Realm of Monsters

Calex Thorn found his younger sister, Lerdea, pacing outside their family’s gallery room.

“How long has she been in there?” Calex asked.

“Since last night. Mother is just sitting there, staring at Atreus’ portrait.” Lerdea bit her lip, “I’m worried.”

Calex sighed, then smiled, “It’ll be fine.”

“But what about the Aspirant? People are talking about him everywhere. We need to get this under control before the city’s aristocrats fall into total chaos.”

Calex placed his hands over her shoulders, “Hey, look at me, everything is going to be okay. Trust me. Mother’s fine. The two of us are fine. That’s all that matters. We are all that matters. Do you understand?”

Lerdea nodded reluctantly. “I understand,” she mumbled.

“Good. Now, let’s go and talk to Mother.” 

Calex pushed open the wide doors and walked into the gallery. Lerdea followed in his footsteps, she stayed close behind him, hiding behind his shoulders.

Ophelia was sitting on the ground, her long crimson skirt spread all around her. Her usual stylized white hair was frayed and her makeup was smeared at the edges. She stared at the enormous portrait of her ancestor, Atreus Thorn, hanging over the wall, looming over the entire gallery.

“Good morning, Mother,” Calex bowed his head.

“Good morning, Mother,” Lerdea said anxiously.

Ophelia didn’t answer, she simply stared at the painting with glazed eyes.

“We’re sorry to bother you, but the 3rd Challenge begins today,” Calex said. “You’re supposed to be the one hosting the Challenge and drawing out the names for the bracket matches. Mother…?”

“...Three centuries ago the realm’s most powerful men and women changed everything,” Ophelia said softly. “For the first and last time in history the Ebon Lords placed their differences aside and joined together in the most powerful union the realm had ever seen. They called it the Holo Alliance.”

“As in Holo’s Shade…?” Calex surmised.

“Yes, it was the first time there had been peace across the realm ever since Ebon Lord Koval had died,” Ophelia smiled to herself. “The Holo Alliance was powerful, together they managed to do the impossible. They raised a magical wall from the ground in the mere span of a day. They quelled the cowardly Keepers of the Dawn lurking in Dusk Valley. And they defeated Lunis, the most powerful Great City in all the realm.”

“They were truly unstoppable.” Ophelia sighed, “Until they all began to fall, one after another, each Ebon Lord and Lady… Until only Atreus was left and even he left the world too soon. The Holo Alliance fell apart, the world fell apart, and it’s never been the same.”

“We were simply left behind to pick up the broken pieces, but now…” Ophelia looked away from the painting and glanced at her children, “Stryg of Ebon Hollow changes everything.”

“Mother,” Calex carefully licked his lips, “I think you may be overestimating his abilities. He may be a prime mage, but that doesn’t make him an Aspira-”

“I know what I saw!” Ophelia snapped at him. “Stryg’s mere existence is just the first sign of great changes to come, in this realm, this city, and this family. Elzri, that cunning bastard, knew exactly what he was doing when he adopted that boy. The Noirs must have planned for the boy to reveal his abilities just at the right moment, for the entire damn realm to see Stryg making a mockery of us.”

Calex bowed his head, “Mother, I may have failed to succeed in the 2nd Challenge – I overestimated Kalliste’s desire to win – but this next Challenge will not require any assistance from anyone else. I will win every match, I will defeat every opponent, and I will seize victory for House Thorn, I promise you.”

Ophelia smiled knowingly and patted his head, “Do not concern yourself on the victory of our House. That is my burden to bear. I now see I gave you too much responsibility during the last Challenge.”

Calex looked up with a frown, “Mother, it wasn’t like that–”

“I will not make the same mistake again. Stryg will be my problem henceforth. All you need to do is get ready for the 3rd Challenge.”

Calex reluctantly bowed once more, “...As you wish, Mother.”

~~~

The last few days had been a blur for Stryg. The tavern his team had been staying at had changed completely. Ismene had bought out all the rooms and forced out any other occupants that had been at the tavern. The only ones left were the tavern’s workers and the mages from Hollow Shade.

Gale had been placed in charge of protection. She had enchanted the walls of the tavern with brown magic, reinforcing its structure and setting up traps for anyone who might dare break in. Gale and Lysaila had also begun taking shifts standing guard over Stryg’s front door. Stryg didn’t like being hovered over, but Gale insisted, and Stryg didn’t think it particularly wise to argue with his grand swordmaster teacher and her blade.

Freya, Callum, and Sylvie had been sequestered in the tavern as well. Though they at least had the freedom to wander through the establishment. Cornelius and Ismene had spent the last few days training and mentoring them for the upcoming 3rd Challenge. Stryg on the other hand had spent his time training and meditating in his room, although he mostly just sulked.

Loh had barely left her room either. She hadn’t talked to anyone since Tauri had found out the truth and had run out of their training room. None of them had seen Tauri since. After Vayu had found out about the incident and how it had occurred thanks to his drunken state, Vayu had secluded himself in his own room out of sheer anguish and shame.

Stryg wondered how much of this could have been avoided had he only listened to Loh’s advice and kept quiet over his magical abilities. The more he thought about it, the more certain he became of his decision. He was done with the Noirs’ lies…

The light peeked through a small crack between the wooden boards nailed over his window. Stryg stared at the small ray of light that he assumed came from the sunrise, though it could have been the sunset. He had lost track of time within the small confines of his room. He wasn’t sure if he should have been sleeping or if it was time to go to sleep.

When was the last time he slept? He couldn’t recall.

Stryg got up from his bed and dragged his feet to the water basin. His room was dark, there were no candles or lamps, but he could still see just fine. He rinsed his face in the water and looked up at the mirror hanging over his dresser.

The face that looked back at him seemed foreign. Silver strands of hair fell over his face, dripping with water. His irises were a cold lilac with slit pupils that constantly shifted in size. Dark bags formed below his eyes and gave his countenance a grim tone. His pale blue cheeks seemed sunken and thin. His pointed ears drooped downwards more than usual.

Stryg stared at his face, searching for the person he once knew, but there was little of the goblin from Vulture Woods left. Only his button nose was familiar, but now it seemed out of place in the stranger that stared back at him. Something had changed within him after that night in Shadow Lake. He couldn’t quite tell what, but there was something inside that felt off, like a cold seed of frost growing within, its roots stretching over him.

Stryg placed his hand over the mirror and sighed.

“You’re Stryg of Ebon Hollow, you are Stryg of Ebon Hollow…”

A knock rang on his door. His head shot up, startled.

“Stryg, can I come in?” a familiar voice asked.

“Please do,” he said with a tired voice.

The door creaked open and Gale poked her head through the side, “Everything okay?”

“What do you mean?” Stryg smiled sardonically, “Are you referring to my master having lied to me for the past 3 years? Or maybe how the deaths of all those people on Widow’s Crag could have been avoided? Or how about how I’m stuck in a tavern because it turns out I’m some sort of perfect target for assassination by the queen of this city?”

Gale raised her eyebrow, “I was asking because I wanted to know if you were okay for the 3rd Challenge. The matches start today.”

“Oh,” Stryg blinked. “In that case I’m fine.”

Gale sighed. She stepped inside the room and closed the door behind her. “I may not be the best person for this, but you know you can talk to me if you want, right?”

Stryg chuckled under his breath, “You want me to talk? Clypeus was your brother, but you haven’t said a single word about him after I told everyone the truth about Widow’s Crag.”

Gale narrowed her scarlet eyes, “You’re right, Clypeus was my brother. And not a day goes by that I don’t think about him. You are not the only one who is suffering, far from it. You best remember that.”

Stryg swallowed and stared at his feet, “...Sorry.”

“...I’m a soldier, Stryg. I’ve been trained my entire life to be a Shield of Veres, the greatest warriors in all of Hollow Shade. I’ve been taught to keep my emotions in check and to place my mission, my ward, first above all else. For now you are my ward, Stryg, your safety is my mission. My uncle asked me to keep you safe until we return to Hollow Shade and that is exactly what I am going to do.”

She curled her fingers over her sword’s handle, “But once that’s done… There are over two dozen trained Shields in my family and none of us will stand still over this. There will be a reckoning for the blood that was lost.”

Stryg nodded carefully, “...I see.”

Gale cleared her throat and reached into the satchel strapped over her back. “I almost forgot, these came in for you.” She pulled out a stack of envelopes, each one engraved with a wax sigil of a Named House. “I’ve already inspected their contents for any sort of poison, magical or mundane, they are safe to read.”

“There’s still more of them?” Stryg asked, mildly surprised. He glanced at a pile of envelopes in the corner of his room. “I think I have over a hundred now.”

“And I don’t doubt you’ll get more. Every single House in the Realm wants to meet you. Whether it's to curry favor with you or so that they can stab a dagger into your back, who knows?”

“Are the crowds still out there?” Stryg glanced at his boarded window.

“Yep, they don’t even disperse at night. If we were back in our city the undead sentinels would have already attacked them. But here? The crowds only grow by the day. They all want to catch a glimpse of the Ebon Lord.”

“But I’m not an Ebon Lord,” Stryg frowned.

“Not yet, but when history looks back on your legacy, they won’t speak of the young boy Aspirant. All they’ll see is the dreaded Ebon Lord Stryg.”

“Dreaded?” A small smile curled over his lips, “I could get used to that.”

“Don’t get too ahead of yourself,” Gale scoffed. “You still haven’t even managed to get 1st place in any of the Challenges.”

Stryg picked up Nameless from his bed and strapped it over his belt. He smirked, “Then let’s go change that.”