Chapter 1: Sins revealed
"What? You think you can take me?" Bellowed Queen Felon's greatest guard morph, Lyle, as he was threatened by the Animagi.
"You and your queen are traitors to the Synthi linage! He is a traitor to the brotherhood! Kill him!"
The Animagi advanced toward Lyle, who was determined to defend his queen at all costs, at least until she could escape from their grasp. He was willing to fight to the death for his cause, which I admired the most about him. He drew his lance, spun it skillfully above his long blond hair and charged across the marble floor into battle. His fighting style was swift and powerful, he is almost unbeatable. But he was greatly outnumbered and even I, his apprentice, the one who knew him better then anyone else, knew that this battle was over before it had begun. They were too strong, and before long, there was no hope for victory. I watched helplessly as they tortured him with that weird magic of theirs, unable to help him because I was too weak.
"Flee! Flee now! Do not worry about me! Go!"
I couldn't just leave him there to be killed, but if I stayed we would both be dead. I obeyed my master for the last time, ran up to the enchanted door, drew my sword and held it up to the magical lock. The door immediately swung open, and I dashed inside the throne room. The door slammed shut behind me, and the horrific sound of clashing steel was dimmed, and I slowly walked toward the queen.
It's only a matter of time, I thought. They'll break through the door and slaughter us all.
The door is made of crystal and is enchanted to only let people approved by the royal family inside. But it wasn't designed to withstand huge attacks, especially attacks from those weird powers. The throne room was a circular room, brightly lit with huge arched windows. The Queen was on the throne, wearing a huge red dress, with a jewel on her chest. Her diamond necklace was clearly visible. Her hair was tied up neatly, showing her diamond earrings. Her golden crown was gleaming in the sunlight pouring down from the window.
"Glenn, are you okay?" One of the queen's guards blurted out as he saw me stagger inside.
"Its master Lyle… he's fallen" I managed to mumble. To my surprise, the queen replied.
"He was the best of the morphs, too. Knowing him he will have probably escaped using the power."
What power? I assumed she meant his superior fighting abilities. What did she mean by 'morph'?
"He can't fight all of them!" I yelled back.
"No, no, child. This may be our last hour, so I feel we must tell you why this invasion has occurred…" I took deep interest in what she was saying.
"The Animagi are attacking us because we have committed a crime against their laws. We have been doing it secretly for years now, without them knowing"
"Doing what?" I had to know.
"Patience, Child." Why did she always call me 'Child'? I found it very annoying, yet I dare not mention it to the queen.
"Our kingdom was somewhat… how can I put this… dying. Birth rates were falling; there were at least 4 deaths every day. We lost war after war, we didn't have enough food, everything was chaos here, and we were so desperate, we even turned to suicide. But then, this big rocky thing appeared before us, the wise one. He told us death was not the answer, and to not lose hope He told us to seek another path, and never turn to darkness." She heaved a guilty sigh, the carried on talking.
"We did not heed his words well however, and an evil one appeared before us. It was none other than Narcissa."
I gasped in disbelief. It couldn't be Narcissa. No way. Narcissa was an evil hag that everyone feared: She would steal your soul and place it in other bodies, just to see what would happen. She enjoys seeing people in pain, and is the type that would laugh if someone had died.
"It is true, I'm afraid" she continued, seeing my horrified expression.
"We had her make the Morphs, lifeless beings. They look identical to humans, but they are not the same. Half of the kingdom were created and not born"
I could not believe my ears. Was this a horrible dream?
"There are ways of telling a Morph apart from a real person, though. Firstly, a morph will obey any command at all without question. Secondly, they cannot reproduce or love. Finally, and most importantly, they have those huge, yellow eyes. Morphs are forbidden by law, and now we are being punished for it."
"So you mean… my master was… No!"
"I am afraid so. I am so sorry you were caught up in all this"
"Wait! Shouldn't Narcissa be the one who should be punished?"
"No, because it was on our command that the Morphs were created, and we may have helped her with our own downfall…"
Our own downfall? This was all very confusing.
"We have given her enough supplies, money and power to rule the world. There is no way of stopping her now… She was the cause of this attack, because she betrayed us. Once she had what she wanted, she tipped off the Animagi."
"And now we're going to die for it…" I managed to say, before the banging noises began. The door was crippling, we didn't have long left. Bits of rubble were falling from the ceiling; the queen's guards drew their weapons. The Queen remained strangely calm during the last moments of her life. She smiled at me, and walked across the room. She returned to her throne with a long blue staff, and she closed her eyes. She was still smiling, and then a thunderous noise echoed through the room. The door was destroyed, they had got inside. I prepared for the worst.