The Higher Plain Ch 19: Meeting The Prince, Rise Of The Black Smoke!

(Krelzor)

I knew I was in trouble the moment I stepped into that grand, broken hall.

Kneeling beside Faylina, I felt like my stomach was about to drop out of my body. The air in the room was thick with tension, like the lingering embers of a fire that had burned too hot. And at the center of it all, sitting on a throne that barely looked used, was Prince Aldric. The future king of a kingdom that, well... no longer existed.

He stared down at us, his expression unreadable, though there was something in his eyes that made my chest tighten.

"This is her?" His voice was quiet but firm, the kind of voice that didn't need to be raised to command attention. "This is the beast? The monster that destroyed my kingdom... that killed my father and mother?"

My heart pounded. I could lie. I should lie. Maybe say she had nothing to do with it, maybe try to spin some kind of story—

But before I could even open my mouth, Faylina spoke first.

"Yes," she said, her voice steady. "I am responsible."

I turned to look at her, wide-eyed.

She bowed her head slightly, her hands clenched into fists in her lap. "I didn't know. I didn't understand that I was capable of this kind of destruction. But it was my fault."

The prince closed his eyes for a long moment. When he opened them, there was no rage, no fire—just something colder. Something worse.

"You say you didn't know," he murmured. "Do you know what it means to have an entire kingdom erased in a single night?"

I swallowed hard. Faylina remained silent.

Prince Aldric stood, his hands tightening into fists at his sides. "Do you know how many people had to watch their homes be swallowed up before they could even run? Do you know how many children are now orphans because of what you did? How many families were broken? The farmers whose lands are gone, the merchants who have nothing left to sell, the elderly who have no one left to care for them?"

Every word was a punch to the gut. I had no response.

"And you," he turned his gaze on me. My throat went dry. "You sheltered her."

I couldn't lie now. Not after Faylina had told the truth.

With a shaky voice, I nodded. "I did."

The prince's stare didn't waver. "Did you know about her crimes?"

The air felt too thick, too heavy. My fingers dug into my knees as I forced out the words.

"...Yes."

There was a shift in the room, a change in the atmosphere. I could feel the anger coming off him now, even though he didn't move.

Faylina's voice was quick, desperate. "This isn't his fault." She turned to the prince, pleading. "If you want to punish someone, punish me. But Krelzor had nothing to do with what happened."

Prince Aldric exhaled sharply through his nose. "Mercy," he said bitterly. "You dare ask for mercy after all the lives you've taken?"

He stood taller now, his posture rigid with fury. "There will be no mercy."

I barely had time to process what was happening before he turned to his guards. "It seems you care about this man," he said to Faylina. Then, to the soldiers: "Drive your spears into his shoulder."

Wait. What.

The guards stepped forward.

Wait wait wait.

I barely had time to react before the spears were coming at me. I shut my eyes, bracing myself—

But instead of pain, instead of cold steel piercing my flesh, I felt something else.

Warmth. Pressure. And—

Soft.

I opened my eyes and immediately realized my face was pressed into Faylina's chest.

...Well. This was unexpected.

The ground beneath us rumbled, the stone beneath my knees cracking slightly from the force of Faylina's sudden growth. She was shielding me with her body, her arms wrapped tightly around me. The broken spears lay useless on the ground, bent and shattered from the impact against her skin.

"You will not hurt him!" she shouted, her voice shaking the room.

I struggled to lift my head, still very much trapped in a position that, under any other circumstances, I would've made a joke about. But now? Yeah, now was not the time.

The prince took a step back, his face pale. "W-what are you?"

Faylina finally lifted her head, her golden eyes burning with intensity.

"I am a Xylarion!" she declared.

The room fell silent. The air itself seemed to hold its breath.

I had no idea what was going to happen next.

But something told me we had just crossed a line that couldn't be uncrossed.

Prince Aldric slowly sat back in his seat, his sharp gaze locked onto Faylina. His fingers drummed against the armrest as he studied her, the initial shock fading into something more calculated.

"A Xylarion," he murmured, as if saying it aloud made it more real. "I never thought I'd see one in my lifetime. Your kind is... rare."

I could tell from his tone that rare wasn't necessarily a good thing. It was the kind of rare that meant dangerous, the kind that sent rulers into war rooms, drawing up battle strategies against something they barely understood.

Faylina gently set me down, her enormous hands placing me on my feet with surprising care. I wobbled slightly, but at least now I could breathe properly without, you know, my face buried in certain places.

She turned back to the prince, her voice steady. "I don't care what you've heard about my kind. If there is any way I can help fix what I've done, I will do it."

Aldric didn't respond right away. He just sat there, watching her, his expression unreadable.

The silence stretched on, thick and heavy. I considered saying something—maybe to back her up, maybe just to break the tension—but before I could open my mouth, a sharp pain shot through my skull.

I winced, bringing a hand to my temple.

And then I heard them.

Whispers.

Harsh, cruel, venomous.

Monster.

Murderer.

She should be dead.

The voices twisted through my head, angry, bitter. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to block them out, but they only grew louder.

And then, amidst the whispers, one voice cut through.

"It's coming."

My breath hitched. The words weren't a whisper. They were clear, ringing in my mind like a bell.

The ground suddenly rumbled beneath me.

Faylina and Aldric both looked up, their attention snapping away from each other.

The prince pushed himself forward in his chair, his brow furrowing. "What was that?" He turned to Faylina. "Is this you?"

"No," she said quickly, her own expression tightening with concern.

"It's coming now."

The voice rang out again, louder this time, and I gritted my teeth, clutching the sides of my head.

"Krelzor?" Faylina's voice was softer now, full of concern. "Are you okay?"

Before I could answer, the tent flap burst open, and a soldier rushed in, panting, his face pale with panic.

"Your Highness!" he gasped. "A pillar of smoke—it's just shot into the sky!"

Aldric stood abruptly. "What?"

And just like that, whatever was coming... had arrived.