Free Of Kings and Demons by George Han Page B

corners. He dispatched Pologus
as a scout and trekked alone.
    Then
free from the nags of Gwyneth, he lit his smoking pipe. It was one of the
indulgences that mitigate the stresses of a war with the Demons.
    As
Maganus moved deeper into the forests, he noticed a thin mist. He smelled
something unusual – a light stench of unpleasantness. He did not walk very far
to discover the cause of it.
    The
sight of hundreds of dead animals that laid strewn over a clearing spoke of a
massacre. The sight roused the anger in him. The Demons had already covered the
plains and they were obviously in pursuit of something, so single-minded that
they were ready to crush all that fall in their place.
    Maganus
snubbed his smoking pipe and kept it.
    The
Guardian Angel dropped onto one knee and lowered his head in prayers.
    “ Mercy
on friends, mercy on living beings .”
    A ring
of light descended on the dead and soon their bodies meshed into the terrain,
disappearing like mist into water.
    Then he
crossed his heart and stood. Maganus heard a commotion and turned his head to
find a little furry thing.
    “Jan?”
    “Lord
Maganus.” The squirrel whispered.
    “You
knew what happened?”
    “Not
here. I came from across the valley. Similar clashes. Many dead.”
    Jan
sniffed.
    Maganus
noticed bruises on Jan’s body.
    “You
fought.”
    “Could
I? Lucky to escape unscathed.”
    Maganus
took out a vial from his belt pockets and poured a drop over the wounded
animal. He murmured a prayer which brought a ring of light travelling down the
squirrel’s body.
    “Now
you will be fine.”
    Jan
looked at his body and nodded with glee.
    “We
wished you came earlier.”
    “I am
deeply sorry. I had to meet my fellow angels. Tell me what happened.”
    .Jan
sniffed, his eyes wet with melancholy
    “Tell me
my friend.”
    “An
army of demons. They were in pursuit of some people. A pair of kids.”
    “A pair
of children? Are you sure?”
    “Of
course, one male, the older holding the hand of a younger girl. One of yours was with them. ”
    Maganus’s
caterpillar-hairy eyebrows wriggled.
    “One of
us? The Bellators?”
    Jan
nodded “He was injured with a limp.”
    Maganus
swallowed hard. The Bellators are tough warriors, trained in every art of
combat and gifted with resilience and endurance. A limp can only denotes a
tough foe.
    “Which
way did they go?” Maganus asked stoically.
    Jan
peeked around and then pointed into the woods.
     Jan
blinked “Into the west.”
    “I must
hurry.”
    “You
want me to come along.”
    Maganus
shook his head “No. Return to your kind and warn them to go into hiding. The Demons
have struck.”
    Jan
nodded with teary eyes. “I bear that in mind. And you be careful too, Lord
Maganus.”
    “I
will.” As Maganus turned, Jan suddenly exclaimed “Why are they so important?
The kinglings.”
      “Secret.” Maganus put a fat index finger to his lips.
     
     

Chapter
16
A King
in the Making.
    2018, New Hampshire, United States
    Walter Johnson, the Republican governor
of New Hampshire, was a homely character. Despite the frills of the
gubernatorial office, he preferred the simplicity of home. The friendly vibes
of his family Mansion at Manchester, where he grew up, were the perfect
nourishment for a spirit rent by incessant politicking and parochial
bargaining.
    The Johnson family House did
not contain the opulence that one expected in a building that served as the
home of a governor but it occupied a special place in his heart. It was here Walter
welcomed his first grandchild. It was here he wrote the speech for the anti-drug
bill, and scored a major victory against the powerful pharmaceutical lobbies.
    Walter was not a man of urban
environs. He loves the countryside, the rural greenery, and the simplicity of
that lifestyle. God-fearing and fiercely conservative, he was known for his
high regard for the family and education.
    He was a New Hampshire boy, studied
in the state, and received his first degree from