Massive curved claws gleamed in the amber glow as eight bony and decayed black arms insidiously emerged from within the impenetrable darkness. Anxiety and fear seemed to coil up my body like a seizing serpent and constricted my movements. The mighty abyssal god of darkness grotesquely manifested before me, primordial repugnance flowing from his grad yet hideous form. Dark decaying scales rippled over stringy muscle within the thinning clouds, bending as his enormous clawed foot stepped forth to shake the ground with a paralyzing timbre.
Within his soulless black eyes swam enough animosity to shrivel the louring trees of the forest and dry the rushing rivers leading into the sea with a single glance alone. A low lizardy growl thrummed from his puffed-out throat while his malevolent gaze honed in on my place upon the wall. His height was so great that we were practically face to face with one another, with only the stretch of destruction between us... I suddenly felt like an ant.
"And you will be squished like one too..." The crown whispered in delight.
The sulfuric winds blowing my hair off to the side and the blood slowly dripping down my face was the only movement my paralyzed body could manage. Anxiety constricted my chest and I remained still as death, while a single nerve-wracking moment stretched by. The raging battle became mere background noise as we stared at one another, tension building like the stretching of a band ready to snap. Then a deeply eldritch voice telepathically boomed into my mind like a sudden clap of thunder, the silent rumble seeping deeply into my bones.
"O' wretched Prince of Tenveriel, thou art but a piteous inconvenience to my dark sovereignty." He slowly bared his sharp black teeth with a long growl. They glistened with dark drool and cosmic filth, thick strings of it menacingly dripping from their dagger-like points. Putrid breath fanned my face like the mighty gales of death, yet I stared the abyssal god dead in the eyes without flinching once, not showing him any signs of fear. A few demons attempted to rain fireballs down upon him, yet they were immediately extinguished by the miasma of darkness whirling within his scales. "Does thou truly believe that you can defeat mine own kind by calling upon those whom hast already once been defeated by my sovereignty!? By summoning forth the fiery beings of that treacherous enlightened one!? By restoring the odious serpent whom hast already fallen!? Does thou attempt to mocketh me!?"
My swords flashed as they twirled in my grasp, while I instinctually bared my much less intimidating teeth at him. "In fact I do." My glower darkened and I bravely squared my shoulders. "Your ensnarement over this world is weakening, Hsarohpem! The armies you claim to have defeated were never so, for you were never powerful enough to fully eradicate their spirits! And now they rise once more from their place of dormancy and decay, marching to the tune of vengeance for all that you have taken from them! The mighty serpent you cast away has been restored and fights alongside them! And now I, Prince Valarendrik, shall seek vengeance for the royal bloodline whom you've deceived and devoured!"
A deafening roar bellowed out from the fathomless depths of his chasmic chest, furiously thundering as he abruptly lunged forward, snapping his sickly jaws in my direction. Using my shadows and strength, I swiftly leapt to the side, just barely making it out of the way in time. His enormous drool-coated teeth violently sank into the wall exactly where I had been standing. The stonework cracked with a deafening boom and clouds of dust suffocated the air. His head rabidly thrashed in fury, causing large chunks of stone to fly out and destructively landed all around.
My shadows carried me up onto one of the jagged spikes on the wall with my claws wrapping around it for extra balance. I was tempted to jump down to ground level, but I knew that would make it easy for him to bite me out of the air if I did so. I'd lived long enough in the forest and fought enough formidable beasts to understand how to avoid becoming slaughtered like prey. Instead, lightning surrounded my being and shadows whirled around my frame like a shroud of storms, creating a protective shield. I fearlessly jumped at the back of his spiny neck in a swift attack, his black eye eerily shifting up to meet mine as I did so.
My swords gleamed while I screamed and powerfully slashed them at the malignant beast, with wind and shadow whipping through my long hair. My blades were just about to rain death down upon his nasty flesh and slice his scaley throat open... But then he disappeared without a trace, causing me to unwittingly stab the remains of the mutilated wall with my swords instead.
Oh fuck...
The impact was jarring, causing my left sword to nearly shatter as it embedded within the stony rubble with a loud clang. I felt the force of the blow dance up my bones, stunning me for a mere split second. I was left dangling there in confusion, holding onto my sword to keep from falling. Hsarohpem swiftly reappeared right behind me and took full advantage of my stupified state. His massive jaws fearsomely opened and then crashed down once again. I quickly swung at him with all my might and power, keeping a firm hold on my left sword as I did so. The tip of the blade hissed through his slimy scaly cheek, causing thick black blood to spray from the deep injury.
He dramatically roared up to the sky and then whipped around, slamming the tip of his spiked tail into my dangling form with unfathomable force as if swatting an insect. My left sword ripped from the wall and air was forced out of my lungs. I was helplessly sent flying away from the wreckage of the wall and over the dilapidated kingdom like a fucking bird. My body and blades spun wildly as I uncontrollably soared over the ruins, the catastrophic world becoming a spinning blur to my discombobulated eyes.
Hsarohpem teleported right into my path and aggressively snapped his jaws down around my middle. If it hadn't been for my enchanted hellish armor, I surely would have been chomped right in half. The terrified screeching of the crown deafened my mind, only adding to my state of disadvantage. Hsarohpem snarled while drool dripped all over my body. Then he began wildly thrashing his head from side to side, whipping me around like a mere ragdoll. My hair flailed into my face as I fought against the force of his attack.
"What is he doing!?" The crown continued to scream into my mind, making it difficult to focus on getting the fuck out of the perilous situation.
I shouted while strenuously lifting my flashing blades, stabbing him right in the nostrils with an electric zap. His roar of pain caused him to unwittingly release his hold on me, once again sending me helplessly flying through the air as he whipped his large lizard head up to the bleeding sky.
Fucking hell, not again...
My body painfully crashed onto the rocky cliffs beside the castle with a heavy thud, cracking the ashy stone ground with a sharp boom. The waves violently sprayed salted mist up into the air while I helplessly rolled and bounced over to the very edge of the escarpment, gaining several cuts on my cheeks and palms as I did so... "Ow- fuck, shit, fuck!" A few tiny pebbles fell over the edge and plummeted into the raging sea, while some squawking bird hastily flew away. A low predatory purr rumbled in Hsarohpem's chest as he began to sinisterly stalk forward, with his tail ominously swooshing behind him. The tip crashed into a tall spired building, effortlessly causing it to crumble.
"Thou worthless prince! Unworthy vermin! Thou shalt die this hour and return the power thou hast abused for far too long!" Several lloigors screeched and chirped as though in agreement, teleporting to and fro like sickly skeletal shadows to observe to fight. "For it is I who rules over this dark dominion, and mine own darkness shall never bow to the odious light festering within your soul! I am the great cosmic devourer of heavenly luminescence! I am the almighty primeval power who forever taints this world with mine own glory! I am living death! Enlightened darkness! And rapturous despair! I am God of the abyss!... And thou art nothing but a dead man..."
"But my father, if the prince is to die, then I shall perish along with him?" The crown nervously twitched upon my head as I regathered my strength.
"Thou hast failed me and thus deserves to die as well." Was Hsarohpem's harsh reply. The crown seemingly wilted and recoiled from its maker, realizing that it too was nothing more than a meaningless pon in his cruel game.
My eyes had warily shifted to the castle during Hsarohpem's egocentric monologue. The sharp towers loomed with eldritch elegance, and like the rest of the kingdom, it was veiled in a flickering orange glow. Harrowing fear twisted in my gut as I recognized that we were far too close for comfort. If he or any of the other lloigors caught wind of what was going on in there it would surely bring death to many of the humans trying to escape.
I have to lure him away from the castle...
My claws scraped against the stone ground beneath me as I hastily shoved back up to my feet. Once again, I squared my shoulders, showing him no hints of weakness. The lethal tip of my right blade flared out in front of me, pointing at the great lloigor with unwavering ferocity. "You call yourself a god?" I mockingly scoffed. A wave crashed right behind my threatening stance, spraying its salted water like an aura around me. "You do nothing but hide in the shadows, waiting for your next meal to gorge your putrid belly with. You're nothing but a spoiled oversized lizard! A cowered, only crawling out of your hole when your pathetic minions fail to deliver!"
As soon as the taunting words were spat from my mouth, I swiftly spun around and began sprinting as fast as I could away from the castle like a craven miscreant. I internally smiled when I heard him roar in rage, thankful that he'd taken the bait. I frantically leapt from stone to stone, over thorny shrubs and spiky sea urchins, rushing along the cliffs beside the sea. Due to my shadows and natural tenverian speed, I managed to get a good distance away before Hsarohpem furiously teleported right in front of me, swiping at my loonily racing form with multiple clawed hands. Expecting his attack, I swiftly dropped down and slid on my side beneath him, my armor scraping the stone with dust, pebbles, and small shells all spraying out around me.
White lightning danced in my eyes and I used my power to quickly float up behind him, stabbing him right above his shoulder with both blades side by side. They cut through his thick armored scales, sending sparks fizzling across his rippling undead flesh. He screeched while whipping around and trying to bite at my head, seeming extremely pissed off by my assault. I successfully dodged yet again, slashing at him further while he furiously swiped with his claws and snapped with his jaws.
Our deadly dance continued on, smashing massive stones and cracking the cliffs as we continued to violently fight. A few times demons had flown over to interfere. All were swiftly slaughtered by Hsarohpem's lethal claws, making me greatly fear that Azathoth might also attempt such a task. We had agreed that I would shoot a bolt of lightning up into the sky to summon him if I required his assistance. And although I certainly could have used it, I would never be able to recover if something were to happen to my dearest demonic friend.
No... I will not call for Azathoth... This is my battle and mine alone...
I vehemently glided through the air upon my shadows, screaming as Hsarohpem's long whip of a tail lashed out yet again. I wasted no time leaping off of a large stone and flipping over the powerful rope of rippling muscle and spines, reaching over my head with my swords to slice half of it off as I did so. His sharp spines bristled and he shrieked in pain. The decapitated tail slapped to the ground with a loud thud and crushed a poor little shrubbery.
"Insolent fool!" His telepathic voice brusquely thundered. "Thou shall regret thy impertinence!"
Virulent threads of white flashed all around me as I floated before him, the firelight mingling with the light of my soul to create a menacing chiaroscuro across my venomous glower. "No, Hsarohpem, it is you who shall-" My words got trapped in my throat as I glimpsed a radiant white light glimmering atop the tallest tower of the castle. Then my eyes widened in utter horror, noticing the small feminine frame and the golden hair billowing out behind it...
Holy shit! What the fucking fuck is Lucilia doing on top of the tower!?
Hsarohpem took full advantage of my sudden panic and slashed at me with his bloody talons. The wind was knocked from my breathless lungs. I immediately went flying back and violently smashed into a large jagged rock, the extremely painful impact bruising every bone in my body. I listlessly fell to the ground, deliriously stumbling out onto a large outcropping of rock which reached over the raging sea. Black blood dripped from between my lips, while my crimson eyes took in the predatory stance of the great lloigor looming before me.
He turned his head to see what had so easily distracted me. Lucilia was desperately fumbling to string up her luminescent arrow, with tears streaming down her weary face. Deep Harrowing laughter tauntingly chirped from his bleeding throat. "Weak and soft thou art. Be not diverted by thy detestable female mate. For the vessel of my next banquet shall not meet death upon this hour. I shall keep her within mine darkness until the sacred spawn is birthed forth into my claws..." He laughed again. "Only then shall I devour her repugnantly lucent soul!"
I sucked in a furious breath that I didn't need, seethingly grinding my teeth together with the thought of this alien beast stealing my child and devouring my beloved wife's pure soul. Shadows writhed through my hair and tempestuously swirled around my body, the very essence of my soul burning and emboldening with fervent rage. "You will do no such thing, Hsarohpem! You may be a god, but you will bow to my swords before I ever let you near those who are beloved to me!"
A sudden boom echoed from the tower, with a cloud of dust violently bursting from its walls as if something was destroying it from the inside. I instinctually looked, glancing over for only a mere second to ensure that Lucy wasn't in danger. Apparently, that was all the time Hsarohpem needed, because his giant front arm suddenly slammed into my chest, forcefully knocking me onto my back. A pained grunt was pushed from my chest and a spurt of black blood spewed up from between my lips.
I didn't even have time to react as Hsarohpem's middle talon on his massive right foot pressed into the center of my chest, pinning me to the rock below. The waves hauntingly crashed beneath us, twisting and howling in anticipation to drag my lifeless body down into the depths. Hsarohpem's huge hind leg powerfully pressed down, causing my armor to dangerously dent inward like a crumbling tin can. I wheezed from the pressure on my lungs, staring stupified up at him with the first hint of real fear in my eyes.
"Did thou learn nothing from the visions I brought you? Did thou not behold my splendor as I destroyed even the brightest of worlds?" His voice reverberated around me in such a way that it created the illusion of endlessly falling into a black chasm of death. "Such things were shown to thou so you may knowth of my power and understand that there was and never will be even a glimmer of hope for your kind. I have extinguished worlds! And still you dare to taketh what is mine!? Still, you challenge me!?"
A cacophony of crumbling stone and a loud female scream ripped my attention back over to the tower. The bones in my neck painfully popped and my eyes widened in the most gut-wrenching horror imaginable. The tower was imploding and beginning to fall. Lucilia unleashed the string of the bow, sending a pure white glimmering arrow streaming straight up into the dark whirling clouds... And as the tower collapsed, Lucilia fell with it.
An echoed abyssal scream of pure agony ripped from my chest. Power and rage unlike anything I had ever felt before tore through my soul and cracked the rock beneath us. Without wasting a single second, I lifted my sword with newfound strength and vehemently slashed through the ankle of the great lloigor. Putrid blood sprayed across my menacing expression as he roared in pain, pulling his injured foot up while stumbling back.
I dramatically shoved myself up to my feet and hurtled up toward him, both of my swords raised in my hands like twin daggers ready to strike. The black gnathic ribs of his grotesque stomach opened before me like slimy wriggling teeth, exposing the whirling abyss of sludge forever gnawing at the spirits of my ancestors. Using every ounce of power I had, I roared and sent a blazing blast of white-hot lightning shooting through my swords directly into the god, flooding his insides with deadly light just as he leaned forward to swallow me whole with his gaping stomach. Lucilia's arrow began parting the clouds as I entered the belly of the beast, causing a single flickering shaft of light to pour down onto the battleground like a glowing glimmer of hope.
The sharp black rips began to close behind me, while Hsarohpem bellowed and thrashed in misery. His roar was like a thousand claps of thunder firing from his maw and reverberating all around. The ground violently quaked causing many of the remaining buildings to crash and crumble, and large stones to break off of the cliffs and smash into the sea. Horror filled his deathly black eyes as he watched his arms turn to ash. His entire body contorted and began to disintegrate, the sludge of his stomach unable to touch my blazing light.
I saw rapid glimpses of my crowned ancestors, their noble faces no longer twisted in agony, but rather, changing to expressions of relief and gratitude. Then Aldrinan's familiar face appeared and my heart squeezed with a conflicting combination of both pain and consolation. He softly smiled at me with immense pride and gratefulness dancing in his ruby eyes, his soul no longer corrupted and finally able to be set free by the light. Everything happened so fast that there was no time to utter even a single word, yet an unspoken sense of brotherly love flowed strongly between us. And he somehow reassured me that he'd be safely reborn again and that this wasn't a goodbye. It was both highly emotional and surreal.
Light swiftly ripped through every part of Hsarohpem's damaged body, streaming out of his flesh in every direction. I screamed and forcefully shoved my swords up into the mighty beast's heart, causing him to fall forward to the ground in a bow of death. The outcropping of rock collapsed beneath us while he imploded on impact, turning into an ominous puff of tiny black ashes, leaving only myself grasping onto the cliffside behind. The rock plummeted into the sea with a mighty crash and a splash, while a brief yet harrowing cacophony of screeching lloigors deafened my ears. Then they fell completely silent, deteriorating into mere ashes along with their master.
Thin golden rays of light from the sky streamed down to kiss my brow, while I looked up in confusion at the slowly fading clouds and the bright heavens beyond. And as Hsarohpem died and the darkness broke away, the crown shrieked in misery. The bones wildly writhed and began to crumble, turning to flecks of ashes falling in front of my face, only to be carried off by the sea winds to dance with those of its creator...
Not wasting even a single measly second to think about it, I swiftly pulled myself up and began sprinting like a madman across the crumbling cliffs and over to where the tower had fallen. Suffocating fear like I had never known painfully constricted in my chest. The worst possible scenarios zipped through my mind while I zipped over the seaside ruins of what was once Tenveriel. Roaring hellfire rained down like torrents of death throughout the streets, as the demons began clearing the kingdom of all tenveriens and graiths alike, exterminating every last one of them. Crepuscular beams of sunlight continued to illuminate the destruction. I hardly even noticed it though, using my power to leap great distances from falling stone to stone, desperately trying to reach Lucilia as my world both physically and metaphorically continued to crumble all around me.
No!No!No!
"Lucilia!" I shouted in sheer hysteria. I could hardly fathom the sight of the crumbled tower, panicking beyond all rational thought while climbing up the broken stones. "Lucilia!"
The sea relentlessly battered the cliffs below as I frantically rushed through the rubble, using my power to move gigantic stones out of the way and effortlessly toss them into the waves with huge splashes and plunks. Venom gushed from my fangs and my claws refused to retract, while I desperately searched for the woman I loved, tears of fear beginning to mingle with the blood on my cheeks... And then, I suddenly caught a glimpse of golden hair gently fluttering upon the ramshackle ground, hidden behind a huge stone. My heart violently sank into the dark depths of my stomach.
I telepathically flung the stone out into the sea, finding Lucilia's beautiful form laying lifelessly amidst the broken rocks. Thick crimson blood was pouring from her mouth and a sharp smaller stone deeply impaled her through the stomach. Her left shoulder looked mangled and one of her legs was clearly broken. I noticed the weak and uneven rise and fall of her breath and rushed over as fast as I could. Relief from knowing that she was still alive washed over me, mingling with a title wave of panic and despair. Tears freely fell from my eyes as I weakly collapsed to my knees by her side, my armor painfully clanking against the broken stones.
"Lucilia!" I gently cradled her face with my large trembling hands, understanding that she was going to need medical attention immediately in order to survive. "Don't worry, don't worry! DO NOT WORRY! I'm going to make sure that you're alright!" My terribly worried voice rambled while I hysterically gazed upon her face in utter distress.
"Val-V-Vala?" She weakly tried to sputter out my name while spitting up more blood. "Is the b-baby okay?" Her glossy blue eyes deliriously gazed up at me with concern. She was not in her right mind and life was swiftly slipping from her.
I glanced down at the rock impaling her womb, not even slightly knowing what to say. My mouth silently dropped open, and a pathetic strangled noise was the only response I could manage. The wind grievously danced across the ocean waves and played through my hair, while I dumbly gestured to her stomach with an upturned palm. There was no way our child was still alive. That I was sure of. "It-It-It's going to be alright. You're going to be alright." My black tears streamed onto her pale face as I leaned down and placed a shaky kiss upon her forehead, feeling as though a hole was being carved into my chest. "Please stay awake for me, my love."
I quickly looked up and lifted my hand to the brightening sky, shooting a brilliant bolt of white lightning into the air. "Azathoth!" My desperate scream echoed across the obliterated kingdom. What was likely only half a minute felt like an entire eternity, and he still hadn't shown up. "Azathoth!" My voice boomed twice as loud the second time as I hysterically shot several more bolts into the air in various directions.
He swiftly appeared with a puff of black smoke right as I shot a bolt out in his direction, accidentally electrocuting him on the spot. His wings fanned out and contorted all willy-nilly, while his entire body went stiff and vibrated from the shock. Realizing my mistake, I quickly relinquished my power. "Are you fucking serious!?" A small cloud of smoke puffed out of his mouth as he menacingly glared down at me, the loose hairs around his face sticking straight up. Then he quickly took notice of Lucilia. "Oh, shit!"
"She needs healing!" I fearfully blurted out the obvious while he rushed over, not hesitating before placing his hands on her upper stomach. "Will she live?" I desperately asked.
"She'll definitely live." His deep voice reassured. Little sparks danced through his wildly static braid and armor as his eyes raked over the damage. "Help me get this rock out of her stomach so I can properly heal it."
My hands violently trembled while I carefully pulled the stone from her bleeding abdomen. The crunch of her bones and the squelching of blood and organs blended with her dying screams of unbearable pain. My heart physically hurt from the sound of it. I gently threw the rock off to the side, not once taking my eyes off her. A gaping bloody hole was left inside of her delicate body, making a few of her crushed inner organs and shattered pelvis visible. It was horrific.
"Shh, it's okay. You're okay." I gently cooed to comfort her, watching as her insides were rapidly reconstructed and stitched back together by demonic means. I then turned to face Azathoth again. "And what about the baby? Is the baby okay?"
His golden eyes flickered over her fully healed stomach, uncertainty flashing across his features. "I don't know. The fetus wasn't developed enough to contain a soul just yet. So you'll have to find out through a doctor." He glanced at me sympathetically then pressed one final jolt of bright demonic healing power through his hands and into her, making her gasp as several bones popped and cracked back into place. "She should be completely healed. I have to go help others, but I'll be back." He smiled down at her and then at me.
"Thank you, my friend." I slightly bowed, then gently pulled Lucilia into my arms, no longer afraid of making her injuries worse.
Azathoth teleported away to go heal more injured soldiers, while her bright blue eyes fluttered back open. I lovingly smiled down at her and she smiled back up at me, filling my heart with overwhelming love and relief... She's alive and safe in my arms... She looked like an ethereal goddess as the clouds further unfurled and kissed her face with glimmering rays of golden light.
"Valarendrik?" Her brows suddenly furrowed in confusion. Her gaze reached above my eyes, searching for my forehead. With a gentle and curious touch, she reached up and ran her fingertips along the empty band, still seeming rather loopy from her fall. "Where did the crown go?"
Wait? Did the crown really perish?... Hello, crown? Are you there?... My clawed hand trembled while I reached up and tapped my clawed fingers over hers with a fluttery motion, feeling only the obsidian band still hammered into my skull... Holy shit! It's gone! It's really gone!
I suddenly wanted to jump for joy, dance, laugh, and weep all at once, relishing in my deliverance. A slightly deranged-sounding laugh bubbled up from my chest, while I rocked her back and forth. "It's gone! It must have died along with the lloigors!" It was impossible to hold back the bright beaming smile stretching across my face and the pure joy welling within my soul. "It's gone! It's really gone!" I laughed and began rapidly pecking little kisses all over her face, with tears of happiness painting trails down my blood-splattered cheeks.
"How did that happen!?" She giggled from my affectionate assault, her voice laced with surprise and excitement. "Everything is just starting to come back to me now."
The clouds had broken apart quite a bit now, casting bright glimmering rays dancing all around us like a shower of light in the darkness. My crimson eyes darted back and forth between hers, the maniacally joyous feeling still bubbling inside of my chest. "It crumbled when I killed Hsarohpem." I grabbed her hand and kissed it, then pulled her closer to my chest in a tight and loving embrace. "I'll have to tell you all about it, but right now, I'm just so glad that you're alright."
Tears of joy danced upon her bottom lashes, but then an expression of concern quickly fell across her features. Her delicate fingers grasped at my armored shoulder, softly pushing herself away to look down at her stomach. "Do you think the baby is going to be okay?" She seemed to almost be pleading with me to answer yes.
My soul stirred with apprehension, casting a feeling of dread like a dark cloud looming over my joy. I was genuinely unsure what to think. "I'm honestly unsure. We'll need to have you examined by a doctor to know."
A glimmering tear rolled down her cheek as she softly nodded. Her hand shook as she placed it over her stomach, seeming to become lost in her recovering memories. "I'm so sorry. A lloigor ambushed us. It convinced me that it was going to kill everyone if I escaped with the others, so I separated from them. I thought I was saving them... Then it-it chased me up the tower." Her chest heaved as she whimpered against my neck. "It was stupid of me... So, so stupid."
I gently shushed her while rocking us back and forth, squeezing her just a slight bit more. "It's okay, it's okay. What you did was not stupid. It probably would have killed many of them if you hadn't done what you did." My clawed thumb tenderly caressed her upper arm, while I squeezed my eyes shut and cherished the feeling of having her in my arms once again. Malsangius roared in victory off in the distance, followed by a chorus of other triumphant shouts and screams. I lifted to my feet, still keeping Lucilia held tightly in my arms. After all that had just happened, I doubted I'd ever be able to let her go again. "You were brave. As a true queen should be."
"Where is everyone else?" Her soft voice quavered while she lifted her head and glanced around. "Did they make it out alive?"
"I haven't seen them. But we can go search." I smiled, trying not to show that I too was rather worried for their wellbeing.
My heavy armored boots swiftly climbed over the dusty wreckage of the castle, leading me up what was now a huge mound of crumbled stone. Lucilia laid bridle-style in my arms, holding onto my neck while glancing around. Crepuscular rays continued to bathe the world in warm golden light, bestowing the once black sea with a deep blue hue and crowning each wave with an iridescent shimmer. Screeching birds and roaring demons majestically glided across the skies, the light reaching down to gently caress the high mountains in the distance.
I squeezed Lucilia a bit tighter and sucked in an unneeded breath. A sight of great celebration greeted us as we summited the very top of the ruins, looking down at the dilapidated kingdom, completely crumbled wall, and bloody battleground. A few of the demons were still torching what was left of the Tenverian guards, while the forest army was shouting and raising their gleaming swords in victory. Other demons joined in with the merriment, some barbarically drinking some sort of red liquid from skulls and openly fucking... As the tenverians noticed us, they began to alert one another and started to quickly approach the castle.
"Look! There they are!" Lucilia excitedly pointed to the small group of scruffy human-like tenverians, along with a rather disheveled Gwendolyn and William... Although, we were all rather disheveled at this point. "Hey! Hey guys!" She shouted while waving her arm to get their attention. "Over here!"
They were a short distance away, lingering among the rubble just before the crumbled bridge that would have taken them down into the kingdom. Belzar noticed us first, barking and wagging his tail to let the others know of our presence. William glanced our way next, with his hand resting on Oliver's lower back in a show of affection. Azathoth and Darrell appeared in a puff of black smoke right behind Gwendolyn, causing a few of them to jump from startlement.
Azathoth had a wicked grin on his face, his eyes lighting up with pure excitement as they landed on me. "Val! You're never going to believe who I found roaming around while searching for Darrell!"
"Wait? Ashton? Is that you?" I faintly heard Oliver ask in confusion. "...And Darrell?"
"You found someone?" I called back, wondering who it could be.
"Let's go make sure everyone is alright!" Lucilia rapidly tapped on my shoulder and pointed in their direction, then waved at a few more people who were looking our way.
"Yes, of course." I kissed the top of her head while taking a single step down, then my foot froze when something new was suddenly shouted.
"Hail the King!" A deep voice boomed in the ancient tongue, followed by several more shouting the same thing. "Hail King Valarendrik!"
...Um, what?
Shimmering beams of light bled over the battered and blood-soaked army, while they assembled over the ruins. Armor clanked as they dropped to their knees and began lowering their heads. Their expressions were ones of deep veneration, all gracefully bowing before me in reverence. The chasm of seawater whirled between us, with me standing dumbfounded upon the mountain of castle ruins before them. "Wait? What are you all doing!?" I shouted down at them with the sparkling sea stretching out behind me. "I'm not actually the king!"
"You're the last of the royal bloodline, aren't you?" The general who was right on the edge of the cliff separating the castle from the kingdom shouted back. He lifted his strong jaw while peering up at me, with his long burgundy ponytail whipping in the wind behind him.
"Well, yeah. But we could always start a democra-"
"And you killed the wicked queen and defeated the great lloigor, did you not?"
"Yes, I did... But-"
"You literally proclaimed it right before jumping off of the serpent!" Someone shouted in the distance.
"He's right! Not only are you the rightful king of Tenveriel, but you've also rightfully earned it!" Azathoth shouted and began edging the others on to shout tangled words of agreement.
"Hail King Valarendrik!" The general loudly shouted again with a fearsome wave of his bloody sword, not giving me another chance to argue as they all began to exclaim royal praises for me. Raised swords clanked and gleamed in the new light, all hailing me as their new king.
"Who are all those people?" Lucilia curiously asked, her wide eyes taking in all the attention that was suddenly on us. "And what are they saying?"
I sucked in a deep breath, an odd sense of acceptance creeping over me for the first time in my life. "They were the corpses in the trees. We set them free so that they could fight. And now, well, they're hailing me as their king." I furrowed my brows and looked down at her, unsure of what to do with myself. It was then that I noticed that the human tenverians had quickly joined in, cheering in English while kneeling in reverence as well. William was especially loud and vivacious about it. Their crimson eyes glimmered up at me with admiration, shouting words of praise and love... Well, all but Azathoth that is.
"You're not going to kneel for him too?" Gwendolyn smacked at his leg and then gestured toward me.
His golden eyes twinkled with brotherly love and pride as he gazed up at me, a smile curling upon his lips. "I'm not a Tenverian." He knew I could easily hear his gently spoken words.
I smiled down at him, recalling the very first time he'd said that to me. Then my eyes fell back to Lucilia's beautiful face and I passionately pressed my lips to hers, causing the excited shouting to grow ten times louder. She happily laughed into the kiss while kicking her filthy legs and wrapping her arms around my neck. I relished the feeling of her soft lips against mine, squeezing her with immense love and gratitude. Even though we were both rather bedraggled and bloody, it was still quite romantic.
Then the distant sound of a far too familiar whinny ripped my attention away from the kiss. My eyes grew wide open with disbelief and I immediately scanned my surroundings, chest squeezing tight with anticipation... No... It can't be... Can it?...
Beyond where all the soldiers were bowing and out near the large jagged stones by what was left of the wall, a huge black steed suddenly began to canter into sight. Its large hooves gracefully clomped over the faintly flaming ground and blackened corpses. The lush mane blew in the ashen winds and the obsidian saddle gleamed in the rays of light. My eyesight was superb, yet I still squinted to ensure that I was seeing things correctly. There was no exposed bone nor rotten flesh on the majestic animal, yet it wore my saddle and its face was unmistakable.
"...Sagacor!?"
"He's alive!" Azathoth shouted while cupping his hand around his wide grin. "William must have managed to revive him when he sent out that ball of living light right before we returned to Hell! I noticed him casually munching on some shrubs before finding Darrell!"
"Are you fucking serious!?" Tears of gratefulness overflowed down my cheeks and I began frantically sprinting down the rubble. "Sagacor! Sagacor!"
"What are you doing!?" Lucy gripped my neck for dear life, having no idea what had happened to him.
My heart gushed and didn't know how to process all these whirling emotions all at once. But I knew that I had to get to my dear companion who I thought I'd never see again. Using my power, my boot kicked off the edge of the cliff and I leapt over the chasm like a madman, the wind rushing through our hair. Lucilia screamed into my ear, but I didn't care. If anything it was more like sweet music to my soul. An ashen cloud puffed up around us as I landed on my feet with a thud.
"Valarendrik!" She screamed again, this time her voice was laced with laughter.
"Sagacor!" I manically called his name and let out a loud whistle, rushing through the crowd of soldiers as if running for my very life.
Most of the buildings had already collapsed, making it easy for me to quickly glide across the dilapidated and smoldering expanse of the kingdom. Sagacor turned his head and whinnied, turning to happily gallop towards me as well. Charred corpses seemed to stare with expressions twisted in horror, while smoke fancily swirled up from the ground around them. I jumped over a half-crumbled stone wall, nearly smacking into Sagacor as we were finally reunited.
"Gods of darkness..." Tears streamed from my eyes as I frantically wrapped an arm around his soft head. I rested my forehead on his and continued to weep with joy. More sky than clouds now shone above, allowing the strange new sun to beam down upon the side of my smiling face. "I thought I'd never see you again, my friend." I lightly kissed his muzzle, earning a little nicker and snort from him. Lucilia was still tightly ensnared by my other arm, staring at me like I'd grown two heads.
It was overwhelming to think of all that had happened to lead to such a moment. I had gone from being a loathed weakling prince to being hailed a king for my accomplishments. I had Lucilia safely back in my arms. I had many new friends, laughing and cheering for me. The crown was destroyed and now Sagacor was still alive. The biggest and brightest grin I had ever made adorned my face, showing off my sharp pointed teeth. My hair danced in the wind while my soul swelled with unfathomable love and joy.
And for the first time in my life, my world was truly illuminated.