Chapter Text
Long ago, in a far off land just off the east coast of Great Britain, there was an ancient kingdom known as Nova Fides. For over fifty years, the kingdom was ruled by one man: King Patrick Jäger. Patrick’s precursor passed away on the current king’s 18th birthday at the age of 76. King Patrick was humble and caring of the people in the kingdom, including those in the village which the castle overlooks.
The village was filled with hundreds of people, all of whom were going about their usual daily routine. Farmers were growing crops or feeding their livestock, butchers were cutting meat ready to be served, and bakers made fresh bread almost every day. They all had faith in King Patrick, his precursor, King Herbert II, having been a sadistic tyrant who cared very little for the people, and only cared for the gold and power he had received nearly every day before his death, and was claimed to have been responsible for many deaths in the kingdom. No-one knew how he died; some say he was murdered by an unknown assailant, while others believe he simply died of illness or old age, but neither did they care.
Outside the kingdom roamed a large variety of beasts. Some peaceful and harmless, others savage and dangerous. Some of them were feared by the villagers, while others were well respected. Dragons flew over the village, looking for potential prey. Various birds of different species sat in the trees, chirping and tweeting throughout the day and night. The ones the villagers dreaded most, however, were the werewolves. Although Patrick did his best to make sure the werewolves were provided with food, they often came into the village to steal a cow or sheep. Almost everyone in the village knew these creatures were not truly malicious, but rather, they had no control over their own thoughts and actions and only came out once a month during the full moon.
Everything was perfect in the kingdom. One stormy night, however, terror had struck. A large, dark shadow cast over the sky, blocking out all natural light. People fled into their homes, hoping they would be safe from whatever was out there. King Patrick was not at all frightened, however. He simply walked calmly towards the front window of the throne room, looking out to see what was going on. He looked upwards and saw a large, black dragon hovering overhead, its fiery red eyes seemingly staring right at him, as if it was planning on killing him at any moment. The flaps of the dragon’s vast, leathery wings caused gusts of wind to blow in every direction.“Arm your men, tell them to get ready,” Patrick ordered to the captain of the guard, who was standing to his left, “It is Darkfear, he’s here.”
The captain, Richard Franklin, did as he was told, and walked to the barracks, where the rest of the guards were waiting, not even flinching or looking back when Darkfear smashed his massive head through the window, grabbing the king before swallowing him whole. Darkfear turned his head, staring directly at Richard with what looked like a wide grin on his face.
Over thirty guards sat at a long table, all of whom were playing cards with each other. On each spot of the table were small metal tankards, one for each guard, from which they drank. A bottle of ale sat in the middle of the table, which the men had almost finished, with only a quarter left.
“Alright, boys, enough playing! We need you prepared for battle, immediately!” Richard said aloud, “Our kingdom is under attack, Darkfear has returned to Nova Fides to destroy us all. And we will NOT let that happen!”
Nearly all the guards got up and left at once. One of the guards, however, was sitting at the far end of the table and visibly shaking, with tears streaming down his face. Richard walked slowly towards him, a look of concern on his face. He knelt down and put a consoling hand on the guard’s shoulder.
“Everything alright?” he asked, seeing the guard’s frightened, tearful expression more closely, “If anything’s wrong, you can tell me. I promise I won’t tell anyone if you don’t want me to.”
“It’s Darkfear, sir,” the guard sobbed, “He was the one who killed my family that night. I don’t want it to happen to me, and I’m worried it might.”
“It won’t happen, I will make sure of it,” Richard reassured him, “now, your brothers in arms also need help. We want them alive as much as we do you, so get out there and help them!”
“I’ll try my best, sir,” the guard responded, wiping tears from his cheeks. The two of them walked out of the barracks and into the village, where several terrified people were running outside, clearly trying to flee from something. Several houses were set ablaze, and farmlands were scorched. People’s livestock had gone missing without a trace of evidence as to what happened to them.
The guards aimed their bows at the dragon and fired, aiming for its enormous underbelly. However, they were unable to pierce the dragon, as the scales deflected the arrows like armour. Darkfear turned its dark, horned head towards the guards, its eyes focusing primarily on the captain.
“You fools think you can kill me, do you?” Darkfear asked mockingly, in a deep, hoarse voice, “You clearly are imbeciles, aren’t you? My minions have already killed most of your men, and you didn’t even know it!”
Richard, upon hearing this, looked around and saw several of his men had fallen. He did not run, however, and just stood there, watching Darkfear. “No matter how many of us fall, Darkfear, we’ll make sure you fall one day, even if I’m dead when it happens!” He said, without any sign of fear in his voice.
“Oh, you want death, do you? I’ll give you death!” Darkfear responded, before opening his mouth, revealing several rows of teeth which were as sharp as blades, all covered with the blood and small chunks of flesh from the people and animals he had devoured, his stomach distended from all his victims of the night, and Richard knew that one of the victims who was now being digested inside the belly of the beast was the guard he had spoken to just moments earlier, and the guard was now suffering a slow, painful death of being digested alive, not even suffocating first thanks to the dragon’s abnormal biology, “Now, captain, your time is over!”
“Do. Your. Worst,” Richard said, without a hint of fear in his voice. He stood there, waiting for the inevitable to occur. Darkfear blasted Richard to nothing but ash with a blast of fire from his large, gaping maw. Darkfear continued his reign of terror over the kingdom, slaughtering and consuming several innocents, and turning their houses into a smouldering wreck. Before long, the entire kingdom was reduced to rubble.
The kingdom of Nova Fides has since been lost to pages of history. Everything that had happened had since been believed to be nothing but a myth, but some people knew better. People who knew that not all myths and legends are mere fairy tales.