Xoris

Chapter Five

The castle loomed high and mighty in front of Xoris, the late sky's light reflecting brilliantly off the maintained stone. He panted, feeling his fast heart rate circulate all throughout his body. He had never exerted himself so much in his life, the endless walking with the weight of the armour holding back his every step along the way.

At least it gave me enough time to calm down and go back to normal. Or at least, as normal as he supposed he was going to get. He hadn't managed to alter anything internally, if the red scratches along his arms from the countless thorn bushes along the way meant anything. He swore that he could feel random twitches and pulls under his clothes from time to time, but as far as he could see, which was admittedly much less than before, all the extra eyes had closed up. Aside from him feeling the constant need to scratch where they had been, he doubted anyone would notice.

All the same, he tried to stay on alert as he approached the drawbridge. Xoris attempted to focus on the gate before him, or the guards who nodded in respect to his new title as he continued forward. Anything was better than looking down to see the bright red moat, a good hundred strides below him at least. Still, the thought of the fall invaded his mind, and he quickly ran through the last couple steps until he was on the other side of the gate.

The small, upper class town inside the gates lay before him, but he was only here for the castle itself. A few shouts and screams sounded around him, despite him only passing through, and he decided to keep his head down, his yellowish skin tone flushing a bit in embarrassment. Only a little further and they'll be able to give me a fitting punishment. It only makes sense to get treated as a monster for now.

He was lucky enough to pass Kraim right before entering the building itself. He tapped the shoulder of the short man, which resulted in a squeak. "Oh! Y-yes, Thing of Eyes and Teeth?"

"I wish to meet with King Lloyd. I've returned from Avrim Keep," Xoris informed him. Hopefully if he kept it terse enough, the whole ordeal would go faster. It was hard to steal himself with his own plan as is.

"Of course, but may I ask whatever the reason is? Was the battle not a success?" He motioned for Xoris to follow him.

"No, it was, but I'll go into more detail when we get there," Xoris explained as they navigated through the many halls and passageways he hadn't gotten much time to look at in the ten days he'd spent here. A dark presence seemed to resonate from a door on the right, causing him to glance over worriedly, but Kraim sauntered past it, taking a left until they were in the same throne room he'd been presented in only two tallies ago. The king sat in the centre of it all, his face lighting up as he caught sight of them.

"Ah, there you are, Kraim! Just the man I wanted to see. And, you brought the Thing of Eyes and Teeth with you! What a pleasant surprise, although I can't say I expected you back so soon."

"Neither did I," Xoris muttered, the thought of his next words already feeling like a weight on his shoulders. "But I fought another battle at the keep, and I won. That being said, I'm here to turn myself in."

The king's eyes popped out at the notion, his surprise seemingly enhanced by Kraim's audible gasp next to him. "T-turn yourself in? Whatever for? For winning a battle against hundreds of Stained singlehanded? You're a hero." The advisor stumbled over his words as he crept closer, the silver clasp standing out against the rich purple of his robes. It was shaped like a hook and eye, the latter being far too literal as it appeared to be stabbed though by a blade to hold the fabric closed. Xoris winced at the idea it formed in his mind before focusing back on the conversation.

"No, I'm not. This... doesn't feel right to me. I feel like a monster, and just senselessly killing like this... I can't do it. I understand that abandoning the war would be treason against Humanity, and I don't support the Beasts, so I'm going to turn myself in willingly now." He held out his wrists, waiting for the cold metal of chains to wrap around them.