In the faraway lands of the Kingdom of Wales, ruled the 200-year-old lineage of the Rungldale Family. It was said to be cursed that in the absence of a Rungldale ruler, the county of the 10 hills ruled by this family would decay. Of course, nobody believed it. The Rungldale family was known far and wide to be the most “sinned family”. They would drink and eat to their heart’s content, were easily overcome by their love and want for money, took pride in their rule, gave way to laziness and harboured wrath in their hearts.
The Rungldale family was a family not of love but merely a lineage. This made them the perfect victims to the 7 deadly sins. Each of the heirs of the Rungldale family was either dismembered into 13 pieces or stripped bone-bare with nuggets of flesh hanging off it.
After several generations of dominance over the county of ten hills, the wife of a dead prince and her son were the only 2 survivors. The rest of the family had been consumed by the seven deadly sins. With the notion that her son might die, the young girl fled leaving the kingdom heirless and the throne unoccupied.
While the throne of the kingdom of Wales lay unoccupied, the woman and her son lived in an impoverished village far- far away from Wales. This village was untouched by any type of sin. This impoverished village helped teach the last heir, Othniel, the values of a good man. His mother taught him to use the 7 deadly sins as stepping stones to lead himself to divine authority.
After the death of the last heir, the Kingdom of Wales had started decaying. Some believed that divine authority was punishing them while others believed that it was the curse. When Othniel’s mother learnt of this, she knew her teachings had to come to an end. Even though she wished to nurture Othniel further, she knew that it was time he took up some responsibility. So, she introduced Othniel to the people of her kingdom who were overjoyed to hear that the royal blood was still present. The people with no other option accepted him as their overlord in hopes of saving the decaying hills.
PRIDE- First of Many
Remembering his mother’s teachings, Othniel went on to take charge of the kingdom. When he took over his kingdom, he was to be drowned in the sin of Pride- who tried opening his mind to beautiful apprehensions forgetting humility and courtesy. It made a bet with the other sins to destroy and bring down his kingdom in 2 days. Its plan would have succeeded had Othniel been like the others in his family. But he was different! He bashed the Pride inside his mind and thus defeated the first of many sins.
Greed- Second of Many
The sins who were in pure distress sent Greed in hopes that it would destroy him in 2 days. Othniel was a carefree king who valued his people and loved them like his own. Greed tried to force him into the obsession of more territory and riches but like Pride it was brutally rejected when he announced that he would not like to expand his territory. Now only 5 sins remained who tried more and more to conquer the monotonous boy.
Lust – Third of Many
Sending Lust right after its older sibling Greed was a shameful decision by the sins. As he did not even want something good, why would he want more? Lust was also given 2 days hoping it would succeed. This sin proved to be more resilient than the previous two. As Othniel was hailed as a kind king, his desire for love and fame started growing. Just as he started lusting for more recognition his mother cautioned him. He realised his mistake and with some effort, he pushed Lust of his mind.
Gluttony -Fourth of Many
5 months had passed since Othniel had become the king. It was the time of the harvest season. As Othniel had grown up in an impoverished village he had never seen so much food. Stuffing his mouth with food, Gluttony who had also been given 2 days, tried entering his mind. But, Othniel soon remembered the hunger of the desolate people with whom he had grown. Realizing what he was doing, he got rid of all his gluttony and donated food to the less fortunate. Once again, he had won the hearts of his subjects and defeated another sin.
Envy-Fifth of Many
A desolate man with the virtues of an angel was the kind of man Othniel was. He would roam the streets and dress like his subjects and live a simple life. A day like any other, while walking on the street, he saw a humble but happy family living in a carefree manner and being jolly with each other. This vision of carefree minds and a complete family made the King Envy his subjects. But just as Othniel started to burn inside with envy, he saw the father wishing his goodbyes and going on to work in the coal mines- not knowing when he would return. Realizing his sheer lack of observation, he decided to strive to be more like his subjects than envy them for any good fortune that they might have and he might not have had. Thus, he defeated the fifth sin as well.
Sloth -Sixth of Many
Othniel’s reign went on and in a matter of two years, the kingdom once again became prosperous. With people being generally happy, he started becoming complacent. Soon he got comfortable with living a worry-free life. Things were not entirely perfect but they were reasonably good and everyone lived blissfully. This gave Sloth the perfect chance to attack him. Like a cat catches its prey, sloth, also given 2 days, crept into his mind. As he recessed into complete indifference towards his subjects, his mother became worried. She scolded him for his laid-back attitude. Othniel reviewed his life over the past few years and realized his mistake. He quickly sprang into action and took charge of his subjects once again by making a positive difference in the working of the kingdom. Thereby, he expelled another sin out of his life.
Wrath -Last of Many?
Was it the last or the one that had always trod along, hidden in a cloak of his own gentleness? Othniel somehow did not know.
He led a pious and nothing seemed wrong. He was loved by his subjects and he loved them back. Everything was fine until… the death of his mother.
She was killed by an ongoing war near the village between the Irish and The British Kingdoms. Overwhelmed by wrath, he completely lost his mind and jumped into the battle against the two kingdoms as they ravaged on.
He got angry when he saw his people killed, he slaughtered the enemy with a brutality that was difficult to compare and soon the battlefield echoed with rage, violent cries and savage bloodshed.
As the days passed, wrath settled in his mind. After 5 days of relentless massacre by Othniel, the British and the Irish kings ran away from the battleground leaving sheer devastation and destruction near the once beautiful Kingdom of Wales.
As the bodies of soldiers lay in the open field Othniel found his raging heart pierced by a strange emotion- something he had never felt before.
Loath -The Never Ending
With a burning sensation of displeasure, Othniel went about like a mad man. In the absence of his saviour- his mother, loath crept into his heart and gripped him tightly.
Loath and wrath crippled his good senses as he went about preparing to destroy Britain and Ireland. Once a pure heart, he was now bent upon killing the innocent. As the 10 hills in his kingdom started rotting, he was busy ravaging his enemies. The Rungldale family had once again become the most sinned family. With hell in his heart and death on his mind, he destroyed the kingdom of Ireland.
Then he proceeded on to take the British army. Deploying an elite squadron of soldiers with absolutely no emotion, he marched against the British ruler. Soon, Othniel and the king of Britain Edward I met face to face. Spears were thrown, arrows were shot, swords were clashed and men were killed. Othniel was gaining the upper hand when the British King launched his last wave of a hundred soldiers. They surrounded the enemy in a tight space. This proved fatal to Othniel’s squad leaving him all alone.
Edward challenged Othniel for the final fight.
With a heart filled with wrath and loath, Othniel lost all his good senses. Edward was much better trained to wield a sword as compared to Othniel who had been a layman for most of his life. Swords were clashed, sparks emerged and finally, Edward came out victorious.
As the last breaths of Othniel remained, blood dripped down his face and he could feel a heavy weight in his heart.
In death he had learnt his final lesson: never to fall in the hands of Wrath and never to accept Loath into your mind.
With this realization, he cast away the few remaining breaths, putting an end to the long-loved reign of Othniel- the last of the mighty Rungldale family!
The seven deadly sins rejoiced as they shook hands with Loath, their mighty cousin. They had once again emerged victorious.
Writer : Jagrav Sharma
Grade : 7 (Year 2024)
Place : Gurugram, India
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