When The Darkness Comes pt. I

"They're never gonna break me.

They're never gonna change us.

This war's not flesh and bone,

This war wages in us-

And it burns like a fire It burns like a fire.

There's a voice inside my head,

And it's telling me to be brave...

When the darkness comes"

~When The Darkness Comes - Shelby Merry

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Elin nuzzled closer into my hold. I could only stare at her beautiful, little, sleeping face while I bounced my legs up and down in a nervous way. All I could hear were the screams of pain Allen made when that thing plunged his iron forelimbs in his chest. All I could see was red.

Red from the blood-smeared onto the stone. The blood from the fallen knights. Blood streamed down Nigel's face as he laid there unconscious in the dry grass before he got killed by that thing. Red from the blood that made its way through my husband's bandaged torso. Red as in the blood-red eyes from that thing. Eyes that would forever haunt my dreams.

Blood. Blood. Blood.

"Your Majesty?" I rose my gaze from my daughter's sleeping face to the muscular man standing in front of me. His pastel pink skin glimmered under the light of the chandelier and burning torches. His long white hair was strapped in a loose braid, uncovering his pointy elf ears. The man stared at me in concern.

"I'm sorry, did you say something, Fealar?" I asked the middle-aged male dressed in old, casual clothes that are slightly too big. Therion's and my Military advisor.

"It's okay, Your Majesty. But I was asking what exactly happened outside the city walls?" Fealar repeated himself with a sympathetic smile on his face, uncovering his fangs. I rubbed my irritated eyes from all the crying. For a moment, I stared at the blonde, Under Captain of the Royal Guard. Clarissa, her damp hair from the bath we received to wash off all the blood, sand, dust, and sweat covering us, hung in her face, hiding her bloodshot eyes and the tear ducts on her cheeks.

Clarissa hadn't said a word or even made a sound since we gathered in the conference room to report the incident earlier today. The incident in which eight, most likely nine skilled fighters of the Royal Guard were killed. The same incident where Therion was seriously injured. I looked away from the girl and back to my sleeping daughter. I caressed her chubby, pinkish cheek. I silent sob left my trembling lips. My lips were not the only parts of me that were trembling, my whole body was.

I didn't want to admit it, but I was afraid. I was scared beyond words. I couldn't stop thinking about the fact that someone went out of their way and made that monster. That Manticore was made. Made. There was really someone out there who'd created that Killing Machine. And if there was someone out there who had managed to create and adjust a fucking Manticore... I didn't want to think about what else that person could do.

What I did know was that we were not safe.

This may even be the biggest threat we had dealt with in forever. We survived wars, other overseas Kingdoms that tried to overthrow us. We survived poverty and so much more. But this...

There is really someone out there with the ability to create mythical creatures and even adjust them in a way that made them even more deadly.

"Your Majesty?" Fealar asked, pulling me out of my mind again.

"I'm so sorry, Fealar, for zooming out, again," I apologized while pinching the bridges of my nose.

"It's quite alright, Milady," Fealar smiled. "But I still need you to explain to me what happened outside the walls."

"I know," I sighed.

"They died," Clarissa sobbed, making us all look at her. "They all died," she continued sobbing. "Everyone's dead. Jill, Nicholas, Shera, Hiro, Iniq, Tusky, Nigel, Allen... Kayol. They're all Dead! Killed by that... that thing!" Clarissa screamed. I stared at the broken girl sitting opposite of me at the oval, oak table. A lonely tear found its way down my cheek. "They're all dead. My friends, my family." I carefully rose from my chair. Siraye, who stood in the corner of the room observing, quickly made her way beside me.

I carefully handed her my sleeping treasure and walked over towards the crying Under Captain of the Royal Guard. I lowered myself on my knees in front of the chair she was sitting on and wrapped my arms tightly around her trembling body. Clarissa immediately held onto me and cried on my shoulder. "They're all dead," she sobbed in my hair.

"I know, Love," I whispered while pulling her even closer to me. "We'll kill the one responsible for this. We'll get our revenge. If not now, then in another life. But we'll get it, Clarissa. I'll promise you that. We'll avenge them. All of them."

***

After maybe an hour of crying, maybe more, Clarissa fell asleep on my shoulder. "Siraye," I said just loud enough for the little faun to hear. She immediately made her way towards me.

"Yes, Mi- I mean, Nives?"

"Can you please give her a room?" I asked, nodding towards the girl sleeping on my shoulder.

"Of course." Siraye smiled at me with sad eyes. I gently let go of Clarissa and stumbled up from the ground on which I was still sitting. Siraye handed me my daughter back before gently picking up the small, sleeping girl who was crying her heart out not even five minutes before and softly made her way out of the room.

I sniffed my nose and rubbed a stray tear out of my face before looking at my little girl, who was staring right at me with her big, enchanting, emerald green eyes. I smiled down at her and pressed a kiss on top of her little head. Elin smiled brightly at me and reached towards me with her little hands. I chuckled and pressed another kiss on her head before making my way back to my chair.

"I hate to interrupt-" Fealar started, but I cut him off before he could finish his sentence.

"It was a Manticore." Fealar stared at me with wide-open eyes before sitting down in a chair himself.

"Are... are you sure, Your Majesty? A Manticore is a myth. No one has ever seen one. As I said, they're a myth."

"I've never been so sure of something before in my life, Fealar. It was a Manticore. An adapted Manticore, to be exact."

"Clarify."

"This thing, this Manticore... it was adapted with... Iron. It had limbs entirely made out of iron. He was made, Fealar. There is someone out there who made that thing. Who knows what else they had made." Fealar rubbed his face and stayed silent for a few minutes.

I lowered my gaze back to my daughter, who started to get a little fussy in my arms. "Are you hungry, baby?" I asked, gently caressing her cheek. Elin started moving more and let out a cry. A hungry cry. "Thought so," I smiled before attaching her to my breast. I hummed the lullaby that my Mom always sang for me and my little brother Leo before the grief and the thought of him forever lost in the mountain passes caused her own death.

Just as I finished humming the lullaby, Fealar seemed to return out of his trance. "A Manticore," he mumbled while rubbing his eyes. "A fucking Manticore, I can't believe it."

"A Manticore?" the sweet voice belonging to my friend and maid sounded through the room. I looked up from my daughter, who was still peacefully drinking. "In the Mountains?" I nodded towards her. She let out a long breath before making her way towards the cabinet with drinks. She poured herself a glass of water and sat down on the chair beside me. "What more do you know about this Manticore? Are you sure it was a Manticore?" she asked. Her brown eyes stared straight into mine. The light of the burning torches got reflected in her almost black curls.

"Yes, I am. But it was adapted," I said, looking back at my daughter. "Full limbs of it were entirely made out of iron. So, it was part beast, part machine. A real killing machine," I mumbled. I could still hear the screams of pain. I could still hear its roar. I could smell the iron smell of blood, just like I could still smell the rotting breath of that thing. And last, I could still see all the dead bodies. I shook my head, trying to get rid of those images.

"A machine, you say?" Siraye asked, her dark eyes still staring at me. I nodded.

"Do you know something, Siraye?" Fealar asked over a glass of wine he'd just poured himself.

"Well," my maid started scratching her head. "I've heard about this myth. It's about a creature called Hanera. This means Dark One in some old, forgotten language no one speaks anymore. Even the name of the languages is forgotten, but that's beside the point," Siraye rambled while curling a string of her hair around her finger.

"Tell us more," Fealar ordered her before taking a big gulp from his wine. Siraye swallowed visibly. Clearly intimidated by the pink-skinned military advisor. She nodded quickly and cleared her throat.

"Uh, well, the myth goes that this Hanera has the ability to create things. Anything he can think of. He has the ability to look into someone's mind and create their worst nightmares. He has the ability to well... create things. Deadly things. He also has the ability to completely control darkness. Controlling darkness is one of his biggest strengths since darkness is one of the biggest fears out there. Also, the myth says that he is immortal. He can't die. So, the myth says that he's been captured in a special sarcophagus thrown in a dark hole, forever closed off. That's all I know. I don't know where that hole is they put him in, and I don't know if it's true. As I said, it's a myth."

"The Iron Cave," I mumbled.

"What did you say, my Queen?" Fealar asked, his gaze focused on me while I let my daughter, who was done drinking burb.

"I said the Iron Cave," I repeated myself.

"What's that? I've never heard of it," Siraye announced.

"That's because no one should know about it. It's a forgotten, bad place," I explained. "A cave deep inside the mountain passes. A cave in the deep, down dark. A cave where they put something Evil in centuries ago, and then proceeded to bury the cave, so the thing they put inside could never escape and see the light of day again," I finished my story.

"Do you think that the thing they put in that place... that that is this Hanera creature?" Siraye asked carefully. I nodded at her. The conference room door swung open with a bang what caused everyone to look up and Elin to cry.

"I'm back, My Darling Little Nuggets!" I stared at the man in the doorway. Tears streamed down my face as I quickly stood up from my chair.

"You're alive," I whispered. "You're really alive," I sobbed. I took the man in the doorway in. His dark skin was bruised and cut. His nose seemed to be broken, his eye blackened. He also seemed to limb a bit with his right leg, but he was alive.

Kayol let out a low chuckle and nodded. "How did you survive that thing?" I asked, crying. Kayol limbed his way further into the room and sat down in an empty chair. Siraye gave him a pint of beer, which he gladly accepted. He finished it in a few big gulps and sighed before slumping down in the chair a bit.

"I promised someone special I wouldn't die," he smirked before continuing. "And apparently my power to control metal also works on that thing and... Well, let's just say that he is a lot less intimidating without front limbs," Kayol smirked. I rolled my eyes.

"What did you do with the body of the Manticore?" Fealar asked before finishing his wine as well.

"I burned it. They didn't want to open to gates before it completely went up in ashes," Kayol shrugged and grabbed an orange from the fruit basket on the table. "I also went back to that place and got all the bodies. They're in the infirmary where the loved ones can say goodbye to them." Kayol ended in a whisper. He was clearly touched by the fact that he lost eight of his man today. But knowing him, he didn't want to show it because that would ruin his image of a ruthless, smirking asshole who shares the bed with any man or woman he lays his eyes on. I rolled with my eyes again before nodding at him.

"Thank you."

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