Lmk what you think of this chapters arc extreme beginner writer.
Chapter 4 Caelum
Caelum opened his eyes abruptly by the sound of a lady. His hand maid Maira was standing at the foot of the bed. She had the build of a 30 year old but has looked 30 for as long as he has reigned king.
Maria: “My lord… my lord… my apologies for waking you…”
Leaning in forward with a respectful bow
Maria: “Please forgive me, The council has summoned you for an urgent meeting.”
Caelum groaned, rolling onto his back annoyed.
“Good God would you shut up. Your voice is so annoying. I had a wonderful dream”, changing his expression now adding a sharp bite, “with YOU NOT IN IT!.”
Maria: “My apologies my lord I only meant…”
Caelum: “you only meant to wake me up. You ruined my dream. I was walking on the beach. I wanted to go swimming and…”
Slight pause.
“I want to go swimming, the council, they can wait. Go fetch me breakfast and be quiet women, I swear you people only exist to annoy me.”
Maria bowed shakily and retreated,
Maria: “Of course my lord” closing the heavy door behind her.
Caelum laid in his bed, eyes closed, imagining his castle on top of a mountain towering just above the city and in his thoughts using his hand to scoop just under the base of the castle wrapping his fingers around the walls, grasping it and lowering it down gently.
as he lowered his hand he was simultaneously slowly flattening the mountain's landscape.
As the castle moved downwards in his imagination, the castle he was in was also shaking and moving with loud abrupt scratching noises and it echoed and rumbled in every room within the castle.
Portraits, cabinets, dishes falling all around but Caelum continued laying in his bed and focused on his imagination. As he continued to pull down the castle. He was alternating the terrain and the region surrounding the mountains base
ripping trees out of the ground, animals running in fear of what seemed like unexplained shifts all over the land. Caleum could feel servants and guards bracing themselves to walls, anything to anchor themselves to prevent toppling over. Caelum laying in his bed could feel himself getting tossed around left and right on his mattress. Farmers below had their crops completely washed over by the altered landscape. dirt and debris avalanching below burying some poor peasants. tearing and ripping down some buildings in the city along the ocean.
Outside of Caelum's imagination he could taste dust and hear loud noises from his body but continued moving the castle carefully downwards little by little.
Slowly the castle made its way down until it reached the shore's coast line. Caelum had purposely guided it in a way to be away from the city so he didn't have to be in sight of the poor and dirty peasants. In Caelum’s imagination he withdrew his hand from below the castle and scooped some sand from the outer deeper ocean floor closer to the coast to make it shallower for a longer distance.
Caelum’s eyes snapped open.
He swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood.
The room was a mess.
An armoire had tipped on its front side , books and decor scattered the bedroom floor.
Dust was all over settling itself on every surface.
Quickly he got dressed by slipping out of his sleeping clothes to his swimming attire in his walk in closet.
He shoved the main door to his room open and stepped into the hall.
Servants rushed back and forth, some carrying broken pieces of furniture, others trying to straighten what couldn’t be fixed. A pair of guards struggled to lift a fallen section of decorative stone that landed on a soldier flattening his body, grunting under the weight.
Caelum walked through the chaos like it wasn’t even there.
A servant nearly collided with him, catching herself at the last second, as the king darted past unbothered by the situation, she was immediately bowing her head in respect.
Weaving through the wreckage without effort dodging obstacles and brushing past people.
A voice cut through the noise.
The man:“Sir…!”
Caelum stopped.
Slowly, he turned.
Valerius Lysander stood a few steps back, posture straight despite the state of everything around him. Dust clung to his armor.
Even now, he looked composed,
Disciplined, and Careful.
Valerius: “Pardon my interruption,”
bowing his head just enough to show respect, but not weakness.
Valerius:“But the council has made a request.”
Caelum stared at him.
Blank.
Caelum:“…Well?” he said flatly. “Out with it.”
Valerius looked at Caelum with a stern look.
Valerius: “There has been an army reported from the west,”
“They are making their way towards…”
Caelum:“Then fight them.”
The interruption was immediate and sharp.
Caelum had already started turning away to continue on his path.
Valerius didn’t move.
Valerius:“I am rallying the men,” he continued, voice steady. “However… the council was hoping you might intervene...”
“it would be a shame if their travels were halted under some misfortune,”
Valerius paused
“Along their journey.”
Valerius remained still.
Valerius: “If I may, sir,” he said carefully, “this could be resolved in moments with your help.”
Caelum: “I'll consider it.”
As Caelum took a step he was stopped by Valerius's words.
Valerius: “going swimming are you?”
Caelum didn't turn but nodded
Valerius: “Why don't you build a ramp of sand in the water that goes up a story or two, jump off, and climb back up?”
A slight pause
“It's more fun.”
Another pause
“Anyways, don't let me rob you of any more of your fun… West of Mul Eac Castle please remember.” pointing and tapping at his temple
Caelum continued running through the castle without a care in the world, bursting out onto the sand.
A group of soldiers nearby were escorting villagers away from the premises, shouting orders as they moved them along.
When his feet hit the wet sand, he stopped.
The cold water washed over his toes.
Closing his eyes.
He imagined himself staring at the same coast line and there he stood. Seeing himself with his eyes closed.
He could also see guards patrolling in the distance.
Waves rolled in, steady and cold, rushing against the shore.
He focused on his imagination and he could feel the sand on the ocean floor.
Slowly, he moved it.
The seabed began to rise.
A slope formed beneath the surface, climbing higher and higher starting at the shoreline and stretching outward about two stories high.
The water ahead was deep beyond the ramp more than deep enough to safely jump without getting hurt.
The sun pressed against his skin. The wind moved around him.
He inhaled and then exhaled… smiling afterwards.
Caelum's eyes still closed, lowering himself onto the sand.
The ground beneath him shifted subtly. The grains responded to him, pulling together, lifting, carrying him upward along the slope without effort.
He opened his eyes at the top and rose to his feet.
Taking a few steps back, he paused only for a moment then broke into a run and leapt.
For a brief second, there was nothing beneath him but air but then soon a crash as caelum landed and the water swallowed him whole.
momentum slowed and he started rising to the resurface.
A quiet exhale as he breathed out and in fresh air again.
The water was cold but not unpleasant.
As caelum floated on his back he closed his eyes as he could feel and see the ocean floor but just like always he could only see so far above the seabed before being swallowed into the darkness.
Unlike above the ground, what he could perceive here was weaker.
So faint it was almost nothing at all.
If something wasn’t directly touching the seabed, Caelum couldn’t sense it.
At the surface, he could read the world through vibrations, subtle shifts, and movement carried through the soil.
But beneath the water, those vibrations were quickly halted by the ocean almost instantly.
Caelum eventually saw himself come in contact with the ramp on the cliff side by the natural movement of the ocean
In his imagination he merge his body into the sand partially
Focusing,
He made each grain obey him shifting, lifting and, carrying his form slowly up to the ramps top most surface.
But instead of letting himself fully return from the depth of his imagination,
Caelum lingered there.
Valerius’ words resurfaced in his mind,
Soldiers are West of the castle, Moving toward Mul Eac.
Curious, his awareness expanded outward.
In his imagination, he turned west of the city and began to search,
scanning the area
And then he saw it
There was an army
Riders moving in formation across the land.
horses pounding against the earth as they advanced eastward.
Swords remained sheathed at their sides, while crossbows and bows were strapped across their backs.
For so long the soldiers said nothing
At some point
A few soldiers dismounted, stretching, taking the chance to relieve themselves.
Soldier 1: “God damnit, we've been riding for what seems like forever. My ass is getting a rash”
Soldier 2: “Oh, shut up and walk then, I don't want to hear it.”
Soldier 3: “Im just ready to kill that king
He’s been sitting in that throne and is getting his ass wiped by the gods.
Literally every other kingdom within the east region has plummeted to the ground.
But oh no” shaking his head" Not the boy king.”
One soldier spat into the dirt.
Soldier 2: No, that castle just goes up and down with the gods being very cautious of their little favorite.”
Soldier 1: “Ehy, if i get a hold of him i’ll sink the little rat to the bottom of the ocean…. Men remember these words.”
Soldier 3: “Maybe if we kill him the gods can start favoriting me.” he laughed
Soldier 2: “Now what would the gods want with the likes of you?”
Soldier 3: “Haha, maybe they want something pretty to look at hahaha.”
Soldier 2: “what? Haha Your ugly face, I doubt it” he snorted “your face looks like my ass hahaha.”
The two men laughed and snorted
A moment later another soldier spoke
Soldier 4: “Yeah, fuck the gods and thier favorite little boy king”
“aye” said a crowd of men yelled.
Caelum had enough snooping around spying on their conversations
Caelum pulled the army into the soil, locking each soldier chest deep in place unable to move.
The soldiers erupted into screams and yells across the field.
It was way too loud that
The noise scattered the subtle vibrations Caelum relied on, making it harder to perceive the army forces.
Men shouted over one another, praying to gods old and new, begging for protection for their loved ones.
Some managed to release their hands from the soil, clawing desperately at the dirt, trying to pull themselves free but it didn’t last long
The ground shifted again.
The soil climbed higher, tightening around their freed arms.
Now Caelum wasn't angry
The council asked for a favor and that's it.
The soldiers were pleading for Mercy from the god that struck them down and Caelum knew it would do nothing and soon he decided it was time to clear his head from the loud screams from the army.
Caelum with his powers he pulled
The army with a downward force fully submerging the entire fleet.
They were dragged deeper and deeper under the surface. The dirt and rock tearing the flesh from skin and ripping armor clean off. With the loss of armor also came with the loss of limbs separating from their owners.
At this point though the men felt no pain and were fully unconscious because of the stress and pain of their current critical state.
Eventually the army was so deep he could no longer feel them.
Caelum tried looking past the base of his vision but could not sense anything.
Before Caelum woke up he mumbled
“I am the god of Death.”
Caelum opened his eyes from his vision on top of his built ramp
He took a few steps and then ran jumping
continuing to either jump off into the water or splashing and swimming nearby…
Rulon slammed his drink onto the bar.
He was clearly drunk, his words dragging and slipping over each other.
Rulon: “I dug for hours… days… months…”
“I tried, gods, I tried.”
He let out a bitter laugh, shaking his head.
“God knows I hate digging and I always have.”
Rulon leaned toward the man beside him, eyes unfocused.
Rulon:“I dug my whole farm. I went deep too… about as deep as any man can in six months.”
“From the moment I woke up… to the moment I slept…”
“I dug.”
The man didn't say a word but looked at Rulon and kept drinking his beer.
Rulon:“About seven months ago…” he muttered, staring down into his cup,
“I was heading into town.
“Just had some fresh milk for the market.”
“I left my wife… and I left my daughter behind.”
Rulon: “Told them to hold the fort down as I went to the market.
Just a normal day doing farm chores that I couldn't do because I went into town.”
Rulon:“It was actually a nice day.
The weather was beautiful. Sold all my milk. Everything was going great.
Then the ground shifted.”
Bartender: “So the ground shifted for me today too and I lost my whole stock of tequila but the boy has blessed me with my lost rum.” Slamming his belly and chuckling. “All is good haha.”
Unbothered Rulon kept going
Rulon: “I didn't think much of it.
Some livestock would get caught in the landscape but cows were easy enough to come by.”
Tears in his eyes Rulon took a swallow of his drink
“I”, he tried to get out “I told them to get inside the house… the barn…”
Eyes irritated and watery
Rulon: “There were shovels and pick axes to dig themselves out.
Rulon gripped his cup tighter and tighter
trying to hold back his tears
Rulon: “Fuck that boy king” he yelled
People in the bar got uncomfortable
Drunkie 1: “Shhh…shhhh”
Drunkie 2: “Oh shut up will you” he yelled
Drunkie 3: “there could be spies” another yelped, glancing around the room then pointing a finger at the front door “get him out!”
Bartender: “QUITE” putting his hands in the air and the room slowly settled “Farmer, I'm going to give you one warning and that's it…”
Drunkie 3: “There could be soldiers listening,” the guy repeated.
Bartender: “Shut it, There is not” he roared. “There will be no king slander in my establishment… Do I make a my-SELF CLEAR!”
Rulon didn't say a word but continued to grip his drink tight.
Bartender: “Did I?” he repeated
Rulon: “........Clear as… rain.” he said
“It's just been hard on me” as rulon said into the void.
“I mean for a man to spend months digging and searching for his family just for it all to be washed away in a moment hurts the soul.”
“All that hard work, completely undone, while my wife and daughter are trapped and scared buried under the world's crust.”
Drunkie 10: “Alright, we are leaving” one guy said and a bunch of drunkers got up from their seats with a loud scratch of the stools as it was pushed back then grabbing their mugs “And we're taking these drinks to go. You can have the mugs back tomorrow.”
Then they started clumsily stumbling to the door.
As the last few we're leaving one turned around
Drunkie 15: “Sorry we just don't want to be in the backwash of any misfortune if it were to come our way.”
Bartender: “go take a piss and come back with a refreshed mind.”
Rulon didn’t hear a word of it.
He stayed slumped over his drink, staring into nothing.
His own thoughts were eating him alive.
Rulon: I shouldn’t have had them do chores too far from the house.
It’s my fault.
If only the king wasn’t such a little cunt.
If wish I could knock that little fucker out
If only I didn’t need to sleep… I could have dug more finding them.
You can’t fix this.
But you need to fix this.
It’s your fault.
So what if the king had spies listening
The king needs to know what he did. He needs to know he's making my life a living hell.
Like how he just crushed an old beaten up soul like mine into dust.
It's not my fault
It's his fault…
…
IT IS HIS FAULT
Rulon: “You know…” he muttered, voice rough. “There was a time where everything was normal.”
“It wasn’t perfect… but it was perfect enough.”
“We went hungry some nights. Some days we worked ourselves like slaves for weeks.”
He shook his head slowly. “But at least it was ours. At least we had each other.”
His fingers tightened around the cup again.
“At least we didn’t live in fear.”
The bartender looked up from cleaning a mug and stared strictly at Rulon.
Rulon downed the rest of his drink and now with a hand around the mug looking down he asked for more.
Rulon:“Another.” he said quietly
The bartender didn’t move.
Bartender: “I think you’ve had enough.”
Rulon: “Another.”
The bartender and Rulon went silent,
The rest of the bar, still chatting away in their own conversations.
Rulon: “another”
The bartender reached for a bottle on the shelf and filled Rulon's cup.
Rulon: “This city used to be called the city of Mullaca
“Then one day he showed up. A boy.
Not an army, just one boy at our gates.
He seemed normal enough. The guards told him to piss off.”
Drunkie in the bar: “I know the story ya drunk bastard shut up.”
Rulon ignored him like he didn't hear him
Rulon: Then he showed us his true self as he ripped armies into the ground.
The previous king was sent underground conquering this kingdom with just one person. One boy.
He walks around like a god”
“If that boy is a god then I hate gods.”
Bartender: “alright, get the fuck out.”
As the bartender started coming out from behind the bar counter.
The floor burst and wood and dirt shot up exploding all over the room.
A Pillar of dirt rose and latched onto Rulon's leg
Quickly pulling him into the soil.
Everything was dark and the soil he was being dragged through shaved off his skin like sandpaper. Tearing back his eyelids and eating away his eye ball's.
Caelum was pulling him left and right running into rocks in the soil.
He could have made it so the soil was gentle moving carefully out of the way or made it instantly kill him.
Instead he was dragged through the underground portion of the city and castle moving extremely fast.
Rulon couldn't see anything but he could feel himself emerge out of the soil and back into the soil.
Repetitively over and over again like caelum was playing with him like he was a dolphin in water
Rulon just knew his skin had completely degloved at this point.
Rulon was shot high out of the dirt and landed snapping his arm backwards with a crack before the dirt pulled him in again
Eventually Rulon no longer felt pain or any nerves and everything finally stopped.