Mar Hast

The shout surprised me.

In my few years of having regained the sense of hearing,  never had I heard something this loud. I was momentiarily paralyzed in my position.

But then I tried to act like nothing happened, and continued to walk towards my 'palace', or my Mother tree's lair. Afterall, I am the whoever's King, apparently!

Since I never went that far from my lair to begin with, I did not take long to return as well.

Just safe and sound, I decided to rest therein. That said, I learnt what 'tire' is. My stamina was terrible indeed.

Now I was supposed to wait there in my 'palace' until more spirits came to meet me.

Hmm.

Should I just let it go like that? It's the first time they will see their King. Wouldn't they want something dramatic?

I remember, in most of the stories of old man, the King, or his son, who is called a prince, would often go out of their way to make their appearance in the scene rather dramatic and memorable. It makes their subject more inclined to love and obey their ruler.

But, what sort of an entrance could an apple make? I gave up on the thought. Sitting on the side of a vine, I gazed at my small feet and thought over how weak I was.

But they are respecting me so much. That was all because there is power inside me. They only care about what is inside me, don't they? Otherwise why would they flock over from all sorts of places for a weak little apple.

There was no veil in front of my lair. It was just a dark hole inside the root of my mother tree. Anyone could go in and out anytime. However the entrance to it was not too large. In my lair there was much empty space. However it was only filled with strange vines of all colors and other trees, perhaps parasites which ruined the symmetry of my lair. And at the end of the it, there was a nest-like area, which was made out of vines as well.

And that was where I spent all those years. The old man used to come often and sit behind this nest, telling me all sorts of stories.

- Bam!

I heard a small explosion outside.

- Bam!

Another explosion. They were probably two spirits, but I was not concerned. As long as they are not my enemies, I was well. That said, do I have enemies? Just as I had that thought, two black figures revealed themselves outside my lair. They were scaringly fast. I guessed those two were the results or causes behind these explosions.

The two were shadowy figures, and I could not decipher their actual appearance. Mysteriously, they stopped instantly as they stood infront of my lair as though they were asking for permission to come inside.

"Come in." said I.

But they did not do anything. I tried to be cocky.

"Come in!" this time there was a hint of anger in my voice. But they did not come closer.

In fact, their shadowy body started to mysteriously shake. Then one of them pushed the other shadow to fall off the ground. Then it itself ran away. The other rose from the ground and ran away as well.

"What the hell." said I.

It was an expression of discontentment, by the old man.

As the two took off, within a best of five seconds, I heard two more explosions outside, but it sounded different this time.

- Wham!

- Dam!

And then there were heavy winds. Almost like a cyclone. There was a cyclone last year in the forest, so I could tell. And then I heard the sounds of sharp objects screeching. But then I heard no more.

I resisted my urge to go outside and check out what just happened, but my instincts stopped me from jumping into obvious danger. This is not cowardice, this is caution.

As the sounds stopped, soon a single figure appeared out of my lair. It was extremely tall. Almost triple the size of Hahu. It wore something silver, and looked extremely sturdy. If I am not wrong, these things were called armor. It also wore a helmet that stopped me from seeing its face, but from the dark glow that was coming outside from the gaps in the helmet, I had no doubt that it was a spirit.

'A new guest.' I wondered.

As the entrance to my lair was short, I wondered how he would enter. I could not even see his full body. I could only see the middle part of his armor and the helmet. But I did not need to worry so much.

I remember a story of old man. There he said, most kings make their subjects live to make matters more convenient to himself.

The knight-looking giant spirit out of my lair said something, without attempting to come in.

"Are you the King of Astagha?"

"Yes." I replied.

The knight, much like Hahu from before, backed down a little bit. Then it slowly sat down on the ground to make a kneeling pose.

It meant that he owes allegiance to me.

"Who are you?" I asked, quite instantaneously.

"I am Mar Hast, your Majesty. In my previous life, around five hundred years ago I died in this forest. I do not remember the specific details but I used to be a knight for sure. As my dress suggests."

"I see. Do you know the two from before?"

"Yes your Majesty. They are two humans of the assassin class. Hearing the rumour of your rebirth, they were sent to check your condition. I have killed them before they could do anything."

He just killed them...?

Perhaps... Perhaps it was the wise thing to do...

I don't know what humans are like. They are greedy. That's all I know. Most of them are evil.

Greed is a bad desire. Humans are created with it. Mas Hast, I would not blame him. He did it to save me. To perhaps destroy any chance of possible harm to me.

He did alright. He did not do anything bad. Yes...

But old man was a human too... I can't judge everybody on one person. I am not being rational.

If the two were not killed I could have been in danger. Mar Hast did nothing wrong.

"Good." I replied.

Seeing how conveniently matters are going. I decided to be like most kings and make them live for my own convenience after all.

I have a lot to learn and do. And I need the help of my subjects for that, obviously. What can a weak apple do alone?