WARNING: this is rated M for a reason (violence/gore)
...
It had been a long day. Erec didn't really want to do anything else except sleep. He had spent the whole day hanging out with Bethany and Jam and that lasted until 11 at night. Time for bed. He said goodnight to his friends and headed to his room in the west wing of the castle. He was asleep almost as fast as it took his head to hit the pillow.
Erec walked through woods. He saw red. Then green. He could tell his dragon eyes were out, and the red was coming from the bloodbath he was standing in. Where could all that blood be coming from? It was too much to be from one animal or thing, so Erec decided to investigate. He pushed through brush with his talons.
"Wondering something?"
Erec froze. The whole world seem to freeze. He knew that voice.
"Turn around, boy."
Erec refused even to twitch.
"I said turn around!"
Something caused Erec to turn around by force. He faced the man. Baskania.
"So," continued the madman. "The Prince of Light has come to the Realm of Dark, eh?"
"You're insane," snarled Erec.
"Maybe," replied Baskania calmly. "Maybe not."
Erec narrowed his eyes and a huge roar shook his body.
"Oooh," mocked Baskania. "Dragon boy's angry? Well that's not good for me, is it?"
"What are you even doing here?" asked Erec, furious.
"I think you know, Erec."
Erec did know. He just needed someone else to confirm his fears. Baskania wanted his eyes. "You'll never get them!"
"Oh, really?" Baskania asked. Fun and games were over. His voice was commanding now. He had turned violent and dangerous.
"Really."
Baskania screamed in fury and raised his hand toward Erec. Erec knew what was about to happen. Baskania's inborn gift was the ability to control the Substance. But Erec, too, had an offensive gift: his dragon powers and cloudy thoughts which told him what to do. The dragon sides of his eyes allowed him to see the Substance, so he could estimate where Baskania would send it to hurt him.
Dodge.
The cloudy thought command was clear and simple. Before, Erec would have fought it, but he now realized how much they helped. He jumped out of the way as Baskania sent a ring of black flame toward him.
Fly.
Wings snapped open, tearing his shirt off with them. Erec flapped his wings and sped up, reaching for Baskania's throat. But just as Erec's claw tips touched Baskania's skin, Baskania drew something out of thin air.
A dagger.
He thrust the thing into Erec sideways through his stomach, digging into Erec's flesh with the sharp edges. Baskania twisted the knife so that it went horizontal and Erec could feel it scrape against his ribs as he gave a horrible, inhuman scream in agony. His wings disappeared and everything no longer looked green. He could barely breathe and looked down. He saw the hilt of the knife protruding from his abdomen. He screamed again.
Baskania lifted his chin. "Now what do you think of me?" he asked. Erec had no strength to answer. He was dying and he knew it. He wished he just had time to say goodbye to his friends.
Baskania read his mind. "I bet you do. I am afraid I cannot grant you that, however. But just think of what will happen when you don't return to your family. What will they think? Your father? Mother? Bethany? Jam? They'll never know what happened to you. You will be all alone."
"You..." gasped Erec. "You son...son of a..." But then he sighed in defeat. He was done for. There was no point in arguing or calling this man names. Even if he wanted to his lungs could no longer hold oxygen. He closed his eyes as agony washed over him.
He saw black. Was he dead? He couldn't be. He still felt the pain in his stomach. He wanted to die. Why couldn't he die? It seemed like forever until the pain diminished. He was lying on something...someone. He felt the fabric of cloth and something suspiciously wet underneath his bare back. He grunted, feeling the after-pain of his wound which had seemed to magically heal itself somewhat, and got up. Erec stood and looked down.
He then saw what he had been laying on and screamed. It was Jam. His throat had been gutted and shredded and his eyes were wide open as if the last look on his face was shock. His mouth was open and blood was flowing freely. One eye was missing and the socket was a mini blood pool. Jam's face was covered in the red liquid, and he no longer looked like the butler Erec knew. There were tear marks all down his body which had gone through his clothes and deep into his skin. Blood poured from all of them. It never stopped. There was no possible way, Erec thought, that one man could have this much blood. Erec saw bones in a few places. It looked to him as though Jam had been dead for a while now. So...how was this even possible? An assortment of different items were scattered. Erec figured they were all from Jam's tux coat. Whoever killed him was looking for something. His coat was strewn out a few feet away, and only a little bit of his gray vest was still intact. He stared in horror at his friend's mutilated body. Who would do this? What could Jam have done to deserve this? Who would hate Jam this much as to go to these extremes?
Erec noticed a few other things as well. The shred marks down Jam's body were deliberate, and whoever killed him wanted to make sure he was dead. It looked like even after he was dead were these fatal wounds inflicted. A crowbar was in Jam's bloodstained hand. Erec guessed that when his friend realized he was being attacked, he grabbed the crowbar from a pocket of his coat and fought back. Erec knew Jam wouldn't have gone down without a fight, and this was the first thing he could reach.
Erec suddenly saw green again. It didn't make much of a difference since everything was dark, but he seemed to be looking at a scene in bright daylight. It was bright daylight in a canyon. Where it was was way beyond Erec. He saw someone...Jam! He was alive!
"Jam!" he called.
Jam didn't even look up. Erec was confused. He looked over to his right and saw another shape. It looked like a wolf on two legs; a werewolf. He was holding a 7 foot-long sword in his left hand-paw. His teeth were bared and he was drooling slightly. His eyes glinted orange and they looked dangerous. He was advancing toward Jam. Erec knew what would happen if his friend didn't look up.
"JAM!" he tried again.
This time Jam turned, but not toward him. He turned toward the wolf. He gasped and ran the other way. The werewolf was faster though. He leaped down and started running on all fours. Jam ran faster but ran into a tree.
"NO!"
Jam turned just as the werewolf jumped. He ripped the crowbar out of his coat and held it up protectively. But as if that really could have stopped the beast. Erec watch in horror as the wolf landed on Jam and snarled, showing razor sharp teeth. Jam screamed. The werewolf retaliated to the sound and brought the sword down on Jam's arm, puncturing muscle and basically paralyzing it. The sword was withdrawn and Jam's arm lay there, useless. Luckily the crowbar was in his other hand. He raised it in a sad attempt to hit the wolf.
The sword was thrust in again and pulled out, taking an eye with it. It was run down Jam's side and chest. By this time, Jam was as good as dead. He had lost too much energy and blood. He turned his head toward Erec.
"...help..." he whispered. His eyes were still wide open in pain.
Erec's eyes widened as well. He tried to move but couldn't. "NO!"
Jam exhaled...and was gone.
"...no...NO!"
Erec couldn't do anything but watch as the werewolf ripped off Jam's coat. He rummaged through it and threw its contents everywhere. He obviously didn't find what he wanted because he just threw it aside. Then he went back to Jam's body. He began the process which Erec had guessed that he wanted to make sure Jam was dead. Erec was right. By the time he was done, there was almost nothing identifiable about the butler. The werewolf got up and howled a terrifying howl. He turned and stared at Erec.
Erec then witnessed a transformation. The fur and tail disappeared, the claws shrank, the teeth as well, the eyes were no longer orange. Erec was horrified.
The killer was King Piter.
The green diminished.
Erec looked up. He was back in the dark space with Jam's body.
"Dad...how could you?"
He couldn't see clearly, for tears were blurring his vision. They were running down his cheeks like waterfalls. He couldn't imagine life without the butler. He had gone with him everywhere to protect him. Now it looked like he could barely even protect himself. Erec crouched down by the body and rested his head on Jam's soaked undershirt and tie. He was still bleeding forcefully. His skin was pale. Even if Erec had somehow managed to convince himself that Jam was still alive, that thought was completely gone now.
Erec's tears joined the blood.
"JAAAAAM! NOOOOOOO!"
Erec woke in a cold sweat that was drenching his hair.
"No..." he whispered to himself again.
"Young sir?"
Erec turned his head quickly. It was Jam!
"Jam!" cried Erec happily. He stood up so fast he felt lightheaded. Jam hurried toward him with a worried look on his face. Erec ran toward him and they ended up crashing into one another painfully. Erec recovered first and gave Jam a huge bear hug, pinning his arms to his sides. He heard Jam grunt. "Sir?"
"You're alive!" said Erec.
"Wh-wha?"
Erec told him about his dream. Jam's' eyes widened. "That explains a lot, sir," he replied.
"Huh?" Erec was confused.
"Er..." the butler began. "You were crying out in your sleep."
"What was I saying?"
Jam paused to think. "Well, I was walking down this hallway when I heard you screaming as if you were in pain. Then you were silent for a few moments. After that you started screaming my name."
Erec felt his face go red. "Sorry..."
"I understand completely, now that I've heard the story. Let me promise you something," said Jam.
Erec looked up.
"That will never happen. I swear it."
"How do you know?"
Jam pulled Erec into a friendly hug and held him close. "Because I'm always prepared, remember? I'll know when someone wants to hurt me."
Erec believed him. He held Jam tighter. "I just don't want to see you dead."
"Do not worry, young sir," reassured Jam again. "We are friends, right? We look out for each other. You for me and I for you."
"Yeah."
Erec fell asleep peacefully again that night with Jam waiting until he did so. He knew he was safe and that it would stay that way.
...
sorry for the cheesy ending. i was feeling pretty happy when i finished it...why?