Kingdom of Arzialla by Marilyn Arias (story reading txt) 📕

I do? I don’t have a partner to dance with. I don’t even know how to dance.
All of a sudden, I felt a small tug against the bottom of my shirt. I looked down to find nothing standing behind me. I looked around and no one was around. I mentally shrugged, thinking that it was probably just my imagination.
Just when I took a step into the ball room, a voice stopped me.
“Sir?” a little boy’s voice echoed. It came from the hall to my right. I glanced where I heard him and found the little child hiding behind a wall where the hall turns. The halls had gates so that guests wouldn’t be wandering around, but the lock that’d keep these gates in front of me securely shut were unlocked and the gates were slightly ajar. All I could see from him was one eye, some of his shoulder, and his golden, red hat.
I walked over to the metal bars.
“Can I help you with something?” I asked him as I stood in front of the gates.
He waved a hand for me to go to where he hid. I glanced around and saw no one watching or noticing me. As silent as possible, I opened the gate just enough for me to slip through and started walking down the hall to where he was. Just when I was about two-thirds down the hall, he ran away.
“Hey, are you okay?” I asked.
All I can hear was his footsteps echoing in the corridors, getting softer as they got farther and farther.
“Are you lost?” I said as I got to the turn just in time to watch him turn into another hall. His red pony tail was the last thing I saw of him before disappearing into the other hall. Is the kid a girl? It sounded like a boy. But then again, his voice was high pitch so I couldn’t really tell…
I realized how the hall he turned to was about thirty feet away and how fast he really was. The wallpaper was a maroon color with some golden flowers. The marbled floor was nicely dressed with black rug that ran along with the corridors. The halls were lit with candles that’d sit in wall chandeliers, giving the corridors an elegant feel.
“Hey, wait,” I said, speed walking to him. “I don’t think I can be here. I can help you, just come back.”
He didn’t listen. The voices of the crowd lessened as the child led me away from them.
“I need to go back. Please, just tell me what you need,” I said as I finally got to the next turn and found him go into a room.
“Where are you going? I don’t think we are allowed in there,” I said, practically whispering now since I’m scared of getting caught. When I stepped in front of the door that the kid entered, I looked around and found the halls cleared. “Hello?”
No answer.
The door was seemingly closed but it was actually pushed to. I pushed the door open a bit to peak inside.
“Hello?” I asked again.
I glanced inside and found a woman standing in the middle of the room. It was dark and the only thing I could see was her bright red hair before her voice echoed, “he could’ve been my fifth cousin thrice removed…”

and disappeared in thin air. Syveria?
I looked closer and found her standing a foot away from where a crib with a mobile sat. There was a rocking chair in one corner of the room and drawers and other furniture in the room.
“Excuse me,” a voice from behind me said. I spun around to find a man standing before the door. He wore his black long sleeve shirt tucked in his black slacks with a golden sash and red cape. Medals and badges were pinned onto his shirt and a belt securely fastening his pants. His copper hair, beard and mustache already have a few silver strands.
I feel the weight on my chest. Only problem with that is that it’s more overwhelming since it’s just the fact that this man in front of me wore a royal circlet. I’ve never seen a single royal heir but it doesn’t take a genius to figure that this man was the king.
“May I ask why you’re in the Prince’s room?” his voice was husky.
I was speechless. Everything that I should and want to say are just jumbled up in my head, making me unable to speak without sounding like a complete fool.
Say something!

I told myself. It’s the king, for crying out loud! Clear your head and say something!

I blinked hard, thinking what I’d like to say before opening my mouth. “I-I’m sorry. I j-just…”
His eyebrow arched at me.
I sighed, debating myself if whether or not I should tell him what I saw without him thinking I’m crazy.
“I didn’t mean to be in here, sire,” I said, bowing down to him.
“What did you mean to do then?” he asked.
I opened my mouth and then shut it before saying that I meant to help a boy who led me to this extraordinary woman that disappeared before my eyes.
So I took a deep breath and asked, “D-Does a little child live in the kingdom? Not a baby, but a child around five or six?”
I remembered the kid’s hair and quickly added, “With long red hair?”
His expression became a mix of confusion and surprise.
“No. The only child that’d lived here would be my son but he didn’t make it. And the last child that ever came out with red hair was--”
He was cut off when the floor and halls started shaking, making some of the candles go out. We then started hearing screams from downstairs.
“What is going on?” the king questioned. I started running down the halls, not to get away from him, but to see what all the commotion is all about. “Hey! Where do you think you’re going? Come back here! Guards!”
I ignored him and kept running. I heard familiar roars mixed in with the shrieks of visitors. No…
I finally got to where the ball room would be and leaned against the balcony to see downstairs. Gavrils surrounded the first floor of the palace. The ceiling was so high, they actually fit in the first floor of the palace. They were huge as I remembered them to be, around ten feet tall or so.
I ran downstairs, remembering that Mila and Orde were downstairs before the king and his guards finally walked into the area still calling for me to stop. They didn’t realize the situation as quickly as I did but it quickly got their attention away from me.
I heard one of the guards order another to get the king to safety before their voices became faint by the time I was on the first floor.
It was gory. There weren’t much people left since the majority got to get away but a lot of people were still trapped. The people that were already caught by Gavrils spilled gallons of blood by the second as the monsters ate their flesh. Other Gavrils are fighting against soldiers. Even some soldiers were lying on the floor dead, which were mostly the lower ranked. I quickly slipped right passed everyone, trying not to attract a lot of attention to myself as I searched for Mila and Orde. I entered the throne room, finding paintings of past kings torn from claws. I scoped throughout the room and found Mila hiding behind Orde as they were surrounded by two Gavrils.
Orde noticed me before reaching into his boot and pulling out my knife. “Zel! Catch!”
He tossed the knife to me and I caught it without the blade piercing my palm. I positioned myself to charge before running after one and jumping onto its back. I gave out a single whistle for the beast to glance over to me and I stabbed it in the eye. It roared in pain before grabbing my back and throwing me across the room. I fell onto some other Gavril, knocking him to the floor with me. I lied there dizzy before a hand grabbed my leg and hung me upside down in the air. The world spun before my eyes but my vision cleared up enough for me to see a boy of about eight leaning against a beaten, passed out soldier with terror in his eyes. He must be his father. I remembered that soldiers carry swords so I looked for his and found it not too far from his hand.
Someone screamed nearby us so the Gavril took his attention away from me, giving me time. I pointed at the sword and shouted at the boy “The sword! Give me the sword!”
The boy quickly followed my finger and swiftly grabbed the sword before throwing it at me. Thankfully, Orde taught me how to catch a flipping sword since the kid didn’t really know how to properly toss one and I caught it. It was tricky since I’m upside down but I did it.
The Gavril heard me shout and he brought his attention back to me. Just as he was getting ready to chomp on me, I took the sword and cleanly ran it through its throat. Blood squirted everywhere onto my face as it gargled a scream before dropping me and tumbled down. I placed my foot onto its face and stabbed the sword right into the middle of its forehead, leaving him assuredly dead.
I glanced at the boy and his dad. I placed my fingers into his neck and felt a pulse.
“He’s alive,” I muttered.
I tried to carry him and found him light, seeing as how hauling all those supplies really did pay off. I hid him behind a large statue that stood against a corner and faced the boy.
“Stay here. Hide. They shouldn’t find you here,” I told him before rushing off.
I ran to where I found Orde and Mila before noticing that there’s only one Gavril after them now. The one I stabbed in the eye still had my knife stuck in the middle of its skull.
“Zel!” Orde shouted before the Gavril slapped his face hard, also slashing his cheek open. He fell against the wall behind him and blacked out.
“Zelimir!” Mila cried before the Gavril grabbed her by the waist and picked her up.
“No!” I shouted, grabbing my knife from the dead Gavril’s head as I ran at the one threatening Mila. “Stay away from her!”
I slid purposefully on my knees to the Gavrils legs to stab it in the calf with my knife. He and Mila both screamed with pain, squeezing her in his grip. Orde woke up and noticed how I got up on my feet and in one beat, I ran the sword completely through the monster’s stomach and sliced half