The Demon Lord and his Hero

The throne room was populated with mer nobility. Male and female mers in resplendent jewellery and polished scales made for a bright sight.

Being watched by so many hostile eyes had Syryn's skin crawling. The mage looked straight ahead, looking to the world like he wasn't bothered by his imprisonment and humiliation.

"Your majesty," the leading guard paid his respects as he bowed to the king.

The purple mer nodded and his gaze turned to Syryn. Strong hands pushed the mage to his knees, forcing him to look up at the king from a position of abasement.

"Do you understand the difference, human?" The king asked him.

Syryn stared straight ahead without answering. He was jabbed between his shoulder blades by one of the guards. The mage grunted in pain but otherwise remained composed.

"Your liberator, Syryn the human," the King told his subjects. The mer king spoke without much emotion. His eyes were like deep pits of darkness on a stoic face.

Syryn suspected the king knew about the prophecy despite the oracle's claims about not having told him. He just couldn't fathom how anyone would be so hateful to him were they not aware that he was a contender to the coveted throne of Silisia.

As soon as the king had spoken, a few mers began to applaud Syryn. They were joined by the other hesitant ones till the throne room echoed with the sound of watery clapping.

"What will you liberate us from, Syryn?" The king asked after the applause died down.

"How the fuck should I know that, your majesty?" Syryn asked. "I wasn't the one that wanted me here in Silisia. Your men kidnapped me. Dumb shit. Some ruler you are."

Syryn received a hard jab of the spear from its pointed end. The mage winced in pain as the spear dug into the meat of his thigh. He snarled at the guard who had stabbed him. Syryn stared at the guard, memorising his features. The mer could have chosen a less bloody way to remind Syryn of his lowly status but he had chosen to stab him with the spear. The mage was hungry to kill him but he knew it wasn't his time.

The mer flinched away from Syryn's unfiltered and hungry gaze. He stared back at the mage but the bravado in him began to falter.

"Insult his majesty again and you'll know pain greater than a mere stab wound," the mer threatened him.

"Enough," the king said with long-suffering patience. "Syryn, did you or did you not conspire with the disgraced oracle to spread lies about yourself?"

The mage laughed. Full-bodied laughter bubbled out from his stomach and filled his lungs. Syryn laughed like someone had just told him the funniest joke in Silisia.

"Oh wise King, I have been telling you again and again that my stay and subsequent imprisonment in Silisia was always against my wishes. I care not about this doomed kingdom. All that my heart desires is to leave for the surface and never come back to this wretched place where fools are born every day. Fools ruled by a foolish King."

The spear lodged in his thigh twisted painfully. Syryn didn't even spare a look at the guard who was no longer important to him. A black mark hung over the mer and thus he was no longer worth giving any attention to.

"And what do you mean by disgraced? Did you fire her because her prophecy upset you, King?" Syryn grinned, baring all his teeth like a wild animal.

"You know very well what happened to her since it was you that murdered the oracle," the king slowly said out aloud, sending a ripple of shock through the audience. The oracle was dead and they were hearing it only now.

"The oracle is dead?! When and how?!" A female mer whispered to her husband.

"Only found out now like everyone else. Didn't you hear what the king said? The human murdered her."

"But he also called her disgraced. Does it mean she really conspired with the human?"

"So cruel that he killed her after what she did for him!"

"So he isn't the liberator or saviour. He's a sham and a murderer!"

The outrage got louder.

"Execute him! He deserves nothing less!"

"Your majesty, we have harboured a snake in our midst!" A furious mer cried out. "The mers were kind to him and he paid us back by killing our oracle!"

Syryn blinked at the ground and felt sorry for the half bodied old woman who had been creepy but nice to him. He wondered if the King was lying and had hidden her away.

"The oracle's visions drove her crazy towards the end of her life. We will forgive her sin for the sake of the decades that she watched over Silisia," the king declared, solemnly. "Her body will be presented in public so that you may pay your respects to her."

The crowd's murmurs buzzed louder.

"And this human as you have demanded will be executed for his crimes against Silisia."

Syryn was truly in a pickle. The King had well and truly sealed his fate with the false murder charge. If a body was being presented then there was little doubt that the old woman was dead. He wondered if the King had her killed or if she had keeled over from old age. She was as pruned as a dried grape after all.

"Have him thrown into the abyss, your majesty."

"Hear, hear!"

"Silisia does not need a human to save it!"

Syryn still wasn't sure what the hell they were talking about. What danger was the kingdom in? The King didn't seem to care about it, or at least he seemed to prioritise his power over the safety of the kingdom.

"Nobody deserves to be thrown into the abyss," the king gravely told the court. "We don't even send our worst criminals into it anymore."

"He is a but a human, your majesty. And he dared to kill the sacred oracle! It is a crime worthy of such punishment!"

"The abyss! We beg your majesty!"

Syryn decided he needed to have a talk with his guts. You liar! He accused it.