Chapter 36

Arya swore that one moment she was relaxing in the bathtub, the next she found herself in a dark cave of some sort with all kinds of creepy and disgusting looking things.

The cave was dark and was barely lit up with rows of torches lining the walls of the cave and Arya could see the horrors inside the cave coming at her.

She ducked behind a rock and waited. 

A pair of globlins appeared, lit up by the torchlight. The same kind she saw pictures of in her book of ancient stories and legends of the past.

Ugly, beady-eyed and nearly naked except for a loincloth wrapped around their waists. Their wrinkly and saggy skin was tinted an ugly shade of green and their eyes were pointed and long like their noses. One of the globins was snacking on-much to Arya's horror-a human arm like it was a chicken leg.

Both goblins carried nasty looking wooden clubs that looked like they could break open someone's head like an egg and Arya had a feeling that those goblins knew how to use them with deadly proficiency.

Despite their shortness-the goblins were on the short and stocky side- they were packing away muscles. Their arms were bulging with muscles, their chests were built with abs and it was just all muscles and no fat on them as far as she could tell.

The goblin on the right spoke up and his voice was rough and unpleasant, stretching Arya's brain like nails on a chalkboard.

"That zombie attack didn't wipe out those stupid humans!! It was a failure!!"

The goblin on the left eating the human arm finished eating and answered his question

"The king does not have enough forces yet to launch a full scale war yet and, besides, that zombie wave was only there to weaken and demoralize the human warriors before the battle really starts. It wasn't meant to win the war but instead to start off the war in our favor."

"So? Didn't we already wipe out their farmers, blacksmiths and other important laborers? Surely we can fight a war with them now that they can not afford to fight a long-term battle without food or water like we can?"

The globin on the right shook his head.

"The king is not taking any chances. Weakening them and demoralizing them isn't enough to secure a victory for us. We need to get rid of any variables that could turn the tables on us first. That includes their most powerful leaders and generals. Every army needs a leader-"

"-And without a leader or a strong being to follow, chaos and disorder took over. That must be the third part of the king's plan."

"Exactly."

The goblins walked past her down the hallway and into the darkness once again.

Arya didn't know what was going on but she knew for certain that something big and bad was about to happen.

The world turned black around her once again.

…

"-Arya….Arya…ARYA!!!"

Arya's eyes snapped open and she found herself lying on the bed looking up at Myna and Lily.

She slowly got up. She found herself in a white nightgown with green ribbon trimming. Lily or Myna must have dressed her while she was passed out.

"What happened, Myna, Lily? I remember blacking out and-"

Myna cut her off with an outburst.

"I come in with some clothes for you and I see you passed out in the bathtub. Small mercy I found you before you drowned!! I pulled you out and revived you but I feared you would never wake up again!!"

 Myna's concern and worry was in her voice and Arya knew she was lucky to have Myna.

"Myna, please, I'm alright now. I just…blacked out all of a sudden. This never happened before and..wait, how long was I passed out for?"

Lily and Myna looked at each other then back at Arya.

Lily spoke up.

"An hour, your highness."

Arya's eyes widened.

A whole hour? How was that possible?

And she saw those goblins and heard what they just said.

Was something bad going to happen now?

If all those serial killings were to kill off the farmers, blacksmiths and other people important to a war effort and the zombie attack was to shake them up, then killing off any "variables" must be the third part of the plan.

"I want to see Ezzy. I have something to tell him."

Myna pushed Arya back into bed when she tried to get up.

"You're not going anywhere, my princess. You probably overworked yourself during training and you need to rest. That's why you passed out. I could send Lily to tell Ezekiel that you want to see him if you'd like. But you're not getting out of this bed. That's final."

Arya knew there was no point in arguing with Myna over this because once Myna made up her mind about something, nothing could talk or convince her of it.

"Alright, tell Ezzy to come see me in my room."

…

Ezekiel stood in the middle of his training room.

Royal guards surrounded him at all sides, each man or woman armed with a crossbow that was directly pointed at the Crown Prince.

An older man who appeared to be their leader raised his arm and brought it down.

"FIRE!!!"

Every crossbow fired and the arrows went flying towards Ezekiel.

Ezekiel quickly conjured up great bolts of lightning from his hands and then from his entire body. Crackling and bright lightning grew in power and an explosion of lightning was expelled by him in every direction. The arrows were burned and turned to dust.

"Wow, he's amazing."

"Yeah, no joke, I could feel that power all the way from where I am."

Ezekiel sighed. He was making progress in recovery but it was still too slow for his taste. Maybe 50% power now.

No, he thought, not enough. I have to be prepared for whatever disasters that might befall this kingdom. Theon and Lysandra still might fight me for my throne and they are threats to the unity of the government.

"Excuse me, your highness?"

It was Lily. She managed to slip into the training room.

She played with her skirt for a bit, looking shy and nervous.

"You are?"

Ezdekiel fired off bolt after bolt of lightning at the arrows, firing them up into ashes in mid-air.

"I'm Lily, your highness, Princess Arya's newest personal servant. She requested to see you in her room."

Ezekiel casually fired an arrow coming at him with a streak of lightning from his hand.

"Can she not come see me herself?"

Lily looked nervous.

"About that your highness….she fainted while taking a bath and she nearly drowned."

"WHAT!!!??"

Ezekiel missed and his aim was off, sending the next bolt of lightning from his hand zipping past the arrow and accidentally shocking and electrocuting some poor guy instead.

Lily nodded frantically before continuing.

"She said that she had something she wanted to say to you-"

"Say no more.Lily, please escort me to where Arya is."

…

Theon twisted and crushed the metal shield, crumpling up easily like it was a sheet of paper with his bare mind.

It was his favorite way of relieving stress.

Crumpled and balled up metal of what used to be shields littered the floor of his bedroom.

A knock on his bedroom door.

He had been expecting his mother to pay him a visit after she came back from tea and cookies with the other royal concubines.

"Coming, mama!!"

Theon opened the door only for a knife to go straight to his stomach. Pain washed over him and the last thing he saw was a figure grinning down at him.

He fell face first with a loud thud and blood puddled around from his stomach.

He tried to scream for help, to summon his abilities, to do something other than look like a dying fish.

But it was no use, the figure turned around and walked away, footsteps getting fainter and fainter as Prince Theon was left to bleed to death.