VRMMO: World's First Glyphborne

Chapter 331: Shadow and Light

A beautiful woman sat on the end of the king’s large bed as he turned to face her. Her beauty was absolutely enchanting, the type that would have countless men throwing themselves onto their swords or crawling across shattered glass just to earn a pittance of her attention.

With smooth, porcelain skin, a delicate nose and full lips that naturally formed a pout. She was practically perfect in every way, as if sculpted by the gods themselves.

Yet despite that, the King looked at her with uncaring eyes, as if she was just another piece of furniture littering the miserable room. It was not unsurprising, however.

Even with the scars covering his bare and muscular arms, as well as marring his face, the King was not short on his own brand of beauty. While the Matriarch’s tended towards a delicate and beautiful flower that was made only to be observed and revered, he had the appearance of strength.

From his towering build, which was easily over 7 foot tall and built like he could crush a man’s skull by flexing his pecs. To his scarred yet chiselled features that should have looked ugly and unkempt, but it was those imperfections that added to his allure.

He was the man that women would dream of protecting them, or fighting for their honour from any ruffians that wanted to take it. Even the perfect, sculpted men in the cover of romance novels would feel emasculated in front of this King.

"Matriarch..." She muttered to herself. Her voice was soft and enchanting, like the whisper of a lover.

"I remember when you used to call me by my name..."

"As do I," He replied monotonously, his voice rumbling like a distant thunderstorm, "Although there are times in which I forget what that name ever was. There are years that I forget my own name, or pointless things like why we fight our silly war. But there are some things that I will never forget, for it is all we have left."

He sighed wistfully, glancing out the window at the fake stars hanging from the dark ceiling sky, before he turned back to the Matriarch as he stepped away from the windows.

"How are the pups?"

"They are dead." The Matriarch sighed, standing up from the bed. Her own body was slender, standing just a few inches shorter than the king, but most of her form was hidden under a strange shoulder-less black dress that hooked under her armpits and covered half of her chest.

Below that, It was wrapped loosely around her figure, draping down her body with the ends, of which there were many jagged ends as if it had been torn, dragged along the floor. It had a slit in the middle, just under the knees, although it seemed to absorb the light as nothing but darkness was visible underneath.

The strangest thing of all was the material of this dress, which was not silk, linen nor any synthetic material. Instead it seemed as if it was leather, like it was made of the hide of a monster.

She glided across the ground, with no hint of footsteps, as she simply wandered through the room and inspected the trinkets that the King had on display. Most of which were weapons or hunting trophies in the form of skulls or limbs, some of which looked almost human.

"I hope that is not what you came all the way here to tell me." The King grumbled in annoyance, watching the Matriarch with predatory eyes as she paraded through his personal quarters.

"They might have been my pups too. But they were worthless abominations. Nothing but a failed experiment. I hold no sentiment for them."

"I am aware." The Matriarch replied with a subtle smirk, opting not to mention that it was him that brought them up in the first place.

"It is not their death that brings me here. But their killer. A child."

"A... Child?" The King frowned deeply, his eyes pulling away from the Matriarch as they darted back and forth, stringing different thoughts and memories together.

"Yes. A Child. An impossible child, with power dominion. I suspect... that you have been sensing one too, haven’t you?

Although you have been too busy spending your time locked up in here, gazing at your false sky, to realise you were feeling something gained amongst that which you lost."

The Kings frown deepened before he whipped around, grabbing the Matriarchs slender arm with his skull crushing hands.

"You must find them!" He shouted urgently, gripping her arm tighter.

Yet despite the fact he looked like he could snap her like a tooth pick, a single irritated look from the Matriarch was enough to make him release her arm and straighten up again.

"Hmm, Here I thought that your little godspawn would make you uncaring for your own blood, like you are with my pups. But I see there is still a little something still alive inside of you."

"Bah, you should know there is a difference. You have your spawn, I have mine. But kin... true children, that is not the same as spawn." He spat at her, before his face scrunched into a concerned frown.

"Do... You think that the others have one? Or that this is yet another trick of the Gods sent to torment us?"

"I don’t know." The Matriarch sighed, brushing her obsidian hair from her face.

"What I do know is they are strong. Strong enough that when I tried to bring them back to me, they killed my pups. Although I would expect nothing else of my blood.

But I have seen them in the Lady’s domain, and they are beautiful. More beautiful than I had ever dreamed of, that I almost thought it was just that. A dream, and a cruel trick." She sighed wistfully, her hands clasping over her chest as her crimson eyes sparkled with barely contained delight.

"Why..." The King muttered, as he watched the Matriarch’s strange behaviour.

"Why tell me this? You could have kept it to yourself, and I would have been none the wiser, locked in my solitude and misery. Why would you gift me this while we are at war?"

The Matriarch laughed softly, a knowing smirk tugging at her supple lips as she glanced over her shoulder at the King.

"I will answer that, if you can tell me who it was that even started this war, or why."

The two of them stared at each other in silence, before the King let out a defeated sigh and nodded. The Matriarch chuckled again, gliding her way over to the window that the King had been standing at.

"I too have been locked in solitude, but this took me out. For the first time in... countless years, I have left my kingdom. All because of this.

I thought that you, of all of our kind, would understand and appreciate the gift the most."

The King bowed his head in shame, before nodding and lifting his head high as if he was turning his nose up at her.

"I thank you Matriarch, for this gift. I will send out a pack to retrieve my wayward child, before they wreak havoc on this world."

The Matriarch gave him a sad, wistful smile.

"I knew you would understand."

"But what will you do? If your child has power dominion, then the pups might have been your only chance."

The Matriarch laughed coyly, smiling back at the King,

"Why, I will finally earn my name and behave like a true mother. Enough time has been wasted, So I shall retrieve my child myself."

The next moment, her form dissolved into a pillar of wispy, pitch black smoke that collapsed to the floor as the Matriarch vanished, leaving the King alone once more. However his misery had left him, as he quickly turned away from the sky he had spent years staring at.

Enough time had been wasted indeed.