The captain drew in a shuddering breath. "We remained hidden. But then—then the blast came. A thunderous explosion shook the temple walls, and the ground itself quaked beneath us. We knew then that Leader Hayes had encountered the Third Demon King."
The name itself seemed to steal the air from the chamber. The knights’ faces paled, their bodies trembling as if caught once more in the demon’s shadow.
"We felt it, my king," the captain whispered. "Our energy drained, our minds slipping into madness. Just as you warned us, the awakening tried to consume us, to sacrifice our very souls to fuel the Demon King’s return. We had no choice but to take the potions you gave us. And then we struck the gates with all our might, desperate to break through, for we knew it was the only moment the Demon King would be vulnerable... the only chance to seize his heart."
The captain’s voice broke into a rushed desperation. "At last, with every ounce of strength, we forced the gates open. But..." His eyes glistened as the image clawed through his mind. "All of Hayes’ knights had already fallen. They lay unconscious, perhaps already sacrificed." His voice dropped into a mutter.
King Morvain’s gaze sharpened, his lips curling into a low snarl. "You did not save them." The words were quiet, but their weight crushed like a hammer.
The captain’s throat bobbed painfully, sweat dripping down his face.
They had carried twenty potions—enough to help Hayes’ men—but fear had ruled them. Fear that if they shared, the strength of the potion would thin, its power would fail, and they themselves would be the ones sacrificed. So they had clutched it greedily, choosing silence.
Now the captain’s voice cracked under his king’s gaze. "M-my king... we—we tried to offer them the potions, but... but they refused to take them—"
"Shut up."
The words were not a shout, but they struck harder than any roar. Morvain’s voice was low, deadly, and colder than steel. His golden eyes burned with disgust. "Do you truly think me so blind? Do you think I cannot see through your cowardice? Your shameless lies?"
The captain’s heart stuttered in his chest, his lips trembling. He tried to form words, but they caught in his throat.
And then, in a sudden, merciless motion, the iron goblet at Morvain’s side flew across the chamber. It struck the captain’s forehead with a crack. Blood gushed, and the man collapsed forward with a strangled cry as the goblet shattered into glittering shards on the floor.
"Useless," Morvain spat, his voice trembling with disgust. "I lost good men because of you. Because of your cowardice." His fingers clenched the arms of his throne.
His voice dropped into a growl. "Now... tell me. What happened after? Where is Cassian? Did you not find him within? And what of the Demon King?"
The knights shivered violently, bowing so low their foreheads scraped against the cold floor. The captain, his face bloodied and pale, forced himself to speak through ragged breaths.
"M-my king... We did not find Leader Hayes inside at all. He was gone, as if he had never been there. The only one who stood before us... was the Third Demon King.
The captain’s shoulders shook as he fought to steady his breath, but the memory clawed its way up his throat, forcing itself free. His eyes were wide and hollow, as if he were staring into the face of the demon king once more.
"We... we should have died that day," he whispered hoarsely, voice barely audible in the vast hall. "Our blades were nothing. Our bodies... broken before we could even move. His presence alone crushed us—like insects crawling beneath his heel. We were already corpses, my king. We could not fight. We could not resist. We only lived because..." His voice faltered, lips trembling.
"Because what?" Morvain’s voice cut, sharp and furious.
The captain’s jaw locked. His eyes darted to his men, then back to the king. For a moment he seemed as if he would keep silent, choking the words back into his chest. But the memory spilled forth, unstoppable.
"Because he let us live." The words fell like stones. The chamber grew deathly still.
Morvain’s eyes narrowed to burning slits. His fingers curled into the throne’s armrests until the wood groaned. "Explain."
The captain swallowed hard, his body trembling. "The Third Demon King... he did not kill us. He wanted us to live. To return. To deliver... his warning."
The silence in the room grew suffocating. Even the torch flames seemed to still.
The captain’s voice dropped into a broken mimic of that dark, mocking tone:
"Dog of men... Did you really think you could touch my heart? Fool. I could kill you before your blade even reaches. Remember this—I let you crawl away. Tell your king his turn will come. When I decide. Not before."
"ENOUGH!" His voice thundered like a crack of heaven’s wrath, shaking the very walls. The veins stood out on his neck, his golden eyes burning like molten suns. He rose from his throne, the sheer force of his presence pressing down on the knights like a crushing weight.
"You dare come crawling back to me, carrying a demon’s taunt? You dare to whimper his words into my hall?!" His fury shook the chamber. He seized the shattered remnants of the vase and hurled them at the floor, shards exploding into glittering fragments.
His voice was a blade as he spat the next words: "Get out. All of you."
The knights froze, faces pale, their eyes wide with terror.
Morvain’s roar split the air again, laced with murderous rage. "GET OUT OF MY SIGHT! YOU WORTHLESS DOGS, BEGONE—BEFORE I CUT YOU DOWN MYSELF!"
The captain and his men stumbled, bowing, scraping, and nearly crawling as they fled the room like broken men.
Morvain stood alone in the silence that followed, chest heaving, his eyes fixed on the flames of the torches that lined the walls. His teeth ground together, his nails biting into his palms until blood dripped between his fingers.
The throne room was empty now, save for the king and the firelight. Morvain’s chest still rose and fell in ragged bursts, his fists dripping blood where his nails had torn the skin. He wanted to roar again, to smash the walls, to swear that no demon’s words could shake him.
But then...
A voice slid through the chamber like a shadow of darkness. Cold, mocking, close, yet without a source. This text is hosted at noᴠelfire.net
"Is this how you repay me, Morvain?"
"You can’t even bring me the heart of a filthy demon king. One task... and you fail."