The Final Days of Springborough

It was Brynn’s first time in a castle, and she knew that it was as different as different could be. Never before has such an occasion occurred where people were returning to the castle to see what was the fate of the Princess. Never before had two kids been taken from the cliffs of Quakenfalls, a pirate and a bowhunter who could commune with the dead, at the sword point of the Prince and his guards to await a fate not known by anyone. And as she stepped inside, the only one who knew that Jimmy was walking right along with the children, she could barely take in the glamour of the Great Hall as her eyes immediately focused on the carnage within.

They had travelled through Springborough, and Brynn took note of how the village looked. It looked much like the Village of Fortis, but with more stone and less mud. The roads were made of grey stone instead of the dry, crumbling earth she remembered from her hometown. People also lived closer together in Springborough, and there were two story houses. Everything seemed a little more comfortable, a little less dirty, a little more fancy, and a little less rustic. To say it was a step above the Village of Fortis was easy, and Brynn felt a moment of nostalgic embarrassment for having shown the Princess her little hut on the cliff.

What must she have thought, Brynn thought to herself, seeing me living in conditions that were beneath the poorest of the poor? I must have appeared like a vagabond to her.

That thought quickly left her, as Thomas’ guards pushed open the heavy oak doors of the castle, and laid eyes on Kyrstin’s body by the large, block walls. There was a great big, brown bear (one looking very similar to the one Brynn shot with a bow earlier in the day) hobbling about the room, huffing in frustration. The ghost of the Queen sat watching it all from her old throne, looking mightily worried. A knight was screaming for mercy as he dragged himself away from the scene, his ankle bitten, the skin of it in bloody scraps, the bone showing. Another knight was seated against another wall, his chin slumped to his chest, out cold, not aware of anything going on around him. And in the middle of it all was the tallest child Brynn had ever seen, standing there like he was worried about being attacked from any angle.

And as their group entered the room, Patrick seemed to have all the reason in the world to fear an attack. As soon as they arrived on the scene, the group burst into action, immediately raising up their arms, and screaming orders. Thomas ran to his sister’s side, immediately taking the princess in his arms. Brynn wondered if Thomas’ promise to harm her and Jage if they found Kyrstin hurt was still in effect, since she hoped it was now obvious that any harm that had come to her wasn’t their doing.

“Kyrstin!” Thomas exclaimed, crouching down to her.

“Your highness!” Corson shouted, seeing every real threat in the room. Corson first trained his sword on the bear, but then acknowledged the tall kid.

“Corson!” The giant shouted back, his voice seemingly rumbling through the ground. Brynn thought she felt the vibrations in her feet.

“Patrick?” Corson questioned, his face going white.

Patrick, the tall kid, then began to analyze himself, as if realizing where he stood for the first time in days. The necromancer had to wonder if maybe Patrick was having an out-of-body experience as he began to get scared of his own arms and legs. He looked down at the ground, getting woozy, dizzy, almost spilling over onto the tiles. It was a very odd sight, even odder than the fact he looked nine years old, but stood taller than any man Brynn had ever known.

“That’s Patrick,” Jimmy said at her side. “The royal giant prince.”

In all the hubbub, it seemed nobody was paying attention to Brynn anymore so that she could talk to her deceased companion.

“Does he know he’s a giant?” She said, watching him.

“Corson, what’s happening?” Patrick asked, fright playing at his vocal chords.

“You killed our sister, you fool!” Thomas shouted, Kyrstin’s lifeless body in his arms.

The emotion in the Great Hall was so dense, Brynn felt it weighted the air she was breathing in her lungs. She reached down and grabbed Jage’s hands, who held hers tightly back. Their first time in a castle, what was supposed to be a grand and eye opening experience, was now one filled with absolute, mortal dread. The storm outside rumbled. Lightening struck somewhere near by, and the entire world shook. Some blocks crumbled higher up on the walls, sending stones and cracked cement pieces to the ground. It was pure chaos, echoed by the storm of evil spirits outside.

“Brynn, we should find some way to escape,” J.J. whispered, keeping his eyes on the scene. But, he was right. Nobody was paying attention to them anymore.

“She was trying to kill my bear!” Patrick shouted, the worry of being a giant gone for a moment as he was now filled with anger that Thomas would be angry with him. “She had no right-“

“You don’t lay a hand on your sister, Patrick!” Thomas cried out, being as loud as he could, for the storm itself was almost deafening, let alone the craziness that was happening around them. Try as he might, the Prince was also not only fighting being viciously angry at his brother, but also fighting back tears of worry for his sister.

“I concur with your brother, Brynn. It will do you no good to stay and watch. If you can escape, do so.”

But, Brynn felt like she had been brought to this moment in time not to escape, but for another reason altogether. So many things had to happen in life to bring her here, with her brother and Jimmy by her side, to the Kingdom of Springborough’s castle for the first time in her life during a storm filled with spirits and terrible, horrible things. She felt leaving was turning her back on something. She felt shuffling off to the door, and going back out into the world was almost turning her back on her destiny. Besides, the storm was filled with malice, so what good would it be to go from one version of mayhem to another?

So, no, Brynn didn’t agree that the best idea was to escape. The best idea was to see where life had taken them, and figure out why.

And as Thomas reached down to the ground next to Kyrstin, picking up the sword which seemed to suit him more than her, Brynn wondered just how much worse this all was going to get before it got better. What was the end game for everyone?

“This is why our parents never wanted you in the castle, Patrick,” Thomas huffed, raising the sword to his side as he stood up, ready to face his giant brother, his face in an adolescent scowl. “They knew one day you’d grow to be uncontrollable. Somehow, in the brief span of time since we last were together, you grew, and you grew violent.”

“She was trying to hurt my bear.”

“It’s not your bear! It’s an animal you captured! But, you can’t domesticate a bear, Patrick.”

“You can’t domesticate a bear, Thomas, because you’re just a boy. I’m a giant, and giants can do extraordinary things-“

“Like kill your sister!”

“It was an accident-“

“And now you must pay for that accident!”

Thomas raised his sword, and posed to attack his brother who also crouched down, and weaponless, prepared for the onslaught of his brother. A man with a sword vs a a man without was never a fair battle, but Brynn didn’t know how a man with a sword vs a giant would turn out. Either way, she looked about to all the guards who stood there, motionless and in shock, powerless to stop the two princes from fighting each other as they were all subjects of the royal family. These two boys were their rulers, and so they feared getting involved in a Lishens quibble.

All but Corson who held up his hands to both of them.

“Your highnesses?” he begged, but neither of them paid any attention to his words or his hands.

The one person who looked desperate to stop the fighting couldn’t be seen by anyone else. The Queen’s spirit had stood from her throne, her hand outstretched in front of her to the two boys. Her face was stretched in a panicked desperation, and her voice was lost in the shouting of the room and the thunder outside. But, Brynn could read her lips quite clearly.

This was why she was here.

Brynn, the hut dweller, had a gift.

She shouted at the princes in the castle.

“Stop!” she hollered, and everyone looked at her. Even the bear, who remembered her; who remembered Brynn shooting him.

Instantly, the beast bellowed a great forest roar, and began to charge at her. All the attention in the room turned from the two boys about to fight each other, to Brynn, and now the undomesticated giant’s pet who was going to show just how wild an animal could be. Brynn stood there, her hands tied in front of her with a thick rope, a well tied knot, knowing she had no defense against such an animal attack. Even an arrow, it didn’t seem, would stop the bear.

Hoping the bear would be quick about her death, Brynn shut her eyes, and trusted fate.