A cheeky little bird - Part 2

"What?" Rude exclaimed with surprise. The boy who was beside him stood up, and in the next moment, he appeared in the center of the courtyard. Only a mage with teleportation magic would do something like that. "How did he do this..."

But after the initial astonishment, fear took hold of him. After all, what Rude feared the most had happened: the brown-haired boy had gotten them into a mess involving the prince and the general. His father would certainly find out about this...

They fell near the wall of the courtyard, where there were some empty wooden crates. In truth, the crates did little to cushion the fall, as the impact was like being struck by a furious bull. But the one who got up from the ground was a brown bird with trembling legs, either from fear or the adrenaline of what he had just done...

"You..." Laugs murmured. He was already aware of the presence of the boys, but he didn't expect one of them to be brave enough to interrupt him. Surprised, he stared at the little intruder, who, despite hesitating to stand, didn't have the look of a coward. "Kid, what are you doing? Didn't your parents teach you that children shouldn't meddle in adult matters?"

"You're not an adult," the boy retorted.

Laugs smiled at the response he heard from the boy. Lince was indignant at how the prince was behaving with the general, so he acted without thinking about the consequences. He would certainly face severe punishment from Lord Micaelo, and luckily, it would only be punishment. But now was not the best time for him to worry about things that were yet to come. He focused his attention solely on the young blonde in front of him. He didn't like the aura the prince was exuding; it was as if he were a bad person.

"Why did you want to hurt him?" Lince asked, with anger and innocence. "Isn't he your friend? Then why are you doing this to him?"

For some reason, the voice of the brown-haired boy reverberated in the prince's mind. He then looked at General Thelus and widened his eyes, unable to believe what he saw. His master was in a sorry state, Laugs thought.

"Master... what happened to you?" Laugs looked at the sword in his hands. "Did I do this?"

Thelus took a while to get up from the ground and was still in considerable pain when he stood. To make matters worse, his arm was almost completely covered by the dark, petrified spot. It seemed like it would fall to the ground like a rotten fruit at any moment. Looking at the prince, his voice sounded with a bit of relief:

"It's not your fault, Prince. Just cancel this spell..."

Laugs no longer wanted those hellish flames near him and tried to dispel the spell. However, his will was no longer obeyed. On the contrary, the green flames grew in size and intensity, as if they now had a will of their own.

"Why? Why is this happening?" Laugs was confused. Even during his practice sessions, he had never encountered a situation that came close to what he was experiencing at that moment. Then he heard a strange voice mixing with his thoughts: "Kill the boy. He is your true enemy."

It was a youthful, male voice that sounded convincing when it asked him to kill the boy. But it wasn't him. It wasn't his thought. Taking the life of a child he didn't even know wasn't his intention either. So why did he feel so powerless against that voice? Laugs couldn't question it, and he couldn't seem to go against its will.

Suddenly, he felt as if he were in a trance. It was as if something inside him had taken control of his body. In this way, the "other him" prepared to obey the strange voice. His intention to kill was clear, even to the brown-haired boy, who could feel it.

"What happened to me?" Laugs thought as his body began to move even against his will. He would really kill that boy...

"You're still in control, Prince Laugs!" Thelus shouted. "You don't need to do anything to the boy! Don't make this mistake too..."

But Laugs wasn't in control anymore. Although he could hear his master's words, he no longer controlled his own body. Without noticing, a golden glow filled his eyes as he stared at the boy with a sinister look, ready to do what the voice had asked of him.

Thelus tried to move. He needed to do something to save the boy, but his body was almost paralyzed due to the effects of the spell. The powerful general was imposing in this situation, which was pathetic, Thelus thought, as he felt a bitter taste in his throat along with a suffocating sensation.

It was his carelessness that had caused this tragedy. Now, an innocent child was about to pay the price for his negligence. Thelus hoped the boy would run to save himself because the prince — or whatever was controlling him — wouldn't stop. However, the boy didn't move; he just stood with open arms between him and the prince.

"Get out of there, kid!" His words did nothing to change the situation; the boy remained in the same place. Then he looked at the prince and shouted with all his might: "Don't do it, Prince!"

But it was too late. Or so everyone thought...

"I won't allow this to continue," a powerful voice sounded, exceeding even the general's desperate cry. And it didn't appear alone; there was a flash of light that descended from the heavens like a furious lightning bolt. The courtyard ground shook and broke into pieces, causing a strong gust of wind that sent a cloud of dust into the air.

When most of the dust had cleared, before them stood a man with an imposing presence. But his face was expressionless as he stared coldly at the prince.

Laugs was two steps away from the boy when he was forced to retreat. Thanks to that, he regained some control of his body. Then he looked at the person who had interrupted him. Although he wasn't too surprised to realize who was there, Laugs smiled bitterly before murmuring:

"Father..."

Before him was the person he most wanted to defeat.