Chapter 3: Father Wants Me Home

"Who wants to join me?" The Cruel Prince muttered just as he mounted his black stallion. While that seemed like a normal horse it was obvious from the dark tendrils emanating from the horse's eyes that it had been infused with his dark magic. 

The horse named Maximus was a strong yet unruly horse and there had been plans of putting it down after its last attack on the poor Fae who had attempted to subdue it until Prince Aldric claimed and was able to tame it. It was obvious from the way both the master and the horse worked together that they were perfect for each other. 

"No one?" Prince Aldric tilted his head to the side, studying the soldiers that had been sent to assist him to get rid of the latest monsters that had ravaged the Fae village. And while that had seemed like a request, the sinister smirk curving the corner of his mouth suggested that he was merely teasing them because he liked to work alone.

Prince Aldric of the Winter Court was the last son to be born to King Oberon of the kingdom of Astaria. However, unlike his brothers that were admired and respected in the kingdom, he was loathed and feared because he was a half-dark Fae. It was no wonder that the new batch of soldiers that had been selected to join him on this task was close to pissing on their pants. 

They have heard rumors of his rampant mood swings and how it always ended up with an unfortunate victim being on the receiving end of his anger. They said he was a madman who had no hesitation about ending a life and he did it in a twinkle of an eye. He was a killing machine and none of them wanted to be near him, especially not when he was okay letting out his destructive power on display. 

Prince Aldric was breathtakingly handsome with cheekbones sharp as blades; kissable lips that would have female Faes roaming around if he wasn't so scary; straight eyebrows that had shot up while studying the soldiers and finally, eyes the color of the deep blue sea. The wind mussed his hair which was so dark it had a bluish hue to it when it interacted with the light. 

With his tightly coiled muscles, it was obvious that the prince was a warrior. However, unlike the other soldiers wearing armor, Prince Aldric was in a mere tunic and trousers. But the most interesting part of his features was the runes on his body gleaming with his dark magic. The runes were very alive because they seemed to writhe against his flesh with every movement. 

He would have been an angel if not for the wicked smile that made everyone's blood turn to ice. His angelic perfection was only there to deceive because Prince Aldric was nothing but pure undiluted evil. 

Out of nowhere, a double-edged Paragon spear materialized in his grip which was his signature weapon, and the soldiers at the front line all took a step back, afraid that he would wield that weapon against them even though he had never done so before. 

Unfortunately, Adric caught that moment of weakness and smirked, "Pussies!" 

With the wickedly sharp blade in his hand which was also writhing with his tendrils of darkness, Adric tugged the reins, at the same time he kicked Maximus in the side and they took off into the village without looking back. 

It wasn't until he left that the soldiers were able to breathe, including their commanders. The prince's aura was menacing and intimidating, having stolen all the air with his mere presence. They hated to be paired with that maniac prince, but there was nothing they could do when he was their best chance of coming out of this fight victoriously.

The prince was powerful, they admitted that, and the reason they were wary of him at the same time. While they should have respected him as a strong warrior, he was dark Fae and was never to be trusted. Not when Dark Faes are at best described as free-spirited and at worst pure evil. The trickiest, most vicious, and most powerful of Fae with their destructive power. 

Nonetheless, there was nothing they could do but wait for the prince's order to advance. This was not the first time they had gone out to battle with him in hunting down the monsters that were set in laying damage to the land - including his own kind, dark Faes. 

They waited for a while, the silence becoming increasingly uncomfortable if it wasn't for the inhumane howls and shrieks that echoed from the forest now and then. They were filled with anticipation wondering if the prince had by chance met his demise, after all, it was the orcs they were dealing with this time. 

While the unfortunate death of the cruel prince would be "reliving" it would be a great loss to them considering they lost their greatest asset and none of the other princes would be willing to get their hands dirty. Who were they kidding? None of the princes was crazy enough to want to risk their lives in this manner; they had a kingdom to rule. 

Just when the silence became unbearable and the horses were beginning to get restless, something shot out from the village and headed towards them and pandemonium set in. There were shouts and screams as the soldiers hurriedly tugged their horses out of the way with some unsheathing their swords, the others raising their hands with their magic on the ready to attack, having no clue what was coming their way. 

To their shock, two severed heads landed in the middle of the paved path they formed. It was the grotesque heads of two Orcs and judging from the way their eyes were wide open with their tongue sticking out, it was obvious they had not seen their deaths coming. 

There was a prickle in the air and they turned to watch Prince Aldric leisurely walking out of the village. He was on his feet now with his horse walking beside him, his clothes wet and slick with the orc's slimy green body fluid. With his arrogant and confident hair, he looked like a god of war sent to bring chaos to earth. 

However, that slight admiration was short-lived because their faces were twisted with fear as they saw an orc come after the prince with murderous intent and he was unaware with his back turned to it. They opened their mouths, about to warn the prince of the danger behind him but it was too late. 

The large ugly looking creature had already lifted its hand to tear through the prince with its monstrous claws only for the prince's double-edged spear to appear out of nowhere and gut down the orcs with its gleaming blade. Everyone watched with horror as the creature crumbled to the ground, the blade cutting the creature into four segments as if it just sliced through ordinary meat. 

It was known that Orcs had thick skin that was impervious to the ordinary blade, no wonder the prince had infused part of his magic into it. Hence, all of the soldiers had a slack jaws as the prince walked over to them with his gleaming eyes that spoke of mischief as he said, 

"I see some people do miss me, after all. Isn't that amazing?" 

There were muffled grunts and clearing of throats as each soldier composed himself. They did not care about the prince, the scene had only taken them by surprise. 

Adric located the severed head of the Orcs he had tossed to them and said to the general,"Take down their leader, and second in command, and the rest of them are easy to pick off like prey one after the other." 

Though the prince was speaking about the dead Orcs by their feet, the general couldn't help but shiver especially knowing that the dark Fae prince might be indirectly referring to him. 

"If I were you, I'd suggest moving now that you have the advantage of daylight." The prince said with a hint of warning and it was all it took the general to turn his horse and lifted his sword as a signal for the others to hear into battle. 

There was a battle cry as the soldiers swarmed into the village in their numbers to get rid of the monsters and reclaim their territory. 

"What about you? Where are you headed this time?" The general was conflicted between joining his soldiers and leaving the prince to his devices. 

"Oh, about that," Prince Aldric looked at him with that wild, predatory look as he lifted a glowing ring on his finger, saying, " I think my father finally wants me home."