Destiny: by Nick Venom (best thriller novels to read txt) 📖

“Rise, no need for that. If anything, I should be kneeling in your presence.” 

“In my presence?” Echo repeated, raising his eyebrows. His mouth was dry. “If you don’t mind me asking, why is that.”

“Your name is Echo, correct?” The king asked. Echo nodded, unsure of where the conversation was going. “Perfect, then you must know that your parents were bodyguards.”

“Yes, sir.”

“However, did you know that your parents weren’t ordinary bodyguards?” The king asked, rising from his throne. 

“I don’t know much about my parents aside that they were famous bodyguards. They didn’t leave me much aside from that piece of information.”

The king then shook his head, walking up to Echo. He rested a hand on Echo’s shoulder, staring directly into his eyes. “Your parents were the royal bodyguards. They were in charge of protecting my eldest child, Mary Jane Westwood. They were amazing at their job before their tragic… passing.”

“They died?” Echo asked, his body trembling. His eyes then began to tear up as his lips quivered. His dream of locating his parents was dashed away in a second. He couldn’t believe it. His parents, who he always wanted to meet, had died. They were gone… and so was his dream of meeting them.

 

TBC…

Chapter Five "Royal Bodyguards"

“My parents are really… gone?” Echo questioned. The king nodded his head, consoling him. 

“I’m afraid, boy. They’ve passed a long time ago.” He said. “However, their legacies have never faded.” The king walked away, sitting down at his throne. By this time, Echo’s tears had lessened. They weren’t as apparent. 

“If you don’t mind, your majesty, can I ask why we’re here? It couldn’t be just to tell Echo about his parents-” Ark started, glancing at Echo as he rose. Echo was looking down at himself. “Could it?” He demanded.

“No, it’s as you said. I have a reason for asking about your presence. I heard of your newly built bodyguarding service.” He turned to the man that led Echo and the others to the throne room. “What was it again, Khalm?”

“Echo & Ark’s Bodyguarding Service, your majesty,” Khlam spoke. 

“Echo & Ark’s Bodyguarding Service,” he repeated, rising from his throne again. “The reason behind your appearance is to bodyguard my children. One for one.” 

“B-bodyguards??” Ark questioned. “If you don’t mind me asking, but why us? West Bridge is known for its elite bodyguards. We’re a new business that mostly takes small missions. How could we protect the crown?”

The king chuckled softly.  He then motioned for his children to stand, introducing them. “My eldest child is Princess Mary Jane Westwood. After her is my only son, Prince Huzaifa Westwood, and the youngest of my children is Princess California Westwood. Now-” He started, directing his gaze on Ark. “-you asked why I chose you?”

Ark nodded his head at a rhetorical question, stopping himself once realizing. 

“You’ll figure out the reason once in the field. I expect a lot from you three and I’m not one for disappointment.” His voice boomed. 

“I understand, your majesty,” Ark said, kneeling. Rogue and Echo followed suit. Echo was still recovering from the announcement that his parents were dead while Rogue was unsure of what to do. Unlike the others---feeling sadness and anxiety---she felt all of her nerves crawling. Echo and Ark were from the Glacier Kingdom, while Rogue was an Outsider. This simple fact penetrated her mind during Ark’s conversation. She was dead. Even more so, when she learned that her task was protecting the young princess. How could she interact with the daughter of the king ruling the Glacier Kingdom as an Outsider? 

Ark glanced to his side and noticed Rogue freaking out. She was having a panic attack; something that was apparent to the young princess. California left her spot beside the throne and her family, walking up to Rogue. 

“Can I see your back?” California asked. Rogue glanced up, slightly shaking her head. “Did you just shake your head? How dare you go against me!” She shouted, calling for the guards. The king simply watched the interaction, reluctant to intervene. 

Meanwhile, Echo had jumped up, standing in the guards’ way. “You can’t hurt her!” He shouted, extending his hands out. “She’s my friend, you can’t treat her like that!”

California approached Echo, nearly smacking him before the king’s voice interrupted that plan. 

“Stop, don’t dare touch him. California, return to your place!” He shouted, pointing at her spot in the family line---at the end of the family, who were faced forward towards Echo and his friends. 

“She’s an Outsider, though!” She shouted, peeking at her Outsider tattoo under the collar of her shirt. The shirt was loose enough for California to see the distinct black markings on an Outsider tattoo. The tattoo was a large ‘X’ with triangles formed at the ends. 

“She is?” The king asked while walking towards Rogue. 

“Don’t get close to her!” Echo shouted, one hand resting on his revolver. “She’s not a threat.” The guards in the room bared their fangs.

The king nodded his head, dismissing the guards, before coming up to Echo. He rested a hand on his shoulder, de-escalating the situation. “I understand, don’t worry. Her safety is confirmed as long as I live. They won’t do anything to her during that period.” He said before roaring in laughter.

“W-W-What’s fu-funny, y-your majesty?” Ark asked, trying to ease the tension.

“Nothing much,” The king remarked, turning around. “You really do reflect your parents. Did you know that they pulled something similar like this when I first met them? Oh, but they brandished their weapons, whereas you didn’t. How funny is it that the parents pass down their traits to their offspring? What a wonderful cycle of life.”

He then turned around to face Echo, who took his hand away from the revolver and went to console Rogue. The king cleared his throat before speaking; “Echo, do you take the task? The three of you become the royal bodyguards protecting my children?”

Echo glanced up at the king, hesitant to answer. Ark noticed the hesitation, answering for them. “Only if discrimination against Outsiders is ripped away. That and our safety is confirmed.”

“Ark’s right, I doubt that my parents fought for this inequality. I want the discrimination to be gone.”

The king smiled, thinking to himself. He really shares many traits with you. How joyed you would be if you could see him now. 

“I accept that condition… Let’s welcome our new royal bodyguards.”

 

TBC….

 

 

Hello All!

 

A quick announcement; it has been decided that Destiny will be split into three twenty-episode seasons. Each season will be split in half; releasing ten episodes at once. 2021 will see the first half while the second half will arrive a year later. This method of releasing the full season through two years will be used for seasons two and three. 

As I stated, this is part one of season one. Destiny will be undergoing the same episode release schedule with a midseason and postseason break. Furthermore, Destiny will now be going on its one-week mid-season break and will return two weeks from now. Until then, you can read the other series under Generation VII;

 

Black Hood S2: Ruler of the Slums [Monday]

Alternative Universe S1 [Wednesday]

Legend S2: Striktin [Thursday]

Terror Hell S2 [Saturday]

Destiny S1: Book One [Sunday]

 

Chapter Six "Trials"

To gauge their strength, the king put them through three trials. The first trial tested their strength through one-on-one duels with the captain of the royal guards. The second trial tested their intelligence through three exams. The last trial tested their loyalty by throwing them into a situation where two lives were on the line. However, the twist was that one person was a royal while the other was a homeless person. Did a person’s status increase their life’s weight or not?

The king then dropped them into the trials, resting on a golden chair overlooking the arena for the trials. Sitting by his side wasn’t his wife, Queen Leia, but his eldest daughter. Mary Jane had joined her father in watching Echo, Ark, and Rogue travel through the three trials. 

Echo was the fastest of the three, excelling through the strength trial with flying colors. He reached the second trial, sitting down and going through the first exam.

Meanwhile, Ark was trying to keep up with Echo, but slightly slower than him. He took more time defeating the captain than Echo. However, his struggle was nothing compared to Rogue’s struggle. She lacked the strength that Echo and Ark built over six years - instead, her body was frailer and weaker. Her skinny frame didn’t help her overall strength as every punch barely tickled the captain---who was at an advantage by constantly reinforcing his body for several years. 

While she struggled with the captain, Echo and Ark had jumped into the three exams. They were taught Saint Erica’s full knowledge of magic and the world, acing the exams. Even so, Echo took more time than Ark in completing the exams. Unlike the good-mannered and bookworm Ark, who absorbed every piece of knowledge that he received from Saint Erica’s lessons, Echo had been more absent-minded during the lessons. His focus, ever since he received his Destiny Slip, was on building a bodyguarding business and meeting his parents. One of those dreams was dashed while the other was becoming reality. 

Ark reached the third stage, being put in a scenario where he had to decide over a royal’s life and a common’s life. He planned to try to help both people and save their lives. However, as the saying goes, he couldn’t chase both rabbits, watching as they escaped him. 

Both lives were discarded because of Ark trying to save both simultaneously. He couldn’t give up on one of them, for sure saving the second life. Instead, he tried to save both, but that led to their deaths.

He technically failed the third trial, but he was still let through, reaching the end. The end was a few flights of stairs and two long hallways that led him to the king’s watching spot.

Once he noticed the king, he kneeled in his presence. 

“Rise boy. Come over here and sit with me.” He said, ordering for Mary Jane to pull up a lavish-looking chair. She sat it next to her father, but slightly apart. The king then pointed at Rogue, who was still struggling with the captain. “How long has she been with you two? She doesn’t possess the same strength.”

“She’s new. We took her in after a corrupted officer tried to falsely accuse her of stealing. Since then, she’s been working under us. I’ve been the one in charge of her training, but I can’t seem to increase her strength no