COCKWOMBLE ⎸kok wom - buh - l ⎸a male directed insult; a completely useless person that spouts constant bullshit.
I had no idea how exactly quickly everything could go to total and absolute shits. But it went down so quickly, I was in utter and total shock. One moment I was holding Orion's hand so tight, the next I was thrown in shadowing darkness by one of the Darkenings.
It was funny how their magic worked - or at least how their shadowing of our memories worked.
Once they, all of them, were in front of the villagers, as if someone threw a cold water of memories over all of the villagers. I could remember everything. And that almost made me hurl a knife at Prince Nikron's forehead. I wanted him dead like no one else before.
I was going to murder that bear's shit of a nightmare. Even if it was the last thing to do… I just needed to survive the next ten weeks.
As the shadows washed over me, going to the ground by my feet, I found myself in the room which looked nothing like it was from my village. The walls were made with large stones, floors were polished and cleaned so much the stones lost their original color and were purely white. The bed was at least triple the size I had at my home, a closet was twice as large as my mother's, and a working desk was made of the nicest woods from our Kingdom.
The room was a perfect space for someone who was planned to be slaughtered for entertainment of those sickening bastards.
''I see you've made yourself comfortable.'' A female voice spoke from behind me.
If by comfortable she meant I was trying to see from where I could escape, then yes, definitely.
I could see from the window it would be a pretty neat fall.
I turned on my heel, watching my opponent.
A woman, looking like she was in her forties - which she surely wasn't, was watching my every move like a hawk while casually leaned with her shoulder against the doorframe of the opened door.
Her hair was blonde, almost white, long to her hips and straight. It looked luxurious - just like everything looked like on the Darkenings. She had a blue eyes - establishing her as one of the Royals. She was probably a Princess or some High Lady of the Castle of Shadows. She had golden jewelry on each of her fingers, while her fingernails were long and sharp like a cat's claws - slightly turning toward palm from their length.
Even though she was beautiful, breathtakingly gorgeous to be exact, all I felt was a disgust towards her.
She was one of them.
''Who the fuck are you?'' I snapped my question.
I knew I couldn't throw one of my daggers at her forehead - because she'd surely manipulate it with her Gifts, but I wanted to so badly. I wished I was quicker, or at least quick like them so I could murder them all for what they did to my mother.
She brushed her hair to fall behind her free shoulder, her claws easily going through the whitish threads. ''I'm High Lady Sytheraya.'' Her name even made me almost puke from anger. ''I'm responsible for your between the quests.'' She stepped into the room, closing the door just when I heard bloody screams coming from the hallway.
Someone was surely having a panic attack as they realized we were all picked for slaughter.
''You mean between the slaughters?''
She tsked, approaching me, then kept on slowly circling me while observing me from the top of my head to my toes. ''I wouldn't be so rough with my words, but essentially yes. For our own Gifts to Gods.''
I doubted the Gods wanted us, innocent mortals to be thrown into impossible quests - with a little to no chance of survival. Even if someone lived through those quests, somehow survived - even though it was highly impossible since the quests were made to emphasize a Champions suffering, I doubted someone would ever want a prize at the end of the tenth quest.
I knew I didn't.
Who in the right mind would want to become them?
It sucked knowing I'd probably die on one of the quests, suffering impossibly great. A small spark of me hoped I'd become the first surviving Champion in seventy years to raise.
I probably wouldn't take the prize, but I'd give my very best to kill all of them.
Mother-fucking-fuckers.
''I hope Gods spit right at your faces for treating us like rats.''
Sytheraya's eyes sparkled with amusement as she stopped circling me and stood right before me.
There was something so gruesome with the Darkenings being at least a foot taller than us, mortals. All of them were freakishly tall, and impossibly strong. Probably because of their wicked blood thirty nature.
With that thought my eyes zoomed on her full, round and plump pink lips. I knew in that mouth were teeth responsible for at least one mortal a year.
And I heard the King needed much more than simply one mortal per year.
''I'm sure that attitude of yours will die after the first quest, even though I love the fire in your eyes. That fighting instinct might as well Gift me my first surviving Champion in hundreds of years.'' Something about the mention of victory made her even more happy.
I knew she had at least two more Champions. Each meant to die as her Gift to the Gods.
After all, it's she that chose me in the crowd of my villagers.
It's she who clapped her hands in excitement as dark shadows pushed me through the ground as if it was an alive monster sucking me deep into its mouth.
It's she who ripped me away from my sister and Orion.
I could still hear the ring of my sister's cries, her begging the Darkenings to leave me and take her - as if her singing could scare away the monsters in the quests. I, at least, had a small fighting chance to survive at least two minutes before the monsters get to me.
But I still didn't want to kill Sytheraya. I wanted to murder, torture, suck soul out of Nikaron. He was the one who chose my mother.
He could see she was holding two girls by her sides - one at the age of seven and the second at the age of eleven. He knew he would rip her away from her children. He could see there was no father figure by our sides. And he still chose her - even laughed when I fell on my knees and cried into the darkness of the ground for my mother.
Even though I couldn't remember the morning after what had happened to my mother, I knew with my soul, I wanted to murder that being.
I knew there will come a time when I'll have my hands wrapped around that bastard's throat and squeeze the shit, soul and hell out of him. I just didn't know when it would happen. Even in the afterlife, I'll wait for him just a step into death.
I gleared right at her bright blue eyes - secretly wishing I could rip them out and make her chew them like a dog. ''Don't close your eyes around me, my Lady.'' I purred ever so softly, ''I'll give my very best to see you at the end.'' I promised.
If they wanted a human who was ready to avenge the blood of her family, they sure didn't see it would be a woman. And surely, they couldn't even hope how close I'll get to them.