The Lord of the Dark

"What is it that you wanted to tell me, Zevan? What is so important that you called for a court meeting suddenly?" King Harold leaned forward on his throne and scrutinized Zevan who seemed visibly stressed. Although Zevan was his son's right hand, he was also a powerful sorcerer. Otherwise, he would not have been Elion's favorite disciple.

"Is it about the Soul Avenge Spell? Are you worried about what would be happening tonight?" Harold could think of nothing else for Zevan to request a court meeting all of a sudden.

"Yes and no, Your Majesty," Zevan replied honestly and glanced at his Master who had his head lowered as he pursed his lips.

"What do you mean? What else has got your mind occupied, Zevan?" 

While Zevan stood facing his King, not once did he look at the imposter who held an unfathomable expression on his face while his eyes were filled with smiles.

"Your Majesty, I had a dream yesterday night." Zevan started, carefully twisting the truth in such a way that no harm came in his path. He and his Master had already determined how to reveal the truth to everyone and he followed the steps conscientiously. "I dreamt about the person responsible for the massacre. It was as if he was trying to convey a message to me."

Harold narrowed his eyes as he withheld his breath while he waited for Zevan to continue.

"Your Majesty, the man told me that Meadel was just the beginning. He intends to destroy the entire world of Azuvar."

Not just Harold, but all the other people in the court were horrified as well and murmurs erupted instantly. Nobody brushed off Zevan's dream as a mere nightmare. They did not dare to. It was more or less a premonition, the unavoidable future.

"Did you see the man's face?"

Zevan glanced at Zevan who pursed his lips in worry.

"No, Your Majesty."

"Is there anything else we must know about him?" Although King Harold asked calmly, Elion who was familiar with him discerned what his true state was. The King was crumbling from within and it would not be long before he lost it completely.

"Yes, Your Majesty. The man is not alone. He has a lot of followers and with them, he will rebuild the world after destroying it."

Elion glanced at the imposter who raised his brows at him before staring at Zevan who too was looking at him with hateful eyes.

"Moreover, he has a vendetta against the world. Apparently, he and his followers suffered a lot and ended up being betrayed by us, I mean the people of Azuvar. We..."

Harold stood up immediately and shook his head fervently in denial, startling not just Zevan but the imposter as well.

"It cannot be!" Harold exclaimed as he tried to deny the possibility. He rushed down the stairs and held Zevan's shoulders as he kept shaking his head. 

"Please tell me whatever I heard was my illusion. He cannot return. He cannot return." Harold kept shaking his head frantically and let go of Zevan before pacing back and forth.

"Your Majesty, who are you speaking about?" Elion frowned and tried to recall who the King was referring to. But came short.

"He should not return. We are all going to die if he returns. He must not return." Harold went hysterical as he continued to mumble to himself, appalling the crowd before him. They had never seen him lose his mind this way and every word of his put them in trepidation.

"Your Majesty?"

"Zevan, do you remember how your dream was? Did you see anything? Anything at all?" 

Elion frowned and tried to recall all that Zevan had told him. But he could not recall anything important. 'Why did His Majesty go berserk all of a sudden? Who is he speaking about?' He wondered, his brows furrowing deeper in anxiousness.

"No, Your Majesty. It was utterly dark. I could see nothing. But he did tell me that he loved the dark and..."

Harold collapsed to the ground immediately and his body trembled.

"Your Majesty." Zevan was the first to rush to him and he kneeled before him while Elion and the imposter joined him.

"It is not possible. It cannot be. How did he come back to life?"

"Your Majesty, who are you talking about?" Elion could still not grasp what was happening and kneeled on one knee beside the man whose face had lost all its color.

"Elion..." King Harold held him as he stared at him with eyes filled with dread. "He is back. The Lord of the Dark is back. What do we do?"

As soon as he spoke about the Lord of the Dark, Elion felt his mind shatter and he too lost all the energy in him. Staring blankly ahead, his gaze went to Zevan first who still was oblivious to who they were speaking about before moving back to the others behind him. While there were quite a few who did not know who the Lord of the Dark was, there were many who knew his story and every one among them had the same expression as the King and Elion.

"This is bad. This is really bad." Harold kept mumbling while Zevan glanced at the imposter who was smirking in triumph.

All Zevan had in mind at that moment was to tear his limbs apart and feed his carcass to the wolves. But he did not dare make a move against him. 

The imposter was a lot more capable than most people in the courtroom and Zevan had an inkling that even the powers of all the people combined would not be able to subdue him.

Just as Thessa had said, he too was curious as to why the imposter had even taken Prince Jarett's place. Was it solely to capture the Prince or was there some other reason?

Zevan felt miserable. Neither could he reveal the Crown Prince's truth to anyone nor could he do anything to the imposter himself. Until he found the real Prince Jarett, he was helpless and could only curse the imposter to death.

The imposter smiled evilly at Zevan while he continued to hold the King as though he was concerned about him. 

"I need to inform all the other kingdoms." King Harold stood up suddenly while sweat trickled down his cheeks. "We are in grave danger, Elion. We are all going to perish."