Ancient Cardos: The Knight Life

Chapter 23: Twisted

A chapter told in King Jason's perspective.

I am King Jason of Cardos. I shouldn't be king, but since the former King, King Leo had died in a battle, the crown was passed to his only son, Prince Taylor. Taylor made his first and only request as king and that was making me the king until he was wiser and older to be a good king like his father. I liked Prince Taylor.

Sadly, only half a year went by before Prince Taylor was killed by heart problems. Leaving me as the king of Cardos. I would always talk with Taylor to keep him involved and made sure he had some input on what happens with the kingdom.

Now that he is gone, I really have it all to myself. I also have Claire that is. She has been missing though for quite sometime, it's really sad and scary to think about it. She does this often because of those Warden Stones.

She has been gone longer than usual. After a while her brother Chris showed up to the castle walls. I was informed by Claire before she left that she had to bring back Chris because only he knows how to destroy the stones.

I met him out there at the castle wall gates. Where a regrowing forest is taking form. The grass has become green again. The sun is out and blazing. I looked him in the eye and if he gave me any reason to not trust him I would lock him up upside down in a cell filled with rats.

"Where is Claire?" I asked Chris. Chris had a worried look on his face. Either from me or something else. Also all of his clothing was covered in dirt.

"She is missing." He responded.

"You are going to have to explain." I wanted to torture Chris for all he has caused.

"The creator of the stones, Percy Ward, otherwise known as Shard-" I cut him off right there.

"Are you telling me that Shard is the evil psycho behind these stones?"

"Yes." Chris looked nervous."

"Get inside we need to have a meeting." I said to Chris and signaled to let Chris in the kingdom. About time I get out of this heat.

I called over a few guards to watch Chris and I grabbed a horse that was near by and rode off to gather all the people to throne room's door.

When everyone arrived. I welcomed Chris up to the steps with me. Every man in the kingdom was piled up in front of the throne room.

"Welcome people of Cardos." I called out, wanting everyone's attention. I saw that I had all eyes and ears focused on me.

"This man, Chris, happens to be the brother to our Queen Claire. He is here to cut the ties of his betrayal. He is here to offer all of us a great service. He has caught a spy in our kingdom."

Everyone began to look around at each other thinking it could be one of them.

"Luckily for us, it is not one of you. It turns out to be the man we once thought of as a trusted friend. Once again proving that the only dark mage worth trusting is Claire. Shard has captured our queen and is most likely using her to gather all the Warden Stones. He will bring chaos and plaque to our planet. I ask all of you as a kingdom and as a family. Will you be ready to fight this evil man when the time comes? If so shout 'for Cardos'".

"For Cardos!" The whole crowd exploded and chanted 'for Cardos.' Eventually it turned into 'for Cardos, Queen Claire and King Jason.'

"I want Shard brought in here dead or alive. I want Claire back here safe. You are all dismissed."

The crowd slowly went back to their daily routines and I walked out the horse stables near the castle gates. I made sure Chris followed.

"Chris, I have a task for you." I turned to Chris and looked him in the eye.

"What is it?"

"When you find, Shard and i'm sure you will, show no hesitation in killing him. Make it quick."

"I will gladly accept that offer."

I brought out a horse for Chris. "He is the fastest horse we have. You go find them and we will be ready to defend ourselves from another war."

"What makes you think there will be war?" Chris asked while climbing onto the horse.

"Because Chris, the most evil man in the world wants blood spilled. Its his thing. Of course there will be war.

Chris took off on the horse and passed the melted forest that was growing back slowly.

I spent the next week struggling to sleep. The thought of Chris working for Shard drove my mind crazy. I decided to leave my room one night and visited the fountain of Cyrus.

I looked around me and back at the fountain. The water kept a steady pace. Then I heard something like armor falling to the ground.

I looked passed the fountain and saw Claire laying on the ground. Her armor was burned and her face had multiple scars. She was knocked out.

I picked her up questioning what happened, she looked like she fought the devil in hell. Even her dragon scaled shield was burned and they could resist any kind of fire.

I took her to the kingdom's hospital The medic and I removed her burned armor. The clothes underneath were just as bad. They were torn and charred and she had multiple cuts on her body.

"Even through her armor she got cut?" I asked myself out loud.

"It doesn't seem possible." The medic said. She was clearly breathing, but we were missing something. What the hell had happened to her?