The king's eyes

Iris

I have a big headache...

I hurt all over.

I can’t wake up.

It’s total nothingness in my mind. My consciousness, even awake at this moment, cannot perceive anything...

What happened?… I don’t remember anything.

It’s cold, and it smells bad... Where am I?

I still can’t bring myself to life or open my eyes. I want to go back to sleep...

No, I don’t understand where I am or what happened the last time I was conscious.

I absolutely have to wake up.

I hear noises… Voices…

Male voices. They laugh… Are they the ones who put me there?

I don’t know where I am but this place is foreign to me, I know it...

I don’t know how long I was unconscious… A long time.

The voices recede… They leave. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not. I don’t think these people are benevolent.

I begin to perceive my surroundings.

I’m in a kind of basement, damp and cold. It smells of mold, the air does not pass much here.

There are two or three other people, far from where I am.

I am on hard, uncomfortable ground. Certainly stone. I would have preferred earth for sure.

I manage to move my hands a little. I try to open my eyelids which are very heavy.

My half-open eyes observe the room… A small dark room, made of stone. Mold between each stone, the damp shining on the walls, and a lit torch in the distance illuminated the place a little. Three walls, an iron gate, and bars.

A cell then.

Am I locked in a cell? Why?

Will I have committed an offense? A crime?

Against Samael? Never…

“Sa…Samael?” I can only whisper, my voice is rusty from the humidity and the heavy sleep that must have engulfed me for hours as I am stiff.

Where is Samael? What happened? Is he in danger? Was he the one who asked to lock me up? For what reasons…?

“Samael?" I don’t even know if anyone can hear me... But I finally manage to get the sound out of my voice.

I keep calling him.

I try to move my limbs and capture some energy but it’s so dark and moldy here... The water around me is rotten, the humidity is dirty and unusable... the air is poor, and sunlight is non-existent. The torch is far from me. I can only wait to regain my strength little by little.

Someone left a container with water, some sort of piece of bread, and what looks like soup.

I prefer not to touch anything for the moment.

I manage to get up to sit...

“Samael? “I don’t know who else to call...

I feel a presence coming closer. And I heard:

"You won’t find him here, sweetie."

"… Rognus?" I said, shocked.

"Ah, you were able to memorize me in such a short time, I’m impressed. I am the one who took you, prisoner, here, far from the castle."

What?? "Where are we?" I asked.

"Of course, I’m not going to tell you. I don’t know yet what you are capable of since obviously, you know how to do feats, but I will know soon. We have a whole bunch of ideas to convince you to talk to us." Rognus answered.

"...I don’t understand anything... Did you kidnap me? Did you take me away from the king? Why? I don’t even know you, I haven’t done anything to justify being punished in any way!" I yelled.

"Oh, well my dear, you have simply lifted a curse almost a DECADE old!

The king looks as young and strong as POSSIBLE, And by doing so, you have led us all TO OUR Doom!!

YOU TREATRESS, THE KING HATES WIZARDS HE IS GOING TO DESTROY US!! Shezaar started the revolution that ruin his life, he will want revenge and tear us to pieces...

We had him, we were finally going to be able to shift the power and you had to intervene to destroy our plans... But we’re going to pull the rug out from under him. We’ll get you talking and find a way to get to him again.

The son of Shezaar is our leader and the next ruler. He will annihilate Samael and his miserable reign where the order is non-existent and anarchy omnipresent! It is time to tear Samael from this throne of which he is unworthy to finally give way to a noble and more advanced species, the only ones capable of leading." said this fool man...

"You are badly crazy… dangerous… Samael will restore peace and bring justice to all who deserve it. Trampling on the freedom of the other is an offense, even a crime, which deserves sanctions.

It’s time... As you say, but it’s time to finally punish the opponents who rot the lives of innocent and pure beings who only ask to live without harming others! You talk about order and security! You oppressors, aggressors, looters of land and riches of nature and other species!!" I said with anger.

"THAT’S ENOUGH!!! The other species scheme every day for power, they are secretive and devious, we know nothing of their magic and their plans, they have wacky and grotesque rituals, and they are dangerous and unpredictable!! They alter nature and manipulate it! Humans are wary of it and they are right!" He screamed like a possessed.

"Whose fault is it!!! You are the manipulators who have caused them to be afraid of what they ignore! Go and discover the communities of other species, ask questions, and take an interest in each other instead of judging on assumptions!!! Nature is magnificent and rich.. flora, fauna, and all beings, whether magical or not, have their place... The balance of nature is a gift, we can enrich each other in benevolence... Help each other… Evolve… Learn… You just want to destroy everything…" I said, upset.

"You understand nothing. You live in an irrational and naive utopia. This conversation is pointless. What will be useful is to know how you did it. After all these wizards who tried, you succeeded, you are going to explain to us how you did it.

And you are going to tell us about Samael. His weaknesses, his desires, his needs, and his projects. I know you are close to him.

Bravo, he was so distant and so bitter towards wizards… But I imagine that he was not insensitive to your charms. It is true that you are a beautiful plant all in sensuality. What a challenge for you to seduce a blind man, by the way… You must be damn motivated." He said.

What a twisted little man.

"Stop! I only did my duty, to help my king, so he could rid us of parasites like you who are destroying the kingdom and spreading terror." I cut him.

"Enough said!" He screamed.

He sends me a spell to tie up my throat, I feel it tighten so that I can no longer speak, but I can’t breathe either...

I use some of my strength to focus it on my throat and push the spell away. I’m struggling and I’m starting to suffocate, lying on the ground, hands on my neck...

I’m trying to tap into my surroundings, there’s not much to take in but I keep concentrating, I think he’s loosening his grip a bit, he doesn’t want me to die. I manage to catch my breath.

"No, I’m not going to kill you. Not yet. We need your lights, you play the aggressive plague but soon you will be less proud. We’ll talk about it again when you’ve been languishing in the cell for a while. Good night, dear child of the forest."