Yeah, I'm back. Again. I know, I know. Update your other stuff MBSAVfan1! I know, I'm awful, but I just couldn't resist.
She didn't expect to die that day. It was a normal day on 'his' island, everyone working their hardest, flinching at the slightest noise, and watching with pitiful eyes as a handful of unfortunate creatures were called directly to his headquarters to be… well no one really knew what happened to those ones. It wasn't really for certain if they were killed, or tortured, or eaten, or made dance for amusement, but no-one knew. Because they never returned. Ever. But alas, what could one expect?
Their overlord was all powerful, and used his power to the fullest. Some might even say he abused it. They wouldn't be lying. There were some that were stronger than him, bigger, but none dared to challenge him. Not with his powers. No one really knew what their ruler was, only those closest to him, working by his side. And they usually vanished after a month or two anyway. They lasted longer than most, but still.
She herself had never seen him, only one single glimpse long ago, only getting a split second look at his glowing red eyes. She remembered that night, the glowing red eyes on the horizon, the evil, taunting laughter…
He was astoundingly tall, nearly ten feet. He sometimes had fangs and claws, sometimes he took on the form of an ordinary mortal. Always the same species, always looking the same. It was rumored that he was carnivorous. It was also rumored that he had magic powers. She was no skeptic, she'd seen them with her own eyes. He'd set fire to the area all around her and other helpless animals, laughing at their suffering, some choking on the smoke, some dying from sheer terror, some being eaten by the flames. Sometimes she wondered if she was really lucky she had lived through the incident.
She sighed and tenderly took a split second break, pausing to wipe her brow and stretch her heavy limbs. They felt like lead, numb and cold and weighing about a thousand pounds. She was one of the unlucky souls that was given the job of sorting through the jewels brought in from the east side of the island. Every type imaginable, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, diamonds, even the rare, exotic zircon. Her job was to sort them all, put the different jewels in different piles, of their own, to be sent to be cut and polished, throw the occasional useless rock into the sea. It may have sounded easy enough, but the rocks weighed from ten to seventy pounds each, usually on the heavier side. She sighed and was about to turn back to her work, when a commanding voice called out "You."
Everyone froze.
It was a panther. He was all black with the darkest of brown spots, and deep pools for eyes, resembling mini black holes, identical in color and just as cold. And worst of all? They were right on her.
She squeaked slightly and looked at him, eyes darting around. Everyone else was huddled close to the ground, trying to hide behind their rock piles, shaking in fear. A bird off to her left collapsed. "Y-Yes sir?"
His smile was gruesomely happy, like he enjoyed delivering her summon to her demise. "Your Overlord wishes to speak with you."
The tiny possum whimpered, but knew better than to speak her mind. This predatory cat would surely chomp her in half if she refused to go. So, gathering a teeny tiny spark of courage necessary to speak, she squeaked out "Y-Y-Yes sir."
"Good." His smile dropped, revealing a threatening sneer. "Now get moving."
She didn't get a chance to answer as he turned and sprinted off, her scrambling after him.
The young girl whimpered as she followed the panther through the dank, wet cave tunnel. It was narrow, his sides nearly brushing the sides, but the girl, being so small, didn't mind the size. It was dripping, stalagmites and stalactites rising from the floor and reaching down from the ceiling, dripping water off the overhead teeth. She was lucky she wasn't clumsy like her long deceased sister; she would've impaled herself long ago.
A drop of water plipped down onto her head, and she nearly jumped out of her skin, trying to stifle her scream. She'd always been jumpy like that. The panther whipped around and gave her a warning glare, shoving his fangs in her face, snarling "Can it pipsqueak." She could only nod in terror.
By the time they made it to their destination, she felt hopelessly lost. They'd gone through so many twists and turns, ups and downs, she didn't know how her escort wasn't hopelessly lost. They arrived at a large entrance to what looked like a cave, judging by how tall it was. Nearly twelve feet up, eight across. A huge boulder blocked the entrance.
"Get ready to duck." His voice was cold and emotionless, but she didn't get his message.
"Huh?"
But he wasn't listening. Instead, he rose a paw and pounded on the boulder three time. A slight humming sound reached her ears, and she noticed curiously that the panther leapt to the side, diving to the ground, covering his head. Then the boulder exploded.
It was completely obliterated in an instant. With a flash of light and an earth shattering boom, the huge rock broke into thousands of pieces, dust flying into the air. And she got the full brunt of it. The little mammal was thrown back, dust entering her lungs as she gasped, winded.
As she was coughing and the dust was clearing, something harshly grabbed her around her underweight middle and dragged her to her feet. "Get up and get moving." She was shoved roughly forward.
When her vision cleared, she instantly wished it was blurry from the dust again. She was in the biggest cave she'd ever seen. A hole was cut in the ceiling again, letting light spill in from… somewhere. She didn't know where it could be coming from; their island never had any sun. Their overlord always made sure it was cloudy and rainy, making his subjects as miserable as possible.
At least, that was the story.
Anyway. All around were bones. Everywhere. Thankfully they didn't seem fresh, but she could feel bile rise in her throat all the same. She swallowed it down.
At the far end was him. Again, all she could see were his glowing red yes, his body shrouded in shadows. If she squinted, she could just see the tips of longs claws clutching the armrests. He was high above the ground, resting on a thrown of bones, built to perfection. Surrounding his perch was every jewel imaginable, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, mounds and mounds, rising twenty feet off the ground. It was beautiful and gruesome at the same time, the skulls lines proudly on the far wall grinning creepily at her. She shuddered. The throne room.
"M-M-My Lord?" she managed to get out, throwing herself to her knees, bending over so her nose was practical touching the dusty floor, hands folded and held over her head in a begging manner. "You summoned me?"
"Yes." His voice made her shudder. Like metal on stone. It was low and whispery, and air of power to it, and cold as ice. And pure evil. "Tell me" in a flash of movement he leapt down from his perch, landing firmly on the floor, so hard they cracked under his feet. She didn't dare lift her head. "You sort my gems, mm?"
"Y-Yes sir…"
"Well" she heard his footsteps approaching. For a moment she could sense his presence before her, before he grew impatient and grabbed her by the arm, hauling her up to eye level so he could glare at her. His eyes were like twin rubies. "I need a new type of gem found. Something special."
"Why?"
That was her fatal mistake.
With a roar unlike anything she'd heard, blood curdling and made of pure horror, he grabbed her throat. He held up his other hand threateningly, claws arched, and it suddenly blazed blue, enveloped in blue flame. She knew he was controlling it. She could have sworn she heard the panther, back at the entrance, whimper. "Let this be a lesson to you, little one." He spat, grinning maliciously. "Never question those that have the power to kill you." And with one fluid motion, he swept his other hand at her, his palm landing on her face, fingers fastening around her head. She was enveloped in the magic fire, leaving nothing but a scream in the air.
He tossed the skeleton aside, into a pile, making a clanking sound. He turned to face his recently found second in command. He'd lasted longer than most, a whole week. He hadn't invoked his wrath quite yet. "You."
He tried not to look like a scared little kitten. "M-Me sir?"
"No, the diamonds. Of course you, you idiot!"
He gulped. "Yes then, Lord Zalim?"
"I'm putting you in charge of a quest."
"What will we be going for, sir?"
His smile was cruel. "A girl. I need a bride."
Well? Yeah, I know, I'm awful. But… I dunno. I just got inspiration and… yeah. Don't worry, my other stories are being worked on. Except Survival at Sea. I just can't get the dino world trip right! Suggestions? They're very welcome? Oh, and review!
Extra points to whoever can guess what Zalim's name means! And no using Google Translate! That's cheating! ;D