The Island With No Parallel

The General of Fear (part 1)

The image above is an idea of what I imagine Fear to look like. Enjoy :)

Over the balcony, on a dark, cloudy day, red flags could be seen waving in the air with the silver symbol of a spider on it. The representation of a new day. The age of the Aracs. Men in hoods marched the streets in twos with knights of the castles. Now, the Aracs and the knights of the king's army walked side by side to keep things in check.

"Your majesty," said a member of the Aracs behind him.

"Yes," answered Francis Stretton. A king, he called himself now.

"Are you prepared to commence?"

A smirk broke the stone face of Francis Stretton. He turned from the balcony, his cape swirling around him, stepping forward with his scepter in his hand. He walked past his brother-in-law's matrimonial bed, his deathbed, and followed the hooded man into the depths of the castle.

They entered the dungeon in an empty cellar. A fire in the center of the room illuminated the faces of the other men present. Among them was prince Renen and Lord Octavius Sherwood. Renen saw his uncle enter and approached him. "Unc-- Your majesty, we're ready to begin."

Stretton chuckled, his laughter sounding more like a growl than anything. "Nephew, please. I am your uncle. We couldn't have gotten this far without your help. When we finish, we will be world conquerors reigning together. Now, bring in Cadri from one of these cells."

Two men left the room and reappeared carrying Cadri between them. She was dragged in covered in filth, scratches all over her body. But she looked at Lord Stretton in the eye, and her back straightened when the men carrying her let her stand. Even dressed in rags, she stood before him with the unwithering elegance of a princess. "I thought I was going to be taken to the Island," she said defiantly.

"You will be, in due time. But first, I wanted you to witness this," Lord Stretton answered her. "I want you to see the hopelessness of your little cause, however many of you there are, learning the way of the Unseeables. The Unseeables are powerful, yes, but you're about to know what true power really is."

Cadri didn't even acknowledge Lord Stretton. "Is this what you've let him turn you into, Renen? A summoner of monsters? A traitor? A murderer? Don't you know no matter how much power the Dark Ones say they can give you, the monster you've allowed to be created within you is the one in control. Not the one formerly known as my brother."

"Silence!" Lord Stretton said, slapping her across the face. "Octavius, let us begin."

Octavius stepped forward towards the flames with a staff in his hand. He made the gesture of a circle in front of the fire, a golden line appearing in the air where he traced the line.

"Sister, it is you who is the idiot," Renen said, staring at his sister through the flames. "Uncle Stretton has showed me that I was capable of much more greatness than this one kingdom could ever be. He showed me that there were greater goals than just being king of Ecencia. Father and Mother never understood true greatness. True power. They were weak. Ecencia was in need of new leadership. An iron rule. And our buffoon of a father was incapable of seeing that."

"No Renen," Cadri said softly, holding her head down to hide her tears. "It is you that doesn't see. The monster inside of you will only continue to consume until it has eaten you whole."

The air within the circle shimmered, and the sleeping image of three of the most unimaginable creatures on Caorfi appeared. But these weren't the Dark Lords. They were only the Generals of their armies, smaller versions of the Dark Lords that led thousands of monsters with abilities akin to their masters. But they were necessary to unlock the Dark Lords, for they held the keys to their prisons.

Lord Francis Stretton, they called at once with their eyes still closed, their mouths not even moving. The deal...

"Yes. I have come with the completion of one of our terms. General of Greed, you have requested the conquering of a people soaked in blood. Ecencia is mine. The king and queen have died by the hand of their own son. The monster that killed them was his summoning. Take the evidence of the completion of the deal."

Renen had brought a piece of fabric from his father's robe, the piece most soaked in blood. He threw it into the circle, the cloth disappearing as it entered.

The ground shook and rumbled. The eyes of the General of Greed opened, his eyes glowing yellow. You have meet my terms as planned, Lord Stretton. You have my services, and this, as agreed. His hand reached out of the circle and dropped a black key made of iron in the shape of thorns on the ground. The key to unlock the prison that held the Dark Lord, Greed.

One of the men went and picked up the key off of the ground, bringing it to Lord Stretton, his wicked smile having returned. "Very good. We will speak again when we have met another term, great Generals. Close the portal, Octavius."

Octavius was about to reach forward with his staff, but as soon as he made contact with the golden circle, he started choking.

Wait... hissed another voice behind the portal. The other two Generals disappeared, leaving the General of Fear. Don't leave just yet.

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FYI this story is heading towards the unedited territory, so there are some things that I plan to change later here, but I don't have time to fix them right now, so... yeah.

Anywho, hope you liked the chapter! The actual chapter was a bit long, so I cut it in half.

A bit of a glimpse into prince Renen's perspective. I wanted you to start to understand his character and why he did what he did. Let me know what you think in the comments! And of course, be sure to rate if you really liked it.

See ya next chapter ;)