Laid beneath the cloudy sky; too far away to see with just one bare eye, uncovered where the Castle of Wings once stood. A prince of fairly small size sat ahead within these walls—oblivious to the eyes staring—Noah Williams was his name. He was an ordinary 16-year-old human prince, who couldn’t have known the magnitude of what was coming. Vincent, a revenge-seeking bat whose eyes gleamed maliciously in the dark, was plotting in the dimly lit light of the moon. Unknown to all, Vincent planned something in which even his twisted mind would tremble at the sound of.
Within walls engulfed by distorted branches and held together by thin lines of cement, Noah leant against an ancient bookshelf as he began to read. Vincent—to his dismay—was unable to open the glossy window that was to lead him to Noah. However, that did not stop the tiny bat. Relentlessly, he pushed and pulled. Slowly, after an eternity, he opened the thought-to-be ‘titanium’ window and flew in ever so quietly; triple-checking that Noah could not hear.
As the young prince kept flicking through pages, Vincent drew nearer. Noah glanced up through his round-rimmed glasses, focusing on the attention-seeking bat, shutting his book as he did so.
“Who are you?” said Noah.
“Ah, you can call me Vincent.” spoke the bat.
“Well, what do you want, Vincent?” the vulnerable human asked skeptically.
“You want the throne, don’t you, Noah?” the bat squeaked assuringly, “You don’t want your older brother to have all the glory, do you? I have a proposal you do not want to miss…”
Intrigued, Noah replied reluctantly, “And what proposal might that be?”
“If you simply keep your father in the castle at precisely seven at night tomorrow,” Vincent said in a persuasive tone, “then, I will tell you my plan to make you king.”
“And why should I believe you, Vincent?” the princeling asked, doubtful.
“Because I am the only one you can trust.” the bat said blatantly, “And, well… if you don’t want the throne-”
“No! No…” Noah cut him off before he could finish, “I am at your service.”
Vincent smirked subtly.
“Then it will be my pleasure doing business,” said Vincent, “don’t forget our little deal here, princeling!”
Fading out of sight, Vincent left. Drowned out in his thoughts; Noah stared into space, planning out excuses for how he could keep his father inside.
Little did he know, Vincent and his plan for revenge was now one step ahead, as he had Noah wrapped around his finger.
***
Come the day of arrival, Noah followed through as told, heading to his father’s room at precisely seven. Knocking on the ceiling-high, gold-coated double doors—Noah waited for his father’s looming presence. Shortly after he had knocked, the doors had swung open; which revealed his tall, intimidating father looking down at him.
“Son?” echoed the confident voice of the king down the halls.
“Father, will you help me with something?” Noah asked, being careful not to sound sketchy.
“Alright son,” his father Will said, “come in, lad.”
As Noah had entered his father’s quarters, he kept a careful eye on him, just in case. Possible excuses—to keep the king inside—rushed to his head as the pressure of the promise he had made to Vincent had dawned on him. ‘What if I can’t keep him inside?’ he had thought, but he quickly regained focus and pushed that thought away.
“Will you teach me swordsmanship…” the young prince spoke precariously, “I would rather it be about time to learn some basics.”
“Son, I had thought you hadn’t liked those things?” queried the king.
“Ah, well…” hesitantly replied the pressurised prince, “I-I do, it’s just I never acted on it.”
Raising an eyebrow, the king processed what his son had proclaimed.
“You seemed rather against it whenever I brought it up, son.” exclaimed the king once more.
“Well-” began Noah, who was stopped mid-sentence by a high-pitched scream with a rumbling of the ground floor.
An earthquake, perhaps? No, this was on a much larger scale than that.
***
Yells of terror filled the castle—once serene and peaceful, now ablaze with hues of amber. Spreading like wildfire, the Castle of Wings slowly crumbled. Running out of time, Noah grabbed Will by the wrist and ran out of the almost fully burnt-down castle.
“We just made it…” said the young prince, panting. “What happene-”
Noah was silenced as he turned around to see the progressing pile of ashes where the castle once stood. He stared in horror. Guilt suddenly came to him; what did he agree to? ‘Stupid bat.’ he thought, fury arising in him as now the final pieces of smouldered ash fell gracefully to the floor.
Cackling echoed in the mound of embers as the shadowed shape of a bat was revealed. Vincent floated in the air without a care in the world, thinking he had avenged his ancestors well. Blood boiling in his veins, Noah Williams felt betrayed, storming over to where Vincent had flown.
“Vincent…” the furious prince muttered, keeping his emotions in check.
“Ah, fellow princeling.” Vincent said mockingly, “Are you upset with me?”
Knuckles turning white, the prince glared at the bat, livid that he dared to mock him.
“I should have never trusted you…” Noah spat, “Though…you are just a bat…”
Noah’s thoughts wandered off as now he was scheming a way to get rid of Vincent—for good.
“Scatter,” the young princeling said firmly, “Scatter before I make you pay for what you have done.”
Seemingly unfazed, the bat piped up teasingly, “As if you’d ever hurt a little bat like me…” Vincent laughed menacingly.
Having enough of his taunting, Noah had gripped Vincent by the scrawny neck he had to suggest to the bat that he wasn’t kidding around.
“I will avenge my family; if you don’t believe that, you are a fool.” Noah said warningly, “A fool who does not know what they’ve gotten themselves into.”
Frightened, Vincent’s minuscule arms tried taking Noah’s hand off his neck. The tiny bat had learned his lesson and was ready for whatever punishment was ahead.
“P-Please. Spare me, Noah…” Vincent spoke shakily.
Releasing him from his grip, Noah stepped back slowly. Vincent swiftly fled into the dusky horizon—he did not want to stick around for whatever consequence was ahead.
Noah let out a relieved breath he hadn’t realised he’d been holding.
“It’s over.” the now triumphant small human declared.
An uproar of cheers coursed through the crowds, people who’d escaped from the blaze were overjoyed. The Williams family had won, now all they had to do was rebuild; harmony lay throughout the kingdom, as Vincent and his dreadful plans had gone.
***
Over his shoulder, Will Williams—his father—stood behind.
“Son.” the king said in a serious tone.
Turning around, the young prince replied,
“Father?”
“I reckon it will be about time to tell you the truth…” Will spoke reluctantly.
Caught off guard by his father’s sudden claim, Noah hesitantly asked,
“The truth, Father?”
“I…” the king struggled to respond, “I am not of royal blood.”
***
(10 years earlier…)
On a day like no other, a bat, going by the name of Vincent, sat in his quarters in the Wings’ castle. He was at peace with himself.
“Vincent, my dear?” came knocking his mother.
The bat cocked his head towards her, listening, “Yes, Mother? What is it you require?”
“You see Vincent…I…I have fallen ill.” The queen bat hesitated, coughing a little. “Would you be a kind sweetie and help me cook?”
The prince immediately fell into confusion. Ill? Cook? What happened to the butler?
“Mother, do we not have a butler for that reason?”
His mother sighed, speaking to her spoiled child, “Will is off work today…he has to attend to family matters of his own, Vincent.”
Vincent spoke out, as the bratty child he is, rude and unapologetic, “How dare he! Thine shall never take ‘days off’ for a mere family matter. What a weak man. So incompetent for a human peasant.”
“Vincent! How many times have I told you to…cough…to stop calling commoners peasants? I have spoiled you too much. Our butler has been ever so kind to me, Vincent, my darling. He is far more considerate…cough…for me than you are, dear.” She sighed in defeat and left the room in silence, leaving the offended bat on his own.
Vincent sat on his bed in utter fury. ‘How could Will Williams, our stupid human butler, be better than me?’ he quandered, ‘Not to mention leaving Mother when she is so very sick?’
For the remainder of the hour, Vincent lay down on his king-sized bed, his thoughts clouded with those of his Mother, wondering whether she would allow him into her quarters. When the mere thought became too little for his imagination, he stood up, flying over to his mother’s quarters.
Knocking on his mother’s door, Vincent spoke in a calmer tone, “Mother? Are you in there? Please open the door…”
Upon hearing silence, Vincent spoke a tad louder, “Mother?”
Impatient with his mother’s continued no replies, Vincent barged into her quarters to find her asleep. At first, he smiled, happy that his mother was getting some rest. That smile, however, vanished upon the prince’s realisation of how eerily quiet the room was.
“…Mum..?” he hesitated, calling out to her once more, stepping closer.
Her eyes were open. Unblinking.
It then hit him. It hit him hard. She wasn’t breathing.
***
The days that followed his mother’s passing had been anything but enjoyable for the lone prince. He tried desperately to deny it, to pretend she was still here, with him—but nothing seemed to work. She was gone. And to his dismay, life carried on with an unusual emptiness to it, leaving Vincent to mourn alone.
***
Then the day came. The day Vincent was scheduled to be coronated. The day for him to shine. Up in the front row of a high-ceilinged, silver-plated church, the princeling stood respectively. A mouse, Kevin, was to announce who was to be crowned, as per the Queen’s will.
“Ahem! If I may have your attention, ladies and gentlemen.” the tiny mouse squeaked poshly, “The Queen has decided to…” Kevin paused momentarily, reading ahead.
Vincent looked expectantly at the little white mouse, calm yet nervous in anticipation.
Kevin proceeded precariously, “She has decided to pass the throne to…” the announcer paused once more, slight disbelief in his high-pitched tone, “…to Will Williams.”
Writer – Mayah Clement
Editor – Robbie Ge
Artist – Cindy Zhang
–August 2025–
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