Chapter 1: The Mirror Stone

The Lightning flashed across the clouded heavens as the horses galloped through the puddles and made their way towards The Fortress. The heavy iron gates swung open from the top and fell with a bang even as The Gate Guardians appeared at the edges and allowed the soldiers to march in.

'Be quick,' one of them shouted, 'the beheading is about to take place.'

The soldiers kicked their horses and cantered towards the stables not intending to be the sole reason behind the delay.

*

The entire courtyard was quiet, though it was filled with about ten dozen people. They were all still and stood silently, their eyes moving from The Princess, The Heart Hunteress Sofia, who was in iron shackles and kneeling in front of a wooden log, to Lord Daemon, who had summoned all of them at this hour. With closed eyes, he was waiting patiently for the soldiers to join the gathering, and even as they came, he glanced at them all with his calculating eyes and let out a cold smile. Then he said:

'Behold. Your beloved lady- all bound in shackles and shivering like a slave. Behold The Fire Hope of The Citadel. Let this be the day when all foolish folks remember that I and only I am in charge. Let this be the day when you find your hopes shriveling up inside your black hearts. Let -'

'You think that you can taint the mind of these folks with your poisoned words? Fool. Matter not how many of us you kill and how ruthless you grow in your dominion. You shall never conquer our hearts.'

Lord Daemon let out a small sneer. Then he looked at the gathered public and smashed the princess's face with his boots. A spurt of blood erupted from her mouth and two teeth were knocked off as they went flying away from her badly beaten face.

'Bitch,' he continued, 'You speak when you are spoken to. Have you not learned to be at your place? Shall I still stomp your pretty face into a bloody mush? Stay quiet and utter not one syllable -'

'Fuck you.'

The Lord let out another set of heavy kicks on her face and when he was done, her face was so badly beaten that the onlookers had almost broken into tears and were ready to turn away. But they had all be commanded here by The Royal Soldiers and even The Queen had come, though she was seated at the balcony up there, where usually couples were married off. To her, all this seemed to be a silly show.

When The Princesse's mouth was stuffed with rags, then The Lord continued: 'The She Bitch had crossed many a barrier and many hearts had she butchered indeed. All of this was alright with us. She was not in our domain. But the day she decided to come here and finger in our business, the bitch signed her death warrant. No one meddles in our affairs. No one has the right to question our methods. And those, who do futter with our business... Well'

He gave the signal and the Chief Headsman lifted his mighty Steel Axe and swung it with a terrible force. There were some screams in the crowd and crows flew away even as the sturdy neck of the fabled princess snapped apart and her head rolled away on the ground.

But before anything could be done, a terrible fire erupted from the heart of the corpse and its flames were glowing with a glorious hue of orange. The fire licked her dead body and it arose in mid-air, surrounded by the brilliant glow of those dazzling flames, and right in front of their eyes, The Heart Huntress vanished into the flames of that fire.

A sickening crunchy pop erupted in the night and with that everything vanished: The Fire and The Body. Nothing remained but the dumbfounded citizens and a very shocked and scared Lord who couldn't find the wind of his chest upon seeing that apparition.

The crowd found a humming unison as they all began to chant the old song of The Warriors but The Lord regained his composure and glared at them all and in one single moment, terrible as wrath, they all shut their mouths. Then he signaled to the soldiers and they began to direct the crowd back to their houses as he himself departed from the scene, his black cape billowing behind him as he walked quickly towards the balcony.

*

'My Lady...' he croaked, and his voice was hoarse and had none of its strength that it had some few moments before the execution.

'Speak not even one word,' she said and her stunning necklace gleamed on her chest as the light of the gold glowed around her beautiful skin, 'Time after time you reveal your incompetence in carrying out these simple but necessary tasks. Had I not warned you about her apparition powers before? Had I not -'

'Pardon me, my lady, for my intrusion, but she did die. She definitely died. Her very head rolled in front -

'Yes. I saw. I am not blind. Fool. It was not her death that I really desired. It was The Mirror Stone -The Warrior Gem, which she so strongly protected, that I desired. It was always about The Mirror Stone. Where is that Stone now? Do you have it? Did we not slay her only to retrieve that gem for ourselves? But where is that Mirror Stone now? Fool. It's lost once again. And Heavens only know where it will manifest this time. Another cycle you have created for us you stupid dead minded fool. Leave now and fix this before I decide to get myself another husband. Depart now.'

The Lord cowered and quickly left the Queen, who sat there quietly in the moonlight, and even as The Lord left, a cloud came over the glowing moon and the face of The Queen was covered in a shadow.