Heart Souls: The Loss of Harmony

The knights were faithful fools seeking the princess. Blessed, they thought, for they roamed the world once more. Not knowing the truth, they blindly move forward, seeking the one they promised to protect.

Their burning bodies would soon attract creatures of the desert, as they reek of the white essence that they absorbed from their victims.

The shifting of the sands caught the Royal Knight's attention and put caution to where they stride.

An ambush below the desert, a giant scorpion with wasp wings, and a centipede for a tail—one would say a variant of a chimera made of insects,leaps out and attacked. One of its pincers was able to grab one of the knights and begin to rip it apart, and its essence was eaten.

The rest of the knights would not waste this opportunity and attacked the creature.

Another would fall as the tail of the creature lashes out to another knight, costing them another casualty before they could fully fell the beast. It released an extremely bountiful amount of essence.

With that, the knights were bathed in this essence, and it was good. Some felt an addictive sensation as they absorbed a large amount of white essence.

But the first would snap them back to reality and ordered to continue moving forward, and so they did.

They continued their journey, but noticed their numbers slowly declined as they moved closer to the mountain.

It seems no more ambushes have fallen upon them... So what's the cause of the decline?

The first would ponder this and eventually leave it for another day. His goal was to reach the princess and further assist her in her endeavor. The traitors would be dealt with later.

"The princess waits! Do not abandon your faith; move!"

Although the actions of the others are traitorous, a silver lining presented itself; their burning tracks on the sand were scattered. Gallus's army would have a hard time tracking them.

___________

"Warlord Gallus, report from the front lines." A cat like creature that walked on twos bowed down to the overlord and presented a crystal, which projected an image of a wanderer covered with fine clothes, only showing its face. "Permission to speak, my lord."

"You may." As Gallus was feasting with his many wives at his banquet table.

"The tracks of our prey began to split one by one, but the majority of them seem to be headed north, to the mountains of the forbidden jungle."

"Curious..." The warlord spoke as he patted the head of his hippogryph wife, his most favorite collection.

"It's best we know what we are dealing with, correct?" He began feeding his wives some fruits, which they gladly fed from his claws.

He watched them eat it with amusement.

"Send ten of our finest warriors to pursue the ones who separated and wait for them while we send trackers for the rest. It's no fun if we finish this off quick, right?"

"Understood, my lord," replied the one in the projection.

"Update me if anything interesting happens. For the mean time, I must attend to my wives." He then shooed away the cat holding the crystal artifact.

____________

The Royal Knights would soon reach their destination, and another hurdle presented itself.

The climb.

"We rest, then we climb the mountain. There we may chart our next course to Canterlot," the first announced.

They would group themselves on the ground and rest, while some would watch on guard.

A pegasus knight would approach the first and begin to give her own ideas. Her voice was soft, but professional.
"Commander, may I suggest a few of the pegasi fly up there instead? This would be easier for the rest and quicker."
The soft-voiced knight gave out her plans with a hint of care, yet her tone hit hard.

"This would be a good idea, but we are short in numbers. We cannot afford to lose more. How many are the pegasi in our group?" The first asked.

"Fifteen, sir," she replied.

"Then what would be the best number to send above? Surely quantity would probably be safer, but we would become a large target and easily be spotted by bigger monsters. Let us not forget the abomination we fought on the desert just recently. It was quite new to us. Who is to tell that there are more, and new dangerous things await us?"

"True, but nevertheless, we still need to push on, for our promise to the princess," she bravely replied.

"Then three would be enough. Please heed that casualties must be avoided at all costs. Your kind is a priority and must be preserved. You may take charge and lead the finest pegasi up the mountain," he ordered.

"It will be done." The soft-spoken knight replied and took her leave.

Soon, three pegasi would fly up to the sky and cruise towards the top of the mountain.

"Fellow knights, we wait for them to bring good news, while we gather food for our future travels and map our surroundings."

This would soon make them notice that they do not hunger or thirst. Their cravings for a meal on their stomachs are gone, as the flames inside them burn it away, fueling strongly their other desires.

Madness is soon upon them.

___________

A giant tent would be seen standing alone in the desert, surrounded by an army of mixed races guarding every corner of it. Tis because they guard the tent of their master. Warlord Gallus.

From a distance, five more of his men can be seen approaching his tent. The rest of his army would give way and salute the five who just came back. It seems they are of higher rank than the rest.

They march proudly towards the tent of their master as they bring gifts to him. They have captured their targets and brought slaves to their master.

As they enter the tent, they quickly bow down to their warlord and present their gifts.

"Warlord Gallus, we have successfully fulfilled your mission, but with a cost. A lot of our finest soldiers were slain in the process, but it was worth it, as we brought you this."

They pulled the chains of the slave towards their lord and revealed one of the royal knights. "My lord, this knight was able to slay half of our group before we could fully detain her. I believe... This is to your liking, my lord?"

Gallus smiled. "Excellent! You know me so well! And as for that, you may take your reward tenfold!"

Ten large sacks of gold were thrown in front of them.

They began to grab the bags and bid their master farewell. "If there's anything more you need of us, we will gladly follow orders," were their final words before leaving the tent.

Now, alone with his new toy. Gallus cut off its restraints and gave it a sword that he threw in front of her.

"I want to see what you're made of. If you are worthy, then you will be one of my many wives. Disappoint me. Then off with your head."