Morgan Rice - A Reign of Steel

“How can we trust you when you show us no danger?” one of them yelled, and the crowd cheered in agreement.

“We shall not leave!” another yelled.

As the crowd roared and cheered, Gwendolyn could not believe what she saw before her. Were the masses so fickle? Could they really love her one moment, and hate her the next?

Gwen recalled something her father had once said to her, something she hadn’t understood at the time. The masses will love you and the masses will hate you. It is a trap to be swayed by either.

“I’m sorry,” Gwendolyn said, “but I am your leader, and I must decide what is best. If you do not leave voluntarily, my soldiers will have to forcibly escort you out of the city. This city is being gated up and evacuated—and no one will stay behind. Not on my watch.”

Boos and jeers rose up, and a man stepped forward and faced Kendrick.

“This is why a woman should not rule over us,” the man said. “A woman gives in to her fickle dreams. You are King MacGil’s firstborn son. We would rather have you lead us.”

The crowd cheered behind him, and Gwen could not believe what she was hearing. Kendrick reddened.

“This is your time,” the man continued. “Take over the rulership of the MacGils. The Silver will answer to you. We shall not listen to her—but we shall listen to you.”

Gwendolyn looked at Kendrick, dismayed, and wondered how he would react. She knew that he did not agree with evacuation. This was his chance, indeed.

A tense silence fell over the crowd until finally Kendrick spoke up.

“I stand with my sister!” he boomed. “I shall always honorably serve my Queen—whether I agree with her or not. That is what our father would want. And that is our code of honor.”

The crowd, surprised and disappointed, raised their fists and jeered.

“SILVER!” Kendrick boomed. “Your Queen has spoken. Fulfill her command! Evacuate this city at once!”

A chorus of horns sounded, and the crowd jeered and shoved as thousands of Silver closed in on them, corralling them toward the gates. The crowd pushed back, fighting them. But the Silver were armed, wore armor, and were an elite fighting force, and the crowd was no match for them. The Silver pushed them slowly and steadily, all the way to the city gates.

Slowly, the city emptied, one person at a time.

Gwen stood watching it all, and she came up beside Kendrick as he watched, too.

“Thank you, my brother,” she said, laying a hand on his wrist. “I shall never forget this.”

He turned to her and nodded, yet his face was grave.

“I hope you know what you’re doing, my sister,” he said.

Gwen looked at him, feeling torn herself, as she watched her people leave this city and prepared to join them.

“I hope so too,” she said.

She joined Kendrick, Godfrey, Steffen, Aberthol, and all of her advisors as they followed the masses, exiting the gates of King’s Court, this time, Gwendolyn knew, for good.

Thor writhed, trying to break free of the grip of the white snake—but it was just too strong. Its muscular body wrapped around him from his ankles to his chest, squeezing him in a vise. It now faced him, hissing, preparing to bring its open fangs down on Thor’s throat.

Thor tried to buck, to thrash, to do anything—but he was helpless. All he could do was close his eyes and turn as he braced himself for the inevitable snakebite in his face.

Thor did not comprehend what was happening here, in this place. He had always imagined that when he’d found the Land of the Druids, he would be welcome, greeted by his mother. He expected that he would instantly recognize it as his home. He had expected nothing like this.

And now, Thor could not believe that he would spend his final moments here, would die here, so close to finding his mother, at the mercy of this awful beast.

As Thor braced himself, he opened his eyes, forcing himself to watch his final seconds on Earth. And as the snake lowered its fangs, suddenly Thor spotted motion out of the corner of his eye. It was a man, perhaps in his fifties, a large figure, with a long beard and shaggy brown hair—a man that Thor dimly recognized. He wore resplendent armor, the armor of a King, and he, upon seeing Thor, rushed forward, reached out with his gauntlet, and grabbed the snake by the throat, snatching it in midair, just inches before it could sink its teeth into Thor’s face.

Thor watched in amazement as the man squeezed the snake by the throat, harder and harder, the snake hissing and gasping. Thor felt the snake’s muscles slowly relax around his body, as the man squeezed the life out of it.

As the snake began to loosen, Thor wiggled one arm free and raised his sword and chopped its body in half.

The half of the snake wrapped around Thor fell limply to the ground, but the other half, which the man held, still struggled to live. The man squeezed it harder and harder until finally, the snake’s eyes bulged open, then closed, and its body went limp in the man’s hand.

As the man threw the snake’s carcass down to the ground, Thor looked up at him in disbelief. It was a man he recognized; a man he’d loved; a man he’d missed dearly; a man he thought he would never see again.

King MacGil.

As King MacGil dropped the snake’s head, he looked at Thor, smiling broadly through his beard, and stepped forward and gave him a hug, embracing him as a father would a son.

“My King,” Thor said over his shoulder, as MacGil pulled back and looked at him.

“Thorgrinson,” MacGil said, clasping a warm hand on Thor’s shoulder, smiling down with approval. “I told you we would meet again.”

Thor was speechless. He did not understand what was happening. Had he died and gone to heaven? Or was he losing his mind?

“But…how?” Thor asked. “How are you here? Are you alive?”

King MacGil smiled, put his arm around Thor, turned, and began to walk with him, leading him down a country path.

“You always had so many questions.”

“Have I died?” Thor asked.

King MacGil laughed in delight, and Thor was elated to hear it. The King’s laugh was a sound he had missed dearly; indeed, he hadn’t realized until this day how much he had missed seeing him. In some ways, though he had known him so briefly, King MacGil was like a father to Thor, and seeing him was like having his father back.

“No, my boy,” King MacGil answered, still laughing, “you have not died. In fact, you’ve just begun to live. You are about to truly live.”

“But…you died. How are you here?”

“None of us die, really,” MacGil replied. “I’m no longer in the physical plane, that is true; but I’m very much alive otherwise. In the Land of the Druids, the veil between the living and the dead is thinner, more translucent. It is easier to cross. Your mother sent me here to find you. To guide you to her.”

Thor’s eyes opened wide in surprise and excitement at the mention of his mother.

“So she does exist,” Thor said.

MacGil smiled.

“Very much so.” He sighed. “One cannot traverse this land without a guide. I shall be yours. You should have waited for me patiently, at the gate, to come get you. Then you wouldn’t have gotten yourself into all this trouble. But you were always impatient, Thorgrinson. And that is why I love you!” he said with a laugh.

They wound their way down a path, and Thor took it all in, wondering.

“I don’t understand this place at all,” Thor said. “It feels so familiar…and yet, so foreign.”

MacGil nodded.

“The Land of the Druids is different for each person who enters it,” he said. “It is a different place for me than for you. We might even see two different lands. You see, Thorgrinson, everything you see here is merely a reflection of your own consciousness. Your own memories, your own hopes and needs and wants and fears. Your desires. You might pass through here and see your hometown; see your first love; see any place that was of importance to you; see the peak moments of your life play out before you. You might encounter your most glorious times, your highest ambitions—and you might also encounter your darkest demons. In that way, the Land of the Druids is the safest and most pleasurable place on the planet—and yet also the darkest and most dangerous. It all depends on you. On your mind. On your demons. On how you perceive yourself. How you perceive the world. And most of all, on how deeply you can control your mind. Can you shut out a dark thought? Can you give power to a positive one?”