Oath Kingdom - A royal death

The Oath Capital was haunted by ghastly screams every night. People kept being found dead. Both in the streets as well as their homes. Nowhere seemed safe anymore.

The peace and quiet that usually reigned over the entire Capital were gone, and the king has not appeared to give any statement no matter how much people complained.

This night, Iris was staying atop one of the city’s towers, looking at the deserted streets beneath. Ever since she and Ghost started killing the people suspected of being enemy spies, barely anyone left their homes after dark.

A red mist appeared from the ground below and circled around Iris once before taking the form of a masked Ghost.

“Why did you call for me?” asked Ghost, the sensual voice gone only to be replaced by an uncaring and cold one.

Iris raised one of her eyebrows, wondering what was going on with this assassin, but she didn’t ask anything about it as she replied: “The king woke up, and I’m heading to the palace to meet him.”

Ghost nodded and asked: “And?”

“We can’t continue doing this. With the king’s recovery, he will want to appease the citizens. This meant that our nightly hunts would also have to stop.”

Ghost scuffed and said: “Fine. You know where to find us if you need anything.”

Just as Ghost turned around and was about to leave, the air around him turned denser, and even moving around became harder. Turning his head back, a blood-red mist started escaping the eye sockets of his mask, and he said: “You can’t kill me, and I can’t kill you, but it’s a different story with everyone in the city. I wonder who has more to lose if we fight now.”

Iris remained staring into the blood-red mist, air energy swirling around her. She didn’t know who Ghost was, but the abilities she had witnessed over the last week they fought together made her slightly apprehensive about going against him.

Releasing her control over the air all around, Iris also turned and flew towards the royal palace, not replying to Ghost’s threat.

“Why are you and everyone related to you such a pain to deal with?” she muttered briefly as her eyes drifted towards the south.

Once Iris reached the palace, she skipped past the halls and guards inside and headed for the royal chambers. The king was sitting on his behind, back supported on the edge of the bed.

The look in his eyes was still slightly cloudy, but he was obviously awake. Iris fell on one knee after stepping inside, bowing her head low towards the king.

“I apologize for disturbing your majesty so late at night and entering your royal chambers unannounced, but I have some important matters I must inform your majesty of.”

King Oath lifted his head, a complex look in his eyes as they landed on his family’s protector kneeling in front of him. Clearing his throat several times, his eyes trembled as he asked: “Is it about him?”

Iris’s fists were tightly clenched under the sleeves of her blouse, understanding by the fear in the king’s eyes that Seth was indeed the one responsible for everything. She even firmly believed he had also used the same trick he did on her on the king.

“Yes, your majesty. Did he hurt you somehow? Is he responsible for your state from before?”

The king shook his head, his jaw trembling as he remembered the terrifying and degrading encounter he had with Seth.

“He - he didn’t. Tell me what important matters you wanted to discuss.”

Iris looked at the king’s face and knew he was too scared to even blame Seth for what had happened. Keeping her thoughts to herself, she clenched her fists even harder and gave the king a report about Seth’s departure, everyone he took with him, and the recent happenings inside the Capital.

The king’s countenance grew darker with every word that came out of Iris’s mouth, but when she told him Henrietta had also betrayed him to leave with Seth, the king threw up a mouthful of blood on the white sheets below.

“Your majesty.”, exclaimed Iris, not really expecting the king to throw up blood, as she flew to support him.

The king extended a hand towards her, stopping Iris mid-flight, and said: “Continue.”

Once Iris was done with the report, the king took a deep breath and asked: “So, are you saying they are going to try and conquer the Blood Kingdom?”

“Yes, your highness. Merchants that have arrived inside the city over the last week from the south had reported an unknown vessel kept appearing in the high sky during cloudless days. When I asked Ghost about it, she revealed Seth’s plan on taking over the Blood Kingdom.”

The king started laughing, a burst of crazed laughter that made Iris take a step back, and said: “Finally, he’s finally gone. He’s finally gone. Hahaha. Hahaha.”

Iris even feared he had gone crazy, but the king’s laughter stopped as abruptly as it started, and he looked up: “That Ghost, can you kill it?”

Iris was startled, not knowing where that question came from, but she shook her head: “I don’t think so. Ghost is the strangest being I’ve ever encountered. It sometimes sounds like a man and other times like a woman. It might also be some sort of strange ascended, or maybe Ghost is just a common name multiple assassins use. I can’t risk attacking him before discovering more about him.”

“And you’re saying Ghost is loyal to Seth?” asked the king next, a thoughtful look in his eyes."

“I believe so. Ghost knew many things about Seth and said he’s keeping the city safe as a favor for him, so even if not exactly loyal, they are for sure on friendly terms.”

The king clenched his fist and tried to sit up. Two shadows appeared out of nowhere, supporting the king off his bed, and Iris also took a step back, lowering her head.

“Iris, no matter what, now is our chance to cleanse that cancer from the kingdom. We must kill Ghost as soon as possible. Once that man’s dog is dead, we’ll take advantage of the time he’s in that god-forsaken place to grow our strength. Do you have a way of contacting Ghost?”

Iris fell on one knee and said: “Your highness, I do, but I don’t think antagonizing Ghost would be wise -“

Iris’s words were interrupted by the king kicking her in her shoulder, making her fall on her back.

“Weren’t you supposed to be my protector? Weren’t you supposed to be the strongest ascended in the entire kingdom? How come you’ve been bested by a country brat, and now you’re even afraid of a rat hiding in the city’s shadows?”

Shuddering, Iris rose to her knees again, ignoring the pain coming from her shoulder as she lowered her head: “I understand, your highness.”

The king’s angry expression disappeared, turning remorseful as he said: “Iris, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hit you. “

“I understand, your majesty. Things have been tense lately. I’ll find a way to kill Ghost for your majesty.” Replied Iris, her eyes red and aimed at the floor below.

The king sighed and waved his hand: “You’re free to go. Report any progress back to me.”

Iris nodded silently and flew out of the palace. High in the air, her eyes grew redder the closer she was to the academy. Landing on its ascended pillar, she looked toward the starry skies, and tears finally started streaming down her face.

While she was crying late into the night, a cold breeze passed through her back. A melodious voice rang in her ears next.

“The mighty headmistress of the academy, Iris Golden, the pride of the kingdom and the first sixth shell, ascended to leave the academy gates, crying alone atop a cold piece of stone. I guess your meeting with the king didn’t go as planned?”

Iris stopped crying, and both her sources started spinning as her eyes landed on the ashen-haired Ghost that had appeared beneath the pillar. Her eyes turned cold the next moment, and her sources erupted with energy.

Without hesitation, a fireball empowered by her air source flew out of her sleeve, heading towards Ghost. The fireball hit true, causing an explosion in front of the academy that lightened up the entire night sky.

Once the blinding light was gone, teachers and guards gathered around, looking at the giant crater in front of their proud academy and the headmistress floating above it, a slight frown on her face.

Iris scanned the crater underneath but found no trace of Ghost. There was not even a piece of clothing left behind.

‘Was it so easy?’ she asked herself, finding everything quite discomforting. Her energy felt like it detonated in contact with the ground, not Ghost, but she also didn’t feel Ghost’s presence in the air.

Seeing everyone gathered around, she yelled: “What are you all staring around like idiots? Hurry and clean the place out.”

She then left the place, her mind a cluster of questions. Just as she passed through her office doors, she found a familiar-looking woman sitting down on her chair, twirling a small flute between her fingers.

The ghostly-looking woman smiled mockingly at Iris and shook her head.

“You turned out to be just as dumb as he said you were.” Once Elise’s words ended, she waved her hand and, following a bloody mist drifting through the open window, a decapitated head rolled on the ground, stopping in front of Iris.

Its dead eyes retained a trace of the fear it experienced before its death, making Iris’s body grow cold. Her rotating sources froze when she looked at the decapitated head, and her lips opened to mutter something.

“The second prince?”