A King's Legacy Ch. 37-38

"Goodnight, my moonlight." Lunai answered quietly.

"Goodbye till sunrise." Calium closed her door softly, turned down the hall, and quietly made his way to his own quarters. He locked his doors, went and sat in the same chair he had been sleeping in since the night his wife had died, and simply stared at the empty bed for a moment longer until everything finally came crashing down on the king. The harrowing thought flashed across his mind once more in that moment, nearly driving him to madness.

'We are all dead.' He wept... He wept, and he screamed, and he flipped the very bed where his wife had died as he cursed every god there ever was in his moment of anguish. The king bashed his shielded fists into the walls, the furniture, and everything else inside that room as his daughter's words broke what remained of his spirit. His false promise to her felt more like acid as he spewed such tender lies from his lips... He could not protect anyone, he could only coddle them and promise it would all be alright. Calium knew better than that.

It was quite some time before he finally sat back down in that damned chair, and blankly stared at the room around him that looked more like a battlefield than a bedroom in that moment. Calium blankly gazed off into the distance, weighing which of the impossible options was the most merciful one... A hollow voice interrupted his brooding, speaking from nowhere.

'I think I found a way to fulfill your terms...' Calium never missed a beat to answer.

"Took you long enough. What do we do?" Death lightly chuckled, and answered mockingly.

'You're not going to like it...' Calium retorted firmly.

"I've been sitting over here debating the most merciful way for my children to die... I don't care what it is, if the deal I asked you for is somehow possible, I pay the price and accept the terms." The god answered in understanding.

'So be it... Your children should survive, but we will need to get to work, we are already short on time. I will do as much as you asked as I am able to, but the price it'll cost you by the end is a steep one. I can promise almost nothing as a guarantee, and I'll be adding a few things to the terms that will likely be useful for us later. As a courtesy for an old friend, I would rather we actually hash out some smaller details first, because this will be no light pact for either of us.' Calium stood slowly, and answered without hesitation.

"We had better get to it then. As you said, time grows short." A claim was made, and a deal was struck. The king was left with little choice but to trust the god of death, but Calium truly welcomed the possibility that some salvation may yet still remain for his children. The king hit the ground running the following morning, calling a meeting of his remaining, closer knights to send word to their few, trusted allies. It was a list that seemed to grow shorter by the day. Aster had another question while his father was still at a stopping point.

"So, If you made the deal to spare us both, and I managed to survive by living with the beasts, then... does my sister still live also?" Calium barely finished nodding before Aster quickly assaulted him with a barrage of new questions desperately seeking answers.

"I'M NOT THE LAST HUMAN? Where has she been all this time? Will I get to meet her? Does she remember me? Wait... are... ARE THERE OTHERS?!?" Calium held his hands up in effort to calm his son down, but the king couldn't hold back his dazzling smile at the boy's excitement if he had wanted to. The fallen king answered his son joyfully.

"Slow down! No, you are not the only survivor of your kind, my son, and your sister is counted among those survivors. As for the rest of your questions, well... I don't think I need to answer them just yet." Aster felt a little taken aback by that reply, and was quick to state his aggravation at such a stance.

"So you can tell me everything else, but you can't tell me where my people are?" Calium let out a sigh, feeling his son wouldn't quite understand his reasoning yet.

"I'm trying to make sure you know as much as you can, my son. If I just skip around too much, I may miss something important. I won't exactly be around to give you such guidance for much longer." Aster accepted that he needed to just be patient, but the last of that statement made him worry.

"Are you moving on then? To where my mother went? Death said it was across the river here, right?" Calium shook his head firmly as he replied.

"No, I won't be going just yet. I am going to have to rest for a while after this, but not with her. It takes a lot of strength to keep myself in the living realm." Aster was even more confused by such words.

"Does it? I figured as long as Death didn't bring you here, you'd be fine?" Calium looked away for a while before he answered quietly.

"I have... complications. It isn't quite so simple in my case." Calium looked to the ground for a moment, and Aster was left feeling a little guilty for even asking the question. The boy spoke reassuringly to his father.

"I'm sorry. I know you think I won't understand things, but I really can't imagine that I'd had done anything differently in your situation, so far at least. Tell me your story how you want to, I think you've waited plenty long enough to deserve that. Please don't believe my questions are meant to hurt you, I only want to be sure I really comprehend what you've been telling me. I want you to finish the story, but I at least want to say now... Thank you, for keeping me alive long enough to find out I am not alone." Calium forced a smile to form where tears wanted to instead, and answered his son softly.

"Well... That isn't exactly true, considering you're more dead than alive at the moment, but thank you, Solis. Hearing that means a lot, but I can't accept that as your answer until you know the rest." Calium stared at the flowers for a while longer before he lifted his head, and caught his son's eyes once more with his own. The king continued in an almost whisper.

"The first condition was that both of my children would survive..." The king quietly picked back up, pushing on no matter how afraid he was of Solis rejecting him in the end. The boy had been guided here to learn, after all...

Calium was standing on the wall surrounding his castle before the sunlight ever started to cast itself over the horizon. It was early, but they would have to move early as well. It had been nearly three weeks since Death had made contact, but the reports coming in of the fate of Cadictum were even worse than expected. There were multiple descriptions of the same exact scene: piles of rubble and charred wood where a large city stood mere days prior. The smoke could be seen on the horizon for miles, carrying with it the scent of war and burning flesh as it spiraled into the clouds. It didn't take a god to confirm that those people were already very much dead.

The king was simply staring out over the ocean as he waited the last hour or so for the peak of the low tide. A voice pulled the king's attention away from the ever stirring waves for a moment. The person speaking was the third princess of Peuforet: Lady Arcella Le'gere.

Calium had called for the royals of Peuforet weeks earlier to hear out his plan, but Lady Arcella was already preparing for her trip back home by that point. Only around two-hundred humans could be saved by their efforts, but she was determined to ensure her nephew would receive the spot reserved for him. Arcella was always such a vibrant soul, but the recent events had soured even her high spirited tone.

"It's always so peaceful here. Our forest is nice, but your little spot nestled between the mountains and the ocean just has a certain calming air about it, to me anyway. It almost doesn't feel so gloomy." Calium answered her with a steady voice.

"Oh, this place has a tendency to get loud sometimes, but the ocean tends to drown out most of the noise, if you stop and listen to it every so often." Lady Arcella took a moment to finally answer, but only changed the subject when she did.

"I'm departing soon, to speak with my sister and her husband about all of this. I don't think I would dare risk anyone intercepting the message." Calium nodded, agreeing with the caution. He replied in a whisper.

"Just remember, as hard as it may be, don't let yourself get too sidetracked. Peuforet barely has weeks..." Arcella scoffed a little at the warning.

"Aren't I going to die as well anyway? As long as Flose makes it here, I have to be alright with the outcome..." Arcella paused shortly before picking back up. "I really do have to thank you again. I know the spaces are already limited, so the fact you would offer one to our little bloom..." Calium answered her with two words.

"Twenty-two." Arcella responded in question.

"Pardon?" Calium repeated himself as he explained.

"Twenty-Two... I sent twenty-two letters out asking for aid, coalition, or even refuge for our children from our neighbors, allies, and even the orcs. I received only one back in return that wanted to get anywhere near this mess, and it was yours. Adamare does not turn it's back on her allies, we have far too few of them as it is in such trying times. Your country deserves to have their prince spared, it isn't like either of us were to blame for this mess in the first place." Arcella couldn't really think of anything more to say, so the youngest princess of Peuforet simply curtsied once more in gratitude, and set off to her carriage.

Calium turned back to the ocean, and closed his eyes for a moment as he reached out mentally.

'You there?' Death answered in kind.

'I'm never as far as you mortals may think I am.' Calium sighed, not really feeling in the mood for the god's ominous bullshit that morning. The king opted instead to just ask what he wanted to know.

'We still on the path? Everything seem to be in line for your plan to work?' Death answered with a hint of both boredom, and exasperation.

'Your children should both survive. The rise of the destined conqueror will be stopped considering the balance of fate should be sated enough with the fall of man. Fate won't try to raise another one in his stead if the current beast king just gets it over with now. Surviving his reign after all of this is over will be the easy part. Your children will be loved by the ones that raise them, given this all works.' Calium answered coldly, speaking out loudly in indignation.

"It had better damn well work after all of this..." Death let out a small chuckle, answering honestly.

'I can do my best to manipulate the situation, but I can't dictate what actions the many pieces actually take when they are faced with their own decisions after your deal is executed. I can disturb the ant mound you call the mortal realm, and I can bait it, but I can't keep them from scattering or attacking if they get spooked. I told you, I can guarantee little. This is a delicate thing, and I'm doing it on a very large scale here. There's a LOT of room for things to go wrong... but this is the only chance I've seen we have got. Assume what you may, but I obviously want to avoid losing both shield bearers for reasons that are no secret to you.' Calium didn't answer the god for a while. When he finally did, his tone was a little less aggressive.

"I know... This isn't your fault, but I can still be pissed about the whole situation, can't I?" Death chuckled hollowly as he countered.

'You're going to have plenty of anger to deal with after you make the offering. Of all the things that could go wrong here, you not being strong enough to bear that added weight at the end is what is most likely to set us back. That's a lot of suffering to keep your sanity through, even with your cynicism and devotion to your children in mind, and if you buckle... I don't know if anyone could stop what would remain. My daughter may be able to, but it isn't very likely she will have much strength left at that point of the battle, and she could very well lose. If she did... Are you certain you want to persist on that aspect of the exchange here? It seems like more trouble than it is worth risking to me." Calium replied decidedly.

"Yes, as we discussed. They are innocent, and if they must die, then they should at least be given the chance for rebirth. I have to try, I can't just leave their souls to rot in vengeance after being so brutally massacred." Death tried to sway the king one final time.

'You do realize that means you have to be the last to fall into my domain, right? You'll have to outlive every single citizen and soldier under your rule destined to die that night, and you're going to look like a coward doing it. Can you accept the shame of being remembered as a cowardly king till the end?' It was Calium who laughed then.

"Who is going to remember me as a coward when all of my people are dead? The beasts that are about to massacre us? Yeah, fuck what they perceive, let them call me a coward, a mongrel, a weakling, or whatever else they may sing to themselves to justify their war. Their king can take my crown from my corpse, but in the end, it will be I who actually served my people in a way that mattered. I cannot protect them this time... but I can still spare them from a fate worse than death. The deal and terms stand, as is." Death sighed in acceptance, agreeing to honor even that uncertain side of it all. Calium spoke a final time that day as he started walking towards the stairs to make for the beach as the tide fell low.

"Keep me updated if anything starts shifting. I'm going to go play in the dirt for a few days now. Us ants have to keep busy in our mound, so maybe keep an eye on things while the worker ants work." Death chuckled as he countered one final time that day.

'I suppose I may just look forward to having a little soldier ant of my own... You only hold the power here until you make that cut, so maybe ease up on throwing your weight around, before I decide taking a nap while you and your son rot isn't such a bad a choice after all.' The god left the mortal to his task, still not certain if he could pull all of this off, still undecided if he even really wanted to stay awake any more...

Calium paused his story, and gestured towards his son, giving him his chance. Aster was feeling a little uneasy by that point, but that didn't sway him from asking what he needed.

"So, you give me a big talk about not sacrificing myself, and it turns out that's exactly what you did?" Calium didn't hesitate.

"I was dead at that point either way, so it isn't entirely the same. Besides, I already had an heir that inherited the shield's power, my death was accounted for by then. It didn't mean the apocalypse if I fell anymore." Aster realized something he had overlooked in that moment, and inquired a little more.

"Wait, if the shield falls, Death falls... so what was the moon hoping to accomplish here?" Calium answered to the best of his knowledge.

"We suspect she would mimic his power when he fell, and simply take over his role to keep the world working. Maybe she wanted him out of the way for some big plan she didn't want him catching on to. There is a chance the earth goddess would revive with the sword bearer as well, so perhaps that was her goal. It's hard to gauge her motives without knowing how she broke herself." Aster looked off a ways before he asked his next question.

"Alright, so, what was so significant about the low tide?" Calium grinned a little at that one, quite fond of Death's solution for at least that part of it all. He worked up to his explanation as usual.

"Adamare was founded where it is for a number of reasons, the major one being the natural defenses. The circle of mountains around us aid in defense, and offer a good degree of protection from ambushes. The ocean at our northern border is just as useful, however. In high tides, you can port out, sailing north into the deeper ocean with no difficulty at all. In low tides, this becomes impossible. Our shores are littered with jagged rocks that jut out at such times, aiding in our defenses, but those rocks aren't the only secret revealed with the lower tides."

"There is a cave on our shores that many of our own people never even knew existed, more so considering you can't access the port while it is visible. The entrance is narrow, and only above water for three hours around sunrise before the tides obscure it along with the jagged teeth of our shores. That cave led higher into the mountain a short ways. The interior remained above sea level, but certainly not far enough to make the stronghold the survivors would need."

"The people of Adamare began mining that cave, adding ventilation, support beams, and widening out different sections as they began making their final preparations for the fate of their children. Death may have been condescending when he made the comparison, but the ant hill analogy wasn't far off in truth." Aster was a little surprised to hear it, but was actually impressed by the design.

"So, our people survived in a cave then?" Calium expanded on that as he answered.

"Yes, all I had to do was ensure the beasts didn't advance on us from the western mountains, and the cave would remain hidden from view. We put all of the time we had into stocking, prepping, and ensuring everything our children would need would be secured inside of that cavern. I had experts to every aspect of our culture collude to ensure our knowledge was passed down as well. I outlined and consolidated the basics to one day rebuilding our home inside of a book, and entrusted that book to your sister mere days before our kingdom fell. That volume contains everything you need to know about being a king, my son. It was the last gift I gave your sister, and it was a duty that almost got her killed when our kingdom fell."

Aster listened on as his father moved to the final part of his story; the fall of Adamare, and the fall of man...

===

I'm going to start by briefly covering the section that had the trigger warning attached.

"Tyfin and Rix run through the town, and eventually find themselves cornered by the mercenaries. Rix is downed by an arrow to his leg, and is beat unconscious by a wooden club as a different mercenary tries to force himself onto the prince. As Rix fades out, he is almost certain he notices a shadow dropping from the rooftop above both the prince and the attacking beast. Scene cuts away."

Sorry for having to include it at all, but as much as I hate giving major spoilers, that's as far as Tyfin will have to endure it. This personal experience plays a crucial decision maker for the young prince later down the line, so as much as I need to go take a shower after writing that, I feel it is the right call. I personally hate using stuff like that for shock value, or for smut value, so hopefully you don't mind trusting me until I reveal why it was something I needed to at least include here for plot value. Moving on.

I expected these chapters to cover twice as much as they did, so... sorry to cut off even more that you'll have to wait on the next chapters for, but it felt forced if I tried to cut back the talks between Aster and his father, and honestly, I think they deserve this moment to not be rushed. The good news is, the next chapter probably won't be a double chapter, but at this point, I can't promise shit. The story is writing itself this late in the game. I have general ideas, but even I'm surprised by the way some of it hits the paper.

Hope y'all ready to see the prologue revisited from different angles along with the last of my big reveals for this book. (We still have probably like 6ish chapters to go... don't quote that number yet. Lol. :D )