Shadow Kingdoms | Book 1 ✔ (REWRITTEN AS 'THE EXILED KING')

Chapter 6 - Monsters of Dargon

"You're alive!" She said, then her eyes widened, "... elf..."

She knew! All his life he strove to hide his terrible secret, but now this slip of a girl had unearthed his deepest secret simply by looking at him. What kind of power did she possess to be able to do that?

"What kind of power do you possess, girl?" He demanded hoarsely.

She shuffled her feet. "I don't really know... I've never done this before. Why do you ask, elf filth?!" She demanded hotly. So the rift between the humans and elves had not been resolved yet, Jon noted.

"I am not 'Elf Filth' as you so colourfully put it-"

"-No, you're even worse! You're a filthy halfbreed! Don't try to deny it! I have seen it!"

Jon sighed. All his life, that was what he had been hiding from. So what if his mother had been an elf of stunning beauty? They had loved each other, his mother and father. He, however, was the reason that his mother had disappeared to Silvardor again after his birth. He was lucky that he had only inherited the slanted eyes and icy beauty from his mother. If he had gotten the pointed ears, then he would really have been screwed. No one hired a half-elf. That way, he could pass himself off reasonable well as a human. They claimed that he had been born with the facial differences, but that he was a human. Why could they not just accept that he was partially an elf? His personality was the same.

It had gotten harder to hide when he started to get powers - running like the wind, freezing lakes and being stronger than ever. He thought that it was part of his elfish heritage and perhaps some of it was, but it was really his Guardian powers. Every guardian had them, and when he suspected, he entered his family's vast library and read the books on the subjects of the Guardians. He found quite a lot of information. He tried to make his powers work in many ways - running in front of racing horses, letting the town bullies corner him, cutting himself with knives and swords and punching himself in the face to see if he got any pain inflicted reaction. Mostly, he just came to the healer with broken limbs and cuts and bruises. He got to know Maek personally after the first few visits.

However, nothing really happened until his only friend was threatened. Shaela was a delicate girl. She had been cornered by cutthroats, bent on silencing her forever. Jon had been passing by when he heard her screams, hastily muffled. His better hearing had picked out the sound it was unmistakably Shaela. He had drawn his sword and rushed to her aid, unaware that one of the three cutthroats had been on watch. The cutthroat had smashed the hilt of his sword into Jon's head, and he had been knocked out for a few moments. When he came to, he was tied together with Shaela. She was slapping his head lightly.

Later, the leader, a man called "Snake" had cut Shaela lose. He had backed her against the wall and drawn his knife, pressing it to her throat. She stopped screaming and concentrated on breathing. He had said that they were under orders to kill the girl by a "Boss".

"... So it's nothin' personal, girl, but simply my job." Snake had said, slowly pressing the knife harder to her throat.

At that, Jon had exploded. His bonds froze and broke, and everything was bathed in a silvery glow. He stood up and was for an instant covered in the silver light, then he was covered head to toe in silver armor with a slim silver sword and a bracelet with a ruby set in it. His eyes had glowed murderous grey and he looked at Snake. The other cutthroats had fled.

"Don't go a step further if you value her life!" Snake had shouted in a shaking voice.

Jon didn't answer but had raised his right arm. He pointed his index finger and Snake and a stream of silver light flew out. It had hit Snake's sword and froze it completely. Then, with a flick of his finger, Jon had shattered the ice sword. He had walked to Snake, but to Snake, it seemed as if Jon had teleported. Jon had taken a firm hold on Snake's arm and lifted him up with one arm, seemingly with no effort at all. Then he had thrown him clear across to the other side of the alley that they were in. Snake had hit the wall with a sickening CRUNCH and lay still.