Chapter 15 - Heavy Rain I (1/2)
Since that time, two days ago - when the fourth prince of Ralun, Bazuul - had fought, and killed Chief Thousand Flowers and some of his henchmen. The rain continuously poured down on the kingdom. Its cities were drowned in a melancholic atmosphere ever since, and still the rain poured on and on.
At this time, Bazuul stood on his balcony in the middle of the rain, observing the scenery and taking in the waters pouring down with a face as if in wonder, a smile on his face and his eyes glittering.
~~~
After the fight, Yao Ling was able to be stabilized and eventually saved. It took a day to uproot all of Chief Thousand Flowers businesses but the deed was done at last. They also found the brother and sister duo's mother, Yao Yu Yan. Her physical condition was not as bad as the psychological trauma she had suffered. Especially the fact that her husband had died, and her son and daughter had to fend for themselves, made it hard for her to swallow. Yet, it also helped her that she was reunited with her children once more.
Many citizens were present throughout the whole ordeal and even though the rain kept pouring, they were in an uproar. With smiles plastered on their face, they were singing songs of praise of the little prince that was in charge of their part of the kingdom. The bloody scenes, forgotten as soon as the rain carried the stains away.
Bazuul remained indifferent to those praises, not indulging in flights of fancy. Cold even, if one were to be honest. Even though his eyes had regained their bright amber color, they seemed empty and devoid of anything that usually reflected in his eyes, even the dots of light seemed to be dull and washed up.
”Come with me, you will live in one of the rooms in my court for the time being.” He said flatly and went into the chariot prepared for him to return home.
On his way back, he learned that the brother-sister duo was each ten and seven years old respectively. Their mother was twenty-nine.
”Stay here as long as Yao Ling has recuperated, after that we'll talk,” Bazuul said, and even though what he said was nice, his voice was completely monotone.
Yao Yu Yan couldn't wrap her mind around what this feeling or sensation was that came from the prince. This made her somehow uncomfortable yet also not. Timidly she nodded with an ”en”.
After they had been accommodated in the eastern wing. Bazuul returned to his chamber to clean himself and rest. He finally breathed out and wanted to take a bath, as his vision started to twist and turn as if he had drunk too much wine. Sweating profusely for seemingly no rhyme or reason he tried to get a hold somewhere when all of a sudden a mouthful of blood gushed out of his mouth.
The moment after he dropped to the ground, unconscious.
Meanwhile in the throne-room. Varanur and his wife, A'lora, were happily chatting about the latest news of their youngest son's exploits in the eastern city. Not even a month ago he had died and they were about to bury him, and now he was not only among the living, but also a textbook prince in their eyes. Pride and gratitude to the heavens filled them, what seemed to have been a disaster, turned out to become their fortune.
Not that they would have minded if he had remained the good-for-nothing silkpants he was before. He was their son after all.
The king and queen were still chuckling away as three knocks sounded at the door of the throne-room.
”Come in!” The king said and a guard entered.
”Your Highness, something happened to prince Bazuul! As of now, no one is able to get close to him, so the doctors are unable to make a diagnosis.” The guard told them with a slightly pale face.
”WHAT?! WHAT HAPPENED?!” The king hollered immediately.
”Apparently the prince returned to his chambers and shortly after, the guards heard loud screaming coming from inside. The guards immediately reacted and entered. They found the prince suspended in the air, growling and screaming to a horrific degree, and the whole chamber seemed to be clouded in an eerily dark atmosphere.”
King Varanur's forehead already formed a black line between his eyebrows and his facial expression sunk the more the guard said. There wasn't much difference with the queen's face. Both already unconsciously stood up as the guard narrated what had happened, and as soon as he finished the couple rushed out of the throne-room.
~~~
Bazuul himself seemingly woke up in a space of complete darkness. He looked around, but could barely see his own hands. Standing up he called out, but other than the all-prevailing sound of what could be described as - the sound of a waterfall or heavy rain - that vibrated across this space.
Not even his voice seemed to be able to reach out far enough.
Then the volume of the sound seemed to rise, only to abruptly stop. Silence. With his impaired vision and the lack of any noise, he started to lose his sense of orientation.
”What is this place?” he thought.
The ground shook, the sound of rumbling and the noise once more entered his eardrums. Only to feel danger the second after. Instinctively, he jumped to the side but something still managed to scratch his right arm.
Bazuul gritted his teeth and growled.
”What the...WHO IS THERE?!” SHOW YOURSELF!”
Out of the vibration came the rumbling again, but this time there were clicking noises that came with it.
~~~
The guards that stood in front of their prince's chamber were unable to enter, even though the doors were wide open. They could only watch as their prince floated in the air in the middle of this dark atmosphere. Not knowing what to do.
A roar came from the side, piercing into their ears and the guards turned toward the direction it came from. Only to see their King and Queen rushing toward them.
”OUT OF THE WAY!!!”
”Your Highness!” They, alongside the doctor, called out with bits of guilt and helplessness in their expression.
Both immediately rushed past the guards and in front of the chamber's entrance. They looked in shock at the image inside. Their son hung there in the air, his face distorted and constantly changing expressions, his chest heaving up and down as if unable to freely breathe.
The queen called out to her son but nothing other than the almost inhuman sounds answered her calls.
King Varanur then walked in but the aura instantly attacked him, and he had to coat himself with his qi in order to protect himself. Now able to enter unharmed he could feel this dark aura trying to find a way through his protective barrier. Pressing and letting go, sometimes attacking as hard as a rod, then other times, looking for a crack or entrance like some sort of fluid.
He looked around for a second and realized that the walls...well, everything inside was slowly corroding in this atmosphere. Even the bright-white stone walls were now tainted in a greenish-black tone. He proceeded to get his son down there, but as he got closer the pressure exerted by the darkness became increasingly stronger.
He readied himself, but step by step the pressure grew when suddenly a black essence materialized and crashed onto King Varanur.