Alfred couldn’t believe his eyes. The Lord Protector had conjured this mythical beast to life.

The book.

The ancient markings on the floor.

The chanting.

The medieval sword.

The King’s blood.

All of them played their part in these dark arts.

No wonder the King had become nothing but a walking shadow! He seemed to be just a pawn in the Lord Protector’s wicked game.

From the other side of the keyhole, Alfred watched the scene unfold.

The griffin beat its mighty wings, and the golden flames licked the walls of the palace ballroom. It was like looking into the mouth of Hell.

Death.

Destruction.

This was evil in its purest form.

All would be forced to kneel before it or suffer a terrible fate at the claws of this beast.

The griffin let out a deafening cry.

“WAAAAAK!”

The bombproof glass windows cracked.

CRACK!

Plaster fell from the ceiling.

RUMBLE! The sound was so loud that the King covered his ears in pain. All of a sudden, he came back into the land of the living.

“NOOOO!” he cried as he leaped at the Lord Protector to wrestle the ancient sword from his hands. “I won’t do this! Set me free!”

The royal guards pounced on him, but he just managed to grab the sword and lunge at the beast.

“AAARGH!” he screamed as the sword sliced through the griffin’s heart of fire.

WHOOSH!

In the blink of an eye, the mighty beast vanished.

Into air.

Into thin air.

It was as if it were nothing more than an illusion.

The King dropped the sword…

CLANK!

…as the Lord Protector’s face darkened with fury. He gestured to one of the guards, who struck the King hard across the face with his gloved hand.

THWACK!

It knocked the King out cold. He collapsed to the floor with a THUD.

From behind the tall wooden door, Alfred desperately wanted to call out to his father, but he was frozen in fear. After all, he had just seen a monster.

Just as the boy was about to tiptoe back up to his bedroom, he felt someone or something looming behind him.

Slowly he turned round.

The All-Seeing Eye was staring right back at him.

They were eye to gigantic eye.

The game

was

up.