1 Chapter 1: Pilot

I live in a reality of magic and fantasy. Every myth and legend resides in existence here. Everything from fairies, mermaids, and unicorns, to dragons, goblins, and trolls. The humans of this world stay apart from these mystical beasts that live in the enchanted forests and hide in a kingdom they called Reinthoria.

This kingdom built a great wall around the city, in order to keep everything that wasn't a human out. The darker forces of this world that have no other instinct other than to destroy, lurk in the night and many try to find their way into the kingdom and kill, which is why the wall was built. The reason the kingdom was built so quickly, and why nothing has been able to get past the wall is because it is made from magic. 

It has been a few centuries since the first king gained possession of the most powerful object in the universe and created Reinthoria with it. The stone of Sudre. It was said that the stone chose the true and rightful king to rule every corner of the world, however, it hasn't done it again since the first king arose, so that tale became a myth and the stone was passed down through generations since then. When the first king died, the stone broke into two pieces and the royal family lost one half to the forests. Even when in half, the stone had enough power to give one individual the ability to rule the entire world. Many have searched for the other half so they could become king themselves, but all have failed to find it. 

The later descendant of this past king who is the current king now, is the man I call father. I am his oldest son whom he gave the name of Dedrin, and the next in line for the throne. I shared my mother's red hair, and my father's steel blue eyes, but I was nothing like them. They treated the throne as a responsibility, and I treated it as a privilege. Ever since I was young, I wanted nothing more than to become ruler of Reinthoria and be in possession of the stone of Sudre. I even became a knight in my father's army to prepare me for the ultimate power I would one day receive. I planned on being the strongest king who ever lived, and crush all who stood against me. I learned to fight when I was seven and discovered my love for it. All I ever did was train throughout my entire life since then. I soon became the best at both using a blade and my fists in battle. I trained so often that my build became more impressive and larger every day, even though my body type was slender and tall.

I wore pitch-black armor and held a sword with a matching dark handle and a ruby that was the same color as blood at the end of the hilt. The sword was one of a kind, and specially made for me upon my request. I didn't care to hide what kind of king I wanted to be, and my armor and demeanor showed just that.

Every night, the army would defend the wall of Reinthoria from the beasts that wanted inside. I saw these battles as practice and took it as a challenge upon myself to kill as many creatures as I could before they retreated far enough to get away. I loved the rush of skewering something along my blade and feeling its blood spray and drip off of my hands. I didn't hide how brutal I could be when I fought without any hint of emotion, and it struck fear into everyone in the kingdom.

But I didn't care about their opinions of me. I didn't even care about the other knights I fought beside. When we would train together I had no care if I killed my opponents, and held nothing back. I would usually stop myself before I killed someone, however, I would leave them in horrible condition. Sometimes when we fought the creatures that attacked, I killed every single one without any of the other knights' help. That made them more terrified than angry of me, knowing what I was capable of.

After every victory I had, I would get symbols of honor tattooed on either my back or my arms. Most of them were sharp and intricate lines and dots that showed how much strength I had gained. Now I am twenty-six years old, and my back and both of my arms, including the back of my hands, are covered completely in black designs, and I am more powerful than ever. However, I was becoming increasingly impatient while waiting for my parents to hand the throne over to me.

I was supposed to inherit the throne at age eighteen, but it seemed like my parents were hesitant. I didn't know why, since they would be handing their kingdom to someone as strong as I. It annoyed me, but I knew that they couldn't postpone this forever, and I used the extra time to prepare myself even more. 

One day I was training like always at the back of the palace, and as usual, destroying my opponents. The ones who challenged me were determined to defeat me, but it was clear that they weren't going to. They came at me all at once, and I quickly took them out. I knocked one's sword out of their hands and slammed the hilt of mine into his face while I blocked an attack from another. I moved quicker than them and sliced through another knight's face and kneed another in the stomach.

In just a few moments, they were all on the ground in pain, trying to prevent themselves from bleeding out. I scoffed a little as I combed my hair out of my face with my gloved hand; which was about four inches in length and walked away, not caring if I walked over someone that was in my path.

I put my sword back in its sheath that was on my belt as I approached the back door to the palace, but the door opened before I could reach it. There was a servant there who seemed to have been looking for me, and nervousness spread through his face when he saw me. "T-There you are y-your highness, I was sent by your mother and father to retrieve you. T-They wish to have an audience with you." I rolled my eyes and said nothing as I walked past him and made my way to the throne room. 

I walked down the hall on the red carpet that lay on the cobblestone floor, and paintings along with suits of armor and weapons hung on the left wall while windows stood on the right. 'What do they want? Have they finally arranged a coronation for me yet? They've better. I don't want to speak with them otherwise.' I thought.

I entered the throne room from the side hallway and saw that my parents were already standing in front of their thrones waiting for me. The throne room was very large and the red carpet continued to the next hallway across from the one I came from, and forked to the front door of the castle. Curtains hung from the large windows, and unlit candles were held in the trays of iron on the chandeliers. 

The thrones were against the back wall, and I saw them at a side view as I approached my mother and father who stood at the end of the hall facing me. They carried worried looks on their faces as I stopped in front of them, but I didn't pay them any mind. I could only think about the crown that rested upon my father's head, that would someday be mine.