Chapter 5 : Kyle

AGAIN!"

BAM!

"AGAIN!"

BAM!

But the red mannequin in front of me didn't budge, not even a bit. Sweat had drenched the black overalls I wore but he still made me continue.

"This session will not end until that dummy has moved, Kyle!"

He could see that my legs were barely keeping me upright but he still kept shouting at me as if I had unlimited stamina or something.

"AGAIN!"

Argh, I can't do this anymore.

"I can't conjure up any more magic blasts, Dad," I murmured, closing my eyes.

I lowered my head and finally dropped to the floor, my arms dangling at my sides. The smell of ash and sweat was starting to make me feel nauseous, and the heat in this room was unbearable as well.

Even without looking at him, I could tell he was staring directly at me.

"You will never be as good as I am when you are king with this stupid mentality of yours," he grumbled as he walked slowly behind me.

"I'm tired, Dad," I pleaded with him as the tears started to stream down my face.

"Quiet," he whispered as he held the back of my head by the hair, "if you think your pathetic tears will save you from the cruelty of this world, you are dead wrong, boy."

"You are hurting me, Dad. Please let go," I begged as I tried to tug at his wrist but I could just feel his grip getting tighter.

"Dad!"

I continued to tug at him as I moved my hands along his arm but to no avail until I could feel heat begin to emanate from his palms.

I pushed my head back to look at his eyes but when I did, black hollow eyes stared right back at me, his skin a bright crimson colour that now glowed red.

"D-dad?"

"Once everyone is gone, you and your weakness will be the only one to blame," he snarled, digging his overgrown claws into my skull.

At that moment, his whole body became engulfed in red flames that spread out to the whole room and over my limp body.

Ahhh!

I shot up straight and without warning, felt a pounding sensation inside my skull. The pain felt like someone was playing a sick joke on me by placing a tiny bell in my skull that kept vibrating every few seconds.

A dream. It was a fucking dream. Gosh, why are my arms so sweaty and where am I?

For a few seconds, everything was blurry and I could hardly make out where I was until I rubbed my eyes, forcing my vision to clear.

The first thing I noticed was a little girl sitting at the foot of the bed holding two dolls in her hands. When we finally locked eyes, she set them down on the bed and gave me the biggest grin.

I turned to look around the room and everything looked unfamiliar. The huge white royal bed and the elegant silver wall patterns with the crystallized furniture around were different from everything we had at the palace.

Am I in the elves' palace?

"Kyle! You're finally awake!" she shrieked as she moved closer.

"Can you... keep it down?" I groaned, rubbing my forehead, "You're going to burst my eardrums if you continue talking like that."

"Oh. I'm sorry," she whispered as she lowered her head.

"How long have I been asleep anyway?"

She didn't move a muscle for a few moments and her head still lowered.

"Are you going to answer me or-"

"Two years," she said as she slowly lifted her head.

"Two years?!" I basically shouted, jerking forward in my sitting position.

She didn't even wait for me to process this as she burst out laughing while holding her belly.

"Is this seriously funny to you, Sophie?" I snapped at her as I grabbed her wrist. "Where are Tim, Mum and D-"

I stopped myself 'cause I didn't even feel like talking about or seeing him. If it was up to me, I would have made sure to avoid him during the whole stay here.

"Hmm," she scratched her chin thoughtfully, "your mum and Tim left somewhere together while your dad is doing some important kingly stuff with my dad."

"Kingly stuff?"

"Important kingly stuff."

"I've literally gotten no information out of you, you know that, right?"

She only giggled.

This girl will be the death of me, I swear. Her sense of humour is so broken I feel like she would be laughing her heart out if the preacher made any funny comment.

"Don't worry, Kyle, I'm here with you so you won't be alone," she said smiling as she placed her hand on top of mine that was resting on my side.

Before I could say any more, the door suddenly opened and through it, a woman wearing a luxurious emerald green royal dress walked in with a bold stride, two elven maids following close behind her.

The queen.

"Oh. You're awake," she gasped, stopping her stride midway.

"Queen Sylvia, your majesty," I quickly bowed my head, "thank you for having me."

She chuckled while shaking her head before walking up to the side of the bed and sitting down beside me, opposite Sophie.

"Your treatment of a queen is the reason why you are my favourite human, boy," she said as she caressed my hair.

Favourite human? Is that how the elves refer to us? Like pets?

"The others are so disrespectful, especially your mother and brother. Those two remind me of that unmannered queen of the beast folk, Kelana."

Can she please not degrade us to the level of those bohemians?

I couldn't help but sigh quietly.

"Anyway, how are you feeling? And be honest because I won't hear the end of it if your mum finds you ill under my watch," she continued, holding my forehead with the back of her hand.

"What even put you in this state?"

"He seemed fine when I was talking to him, but he's just a little tired, Mum," Sophie chimed in with her usual enthusiasm.

"I didn't ask you, dear," she said, keeping her eyes and hands on me.

Hmm, seems like she's put up with a lot of Sophie's outbursts and shenanigans, I guess.

"I have this ringing in my head and a slight headache," I answered her.

"Michie, quickly go get Boris," she said calmly to one of the maids, who later rushed out of the room.

"You'll be better in a few seconds, boy, so don't worry yourself."

After a few moments, the maid appeared and with her, a young-looking elf with pink hair wearing a nurse's outfit and holding a bag followed close behind. He looked just a few years older than Sophie.

"You called for me, your highness?" He bowed his head.

"The prince has a headache. I'm sure you know what to do."

"Of course, your highness."

He lifted his head and walked to the side of the bed where Sophie was seated and without hesitation, she moved out of the way, neither of them making any eye contact.

Hmm.

"Where do you feel the pain, Prince Kyle?" he asked, looking me dead in the eyes.

Uhh, I'm pretty sure this is classified as an invasion of privacy, right? Like, why is he looking at me like I murdered someone.

"Um, the front and back of my head."

"Okay. You can close your eyes so I can heal you."

"Sure."

I closed them and for a few moments, nothing happened.

Does the spell not have an effect or-

My thoughts were cut short by a burning sensation that pulsed through my skull and it felt ten times worse than what I was already going through.

I gritted my teeth as my whole body instinctively tensed up and I couldn't stop my hands from grabbing his wrists.

"Please relax yourself, prince Kyle, the pain will subside in no time."

You better be right, elf.

I let go of his wrists and grabbed onto the sheets on my sides. The pain lasted about half a minute and after the initial feeling, my head felt lighter and more relaxed.

"You may open your eyes now."

I did as I was told but my vision was just as blurry as it had been when I woke up today and I could barely see anyone or anything in the room.

My heart began to pound and I couldn't control my breathing anymore. My chest rose and fell in sharp, stuttering rhythms but it felt like no air was filling my lungs.

Oh my God! Am I going blind now?! I knew I shouldn't have trusted that deceitful elf!

"How do you feel, Prince Kyle?" he asked.

Without any hesitation, I moved and wrapped my hands around his neck, blocking his airway.

"You little bastard, you've made me blind and you have the audacity to ask that?!" I yelled at him, tightening the grip on his neck.

"Kyle, stop!" Sophie screamed as I could feel her palms on my left bicep, "he didn't make you blind!"

"Listen to her, boy," Queen Sylvia added in a casual tone.

"T-t-the s-s-spe-" the boy tried to speak but the grip I had didn't falter.

Do they really think I'll let someone who is trying to harm me get aw-

Abruptly, everything became clear and everyone in the room came into focus. The maids who had been standing by the door were now both by the foot of the bed, their arms stretched out towards me.

Were these crazy people about to strike me?!

"Kyle!" Sophie screamed again.

At that moment, I let go of the elf before turning to Queen Sylvia, who just looked at me with a plain face, her expression unreadable.

I turned back to him and I could see him holding his throat still gasping for air, Sophie standing by his side offering a bottle of water from the bag.

"I- I'm sorry."

Those were the only words I could muster up, my throat getting dry by the second.

"If you do anything as stupid as that again in my kingdom, I'll forget that you belong to that witch of a mother you have," she stated, standing up immediately and walking to the door.

"Mum?" Sophie said softly.

"Yes?" She stopped right at the doorway of the room.

"Is it okay if I take Kyle to go see Benny?"

She paused, not saying anything for a few seconds until...

"If he wishes to see it, sure. Just be back in time for lunch."

Sophie didn't respond but only turned to face me with that huge grin again.

Do I really have to see this Benny guy...?

"You're gonna love Benny, Kyle," she beamed as she sat by my side.

I sure hope so.

"But umm..." I turned to the pink-haired elf.

"Boris," he stated.

"Boris. I'm genuinely sorry and I didn't mean to choke you like that. I thought you were trying to hurt me."

"It's my fault, Prince Kyle, I should have explained the side effects of the spell to you. I'm still learning how to cast my spells properly and it didn't start as it was supposed to."

She assigned an incompetent student to heal a royal heir? What kind of madness is this?

"I do not wish to keep you waiting. I'll be on my way now," he added.

"Wait," I held his wrist to stop him, "please call me Kyle, and if you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask me, okay?"

He simply nodded and I let go of him. He grabbed his bag and hurriedly left the room.

Sophie was quiet the whole time and maybe she could actually tell when to read the room and know when not to interrupt and when to be serious when the time calls for it.

"So um, who's Benny?"

"I thought you would never ask!" She squealed as she grabbed my arm and literally dragged me out of bed.

Oh someone save me, please.

We walked through the castle corridors before eventually stepping outside and the moment I stepped through the doors, I stopped.

The castle was beautiful and the structures around us were made from gleaming white stone, with polished silver running along the edges and walls. The sunlight reflected off everything, making the entire place seem magical.

"Wow, so this is the elven castle."

"Pretty, isn't it?" She stopped beside me.

"It's incredible."

"My mum says the castle was made from the prettiest stone there is and it's really strong too."

I crouched slightly and ran my fingers across the surface of one of the walls, feeling every tiny bump and chip.

"It's really smooth. What type of stone is it?"

"I don't know. I didn't ask her that," she said bluntly.

Of course she wouldn't know.

"But look at this," she beamed again, taking a step back as she took a deep breath, "this is one of the new spells I've been learning."

At that moment, a sudden gust of wind began to surround her, her ponytail twisting violently in its wake.

I also took a few steps back because I didn't know what spell she wanted to perform or how much control she had over it.

Now that I think about it, she has never performed a spell in front of me every time she came to visit.

"Hit it with a spike, behold my gale strike!" she declared, quickly pointing her finger towards the wall and the gust of wind followed its path hitting a particular point with a loud bang making the birds in the nearby trees fly away.

"Oh my god, that was so loud, Sophie," I turned to her, "won't that alert everyone in the area?"

"Nope, but look," she said smiling as she pointed at the spot she hit, "not even a scratch."

I turned to where she was pointing and after the dust and debris had settled, I could see that she was right, there was barely any chip on the wall and it looked exactly like it did before.

"If your strike is really as strong as it seemed then this stone is really something but when did you learn how to perform spells like that?"

"Hmm, I started learning it on my 30th birthday."

Uhh right, elves age more slowly than we do and they are basically immortal creatures that can live hundreds of years.

"Oh, maybe you could teach me a few tricks then sometime," I said, scratching the back of my head.

"Sure, but right now we have to go see Benny," she grinned. "So follow me."

"Where are we going exactly? And who in the world is Benny?"

"You'll see, it's a surprise!"

"Right."

After walking for a few minutes, we eventually reached a large glass enclosure in the middle of a spacious blue daisy garden. At first, I didn't see anything inside until the grass inside moved and a tiny brown blob slowly crawled into view.

"Benny!" she cheered as she ran to the glass cube and knelt beside it.

"This is Benny?" I sniffled.

I couldn't help but feel disappointed. She talked so much about Benny and finding out it's a tiny ball of flesh that could barely fit in my hand felt like the biggest betrayal of the year.

As if sensing my frustration, it suddenly opened its mouth, showing its rows of tiny teeth and letting out a quiet, high-pitched shriek that could barely be heard unless you paid complete attention to it.

"That thing has teeth?"

"Don't worry, he is very friendly," she remarked as she gently stroked the glass, Benny making barely audible shrieking noises inside.

"My mummy calls him a mimic," she continued, "and she says that mimics are very good at transforming into anything."

"Anything? Are you sure that small thing could be capable of transforming into absolutely anything?"

"That's what she told me," she shrugged, "that's why we keep him in here."

"Because he could be dangerous?"

"No." She paused for a moment. "It's because if he escapes, we'll never find him."

Uhh... is she hearing herself? How could a tiny thing like this be as scary as they make it sound?

She walked closer to the enclosure and called out to it.

"Benny."

The creature made a tiny jump toward her at those words.

"Lay down," she called as she lowered both of her hands.

The mimic immediately flattened itself against the ground, stretching out until it became almost completely flat.

My eyes widened.

"Whoa, you trained this thing?"

"Benny is a well behaved good boy," she beamed as she reached into a small container beside the enclosure and grabbed a large chunk of meat.

Afterwards, she opened a tiny hatch in the enclosure and tossed the meat inside, which it instantly snapped at and devoured as the entire piece disappeared in one bite.

I couldn't help but stare.

"How did that thing even open its mouth that wide?"

"Stop calling Benny a 'thing', Kyle." She stood up and faced me with an annoyed expression.

"But that's exactly what it is, a thing."

"How would you feel if I called your pet a thing, huh?"

"I don't have a pet so that won't work on me."

There was silence for a few moments between us, and her face was unreadable the whole time. It looked like some gears were turning up there, trying to process what I just said.

Then, out of nowhere, she rushed in and gave me a hug.

"I'm so sorry, Kyle, I didn't know you were so lonely."

What is this girl going on about?

"To make it up to you, I'll let you feed Benny just this once," she whispered as she hugged me tighter.

"No thanks, Sophie."

"But you don't have a pet. Please do it for me, it will make me very happy," she murmured as she laid her chin on my shoulder.

I thought she was the one who was supposed to be making it up to me?

I sighed and agreed to do what she asked. The faster I get this done, the better.

I let go of her and walked over to the opening by the enclosure. Benny was quiet now and it seemed almost harmless at first glance.

Keyword, almost.

Its mouth slowly opened and before I could react, a long, slimy tongue wrapped around my chest.

"Oh my fucking god! Let go of me, you foul beast!"

I stumbled backwards and just as I hit the ground, the tongue snapped back into the enclosure.

Sophie was quiet for a full second, pressing her lips tightly together until it looked like she couldn't hold it in anymore as she burst out laughing.

As I looked up at her, she was basically doubled over.

"You- you knew it was going to do that!"

"No I didn't," she gasped for air as she wiped her eyes, "but I think that's how you'll tell that he likes you."

"Has anyone ever told you that your humour is broken and it might need fixing?"

"Nope," she said casually as she skipped her way to the glass again, "who's a good boy, huh, Benny? Yes, you are!"

It bounced happily, letting out another quiet shriek as Sophie continued to laugh and caress the glass.

A few moments later, footsteps approached from behind us and a maid walked toward us and bowed. I could see Sophie straightening out as well.

"Your highness, your mother has called for lunch."

"Oh, already?" she said, frowning.

The maid raised her head and nodded before continuing.

"She asked me to bring you both back to the palace."

"Okay," she beamed and turned towards me. "Come on, Kyle, you'll totally love our delicious food."

"Sure," I said casually as I stood up and dusted myself off.

Sophie had already started skipping her way towards the exit while I followed close behind, giving Benny one final glance. It stayed motionless for a few seconds until the last moment when it opened its mouth and made a licking-its-lips gesture.

"Uhh, are these mimic creatures poisonous?" I asked Sophie as she continued to skip ahead of me.

"Nope. They are as harmless as dragonflies. Why do you ask?"

"No reason," I responded, scratching my chin as we continued walking. "Could you take me to Boris after dinner? I wish to ask him something."

"Okay."

Splendid, I'm not going to let this girl's unreliable information be the death of me, no way. Plus, I think I could ask Boris to teach me that healing spell that he said he's learning as well.

"Maybe this trip won't be as unproductive as I thought it would," I murmured to myself.