair and headed straight for my hands.

The silver liquid completely encased both my hands up to my wrists. When the silver stuff finished covering my hands, two streams of silver came from both hands and connected, forming a chain between my hands.

My hands were now trapped and shackled together.

A.n. Sorry for the very late release and the poor effort. Real life is still a bitch.