Mistress of the Damned

Flipp

News went back to the Queen that the Hirpy’s were to be released upon my request. The news did not go over well. When it was made known that the Denon wouldn’t be leaving without me, and I would not be leaving without the Hirpy’s, she knew that she didn’t have any choice. I could imagine the smug look on her face being wiped clean, and rage taking its place. Thankfully, I didn’t need to be around to witness it. I stayed in the courtyard with the Denon, while she likely was planning my eventual execution. I knew that I would never be welcome on the island of Wayde again. If I did, I would probably be destroyed onsite.

It took the guards about twenty minutes to bring around a wagon and bring down the weak and exhausted Hirpy's. Their gait was slow and steady, and it took a while before the Denon could get them all comfortably in the wagon. When Jesye spotted me, a look of surprise came over his face. A slow smile spread across his face and he put his hands in a praying formation to thank me. I returned his smile as I watched the Hirpy's get loaded into the wagon from afar.

Once they were all loaded in, the Denon approached me. “We are ready to leave, my Queen. It’s time to get out of this hell hole.”

I smirked and nodded. We were both feeling that we had worn out our welcome on the island. I followed him to the wagon. He helped me up onto one of the front seats, and then went around to the other side and got up beside me. The wagon was being pulled by sea Serpents, so it was a smooth ride out of the courtyard.

I looked around at the people as I passed. The citizens looked terrified, but also relieved that I was leaving. That was too much excitement for the day for them. They wanted to go back to their peaceful lives, which didn’t include monsters attacking their city.

I scanned the crowd to see if I could spot my Siren friends, but they were not in the courtyard. Were they waiting for me outside of the Kingdom? My heart felt heavy because I wasn’t sure how to get away from the Denon. The last place that I wanted to go was back home. Sure, the Denon’s could probably protect me from the mob, because they believed I was the Queen, but I still didn’t want to go back.

Not only that, I am not the Queen, and at some point, the Denon’s would realize that, and I didn’t want to be there when they found out I lied about who I was. The punishment would be quite severe, and then I would be running from Demon Isle once again.

The wagon moved through the Kingdom until it got to the gates, which the guards opened and let us pass through. There was no retaliation or attack, they just wanted us gone as quickly as possible. I looked back into the wagon at the Hirpy's, who looked wounded and exhausted. They didn’t even have a chance to be happy or relieved, they were so worn out. Once we got on the ship, they could get some food in their bellies and start getting their strength back.

It was slow moving through the countryside, as we made our way back to the shore. I closed my eyes and took an opportunity to rest myself, not at all interested in the scenery this time around. The day had been exhausting, and I had no idea what the future would hold. I was being protected for the time being, under the guise of a lie, but I wanted nothing more than for the Sirens to come and find me, to take me away from the Denon. What ever happened to Xagon and Azil bringing Drayven to me? Was that just a lie? I trusted them once again, and I felt nothing but a fool for thinking that they had my back in any way. The same went for Drayven. How do you completely abandon someone that you believe is your Queen?

Drayven didn’t strike me as the kind of creature that was scared of anything, and yet he had disappeared the moment things got tough. I had believed he was laying low, just biding his time until it was the right time to rescue me. Instead, he hadn’t shown up at all. Maybe he was dead somewhere on the island, from an attack by the Mer or a Siren.

When we approached the shore, we headed in the direction of a ship, one that was much larger than the Sirens. I wondered what made the Denon come to Wayde in the first place. Was it just dumb luck that he ended up at the Kingdom, right when I needed to get out of there?

Denon ships were used to ferry evil creatures from place to place. Some of the worst creatures could be found on one of these ships. There were cannons on both sides of the ship, and they had the ability to fire cannonballs of pure malice at anyone who got just a little too close to the ship. The ship itself was built from monstrous horns. There were no handrails, everything was just pointed horns.

It had a large cabin on the back of the ship, and the outside of the cabin resembled a devil’s head. When the lanterns were on inside the cabin, the eyes of the Devil would glow on the outside over the deck. Below was the bunkers, kitchen, and cargo hold, similar to the Siren's ship, but much larger. The ship had the same lookout tower as most ships, but the sails were in the shape of huge demon wings. It was as if the ship could just pick up and fly away if it wanted to. It couldn’t, but it held that presence at the sight of it. It had a very sinister vibe, even though I didn’t believe that was the intention of the décor.

The ship felt evil, and I was filled with a premonition to not get on the ship. I didn’t exactly have a choice in the matter, not yet anyway. I looked around to gauge how easy it would be to escape, and I had zero advantage. I would have to get on the ship.

The Denon went to the back of the wagon and started to let out the Hirpy’s. Most of the Hirpy’s fled in the opposite direction, taking their opportunity to escape from the ship. They didn’t even look back for a second, and I knew they must have been planning on fleeing the moment they left the Kingdom. I hoped they wouldn’t just end up captured by the Queen once again. But they must have had their own reasons for not wanting to board the ship, or to join the Denon’s in their travels. I looked at them helplessly and then realized they had the freedom to do as they wished. The Denon looked at me and motioned towards the runaway Hirpy’s. I waved him away. “Leave them be, they aren’t prisoners.” There was no point in chasing down Hirpy’s when we really needed to get off the island.

I looked toward the Siren ship, and there wasn’t one soul aboard it. Where was everyone? Were they at the Palace celebrating? Because that would just be a slap in the face!

I turned back to the wagon. Jesye was next to get out of the wagon, and he approached me. “Well, thank you, Flipp. Or should I call you Lilith now? Have you finally accepted your destiny?”

“No, I haven’t. I just needed to get out of prison and help an old friend.”

“I am forever in your debt.”

“No, you’re not. In fact, I need to find a way out of this mess before they realize that I’m not the Queen. If you have any suggestions, I’m open to them.”

He smiled. “Unless of course, you are the Queen.”

“Don’t start that again. There is no reason to think that I am. The one person that was convinced that I was the Queen, he completely deserted me once the soldiers arrived at the Siren ship. Do you really think he would have done that to Queen Lilith?”

Jesye shrugged. “I have no idea what happened to Drayven. It’s certainly odd behavior. I thought he would have slaughtered the whole ship before allowing them to cart you away to prison.”

“Yes, exactly. It was a painful lesson to learn.”

“Don’t think of it that way, Flipp. Maybe he had a really good reason to leave when he did. Maybe he had no idea that you were taken to the Kingdom and he’s been out searching for you this whole time? You never know.”

“Yeah, there are too many 'what if's' for me to worry about. Maybe one day I’ll see him again, and he can explain the whole thing to me.”

“It’s time to go, Queen. We have your throne ready for you.”

I looked up at the Denon quizzically. “I’m fine to stay in the cabin, thank you.”

“No, Queen. You ride higher than all of us.”