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Forgotten Lands - Chapter 46 (Book 2)
🕑 Added 2024-06-19 10:00:06 +0000 UTC“Did you get the item?” Zayn asked Levi Zenot, tapping the chair rest lightly. He stared at the Manager of the Merchant Guild with a smile and watched him pale.
“You didn’t get it,” Zayn nodded slowly, his eyes pulling toward the large double door of Levi Zenot’s office, “But you brought me the owner. That’s quite nice of you.”
Levi flinched, but Zayn ignored the poor man. He already knew that his request was too much for an ordinary manager of a Merchant Guild to handle. Of course, Levi Zenot was far from ordinary due to his background, but that was also why the owner of the item, Zayn, appeared.
A pair of humans entered the room. The woman stepping inside the office was young, yet her strides were filled with confidence. She had flawless fair skin, full cherry lips, beautiful silky hair that shimmered golden in the sunlight, and ocean-blue eyes staring intently at Zayn.
Zayn stared back at the woman, who couldn’t be much older than he was. He smiled, got up from the chair, and bowed toward the woman in an overly formal manner.
“Greetings, Princess Ophelia,” He greeted the woman, resulting in a sudden reaction from the man behind her. The humongous man stepped forward, grasping the handle of his longsword tightly, ready to unsheath his deadly weapon and strike the potential threat.
Zayn felt a power surge sweep through his surroundings but didn’t retaliate. He continued smiling and allowed the power to continue to surge.
‘This would have forced me to my knees when I entered Spyro for the first time. But now? Now, this is nothing,’ Zayn thought, his smile growing wider. The young woman, Princess Ophelia, mirrored his smile.
“How did you know that I was in Spyro?” she asked, her sparkling eyes reflecting genuine curiosity.
Zayn shrugged, his lips parting only for Princess Ophelia to raise her hand lightly. That was enough to stop him.
“Don’t try to tell me that you’re a Demon Hunter and that you used their information network to find the Blood Seal. I know that’s not true. You are not a Demon Hunter.”
Zayn tilted his head but continued smiling.
‘That was a little unexpected, but she doesn’t seem angry. I take this as a good sign.’
“It’s true. I am not a Demon Hunter,” He acknowledged his lie, “But I know their techniques, traditions, and rites.”
Zayn stared intently at Princess Ophelia, “I swear on the Zekta Sword that I didn’t have any bad intentions.”
The princess’s bodyguard glanced to the ceiling for a second as if expecting something to crash down and smash Zayn into smithereens, but nothing happened. Princess Ophelia nodded slowly.
“I didn’t think you would make this kind of vow, but that makes things easier,” Princess Ophelia retrieved a small marble from her pouch. The marble was so dark that it swallowed the surroundings. The only light surrounding the marble was the blood-red engraving etched onto it.
“You brought it with you?” Zayn’s eyes widened slightly. He remembered Princess Ophelia as a woman who followed her gut feeling, as a youthful princess known for her rash actions and extraordinary sense for great business deals. Still, she was the 7th Princess of the Phaelum Kingdom and was supposed to be more responsible than that.
The Blood Seal was not a toy to play with. Used in the wrong hands, the Blood Seal could unleash hell upon the Phaelum Kingdom. Maybe the surrounding kingdoms would collapse as well. Yet, the 7th Princess of the Phaelum Kingdom brought the same Blood Seal to a stranger, who’d ordered someone to bring it to him.
“You… brought it?” Even the bodyguard couldn’t contain himself anymore. He stared at the Princess, thick beads of sweat trickling down his temples.
Zayn could tell the bodyguard was about to break into a cold sweat. It was only a matter of seconds before the poor guy was showered in sweat and drenched down to his boots.
“Princess. You cannot be serious,” The bodyguard turned around, forgetting Zayn momentarily. He stared at the youthful Princess and swallowed hard before pressing his lips together, “For the kingdom’s safety…I cannot allow you to do anything stupid. If I had known that you brought the Blood Seal with you, I would have never–...”
“Shhh…” Princess Ophelia pressed her finger on her lips, silencing her bodyguard, “I know what I’m doing.”
She glanced at Zayn and squinted, “And I’m pretty sure he knows what he’s doing as well. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that he asked poor old Levi to ask about the Blood Seal when I was around.”
Princess Ophelia pointed at Zayn while looking dead-serious at her bodyguard, “He knows a lot about the Demon Hunters, can replicate their insignia near-perfectly, and he could have stolen the Blood Seal from me while you’re looking at me, trying to lecture me, only to forget that your back it is facing the ‘oh so dangerous - potential - threat’”
The bodyguard swung around as if recalling only now that Zayn was present. He was ready to face Zayn head-on, expecting the young man to attack him at any moment, but Zayn was standing there. Zayn waved lightly at the bodyguard.
“I meant it when I swore that I have no bad intentions,” He pointed out, “But Princess Ophelia is correct. I could have gotten the Blood Seal if I wanted t–...”
Zayn didn’t finish his sentence. He used Blink and appeared next to the Princess without warning. He grasped the Blood Seal and retrieved it only to put it into Ophelia’s other hand. Zayn blinked back to his initial position in a quarter of a second with a smile.
“I could have taken the Blood Seal and teleported away. You wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.”
The bodyguard grit his teeth and more energy oozed out of him but Zayn continued ignoring it. Pablo Zeram, the Guard Captain of Spyro, was still stronger than the 7th Princess’ bodyguard. That was quite interesting.
“Calm down. I didn’t steal the Blood Seal, and I certainly don’t want to take responsibility for what is about to happen,” Zayn told the Princess’ bodyguard nonchalantly.
The bodyguard frowned and unsheathed a part of his blade, ready to attack when the Princess spoke up.
“What do you mean?” She asked.
Zayn tilted his head, acting like he didn’t get her.
“What are you talking about? What responsibility? For what?”
He smiled, seeing that her confident facade was crumbling.
“You know a Demon King is sealed underneath Spyro, right?” Zayn asked, still casually, as if the news was public knowledge.
Levi Zenot swallowed hard, his eyes widening in terror. The bodyguard couldn’t take it anymore, so he unsheathed his weapon.
“I know about that.”
“But did you also know there have been some issues with Lesser Demons about…two months ago?” He added, taking the bodyguard by surprise. He decided against charging at Zayn and stared at Levi Zenot momentarily. The poor Merchant Guild’s manager could only nod faintly. This time, the bodyguard lowered his weapon and stared at the 7th Princess. To be precise, he looked at the marble resting in her hands.
“I…think I heard rumors about that…when I researched you…When you arrived in Spyro, you and the Guard Captain killed a few Lesser Demons. I thought you planted them, but that didn’t make much sense. There weren’t anymore Demon sightings, and you didn’t mention your fake identity as a Demon Hunter after that again. It was weird,” Princess Ophelia said, her facade no more. She didn’t understand what was going on.
“Then let me tell you something,” Zayn sighed deeply. He pointed at the Blood Seal and then below him, “If you did your research properly, you would have known that bringing the Blood Seal to Spyro is stupid. You would have heard about more demon signs as well. I’m pretty sure Pablo sent a few letters to the palace. I told him to do so for the records. However, there was never a response, so I figured you guys have a sweet mole in the palace.”
Zayn dropped one bomb after another but was not done yet.
“Either way, more Demons are on their way to Spyro. They must have sensed the Blood Seal and the golden opportunity to capture and devour a chained Demon King. They want to reach the ranks of a Demon King as well. A bunch of Demons are about to descend upon Spyro. Ain’t that great?” He finished with a deadpan expression.
“You mean that I-I I’m bringing demons to Spyro?” Princess Ophelia asked, her hand holding the Blood Seal trembling.
“Basically. Since nobody listened to my warnings, shit is going to hit the fan real soon,” He nodded, “But don’t worry. The Golden Age Guild can handle a bunch of Demons. We should be fine as long as your brown bear over there and the City Guards help us.”
The bodyguard, the brown bear, growled but didn’t say anything at first.
“You are weird,” The Princess said, trembling, “Who are you?”
“You can call me Zayn,” He responded with a smile, only for the brown bear to ask the more important question.
“What do you want?”
The bodyguard was suspicious, and he had the right to be. Zayn would be suspicious of himself as well.
“I was never hiding what I wanted,” Zayn responded, flashing his teeth. I want the Blood Seal once we kill the wave of Demons.”
The bodyguard’s frown deepened, but the Princess asked the question this time.
“What are you going to do with the Blood Seal?”
Zayn laughed.
“I will free the Demon King,” He said calmly, causing a gasp from Levi Zenot to his left.
“Then I kill him and make him mine!”
