The Ugly Truth

"What I'm going to tell you is something that only the family of the Lord is allowed to know. So, you should not disclose it until you are strong enough to handle the Curse of Submission. Do you understand?" Princess Josephine said seriously.

From her eyes it was evident that she was determined. However, I didn't want to make a promise that could risk my life in the long run. On Earth, promises were just empty words but this was a fantasy world, there was a chance that my words could be used against me!

"I won't disclose it until I don't benefit from it. That's all I can promise." I replied honestly.

"Sigh! I think that will be good enough." She continued after agreeing to me. "Bulios didn't actually start as a village. After the 'Civil War of Qaruba', terrorists from a lost faction were being transported via a ship. When they were in the middle of the ocean, a devastating storm destroyed their ships. Everyone thought that the prisoners and the mariners didn't survive and thus they felt as if the terrorists received a divine judgment. Little did they know that those terrorists survived and have set up a huge camp deep into a forest.

"Years passed and the camp flourished and grew into a village. Along with the camp, the forest also grew denser and animals evolved into monsters. The world got introduced to Mind Power and Minders came into existence. But the village was unaware of it all due to its seclusion from the world. It had to face monsters which were weaker at first but progressively got stronger as the years passed.

"Three decades ago, a mine of colorful stones was discovered in the village. The mine bought two things with it, a beautiful maiden who was a strong Minder, following a prophecy about the mine, and a strong intelligent monster, capable of communicating with the humans.

"Although the monster, Kurkhaza, came to the village due to the energy fluctuations, when he saw humans, all he desired was human flesh. The female Minder was a very kindhearted person so she started a battle with Kurkhaza but they would always end up in a tie. Kurkhaza was being wounded and human lives were being sacrificed every day.

"The Lord was a youth when the Minder came to the village. He started to lust for her, wanting to own her. But no matter what he did, he could never get her approval. So, he devised a plan and sneaked out from the village one night and went inside Kurkhaza's den. After a discussion between two monsters, they made a deal.

"According to the terms of the deal, Kurkhaza were to mark the whole area around the village as his territory so the monsters would stay away from the village. To stop the consistent attacks from the Minder, Kurkhaza also agreed to give the Lord his blood, with which he could easily control her. In return for his service, Kurkhaza demanded tender human flesh to be supplied to him every year."

While listening to the princess I have somehow managed to sit down. I had many questions but I noticed that the princess still hasn't finished. For a while, there was only silence surrounding us. Even the flowing river was quiet as if it was listening to a bed time story or maybe it wanted to know more about its past. Amidst the silence, a sweet and tired voice resonated once again.

"After they got the Minder in control, they interrogated her for the stones and the routes for the city. I don't know much myself but what I know is that the stones are used as some kind of ritualistic ingredient. A group of dealers come to the village every three months and exchange the stones for stuffs that we would need. As for the Minder, the Lord got infatuated with her. He would only leave her side during emergencies and would do unspeakable things with her. Last time when I saw her, she looked as if she were a ghost, as if she wasn't a human anymore!"

Her voice started to break as she said that last sentence. It looked as if she was hiding immense emotional pain. As for me, I didn't like it. I didn't like the fact that an evil like this existed in this world as much as it did in my previous world. I hated the fact that I was powerless to change anything in both of the worlds. No words came into my head which could console her. I wasn't even from this world and yet it already felt so familiar.

Princess Josephine continued her explanation after calming down a bit once again, "As if disrespecting women was not enough for the Lord, he started to sacrifice them. He set up a community to sort out children who would grow up as ugly or unsuitable to be breeders and send them to the Kurkhaza. Girls with disabilities, chronic diseases, unsightly looks or behavior are now chosen every year and sent to the Kurkhaza at the third day of week 33 of every year. Sometimes even young boys are also sent to the monster as 'refreshment'. All this is being kept secret from the villagers.

"Fourteen years ago, a breeder did something miraculous and awakened her 'Mind' on her own. She created havoc in the village, killing many people. With the help of the breeders from her batch, which was also the batch your mother was from, she successfully broke through the castle. Before she could harm the Lord and me and my sister, the Lord with the help of his 'breeder' burned them all alive."

She stopped speaking to allow me to digest all this information. Meanwhile she stood up and went towards the river to drink some water to soothe her throat. I just blankly stared at the rock infront of me.

'So much is happening in the background that I couldn't even comprehend. I'm no hero, I'm no protagonist; all I am, is a cannon fodder!'

Putting my deep thoughts aside, I moved my head to face the sky. The sky was black and loaded with multiple twinkling stars. Amongst all the stars, one red star was shining the brightest shading the whole world below it in vermillion.