A Prince and a Rain Spirit

By Jason W. Chan

Cord is a cursed fallen prince.
Aunt Henrietta has seized his throne.
And Shayley is a beautiful legendary rain spirit who is rumoured to hold the keys to immortality.
It’s gonna be a bloodbath as every demon scrambles to capture her at the same time that civil war explodes in the Kingdom of Naturio.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jason W. Chan
• Release date: May 13, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005047290

Jason W. Chan

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Book preview

Chapter 1

Naturio City, Royal Capital of the Kingdom of Naturio, 6 Kilometres Above the Earth

The Kingdom of Naturio, formerly a member province of the Empire of Occultoria, had dominion over all nature spirits, including all weather, animal and plant spirits.

Protected by magic, its capital, Naturio City, was hidden by clouds and technically, was in a different dimension, existing in different vibrational frequencies from the Natural World. Because of this fact, airplanes just pass right through it, so nobody ever got hurt.

And His Royal Highness Prince Cord was, unbeknownst to him, by right, now its new rightful king.

Prince Cord of the House of Nara Jioro, Prince of the Kingdom of Naturio and Duke of Cloudsan, was practicing sword-fighting in the courtyard, like he would everyday, when suddenly, a loud clap of thunder jolted him from his training.

He looked up.

Small wisps of dark clouds were starting to come together in the sky.

Something strange was in the air.

Something wasn’t sitting right.

A feeling of dread was now socking him right in the gut. It felt like the wind was getting knocked out of him.

He always had a sixth sense for these kinds of things. He could always sense a major disaster right before it was about to happen.

It was the same feeling he had had the day before his father, the former King Nicholas XII, passed away under suspicious circumstances a year earlier. Now, it was Prince Cord’s big brother, King Alexander V on the Nature Throne, but the gossip in the royal court was that the new young king wouldn’t last long.

Prince Cord scanned the horizon.

The wisps of dark grey storm clouds had now formed into one gigantic cloud. It hovered briefly above the main crimson gates of the Royal Palace and then headed toward the courtyard.

Certain special dark storm clouds were a kind of urgent transport and messenger service in one created by the Ministry of National Emergency. They were sent as stealthy yet speedy messengers in the most serious cases.

The cloud approached the prince. It rearranged its essence into what resembled a face, complete with puffy eyebrows and big hollow eyes.

Prince Cord’s heart pounded. Seeing a dark cloud messenger was never a good sign.

Your Royal Highness, this is a friend, the cloud murmured. You’re in great danger. Your brother the King is dead. Your sister-in-law the Queen is dead. If you were smart, you’d leave here and never come back. If you stay, you’d regret it.

The prince barely had time to digest the news when the cloud started to fade away slowly.

Don’t say you haven’t been warned, the cloud whispered.

Then, it disappeared completely.

The prince’s mind reeled.

My brother the King is dead? He thought. How? And why am I in danger?

He was close to his brother. Sure, they didn’t see eye-to-eye on some things, but there had always been brotherly love between them. His brother was the one who taught him how to wield a sword, for goodness’ sake.

A squeaky voice pierced through his thoughts: Your Royal Highness!

Prince Cord turned around.

His trusted long-term equerry, Sir Anio Highwater, was hurrying toward him.

A short, portly man, 40 year-old Sir Anio waddled like a duck until he stopped in front of Prince Cord.

Gasping for breath, Sir Anio clutched his chest and then bowed. Your…Royal…Highness….gasp….gasp. You have to…get out…of here. Not…safe.

Two warnings about me being in danger? wondered Prince Cord.

Now, he knew he wasn’t safe.

Sir Anio caught his breath, then continued, Your brother the King is dead. Your sister-in-law the Queen is dead too. A plot has been discovered against you!

What plot? asked Prince Cord. Does this mean I’m the King now?

King Alexander V and his wife Queen Eleanor didn’t have any children. Prince Cord was next in line to the throne.

Sir Anio averted his eyes, muttering, Technically, yes, but your aunt, the Princess Henrietta…she has always harboured secret ambitions to be the Queen Regnant of Naturio. She has seized the Nature Throne with the help of some allies.

Princess Henrietta, the Princess Royal, was the big sister of Prince Cord’s father.

Prince Cord’s mouth dropped open.

No, it can’t be, he thought. My aunt had always been good to me. She would never do this to me.

But…I’m…next in line to the throne, the prince sputtered.

Too much was happening too fast. He was trying to make sense of it. An excellent fighter, he had always been fast on his feet, but not always that fast in the head. He simply couldn’t wrap his mind around the situation.

Sir Anio looked his prince in the face. Your aunt was the one who orchestrated all this. She’s collected allies in the royal court: the Grand Chancellor, the Vice Chancellor, the Marshal of the Army - they’re all in her pocket now. I overheard General Dewford talking and rushed over to tell you.

Prince Cord was shocked.

He didn’t know what to think. This kind of betrayal hurt him, like a knife in the gut. His Aunt Henrietta had always protected, advised and helped him.

No, the prince thought. It couldn’t be. There must be some kind of mistake.

Your Royal Highness, said Sir Anio, interrupting his thoughts again. We really have to go. I heard they’re going to try to arrest you for the murder of their majesties.

The prince didn’t even have time to react to the ridiculousness of such trumped-up charges.

Just then, a shrill alarm screeched through the air.

Prince Cord looked around nervously.

A raucous commotion drew his attention to the palace gates leading to the courtyard.

A steady stream of soldiers emerged from the gates, their heavy armour and swords clinking and clanging.

General Dewford, the Marshal of the Army, the man in charge of all the Kingdom’s armed forces, was leading the troops towards the prince.

In anticipation of an inevitable fight, Prince Cord withdrew Jade, his jade-encrusted double-edged broadsword from his sheath.

As usual, Sir Anio cowered behind his prince.

General Dewford approached the prince, flanked by six members of the Elite Royal Guards, the special force tasked with defending the monarch of Naturio.

Prince Cord raised his trusty sword across his broad chest and surveyed the scene.

At only 25, Prince Cord cut a dashing athletic figure. Daily sword-fighting and strength-training exercises enabled him to develop strong rippling muscles in both his upper and lower body. He stood at 6’2, normally towering over all his opponents.

He was afraid of no one. In fact, he lived and ached for a good fight. He always felt so alive in the heat of battle.

The late afternoon sun cast a soft hue on his handsome angular face. His brown eyes hardened as he sized up his opponents.

There were only seven of them, including the general.

I can take them, Prince Cord thought.

He was trying to decide which sword stance he should use to defeat them when a guard played the trumpet fanfare for royal decrees.

General Dewford held up the piece of parchment in his hand and began to read aloud.

By royal decree of her Celestial Majesty Queen Henrietta I, Queen Regnant of the Queendom of Naturio and Countess of Foggington, His Royal Highness Prince Cord is hereby under arrest for regicide. May the Father God and the Mother Goddess bless the late King Alexander V and his consort Queen Eleanor as their souls begin their journeys Home.

This is ridiculous! Prince Cord cried. I’ve been here all day practicing swordplay.

Since when did Aunt Henrietta become Queen Henrietta? And since when did the Kingdom of Naturio become a Queendom? he wondered. So it’s true. My brother and sister-in-law are dead and Aunt Henrietta actually seized the Nature Throne for herself.

He felt dizzy and light-headed. It was just too much to process.

One minute he was chatting with his big brother Alex about advanced swordplay techniques and the next, not only were his brother and sister-in-law dead, but his Aunt Henrietta had seized the throne and Cord was being unfairly accused of killing his own brother, something he would never in a million years ever consider doing.

Sir Anio finally mustered enough courage to step out from behind his prince. You can’t just accuse Prince Cord of murder. You have no proof.

General Dewford pointed one finger at the prince. We have witnesses that saw you slip poison into their majesties’ drinks this morning at breakfast.

That’s just not true, you traitor! Prince Cord spat out. I wasn’t even at breakfast this morning. And I would never kill my brother and sister-in-law. What did Aunt Henrietta offer you? Money? Women? Or maybe a decent meal for once? Or enough money to fix the holes in your uniform?

General Dewford visibly grimaced at that insult.

A tall gaunt man with a wrinkled pock-marked face, General Dewford looked like a typical soldier, complete with the obligatory army crewcut. Unfortunately, careers in the Kingdom’s Army had never been particularly lucrative, so he had always been sensitive about his low salary and lack of assets.

The general regained his composure. There’ll be plenty of time to talk from prison, Your Royal Highness. Please come with us. There’s no need for violence today.

Sir Anio protested, This is an illegal coup d’etat. It’s a coup, plain and simple.

Then, a silence ensued, broken only by the occasional chirping of birds.

For a brief moment, the two sides stood there, eyeing each other. It seemed that they were at an impasse.

And then Prince Cord decided to strike first.

During his training, he learned that it was always better to make the first move and draw first blood than passively wait for his opponent to attack. He knew it was always better to go on the offensive than be on the defensive.

In a sudden flurry of activity, Prince Cord raised his sword Jade and as quick as lightning, he spun rapidly like a tornado toward his enemies, disarming all six soldiers using a stance called Sword-Defeating Stance.

The Sword-Defeating Stance was designed to knock off the weapons of all opponents before they knew what had happened.

Stunned, the six soldiers stood there in their shiny armor.

Then, they turned around and fled.

Embarrassed, General Dewford tried to stop them, but they pushed him out of the way.

Prince Cord smirked. He was planning to make short work of the six soldiers that tried to arrest him. They were smart enough to run.

Too bad, the prince said, grinning while pushing his shoulder-length wavy black hair out of his face. Looks like I won’t be getting arrested today.

General Dewford raised both arms. Arise, Wind Spirits! The Marshal of the Army summons you! Capture Prince Cord!

Suddenly, gusts of wind started blowing really hard toward Prince Cord and Sir Anio.

The arrival of wind spirits wiped the smirk off the prince’s face. He knew what this meant. He had seen the wind spirits in action first hand.

Wind spirits were the police force of the Kingdom of Naturio. They were tasked with capturing any fugitives of the law and now, it looked like Prince Cord might become a fugitive himself.

Wind spirits could also become hurricane spirits and these terrifying forces of nature rammed and smashed and destroyed everything in their path.

Prince Cord was tempted to stay and fight, because he saw running from a battle as cowardice. But he knew better than to fight something that he could not slice with a sword.

He turned around. Sir Anio! You know what to do.

The wind pummelling his face, Sir Anio whimpered then nodded. Then, he transformed into a duck, his original form. Sir Anio was a duck spirit and could fly well enough.

As the wind roared around them, the prince hopped onto the gigantic duck.

He slapped the duck on the rear, like he would to a horse. Hee-yah! Giddy-up! Let’s go!

The duck spirit flapped his wings as two hurricanes materialized behind the two.

Dressed in the black and blue stripes of law enforcement officers of the Kingdom of Naturio, the two hurricane spirits became whirling masses of air.

Sir Anio soared into the clouds as Prince Cord held on tight.

The prince scoured the city below them. He could see the city square, the sharp steeples of the Naturio City Cathedral, and row after row of shops and houses.

This was all his.

I’m the King of Naturio now, he thought. The Nature Throne is mine, by birthright.

He had such a heavy heart thinking about it. He felt weighed down by a newfound sense of responsibility. It was almost a sense of dread. He was also very troubled by the alleged death of his brother the King and sister-in-law the Queen and the news that his aunt had seized the throne.

What was he going to do?

First, he wanted to find out if Aunt Henrietta really had pulled off a successful coup. And then, if she had, he would fight for his right to the Nature Throne.

The sound of the ferocious wind roaring by his ears shook him out of his thoughts.

He turned around. The hurricane police officers were catching up to them. They were now almost nipping at the duck’s tail.

He whacked his duck on the ass. Quick, over there!

He had an idea of how to dissipate the wind. He barely paid attention in school since he hated sitting still in a classroom, but he remembered in science class that wind and air would evaporate if enough heat were applied.

And there was only one place in the royal capital where there was enough heat: the forge at Hestos, the blacksmith he liked to visit and help forge swords with.

The duck spirit began to descend.

Fearing they would lose their target, the hurricanes began to speed up.

Prince Cord held on tight and shouted, Set us down by Hestos now!

Quack quack, Sir Anio said.

They began to nosedive, dropping straight down until they landed, just next to the forge.

By the time the police officers realized they had been led into a trap, it was too late. The searing heat tore into the wind spirits until they evaporated, their howls and screams lingering long after they were gone.

The prince grinned. Good old predictable Hestos, working everyday of the week.

His heart pounding, Prince Cord hopped off Sir Anio. He had no time to celebrate his victory. He had to decide what to do. He had escaped, but now what?

Sir Anio changed back into his human form as Prince Cord examined his new surroundings. They were in an alleyway full of beggars, crying children and seedy characters.

As the prince eyed the destitute warily, he couldn’t help but feel a pang of pity for them. By an accident of birth, he lived in a royal palace and they lived on the dirty streets. It wasn’t their fault.

Just then, an old woman held out a hand to him. Please, my lord. Please.

By instinct, the prince reached into his pocket and placed a silver coin in her hand.

Seeing that gold was being distributed, more beggars and children surrounded him.

He reached into his pocket and handed out copper snow coins - the smallest denomination - until he ran out of them. He knew they needed it more than he did.

Even though the stench of the unwashed masses coupled with the foul odour of the alleyway made him want to gag, he resisted the urge to do so.

He felt a sense of satisfaction as the crowd dispersed. He was now everyone’s king and he wanted to do whatever he could to alleviate their suffering. He wished poverty didn’t exist. He was able to see things from someone else’s point of view. It just wasn’t fair.

A loud commotion drew his attention to outside a place called