#corrupted queen

[fae-the-zombae]

LuLu Bleu (The Mad Queen)+(Voice)

[frostsmilliongremlins]

Character File: Norray

Full Name and Title: Princess Norray of Geshara, later Queen Norray of Geshara

Species: Human

Gender: Female

Sexuality: Aromantic Bisexual

Pronouns: She/her

Age: 22

Family: Older brother Aerion (deceased), mother and father (deceased)

Birthplace: Kingdom of Geshara

Job: Princess, later queen

Phobias: Being alone/isolated

Morality Alignment: Lawful Neutral, later Neutral Evil

Sins: Greed/Envy

Virtues: Humility/Patience

Introvert/Extrovert: Extrovert

Organized/Disorganized: Disorganized

Close-Minded/Open-Minded: Open-Minded

Calm/Anxious: Mostly calm

Disagreeable/Agreeable: Somewhere in the middle.

Cautious/Reckless: Reckless

Patient/Impatient: Patient

Outspoken/Reserved: Outspoken

Leader/Follower: Leader

Empathetic/Unempathetic: Empathetic

Optimistic/Pessimistic: Optimistic

[soda-pip]

hey look another oc

[corruptforest-blog]

Chapter 6: Night Terrors

Useless... Pathetic... Weak... Waste of life... The voices echoed in the halfing's head mercilessly. He was staring into a black void, yet he seemed to be standing without anything below him. He couldn't see who was taunting him, and it made him all the more frustrated. Dim light started to fill the area, showing that he stood in his old room. Stone walls and a cold metal floor, along with a bed with a thin mattress and an even thinner blanket. Not much else decorated his room, except for a big window with beautiful, gothic designs framing it, black roses, crows and ravens, and decorative skulls. Home sweet home. He looked down at himself again, already knowing what he'd see. His child body was his own again, he reached his small hands up to touch his smooth face. What was happening? He'd had nightmares before, but usually in his adult form. His confusion quickly turned to childish fear, as his room's steel door opened. His mother stepped into the room, her tall frame and large wingspan filled the small space. She used her magic to shrink slightly, enough to fit into the room easier, but still tower over the boy. He cowered at the sight of her, her glowing, white eyes blinding him. She didn't say a word as her clawed hands reached around his waist. Was she...hugging him? He thought hugs were supposed to feel warm and comforting, but hers felt like the opposite. She picked him up in her arms, and walked over to the lone window in his room. Her blank expression twisted into pure hatred as she raised the window, exposing him to the cold air. He didn't have the power to fight back. He had no choice but to stare back at the souless eyes of the creature he called 'mother'. Words flowed out his mouth like it was someone else saying it. "Mother? It hurts when you hold me like this." Her claws were starting to dig into his back painfully. He couldn't scream, no matter how much the pain intensified. The boy was too paralyzed in fear. He faintly heard his mother chuckle. "You're a hopeless disappointment, and you know what we do with a waste of corrupted DNA like yourself." she hissed. It wasn't a question, but he nodded anyway, tears flooding his eyes. She stretched her arms, until he was outside, only her hands keeping him from dropping down into the ground below. The ground far below them shook with an amazing force, enough to threaten to bring the whole castle down. "There he is now." the queen said, her face-splitting grin appeared again. "Goodbye, Princeling. I suppose I'll have to find a human child to replace you. Second time's the charm and all that." She let go of him, just in time for the beast with countless rows of teeth to emerge from the ground and devour him. Jin tossed and turned in his bed, screaming, the night terror felt much too real. The pain of Ragnarok's teeth tearing into him went on as if it wasn't just a dream. He rolled off of his mattress, his head pounding. His hands instinctively reached up to clinch his aching temples, but they only added to the pain. He could feel his teeth growing larger and sharper, practically splitting the skin over his jaws. His cries of pain got louder still. Leliana stirred in her sleep. She heard a faint yell, and warily got out of bed. Throwing on her blanket over her night clothes, she stepped out into the cool night air. She followed the sounds to Jin's tent. They showed signs of fading out. She thought it might've just been a nightmare, and she opened the tent to make sure he was okay. She covered her mouth in shock, stopping herself before she let out a scream of her own. Jin was writhing in pain, trembling as his black claws drew his blood from his head. His eyes were tightly closed, but a white glow seemed to shine under their lids. She tried to get closer, kneeling beside him. She reached out a hand, gently moving his sweaty hair out of his face. "Jin? A-Are you...?" Leliana started. Jin raised his head, his every tooth sharp as he lunged at her. She wasn't fast enough to react or even yell out before she was pinned to the floor. His blank eyes glared down at her, a snarl on his lips. Something about her scared, panicked expression must have gotten to him, because he faltered after nearly a minute of holding her down. He tore himself away from her, crawling back to his bed and grabbing his head as the aching started again. "G-Get away from me! It hurts..." Jin cried out. His voice had a strange echo effect over it, lower and deeper than his own. He placed his hands over his face, his body trembling in a mix of pain, shame, and effort to try to fight his transformation. Leliana got up, and looked between the tent's opening and Jin before lowering her head and quickly rushing out into the cold wind. She held her blanket tightly around her, slightly shivering as she kept running. Before she knew it, Her feet led her past her tent, and out of camp. She couldn't tell where she was going. It was hard to keep track of things like landmarks or paths when her eyes were screwed shut. All she knew was the land beneath her changed from a stone path to a grassy area that felt like a clearing, giving her even less cover from the air. She draped the blanket over her head and body like a hood. Her legs started to give out, her exhaustion finally catching up to her. She dropped to her knees, her eyes tired and her sight blurry as she tried to fight the urge to nod off. "Who's there?" a voice calls out. Leliana looked around her, standing up and getting into a defensive position. She hadn't brought her machete with her, and sincerely doubted she was trained enough to take on a corrupt with her bare hands. Her eyes meet the one who spoke out, who was sitting up in the branches of a tall tree. It was the human-like corrupt that attacked the group yesterday. "W-What are you doing here?" She stuttered. "I believe I should be asking you that." Ren jumped down from the tree, landing a few feet in front of her. "Shouldn't you be with your companions back at your precious base?" "They're all asleep." Leliana lied. "I came out here to think." "If 'thinking' means running out into the middle of the forest, wearing a blanket over your head, and weeping like a child, you humans are stranger then I thought." He came closer to her, observing her face. She quickly wiped the tears from her eyes. She hadn't even noticed them. She briefly wondered if they were there from when Jin attacked her or from once she realized she was lost. Ren gestured for her to follow him, before he started walking back into the tree-filled forest. "Wait, why should I trust you? I'm not following you just to be taken to the queen again!" Leliana said, defiantly crossing her arms. Ren rolled his eyes, grabbing the girl's arm and tugging her along with him. It wasn't a long journey, but the constant hassle of low hanging branches reminded Leliana to cut her hair. They approached a moss-covered cave with vines hung over the entrance that did a surprisingly good job at keeping it hidden. There were even thorny plants laid across the ground around it to discourage visitors. Ren lifted Leliana over the plants, and she moved through the thick layer of vines. Inside the cave was bigger than her tent, and without the wind reaching it, it was much warmer then the outside. The queen must have been sending him supplies, because his food consisted of fruits and vegetables that were definitely not native to the forest, unidentifiable meat that she'd rather not find out what was, a sleeping bag, and canteens that felt filled to the brim with water. "I wasn't sent here for you, thus it wouldn't benefit me to take you to the queen. Though, what would benefit me, is keeping you hostage until the halfling came looking for you. Make yourself comfortable, as at this point, I wouldn't be surprised if your companions sent me a thank you note for taking you off their hands." Leliana huffed in annoyance, but chose against saying anything about it. Jin woke up, groggy from lack of sleep. The pain that rang through his body must have made him pass out. He changed into his clothes, exiting his tent into the harsh sunlight. He groaned as his tired eyes adjusted to the brightness. He saw that Anubis and Ryn seemed to be searching for something, each split up and searching through opposite sides of the camp and the forest surrounding it. Ryn, seeing that he was awake, ran over to him with more panic then she usually expressed. "Jin, have you seen Lily today?" "No..." Jin instantly thought the next before. The implication that he made her leave didn't help his mood. "She probably just went to get water or something." "We've checked, she's nowhere near the camp, the dam, or anywhere she usually is. She's never traveled any further on her own! What if she's...?" "Well then, it's up to us to bring her corpse back, right?" The dark humor didn't come with the joking tone Jin usually added to it. Which may of made Ryn even more uneasy about it. Jin went back into his tent, grabbing the map and rolling it up. He then dashed for Leliana's tent, taking her machete and the sheath it was held in. Strapping it to his pants, he held the map tightly in hand. He looked over at Ryn with all the confidence he could muster. "Tell Anubis we're going on an adventure." he said, with a smirk. TO BE CONTINUED

[corruptforest-blog]

Chapter 4: Ragnarok the King

Leliana’s eyes opened slowly as they rested on the ceiling of the cave. All the tossing and turning that she did in her sleep caused the towel she was laying on to be wrapped around her. She untangled herself, and sat up, stretching and yawning. The campfire was out, and the bright blue sky was bringing light in from outside. She noticed that Jin and Anubis were busy carrying logs as big as tree trunks past the campsite. She stood up, stepping out of the cave to join them. Jin gave a short grunt and nod as a greeting, while Anubis didn’t even seem to notice her.

“Where are you two going?” she asked, walking beside them. Though she wasn’t strong enough to make much of a difference carrying the log, she grabbed her machete and slashed any tangled flora in their way.

“We found a river with water…clean enough to drink, but…it’s running low.” Jin panted. “We’re gonna build a dam so we’ll have a constant water supply. We’ve been working on it since this morning.”

“This morning? What time is it?”

“Past noon.” Anubis replied. “Don’t worry, you haven’t missed anything.”

“Just the view.” Jin added.

Before Leliana could ask what he meant, she saw it herself as they reached the river. It was so clear she could see the bottom of it. While it may have been low before, now it was high, the water lapping against the dam the two had built. It was empty of life, it had to be one of the few bodies of water that was in the whole forest. She knelled beside it, as Anubis passed her a canteen to fill. It was odd how a place that looked so peaceful was so dangerous. Once they had filled the last canteen, they started to head back to their temporary home.

The three traveled quietly for a while, nothing but the sound of the grass crunching under their feet, and the occasional breeze brushing through the tree branches. The silence soon proved maddening to Leliana, and she cleared her throat, though the other two didn’t so much as look back at her. She did it louder, causing Jin to look back with an annoyed groan.

“I was just wondering…won’t we have to find a new home soon? I mean, I love sleeping in dark, stuffy caves as much as a girl could, but I-” she started.

“We’ve already thought of it. We found a campsite ‘abandoned’ by humans not far from the river.” Jin said. “We’ve moved most of our equipment there, as well as made theirs, ours.”

“Abandoned?” she replied. Her confused expression faded into horror, as she quickly realized what he was implying. “Oh.”

“It’s to our advantage. They had much more useful things.” Anubis said.

“Yeah, like mattresses to sleep on instead of towels, and individual tents so annoying humans can’t ask me questions in the middle of the night!” Jin added, cheerfully.

Leliana glared at him, but didn’t say anything as she followed them towards an unfamiliar part of the forest. They came across slippery rocks by a quiet stream, and carefully climbed down them. As they walked beside the stream, Leliana basked in the relaxing sound of the water flowing past them, closing her eyes. Soon, they pasted the stream and approached a wide, flat field where there weren’t only tents, but an area that seemed to have once been a training ground. Maybe the people who lived here before had planned to take on the beasts the forest provided. Clearly a bad idea on their part.

Jin showed her the tent she’s be staying in, along with her supply rations and her bed. He also gave her a basic tour of where to find what in the camp, so she wouldn’t ‘bother him about it later’. He allowed her to get acquainted with her room, and started to leave her to herself.

“Jin?” Leliana said, stopping him.

“Yeah?” Jin sighed, turning around.

“I was wondering… How did someone like you end up living as the queen’s heir?”

He froze a bit at this. With a sigh, he sat down on her mattress, gesturing for her to sit next to him. Once she did, he began.

“…I don’t remember ever not living there, so I can’t help you when it comes to life before it. For as much as I know, I don’t have a father, and my mother is a cruel bi- er witch. That’s all there is to it.” Jin said, with a shrug. He got up, and left without another word, leaving Leliana to glare at him, annoyed.

“You’re really melodramatic, you know that?” she called out.

The blue sky had turned to shades of pink, orange, and red, signaling it was evening already. The forest would be too dark to navigate through soon, so Leliana grabbed a flashlight from their supplies, and tried to make her way out of camp as quickly and silently as possible.

She kept her machete in it’s sheath, as there wasn’t many plants in her way. The route out of camp was so soothing to take, a path made of pebbles and grass made for a pleasing crunch under her feet. The afternoon was dead quiet. She took a deep breath, and for a second it felt as if she was the only inhabitant of the entire area. Until she heard footsteps behind her, and a voice call out to her.

“What are you doing out?”

Leliana turned around in surprise, and sighed in relief when she saw it was just Anubis. “I needed some air.”

“The forest is dangerous around this time. You need to go back.” he said, pointing back towards the site.

“Dangerous how? Both you and Jin have warned me about the ‘dangers’ of this place, but I’ve only been attacked once since I’ve been here! Plus, I think I can handle myself if a stray corrupt does manage to attack me.” she declared, patting the sheath that held her weapon. “Give me one reason to go running back to the camp with my tail between my legs, and I’ll follow you back!”

Just then, a deep rumble was heard, as the ground beneath them seemed to tremble. The branches on the trees shook, and the sound only got louder. Leliana started to miss the silence that once filled the air.

“That’s one. Now, hurry!” Anubis barked.

The girl didn’t need to be told twice as her feet pumped against the stone path, trying to keep up with the corrupt in front of her. It wasn’t easy, as he dashed ahead, knowing the land much better than she did. She called out to him, but he didn’t slow down. She blamed the quake under them, or at least she hoped it was simply an earthquake. It seemed to be following them, and the trees in the distance behind them didn’t seem to shiver anymore, as the shaking trailed after them. Despite Anubis’s commands, they weren’t heading towards the camp, they were heading away from it.

“Wait, what about Jin?” Leliana asked, hoping Anubis could still hear her.

“He knows about it, and we’re going to meet him now. He says we shouldn’t let it follow us to the campsite.” he replied.

'Shouldn’t let it follow us? As in, it’s a living thing?’ she thought.

Their feet pounded faster as the underground movement started to head past them. Anubis quickly grabbed Leliana’s arm and tugged her to the side right as the dirt uprooted. The trail of the beast was easier to follow now, as the ground was raised as it tried to move towards the surface. Then, it stopped. The beast seemed to be heading deeper into the ground. Leliana breathed a sigh of relief, but Anubis looked more tense than usual. They headed towards the river dam they’d built that morning, Jin was pacing anxiously before he saw them.

“What took you two so long? I was worried he had gotten you!” he yelled, crossing his arms.

“Who is he? Why was there a living earthquake following us?” Leliana asked.

Jin snorted. “Not a 'living earthquake’. Ragnarok. He’s the warden of this prison, and probably the one who killed the humans who lived in the camp. Noticed that no other corrupts are anywhere in sight? They’ve all run in terror from him.”

“What is Ragnarok?”

Just as Leliana asked, the ground starts rumbling again. Louder than before, as if it was getting closer and closer. As if it was right under them. Jin grabbed her hand and Anubis ran ahead, them following close behind. Suddenly, the earth behind them broke away as a creature shot up into the air. Leliana let out a scream, making the mistake of looking back just as the creature started to descend back to earth. It’s mouth had endless rows of teeth, and unlike most corrupts it didn’t have eyes. Jin lifted her into his arms, still running as he tried to keep up with Anubis despite the added weight.

Out of the corner of her eye, Leliana saw someone who looked like…a human girl, frantically gesturing for them to follow her. Seeing as they had no other choice, Anubis and Jin followed behind the girl, as she lead them to a cave. As Jin let Leliana down, everyone caught their breath. For the first time, the trio actually got a good look at the girl. She had short, black hair in a bob, and pale skin. Her blue eyes seemed to be examining the others, their gaze staying on Jin for a bit longer as her face turned pink. Her clothes consisted of a brown tunic, black leggings, and worn-out boots. They waited until the rumbling stopped to start talking.

“Who are you?” Jin asked.

“My name is Ryn.” the girl replied.

“How did you get here? Do you know where you are?”

“…No.”

Jin waited for more of an answer, but as it never came, he decided to leave it alone. The silence outside was starting to drive him crazy. Where had Ragnarok gone? He could be right under them for all they knew. As if Ragnarok could hear his thoughts, the ground right under their feet started to shake. Jin yelled for Anubis to grab Ryn and follow him as he took flight, lifting Leliana along with him. Anubis ran swiftly away from the cave, Ryn in tow. Behind them, Ragnarok burst up from the earth, devouring the cave in one move, then going back underground. Tears started building in Ryn’s eyes, though her face remained emotionless.

“What is wrong?” Anubis panted.

“That cave was my home.” Ryn said simply.

The four met back at the camp, where they helped Ryn move into an available tent. It was night now, and Ragnarok had finally retired to his home, wherever that was. A light rain had started falling, which would undoubtedly turn into a heavy downpour through the night. Thankfully, the campgrounds had more stone under it then dirt, so not much mud would be around the camp by morning. As they each retired to their individual rooms, Jin just laid in his bed, hands behind his head, listening to the relaxing sound of the rain drops hitting the top of his tent. Until Leliana stepped inside, having worn a poncho from one of the dead travelers wardrobes to keep herself dry.

“What’d you want now?” Jin asked.

“I couldn’t sleep, so I started thinking, and asking myself questions. Such as, 'how long will I have to live this way? Moving from area to area, running from every beast because I’m too much of a coward to fight.’ That’s no way to live, Jin.” Leliana said.

“Why don’t you whine about it more by yourself? Maybe if you wish hard enough, a corrupt’ll find you and end your suffering in your sleep. No shit, it’s no way to live, so it’s our job to find our way out.”

“That’s not necessarily what I meant. I meant, it’s no way to live, being a coward and running from everything. I want to learn how to accept this like you have. I want to learn to fight, to survive.”

Jin sat up from his bed, looking at her with more than annoyed irritation for once. “You want to learn to fight?” He looked away for a second, lost deep in thought. Then, he stood up, giving her a nod and a smirk. “…Fine, I’ll train you myself tomorrow morning.”

Leliana squealed in delight, running forward to hug Jin. He cringed at the noise, but returned the hug reluctantly.

“Alright, alright. Now, get to bed!” he chuckled.

“You’ve shown endless promise, my minion, and I believe you’re ready for your first major challenge.”

The queen grinned down at her most trusted assassin from her throne. He bowed before her, his shoulder-length black hair falling over his pale face. He was a rare oddity among corrupts because of these human-like traits, but none of them would dare to point it out. Not after what they’ve seen him do. He lifted up upon the queen’s command, as she opened a portal, using her two step spell.

“I will send you to Corrupt Forest, in order to go after my former heir, and anything else that stands in your way. Do you understand?” The queen asked. Her grin widened once he nodded. “You may not return until you bring back his body, dead or alive. Though, I’d prefer dead.”

He readied himself to be sucked through the portal, with only a few last words to his superior.

“As you wish, your highness.”

TO BE CONTINUED

[corruptforest-blog]

Chapter 2: Banishment

A-Am I alive?' The girl's first clear thought since she had gone unconscious. Everything was dark, even when she opened her eyes. Her limbs were bound to her sides by metal chains. She seemed to be being dragged somewhere, as she felt her body being moved against stone. However, she didn't hear regular foot steps, they sounded like...paws? At first, she couldn't fathom why animals would be dragging her anywhere, but then memories came flooding back to her. Sounds of people screaming coming from every direction. Her father telling her to hide down in his lab for reasons he refused to explain. Then, unsettling silence. She had pressed her ear to the door to try to hear something, anything. But, an impact hit her, the door must have flew off the handles, and knocked her out. From what she could gather from the jumbled memories, the Corrupted Queen had invaded her hometown of Concordia. But, that left one question, why was she kept alive? She didn't feel harmed in any way, expect for the cold chains leaving imprints in her skin. She was snapped out of her thoughts when she was roughly flung to the ground, followed by the sound of heavy breathing. "Your Majesty...the human female...as you requested..." an echoed voice panted. "Very good, Balazs, you may exit." said another voice, confident and dominant. She heard the clack of heels approach her as the paw steps faded away. The darkness was lifted from her eyes, and she was frozen, as he saw the pupil-less eyes of the queen gazing down at her. The queen discarded the bag that had been placed over the girl's head, and grabbed the chains she was bound in. She then lifted the girl by the chains, bringing her up to match the queen's eight foot height. This was not a good thing for the girl's fear of heights. "What a pretty face you have, your body's a bit too skinny to feed on, but you'll be make an excellent first kill." the queen noted, her mouth splitting her face with a wide grin. She yelped in pain as he was dropped back on the ground. Her ginger hair falling in front of her face as she laid there, not having the will to get up, not having the strength to ask questions. The queen's footsteps faded as she walked away, and the girl found herself going in and out of consciousness again. As commanded, the prince followed his mother to her throne room. He assumed tonight was the night she expected him to do 'what he was destined to', as she so often put it. No matter how much he attempted to prepare himself for the night, he wasn't prepared for who his target would be. He expected an adult at the very least, not a girl around his own age. The girl was kept from leaving by being bound by rope, and surrounded on all sides by swift and poisonous panther-snake corrupts. He approached her slowly, his feet moving to prepare for his brutal task, while his brain was elsewhere. He was surprised to see that her grey eyes weren't narrowed with hate, or even widened with fear. They showed what looked like a mix of pity and shock. Shock of seeing another human here? He wondered if she would feel the same sympathy once he was forced to slash his claws over her face. He unsheathed his claws, observing them as if for the first time. He tried to distract himself by focusing only on the shine they gave off, with tips so sharp he didn't doubt they could cut diamond. All it would take was a rapid strike through her. Would it be easier if he closed his eyes? "Are you going to kill it or let it die of old age, my dear?" the queen asked as she scowled, tapping her own claws impatiently against her throne. "No, mother, I promise. I'm done stalling." The prince brings his claw up. "Time to take action for once!" He grins as he brings it down. It slices through the rope restrictions, leaving the confused and stunned girl to simply slip them off. The corrupts around her pounced. He quickly grabbed one by their serpentine neck, heaving it head-first into a wall. The others switched their attention to him, leaping towards him. Two latched on to his arms, knocking him to the ground. He took a deep breath, before letting out a screech worthy of a banshee, making one of the demonic beasts recoil in pain. He dug his free claw deep into the others throat, forcing it to let go of his arm. He looked back over to the girl, who was being pinned by the last one, her face frozen in fear. He ran over to help her, throwing a sharp kick to the creature's side. It slid across the floor, giving the prince time to pick up the girl and unfurl his wings. He winced upon doing so, suddenly activating his wings still put strain on his back. He took flight, one flap instantly lifted the two fifteen feet off the ground. Busting through the double doors of the room, he swiftly flew through the labyrinth of paths, trying to keep focused on keeping a strong hold of the girl while staying in flight. Before long, he heard the sound of wings flapping behind him, matching his own. He looked back, expecting to see a griffin corrupt or something of the like. Instead, it was his own mother. He swore under his breath, beating his wings harder. He increased his speed, taking all the corners he could, rather they led to an exit or not, as the human clung to him for dear life. The halls started to blur past him, almost too fast for him to realize where he was going. He looked back again, his mother had stopped, instead flapping her wings in place. She seemed to be trying to focus her magic, in order to throw a spell at them. He used this as his chance to get an even further lead in front of her, before she could perform the spell. He saw the wave of magic she had cast whisk right by the him. He was confused at first, until the wave expanded, and reformed into a solid purple wall. His momentum had been too high for him to react in time. He couldn't stop himself, and he slammed right into the wall, both him and the girl fell to the ground. He tried to get his bearings again, before the queen caught up to them, but it was too late. She grabbed the two of them by the arm, her expression was of nothing but pure rage. "Betrayal!" She spat. "Caused by my own heir, none the less! Acantha believed you to be a failure, but I never thought you'd do something like this to your own mother." Dropping the two to the ground, she gathered up her energy to perform another spell. Her hand started to glow purple, as well as her eyes, and with it, she traced a circle in the air. She shoved the energy towards the wall she created, the circle expanding into a large vortex, thus completing what the two part spell was meant to create. A portal to any location she wished, the prince's eyes widened as he realized exactly where that place would be. "M-Mother, you wouldn't!" he said. She grinned. "For such a disobedient bastard like you? I most certainly would. You wish to protect the human girl so much, you may protect her for the rest of your miserable lives for all I care! Though, it's not as bad as it sounds. Where you're going, you won't live long." "W-Where are we going?" the girl asked. "The place where all disappointing, misbehaving members of the Corrupted go, you insect-brained imbecile." the queen turned towards the portal, raising her voice to a powerful, demanding volume. "CORRUPT FOREST." The portal showed that it understood the command loud and clear, by flashing a bright light, before the pure purple image changed to one of a dark, mysterious, ironically beautiful forest. The Corrupted Queen let go of the two of them, letting them fall to the floor again. The portal's vortex created a gravitational pull, that sucked the two towards it, the queen not being affected. The prince clung on to the girl's hand, as his other held onto the edge of the portal. "This isn't right! I'll make you pay for this cruelty, mother!" he called out. The queen simply grinned even wider. She left him a few final words, before slipping his fingers off the edge one by one, allowing the halfling prince and the human girl to completely enter into the new area. "Your mother is dead, and now you shall die with her." TO BE CONTINUED

[corruptforest-blog]

Chapter 1: Corrupt Castle

To say the castle of the Corrupted Queen was gigantic was an understatement. It was a Gothic styled mansion, with over two hundred rooms, not counting the many underground dungeons. The inside had eerie, yet elegant furniture, including paintings and statues of the beloved queen. There was no need for surveillance cameras for the hallways, as there were spider-like corrupts hanging from webs around every corner. The centerpiece of the palace was the throne room, where there stood a tall, stone grey throne. Candles with blue flames surrounded the stairs leading up to it, bathing it in it's sinister glow. Presently, the queen sat in it, using a green ball created from her energy to peak at the land surrounding her castle. The double doors of the room burst open, the queen not so much as blinking, as if she expected the sudden entry. Acantha, her most loyal corrupt, bowed before the queen before explaining her presence. "Your highness, it's about the human boy, he's recently reached the age of ten. As you know that's around the age corrupted beings learn to fight. However, the prince is proving to be hopeless in combat. He simply doesn't have the reflexes or skill to face even our weakest troops." The queen narrowed her eyes at her assistant, digging her claws into her throne. Her face remained emotionless as she rose from her seat. "Then allow me to offer him some assistance." The plant-life that surrounded the training grounds provided too little protection for the boy. No matter how fast he tried to run, or how well he thought he was hidden, he felt a slash of claws against his face. Before long, he had been reduced to going into the fetal position, trembling and tearing up, his whole body covered in bites and claw marks. His whole body was in pain, almost to the point of numbness. Several corrupts surrounded him, all glaring down, but he refused to open his eyes. "How do you expect to lead an entire army if you cannot intimidate three?" growled one. "We're supposed to lay our lives down for a sniveling, cowardly being like yourself?" hissed another. "S-Stop..." the prince said, his voice barely above a whisper. Although the corrupts had stopped attacking, a new pain wreaked through him. His eyes burned with an excruciating heat, and when he finally opened them, it seemed as if all color had been drained from the world. This caused his panic to rise, and he attempted to stand, only to be knocked back down. More taunts were thrown at him as he laid still on the ground, but he couldn't focus on them. His face felt frozen, his teeth seemed to sharpen and expand, stretching his mouth and ripping his skin. "What the hell's wrong with it?" The voice was distant, too far away to distinguish. He felt the rough fingers of a gorilla corrupt wrap around his neck. He was slammed into something, a tree, a boulder? It was hard to tell, as the hand clenched his throat. His hands went numb but he still felt blood leaking out of them, as what felt like bone protruded out. The corrupt let go of the boy's throat with a yelp, and the prince fell to the ground. His back had the worst pain of it all, his very bone structure was expending away from his spine, spliting and ripping through his skin to produce two bat-like wings. His scream of pain came out hoarse from his sore vocal cords. "Hhnn...Hhnn..." The prince's breath was rough and every intake of air hurt his throat. 'How dare they do this to us? Don't they know who we are?' An echoing voice filled his weren't his own thoughts, as his mind was cloudy and unfocused. But, he didn't have the strength to question it. Suddenly, a rush of clarity ran through him, the pain he felt gone like it was never there. It was replaced with blinding fury. 'Why don't we remind them?' He grinned as he got to his feet, he chuckled darkly as the corrupts that were previously beating him cowered back. Everything about his new body felt superior, enhanced, powerful. He loved it. The prince rushed forward, slashing open the stomach of the one who grabbed his throat. It gasped in pain and doubled over. He slit the creature's throat with his other claw. It fell, black blood-like liquid oozing out of it. Before the others could react, he lifted one up, bringing it crashing down to the ground with a sickening crunch. His every movement became a blur. He saw himself throw a flurry of strikes , and blindly biting into the sleek, black flesh of his targets. He stopped only once he was out of breath, looking over the destroyed corpses of his opponents. The child let out a roar of his own, between a battle cry and an inhuman, high-pitched shriek. He felt a familiar clawed hand touch his shoulder, he turned and looked up. His mother stood beside him, she gave him an approving nod. He barely had a chance to enjoy the praise before the pain suddenly came flooding back. He gripped his head, his claws digging into it. "M-Mother...it hurts..." he whimpered, before he felt his legs give out. Then, he fainted. His body warping and converting back to his human form. 8 Years Later "Your highness, the boy is here, as you ordered." one of her minions announced. They then exited with a bow of the head, allowing the prince to kneel before the throne. "Look at you, you're growing like a weed!" the queen exclaimed, looking down at her son from her throne. Indeed he had, as the boy was now eighteen and already 5'10, though considering his mother's height, this wasn't unexpected. His hair was neck-length, thanks to the lack of way to cut it in the castle, other than by dagger. His body was lean and muscular, from years worth of rigorous training. From lack of human clothing around the castle, he could only wear whatever fit him comfortably raided from towns. In this case, a plain grey t-shirt, light brown pants, and black combat boots. "May I ask why I was called, mother?" he asked, his head still bowed. "I wanted to show you something, my dear. Something important, if you ever wish to rule over this land. Follow me." She rose from her throne, gesturing for him to follow her out of the room. He followed obediently through the many halls of the palace. They started entering paths that he was told never to walk through as a child, going deep into the heart of the mansion. Finally, she lead him towards a tall, oak door, with many padlocks placed over it. With a wave of her hand, a purple glow enveloped the locks and they all opened, the door creaking open soon after. The prince stared at the glowing, purple crystal globe in front of him. It stood on a spiky, black pedestal, and the globe itself looked too big for him to properly wrap his arms around. In the room where it was placed were countless bookshelves, filled with books, vials, and what looked like ancient artifacts. what appeared to be human skulls were placed in the four corners of the room. The room was fairly large, and had no windows, the only light getting through being the unnatural glow. He stood near the back of the room, as far away from the magical object as possible. The whole room chilled him to the bone. The queen was quite the opposite, looking perfectly content in the strange room. Approaching the orb, she started to gently run her fingers over it, as a result, images appeared of various far away places on it's surface. "This is the control center of our army, it can monitor every area of my kingdom, catching any and all intruders. It also helps me to keep an eye on possible mutinies." the queen explained. "One day, all of this land will be yours. Here, look for yourself." She stepped away, allowing her son to go up to the pedestal. He prepared to place his hands on it, before she stopped him. "No! With your claws." she hissed. He released his claws with ease, the act became much simpler once the pain dulled to a sting. He touched them to the crystal, and the crystal's images became much clearer. It was as if he had a bird's eye view of the entire castle grounds, able to see even mosquito-sized corrupts from his omnipotent view. He let go of the orb, vision going away as quickly as it appeared. The queen then manipulated the orb to show a heavily populated human city. "On to more pressing matters. This is our next target. It's a town called Concordia, and it's known for it's pacifistic nature." she cackled. "The fools. They focus their life on scientific research and logical means, yet they don't have the common sense to focus on building a proper military. There's humans that know they can't compete with the corrupted, and there's humans that don't even attempt to. Hopefully, they'll serve me better as my corrupted servants, rather than foes." "Mother, why don't we ever consider cooperating with the humans? I mean, maybe we could co-exist, that way w-" A hard slap across the face sent the prince stumbling back, a few deep cuts on his face where the queen's claws scraped against him. He touched the cuts, before flinching and quickly taking his hand away. He remained silent as she began again. "Cooperating with humans? I don't want to hear such drivel from your mouth again! Allowing a lesser species to join my ranks?" She paced the room angrily, before starting again with a more calm tone. "...Now you, my son, you're the exception. You were born for greatness. You're much more than a mere human, much more than a simple corrupt even! You have the power to rule over both, luring the humans into a false sense of security and then eradicating them from existence!" The prince wished he could share his mother's enthusiasm. After all, humans were disgusting beings who relied on technology and firearms to fight, instead of natural instincts. But...a part of him knew that this was wrong. As much as he had tried to numb himself to the thought of killing, he still felt shaky thinking back to when he murdered his trainers so long ago. The internal conflict continued when he realized that an even smaller part of him liked the idea of spilling the blood of his enemies, lived for it. That, he assumed, was the corrupted blood running through his veins. As he was lost in thought, he realized his mother was still talking, and swiftly went back to paying attention. "Tomorrow, my child. Tomorrow I'll bring you your first human to kill." she said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "What better time to initiate the blood lust within you?" 'What?' His brain didn't know how to reply, so he just nodded his head, without any visible emotion. TO BE CONTINUED

[corruptforest-blog]

Prologue

"He's beautiful, isn't he?" A bright-eyed woman asked, moving her black hair to peek into her son's cradle. Her husband stayed at the window, not so much as glancing in her direction. She looked at him warily, making her way over to him. Putting her shoulder on him, she finally got him to tear his eyes from the glass pane. Neither spoke a word, just sharing a sorrowful gaze to each other. Outside, misty black fog covered the ground, and not a person stood on the streets. Most could pass it off as a weird weather change, but the inhabitants of the town knew better. She had chosen their home to destroy for her own enjoyment. In no time at all, her minions materialized on the cold, hard stone. Claws, talons, feet, and slithering bodies moved soundlessly as they approached closer to the citizens houses. Their midnight black skin sucked in any and all light that touched it, the only glow coming from them were their pupil-less eyes and glistening fangs. The poor people have long since given up on trying to fight against the army, they had lost enough innocents from trying. They made their way from the roads to the homes, almost hypnotically. As swiftly and suddenly as they went in, the houses burst into flames and burned down, the townies still stuck inside them. The man and woman held their breath as the dark mist headed towards them. The woman took her gaze from the window, running to her son's crib. Her eyes watered as she stared down at his oblivious, sleeping face, a small smile on his snoring lips. Her husband ran downstairs upon seeing that the army had reached their front door. He grabbed a hand ax from a hidden compartment under the stairs. It would be laughable to actually plan to survive against an onslaught of Corrupts, but he was willing to die for his wife and son. Hopefully, he could stall for long enough for them to escape. The door burst off of it's hinges, but nothing but the calm fog was behind it. The fog enveloped the man, the weightless substance making quick work of filling his lungs and killing him, before making it's way upstairs. The mother hadn't taken her eyes off her baby, not even when she saw the mist fill his bedroom. Not even when the queen materialized behind her, her eight foot stature casting a shadow over her, including her large bat wing-span. The queen's black skin drew attention to her razor sharp teeth, the grin she had on made her face seem to split in half. She wore a slender, white, Victorian-style gown, her feet hidden under it's length, and her straight, white hair falling down her back. She folded her clawed hands behind her back, teasingly, as the mother slowly turned to look up at her. "What a nice child you have. He has his father's nose..." the queen said. Her voice sounded like it echoed itself, high-pitch layered over her low tone. With a snap of her fingers, one of her minions appeared next to her. A panther-like creature with a serpent's head, carrying something in it's mouth. It dropped it, leaving the woman horrified by the sight. "...and now, so do you." it said, with a grin. The queen snarled at her accomplice. "Acantha, my dear, I tell the jokes around here." Her minion cowered back, sitting on it's hind legs like an obedient cub. The mother stood wordless, her eyes barely processing what was in front of her. "W-What did you do to him?" "He stood in my way, so I had him taken care of. In fact, I'll offer you the same fate, quick and moderately painless, if you give me the child." "N-No. You're not getting near my so-" In the blink of an eye, one of the queen's claws slashed the woman's neck. Her last words were nothing but unintelligible gargles, as she fell to the ground, bleeding out. The queen stepped over her, gently picking the child up from his crib. His short, black hair was neat, and as he slowly opened his eyes to show they were a dark brown color. His skin was still as pink as if he was a newborn, and he only appeared to be a few months old. She snapped her fingers, and her and the child were outside, as her minions worked on setting the home ablaze. The flames quickly spread through the house, ensuring that not a bit of debris would be left. She raised the child up high, unwrapping the blanket he was wrapped in, just enough to reveal his arm. "You'd make a fine heir, my son. With this injection of my royal DNA, I give you the power of superiority over all average humans, as well as most of my minions. I give you the honor of being like my own blood-born. I dub you, the Corrupted Prince!" She brought his arm down to her mouth, biting him gently enough not to go through it, but far enough to get her venom into his bloodstream. He cried loudly, wailing from both the fright of being in the strange woman's arms, and the pain from her bite. "Shh, silence, my child." The boy instantly was quiet, his cry stopping suddenly as he fell back to sleep. The bite marks disappeared, yet he didn't appear any different. Acantha appeared again, next to the queen. "The deed is done, my queen. But do we really require a new ruler? I thought you promised me the throne once you perished." "Trust me, Acantha, he will be an excellent ruler once he is finished with his training, and once he unleashes his new form." she said, cradling the boy. Without another word, she turned to mist, the child also being converted. Acantha followed behind, as well as the other minions, as the house came crashing down in the background. TO BE CONTINUED