Lord of the Wicked [✔ COMPLETE]

Chapter 11: The Lord Reborn

The next day it was Darko Drazik who tortured him, but in a good way.

The field that just some hours ago had been packed with guests, musicians, and floral ornaments, had transformed overnight into a battlefield that sang the song of screams and swords.

A drop of blood mixed with sweat trickled down Valek's temple as he dived towards Darko while struggling to move his long sword along. Standing tall and broad as always, Darko took a casual step to the side and watched Valek swing into the air and fall facedown into a puddle of mud. The teen leaped up and swung the sword against the his back. When Darko turned around, there was a manic look in his black smudged eyes. Clearly he wasn't fond of being attacked from behind, Valek figured. In the next seconds, his eyes and mind were too slow and his instincts took over and sent Valek rolling sideways before he even comprehended the sword falling down on him, and once he grasped what was happening he once again leaped up and gave all his strength to swing the much too heavy sword at Darko.

A crunching sound came about. The sword had been driven right inside Darko's armory and pierced into his left chest, and when it was pulled out and the iron chest plates were removed, Valek saw that he'd managed to cause a small, bleeding wound.

Darko Drazik held up his blood stained fingers and inspected them with a smile. "Good job, fella. There may be hope for you yet."

Panting as he leaned on his sword, Valek swelled up in pride and felt the heat of his blush spread across his face. "Learned from the best, chief."

"Dismissed for the day," Darko said as he reached over and took the teen's sword. "Don't forget your Alchemy classes with Dr. Fisnik later today."

In the distance, he saw Tsega and Ysella prowling around a figure that looked like a scarecrow and probably served as their victim. She'd changed her mind about becoming a warrior, instead she admired Tsega and wanted to become an assassin just like her. After a moment of thoroughly analyzing them, he learned that the way they trained was much different from how Darko and he trained. Better yet, Tsega taught Ysella the exact opposite. Where Valek was taught to give all the strength he possessed as rapid and forceful as he could, without thinking twice as there was no time to think in battle, Ysella was taught to take her time and be stealthy and calculating.

Today, Tsega had woven some of yesterday's dark green ribbons in her long braid, and Valek thought it made her look more fierce than ever. "Remember, Ysella, you only get one chance to kill your target," she told her. "If you fuck up, you're dead. The target will not wait around for you to finally kill it."

Ysella's auburn hair blew wildly in the wind. With a deep frown and a look of powerful determination, she nodded. "Understood."

She prowled ever so cautiously on the balls of her feet towards the scarecrow, even holding her breath, and came to a halt right behind it. First she slowly raised a brown handled and emerald embedded dagger into the air, then she cut the scarecrow's throat with one swift and solid move, making its head pop off.

Tsega walked over to the severed head. "Good job, princess." She placed it on the scarecrow's body and turned to face Ysella. "That's it for the day. Next lesson it will not be a man made of hay but a bird we will practice with. You'll have to approach the bird without it noticing you . Never forget, princess, the target can never notice your presence... until it's too late."

Even though being called princess bothered her, seeing as it was Tsega's way of mocking her, she was determined to prove herself and, one day, finally be taken seriously. "I won't forget," she said, and she dropped an elegant curtsy for her mentor. "I am looking very much forward to our upcoming lessons."

"How cute." Tsega handed her a brown leather holster to carry her dagger in. "Make sure to take great care of your weapon. See you at dinner, princess."

Once Ysella noticed him, he waved at her, to which she smiled and waved back. Even though she hadn't come from another universe like he had, nor had she been left in the dark about her noble and magical heritage, he still felt that they were allies who were thrown on the same path and took the same journey, since they were both unfamiliar to Brimstone and were transitioning from their old selves into a whole new identity which neither of them ever believed themselves capable of.

Valek was very relieved that they hadn't gotten betrothed, it would've meant they had to pretend forever to be people they were not and, even though Ysella was beautiful in a mesmerizing way, he couldn't help but consider Ysella his twin sister instead of his bride, hence the thought of them being intimate made him sick to his stomach. Something inside of him, an odd feeling he couldn't describe, told him that Ysella was here to grow with him as a person, and guide him and help him find his way, and be the voice of reason at those times where Valek lost himself to his impulses, but she was just not meant to be his lover.

"Twins," he said out loud as Ysella sat down beside him on the bench.

She looked at him. "Huh, what?"

He shook his head. "It's stupid. But I feel like you and I are... twins. Never mind, it's dumb."

"No, it's not," Ysella said. "Twins, I feel the same way. Like, I feel protective over you, and I get so angry when you do and say stupid things, and, believe it or not, from the moment we met I felt like we were connected and should be together, but, in a brotherly kind of way, not romantic. With each day that passed, our upcoming betrothal more and more weird to me."

Valek laughed briefly. "Oh, boy. Fate has a very bizarre way of doing its work, doesn't it?"

"Tell me about it."

"Speaking of bizarre," he said as he rose to his feet. "We better get to Dr. Fisnik."

As they strolled over the sand pathway laid across the grass field, Valek noticed a male silhouette in the distance. Whoever it was, he just stood there and stared right at them. His pace slowed down, and without realizing, he got lost in it and stepped off the pathway and slowly strode to the person as if he were hypnotized. As he came closer, the other one didn't move. The more he focused and studied the stranger, the more of his facial features he managed to unravel. A cold chill crept down his spine once he realized that the young man appeared to be his own reflection, an exact version of himself with the same brown curls and the same blue eyes and the same pale and freckled face, an actual twin.