TRUE HEIRS

heir return they could feel something grave was happening. It could just be a trivial matter which needed not the attention of royals, but the two twin princ

ung princes close the windows so they won't be affected b

building, crying her eyes out and screaming to the others that her child was still in the house. That house, which was burning so hot that it was impossible to approach it. There was no way to get in and definitely no way out if you were trapped in there. Almost everyone had lost hope for the boy in the house as nobody coul

rowd. 'By the time anyone gets to him he'll be noth

pretty dependable on its own. It was rare to see such tension in the air and the people knew not what to do, yet it made Draecon even more eager to help. He was only a child of nine years, yet he was very skilled with the sword and very experienced

ing to be a funeral for one. They couldn't understand why the prince himself would go into the fire. Did he not know it was a death trap? Or was he just suicidal and eager to die? Everyone around mourned the prince, including his parents who were uncontrollably shedding tears. This news spread faster than the wind and in no time almost the whole of Carliff was there to witness, Citizens and strangers, men and women old and young alike. They looked on moments later, even more confused as from the fire the prince emerged, coughing as he walked out, his clothes already reduced to nothing. Around portions of his body they were still burning. He held a thick blanket in his arms and though it ha

came to a path which led two ways they stopped and read the signs. One pointed to the left and the other righ

Mather, and right is a longer pass thro

Mather first?' She

ither head for Carliff o

r?' Lexa asked him and

, and a small carriage q by. The coachman brought his horses to a halt close to them and as though

eath. You can see the path go into the forest, and you can also see it come out at Mather, but nobody I know of has ever made it through to the other side. They go in... and they're never seen again. Nobody knows what lies beyond those trees, fo

re too many Eradian knights there, and I assure you they're there for both of us. The hig

et rid of it already,' Lexa said

ven with fire, believe me I've seen someone try. It only goes away after you die. When you try to burn it,

d and he remained silent. He had reached the first trees an

deep within the woods. Draecon pulled the horses and stepped into the woods without h

path had completely disappeared and they couldn't retrace it, they were already lost and couldn't find their way back. It suddenly got cold and Draecon covered Lexa

h to warm themselves as well as the horses and he offered the princess something to eat a

leep,' he told her

me you were the Drago

question you want to ask m

iff eight years ago?' She said

nd took us by surprise, there was no way he could lay a siege and win, so he poisoned the air and sent his men in when everyone was too weak to fight. It wasn't a war, it was a massacre. A slaughter.

e prince with the ma

bout a year ago and executed him at Carta Hil

uard or something?' She

uld say

e you can make up for your fa

d you he was

k,' she said and turned over to sleep. Draecon onl

d after some time but it seemed

it croaked loudly, then after a second of rest it leapt away again, but as the man looked away another thing appeared suddenly between them and he jumped back, startled and on edge. Lexa screamed and fell back when it crawled out of nowhere and appeared between them. It was a man, pale, half his skin torn off, half his clothes withered. His face; half flesh, half bone had one hollow lifeless eye and one socket completely devoid of an eyeball. Like a freak out of a nightmare, he looked like a man that had been dead for

lowly surrounded them. The scared horses whined and fled, leaving them behind. The ghouls came in closer, some limping, others crawling, others climbing down or up th

xa asked and he looked to t

e who died here in the forest. If we die here we're like

rock at one of the creatures, toppling its skull off its body and it dropped to the ground. The

path through them and you follow as quickly as you can,' Draec

It was fast and it got to his neck before he could grab it. It bit him in the neck before he could pull it off. It was a ghoul baby with empty sockets and numerous small and sharp teeth and nails. It was completely skeletal and before he hurled it at a tree he seemed to see parts of its skin return to its body. They had to flee. He pulled her away, this time pushing the fiends back with all of his strength and pulled her away from them as they went through. They managed to get out of the thick yet it seemed the creatures would catch up in no time if they stopped moving. Draecon felt light headed for a second and he lost all his strength. He felt dizzy and he couldn't walk straight. Before he could do anything else, he fell with a flop t

sight get darker and blurrier every moment that passed. Before everything could go completely black, he s

ch seemed to never end. They carried him away as well and the light they made prevented the ghouls from following. Their clothes, their weapons, they were obviously not from