“But…”
*Shut up! Shut up, Rhys!* the knight yelled, his mask hovering just in front of Rhys’s face.
At first, Rhys was just walking down the road toward home, but for some reason now, he was standing in a court.
*I didn’t want to come. There are so many memories for us to see, but hey—life is too short,* the knight said, taking a seat in the judge’s seat.
“I don’t have time for this, can’t…”
*Oh, but you do. You do, Rhys, you do,* the knight said, his hand resting on the hammer.
*Okay, Rhys. I’m your attorney—oh, wait, no. On the other side, and I’ll be defending your victims. May their souls live in peace here,* another knight said. This one, though, unlike the first one who was seated in his seat as the judge, had a jacket on—a black jacket.
*Attorney knight, you can start your case,* the judge knight said.
*Thank you, Your Honor. With me…* The attorney knight started, but stopped and looked toward the witness box. *It’s empty, Your Honor, because my client is too scared to come, fearing that this monster of a boy—if we can even call him a boy—would kill him.*
“Rhys, how do you defend yourself?”
“To…”
*Here, Your Honor, look at these crimes,* the attorney knight said, giving the judge knight a paper which was sealed in a plastic bag. *This man or boy, or whatever we can call him, is a serial killer who uses the excuse of the need to survive to kill.*
*What we have here is…*
“I’m done with this,” Rhys said, trying to get out of the little box he was in.
*I wouldn’t advise you to step out,* the judge knight said, looking at Rhys’s back.
“Why?”
*That’s because you won’t actually leave,* the judge knight said. *If you want to leave, then look back at the table in front of you.* He added.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Rhys took some minutes to act, so the judge knight spoke again, a wig now sitting on top of his head. *You can trust me.*
Rhys tried to forcefully get out of the witness box, but he couldn’t, so he tried the second option.
*What I tell you is the truth. Unlike you, I’m a very good judge,* he added.
To believe or not, that was the question. But he remembered trying to injure himself once, and just like this time, he was sleeping. Unlike this time, though, he could at least hear what the outside world was talking about.
So he made the decision and turned around. But what he saw grossed him out so bad that he puked out.
*Look, Rhys, look! What you see is what I felt! When you injured me, I felt that sword in my body, all because I tried to help a human boy! So look, Rhys, man up and look, damn killer!* The attorney knight said, now breathing too close to Rhys, who kept on vomiting.
“Fuck you!” Rhys busted out, gasping between his breaths.
*What? I thought the next minute is what mattered,* the attorney knight said, walking closer to Rhys’s ear. *It was about you killing humans—good, kind knights who did what they did because they wanted their children to live a good life. But you… awe, you, Rhys, you…* The attorney knight started, but stopped for a minute there.
*A monster is a monster, Rhys. You are a serial killer…* The attorney said, but Rhys rushed at him, trying to get hold of his throat or any part of his body. But he couldn’t, as he was kneeling, chained up from head to hand to legs to any other body part that could help him move—all of those chains tied directly to the floor.
*As I said, Your Honor, this monster that calls itself Rhys is nothing but a monster in a human body. And if we do not take action…*
Rhys was looking down at the floor, tearing up as he tried to get his breath back, the taste of vomit still lingering in his mouth.
The hammer finally did its job as the judge knight hammered four times.
*Rhys, you can wait on the answer to your trial. The judge has to eat, and look at your list of things done,* the judge knight said. *If you’re curious what I want to eat, it’s the special…*
He continued before throwing it down on Rhys, now with the smell even becoming part of it.
He coughed his heart out, opening his eyes to find himself shivering, Sely looking relieved to see him open his eyes.
One breath too many, he was gasping for air, and for a good reason—he was actually vomiting while asleep.
“Breathe, Rhys, breathe,” Sely said, helping him up, taking a new position to the one he found himself in.
He didn’t find himself lying normally, but rather positioned in a good way to not cause him too much coughing and gasping as he vomited. Well, not as much as he did—not that it mattered right now.
“I… I need space,” Rhys said, trying to get his spinning head away from Sely.
“Rhys…”
“Leave me alone,” he said, trying to shove himself away from whomever held him.
Of course, they left him be, and he managed to get himself off the carriage. But for all his effort, he didn’t feel his legs stepping on the ground—not the first one, nor the second one. What he did feel was his body’s motion, and someone, maybe someone… and then it was all going black around him.
“Here, Rhys, eat,” Sely said as she held a bun at teeth length.
“Meat…”
“Does he want meat?” Lycan asked.
“It’s not meat, it’s a bun,” Sely replied.
He forced himself—more like being forced to eat—but he ate. From one to two to three, and before he noticed it, he was close to gluttony.
“I need some space,” Rhys said, this time able to walk.
“Let me come with you,” Sely spoke out as she saw him getting ready to walk away.
“I’ll be back soon,” Rhys replied as he walked out.
Sely would have continued, but Lycan signaled her to stop persisting.
Rhys started off, walking away from his carriage.
“Now you can follow him, just in case,” Lycan said as he went the other way.
They were Canids alright—male, female, and children. We can assume most were families. "A family," Rhys thought as he walked through the moonlight.
It was too dark to see every eye that was staring at him, but Rhys knew most of them would be looking in disgust. An example was one deliberately bumping into him, but he didn’t react or stop, just continued his walk.
Minutes passed, and Rhys was taking his time until he saw this young Canid, isolated, standing alone in what Rhys thought was the road.
' She’s young; where are her parents…' Rhys thought as he looked at the tiny girl. It was easy to tell it was a girl because of the long hair, and though the clouds covered the moonlight here and there, he knew that she understood who he was the moment she stared at him.
So they stared. It was like a staring contest in the middle of the road, but with lots of blinking.