Chapter 23: Whispers in Shadows

The streets of Vaeloria's capital were alive with the energy of a thriving kingdom.

Merchants called out their wares, children laughed as they run through the cobbled road, knights and tamed beasts patrolled the roads with a high sense of duty that is a reflection of the newfound strength provided by the king for their homeland.

Kaelen walked among his people, a black cloak wrapped around him to offer some semblance of anonymity, though his presence is something impossible to fully obscure. He does walks like this one on a monthly basis, these walks give him solace, as he likes to be around his people, see how they are living, interact with them as a normal person and see what their needs are.

Some citizens recognized their young king and offered some greetings and bows to show respect for the majesty and kind gifts like a basket of fruits offered by an old street vendor, a little star shaped pendant offered by a little girl that was accompanied by his mother. Whispers of admiration followed him in his wake.

Everything seemed pretty normal, but all of a sudden Kaelen started feeling a sense of uneasiness, he stopped walking and looked around, but saw nothing. His royal guards, who were following close by also noticed the change in the king's expression, they immediately entered a alert state, one of his captains, sir Aldric, a young promising knight in his twenties approached the king and asked while still paying attention to his surroundings " Your majesty is everything alright? Please stay by my side until we can determine there's no danger nearby!"

Kaelen smiled as he knows how much his people like him and how well guarded the capital of his kingdom is. He raised his hand and signalled for the royal guard to stand down, "It's okay Aldric, it was just a slight feeling."

The moment he finished speaking, steps were heard coming from a nearby dark alley, a man, full of bruises and scars, tattered and ripped clothes, covered in mud, walking towards Kaelen with some difficulty.

"Your Majesty, please!" Said the man as he called out for Kaelen's attention. Sir Aldric whom was close to Kaelen stepped forward and unsheathed his sword, brandishing towards the man, "Do not come any further, This is the first and last warning!"

The other royal guards also stepped forward encircling the man, making sure he has no way to escape.

"Plea-...Please, I just need to deliver an important information to his majesty" He said and using some strength he raised his voice, "YOUR MAJESTY, PLEASE, YOU NEED HEAR ME OUT!"

The commotion caused by the man's scream attracted the people's attention as the stopped doing their stuff and looked at the man in order to see what was happening.

Kaelen raised his hand, "Aldric, let me talk to him," he started moving towards the man.

Aldric hesitated, but in the end he gave way to his king, but remained wary and focused on any changes from the man.

As Kaelen got closer, the man knelt down to pay his respects to the king. "Your Majesty, thank you for giving me an opportunity."

"You do not need to kneel, get up and say what you need man." Kaelen said while looking at the man with an examining gaze.

The wounds on his body looked fresh.

His eyes filled with tears as he started to speak, it was like he was getting ready to pour all of his grievances out, "I escaped from them, I couldn't stay there! They killed everyone, my wife, my precious daughter...I did not even had any chance to save them...our village was razed to the ground! We need your help, your Majesty! Please avenge them! Please, my king." He knelt down once again and bowed at Kaelen's feet.

"You escaped! From who did you escape? Where are they now? Calm down and explain it to me." Kaelen was shook by the information, but he needs all the detail he can get from the man.

"The Sha-...Shadow Cult! That's what they said. They came in a fast pace, like something we've never seen before, they moved like shadow and had no faces, they looked like living shadows." The man was doing his best to recall what happened. "I-I-I heard them say that Vaeloria and king Kaelen were the next targets and then they saw me...I ran as far as I could in order to get here my king."

Kaelen frowned when he heard this piece of information. "Is that all?" He asked with a very serious expression.

"No, I also saw one that was with them, it seemed to be their leader, he didn't had his face uncovered and he looked like an old man..." Before the man could continue speaking, he contorted himself once again and screamed.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

A purple and black aura surged from his body, and started spreading like towards the surroundings like a plague. The man in the center of it was screaming like his body was in flames.

The royal guards were the first to react.

"Get out of here!"

They took the king and retreated a few meters, before Kaelen, decide to stop the situation. He turned into a huge winged bird and flapped his wings toward the shadows that were spreading like mist. The pressure created from his wings were enough to dissipate the mist of shadows.

The streets were empty, with only Kaelen and his royal guards left.

He got close to the man, but it was already too late. The man's body lay there, on the streets grounds, his face with an expression reflecting immense pain and agony. Kaelen felt bad for not being able to save him...It was so sudden that he did not know how to react, even if he knew, he didn't have any method to stop whatever that was from happening.

The royal guarda got closer and started to investigate the man's body, trying not to touch him, afraid of what had just happened.

When one of the guards turned the body over, they saw it, on the back of his neck, a black and purple mark, like a tattoo, but somehow moving, it was shaped like a swirling whirlpool.

"What is this? Could it be that it was this what caused his death?" One of the guards asked while looking at the mark, feeling drawn to it, mesmerized. Unknowingly his bare hand was getting closer to the mark, close to tochuing it.

"Don't touch it! Step away from the body" sir Aldric warned them to step aside.

Kaelen saw all of this and was intrigued, but he did not held the answers for this situation. So he decided to call somebody whom he trusted more than anything.

He looked at one of the royal guards and said in a calm and firm tone, "Call lady Marevith and sir Vaedric here, tell them it's an urgency"