Fragile Souls

Sitting on his throne, without anyone to tend him Rothgarr was enjoying his feast all by himself-aside Farth, his royal clown, standing in front of him. Even in absence of an orchestra, the place was lively with music being played from the room itself. As a matter of fact, it could be well said that the entire palace had, in the first place, been designed to cater to the Governor's taste in fine tunes. Listening to his favorite music, the Governor munched on the fruits laid before him on the table. He then reached for his cup of wine, drinking to its bottom in a gulp. At the center, the royal jester was performing a play to please his master. It was apparently about the barbarian Prince, Aelthred of Geats; a slayer of Glen-gohr, a restorer of peace, a friend to the Empire, and even a truthful servant of 3-Divines-all these were the honorable titles bestowed upon him.

Alone, all at the same time Farth was performing, miming, and then telling the story of the barbarian hero. There, once he played a role of the protagonist, fighting Glen-gohr in a deadly duel, and then became the beast itself, lying on the floor while gurgling to death. The whole act was like some form of a tribute, or an eulogy to Prince Aelthred, the glorious victor against the terrible beast. Even so, the Governor seemed not to care about it at all. He was just sitting there, simply watching the show being performed by his jester. He laughed, clapped in joy, grieved, angered, or sometimes even stared at thin air. Obviously, he was enjoying the performance to his heart's content.

As the Cardinal stepped inside, passing over the threshold, he was seeing no longer a governor of his dominion-nor a king of his state, but was rather looking at some fool, a debauchee, and a hopeless drunkard. Esteban let out his dry cough, and approached the throne at the far end of the place.

From afar, Rothgarr called out to the priest, greeting his guest.

"Good evening, ye devout priest of 3-Divines, a caring father to all our barren souls! Seeing you, I would like to have you with me in this frugal feast of mine, but instead I insist you to leave me alone for now. I want to fully relish this pleasant time of mine, by myself and only, and I do not wish to be disturbed. So, do me a favor..."

"My lord. Aye, the time, our time has come indeed to prepare for our future misfortunes, specifically the ones regarding possible interrogations that will come down from the chancellor himself."

"I urge you to leave now, Cardinal. Just let me enjoy the rest of this day in peace; I pray thee."

"At this very moment of upcoming crisis, we need to stay vigilant, not to be drowned deep into the seas of wine! Time is short, Governor, before they would figure out what is truly happening to our land, and by now you would know the consequences of such event fully enough."

It was not for his lord's sake. It was about everyone else in the dominion. All he had cared, he had possessed was now in peril; his flock, his church, and even his position were to be lost lest there be any measures to solve their imminent threat. He did not wish to lead himself toward his political destruction, in any of circumstances. Not along with that foolish drunkard, of course.

"Yet, you are sitting there in your throne, not as a wise governor but rather like a fool wielding a governor's scepter to his every whim. Just when we need to clear our minds and focus on how we are going to deal with it, and look at you! You may now be laughing at your fool's slip and falls, but alas, you do not seem to realize that you are doing the same flips and flops just as he does. Milord, what happened to you, might I ask thee? In what manner have you lost your sanity, letting yourself degenerate into the same as your jester over there?"

Then, the royal jester fell hard on the floor, while he was whirling his body to mimic the moves of Prince Aelthred. Rothgarr laughed out a great deal at his clown. Like a child, he laughed and chuckled merrily, without any regard of the Cardinal's presence.

"Farth, ye good old fool, pray you do it once again for me. May the Divines bless this wretched, poor servant, for he alleviates my sorrow more than any other else, and for he serves me much better than any of my other retainers I have ever had! Come on, ye silly old jester, do it again! Fall on the ground like you have just done!"

Esteban was left out alone, with no one to hear out his warnings. His words were still hitting on the walls and the ceiling, bouncing around the large chamber he was in. Yet however, the repercussion was making no difference at all, not even reaching the ears of the Governor himself. And so, the Cardinal was standing there alone, while his mundane lord was taken away to the imaginary realms of his own.

"O' my father, my terrible father now buried deep down the earth, to whom had I once belonged merely as a lump of your flesh, pray you heed my words in agony, for I am left-as I have always been-no one to turn to but your soul drifting in the hollow wind, crying out for vengeance..."

The beast moaned as the doom approached it in silence. It did not know who, exactly, might be its killer, and when it should be facing its horrible fate, but even now the beast could feel it drawing near. The air was getting heavier as the Prince and his team encircled it in shadows; so was the foreboding silence wrapping about the place. Getting into positions, the hunters waited for their leader's signal. Aelthred, however, ordered them to stay still. Now was not the right moment, if not the best, to strike the beast. Not just yet, he thought.

"The voices in my head, all five of them, still torment me, driving me mad, commanding my soul to do more evil on this land. Father, they are the ones who had branded me with these cursed letters, signifying that I am their own, proclaiming that they have their right upon my soul and body alike."

Indeed, large letters, read as 'X-F-22', seemed to be inscribed on its back. Even from a distance, Aelthred and the others could see them. It was clearly some sort of a sign, not just a meaningless combination of letters and numbers. Yet, no one there had an idea, including the beast itself, what it could possibly mean. At present, however, that did not concern greatly to the pack of warriors, for their hunt was still far from over.

"They told me that I have a role of my own, a job to be done. They wanted me to be their messenger, tasked to show them those letters written on my body. That I myself be their manuscript, carrying the words from my creators..."

Almost there. The beast was indulging more deeply into its thoughts-whatever they might be. Their chance would soon come, for certain.

"O' my father, is it truly what I was born for, the very purpose of my life upon this world? To die at the hands of my enemy? To condemn my own self, a soul of my own to eternal damnation? To offer my bloodied body as a sacrifice? To live a life that worths nothing more than just a parchment?"

Then suddenly, the beast cried out in agony. It seemed like the chimeric beast was suffering from its hallucinations once again. It pleaded, begged, and even cursed to the owners of the voices. The beast was completely absorbed in its mind's pain. No more, it said. No more.

"No longer torment me, ye false gods of mine! No longer with your vile whispers! No more!"

The time was nigh. Aelthred ordered his warriors to engage their foe.

"Brothers and sisters, charge! Do not let the brute escape!"

The barbarians started to run toward the beast, shooting their ranged weaponry. Aelthred too joined the assault, this time leading the whole pack up front. Since they were right in the middle of the forest, he could not dare to shoot out fire using his flamethrower; so instead, he took out his plasma-bolt and fired it.

Getting hit by several plasma shots, the beast soon awoke from its daydreaming as well. At first, it stumbled before the enemy fire, coming right at it. However, it then managed to regain focus on the enemies. The weeping, contemplating creature was no longer there; now in its place, only the enraged brute existed. It growled, snarled at its bold opponents, and then jumped on them so as to rip them apart.