THE EAR ARCHER Part 1 (Completed) #wattys2022

THE END

With the Arathani dead, the unnamed missing, the army was disorganized, animals were free from the powers of the arathani.
Some ran, some attacked randomly but the bottom line remained the soliders of Xan had won.
"Where is the high commander " a voice belonging to commander Paul yelled.
"He battled the monster to the bowel"
A young lad who wielded an oversize weapon responded.
"Sefth, Gob, Rutherford, Dalian with me". Commander Paul ordered.
He was still clutching the rapidly cold corpse and crying fervently.
The rest of the warriors who heard their names together with a good number of female soliders followed commander Paul towards the bowel.
A great deal of blood obviously belonging to Yart soiled the marbled floor of the execution room.
All signs pointed to the fact that Yart and Buzr had fallen into the bowel.
Upon this realization, Dalian broke down and cried. Commander Paul fought tears as would be unethical to cry before his subordinates.
Yart threw his arms over the edge of the bowel much to the delight and dismay of the people present. His heroic entrance earned him a hug from his daughter.
"Where is the king?" He barked.
All his question met was the puzzled look of the people present.
Immediately, he dashed towards the chamber that housed the king. Closely following him were all his subordinates who had come to save him.
When he and his company got to the door, the presence of the "key" in the stone wall told him all he needed to know. His foster son Sema was in there with the king and there was no getting in unless either of them opened the stone door from inside.
So Yart, cheif of King Reban's assasins did the only thing he could, he waited.

The king delivered a triple kick to the unnamed sending the unnamed to the ground.
The had not been able to give even a blow to the king.
He lay on the ground bloodied, tired and bleeding.
With confidence, almost arrogance, the king strode towards the unnamed.
"Did you really think you would walk in here and defeat me?"
The unnamed waited for the king to get closer before he gave his answer.
"I didn't come to defeat you, I came to kill you".
With everything he had left he rose from the ground in a flash and grabbed the king's throat and delivered Yart's favourite move. "The execution"
He collapsed his throat.
King Reban staggered backwards. He was familiar with " the execution "for he had used it on countless occasions. He knew he had three minutes to live.
Unlike other victims of the move who wheezed and struggled to stay alive, king Reban remained unfazed even as his oxygen supply was cut off.
"Quick, give me a quill a Parchment".
Obediently, the unnamed raided the chamber and quickly retrieved said items. The king set to work writing on the Parchment. When he was done, he folded it neatly and sealed it using his royal insignia.
He presented the Parchment to the unnamed.
"Make sure Yart gets this".
The unnamed received the Parchment in utmost humility.
King Reban knowing he had seconds left to live, strode towards the throne and sat on it. when his body could no longer handle the lack of oxygen, he gave up the ghost and died regally as a true king of Xan.
The unnamed bowed before the dead king sited upon the throne for despite his many shortcoming he was worthy to be respected.
Without looking, the unnamed threw the dagger he always kept around his waist at the stone door.
The dagger flew true striking the stone at the point where it could be opened invariably allowing access to Yart and his company.
Yart and his company burst into the chamber in a furry weapon in hand.
Sefth was first to put his blade to the unnamed's neck and was ready to execute him when the unnamed's voice broke out.
"He asked me to ensure this got to you" directing his words to Yart.
Tentatively, Yart received the Parchment. He inspected the seal, when he was satisfied it was genuine he proceeded to open it.
The Parchment had only six words, six words that chilled high commander Yart to the bone. The Parchment read
"HE IS NOT TO BE KILLED"
Yart read and reread to be certain his eyes didn't trick him.
" Do I proceed?"
Sefth asked, his blade uncomfortably bruising the unnamed's neck.
The reply was firm
"No, take him to the dungeons".
Those words stunned not only the warriors present but the unnamed himself. Still, a direct order from the high commander couldn't be disobeyed.
So Sema son of maxsema, murderer of King Reban was bundled towards the dungeon.

Two days had passed since the war of the palace, king Reban had been buried in the field of kings and Safara beside him for she was a princess.
Yart, Ferdil and commander Paul were on the palace balcony smoking tobacco.
"Something puzzles me", commander Paul began.
"Why did king Reban leave such order behind, why spare his killer".
There was silence before Ferdil answered
" With that letter, Reban accomplished the one thing any one of us is yet to accomplish. He rested in peace"
Gob had finished packing so had Rutherford.
Rutherford wanted to find his family while Gob was content in following the sound of the birds.
They were about to mount their horses when they heard a horn from a distance.
Ferdil was still on the balcony when the horn bellowed he could see a cloud of dust in the horizon.
He removed his pipe from his mouth and muttered,
"The prince has returned "