sábado, 10 de noviembre de 2018

Paula de Vera García: LANDERON I: the oracle's daughter (Part 2)




Chapter 1: Blood-moon (Part 2)

The general of that army raised his hooded head at hearing the scream of pain from the lady proceeding from the castle and gave a sly smile. So, the queen still lived, but not the king.


His followers had done a good job, “good,” he thought. “And like this, my vengeance against her will be complete.” He found himself in the central plaza of the city, surrounded by burning houses and bodies spread at his feet. But all of this didn’t displease him, he didn’t even show signs of seeing it. His objective, since he had left the army, since he had heard those damned words, almost five years ago, was different. With a quick gesture, he indicated for various supporters to follow him down a stretch of narrow street arriving, after a few minutes, at the gates of the walled part of the castle.


The strong bars that permitted entrance now appeared doubled over, as well as having their remains spread over the parade grounds. The hooded man, unperturbed, passed by the jumble of ruined iron and stone in order to, thereupon, move between the chaos he had created in front of the main castle gate; the real residence of the monarchs, inside the small royal complex.


His followers, on the other hand, had begun dedicating themselves to pillaging, just watching the unoccupied and undefended rooms that surrounded the enormous central building, at the same time as they would exterminate all living beings that crossed their path. The hooded man who led the retinue made a slight gesture of distaste at seeing the first, without upsetting himself in the slightest at the second. And so he let his captain, who followed him in silence barely a meter away, know in a hushed tone, ¨You know what to do with those who rob.¨


The geruk quickly nodded its head in assent and let out a growl of warning, commanding all of the subordinates to meet in the patio that instant. More than one threw everything they held onto the floor when they heard the order, but others did not. The boss geruk growled again, but this time to himself. More than one of them should be punished...and soon.


Slowly, once regrouped, the small battalion, led by the dark general, entered the castle, easily pushing open the doors decorated with mother of pearl. They ascended the grand staircase that spiraled to the left navigating various passages until they found the door they were looking for. A silent moonlit gallery proceeding from an arched gallery, over a patio, appeared in front of them. Without stopping to admire the spectacle, and while some geruk seethed on the lower floors destroying everything in their path, the asultants guided by the maestro of all the destruction advanced without fear and without giving their surroundings a second look to the other side of the balconade. They had finally arrived at the royal turret. The hooded general then made a gesture to the geruk at his left, his personal executioner, and signaled him with a dry movement of the head to the door in front of them. Without blinking, he stepped forward and gave a strong kick to the wood, breaking it into pieces as well as causing the surrounding walls to tremble. But, none of those present seemed to notice as they further ascended the dark spiral staircase to the other side.


As they advanced together, they more clearly heard the sobs of a woman from above.


Upon arriving at the landing of the royal chambers, the door was locked. The door in front of them, decorated in ivy and exotic plants seemed to move when contemplated, it was suspicious.


There had been something strange on the other side of the wood, they could sense it. However, the carvings remained motionless as they watched more intently and the general hufed an order to forget the bothersome thoughts. He was certain that if the girl were anywhere, she would be with her mother. And so, he repeated the gesture he had already given his executioner at the foot of the tower and the rest occurred as before.


When the wood jumped, an unnatural screech was heard in the interior of the bedroom, but the invaders were not intimidated. The queen for her part, opened her eyes and mouth wide at recognizing the leader of the group before putting on an aggressive face.


“You…” she hissed.


The man, for his part, gave a malicious half smile beneath the hood.


“Well, Alia. You remember me!”


The queen, for her part, sat up and faced the foot of the large canopied bed and extricated something with effort from beneath it. The metal of the blade rang out as it grazed the stone floor of the bedroom, just before the queen Alia de Gadar tried to raise it over her head, without much success, but willing to launch herself, as she was , against her dark opponent. Without being perturbed, he raised his hand and pronounced several words. In an instant, Queen Alia saw herself disarmed, defenceless and drawn briskly towards him.


“Where are your manners, your majesty?” He laughed an instant before planting his dagger in her stomach.


The woman opened her eyes wide, surprised but she could not do anything to evade her destiny. A few seconds afterwards, her lifeless body fell like as a bundle to the floor, her face turned toward the ceiling. Her assassin observed her for a moment before murmuring, “You should have been more reasonable, Alia,” and shook his head in feigned disgust before adding, “now, you will keep your ‘beloved husband’ company.”


Inmediately afterwards, the man returned the dagger to his cloak and headed toward the crib which occupied the corner furthest away in the room. It was simple. It only appeared covered in white baby blankets bordered with the letter “E” in green and gold. The intruder pressed his lips together. Only one more step… Only a little bit more and nightmare would end.


He quickly raised his hand and pulled back the sheets that covered the bundle inside. But the crib was empty.


The general froze momentarily without speaking, and immediately afterwards he emitted a crazed scream that could be heard throughout the entire city, silencing it even more. The combatants who had stopped on the other side of the window didn’t survive. There wasn’t a Gadarath left alive to tell the tale of what had happened. But it had all been in vain. The general squeezed his fists until his knuckles turned white before returning to his followers, who remained impassive beside the door.


“Search for her” he murmured in hoarse growl. “I want to have the body of that baby at my feet, no matter the cost. Ready?”


The two geruk assented right away and left the bedroom without making a noise. Their leader, on the other hand, stayed another moment thoughtful, stood upright in the center of the room and then made a decision. From the entrance, he slowly moved closer to the balcony and leaned out on it. His followers were all gathered in the patio cheering him with voices that seemed to resonate from the bowls of the very earth. He let them flatter him, meanwhile, his mind worked at full speed. He had to find a way to be sure that the princess wouldn’t return to be a problem for him in case his geruk didn’t find her… and smiled wickedly at coming to the solution without expecting to.


“Like this, I will rid myself of another problem from above,” he thought a bit afterwards while he advanced to the head of his army and then crossing the lands of Gadar leaving behind the city of Mehyan, formerly the proud capital of the kingdom burned and devastated, “and she will surrender to my orders. She will leave no other option.”

 

© Paula de Vera García




Traducción : Isaiah O’Bryon (USA).


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