The King's Tale (Part One)

Henry's words had stunned the entire table into silence.

The students couldn't believe what they had just heard.

They were fools for wanting to return to Earth?

Huh? Say what?

And they didn't know enough about this world?

Was that supposed to be some sort of sick joke?

My hands began shaking feverishly where I stood. Those words were more than just provocative. No. They were insane. Illogical. And above all, they were egregiously insulting.

In just a few words, Henry had essentially deemed everything the students held on Earth as worthless. All of their wealth. All of their status. All of their friends. To Henry, it was all worthless to what this world could offer, and his triumphant smile was a testament told to that.

And that raised an extremely frightening question.

What did Henry know that the other students didn't?

He wasn't just bluffing his confidence, right? No. Henry's confidence was never without reason. I had figured that out the hard way when I got bullied at Greenfield Academy.

So what did Henry know, and how did he find out about it?

…

Wait a second!

Wasn't he supposed to speak with the King?

Almost on cue, Henry confirmed my suspicions.

"You seem to be confused." Henry finally spoke up, breaking the silence amongst the dumbfounded students. "Perhaps once I tell you what the King told me in private, you will understand my position."

"You're going to reveal what the king told you in private?" Chase blurted out, his face full of bewilderment. "Do you really want to risk breaking the king's trust. He talked to you alone for a reason, right?"

"Don't worry." Henry interrupted nonchalantly. "I'm not going to tell you everything. I will only recite a myth that he told me."

Upon saying this, Henry suddenly swiveled his head towards me.

"Hey Prince Hermes, do you know about the myth about the Wandering Warlord of the Sand?"

My body tightened up instantly.

I wanted to die.

How the fuck was I supposed to slide my way out of this debacle?

The Wandering Warlord of the Sand?

Say what?

I couldn't even tell you if the guy was male or female!

And knowing my luck, this wandering warlord was probably some national war hero! If I couldn't tell him anything about it, the my identity-

"Hermes?"

"I do not know that story, my hero." I subconsciously responded. I bit my tongue as I finished speaking. I was quite possibly fucked here. Sure, I didn't having much a choice in my response, seeing that I knew nothing about this Sand Dude, but that didn't change the fact that I probably sealed my own doom.

I desperately needed some holy plot armor to find my way out of this one.

"You haven't heard of the story?" Henry asked, a short chuckle escaping from his lips. "Hmmmmm. It seems that the King truly does believe that you are worthless."

My eyes rose, with angst quickly turning into confusion.

It seemed that Henry expected my answer, but how?

What did Henry mean by that?

"I do not understand my hero." I responded snappily, trying to act in character. "I am fully aware that my father despises me, yet I cannot see how a story has anything with that."

"The king told me that it is his duty tell the story of the Wandering Warlord to his own sons and keep hidden amongst his lineage. Do you understand my amusement now, Prince Hermes?"

My jaw clenched tightly as Henry finished his explanation. Henry had just humiliated me. And worse, it seemed that the joke broke apart the palpable tension between the students. Thirty seconds ago, they were bent against him. But now, they were chuckling alongside him.

My life was saved at the cost of my own humiliation at the hands of Henry.

I felt the anger rising from my chest, but not wanting Henry gain any more edge on me, I quickly pushed it back down. It seemed that after all, Henry actually had a solid plan to convince the other students to join his cause.

I needed to put my wits against his to foil his plans.

"Tell us the story." I finally spoke up, trying to inflect arrogance and fearlessness into my voice. "I would really like to hear what my gracious father has been keeping from me, my hero."

The laughter died away at my confident response. Good. It seemed that they wanted to hear about the story just as much as I do.

"Of course. I will tell you the story." Henry replied, seeing that the students were once again turned against him. "But first, I need Hermes to give us all a bit of background knowledge. You will understand my stance a lot more once you understand the context of the story."

I stared back at Henry blankly.

I had no words anymore. They were used up the first 100 fucking times I had to wiggle my way out of death.

At this point, I just had to hope and pray that I could somehow answer these questions.

"Prince Hermes, could you tell us about the Southern Continent and Xyrns please?"

My eyes widened.

Didn't my servant say something about the Xyrns at the gardens?

Wait!

I could just regurgitate his own words!

This was easy! I just needed to combine fact with some bullshitting to sound knowledgeable and shut down any further questions.

"Certainly, my hero." I responded. "Generations ago, our people escaped from the Xyrns, the ant-like creatures that brought the Great Desolation upon the Southern Continent. I would tell you more about these events, but it happened so long ago that's nothing more than we know."

"Or so you thought." Henry added. "But as it turns out, the story the King told me about the Wandering Warlord fills in that hole in history. The motives of the Xyrns, said by the King to be unknown to all historians, is hinted by this story, among many other things, including-"

"Could ya just stop rambling and tell us the story bud? I couldn't give two shits about these ant-kings or whatever." Greazy suddenly interrupted, the other students nodding in agreement.

Henry tilted his head in amusement and began the story.

"The Wandering Warlord of the Sand. The King told the tale in 'High Tongue', but for your sanity, I'll tell the story simply. Ages ago, before the Coming of the Demon King, before the Subjugation of Ithia, and even before the Great Desolation, the Durmans thrived in the Southern Continent. Cities and structures built by some dragonic…no… 'draconic lords' were remained intact far after they had passed from Arlus, and with that technology left from eons ago, the Durmans experienced a golden age. The King said it much more fanciful than this, but basically luxury was commonplace, unimaginable magical wonders were performed, and the people were united peacefully under a glorious empire.

But surprise, surprise, good things never last forever. Amongst their times of peace, voyagers to the Great South spoke of the Uncrossable Desert rumbling closer and closer to their Empire every year. And upon the rolling dunes, they trembled as they spoke of the mysterious ant-kings, or Xyrns, barbaric creatures who came from beyond the Uncrossable Desert. The voyagers trembled as they told tales of their accomplices being ravaged apart by the hoards of savage ants, clawing away and devouring any human in their reach. But alas, The Empire was proud. Too proud. They passed the reports as foolish rumors. They were thirst-inflicted hallucinations, they said. Nothing could defeat the peace and prosperity of the Empire, they said. The Empire had stood for hundreds and hundreds of years, they said, and it would remain for hundreds more.

And so by ignoring the reports of the voyagers to the Great South, the Durmans brought upon their own doom. Slowly but surely, the desert continued to spread North, and where the dunes rumbled, the Xyrns rode in hoards of tens of thousands. Farmland was devoured first, followed by cities upon the Southern border. The Empire sent armies of seasoned soldiers and powerful mages alike to defeat the Xyrns, but it did nothing to stop their approach. For every Xyrn they killed, another ten seemed to emerge from beyond the dunes. And worse, although the Xyrns were incapable of magic, a powerful force seemed to be pushing the Xyrns further and further North. Its origins were unknown, and even its race was disputed, but its motives were certain. The Durhams called the force the Bane of Humanity. At its unstoppable wrath, mages holding the approach would often collapse and die where they stood, and entire armies would turn into pools of blood at the snap of a finger. Prayer to the Goddess was useless against this force, and any attempts to appease it would only result in instantaneous death.

The Empire was proud and prosperous no longer, and as the rolling waves reached their capitol 'Talyn', it seemed that their fate was well and truly sealed.

They were doomed."