King Harold and the cave of Ashfar

Pic is AI generated by @wakeupkitty for this contest

I see a beautiful goddess adorned with jewels and a troubled kingdom at the background.

I feel that this goddess will be able to help the kingdom triumph over their troubles

---

King Harold was restless underneath the sheets. He kept on sighing and tossing and turning, watching the embers in the fireplace sparkle and burn similar to his kingdom at the moment. His kingdom was burning, and he didn't know how to stop it. He cursed the day that serpent king Caleb the second had been born.

His kingdom Octavos was immensely blessed with the rarest of minerals and the land was fertile throughout the year, it was the envy of all the other kingdoms in the province. While other kingdoms had sought partnerships with Octavos and traded peacefully, King Caleb the second had sought to take after king Harold's whole kingdom.

It had all started as a rumor, which King Harold regretted not paying attention to. The other kings had tried to warn him, but he couldn't believe the coward would stoop to that extent. Caleb the second had joined forces with a powerful wizard who controlled the most feared demon in the entire province, and now their wrath had been turned on his kingdom.

First his kingdom had been cursed, a black cloud hung over the entire kingdom, obscuring both the moon and sun. No sunshine meant no crop, so the harvest had been affected. They were currently relying on their food reserve. Secondly, a strange illness was spreading slowly in the land causing sores, pains, and hallucination. Thirdly, they had taken over his mines and he had stopped sending soldiers to protect the minerals upon the discovery that King Caleb's soldiers were not even human.

King Harold was a good and kind man and didn't fancy sending his soldiers to die fighting spirits or whatever it was Caleb and his wizard had conjured. Let them loot all they want, for now, he had thought to himself. This had been going on for a year, and King Harold and his people were desperately seeking for a way to get rid of the wizard and his demon. He knew that was the only way to end the reign of terror on his land.

“My queen, Mina?” he said softly to the sleeping creature beside him. She stirred a little and opened her eyes, smiling up at him.

“Is it morning yet?” she asked and they both chuckled, it was now their little joke. The royal household rarely slept, so he was glad to see that she'd slept a little. The stress and pain of what was going on in the kingdom had affected them all.

“Let's hope we get a solution this week. All the wizards we've invited have refused to help. They are so scared of the demon and his wizard that they don't even mention their names” he said to Mina.

She sighed wearily and stood up to dress,
“I hope we do soon because much more of this, and we won't have a kingdom to fight for” she replied sadly.

“Not during my reign!” King Harold also said getting dressed. He had to meet with his cabinet members to discuss more solutions, he had scheduled a meeting with them.

He and his wife moved through the palace talking to their workers and inquiring about the welfare of their families. The Queen and her maid went off to visit the sick, while King Harold walked to the throne room. He walked in to find his cabinet members already waiting.

“Please tell me someone has a solution to this madness” he begged them before sitting down.

“There is hope. I was talking to Old pa Jacobs on my way here, and he said something really fascinating” One of them replied.

“Let's hear it then” the king said excitedly.

“There is a goddess who has the power to defeat this demon. Her name is Ashana, she is the goddess of light and hope. I stopped at the library and went through our history books, and she exists, My Lord”.

“I vaguely remember stories about her from my late grandmother” the king said shocked, “how do we find her because from what I can remember she disappeared into solitude a long time ago”

Clearing his throat, the cabinet member continued, “My lord, that is where you come in. Only you can seek her out, you have to go to the Ashfar Cave”.

There were murmurs throughout the room. The Ashfar cave was the richest mine in octavos; thus this meant it would be heavily guarded by King's Caleb's minions.

“Do you by any chance wish me dead?” he asked the man quietly

“Of course not my Lord!” the man replied bowing his head

“Then why ask me to walk into a trap? Did Caleb bribe you?” King Harold asked, baffled.

They continued to talk back and forth about the issue. They knew it was the only solution, but they couldn't risk the life of their king. It was during this discussion that a guard asked to speak. He had a brother who worked at the mines and knew a secret passage into the mine. He had used it often to sneak away from work to meet his girlfriends without getting caught.

“Well, thanks to your brother and his women, we might finally have peace. Send for your brother immediately!” the king ordered happily.

After the young lad had arrived, they plotted a plan and got ready to embark on the journey. They would leave the palace through a secret tunnel to avoid spies and move stealthily under the cover of darkness. The dark curse would be an advantage to them after all. With a plan at hand, he sent for the Queen and bade her and his children goodbye. He would be going with the young lad and two of his trusted cabinet members.

Image Source

They moved swiftly but quietly through the darkness, holding on tightly to each other, and somehow managed to make it to the cave after a long time. The young lad guided them through the secret passage and the king told them to keep watch and set off into the cave. As if guided by a sixth sense, he moved through the cave, whispering softly, asking the goddess to reveal herself to him. He was beginning to lose hope when he heard a voice in his head.

“Who are you and why do you summon me” the voice said

“I'm king Harold of Octavos, my people are in danger we need your help” he whispered, dodging when he saw a soldier pass by. “Please help me” he said again when the voice didn't reply after a while. He jumped in fright when he heard a stone move in the wall to reveal a flight of stairs. He took the stairs and kept on climbing. Somewhere behind him, he heard the Stone move to cover the wall.

He moved steadily towards a ray of light. King Harold was stunned by what was before him. The goddess sat in all her glory, adorned with glittering jewelries, her long hair flowed out behind her in waves. Her eyes were blue like and her hair and skin glowed as if there were made of jewels.

“Why do you require my help? I have made sure that your kingdom is blessed with the rarest of minerals and jewels in abundance? Why disturb my peace?” she queried, her blue eyes blazing.

Suddenly, King Harold realized that she was responsible for the blessings of the land and told her there were grateful for her blessings, then he told her what was going in the kingdom. She listened raptly with a hand placed on her chin. When he was done, she snorted in annoyance.

“That demon Fuentes has found new puppets in the wizard and King Caleb” she said. “After the last encounter when I spared his life, I thought he would stay in the underworld where he belongs”

She looked around her and picked up a dazzling yellow jewel.
“Take this” she said handing it to him, “I'll make sure king Caleb and the wizard are at your palace soon”

He accepted the jewel graciously, “How?” he asked her.

She smiled coyly and said, “You should focus on what I'm about to tell you. Make sure they set eyes on this jewel, any power Fuentes has given them will be useless. Then go outside and raise it up to the sky, it will dissolve and make the curse vanish”.

“What about the demon?” he asked fearfully.

“Oh leave Fuentes to me” she said smiling, “he'll never bother any human again. Now go! I've got work to do”.

He thanked her profusely and hid the Jewel in his cloak. He walked back to his companions, who had thankfully not been discovered by King Caleb's soldiers. Together, they set off towards the palace, a young adventurous lad, two trusted cabinet members and a king determined to save his people.