A King's Legacy Ch. 44

A King's Legacy

Chapter 44

Worth Dying For

It was sweet. It was sweeter tasting than the young beast king ever could've imagined. The fear and pleas of mercy both, the very emotions of such ruthless villains who had carelessly inflicted immeasurable suffering unto others throughout their wasteful lives. It was the satisfyingly sweet taste of revenge for their victims.

It just felt so incredibly right to the lion, taking from them in return. To repay their wicked and merciless ways in full. It truly was a taste he was craving more of. Tyfin set his sights on his main course in anticipation, staring down the boar who was still clinging to the crocodile held hostage.

Talan spoke beside his prince, preparing for another charge on his behalf. "I can head this off if you--". The panther was cut short by a simple action he had witnessed many times before. Even so, Talan felt strange as he was so effortlessly ordered to stand down in such a dire moment.

Tyfin held two fingers up as respectfully as he could. The prince rarely ordered his guard around, but this was something the lion needed to do now. It was his time to take charge of the situation. It was time to start behaving like a king.

The royal beast advanced slowly, speaking clearly to the wary opponents before him as he closed the gap between them. "There was a rumor around the capital when my powers first started maturing; one everyone always seemed to skirt around whenever I was actually present."

"WHY ARE YOU STANDING THERE?" The boar was yelling towards his subordinates in blatant fear. "ALL OF YOU, GO! FUCK HIS HIDE, JUST PUT HIM DOWN! HE CAN'T STOP YOU ALL AT ONCE!"

Tyfin continued his story calmly, giving that panic more time to weaken his opponent's wits. "They would whisper that 'The prince is afraid of his gifts. The prince rejects his father in both practice, and power.' They would exchange these rumors in assumed secrecy, as if I weren't painfully aware of them."

The mercenaries started to structure their ranks deciding to use their numbers to their favor. It was as their boss had said, he could only stop two at a time. Four of the remaining eight formed a loose line and prepared to intercept the young beast king simultaneously. It wasn't a bad idea, but Tyfin hadn't quite reached the point he was trying to make.

"Finding myself here now, I can confirm the rumor was partly right, there were great flaws in my father's kingdom that I rejected. Scum like you lurking in our cities only serves as a testament to such a truth...." Tyfin stopped, his hands hanging calmly by his sides.

He let them close in a little more before he filled them in on the facts. "But the part nobody ever knew, the part of that rumor that was well buried by my father, was the reason I became so afraid of my power in the first place. The day my bloodskill awoke, I almost killed the six people in the room with me because I didn't know how to cut it off. I was merely on my tenth year back then, when I locked it away. I wonder how much stronger it's become since...."

Talan felt that gutting sensation before he could ever ready himself; a feeling the panther was quite familiar with. It was the kind of thing you didn't forget. No matter how many years had passed. For the second time in his life, Talan felt his core being latched onto by Tyfin's chilling bloodskill... As did the other four beasts within range of the lion.

The beast king did not draw from his knight, however. He was truly profound with his control. Four soldiers withered away one after another a moment later, their lifeless bodies falling to the ground in quick succession. Talan remained unharmed, but certainly humbled. He understood why Tyfin wanted to take the lead now. He just didn't expect to ever see his prince take it so far again.

"I suppose I can stop you all at once after all." Tyfin taunted his opponents as he began advancing, dropping his bloodskill's hold on the surrounding area briefly. The lion continued forth, stepping over the fallen husks without a second glance at the ones he had slain. Those four rotten souls were just as sweet as the first two.

There were four opponents left, and Tyfin watched them carefully as they began to huddle closer to one another. They were getting desperate, but the inexperienced hunter still had a lot to learn about the flailing strikes of struggling prey.

Two of the four split away. A smaller figure wearing close-fitting dark attire with most of his face covered, and the second one, a lanky ferret. The lion watched their careful advance as they tried to swing around and surround him.

The shrouded figure stopped abruptly, splitting off to charge at Tyfin as the ferret kept running a short distance further. As the Lion prepared to intercept the smaller figure first, they made a move.

A small throwing knife sunk in the earth beside the beast prince's paw. Tyfin stepped out of its path in time, but a second blade was already slicing through the air. This knife whizzed by the lion's ear, the same one nicked by the arrow earlier. Tyfin assumed he was in the clear, then the second knife exploded shortly after it passed him.

A small burst of lightning knocked the beast prince to the ground abruptly, leaving him with a heavy numbing sensation as he dazedly looked towards the first knife just a short way away. That was when he noticed the runes on the steel. The runes on the first blade lit up almost immediately after, turning the surrounding earth into a whirlpool of raging sands. It was quite an effective tactic on their part.

Tyfin suddenly felt himself sinking, threatened to be swallowed entirely by the swirling pit forming beneath him. As dirt filled his eyes and throat, the beast prince vainly grasped to find something solid to hold. He was admittedly surprised when his blinded hand found purchase on such a thing.

Talan was pulling his prince out, his spear thrust into the pit to offer what aid he could. As the panther pulled Tyfin from the trap, the boar elected to reveal a reserved tactic of his own.

The mercenary inhaled sharply, reared his head back, and let loose his own bloodskill with a deafening shout that sent concussive shockwaves barreling down on the prince and his knight both. Tyfin barely made it free from the trap before that second unanticipated assault brought him to his knees.

The ringing in his ears was prevalent, the achy eardrums incapacitating the prince in a way he wasn't prepared to deal with. Even clasping his hands over his ears did little to ease such disorienting pressure for the beast. Tyfin wondered how Talan was moving at all. Then the prince noticed the bright red scarf of Talan's mother wrapped snugly over his ears.

With a patient stance, the panther eyed down the one opponent still approaching, the ferret. The shrouded one that had used the rune weapons pulled out of range, and the boar continued his bothersome bellow, but there was only one actual threat closing in, the rest were mere desperate distractions. The panther's experience was paying off.

Talan raised his right arm to shoulder level, perching his weapon stoutly in anticipation of his attack. The panther was merely waiting for the right moment. As the Venatus son drew his spear back, the ferret kept on closing the gap, hoping to dodge the spear and get near enough to end both opponents before the boar's hindering effect on the beast prince ever let up. The mercenary was nimble, and moved quickly as he darted back and forth, making for as difficult a target as he could manage.

Talan spread his paws, preparing the launch as the other beast drew in. Talan suddenly let the spear fly, allowing it to glide through his hand as he stepped into the action.

The ferret dodged drastically to the left, abandoning all else in favor of avoiding this one strike. All he accomplished was ensuring he couldn't recover in time.

Talan quickly tightened his grip as the last of the spear slid through his grasp, stopping the launch entirely. It made for a masterful feint on his part. The panther adjusted course, quickly took aim at the repositioned and stalled ferret, and stepped into another lunge, sending the weapon spiraling through the air and directly through the eye socket of the alarmed and bested ferret. The skull of the mercenary was sharply pinned to the earth by the knight's steel.

The boar's assault abruptly ended as he desperately sucked in a sharp and heavy breath of air. More shrill orders came from him immediately after. The boss was undoubtedly panicking. "HEY, LITTLE SHIT, EARN YOUR FUCKIN' COST!" The boar belted out towards the cloaked figure, who seemed just as uncertain as the boar did.

The third mercenary beside the boss turned, and abruptly started fleeing. The boar turned sharply towards the deserter, and bellowed out with his bloodskill, bringing the coward to the ground as the booming sound waves impacted against him.

Talan was helping Tyfin to his feet, the prince thanking his knight. "Sorry, I let my guard down."

"It's hard to be ready for the unexpected." Talan answered soundly. A knife landed right next to his paw immediately after. The panther quickly placed both hands on his king's chest and shoved as hard as he could. Tyfin barely made it out of range before the runes on the small blade started glowing brightly.

Ice erupted from where the weapon connected with the earth, building rapidly as it threatened to freeze anything within range. Talan almost made it free before his left leg was encased partially in the trap. The shrouded figure was quite a nuisance, effectively pinning even one as skilled as Talan.

"ARE YOU AL--" Tyfin didn't get to finish.

"I'M FINE... you need to focus on that rune user. Here, take this for help against the boar." Talan ended his statement by passing something to his prince.

Tyfin gratefully accepted the Venatus-red scarf, knowing what it meant to the panther. Tyfin secured it over his ears, smiled briefly at his knight, and hastily took off towards the shrouded figure. He would end him the same as the other wicked beasts he kept company with.

Tyfin avoided two more thrown blades as he closed in on the smaller sell-sword. The prince simply kept running, ignoring whatever effects were taking place from the runes behind him. In truth, it was the right call. The shrouded figure was quickly running out of effective options. The beast prince would not give his enemy the chance to slow him down again.

As the lion stepped within range of the mercenary, the sell-sword's palpable fear of the prince was the very first thing he tasted, the same as the others. What registered as starkly different, however, was the flavor of it. The wicked souls had been so very sweet. This soul was unexpectedly bitter. The beast prince slowed his draw in both startled surprise, and curiosity.

Tyfin stared at the figure blankly for a moment, the opponent already brought to his knees by the effects of the initial hold. The mercenary gazed up in absolute terror at the beast prince before him, feeling his very soul beginning to be drawn into the lion's monstrous grasp.

Tyfin reached a hand forward, and lightly tugged on the bundled cloth covering the mercenary's face. The prince assumed as much... the traces of memories flowing into him were all but confirming it.

This mercenary was an adolescent, a smaller raccoon. He was a borrowed child, his contract purchased by the boar a few moons ago. He was different from the others, and he did not deserve to share in their fate, for he never shared in their misdeeds. The beast prince stared down solemnly into those darker, fearful eyes brimming with tears. The royal lion felt the young beast's core flow into his grasp a moment after. Tyfin held the soul gently as he simply gazed down at the bested raccoon.

The prince tilted his hand slightly as he spoke, letting the pilfered innocent soul quickly fall back to its proper host, disabling his own bloodskill as he made his decision. "Move again before I command, and you won't receive another chance." Tyfin would not consume something so bitter. He would not consume the innocent. It felt reassuring to the prince, that he would notice a difference after all. The essence of a soul did not lie, which meant the young king only felt further justified.

The raccoon trembled in fear and awe, but his gratitude is what truly humbled him. He had been spared. He would heed the beast prince's warning, even if it meant ignoring the boar's.

"TAKE YOUR DAMN CHANCE! HE WON'T KILL YOU!" The boar shrieked towards the raccoon frantically. Tyfin merely cast his gaze down at the adolescent's own, and the young beast averted his gaze after. He understood the command behind that look.

Tyfin smiled briefly, noting the young beast may have some wit after all. "Feel free to close your eyes for this part. I could tell you always hated this obnoxious boar, but I also know you've seen enough bloodshed today.... Despite what I did see, I didn't get a name."

The prince spoke warmly to the raccoon, easing some of the wariness for the smaller beast. The adolescent stared meekly towards the threatening lion for a moment before answering with his ears, his eyes, and his voice low. "Peanut."

"A borrowed name then? I suppose you never had a chance to pick your own yet. We can talk about that in a moment though. For now, your fight is over, Peanut." Tyfin placed a firm hand on the young mercenary's shoulder for a moment, offering him what reassurance he could after such an unsettling experience.

The beast prince turned back towards the boar, staring down the only true opponent left, the one still clinging to a weakened and bound Fraxis.

===

Stars filled Oust's eyes with bursts of light the moment his maw met those uncertain, pale lips. His larger hands found purchase on the human's smaller shoulders as the beast leaned further into his kiss, drawing Flose closer to him as he dared darting his rougher tongue in to steal the sweetest taste of the human. Oust felt Flose pull away a moment after, and the tiger released his hold immediately.

Flose was burning, whether in shame, need, anger, or desire, he was not sure. All he knew for certain was that he had to escape such an unthinkable kiss before it seared itself right through him. Flose felt those powerful hands grip him as if he were the most important thing in the world, desperate to hold on to that fleeting moment for as long as they could. A flick of something rough darted against Flose's tongue, and the human felt strangely short of breath as he let out a muffled whimper. He felt his fight leaving him as his body wanted nothing more than to slip further into the beast's embrace. Flose quickly panicked at the forbidden desire's such undeniable allure.

Pulling away with urgency, Flose gasped in shock and confusion. His defenses flared up, and his own self-rejection coaxed him into doing the first thing that came to mind before the young human ever had a moment to question it. Flose locked eyes with the beast, narrowed them in humiliated anger, and reared back his left hand.

The slap certainly caught Oust off guard, to say the least. While it barely even fazed him, his face only slightly shifting from the small impact, it did do enough for the beast to look back to the smaller human in surprise.

Flose was defensively yelling up at the burly tiger before either had a chance to fully recover from the other's blow. "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? I'M NOT ASTRAY! I DON'T LIKE GUYS!"

Oust was still smiling like a fool, neither the slap nor the shout was enough to ruin that moment for him. He lowered his gaze level with the human's and simply stared warmly at the angry eyes scowling at him.

Flose realized a moment later that he had just struck a beastman well over seven feet tall. His alarm quickly overtook his initial reaction, and the frail human nervously began apologizing. "I- I uh... sorry, I just...."

Flose was bearing that look that came just before he was about to cry, Oust was quick to reassure him. "It's alright... I deserved it. I thought you liked males...." The tiger looked away, realizing anything else said would just seem like he was trying to justify it. He continued more apologetically after. "I know I shouldn't have done that. I just had to see what it would be like. I needed a little courage, and if I'm being truthful, all I've ever hoped for when this day would finally come for me... is that something good might happen just before." Oust turned around then, bringing his eyes to meet his sister's glare with confidence. The tiger made it a single step before he felt a familiar and delicate grip on his forearm.

Flose questioned the beast in a whisper as Oust turned to face him once more. The human's eyes wouldn't dare meet Oust's own then. "And? Do you see that as something good?"

Oust flashed a softer look and gave his answer without hesitation. "It was the best kind of something.... It was like a stout mug of pure courage. It was what I needed; a reminder that there are things worth living for... and that there are things worth fighting to live for. I am sorry it was unwanted, but I really am more grateful than you could know."

Flose didn't even know what else to say. He was still uncertain how he even felt, but the tiger just made him question every part of himself, both those the young prince of Peuforet had long since buried, and those just awakening within. As Oust started walking towards his sister, Flose spoke a final time, his voice more confident than any beast present expected. "Oust... after all of this, you'd better not lose."

It seemed typical enough for Richta, that her softer baby brother would feel the need to say goodbye to the small and weak things he had taken in along the way. She would give him that moment. Oust was predictable, she had always been able to read every move he made. She certainly thought as much... and then the fool had to go and prove her wrong.

She trembled at the sight. Not in fear, nor uncertainty, but acute and profound anger. She had been ordered clear across the country to hunt down her brother. Richta didn't compromise her assignments, she knew better than that, but even so, she was trying so hard to find some way to just spare her brother's life. She was purposefully about to fail a mission, only to give him a chance. She would even risk lying to her father, a sure way to get a beating, just so maybe she wouldn't have to do this.... Oust could've just tried harder, he could've gone home. He didn't have to leave her alone.

Instead, he would spit on her mercy, the mercy she had risked so much merely to provide for him. He would rather divulge himself on weakness. She suddenly realized why her brother was so angry about the shield bearer's death. With a ragged sigh, the tigress spoke more slowly than Rust was comfortable with. "Oh... my foolish little baby brother, you never changed.... All these years later, and you're still affixed on mere rodents. Tell me, when I have to kill them in front of you, are you going to shed tears again?"

Oust stepped away from Flose, answering his sister proudly as he came to stand beside Corper once more. "My sister... you are mistaken. I have finally started growing."

Oust did something Richta forgot he could actually do for a moment. Oust struck back. "But tell me, Richta, are you still being commanded to hunt father's rodents for him? Perhaps you are the one who is doomed to repeat themselves, to never change.... You did come here prepared to kill yet another brother by his order, did you not?"

Richta froze. They never talked about that night.... Neither of them EVER talked about that night. She blinked in surprise, a familiar trick of her mind coming for her in the worst of times. Her hands were coated in blood, it was warm, it was fresh, and it was rich with the fading scent of her own brother's life. She was back in that ring, Amiss was dead in that trench where she had put him and Oust was screaming for her help nearby as their father broke him.