The Prophecy: Battle for the ark of time

The King's word

The next day, fliers were posted round for all the young men of the kingdom to assemble at a certain location for a sudden announcement by the king,

There it all started,

I had just arrived in the capital and was planning to find accommodation, when I saw the flier, I then decided to attend and Hear what the king had to say,

On reaching there, I saw an enormous crowd, it was quite difficult to get through, and in the process, I heard a voice.

"Young men of this prosperous kingdom" the king shouted with an outstandingly audible voice as he walked onto the stage,

"There is disturbing news going round the kingdom, so I am here to personally clarify it....... the sorcerer ephron, who is now late. Dedicated herself to solving the mystery of the prophecy, and after so long, she was finally able to find meaning to it, but it turned out to be very disturbing, she confirmed that on the day of the blood moon, the barrier at boundary would be broken"

On hearing this, there was a great commotion.

The king then continued, " after careful deliberation, a solution has been provided, and that is to retrieve king's scepter, now the rest is left for you, those who are willing to embark on the journey, shall go into the forest of torture and then unto the cave of doom, to retrieve the scepter, and to whosoever is able to bring me the scepter, I shall grant the permission to request for anything of me and also a direct entry into the knights academy,

This was a great surprise to many people, and also an opportunity to the poor, who had no future in the kingdom.

"There will be no discrimination in this mission, poor or rich, commoner or noble, either way, you are free to embark, but I must warn you, the other kingdoms may have promised similar reward to their people, so you must be careful and trust no one, those who are willing to embark on this journey, must come to the palace early in the morning, tomorrow, to be escorted to the entrance of the forest" he added

On hearing this, everyone took to the market, I for one was greatly surprised, I didn't know it would be so easy to get into the palace; I only had to get the scepter,

After careful deliberation, I went looking for an apartment to stay in wait for tomorrow,

As I walked along the sketchy looking street. I found an old house at the corner, I then went in to inquire about it,

walking through the door, I heard a very disturbing noise, it sounded like some people were having an argument.

I saw an old man who looked like he was in his 80's, yet he spoke in a rather condescending manner.

"I won't be patient with you any longer, if you don't pay up now, I will throw you out of my house" he asserted.

"Please sir, can I at lease stay till tomorrow, I really don't have any money" a young man pleaded on his knees.

"No! Many young men out there are looking for apartment closer to the palace, and they all have money, now leave!" the old man said, consistently refusing,

"Please, I beg of you, I have yet to receive my monthly wages, and I have nowhere else to go" the young man still pleaded.

"That's none of my business" he replied.

At this rate, i couldnt just watch, i had to intervane.

"sir, if i may, whats the issue here" i stepped in.

"This young man here has owed me for the past three days, and his still not ready to pay" the old man voiced out aggressively.

"So how much is the rent" I inquired

The old man then turned his attention towards me.

"Only a piece of gold coin per day" he answered with a smirk.

"alright, here is five pieces of gold coins, for me and him till dawn" I offered, stretching out my hands.

Well thank you, I will be back tomorrow" the old man replied, as he swiftly snatched the money and left.

I turned around and found him staring at me at a very odd manner, I quickly carried my sword and walked into the room,

"Why... why did you help me" the young man asked, as he followed after me.

"I just felt like helping" i answered.

"oh... thank.... thank you" he replied hesitantly

"You're welcome, but shouldn't you be getting ready for the journey, or aren't you going" I asked as I placed my sword by the wall.

"Well, am a kind of low on money, so I really can't afford any material now" he replied.

"Then how would you be able to survive without potions or tools" i asked.

"I still have a sword don't I, I will be okay" he answered calmly as he sat down.

Looking closely at him, he appeared surpisingly handsome yet dressed so haggardly, it was clear enough to me that something was off about him.

"Is there....is there a reason you're going on this journey" I asked. witha rather kin interest.

"Well..." he muttered.

Noticing his hesitation I decided to retract my steps, "its okay if you're not willing to share, I mean it's........."

"I have never told anyone this, but since you helped me, I guess it won't hurt" he interrupted.

"Ok...."

"It happened eight years ago, at that time, my father was Aden's prime minister"

"What! your father was a prime minister?"

"yes, he came home looking very down that day, my mom then asked him what the problem was, he told her he refused to comply with a certain order from the king, so he Threatened him, my mom told him, not to worry, that it was all going to be alright.

That same night, as I was deep in sleep, my mom and dad came to my room and woke me up, they then carried me to an underground chamber and locked me there, they told me not to came out, till when they came back looking for me, but, they never did.

The next day, I came out by myself only find the whole place burnt to the ground, royal knights were sent to investigate the cause of the fire, but in the end, they just said the fire was an accident, and that my family had died in it, but..... I knew that wasn't the truth, that's why I have been working so hard to join the magic knight's academy, and find out what really happened" he narrated.

"Oh.... am sorry I made you remember such awful incident" I apologized.

"No, it's ok"

"But shouldn't the kingdom take responsibility for your uptake "I asked.

"They did, I was given monthly wages, but recently, I haven't been getting it"

"Oh... well, since you told me your story, why don't I tell you mine"

"Okay......"

"Mine happened about three months ago"