Dethroned

I was waiting for a servant of mine to serve me my dinner. I was hungry beyond measure yet no one was by my side. When I was a strong young man, the people beside me were trustworthy and loyal as I had begun my conquest. Now, most of them were either dead, or had abandoned me long ago.

While waiting for this period of time, I had realised that my chambers were empty. Not a soul passed by. I was sitting on a throne all alone. It was as if the kingdom was no longer in my hands.

Rumours had long since spread about me being evil and about my wrong-doings, which simply never happened. I had always been a righteous king, a truthful man providing justice to those who deserve it. I, reigning over a kingdom as old as I am, didn't do anything to stop these rumours. I had long since done my part. All I wanted now was the fruit of the effort I put into this kingdom.

I have a son, about 30 years old. He was an orphan when I found him. During my conquest, back when I was a youthful king, I found a child silent in the awful cold. There was no one around that poor child. Looking at the child, I decided to adopt him, simply because he reminded me of myself, when I was abandoned, before I became king. But now, now my own child had betrayed me. He no longer cared for the old man who raised him.

I was waiting endlessly, hoping someone would come to my chambers, hoping there would be someone who would care about me. Yet all there was, was silence.

30 minutes later, my son stepped in with all my ministers. I was so happy to see that my son actually cared for once. My eyes were teary as I got up from my throne and ran towards my son.

"Son! Son!..."

I ran towards my son with my weak, frail body. Yet when I got close to him, the unexpected happened. He shoved my down to the floor. My own son! Without a word he walked towards the throne and sat on it, as if it belonged to him, as if I was no longer present. The ministers clapped as this happened. One of the ministers in the crowd, my right hand, Servor, the wise, spoke, "Well done your majesty! You have beaten the evil lord of this country. Even though he was your father, you took the measure of ending his reign once and for all. All hail the new king! All hail the majesty!"

The other ministers resonated, "All hail the majesty!"

I couldn't take it any more. My eyes were filled with blood, my mind was filled with rage. While on the floor, unable to get up due to my feeble body, I yelled,

"Helios, the light in the darkness! That was the name I had given you. Now I'll take away all that I gave you! For what you have done, I, Fataliaque Daemonium SHALL END YOU. This is the word of a king. The word of the man who was your father."

My son smiled as he glared down at me, "Father?! Father!! You were never my father. I was an orphan. Even as a child you were too busy building a kingdom. Now you think of me as your son? Now of all times? Guards! Remove this filth from the kingdom. I no longer wish to see this dirt."

Two of my royal guards entered the royal chambers. They held my hands and dragged my feeble body outside of the palace. I could open my eyes no longer... I was malnourished beyond measure. Before fainting, the last thing I heard were the ministers happily cheering, "Bravo! Bravo! You have done the job of a true king!"

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I woke up surrounded with greenery, with trees well apart, with the wind as fresh as it could get. The sun was shining bright with clouds sweeping through the sky. As I tried to move I felt the pain of my wounds. My right leg was injured and my hands were profusely bleeding. I dragged my body around to reach the nearest town, to meet another person. While dragging my body, a stain of blood made a trail. Before I could move another metre, I had fainted once again, due to excess blood loss.

When I woke up this time, I was in a hut. My body was covered in bandages. I tried moving, but only accomplished in moving my neck. I was on a shabby bed made of hard wood with nothing else in the room except for a wooden table and two wooden chairs. A young child entered through the door of the hut. He looked as if he was 9 years old. The child walked up towards me and asked in an adorable voice, "Are you alright mister?"

The child reminded me of my son, back when he was young. I moved my shaking hand towards the child's head and spoke, "What's your name young one?"

The child spoke, "My name is Deus. What's yours mister?"

I moved my hand across the child's hair and looked up at the ceiling.

"Hahaha.... Child, you'll know my name when the time comes. For now you can call me Uncle Ius."

While conversing with the child, a man, well-built, walked into the hut with an axe in his hand. His attire was made out of jute, unlike the clothing nobles wore, he had a rough looking beard with a height that made him look like a giant.

The man spoke, "Deus, don't disturb the old man. Go out and play."

The child ran out with his little legs. The man walked towards me and sat on a chair kept beside the bed. "Don't mind him, my son tends to get social with whoever he meets."

The man took a pause before speaking again,

"So, what happened to you?"

I spoke, "I was abandoned by my own son. He did this to me. I always cherished him as a blessing given by the gods, yet this... this happened."

"It's alright now old man. You can stay here as long as you want. I bandaged your wounds with healing herbs. With my salary, I can't afford a healer...I'm sorry to make you suffer like this."

What a kind boy. If only my son was like this...

Delighted to hear his words, I smiled and spoke, "What you have done is already enough. I won't ever forget this favour. I'll repay you when the time comes."

The man got up from the chair and walked towards the door. Before exiting he looked towards me and said, "I'll get you your breakfast."

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As the days passed by, the young man and the child took care of me. The man's wife, who was a struggling peddler took care of my wounds each time she would come home. Through the passing days, I realised that the man was a wood-cutter. The children's parents were poor and unable to maintain a proper living. Yet, even in such circumstances, they helped an old man like me. When food wasn't enough, they distributed most of their part, and made sure I was fed well. They did everything they could to help me.

Over the days my hands healed yet my leg was still broken. I could move around while hopping on one leg. In a world abundant with magic, I tried to heal myself with the low amount of magic I had. My magic was weak due to being physically feeble. To use magic, one's physical body must be well developed. It is for these reasons that we don't allow children to practice magic. Based on what I had seen, I could tell that the child's parents had an inert potential towards magic. To live in such conditions... I could help but feel sorry for them.

I decided to train the child. Though the child couldn't practice magic at this age, he could very well improve his potential at such a developing age. In the human realm, it was a fact that if two people with a low amount of magic or with no magic at all, bred together, their child would have an inert potential in magic as well. People like these were assumed to be limited at completing tasks. Many, thought of such people to only be capable to become knights in the future.

However, they were unaware of the demonic powers. Demons, at a young age could improve their magic with the help of the Asura chant. By devoting their entire life under the great demon god, they could change their future. The beautiful thing about this chant was that the chant did not force anyone's perspective. For example, you could be a farmer for the rest of your life and still be devoted to the demon god Asura.

While in the hut, I saw the child playing outside in the forest. I walked towards the child while dragging my right leg. I called out to the child.

The child responded, "What is it mister?"

"Today, I'll show you a way to practice magic?"

The child was taken aback, "But mister, my mother told me I couldn't practice magic."

I laughed looking at the naive child.

"Of course you can. Only if you believe. Believe, in the truth, believe; in yourself."

I was about to force a child to become a devotee of a demon god, yet at the same time, I was ready to do anything to protect him. It was as if I had found my long lost son.