The Battle of Zynix

"The war has gone on for too long," Hendrick said, alarmed by the number of fresh corpses scattered on the battlefield, "too much blood has been spilt on our land."

"For the good of the kingdom, valiant prince. We have no choice but to slay them with the blade," Winston barked, thrusting the sharp blade of his sword through the unarmoured chest of a soldier.

"Aren't these our people?" He dodged the vicious slash by an enemy soldier. He was now in a sword fight.

The soldier swang at the same time as Hendrick did. Sparks of light were emitted when the two iron blades clashed together. Hendrick struggled, losing breath as he was stupefied by the expertise of the swordsman. Hendrick swung his blade, and he would either dodge or do the same; sometimes both. Such a headache, Hendrick thought.

Finally, Hendrick delivered a blow enough to knock him down. Winston was far away from him, engulfed in his role in the war. He put his blade on the neck of the downed soldier, his foot on his plated chest.

"This is for the good of the kingdom," Hendrick remarked. "Your leader is blindsided, not seeing the light of truth emanating from the cause the Kingdom of Veritasia bring to the table."

"The table made from your own bones." He struggled to breathe. "You are the blind-sighted soldier. The cause you see the light in has caused nothing but dismay on the other side."

"That is what you would say, you wretched filth. You disgust me."

"And you disappoint me."

He put his sword down and grabbed Hendrick's leg, making him fall on his back onto the blood-and-grass-covered ground. He pinned him down and reached for his sword. Hendrick seemed helpless. He then reached for the dagger around the soldier's waste and trusted its sharp blade into his neck. Blood dripped slowly, and then started gushing out once the blade was pulled out, staining the royal armour adorned by the prince - Prince Hendrick II.

The rain started to fall, and the blood of the deceased soldiers washed away, pooling in holes or flowing all the way to the Zen River, flowing from 'The Mount, ' which houses the largest monk temple in the land.

Winston rushed to the prince at the first sight of blood on his armour. "Gosh, are you alright, sire?"

"Winston," Hendrick said, kneeling next to the body of the fallen soldier, "you are my faithful companion, my very own right-hand man. The concern you have for me is admirable. An irredeemable quality of you. However, remorse is not one of those qualities."

Winston laughed, "I serve the kingdom and the prince. If such duty calls for me to serve you tea and biscuits when morrow dawns and your eyes greet the brand new day, I will do so. If I am called upon to smite the kingdom's adversary, I cannot at all afford to disappoint the leadership I so valiantly serve."

"I put my trust in you that we are doing the right thing."

"Believe in me, just as we believe in your parents. Haven't they cared for thee before?"

"Words alike those from a sage's tongue. My trust falls on all of them. Moreso, I possess doubt. This violence seems wrong."

"We shall overcome. Let us commence our departure before we are drenched even more in the rain."

Hendrick got up to his feet, with the blade still in his hands. The raindrops cleaned most of the blood on the dagger off, revealing an inscription. Hendrick grew curious. He took the sachet of the soldier he had slayed and stored the dagger there, around his own waist.

Winston got on his armoured horse, riding it fast but still able to control it flawlessly. Hendrick soon followed, with the handful of the surviving soldiers following distantly behind the duo.

Hendrick caught up with Winston. "Where has this war gotten us to now?"

"Now we fall back to the Durk Palace. We will recollect ourselves there."

"We have lost many. How will we win if we keep losing our men?"

"Do not fret, Your Grace. The ultimatum decision is to be made by the king, your father."

"Rather stepfather."

"He still loves you."

"I could tell."

They finally reached the royal gates and all entered the royal hall, where the king and queen waited patiently on their thrones, made of Mahogany wood, gold and diamond details, and purple cloth.

"All soldiers," King Naboth barks, "head to the armoury near the royal gates. The Army Commander awaits!"

"Understood, Your Highness. We depart under your order," the leader of the surviving army flank spoke on the others' behalf. All gave a salute and walked away.

"Winston. Excellent to see you yet again," Queen Jedidah recognised the old servant.

"An honour to meet you, too, Your Highness." He bowed in her presence.

King Naboth stood up from his throne and walked towards the prince. The prince started to have fear within him. What is it now?

"And King Naboth. Your Highness, so good to be in your...."

"Wait is this?!" the king shouted, his voice echoing in the almost vacant throne room. He grabbed Hendrick's right arm and revealed a wound - a deep cut caused by the slash of a blade or sword, or the scraping of an arrow.

Winston hesitated. "Umm... Your Highness, that never came to..."

King Naboth interrupted, "My son gets harmed under your very watch. You old man, how careless..."

"Naboth!" Queen Jedidah herked. "Watch your tongue. Hendrick is back in one piece, isn't he?"

"With all due respect, sir, the battlefield is somewhere that the prince's protection is not guaranteed," Winston said in his own defence.

"Don't be stubborn, Naboth," the queen entered the fray. Then she turned to Hendrick. "Hendrick, my dear, could you please exit the room to leave us to discuss?"

"Of course, mother... I mean, Your Highness." He bowed, hiding his newly acquired blade with his hand.

Hendrick exited the room, and as soon as the door was closed behind him, the party of three left inside the room resumed their discussion. Hendrick proceeded to his sleeping quarters, where he removed the blood-stained, damaged armour. He cleaned the blood from his body and bandaged the cut he received from the battle. He adorned himself with this royal clothing - [DESCRIBE]

He picked up the dagger again and saw the inscription on the blade. It was intriguing, making him immensely concerned and curious:

Θάνατος στον καταστροφέα των βασιλείων

It was hard for him to interpret. He yearned to ask for aid. Despite his want, he wished to study it, reading the scrolls and books that might contain information concerning Greek text. He was able to decipher it - it read:

DEATH TO THE DESTROYER OF KINGDOMS

The morrow dawned, and Hendrick arose before the sun. He wished to speak to his parents, who were still in the throne room. He approached the doors and told the soldier standing guard to borrow permission for the prince's presence to be acknowledged and accepted in the room.

"Of course. Bring him in," the queen affirmed, with a smile of delight on her visage.

Hendrick entered through the large doorway and left open the big wooden doors.

"Thank you, Father." He bowed to his father. "Thank you, Father." Bowed to his mother.

"Oh, please. There is no need for formalities. We are already family."

"Mother, I will never grow weary of acknowledging your monarchial stand. The same applies to you, Father."

Queen Jedidah was flattered, smiling with happiness, proud of how humble her son was. However, King Naboth was the absolute opposite. He remained emotionless; instead of taking pleasure, his son acknowledged him by rank. Nevertheless, he felt like it was a necessity and he only did what was needed.

"I have some information that may be vital to this war. But first, I request the presence of the army general. He is key."

"Excellent, something useful to put a halt to this petty conflict."

Petty? Hendrick thought. In what manner could this war be petty in the first place?

A guard was sent, and not long after, he came back with the woman requested.

"Your Highnesses," she curtseyed. "To your ever so great authority, what is the reason for my summoning?"

"As you know, this war which many dub the Battle of Zynix, has been going on for months. Much blood had been spilled and even more property has been destroyed by the demons that figuratively are the men fighting for our enemy, the Kingdom of xxx. Now, my boy here brought to our attention that he has some important piece of information that might help us to beat them. Although, I do notice that he has nothing but a dagger in his hand. However seeming insignificant, he persists it is important."

"Very well," the army commander answered. He walked to Hendrick and reached out her hand. "Could you hand me the dagger, please, Your Grace?"

"Certainly!" He was sparked with joy.

The commander inspected the weapon. She noticed its details, its uniqueness.

"This belongs to a soldier of the enemy. Their emblem is on the handle."

"Eeh... There is so much more on it. Look at the blade."

The commander inspected the weapon again. She noticed the inscription, but she also did not understand what it meant. She was utterly clueless. "It seems to be in a foreign language. Odd. We might need to request for a monk to translate."

"There is no need for such. The inscription reads 'death to the destroyer of kingdoms'."

"So?!" Kingt Naboth fumed, frothing at his mouth.

"They are not targeting the kingdom solely. They are doing this because of you," Hendrick explained. "You probably have something that they want. Do you know what it is?"

The King hesitated. "No clue."

"You need to evacuate. You might be in danger."

Just then, a small group of men entered the room.

"Scouts!" the army commander barked. "Where are your manners?"

"Sorry, but... this is urgent," one of the scouts stepped forward.

"Say, what seems to be the predicament?"

"We have just come from the enemy camp, and they have confirmed a plan to infiltrate the palace and kidnap the king," the scout added, being short of breath from all the running he had been doing.

"You see, father?"

"And you!" the scout said, pointing at the prince.

"Excuse me?"

"They somewhat say something about, 'a blindsighted royal'? We are unsure of what they meant or what they intend to do with you both."

"Are they on their way," inquired the commander.

"Yes. They had already sent an entire flank to the gates."

"Well don't you stand there, order for the guards to guard the doors to the palace at once!"

The army commander ran out of the throne room, together with the scouts.

"Father, Your Highness, are you okay."

"Leave and prepare for battle. We cannot allow them to take us." King Naboth then turned his attention to his wife. "My beautiful queen, I would be utterly heartbroken if anything bad could have happened to you. I want you to hide somewhere in the palace, somewhere you can guard yourself."

"But Naboth...."

"Please do so, my love."

"But what about Hendrick? They might take him back. He will know that we..."

Naboth interrupted, "That we took him from King Walter during a raid? I do not like the kid, but his combat skills are very useful in our battles. I do not know why you treat him like he is blood."

"How else would I act? When he knows, he would be heartbroken, or worse - angry!" She started breaking down into tears. " I do not want to do this anymore, Naboth. I want to tell him, but I can't."

"He will never know."

The two embraced, with Naboth's arm at the back of her head as she cried on his shoulder. Their attention was then called to the doorway, as they heard the sound of shattering. A wine glass full of wine fell to the ground and broke, spilling the wine on the royal carpet.

"What?!" he exclaimed angrily.

"Son, I can explain," Queen Jedidah attempted to plead with him, still very emotional - tears running down her cheeks.

"No explanation needed, Mother. I have heard it all."

"But son..."

"I am not your son!" Hendrick lashed out. "I am only an acquisition. In fact, I am only an asset to this tyrant."

Hendrick then pulled out the dagger from the sheath at the belt around his waist. He held it out and looked at it, then back at his father. "The owner of this dagger was right - I was blindsighted. I am the reason for bloodshed."

"Then help me correct it. Would you rather die at their hand? You have spilt enough of their blood to allow them to do so."

Hendrick walked to his father, with the dagger still in his hand. "I will fix it, then." He then stabbed Naboth at the thigh of his right leg, his white royal pair of trousers staining slightly with blood, then completely changing colour when the dagger was pulled out. The king sparrows down on the floor, growling in pain.

Queen Jedidah oversaw the horror and she started to fear. She looked at the prince, pleading for pity in her eyes.

"I am not angry at you mother," Hendrick told her, trying to calm himself down, "I am just disappointed."

"I did not want this. I just wanted a child of my own, but I got you, and... He told me not to get attached, but..."

"So, what? Loving me was an accident."

Tears continued to roll down her cheeks. "I still do."

Hendrick put the dagger back in the sheath and walked up to her. She touched her face and wiped away her tears. "Thank you, mother. But this is alike an arrow shot straight for my heart." He then turned around and left.

The door opened before he could reach for the handle and in came the royal guards.

"Sir, what is going on?" Winston asked him as they ran into each other in the hallway.

"I would not spill out such information to a snake like you. I can't believe my right hand man would mask the truth of my own reason for living." Then, he stormed off, hiding any way he possibly could, trying to avoid capture but the guards who were most likely sent on a pursuit for him by the king. He hid in the shadows of the day before the darkness of the night could approach. When he was cloak in night's black, he took is dark-armoured horse and rode away to the Poppy Palace.

He stopped distantly away from the palace gates. He snuck in into the palace and started scouting for the king's presence. He explored almost every room until he found the king in his royal office, writing with his red-feather quill a letter, probably a treaty. He knocked, he looked behind him.

The king was unsure to approach, so Hendrick did so. He looked at him into his eyes.

"You wanted me?" Hendrick finally spoke. "You have me. But I need to know what is going on."

The king, King Isak, prepared a quick feast for himself and his unexpected guest.

"It began more than two decades ago. The young Prince of Zynix disappears after the raid by the Kingdom of Veritasia. They were in a poor economic state, and as a result we offered our help. Unfortunately, his heart was too cold, his wanting too ignorant and his actions too costly. They took everything: our wealth, our women, our people's lives, our prince, and our queen; all with his blade swinging endlessly."

"What did he want with me?"

"It was unclear at first, but now it is easy to tell. You were to be the heart of his army, smiting those who opposed his rule."

"Including you."

"Unluckily for me, indeed. But I am glad you know this now."

"But what to do?"

"Both of us know that heartless man, King Naboth, will stop at nothing that to see my... our kingdom, utterly fall; even if I withdraw my men from the feud. We have to make them end it themselves."

"Weren't you writing a treaty earlier?"

"No, I was not. Rather, a letter addressing the army for the evacuation of my subjects from the kingdom. I could not wish for my kingdom to be nothing but ruins."

"He must pay for the hurt he caused us."

"I wish not to be the one encouraging carnage, but it is the only way to stop further destruction."

"What about the queen, my mother?"

"Let us just say, this palace only encases her memorium, where she breathed last. That is why it is called the 'Poppy Palace', her favourite flower, surrounding the palace."

The Kindom of Zynix seemed to fight back more powerfully than ever. They were attacking vital parts of the army, exploiting their weaknesses.

"Hendrick's work," King Naboth noted. No matter how he tried, the Zynix Kindom had the upper hand.

Ultimately, there was a last-stand battle outside the gates of Durk Palace, where the Kingdom of Zynix attempted to ambush the king to 'end the distress'. But on King Naboth's side, he sensed that they were likely to do so after interprating their pattern of attack.

First they begin with the army camps, then the guards at the gates, King Naboth reasoned with himself, not much of a wild guess.

"Mightly soldiers of the Kingdom of Veritasia, charge!" King Naboth barked, causing the soldiers to open the gates to the palace and rush into the war. He sat at the top of his palace, watching the carnage from its balcony.

"What should we do now, my true father?" Hendrick inquired to King Isak, who were both behind, watching it from a distance as they stategised how they were to confront the king. The king portrayed little emotion on his visage but a slight smirk.

"We need to avoid too much bloodshed on our part. However, we have no other place to go." King Isak then took out a dagger in his sheath.

Hendrick took and pulled out his. It had intriguing details. It was double-edged, with an inscription down the middle of its blade:

LIONHEART

He almost broke down to tears, but he contained himself and the two went on with their risky venture to infiltrate the Durk Palace.

As the havoc went on, King Isak and Hendrick were avoiding combat and infiltrate through the gates threshold. Avoiding the carnage will ease the partaking of our goal, Hendrick reasoned. But as he was about to enter through the gates, Hendrick was brought down by mighty swing of a blade, which made him fall to the ground. Luckily, he had his armour on, so he was not cut. (Though he wished the same for his breastplate.)

He looked up and to his surprise, he saw Winston, standing over him with a sword in his hand. His face told story, one of loyalty - loyalty to the king, Hendrick recurred. He neared the blade to his neck and said: "Any last words, Prince Hendrick."

"You might have blindsighted me before, but I won't fall for any traps or fates; not today!"

Hendrick then grabbed Winston by his leg and made him fall. He then took the blade he let go after a struggle. When he was about to reach it, Winston was holding firmly to his shoulder. He took his dagger and stabbed him in the arm. He then took the sword and stood up, driving the sword into his stomach until the blade was not only in him but anchoring him on the earth.

"I told you I serve my master, no matter the command," Winston said finally, blood painting his teeth red.

"You have been serving the wrong master - we both have. But the difference between us was I was blind-sighted, you knew it all along. Enjoy hell, snake." Winston breathed his last.

"Come on, son. We need to hurry. The palace is practically defenceless."

The two entered the palace, approaching the throne room and smiting every royal guard that came in their way, leaving a blood-trail behind them. In the throne room, they found Queen Jedidah on her throne, weeping, cloth at hand. She sees the two, and they fear.

"Have you come to finish me off, Hendrick?" she inquires. "If so, do it and make it quick. I was wrong, and I feel to guilty to go on."

King Isak and Prince Hendrick exchanged glances.

"Mother, please. We are not here to hurt you."

"Why?" she added, whipping away the tears with her cloth.

"You cared. However, we need to confront Father... I mean, the king?"

"You will find him at the balcony overlooking the battle. But be careful. He might have seen you approach."

"Thank you, Mother. I will forever be indebted for your love and care."

"My queen died by the blade of the king," King Isak shared. "I do not desire the same fate to you."

The two then exit the throne room and search for the king, rummaging items as they went along.

"Your tyranny ends here, the conflict stops now," King Isak declared to Naboth upon reaching his balcony.

"And who are you to say? I will never surrender."

"Funny you should say that." He then lifted his hand and an arrow was shot to Naboth's head. The king truned his head, dodging the arrow. The arrow's sharp head only graced upon his hair. The arrow struck King Isak on the shoulder.

"Well, do you surrender?" King Naboth gloated.

[CONCLUDE]