Sapphire
Prologue
Howls of war
- Lord, our army is being crushed. General Silv suggests retreat.
The messenger, kneeling before the king, delivers a scroll with the report.
- Your majesty, we've mistaken the strength of the defensive forces. Kila has truly more experienced soldiers than we do. If we keep struggling, it will be in vain […]
- What is the meaning of this?-
King Lars raises his voice, but suddenly the alarm bell in the center of the castle sounds.
- To arms, to arms!
Screams of soldiers sound outside of the main building.
- The enemy is coming!
The scout returning back from the reconnaissance shouts while approaching the defense commander.
- What enemy? Do the Kilans dare to attack even when their capital is under siege?
King Lars is confused. During their planning of the attack at Kila, nobody suspected Kilans for having so much forces to conduct battle at two fronts.
Scout enters the throne hall.
- Arvans are approaching, my majesty! Their army is not less than ten thousand of infantry.
- ...
The silence shows that there is nothing to do in this situation.
- Find Jon and take him and one best servant to the Sapphire Chamber.
King orders his servants to find his oldest son, prince Jon, and take him to the chamber where the ancient blade Sapphire is located.
Not more than 10 minutes later, on way to the archery range, one of the servants finds the prince.
- Prince-
- Yes, I've heard. We are under attack. Who could suppose that nation other than Kilans could send forces against us... But Arvan?! We've signed an alliance pact not long ago...
- My apologies for being so late... His majesty asked me to bring you to the Sapphire Chamber...
- Exa, take my bow. - prince suggests to his adjutant - Father probably will be waiting for us there.
Before the gates of the Chamber.
- So this is the legendary Sapphire Chamber? As I recall, no man is allowed to get in without a direct order from my Father.
- Prince, his majesty is waiting...
The door opens, and we see nobody but the king.
- Jon, there is no time to waste. Take the blade. - King Lars presses the prince.
- What will happen after I do that, Father? - Young royalty looks like he does not know what will happen. No wonder, because the effects of using Sapphire Blade are a secret known only to the current and every previous king.
- This is a sacred relic. As the legend says, it is one of the three blades forged to win the battle in the war between Earth and the Extraterrestrial. They say that blade holds the power to bring someone back and forth in the space-time.
- But how do I use it? - Prince asks while looking at the blade.
- I don't even know if you can, but we can do nothing but try... Take it. - King orders his son.
Jon took the blue blade. After he did that, the Chamber has shaken strongly.
- Father, what happened? Did they use the catapults at the building we are in?
The Chamber has shaken again.
- It is impossible, Jon. This building should be out of their reach, and the scout didn't say any word about the heavy machinery.
The blade has started to shine, and the Chamber has shaken again.
- My majesty, it's the blade! - I shouted, ignoring that he's a royalty.
- Father...
- King, you should run from here! - When I was screaming, Jon has been already blurring. Prince Jon and myself didn't know what is happening.
- Good luck, son! - King Lars ran from the chamber, as if he was not surprised. In fact, it looked like he was leaving us for a certain death, excluding his words. When I looked at Jon, he was glaring at the Sapphire blade. He seemed to be consumed by its shine.
- Prince!
He slowly turned his sight on me. His eyes were bright red, as if he was not a human anymore.
- Prince!
The chamber started to shake again, but the shaking didn't stop.
- Prince! What's happening to you?
Jon faced my direction and started to slowly move forward. He looked like a shiny corpse that has been bereft its soul. The Sapphire blade in his right arm was still so bright, but now it was not the white light. It was cold, blue light. When I looked at it, I felt mental pain. Unbearable pain.
- Help me, Exa...-
Prince silently whispered while his red eyes were still staring at me. The time he said this, the blade shone so brightly, that I couldn't see anything, but I felt the tremors of the Chamber.
It seems I have lost my consciousness after that...
When I opened my eyes, I found myself in a quite spacy area. I don't know what kind of room was that, but it certainly was not the Sapphire Chamber we've been left by the King before. The black, flat ceiling above my head looked as it was not created by our engineers.
While still lying on the ground, I turned my head on the right and I found the Prince.
- Thank god, you're safe… - I mumbled, trying to endure the pain.
But that moment, I've noted many people standing and looking at us. Their clothing looked weird, but elegant. It was plain, but they seemed not to be peasants.
Prince Jon was still unconscious, but he was still holding the blade.
Suddenly, I've heard a loud noise. Something like a wind... And something like a rubbing metal. In seconds, something big... a big block of metal with two lights on the front has come into my sight. It looked more like the people were disturbed because they saw us two than the block of metal.
- Wha-
When I tried to ask loudly, where I am, the enormous pain caused by something like an unbearable noise pierced my ears.
I lost my consciousness again then.