There’s a kingdom of slaves, of beasts that are men shackled by their sins. Each part of the kingdom has a place for a sinner of every kind and the more the sinner submitted themselves to their sin, the greater crown they earned or rather the greater shackles they gained on their souls. In opposition to their rule, there was a king who was not of this world that tried to free the slaves. Many slaves were freed by this king, but most refused the freedom he gave. The kingdom sent many to eliminate this king and submit him to sin and failed many times. This has not stopped them from trying since they have an abundance of slaves and control over the entire world.
Another hunting party is sent out after news of the king traveling with a party of traitors is heard. Luther, a slave like the others, is sent out with the other beasts guided by their masters who keep them on short leashes. While hunting, their masters are ambushed and killed by the traitors. The beasts scatter in all directions to kill the traitors with few going out on their own now that they’re free. Luther hunts after a specific person that he heard is going to be here and finds her.
“There you are, traitor of my heart and soul,” Luther says.
“I didn’t betray you. You betrayed yourself and your love for me. Can you really call yourself human with how you look and what you do?” she says.
“This is what it means to be human. Let me remind you since you’ve forgotten.”
Luther and the other beasts tear the traitors limb from limb until the only ones left are Luther and the one he loves.
“Don’t make me kill you, Luther. You can still change,” she says.
“There is no change. This is who I am,” he declares as he fights her.
“Then let’s see who the king favors. If I must take your life to save you, then so be it.”
“I’ll rip both your heads off and hang them as decorations in my castle.”
The two estranged lovers fight until Luther manages to slash her throat. As her blood pours on Luther’s body, he feels a clarity that he never experienced before. He then holds her as she slowly died while holding her throat. Even in her dying moments, she smiles at him and caressed his face that was slowly turning from beast to man. Regret and sadness begin to slowly creep into Luther who tries his best to keep his emotions back. These emotions are like whispers that make him question everything that he’s done and everything that he believes.
Before he knows it, the king that he was hunting for was behind him robed in red, crowned with thorns, and appearing already to be scarred by battle. Despite his master being killed, he is still compelled to fight the king and takes a slash at him and is covered in blood again. This blood is similar to the one that his lover bleed but more potent as if the soul of the king were inside her in some way. Blood and water gushed from the side of the king and seemingly removed Luther’s beasthood along with stains of evil on his soul.
Turning to the king, Luther asks, “Who are you?”
“I am the one you persecuted for your kingdom. Your chains are broken, your master dead and rotting. Be free and sin no more,” the king says.
“But what purpose is there for me to live for now? I’ve killed my wife and I can’t go back to my chains like this especially after what you’ve done to me.”
“Live for me who freed me. Live for your loved one. Live for love. Your wife wanted the slaves to be free and did what she did to free them. Do the same as she has done. Do the same as I instructed and showed.”
Understanding what must be done, Luther heads back to the kingdom specifically the part that he’s from. This part of the kingdom is fed by wrath. Ascending up the ladder as easy as defeating the person above you in battle. Assassination and complete ruination of a person’s life and integrity is rewarded by the masters who oversee almost everything that the slaves do. The only real law is that everything is legal and right as long as you aren’t caught. Sin is rewarded and virtuous acts are perverted by the selfish motives behind them and give both slaves and masters a feeling of godhood since they justify their actions by making themselves arbiters of truth.
The mere sight of seeing people commit the sins he committed and wanted to commit makes Luther sick and not sure if he even wants to save them, but his wife’s sacrifice and the king’s command compels him to move forward. Humans with no fur on their bodies aren’t welcomed in the kingdom, so Luther has to go through the shadows to not attract any attention to him. Regardless of his discretion, the masters of the slaves detect Luther and use their abilities of mental manipulation to tempt him to sin and become a slave again.
“You can have the most glorious crown in all of the kingdom, if you listen,” they say.
“We can get you a new wife.”
“You can kill whoever you want.”
“Think of the power you’ll have.”
“You can be a king of kings greater than that king you met.”
When they see that Luther isn’t giving up, they send their slaves after them who strike and slash at Luther. Just like before with his wife, Luther’s blood opens the mind and cleans the souls of the slaves who touch his blood. On one hand, his blood wakes up the chained minds of the slaves while warding them off and Luther strangely seems to be unable to die despite all the blood that he is bleeding. On the other hand, there doesn’t seem to be an end of slaves, the pain of being slashed at doesn’t numb, and the masters continue rattling on about giving up. This task is starting to weigh heavily upon Luther to the point where he feels like he could be crushed into mush any second now.
Nevertheless, Luther continues on energized by the sacrifice of his wife and the king, and even though he falls three times on the way up, he makes it to the top of the hill of the kingdom before he makes it to the top and seemingly dies. The masters think that they’ve won before they realize what has happened. Luther’s blood is flowing throughout the kingdom with a countless number of people affected by it. In a desperate attempt to get rid of the blood, the masters tried to use their slaves to get rid of the blood and kill everyone affected by it, but the blood only caused more people to become cleansed by it. The masters try to remove the blood themselves, however, touching it burns them and their powers are useless against it. The blood then continued to spread as if it has a mind of its own as it begins to spread through the rest of the kingdom. This is the plan Luther had in mind that came from the king’s and Luther’s wife’s inspiration.
In his last moments of living, Luther sees and hears the king say to him, “You have done well. What is it that you wish from me?”
“Remember me,” Luther answers in his last dying breath.
With this request and his actions, Luther saves his soul and opens the eyes of many sinners that were like him. More powerful than true love’s kiss is true love’s sacrifice because there is no greater love that a man can have than when he lays down his life for the ones that he loves. For his wife who sacrificed herself for him. For the king who opened his eyes with his blood, and for the other sinners who he wanted to free from their chains.
The End
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