Will of a Prince

"Do you feel that in the air? Does it not reek with anticipation?"

"Mmm... I sense it too. This world will be ours. It’s only a matter of time ever since we brought that old man in. To think we get to bear witness to humanities greatest calamity."

"Indeed. How far along are they? How much is complete?"

"From what I hear, there is only three things left they need to complete his transformation. He will be born again, and this world will know his wrath."

A rumble shook the dark room. Both cloaked figures stood still.

"What was that? Are the prisoners acting up again?"

Another rumble surrounded them. Screams echoed in the distance. One of the cloaked figures slowly put on a dark green skull mask and chuckled to himself.

Suddenly, a cloaked figure with a black skull mask broke through the door.

"Warden, the prison camp is under attack!"

The Warden laughed more.

"I wonder who would be crazy enough to attack a prison camp. They must not know about Wardens to be so ballsy."

More screams rang through the halls as the green-masked man strode towards the chaos. As he walked, mutilated bodies were littering the halls. However, his composure never wavered for a second. He entered a large, empty stone room whose ceiling was caved in, allowing the light of day to illuminate the walls. He stopped in the middle of the room.

Suddenly, the faintest sound rippled close to him and the Warden dodged his head. Right where his head was, a strange blade seared through the air. The blade was attached to the gauntlet of a strange man with short, unkempt hair, a small stubble, and lifeless eyes. Just as quickly as the man appeared, he seemingly evaporated into nothingness.

"Fascinating. An invisible power? It’s too bad you can never hurt me."

Suddenly, the Warden’s mask, cloak, and entire body was covered in a dense layer of steel. He thrusted his fist into the ground as hard as he could.

"Release."

The ground around him exploded outward. The fallout of the shockwave appeared to be covered with a thin layer of metal, similar to the kind that was wrapping his body. Sharp spikes pointed inward as the dust settled around him. There were not blind spots left, and the Warden had now built himself a make-shift arena to his benefit. Whoever this attacker was, had been given an incredible disadvantage.

Suddenly, the Wardens mask split in two, and he fell to the ground, clutching his head. Drips of blood fell from his forehead on to the ground.

"W-What the-?"

All he saw as he bent forward was the shadow of the same dagger-wielding man readying a final blow aimed at the back of his head. The Warden threw himself around and blocked using his hands. Right before the man’s dagger was blocked by his steel fists, his forearm evaporated into nothing, but his shoulder continued to surge forward.

Suddenly, it was as if the arm had simply grown back to where it was before and splintered the Warden’s defenses apart. There was no time to react. He threw a desperate final strike aimed at the attacker’s cheek.

The impact was so powerful that it moved some of the steel structures around them. This strike appeared to buy him a few more seconds until dark pupils shone through the stone that was kicked up.

As if they were never interrupted in the first place, the attacker shoved their dagger down through the Wardens head with all their might. It melted through the steel like a soft pastry. The Warden had been killed instantly.

The disheveled man slowly stood up and wiped the blood from his armor and weapon. He sighed deeply and rubbed his cheek.

"This one was weaker than the last one. A steel ability? Lucy would have fun dealing with this guy, I’m sure."

Suddenly, a tall, elegant woman donned in golden armor glided towards the man.

"Your power is truly a terrifying one. I can’t believe how well you’ve mastered it."

"Says you. It took me three weeks to even land my first hit on you."

"And yet, the scar you left on my stomach still burns every time I see you."

The man walked up to the girl and gave her a gentle hug.

"I’m glad you made it safe, Avala."

"I’m just happy to see a good friend, Gabriel."

"How are our Northern factions faring in the recent skirmishes?"

"Quite well. Who knew that having an invincible woman leading the front lines would work out so well for us!"

"I still can’t believe Sarah volunteered for that. I heard they started to nickname her the Butcherer of the North since she used to work a culinary shop."

Avala chuckled lightly to herself.

"This group and their silly nicknames. Do they have one for you yet?"

"Yes, they do. They call me..."

Gabriel looked off into the distance stoically.

"Gabriel."

Avala laughed and shoved him lightly.

"You’re so stupid."

"I know this is only our second attack on them, but they will be preparing for us soon. I have a feeling we’ve only been getting lucky with these Wardens."

"You call months of hard work lucky?"

"Well, I remember your father once said that a Warden can typically defeat a Sprit in battle. However, I don’t believe I’m capable of such a feat quite yet."

"Well, I think you’re forgetting something important."

"And what would that be?"

"Spirits, monsters, leviathans, they aren’t human. They may be smart or really strong sometimes, but humans are extremely unpredictable."

"I see. Well, should we see how the others are doing?"

"Sure. Let’s get all these people to safety first."

Avala and Gabriel walked outside of the crumbling prison camp after releasing a few dozen prisoners. Gabriel handed them small pouches of water to pass around.

"Where are you all from?"

A small lady walked up to him and bowed her head.

"We are from a small kingdom a little bit south of here called Youna Kingdom. Would you people be so kind as to allow us a safe passage back?"

"No problem at all, ma’am. Just sit tight for a second."

Gabriel grabbed a small silver whistle out of his breastplate that dangled off a small chain around his neck. He aimed it towards the sky and blew a faint sound into the air. He squinted at the sun.

"He should be here in about three minutes or so. Do you all need anything else while we wait?"

The lady’s eyes widened.

"Pardon me, but what was that whistle for?"

"Oh, that? I just called you all a wagon to take you back."

"I’m sorry, but it just seemed like it wasn’t that loud. How can anything hear us from so far away?"

Gabriel took the whistle off his neck and showed it to the lady. He lightly tapped it with his finger, causing a strange hue to emanate off its surface.

"It’s enchanted. One of my friends is wearing the receiving end of this call. He is quite a fast one, so I hope you don’t get wagon-sick!"

Gabriel spent the rest of the time walking around the other prisoners and making sure they were not seriously injured.

"Hey, Avala. Can I talk with you for a second?"

Avala’s eyes widened and she followed Gabriel away from the prisoners.

"Sure, you can talk to me about anything."

"There’s something going on with these prisoners. I don’t like the look of this one bit."

"Why? What’s wrong with them?"

"Before, my group and I were under the impression that the Epigones were only capturing people who possessed Zalo’s to convert them to their cause. We were also under the impression that they were only capable of teleporting Zalo users. However, I don’t sense a single power in any of them. They are just normal people. Why do you think that is?"

Avala rubbed her chin. Her silver hair lightly blew in the wind as she lifted her head to speak.

"Well, it could mean a few different things. For one, it could mean they no longer need Zalo users’ strength anymore. In other words, they have plenty of strength as it is. Another reason could be they are trying to grow their influence even further. I don’t really see the benefit of that for them besides having meat shields though."

"I was thinking the same. But that’s the other thing, where are all the Zalo users? I’ve been to three camps already and the wardens were the only ones who had Zalo’s. So, where are they all hiding?"

Gabriel was right. It was eerily suspicious how conservative the Epigones were being with their forces. Avala straightened her back before responding.

"I’ll talk with Lidia and Slimo about it. If you want to ask me, I bet they’re all hiding in outposts. I had Harold do some scouting with Bo and there seemed to be something strange they were working on at each one. We need to take one out and see what they are working on."

Gabriel nodded his head. Suddenly, they both felt the rumbles of an approaching cart, along with the loud voice of the fastest friend they know.

"Did anyone call for a ride?!"

Harold screeched to a halt.

"We are here! Is everyone ready to go home in our carriage?!"

Abby was sitting in a tall seat that was situated right behind where Harold ran. Her messy pink hair was put into a bun, and her dress was long and purple with black highlights. Harold was wearing a white tunic with purple shorts to match Abby’s outfit.

The carriage was wide and tall, more than capable of fitting twenty people inside of it if they needed.

"Hey Harold. I hope the trip here was fine."

"It was a breeze. This is a fun business! I also get to spend some quality time with Abby doing this!"

The prisoners stared at the carriage in shock.

"That man is going to pull us everywhere?"

"Yup! Good luck!"

Avala began pushing people towards the doors of the vehicle and yelling at the top of her lungs.

"Alright get a move on it! We don’t have all day! We need to save more people than you sorry folks! Let’s move it! Hurry up!"

Harold looked at Avala dubiously.

"She really hasn’t changed, has she?

Gabriel looked at him confused.

"What do you mean? She’s in a really good mood today."

Harold choked on air.

"T-That’s her good mood?!"

Abby smiled brightly at the passengers.

"Where to?"

The same woman who Gabriel talked to spoke up.

"Just south of where we are. It’s not too far from here."

Abby smiled widely and turned around to let Harold know.

"Did you hear that, my love? Straight south!"

Harold strapped himself in a harness that was attached to the cart and readied his feet on the ground.

"Everyone ready up!"

Abby giggled and shouted back at the people in the carriage.

"You all may want to hold on to something!"

Abby grabbed hold of two ropes that were attached to the deck below her and she reeled back while wrapping them around her hands.

"Let’s go!"

Suddenly, the cart exploded through the air at an inexplicable speed. The air was roaring through Abby’s hair, making it even messier than it already was. She laughed loudly as the cart slammed against the ground repeatedly. Multiple times the cart broke apart only for her to regenerate it instantly as if it was never broken in the first place.

The people in the carriage were thrown to the back and held on to the seats desperately.

After three crazy moments, everyone had seemingly blinked to where they needed to go. The people in the carriage collapsed to the floor and groaned in pain. Abby opened the door with a bright smile and peaked her head in.

"Welcome home! That wasn’t too bad, right?!"