Diamondlot: The Diamond Squad

By Eric Hua

After suffering defeat many years ago, the Mad King has returned to take over the realm of Diamondlot. With the original warriors no longer around to stop him, a new group of brave warriors from around the realm must join together to stop his tyranny. See the adventures of Bella, Nathan, Chelsea, Leeloo, and many other incredible characters as they assemble an unlikely team of rebels. Will they be able to stop the Mad King's destruction?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Eric Hua
• Release date: Dec 21, 2023
• ISBN: 9781738040735

Eric Hua

Eric is a teacher out in Surrey, British Columbia. He enjoys writing books that include his students as characters in the stories. He also enjoys playing basketball and exercising.

Book preview

Prologue

Long ago in the realm of Diamondlot, there was a ruler known as the Mad King. Unlike how most typical kings were dressed, his outfit seemed closer to a jester than a royal monarch. But he was no laughing matter and there was very little order to his rule. What he wanted more than anything was chaos.

With his massive army of darkness, he was able to overwhelm many towns, villages, cities, and even kingdoms. Pillaging the land would not be enough to satisfy his hunger. In addition, he would claim a human from every area he conquered and turn them into one of his loyal minions. No one could stop his reign of terror.

So the forces throughout Diamondlot united together in hopes of defeating the Mad King. Led by the legendary warrior, the people of Diamondlot were able to fight back against his minions. However, the Mad King himself proved to be too much. In combination with his sword known as ‘Desolator,’ he completely overwhelmed most of the allied forces within Diamondlot.

Seeing only one possible course of action, the legendary hero channelled all his energy into one attack. His attempt drastically weakened the Mad King by shattering Desolator. Because of this, the king lost a tremendous amount of his power and was forced into hiding. The people of Diamondlot finally had peace in their world but it came at a heavy cost as many sacrifices were made.

A couple of centuries had passed with peace in their time, but now the Mad King’s power was beginning to rise again. With the return of his army, he sent them out to reclaim his sword so he could regain his full strength. One of the greatest threats has returned and whatever the people of Diamondlot have planned, they would have to do it without the help of the legendary warrior.

Ship Ride

The sound of thunder crashing echoed through the boat, startling many people on it. There was a ship out at sea that was about to be caught in the middle of what sounded like a massive thunderstorm. If the storm were to manifest now, this boat would not be able to handle such an event. After all, this vessel wasn’t made to carry people of high royalty, but rather transport prisoners.

The thunder woke up Bella from her slumber. She looked around to find other prisoners were awake as well. Seeing as she couldn’t go back to sleep, she was about to roll off the bottom bunk of the bed when someone got her attention.

The storm woke you up too I guess?

Uh, yeah. Bella still had not fully woken up. She also wasn’t in the mood for conversations so she got out of her bed and made her way towards the door.

Wait, what do you think you are doing?

You heard the thunder too. Aren’t you at least curious as to what is happening outside?

You can’t just leave this room whenever you want!

And why not?

Oh, you must be new here. Let me explain to you!

The girl introduced herself as Chelsea. She explained to Bella how they were all prisoners and they were currently being transported into the gladiator arena. Select prisoners would be chosen to participate in a battle royale and fight to entertain the people. However, as of now, they were to follow orders and stay in this room. Failure to obey orders could lead to severe consequences.

Bella was impressed but also concerned that Chelsea knew so much about what was going on. Chelsea explained that she had been transported many times before. The gladiator events only happened so often, so when they weren’t happening, the prisoners would be shipped back to their original locations to do other laborious jobs.

Hey Chelsea, I hope you don’t mind me asking but how did you end up here? You seem way too kind for this stinker of a place.

Chelsea explained much of her town was thrown into shambles after the invasions of the Mad King years ago. Since then, the people have fought hard to survive. But amidst all the chaos, it wasn’t uncommon for people to be captured and then forced to serve others of higher standing.

While she was busy sharing her story, Chelsea looked back to where Bella was but discovered that she had disappeared. She quickly looked around the entire room and she saw Bella about to open the door and exit the room. Chelsea tried to stop her but she was too far away.

As the door opened, Bella was met with an authority figure. She stood tall with a stern face, ready to lecture Bella on her poor choice. And where do you think you are going?

Bella wasn’t sure how to reply so immediately Chelsea jumped in to bail her out. Sorry Warden Samantha, this is all just a big misunderstanding. She just wanted to know where the bathroom was, that's all!

The warden looked at Chelsea who seemed very nervous then walked past her to stand in front of Bella. The entire room was staring silently, waiting for the warden to make her next move. Tell me your name. She demanded and Bella calmly answered. She inspected Bella from head to toe and then spoke again. I will let you off with a warning this time Bella, but I hope this doesn’t become a common occurrence.

Bella remained quiet so Chelsea felt the need to speak for her, Don’t worry Warden Samantha you will never hear from her again! The warden then turns her back to them and slams the door shut as everyone returns to what they were doing.

The Visitors

Away from the prisoner transport vessel, in the middle of the Kingdom of Fifthguard stood a beautiful castle. Within these walls was an elegant queen known as Queen Victoria. Though most royal figures sat back and let their advisors do everything, Victoria was different. She did her best to be involved with everything that was happening around the realm of Diamondlot in hopes of bettering the lives of all civilians.

During the past few months, Queen Victoria has had several meetings with the high council. They gathered to discuss the imminent return of the Mad King. His forces were already on the move and had struck multiple kingdoms throughout the land. Although none of the forces have been able to break through yet, many kingdoms have suffered heavy losses.

Today, Victoria was busy going over letters that were brought in from the messenger birds. She went through as many as she could with each one sounding similar and causing great concern. The letters were reports that the Mad King’s forces were growing in power, while the allied forces were constantly losing their strongest warriors.

After opening about twenty of these letters, she had to pause for a moment as she felt a slight headache. As she was taking a break, there was a knock on the door and the queen allowed the person to enter. The one entering was the queen’s most trusted advisor, Zoë. She walked up towards the room before bowing in respect and asking for permission to speak.

Zoë, you know how I feel about formalities. It's just the two of us here, there is no need for you to ask permission to speak or call me Queen.

Oh right, force of habit and it will probably happen again.

Sigh, so what news do you have for me today?

Before I get to that, Victoria you need to rest. You are placing too heavy of a burden on yourself. The people need their queen but most importantly, so do the people who care about you.

Victoria took a deep breath before replying. Thank you, Zoë for telling me that. I’m glad I have a friend like you to watch my back.

You would do the same for me.

So what is the news you have for me?

Oh right, I almost forgot. There are a couple of people who arrived at the gates this morning and requested to meet with you.

Arrived this morning? Wait Zoë, there is a long list of people that have requested to see for months and maybe even years. If anyone else found out you broke the rules you could be severely punished.

I’m not breaking the rules, I’m just working the system. Plus, I got you to bail me out if anything bad happens! Victoria shook her head in disbelief and Zoë continued. Hey, you know I wouldn’t waste your time letting just anyone see you. Give me some credit!

You are right. I trust your judgement. So who are these two that are so important that you need to jump them ahead of everyone else?

They are former soldiers from the Mad King’s army.

Suddenly, Victoria’s mood shifted as she wasn’t sure how to respond to what Zoë had said. Many questions rushed through her head: What did the two want? But most importantly, could they be trusted?

I have already asked them to hand over all their weapons and got the guards to do a thorough search to ensure they aren’t hiding anything. I will also have them escorted into this room with the elite guards.

I shouldn’t have expected anything less from you, Victoria said as she was impressed with what Zoë had done.

Of course, I got your back. Alright, I’m sending them in!

Entering the room with the elite guards vigilantly watching them were two warriors that formerly belonged to the Mad King’s army. One was a girl, who was much taller than the boy.

How can I help the two of you? Asked the queen.

We would like to discuss a very important matter with you. Replied the girl.

Well go ahead, you have our attention, Zoë added.

But we don’t have your trust. If you keep treating us like your enemies, this will not work. The girl continued.

Victoria and Zoe looked at each other trying to figure out a solution to their dilemma. Asking the elite guards to leave the room was an extremely risky decision but if there was information the two could offer to help give them an edge against the Mad King, they had to take a chance.

However, before they could make their choice, some of the elite guards took offence to the comments made towards their queen. Out of impatience, one of them reached out and attempted to grab the girl but before he could make contact the boy instantly intercepted his arm and threw the guard against the ground.

With one of their comrades defeated, the other three soldiers stood ready to engage in battle. On the other side, the boy was more than ready to rumble but the girl restrained him until the opposition made the first move.

The situation was getting heated and Zoë wasn’t sure how to keep everyone calm. Victoria on the other hand was still thinking thoroughly about her decision. After seeing how strong the boy was, she realized the two strangers could have easily barged their way into the room and demanded whatever they wanted by brute force. However, this was not the case as they agreed to put away their weapons before meeting with her.

With a simple raise of her hand, the queen commanded her soldiers to stand down and put away their weapons. The soldiers compiled and assisted their fallen comrade lying on the floor then exited the room. Once they had left, the tension that was in the room earlier had begun to dissipate.

Forgive my guards for their rash actions. I hope you can understand with everything going on, we have to be more vigilant of late.

A small matter. However, what I’m about to share with you will be nothing trivial. It could very well be our only chance to stop the Mad King.

Please go on, I’m listening.

The Dining Hall

After the transport vessel made its way to the docks, the prisoners were unloaded and immediately sent to the barracks where they would be staying in preparation for the event. The first thing on all the prisoners’ minds after a long journey at sea was filling their empty stomachs. They all made their way to the dining area after they were given a briefing on what their routine would look like at their new location.

The dining area was anything but high-class. After all, it was just a temporary location where gladiators gathered for the big event. If this place was well kept, the prisoners would never want to leave and that would defeat the purpose.

There was a huge line-up to receive nourishment from the cooks. Luckily Bella and Chelsea were able to beat the rush so they were able to find a table to sit together and enjoy their meal. Enjoy might have been a strong word as there wasn’t much to like about the food here. They were given a tray that contained a bland-tasting soup, some overcooked mashed potatoes, and a mysterious meatloaf that seemed to have been left over since the last event.

As they sat across from each other, Chelsea spoke while Bella was gobbling down the food on her tray. Bella, seriously the stunt you pulled back at the ship was way too risky! Who knows what punishment the warden could have put you through! With a bunch of food stuffed in her mouth, she nods, mostly just to get Chelsea to stop scolding her.

Sigh, well that’s all done now. From now on you have to stay out of trouble. Got it? Chelsea asked.

Yeah yeah got it. Hey, are you going to finish that? She asked since she was still hungry. Chelsea was stunned that Bella could put so much food into her stomach. She was about to give some of her portion over to Bella but there was a sudden commotion coming from the line-up. Immediately, they both turn their attention towards the cause of the noise.

At the front of the line, one of the prisoners was very dissatisfied with the amount of food he got on his tray. Looking next to him, he saw a girl who had a tiny bit more food on her and he demanded the chef to give him more. When the chef refused to listen, the prisoner directed his command to the girl and ordered her to hand over some of her portions.

His voice was loud and everyone watched as the boy pushed the girl aside when she refused to give her food away. Although everyone saw the atrocious act the boy had committed, no one stepped in to help the girl.

From afar Chelsea continued to watch what was happening. I feel bad for the girl, you don’t want to be messing with that guy of all people... As Chelsea turned back to look at where Bella should be sitting, she found that she had disappeared. Immediately she looked back at where the boy was and to her dismay, she saw Bella walking up to him. Oh no...

The boy was about to claim all his food but before he could leave to enjoy them, his path was blocked and as he looked up, he saw Bella who stood in his way. What are you looking at? Step aside!

Bella stood her ground. Give back the food you took from the girl.

Listen, I don’t know who you think you are but all I did was make sure we all got an equal fair share of the food. Her plate had a bit more so I evened it out by taking some of hers. See? Nothing but equality here.

Tch, yeah right. If you ended up with more food on your plate you would totally go out of your way to give some to her... Bella replied sarcastically. When she spoke back, everyone else in the room gasped.

Alright, you are starting to get on my nerves. I’m going to... Before he could finish his sentence, Chelsea intervened. Oh, there’s no need for that! This is just a huge misunderstanding and we don’t mean any harm, Rylin. However, Chelsea’s effort would be in vain as Rylin already had his intention set on striking Bella.

Right as he was about to swing his arms, the alarm in the dining hall sounded which forced everyone to stop what they were doing as the soldiers entered to take control of the scene. Bella was carefully restrained by a couple of the guards while Rylin was kept at bay by a few other guards who had their spears up.

After the situation had been contained, the warden entered the room.  Warden Samantha returned and she was not pleased with what had happened. Why am I not surprised to see you involved in this? She looked directly at Bella.

Warden Samantha, I apologize but it's all a big misunderstanding... The warden held her hand up to stop Chelsea.

Rylin I know you are excited but you of all people know the rules. No aggression outside of the arena. Have you forgotten or do you need a reminder? Although her tone sounded kind, hidden underneath those words was a threat.

Rylin covered the scars on his left arm, hinting that he had been punished before for such an infringement. No reminders needed, he answered reluctantly.

"Normally I wouldn’t do this but you have quite an intriguing personality, Bella. This will be your final warning. Next time, you will be disciplined for