Chapter 2: Beauty

We surround the huge boar with our mechatronic horses. The boar glares at us as it desperately looks for a way out. Its beady red eyes land on me. The boar screeches and charges, slamming against my horse and nearly tearing my leg off. I fly off and spin through the air. I land on my feet and draw my sword.

I toss the sword back and forth between my hands. The boar realizes its mistake and screeches in anger. I yell in return and charge. Suddenly, someone grabs my collar and pulls me back as the boar grows and begins to change. In its place, a man with the same beady eyes, sharp tusks, and terrible stench stares at me. He's completely naked with brown fur covering most of his body.

"Boarman." I mutter. The person who pulled me back launches me onto his horse and guides everyone away. It's too late though. The damn thing has my scent. Even when we outrun it, it won't stop hunting me down until I'm dead.

"Another fail, your highness. What are we gonna tell the king?" My best friend and fatherly figure asks. He's a man in his fifties who appears to be in his thirties instead. He's my personal bodyguard and the only one who ever bothered to listen to me.

"We'll figure something out on the way, Max." I respond. Another rider rides up beside us. He throws his hood back and openly scowls at me.

"This is the sixth time this week, your highness. I doubt he'll let this one pass. Keep it up and–"

"Stop scaring him with the same stories, Felix. There's no way his own father would send him off on a wild goose chase." Max grumbles. Felix shakes his head. Felix is a child of Fae. He looks rather young despite being over a hundred years old. His long black hair has been tied back messily. Beads and feathers decorate his hair. Unlike most elves, Felix doesn't use bow and arrows. He uses knives and his long nails. He's dressed in a long cloak and armour.

"Elves don't say stories surrounded by lies and thought, Max. I speak of our stories created by history. History, I may add, hidden by the king himself."

"Felix, where have you heard a vicious goddess as strong as those stories say allow herself to get captured? If she's really that strong, the kingdom would've fallen. There's no goddess in our dungeons." Max presses on. Felix smirks.

"That's because you're only a bodyguard for a kid who can't seem to hunt down even a boarman." Max looks at Felix pointedly.

"Let me tell you that this bodyguard used to be your general. Let me also tell you that the kid is a prince."

"General until you got upstaged by one of your students who I may add wasn't the prince. Besides, that prince you guard is the youngest. Unless his oldest brother somehow is unable to take the throne and nor can the other one, the kid's useless." Felix snarls.

"Are you two done?" I mutter. Max gives me a jerky nod.

"Sorry, kid." He mutters. I don't say anything. It's always like this. Max used to be really close to my parents and with Felix. But after my mother mysteriously disappeared and was later found dead at the edge of one of the main rivers, everything changed. My father gree cold. Max and Felix grew apart. I just do happen to get stuck in the middle.

"I'll take the blame this time." Felix grumbles and falls back.

No one believed it. Felix is too good of a fighter to make mistakes. Max paces around me, murmuring angrily. I sit under a tree, staring off to the horizon where the forest forms. On the other side, a village prospers. To the south, there's another one that's recently been becoming famous. The Beast, they say.

The few that have come back from the village were slightly wounded and frightened. Apparently the kids there are also demons. The few good stuff that we've heard about is that the vendors sell goods worth the price and that it's probably the safest place during the day. The Beast only comes out at night.

"Do you think the Beast's real?" I ask out loud. Max stops pacing and grumbling and looks at me. His bushy eyebrows pull together as he kneels down and places his finger on my chest.

"Listen to me, kid. The Beast is nothing but a myth. If the Beast was real, it would've been taken care of by now. What we call the Beast, are actually a bunch of orphans playing pranks on the travelers."

"Then explain the witnesses." Max grabs the collar of my shirt and throttles me.

"Will you listen to yourself! No wonder everyone thinks you're pathetic! You're scared of stories!" Max stops throttling me. He's panting and angry. He lets go of me and stands up.

"I'm not scared. Just curious." I mutter.

"Ever heard of 'curiosity kills the cat'?" Max snaps.

"Ever heard of 'know your place'?" I snap back. Max laughs.

"I know my place. It's about time–"

"You learn yours." A new voice says. Max and I jerk our heads towards the voice. A woman in armor walks towards us in unnatural silence. Her armor shines in the sun. Her long straight black hair has been tied up in a bun. Her brown eyes show little to no emotion despite the smile formed by her full lips. She has high cheek bones with slightly arched eyebrows. One of her arms is different than the rest of her appearance. The entire arm's black rock with orange fluid glowing from the cracks formed here and there.

Her fingers and nails have become long fingers with sharp tips. Her armor is in the form of a dress. Dragon metal has been used for her armor, making it black and for the Slavin Empire's crest to pop out.

"General Rin Chi." Max grumbles.

"Max Magnuson." General Chi salutes despite not being saluted by Max. Her eyes drift twords me. Her lips curl up into a smile that doesn't quite reach her eyes.

"General." I mutter.

"Prince Benjamin, youngest of three sons. Your father's quite displeased. Something tells me Magnuson mirrors his displeasure. After all, what fool would fight boarmen?" I hang my head in shame. Even the General's making fun of me and she hasn't officially met me in Court.

"What's your point?" I raise my voice a bit. General Chi comes closer and crouches down before me.

"My point is that they look at the foolish side. Rather than looking for ways to help you improve, they ridicule you. It's foolish to fight boarmen. But that goes for those who have next to no training." I stare at her.

"Why are you here anyway?" Max asks, clearly not liking what she said. I blink. General Chi's smile disappears and she straightens to stare down Max.

"The king sent me to give you your punishment, Prince Benjamin. You, Max, and Felix are to head to the Lotus Village and put a finish to the rumors going around about this Beast."

"Wait! Why does Felix have to go? Why Max, too?" I yell, standing to have some ground in opposition towards the General.

"Felix lied to the king. He's lucky the king decided to spare him from execution. As for Max, he's your bodyguard, mentor, and your accomplice. And before you ask anything else, no. You'll blindly walking into the village only knowing what you've been told. You'll be provided with nothing except for horses and food."

"When are we supposed to leave?" Max asks. General Chi looks at me.

"I suggest you visit your mother's resting place before you mentally prepare yourself to leave. Who knows if the Beast is real. And if it is, depending on its nature, you might have to kill it. And you have to do it alone. Max and Felix will only be there to bring your dead body back and to defeat it if you're taken down. But the king suggested you try to bring it alive."

"So, we leave when?" Max snaps. In a flash General Chi has him by the throat.

"I already answered that, old man." She growls and let's go. She steps back and places her hand on my shoulder. The sharp claws feel like needles on my bare skin despite the thick cloth in between.

"Prince Benjamin, if you can, don't kill the Beast. There's a possible chance there's more to it you and I don't understand. Forget the king and think about yourself for once. Remember what your mother said." I jerk away from General Chi in surprise.

"What do you know about my mother?" I yell. General Chi smiles and flicks her clawed hand.

"The Slavin Empire has more secrets than you think." She turns to leave and stops. She half turns and glances at Max before looking at me in the eyes. "Immortals don't allow themselves to be captured without a reason. Rather than wondering whether the stories you're told are real, wonder why they exist to begin with."

Max and I watch her leave. Max is pale and breathing hard. He grits his teeth and looks at me.

"We leave tomorrow." He grumbles and storms off. I'm left alone wondering what just happened.