Another King

Once upon a time, a young man lived with his peasant parents in a small farm bordering the kingdom and the wilderness. The young man was restless and clever, but he had bouts of laziness. He saw no future in endlessly tilling the fields.

One day, he told his parents, "Father, Mother, I am tired of working every day just to give the fruits of my work as a tithe for the kingdom. I want to seek my fortune elsewhere."

"The king is a good man, and we live a good life." Said the mother. "We are able to eat our own share, which is no meager amount. When our enemies appear, we can hide in his walls and his soldiers serve to protect us. The world beyond the wilderness is a lawless and scary place."

"Then there must be another king like him, or one even better out there. Surely the world is not as small a place as you make it to be." The son answered.

"Yes, there is another king." The father replied. "In the wilderness just outside the king's castle, there is a great and terrible monster. The legends call him the king of the dead kings, for all his riches come from dead men. He lives in a cave at the mouth of the river of souls. It's said that to gaze into the river is to lose your soul, and that is why no one has ever travelled upon it and lived."

"However, the very same legends say that the king of the dead is a gracious host, and that his kingdom is a paradise." The father continued.

"Then I shall seek this king and his paradise of a kingdom." The son said, sensing adventure and excitement.

His parents tried their best to dissuade him from this foolish quest, but the son was adamant. No matter how much they plead for him to stay and keep the things he had, he packed up his things and left.With him, he took a hand mirror, a knife, a torch along with some flint and tinder, some food, and a cloak with a cowl.

As he entered the wilderness, he realized too late that the sky was getting dark. The young man decided to rest for the night, and made a fire to warm himself. However, he was not used to camping, and the fire made a lot of smoke. As the young man worked to put out the fire, a brown rabbit came out from the underbrush to escape the choking fumes.

"I'm sorry, little one, for almost killing you." The young man said. "Here, have some of my food and be on your way."

As soon as he gave the food, the rabbit spoke, "You are a fool, but you have a good heart."

"Listen well, young man. By some twist of fate, you have brought everything you need to reach the kingdom of the dead kings. Tonight, you will find a boatman who will ferry you across the river of souls. Do not look into his eyes, but take the key on the rope tied around his neck. Open the gate, then wear the cloak and cover your head with the cowl. Then, your cleverness and foolish bravery will be your guide."

With that, the brown rabbit ran away and disappeared. The young man, still flustered at the notion of a talking rabbit, pondered its meaning.

He decided to look for a river. Soon, he found a dock on a riverbank shrouded in mist. The young man passed by an old beggar along the path going there. Curious as to why a beggar would be all the way out here, he slowly approached the wretched figure.

To the boy's horror, the pitiful old man had empty eye sockets. As the boy scrambled away from the horrendous sight, he bumped into a similarly eye-less woman with dirty dress, and messy hair. she screamed at him to turn back and run away. The old beggar realized that someone was there, and began to plead for help.

The boy ran away from them both, heading for the dock. There he found a simple looking but elegant black boat, which seemed to float upon the fog that obscured the river. Upon it was a boatman dressed in white, whose back was turned to the young man.

"I will bring you to the kingdom of the dead kings. However, do know that my price is steep." The boatman made a beckoning gesture to the young man. "Get aboard, boy, whether you pay it now or later has no bearing - I will claim it all the same."

The young man hopped aboard the boat, and they travelled down the river. The boy noticed that he could not see the waters of the river through the thick fog. It was then the youth remembered the rabbit's words, so he pulled out his hand mirror and looked at the reflection of the boatman's visage. He saw empty black holes where the man's eyes should have been. The boy realized that the boatman had no eyes, and that the boatman's holes were probably related to the blind people earlier. When he looked a little lower, he saw a golden key dangling around his neck, hanging from a straw rope.

Then, the boat stopped at another dock, where a great, ashen gate overlooked the river. "We are here, boy. Now look here so I can claim my dues." The boatman beckoned blindly, not realizing that the boy was looking at him through the mirror. The boy pulled out his knife and cut the boatman's neck, severing the key from the hangman's noose.

The boatman screamed, and fell into the river, grasping at his open throat. the boy took the key from the boat's wooden flooring, and ran towards the ashen gate. A great wailing echoed from the river, and the boy knew he was being pursued. He never once turned back.

When he got to the gate, he jammed the key into the slot, and shook it wildly. He felt the cold hands of death as an approaching breeze. In the nick of time, he heard a click, and the gates swung open. He ran into the darkness, no longer thinking of what dangers may lie ahead.

The gate shut close behind him, and he could hear a great many voices cursing his name. They began to grow fainter as he ran farther away from the gate. Then there was silence, and the lonely winding path that led deeper into the earth.

As the path widened, he was met with an awesome sight.Golden coins, jewels, thrones, crowns and intricately decorated arms of all types greeted him. The youth was looking at a large cavern, with treasures as far as the eye could see. It was like a golden kingdom underneath the earth; a city of gold and wealth. In the distance, he spied a large fortress made of jewels and golden bricks. He decided to explore that first.

As the young man walked through the impossibly gargantuan underground city, he realized that he was the only person there. It was then he remembered the rabbit's words, and he quickly donned his cloak and his cowl. He made sure that his face was covered by shadow.

Then the boy entered the golden palace. He immediately caught sight of a massive golden dragon, sleeping upon a pile of countless treasures in what seemed to be a throne room. He quietly came closer to inspect the creature, when it's reptilian eyes suddenly burst open.

"This is my kingdom, where the dead have their place! I have devoured those arrogant enough to show me their face!" It roared at him.

The boy was frozen in fear.

The dragon examined the human, as if pondering the taste of its next meal. It stopped when it noticed the cowl, and the fact that it couldn't see the interloper's face. It grinned a toothy dragon grin.

"It seems you have interesting circumstances, stranger." It then eyed the young man. "Of all the places you could be, why here, I wonder?"

The youth looked at the dragon, who went back to lazing on its treasures. He noted that its eyes were still stuck intently on him. "Are you the king of this place?" The young man mustered the courage to ask.

The dragon laughed, then spoke once more. "I might as well be. No one else is alive to say otherwise." It continued,"You must be a human, asking about kings. Only your kind is concerned about that sort of thing."

The young man then realized he had no further instruction from the rabbit, and was puzzled by this turn of events. He looked around and thought hard about why he had come here. After a short pause, the youth came to a decision.

"So no one really owns this place, right?" The boy said, sitting on a discarded throne. "I'm sure you wouldn't mind another king living here."

"And who would this king be? You?" The dragon was amused. "Very well, for someone so clever, how about a wager?"

"I've been living quite contently for some time now, and frankly, you should be thankful I let you live long enough to leave this place." It explained. "The wager is simple: I want you to complete one task in front of me. If you fail, I will eat you. If you succeed, I will recognize you as 'another' king. Do you accept these conditions?"

The young man nodded.

The dragon invited the traveller to ride upon his back, and he was brought all over the empty kingdom. "As you can see, I own every single thing here. I want you to pick one thing in this kingdom that I am not willing to give you. If you pick something I am willing to give away, then I will eat you."

Then the dragon thought for a bit. "But since you are amusing to watch, I will give you three chances. You maykeep and own anything I give you as a result of this wager. It would be pointless, though, since you'll be in my stomach by then."

The young man thought for a while and looked around. He pointed at a beautiful set of armor. "Ah, that armor is magical. It is said to protect the user from a single deadly blow. I killed its original owner while he was not wearing it. Thus, it is useless to me. You may keep it."

The boy wore the armor and asked to be brought to an armory he had seen on the way to the dragon's fortress. The Dragon assented and brought him there. Swords and weapons of all shapes and sizes hung on trophy racks, and some were scattered on the ground.

The young man saw a large sword encrusted in red crystal. He asked the dragon if he could take that. "That sword was used by a knight to slay various monsters, that their blood crusted over the blade and the collection became an enchantment in its own right. I killed the wielder by dropping some large stones on him, though, so he never got the chance to use it."

So the young man took the sword and he faced the dragon.

"This is your last chance, boy."

The young man exclaimed, "Then, dragon, I shall claim your life. If you are willing to give it to me, then yield! If not, then I have won the wager, and I am willing to enforce the terms of our deal!"

The boy brandished his newfound sword. It reflected the crimson light emitting from his magical breastplate.

The dragon grinned and laughed. "Clever as I expected! But boy, I never planned to let you have anything from here. I will allow no such thing as another King!" The dragon flew upward and buffeted the boy with the wind from his wings.

"You may take my life, provided I don't devour you first!"

The dragon flew in circles above the young man. The boy turned to look for a shield, and he hid behind it as the dragon swooped past. The boy swung at the dragon's wings, and caused a light wound.

The dragon roared and snapped at him, catching the boy's arm in his mouth.The boy was dragged upwards, his arm nearly severed at the shoulder.However, the armor's enchantments saved him from a quick death.

The man yelled with all his might and stabbed the dragon in the eye. The enchantment of the sword killed the dragon instantly. As the boy emerged from the crash, he looked over his new Kingdom.

"There was Another King. Now, he is the only King."

And no one was there to oppose him.