Fear Gorta, one of the most dangerous creatures of the Fire Kingdom, buried inside the surface of the earth, found its way into my district. When Belgarath fell entombed by the two goddesses, Marynnah and Zaleen, his court was banished alongside him and multiplied within darkness generation after generation. They could not linger outside their realm, and if other fae found them, they were imprisoned or sent back to where they came from. Some of the stronger firelings succeeded in various escapes, most of them volcanoes or during earthquakes, and scoured the realm provoking destruction and chaos. Fear Gorta, one of the strongest, a direct descendant of Belgarath himself, had escaped centuries ago and relished in summoning destruction and famine into the world.
During many of my classes, I had to memorise all the information we held on firelings, how to capture them, weaken and imprison them, but there was one who was always mentioned as indestructible—The Fear Gorta. He could be wounded and slowed down, but his regenerating capacities connected to the forces of the earth, therefore, even wounded, he could still regain health.
“I am asking again, why are you here?” My words echoed the fight in my stance.
Rhylan looked surprised. “You didn’t ask me that before, you asked me what I wanted.”
I sighed. “Forgive my semantics. Why are you here?” I repeated the question.
“To welcome you, of course.” Rhylan dropped the cup of coffee and raised his hands, faking an embrace.
“I do not need a welcome from you,” I growled.
“Of course you don’t, but you are getting one, anyway. Consider me sentimental, but how could I not welcome the third son of a kingdom with a present?”
“Very well, hand it over and leave.”
“Hand it over?” Rhylan scowled and shook his head in disbelief. “You earthlings and your vanity. Who said anything about anit?”
I remained silent, piercing the male with an angry stare. My patience was thinning, and I did not know where this conversation led. Every shred of me, every nerve ending prepared to run into battle.
“No, dear prince, my gift to you is…much bigger,” he grinned. Seeing how I kept silent and started losing restraint, Rhylan continued. “As his future majesty, Tree Princeling of the Kingdom of I-am-the-best-kind-of-fae-there-is could not visit the district immediately after his arrival, because tradition and such, I, your humble servant,” attend my mocking tone here, Rhylan insisted as he lifted a finger, “scouted the grounds and found the perfect welcoming gift for the prince of the Kingdom of I-am-the-best…”
“That’s enough,” I commanded.
“Fine,” Rhylan frowned. “There is a human on your grounds, did you know?”
It took me a heartbeat to understand what he was saying. Then I murmured, “You are lying.”
“Am I?”
“This location has been forbidden to humans for over a century,” I insisted. My mind scoured all the information I had about the goddess’ burial place, the history with the queen, and how the place became prohibited territory to the outside world.
“You are correct. Yet, this one got permission somehow. I heard her last night talking to some other humans on those machines they are so obsessed with. She lives in the queen’s mansion,” Rhylan smirked.
“And what of it?” I tried not to sound worried.
“I thought...” Rhylan cleared one of his fingernails with a kitchen knife and slowly blew the dust away. “That there would be nothing better to welcome a prince than with a human sacrifice?” he turned and displayed a terrifying smile.
My heart stopped. It would destroy everything, the blood curse would doom the district for centuries and damage any energy source it possessed.
“Just imagine, the harvest! Picture the trees, the earth, the leaves, even the river, all feeding on innocent human blood. Oh, the delight,” Rhylan licked his lips with excitement
I grabbed the dagger and attacked the male who invaded my home, but he vanished into darkness only to appear on the other side of the kitchen, sipping from a fresh cup of coffee.
“I never had a brother,” Rhylan sighed theatrically. “I never knew what it is to play games or have competitions, I never knew the joy of winning something and celebrating a victory against someone who wanted it as much as I did. So let’s turn this into a game, shall we?” he smiled in delight.
“I do not want to play your games,” I answered through my teeth, jaw tight.
“I will play either way. The first one who gets to the human, wins,” he uttered nonchalantly.
“Like I said, I am disinclined to play.”
“Suit yourself, tree princeling. I’ll set the rules, in case you change your mind. If I get to the human first, I kill her, rip her open and drag her across the district until there isn’t a drop of blood left. If you get to her, she is safe… for now.”
“She? A female?”
“Oh yes,” Rhylan relished. “A beautiful, young woman,” Fear Gorta licked his lips. “Enjoy the race, princeling,” he purred and disappeared.
