Kings & Queens 👑 part four

Delvin’s POV:

The redhead that’s staring at me is really cute. But there is something strange about him. 

The taller one, who looks like me, walks towards me, but I put up a hand.

“Wait.” I say. “You might know me, but I can’t remember you.”

He looks confused. “But...” 

“I still know who you are.” I tell him. Maybe I should explain. “I’ll explain on the way.”

“The way to where?” He demands.

I smile. “We’ve got to go get the elves, don’t we?”

          👑

I tell them how, about five hours ago, I couldn’t remember anything about my past. I could see into the future, but only if I wanted to. That’s how I figure out their names.

“So, you,” I say, looking at the taller one, “Are Sal. And you’re dating the prince? Chris?”

He looks a little freaked out, and I don’t blame him. He nods, and I look at the redhead.

“Who are you?” I can’t see anything about him.

“You can’t see my future?” 

I sigh. “It doesn’t work like that.”

“How does it work?” He asks.

“I can see different possibilities for futures, but I have to be in them. I don’t know why I can’t see you in any of them. It’s like you're not supposed to be here.”

He bites his lip. “I’m not really supposed to be here.”

“What?” I ask.

He trips over a root, and my hand shoots out to help him. But as soon as I touch him, my eyes widen.

“You should be dead!” I cry. I can just tell. 

He smiles. “Death doesn’t like me.”

“What does that mean?” I ask.

Sal and Chris had walked ahead, and are now talking in hushed tones. 

“Well, I was turned into a book for a hundred years.” He tells me.

I nod. “Okay, so how old are you?” 

“A hundred and eighteen. But technically eighteen.” 

“I’m eighteen too.” I say. I blink and see the future.

Chris trips over a rock by a lake, and the waterfall splits, and we find a secret entrance. We walk through a dark tunnel until Chris trips over a torch. We reach an opening, but there are guards. They go to attack us, but someone yells a name, and they fall back.

I open my eyes and run into a tree.

“Ow!” I yell. Sal and Chris turn, and Sal snorts. The elf crouches beside me.

“Are you okay?” He asks.

I press my hand to my nose. “I think so.”

“I thought you could see the future.”

I glare at him. “It doesn’t work like that.”

“Okay.” He shrugs. “Do you want me to heal your nose?”

I look at him. “You can do that?”

“Yeah, most elves can.” 

I nod. “Yeah, please do.”

“Okay.” He says. He presses two warm fingers to my nose, and leaves them there for a few seconds. His eyes are really cool. They keep changing colors.

When he moves back I realize I was staring. But he was too.

“Thanks.” I say.

He shrugs, and stands up. “No problem.”

“Now we’ve got to look for a waterfall.” I tell him, standing.

He points behind me. “Like that one?”

“Yeah, that’s it.” I say.

Well, we got lucky. Chris trips as soon as we get over to them.

“Great.” I say, looking at the waterfall. A huge rock rises, making a dry path to walk on.

They all look at me. “Do you know what’s going to happen?” Sal asks.

“Yeah, we walk through there until we find an opening, then we convince the guards to let us through.” I explain, walking on the rock.

They follow, and when we’re all inside, the rock goes back up, leaving us in darkness.

Someone grabs my arm. I can barely make out the elf’s face in the dark.

“Are you okay?” I ask quietly.

He shakes his head, and moves closer to me. “I don’t like the dark.”

“It’s okay.” I whisper. Then louder, “Chris? Sal?”

“We’re right here.” Sal says from behind me.

I turn. “Okay, let’s go. Chris will trip over a torch eventually.”

“What?” He yelps. Sal laughs.

We walk down the tunnel, and at some point I end up holding the elf’s hand. I don’t mind, because his hand is warm, and it’s cold.

We find the torch, and Sal manages to light it. The elf immediately relaxes, but we both turn red when they see our hands.

“Shut up.” We both say, letting our fingers drift apart.

We walk in silence until we find ourselves in front of the guards.

“Hey! How did you get in here?” They yell, coming towards us. There are seven.

They’re all in armor, and carry tall spears they jab them at us. One almost hits me, but the elf pulls me behind him.

“Stop,” He commands. They do. “Do you have a king?” He asks. At first nobody moves, but finally one nods. 

“Why?” They ask.

“Go tell him Airen has come to save everyone.” 

So that’s his name.

They all drop their spears immediately. Three of them run off, and the others bow at Airen’s feet. 

He looks like he hates it. “No, no, get up.” He tells them. They do.

He tugs on one of his curls. “Can we go in? It’s cold in here.”

“Yes, of course.” One says. They move out of the way, and walk on all sides of us.

Their home is amazing. The light comes from the different colored crystals everywhere. They have small houses, and buildings set up, and I can see a huge building I assume is the castle.

All kinds of creatures are everywhere, most of them are looking at us. I can see other elves. All of them have curly hair that is all kinds of different colors and pale skin. Fairies are flying around, and long on top of buildings to stare at us. I can hear neighbors coming from somewhere, and I wouldn’t be surprised if there were pegasus or unicorns.

Airen comes to my side. “This is creepy.” He whispers.

“No kidding.” I mutter back.

I get another vision.

An elf with a huge stomach, red robes, and a crown is standing in front of us. He is looking beside me, and he crosses his arms. “If you truly are Airen, tell me. Who is the one that turned you into a book?”

I blink, and see Airen looking up at me. 

“What was it?” He asks.

I glance up. “The king. He’s going to ask who turned you into a book.”

“Oh, that’s easy.” He says, relieved.

We stop, and the king comes out. He’s got long curly blue hair, and is wearing lots of gold. He’s very intimidating, and has a sword at his side which makes him look even scarier. He crosses his arms and looks at Airen who digs his nails into my arm.

“If you truly are Airen, tell me. Who is the one who turned you into a book?” He bellows.

Everyone is quiet, as Airen stands up straight.

“It was Charlie Reynes. The king's younger brother.”

Everyone looks at the king. He nods. 

“Good. Now, come. We have much to discuss.” 

“Actually,” Airen says. I look at him.

“What are you doing?” I hiss.

“We don’t have time for this.” He tells me.

The king turns back to look at Airen. “What did you say?”

“We can’t. Warmonger is coming soon. We need to be ready to fight him.” Airen says confidently.

The king walks till he’s right in front of Airen. “And who are you to tell me what to do?”

“The only person who can save your sorry butts.” He replies.

He’s awfully brave. The king looks shocked, but I already know Airen will get away with talking to him like that.

The king purses his lips, and turns. “Fine. How long do we have? Do you know that?”

I’m standing in a stable with Airen, helping brush a unicorn. “I can’t believe we had two days to prepare an army.” He says.

I blink, and see Airen looking at me.

“Two days.” I say under my breath.

He looks up at the king. “We have two days for an army to be ready. Can you do that?”

 👑

Two days later, I’m in the stable with Airen.

Preparing the army was easy. They were all very good at listening to Airen, especially after they found out he could disarm three of them in ten seconds.

Chris and Sal spent most of their time with the animals, so I spent a lot of time with Airen, which was amazing.

Everyone wanted to meet him, and would watch him do anything. He constantly mouthed off to the king, which made most people like him even more. The king was kind of selfish, and annoying.

We were planning on going to the mountain I found out Warmonger would be waiting at. Airen and I are going out last, so we’re waiting for all of the soldiers to file out.

“Are you ready?” I ask him. He doesn’t seem scared, or worried like I am.

He shakes his head. “No. But I’ve been waiting for this for a hundred years.”

I’m worried that if he’s going to get hurt, I won’t be able to prevent it. I still can’t see far into a future with him, and that’s making me anxious.

“What about you?” He asks, looking at me.

We walk towards the entrance of the cave. Everyone who isn’t fighting was sent to hide in another cave.

I shrug. “Probably not.”

“It’ll be okay.” He assures me.

I nod, not believing him. I chose not to tell him about all the people who will die. 

We go out of the cave, following the last of the soldiers. When we get to the forest, we wait.

“Del,” He says quietly. He started calling me that, and I never stopped him. 

“Yeah?” I ask. We’re standing behind a cluster of trees, watching the soldiers.

He bites his lip. “I’m worried.”

“About what?” 

He looks up at me. “I don’t want you to die.”

That shocks me. Shouldn’t he be more concerned about himself?

“Why?” I ask, looking into his eyes. I realize how close we are.

“Cause then you’d never know how much I like you.” He says quietly.

Wait..what? He actually likes me? I really wish I had seen this coming sooner.

“I know now.” I tell him. 

Then he covers his face. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything, that was dumb, I-”

I grab his face. “Shut up.”

“Okay.” He says. 

I pull him close, and kiss him. He wraps his arms around my neck, standing on his toes to reach my mouth. I pull his waist, kissing him hard. 

When he pulls back, he grins. “Don’t die.”

“You can’t either.” I tell him. “I’m definitely marrying you.”

He kisses me one more time, and we go to fight a monster.

 👑

(‼️Warning: This is kind of a war scene. If uncomfortable, please don't read.!!)

I think we’re winning? 

There are a lot of dead goblins and trolls everywhere, but also dead elves.

I’m following Airen, who is going towards Warmonger.

I already know the elf king is dead. He decided to charge Warmonger, and got himself killed.

When Airen is about to go face Warmonger, he tells me to stay back. I don’t listen, and follow after he’s gone. 

“Warmonger!” He shouts, strolling up the hill to him.

He’s huge, but not that scary. He’s got a human body, and huge wings. His claws are long, and sharp, but that’s probably the scariest thing about him. He’s wearing a mask, so I have no idea what his face looks like.

He looks down at Airen, and lands in front of him.

“What, child?” He hisses, a cloud of smoke bursting from the mask.

Airen coughs, and looks back at him.

“I wanted to give you something.” He says.

What is he doing?

He pulls his sword from his belt, and drops it in front of Warmonger, who looks confused. He leans down to pick it up. When he looks away, Airen plunges a dagger into his throat. 

His scream travels far into the woods, and I can hear trolls and goblins surrendering.

Airen backs up, but not quick enough. Warmonger slashes his claws across Airen’s chest as he falls. He doesn’t get up.

“No!” I scream. I run to Airen who turns to look at me.

He shakes his head. “I told you to stay back.”

Then he collapses. I catch him, and hold him in my arms. He’s ridiculously light, and I carry him away from Warmonger’s body.

I sit on the top of the hill, cradling his head in my lap.

“D-del.” He coughs.

I look down at him. “Please. Don’t die. You promised.”

“So-sorry.” 

“Airen…” I sob. "You can't. Please."

He moves his hand to my cheek. “It’s okay.”

“It’s not.”

“You’ll be okay.”

“I won’t.”

“Please don’t cry.”

“Airen, you’re dying.”

“I know.”

“This is my fault...”

“No. It’s not.”

“Airen… I love you.”

"I love you t-too."

"Please."

“Tell me -” He coughs. “Tell me what would happen if we got married.”

So I do. The possible future comes to me, and I tell him everything I can think of as he slowly dies in my arms.