Lord of the Wicked [✔ COMPLETE]

CHAPTER 3: Tree of Life

In the hushed night they stood across the wooden doors that were tall and broad enough to be walls and watched them creak open. A splash of glowing warmth embraced Valek. The group made its way inside, even the crow perched on his shoulder flew along, but Valek remained still as stone and watched the sight with his mouth wide open.

On a carpet of trifling purple grass stood trees with black trunks and bright blue leaves, growing blinking green eyes instead of apples. Flowers standing taller than himself held lips and eyes, upon noticing him they huddled together to whisper to one another. Taking slow steps, Valek carefully stepped inside. Little white fur balls with big sparkling eyes giggled and bounced around him. In the air flew butterflies with tails of glitter, or so he thought, because when Valek focused on these flying creatures he noticed they weren't butterflies at all but tiny humans with wings.

"Fairies?" Valek wondered out loud.

A girl with black hair woven in the two longest braids he'd ever seen stepped towards him. Her face was rather flat, and her dark eyes were wide and angular. "They prefer to be called Fae," she told him, and nudged her head aside. "Are you coming, Lord Valek?"

It felt all so real to Valek, the smell of flowers and the sounds of the wind and the girl standing in front of him, that he finally realized that, perhaps, this was no dream after all. A frown appeared on his face and he scratched his head. "O-okay."

"My name is Tsega Tsui, by the way," the girl said as they strolled through the purple grass. "I'm your royal assassin."

Valek came to an abrupt halt. "My what, now?'

"Royal assassin," she repeated, and tugged his arm along so they'd catch up to the crowd ahead. Then, with a grin, Tsega Tsui added, "It means I'd kill for you – literally!"

It was only now that Valek noticed the tall katana sword strapped against her back. Since he didn't know how to respond to her, or even dared to say anything at all, he decided to say nothing.

Along the way, Valek looked around in wonder while trying to keep up. A chill ran down his spine as he felt like he was being watched, however, he didn't notice the Fae following him. Each time Valek turned around to look at a movement he'd caught in the corner of his eye, the horde of little Fae darted away and remained unseen.

They entered a solid iron door that appeared to be as heavy as a house. It had patches of rust here and there and a pair of skulls. Valek stared at the skulls for a little while, then reached out his hand and poked his finger inside the eye socket. Its eyes popped out and blinked, staring directly at him, and with a loud scream he tumbled on his back.

Tsega Tsui peeked around the corner and shook her head. "What on Earth are you doing?"

With big, frightened eyes Valek stared at the pair of skulls inside the door who now looked back at him with irises glowing gold, and for a while he opened and closed his mouth without any words coming out. Eventually he raised his trembling arm and, as he pointed, the boy managed to stutter, "They... Th-they... Eyes!"

After Tsega Tsui threw one look at what Valek was pointing at, she smacked a palm against her forehead and shook her head. "Oh, for crying out loud." With a swing of her hand she pulled him to his feet. "I can't believe you are that strong, fearless ruler we've been waiting for. What a joke."

She dragged him past the skulls where he still could not take his eyes off of, and did not let go until they were inside where the others were waiting for them. The door closed, and Valek could finally look away and face the small group.

They stood in two lines, and across from Valek loomed a tree with a thick trunk and withered crimson leaves. An old tree that had once been majestic, of that Valek was certain, but now it seemed to be mourning its own demise.

The old man who had kissed his hand at the entrance went to stand next to the tree and clasped his hands together. "Welcome to Castle Raverik, Lord Valek. My name is Olliver, they call me Old Olly."

"Castle Raverik?" Valek frowned. "But, Raverik, that's my last name."

"He's really slow, isn't he?" The twin in blue, who had told him to shut up earlier, said, and as he locked eyes with Valek he made a small bow. "My name is Tycho."

"And I'm Tobben," the other twin said, and pointed next to him to a man dressed fully in black with a long braided beard and dark smudges around his eyes. "This is Darko Drazik, commander of your army."

Darko Drazik made a small bow. "My lord."

"You met Tsega," Tobben continued, and she gave him a curtsy that made her long braids dangle forward and brush the floor.

Tycho took a step forward and pointed behind Valek, making him turn around. "That's Dr. Fisnik," he said.

There stood a man wearing bright red lipstick and curling blue lines drawn on his forehead and the sides of his face, and his eyelids shimmered gold and glitter. On his shoulder sat a sloth that wore glasses and smoked a wooden pipe, even blowing the smoke right into Valek's face, making him cough while waving his hands.

Dr. Fisnik grinned at the boy and gave him a slight nod. "Pleased to finally meet you, our little Lord."

As he looked around the crowd, Valek swallowed and managed a weak smile. "It's so nice to meet all of you, as well. I-if you're real, I mean."

"Oh, we're real alright," Tycho said.

"You wouldn't be able to create something this pretty," Tobbed added, and stroked his long blond hair.

Tycho scoffed, and whipped his own hair in the air. "My hair looks better."

To Valek, and probably everyone else, both boys and their hair looked exactly alike, except that Tycho's hair was slicked back a little while Tobben's stood more wild.

"Alright, you're real," Valek said. "But, why am I here? What do you people want from me?"

"You're our future king," Darko Drazik said in a flat tone. "But more importantly..." He paused to reach inside his pocket and lit a cigarette. "You're the only one who can break the curse."

"How?" Valek said, rather upset. "And, what curse?"

Darko Drazik blew out a cloud of smoke and looked beside him, and gave a nod. Before a second had passed Tsega Tsui yanked Valek's hand forward and pulled back his sleeve.

"What are you doing?" Valek screamed, and before he had a chance to run away the twins clasped his shoulders and kept him firmly in place. When Tsega Tsui reached behind her, Valek shook his head and screamed, as he knew what was there. "Let me go!"

The blade slid through his flesh. A line of blood seeped onto the tree's trunk and rolled on the dirt. With each drop of his blood, the leaves grew more bright. As he watched the tree come to life Valek stopped struggling and just gazed overhead, marveling at how the branches drew straight and the leaves grew fresh red. When the tree had straightened and no withered leaf was left, Tsega Tsui and the twins released Valek.