The Sorcerous Prince - 14. Chapter 14: Disturbing Events

The King and Queen led Mihai to a sofa in the next room. They sat on a sofa and Mihai sat in a chair across from them. Queen Viviana spoke for the first time since her arrival. “Anica was an amazing girl. I miss her every single day.” Tears began to flow. “I just wanted to protect you from the pain it’s caused us. From the time you were a child, we decided that we would let you think you were an only child. Anica's death was the most painful experience of our lives. I can't begin to tell you how many nights I've cried myself to sleep. We were going to tell you now that you're an adult, but we've been busy. We were going to discuss it last weekend, but you went to New London. And we were going to tell you today, but apparently, you weren't going to let us be the ones to tell you. How did you know anything at all to begin with?”

Mihai told them about Baron Levesque's slip-up and about his suggestion that Mihai should go to the Hall of Records. “You should have come to one of us and asked!” his father hissed. “It's not easy for us to talk about, but it's our story to tell, not some book's. We would have told you if you asked. We just didn't want you to know until you were old enough to understand. As you know, there are re-recreations of our loved ones’ deaths We treasure our loved ones, and we need a reminder of just how dangerous our lives really are.” The King stood up, reached into his pocket, and retrieved a small silver rectangular object. He took the object over to Mihai and handed it to him.

This was nothing new to Mihai. It was a legal requirement. It was their unique way of respecting the dead and making sure their deaths were not in vain. The demons showed no mercy at all. He was well aware that he would be deeply disturbed by what he was about to witness. Mihai opened the recreator and pushed the small red button inside. The recreator began to glow, and Mihai felt as if he were falling into the object.

He found himself in a desert. An older man he recognized from pictures as his grandfather, Emperor Justino, the very man the current dark emperor was named after was on the back of a camel, one that was not of the garden variety. The animal had slightly darker hide. He was with a middle-aged man, one he also recognized as Prince Diederik III, his grandfather, who was also on one of the camels with a little girl in front of him. The girl had the same medium brown hair and sapphire eyes. Their camel was speaking, “I never tire of this beauty. It is truly magnificent.”

Mihai turned his head to the left, and he could see what the camel meant. It was a pyramid, but this one showed no signs of wear and was twice as large as the other pyramids in the area. He could see that the pyramid had a magical protection that appeared as blue light. Mihai had never been to this pyramid, but he had heard of it. It was built much later than the mortal-made pyramids in the area. It was the Pyramid of Diederik. He had built this monument to himself right around the time Christians said their Messiah was born. It was said to have taken several days to build even by magical means, which was impressive compared to the years it had taken to build the others.

“Can we go inside, Grandpa?” the little girl asked in delight.

“I'm afraid not, Anica,” her grandfather replied glumly. “I wish we could, but there is only one way to get there. Someday, you may be the one to find your way inside, but that will not be...” Behind them, there was a noise. A man was screaming. The camels jumped into the air and turned around. Meanwhile, Mihai was dragged toward the action. The emperor, his son, and great granddaughter had not been there alone. Guards had accompanied them. The source of the scream was obvious. One of the guards now lay on the sand that was now red with blood.

Mihai could see no one but the guards, but they were all facing the ground. The ground began to quake, and a massive cloud of sand dust surged in all directions. When Mihai could see again, there were large cat-like demons. There were seemingly dozens of them. Their claws were massive, and they showed off their massive teeth. The creatures would leap into the air and knock the guards off their unicorns or magic camels and land on top of the guards. Pinned underneath the vicious megalion demons, the guards could not fight back. The screams of pain were shrill and eerie, like the darkest symphony ever written. The megalions were scratching their faces until they were unrecognizable crimson masks. Soon, every guard lay dead and mangled on the ground. The megalions were not yet finished as they were now attacking the unicorns and magic camels. The magical creatures screamed in pain as the megalions fed ravenously on them until nothing was left but bones and an ever-growing mass of red sand.

Mihai had not noticed until then that the Emperor and his two family members were all being held back by three more megalion demons. They had been made to watch the horrors before them by the evil incarnates. Mihai noticed that there was a glow around their heads and another around each eye. Two other megalion demons ran towards them and made quick meals of the two magical creatures that had carried them. The little girl was bawling and screaming at the hideous display. The sky turned gray, almost black. A bolt of lightning struck the ground and a figure appeared within it. The figure had the body of a snake, complete with the large hood of a cobra. The creature, unlike a normal cobra, had arms and hands with sharp claws. The creature slithered over to the Emperor, The Heir Apparent, and the young girl, Princess Anica.

“How nicccccccccccccccccce of you to make it,” The Demon King said coldly. “As you can see all of your guards are now dead. Which one of you shall I kill first?” The Demon King looked directly at young Princess Anica. “You I believe are the perfect ssssssize for my meal. Yesssssssss, you will do quite nicely.”

“Don't touch her!” Diederik III, the man named after the greatest Emperor in history, yelled.

“You are in no posssssssittttttion to make demandssssssss,” the Demon King hissed. The Demon King slithered over to Princess Anica, and in the blink of an eye he struck, but he latched onto her. The megalion let go of the child and backed away as the Demon King pumped his venom into Anica's neck. The child's red fluid of life was spurting out of her neck, and her screams were downright blood curdling. Soon she could stand only because the Demon King was holding her up. The girl's body was lifeless. The Demon King released himself from her neck and opened his mouth all the way open. The cobra demon's mouth slid down her body until her body's shape could only be seen within him. The Demon King closed his mouth, and the child's body slid further and further into him.

The bulge inside the Demon King did not slow him down as he slithered toward Diederik and bit his neck. This time the snake quickly released, but the damage was already done. Diederik fell to the ground, convulsing and screaming in agony, and it was not long before his father, Emperor Justino, too was on the ground writhing in pain. The Demon King joined the megalions. It was most disrespectful for the Demon King to require them to accompany him, and it was for their humiliation that they were forced to join him, but that was the least in the Demon King's display of evil on this day. The clouds darkened again, and many bolts of lightning struck the ground at once. The Demon King and the megalions disappeared, leaving nothing but mangled corpses of witches and wizards as well as skeletons of unicorns and magical camels in their wake.

Mihai felt himself being dragged into the air. The scene began to fade into a blur. Mihai was released back into the real world, and the re-creator closed and moved into King Frederico's hand. Mihai had a trash can at his feet. He grabbed it and put his face down just above it and began to puke. Once he was done spewing the contents of his stomach, Mihai put the trash can full of vomit onto the floor. Queen Viviana waved her wand at the garbage bin and made it disappear. Mihai was unable to speak, and it was King Frederico who broke the silence, “As you can see, that is why we did not tell you. You knew deep down that you would more than likely see a re-creation of their deaths. Of all the deaths we have seen of our ancestors and family members...”

“Please,” Mihai grumbled, holding his right hand in the air toward his father. “I just wanted to know. It was all Baron Levesque's fault. Had he not mentioned that someone else died with them, I'd have been blissfully ignorant. I had to know the truth.”

“You should have come to us,” his mother said plainly. “We would have prepared you for what you had to see. Since you already knew, we felt no need to prepare you for it. This haunts us more than anything we've ever witnessed. He ATE her. We had no body to bury. She became his waste. Now do you see? That is how callous the demons are, especially the Demon King. He has no consideration for even the other houses. He has no sense of consideration for anyone. He is the coldest, most evil Demon King who's ever lived.”

“One day...” Mihai fumed. “I am going to destroy them. They'll pay. They will ALL pay. I will destroy them all! It is my goal in life to slay every single demon in existence! I will inflict so much pain upon the Demon King he will rue the day he ever messed with any of us. He will die! One day I will master my powers and find magical objects that will ensure my victory. He will die at my hands. This is my solemn vow!”

“I hope you fulfill it,” his mother said in a bitter-sweet tone. “We all want him dead.”

“We certainly do,” the King fumed. “He has taken my father and my daughter. He tried to kill my sister, her husband, and one of the greatest lovers...”

“Dad please, don't go there!” Mihai snapped. “You shouldn't have been with him at all.”

“You are my son,” the King snapped back. “I can sleep with any adult I want so long as they want it, and believe me, most of them do.” Mihai rolled his eyes at his father. “Don't look at me like that.”

“Well, there is at least one you better not touch,” Mihai said firmly.

“Alright,” the King sighed. “I'll leave Konstantin alone.”

“Good,” Mihai replied flatly. “So are they taking him back to Candavorum?”

“No,” his mother retorted. “He will be at the Imperial Palace.”

“Is that where we're going?” Mihai asked.

“Yes, we're going there soon,” Queen Viviana promised. “We are waiting though.”

“Why?” Mihai asked suspiciously.

“He has to see it too,” the King replied dryly. “The Bayers are our distant relatives. The only other copy we know of belongs to your aunt. She's the one who helped the elves make it. I doubt she's ever viewed it since then, but she still has her own copy. She didn't eat for weeks after that.” This would have been very bad for a magical person. Magic increased one's need for food. She would have looked like a skeleton covered with skin in that short time.

“That must have been horrible,” Mihai cried sympathetically. “I am so glad I'm not a medium.”

“Believe me,” the Queen sniffled, thinking about her friend's pain. “She often views it as a curse. She doesn't even want that power herself. Now, I think you should go have a shower. You don't look very well.”

“And up until now, she hasn't had us to fall back on,” Mihai said sadly. “It's such a terrible cross to bear. I would go insane.”

“Yes,” the Queen agreed. “It's not a power you could handle. I think for you telepathy is difficult enough.”

“I won't argue that,” Mihai grumbled. “Sometimes I do pick up someone's feelings or thoughts without trying. It's a real downer when someone's sad. Like the other day, I figured out that Oscar had it bad for Melva. His thoughts almost make me puke.” Oscar was the stable master at the Grand Palace of Candavorum, and he had been after the potion's assistant for quite some time. “Unfortunately for him, she's a lesbian.” Mihai looked at his mother and smirked. “I know who she's after too.”

“Oh, please don't tell me,” the Queen stammered. “I am so not into that. I like dick.”

“It's safe to say we all like dick,” Mihai giggled.

“I like... variety,” the King chimed in. All three of them laughed at this. After Mihai's recent view of the recreator, he needed some laughs. He was still deeply disturbed by the images, but he had learned something. The demons were even crueler than he had once thought. Not even children were safe from them. It was likely that the demons were attracted to the location because of the emperor, but the pleasure the Demon King took in consuming Mihai's sister was downright revolting. Mihai’s biggest concern was Konstantin at this point. By now he was watching these terrible scenes and likely having similar reactions. Even though Anica was not Konstantin's relative, he had a big heart for children, and he would react strongly to any harm of a child. He had talked to Konstantin about his own sister Abigail, who he was very close to. He would need Mihai and soon. Luckily, the King and Queen were ready to go to the Imperial Palace of Jevartus as well.

When Mihai entered the palace, which was even more opulent than the palace in New London, Konstantin practically ran to him. “I need to get out of here!” Konstantin cried. “Can we go somewhere?”

“Of course we can,” Mihai insisted. “There are plenty of sights to see. How would you like to ride a unicorn?”

“Yes!” Konstantin whimpered. “That'd be wonderful.”

Mihai and Konstantin made their way to the stable. It was much larger than a horse stable as unicorns were resistant when forced to be enclosed in tight stalls. The typical royal or imperial stable was almost as large as a palace and allowed the unicorns plenty of space for them to exercise. “Good afternoon, Your Highness,” the cute redheaded stable master greeted Mihai. “And hello, My Lord,” he added, looking in Konstantin's direction. “My name is Pete. How may I help you?”

“It's nice to meet you, Pete. We’d like to go for a ride,” Mihai beamed. Despite the scene they had both witnessed, Mihai and Konstantin were both happy to see live unicorns roaming around the stables. Mihai smiled as he noticed two beautiful blue ones walking toward them, both of whom already had saddles on their backs. “I think these two will do!” Blue unicorns were the smartest and most ferocious against would-be predators. Mihai had noticed that all the unicorns with his grandfather and great grandfather had been yellow. They were so chosen, because they were the best at flying. Mihai wondered if things would have been different had there been blue unicorns instead of yellow unicorns and magical camels, both of which were fairly docile. Mihai knew that the blue ones were the fiercest and felt better riding them.

“Hello, Your Highness,” one of the unicorns said smiling. “I'm Patrick. Would you like us to take you on a tour of the city?” This was nothing out of the ordinary. All unicorns were named by their parents and were well spoken.

“Certainly!” Mihai replied cordially.

“Would you like to ride me, My Lord?” the other unicorn asked Konstantin. “I'm Russel by the way.”

“I would be honored to ride you,” Konstantin answered sincerely. Both unicorns' horns began to glow with sparkles swirling. Mihai and Konstantin's bodies were lifted from the ground and gently placed upon the saddles of the respective unicorns.

The street was covered in cobblestone, and the buildings were all reminiscent of Rome. The capital district was the only part of the city where magically enhanced automobiles were banned. The empire had been built on unicorns' backs, and the 2,000-year-old city respected its roots. Bicycling was also permitted there. and Mihai always waved at riders passing by. He knew they recognized him. This had only been his second time on Hebalon, and already people knew him unlike the guard at the Duke's palace in Austin. Mihai was contemplating this when Patrick spoke, “People pay much more attention to the imperial family here.”

While mind reading was normally considered taboo, it was the opposite where unicorns were concerned. They were companions of magical people, always aware of their thoughts and feelings. Blue unicorns were especially in tune. They were intelligent and fierce defenders of their riders, except for evil riders. Someone on the dark side would be thrown fifty feet in the air. Conversely, black unicorns were more than happy to oblige followers of the dark. “Thank you, Patrick. It did bother me. I don't understand how anyone could be unaware of who I am. The spell to hide my existence has been broken.”

“I've never been to Earth,” Patrick said calmly. “But I've heard it said that magical people there aren't nearly as reverent and pay little attention to the royals. There are exceptions. I imagine Candavorum is such an exception. It's been said that the people there have adored you from the day you ascended. Of course, it's a shame that they have only liked you since that time. There's something very special about you. As soon as you entered the stable, I felt your presence. I knew that I wanted you to ride me.”

“I'm glad you feel...” Mihai began to speak, but Patrick's sudden stop startled him along with the glow of his horn. This time, it was almost as if they teleported so that they were facing the other way, and Mihai's wand had mysteriously leaped into his hand. An arrow was flying through the air, directed at Mihai. Mihai quickly pointed his wand and fired a lightning bolt. Russel had turned around as well, and both unicorns began to gallop in the direction of the arrow's source. Along the way another arrow was hurled toward them, but appeared to be aimed with much less precision.

As they got closer, Mihai could see a man in a black robe was running from them, and Mihai felt a most unwelcome presence within the man. He aimed his wand at the mysterious dark wizard. The man immediately froze, fell to his knees, and let out a blood-curdling scream. The unicorns slowed down and stopped when they were close to the man. “What are you doing to him, Mihai?” Konstantin asked fearfully.

“Right now his brain is sending electrical pulses to every nerve in his body,” Mihai said flatly. “It has to be agonizing.”

“Erm...” Konstantin was shocked that Mihai was doing this. He knew that Mihai was electrokinetic, but this was a most unusual attack as far as he knew.

“I've been reading about electrokinesis,” Mihai informed him. “I've been practicing on pesky gnomes. I can also strip their bodies of iron and watch them die. The Baron suspected that I would be one of the few capable of these feats.He was right. I must now ask you to contact Empress Guadalupe. She needs to send some guards. Tell her we need a collar and an anti-possessor probe. He has a possessor demon inside him.”

“Of course,” Konstantin replied. Mihai had to concentrate. Even speaking made this task difficult.

Konstantin had immediately removed his communication orb from his pocket and contacted the Empress. It was less than a minute before four guards arrived. They quickly restrained the dark wizard, thus allowing Mihai to discontinue his attack. Lieutenant Paul was the one who put the collar on the dark wizard. “Why hello, Paul!” he said to the black lieutenant. “It's nice to see you again. Did you bring the anti-possessor probe?”

“I certainly did,” Paul said firmly. Paul reached into his pocket and took out a metal object. It was a good thing that robes had magical pockets that could hide large items, because this item was big. It had a long, thick handle with 10 spikes on the end. Konstantin winced as Paul not-so-gently inserted the object into the dark wizard's stomach. The man screamed once again as currents of electricity shot out of it. There was a crunch, and Paul removed the device from the dark wizard's abdomen. What came out of him was a most disgusting creature. It was blue and covered with slime. Its head reminded Mihai of the aliens from Roswell, and its body reminded him of an octopus. The demon was screeching in pain. Anti-possessor probes left no physical marks after their use, but it was painful on both the demon and the possessed.

“What is your name, dark wizard?” Mihai spat. “Tell me now, or I'll attack your nervous system again. I won't ask twice.”

“I am Apep,” he replied.

“And why were you trying to kill me?” Mihai yelled.

“Because I wanted to,” Apep laughed. Mihai did not find this answer acceptable. Once again, he caused a flurry of electrical synapses in Apep's brain. The screams were even more intense than before as Mihai was even angrier. Mihai did not inflict the pain for as long as he was beginning to get a headache, but he had plenty of ideas for loosening the man's tongue later. “Take him to the palace. We will be there shortly.”

“Yes, Your Highness,” the guards said in unison. Lieutenant Paul tossed a teleportation ring to Mihai's left, and the guards left with the dark wizard and the demon in their custody.

The unicorns began to trot steadily toward the palace. They were both silent at this point, because they knew a discussion was coming between Konstantin and Mihai. Mihai let out a sigh and shook his head. “It seems that there is an attempt on my life every time I come to Hebalon.”

“I was just thinking the same thing,” Konstantin confirmed. “You are going to have a difficult life. Aren't some of the demons also trying to kidnap you?”

“Yes, they are,” Mihai said sourly. “The Demon King himself is behind that. Why this dark wizard tried to kill me I have no idea. The possessor demons cannot control us outright, but they can be very influential.”

“I know,” Konstantin replied, rolling his eyes. “I lose track of how many factions they have.” The possessor demons were once the ruling house of the demon world. The other eight houses overthrew them. In essence, the possessor demons created their own undoing. Their experiments with their own DNA and the DNA of dark witches and wizards, humans, and animals created most of the others. Some of the possessor demons sought to overthrow their creations, some even with the help of good witches and wizards. The spies would meet with certain imperial officials in a neutral location, and not even Mihai knew where this meeting place was, not even which planet. It was a closely guarded secret that not even Empress Guadalupe would have known until the beginning of her reign.

Mihai and Konstantin arrived at the stable within a few minutes. Mihai and Patrick entered first with Konstantin and Russel following closely. “It has been a pleasure riding you, Patrick. We'll have to do this again when I come back.”

“I'm looking forward to it!” the unicorn replied gleefully. “I've never had the pleasure of the company of someone like you. I think Russel has enjoyed Konstantin as well.”

“Indeed,” Russel confirmed happily. “You'll have to come back too!”

“I will!” Konstantin said warmly. “You're a very special unicorn.”

“And you are a wonderful noble of the empire!” the unicorn replied genuinely. Russel's horn glowed once again, and he carefully placed Konstantin on the ground. Patrick followed suit and Mihai was soon standing beside Konstantin. They said their goodbyes to the magnificent unicorns and made their way back to the palace hand-in-hand.

As Mihai and Konstantin entered the palace, they were greeted by Konstantin's father. “You both are to come with me to the dungeon. Our prisoner is currently being tortured by order of the Empress.” The Duke of Austin led his son and the Prince to the dungeon, which was even more dank and unwelcoming than the one in Candavorum. Skeletons and corpses in various states of decay were all around, and Mihai found it difficult not to vomit for a second time. The Duke led them into a room full of all kinds of gadgets that looked like they had some extremely painful applications. The Empress as well as her brother and sister-in-law were there, actively participating in the torture session. “Ahem,” Adelric said. The three of them stopped immediately and turned toward the Duke and the two teens.

“I think he's ready, Mihai,” the Empress said flatly.

“That's good,” Mihai replied plainly. “I can't help but wonder why the three of you have been torturing him instead of the guards.”

“He attacked you,” his father told him. “We take it personally. Are you ready to interrogate him? I doubt you'll have to resort to attacking his nervous system. We were quite thorough.”

Mihai walked over to Apep and immediately noticed that he was a bloody mess. There were burns and cuts all over his body. He was crying uncontrollably, and it was obvious by the smell that his bowels had moved out of fear and agony. His dark brown eyes were reddened. “Who sent you to kill me?”

“The Dark Emperor Justino,” Apep wailed. The dark-haired man seemed to feel guilty for telling him this, but the idea of additional pain was more than he could bear.

“And what were his orders?” Mihai inquired.

“My orders were to hang around the imperial palace and wait for someone fitting your description to arrive,” Apep murmured. “I was to kill you with an arrow dipped in Potion of Doom.” The Potion of Doom was one of the few potions that were banned throughout the empire. The effects were unmistakable. The flesh of the victim turned black and brittle instantly, and so did everything else inside the body. The one drawback is that it had to enter the bloodstream in order for it to work. The Potion of Doom was also quite rare as the main ingredient, troll semen, was not easily acquired even by magical means. Acquiring their blood was dangerous enough for most magical people.

“Why were you in Jevartus with a possessor demon in your body?” Empress Guadalupe snapped. “It is considered one of the worst crimes someone can commit.” It was only considered criminal for magical people, as they had a certain level of autonomy while mortals did not. Furthermore, there was will tolerance for possessor demons outside the spy network. It was join or die as far as the empire was concerned. “The judge will be here shortly to confirm your sentence, but you will suffer the worst fate anyone can suffer. We call it 'The Works'. First you will be hanged upside down from the ceiling. An army of ants will be placed in a bag that the guards will place over your head. You will repeatedly be stung by the ants. Next, the room will be frozen so that the ants die and so that you can suffer from terrible frostbite.”

The Empress smiled insidiously as she continued the most disturbing description. “Your body will then be healed so that we can start again with even more torture. Next all of your toe nails and fingernails will be ripped off one by one. A spell will then be cast upon you that will break every single bone in your body. Next your fingers and toes will be cut off one by one with an athame followed by your hands and feet. After that will be your genitals. Your arms come next followed by your legs. Finally, your head will be removed from your shoulders. Your body shall then rot in this very dungeon.”

The Empress was correct. Judge Jenna Thompson arrived ten minutes later and approved the torturous death sentence. Mihai, as the intended victim, was given the option of watching but refused the offer. He wanted to leave the dungeon as quickly as possible. The rest of the family and the Bayers joined him. At this point, Mihai was mentally and physically drained. He decided it was time for a bath, and Konstantin accompanied him. After their bath, they decided it was time for a nap.