After six days of stamina draining trekking through the mountain forest, Nox finally reached the peak.
The sight that met him struck like a hammer to the chest. His breath caught. He had never seen anything like it.
Stretching across the horizon stood a wall forty meters high and almost six feet thick, so pale and white it gleamed even in the dying light of day, like stone begging to be seen. It did not look built. It looked grown from the earth itself.
Whoaaa. Nox's lips parted in awe. Raizen had said this was the most advanced kingdom, but even those words had not prepared him. Just the walls alone were a testament.
He almost laughed. Honestly, he thought he would have lost his way days ago. But thanks to Juro drilling the map routes into his head, losing his way was impossible. Still, the memory stung, and he let out a half choked, tearful laugh.
This was the loneliest he had ever been. And it was only getting heavier.
The evening breeze curled around him, swaying the trees, chilling his sweat soaked body. Nox sat at the mountain's edge and drank in the view as the sun set. Every two hundred meters along the walls, he noticed watchtowers. Too far to see who stood within, but strange machines jutted from their frames.
Some kind of weapon, he wondered. Who would even be crazy enough to attack this?
Only then did he see it, rising from the city's heart a little taller than even the colossal wall. A castle. It's spires pierced the sky like whiteSpears.
These people must be filthy rich.
His awe faded into dread when he realized the truth. It would take more than a full day to descend the mountain and cross the dense forest to reach the walls, and then nearly half a day more just to reach the gate.
There was no one to complain to, so he clenched his jaw and swallowed his frustration.
"Well… let's go," he muttered half hearted.
He pushed himself hard, farther than intended, until at last he reached the halfway point. But the cost was steep. His legs trembled, his body empty, his strength gone.
He collapsed into the dirt. Sleep clawed at him, and he wanted to pass out right there. And he would have, if not for the faint twisted pulse that prickled through the air.
Iora.
Ugly. Corrupted. Repulsive.
Nox froze. Instinct screamed at him to flee, but curiosity pulled harder.
There, beneath the shadow of a great tree, stood a figure.
He crept closer, and his eyes adjusted to the gloom.
A Dreknar.
Its ash grey skin seemed stretched over bone. Seven feet tall. Its mouth was human but horribly wrong, its nose misshapen, and where eyes should have been there was nothing. Long oily black hair hung from the sides of its face like strands of decay. Its claws were black, its limbs stretched long and unnatural.
A sight made to rot the stomach.
Hatred surged through Nox, washing away exhaustion. His hand went to the short blade at his side, and he raised it, teeth bared.
But the Dreknar did not move. It simply stood there like an abandoned husk.
"STOP!"
The voice cracked the night.
Nox spun, eyes darting left, right, up. A boy perched in a tree above, not older than him. His voice carried authority, almost command.
"Don't do that. You'll regret it." The boy's tone shifted, calmer, steady.
Nox narrowed his eyes. "Really? And how would you know?" His grip on the blade tightened.
Silence stretched. The air itself seemed to wait.
Nox broke it, his voice sharp and demanding. "Who are you?"
The boy lifted his chin. "A prince." His tone was proud. Then, with a faint smirk, he countered. "And you? What are you?"
"A warrior," Nox spat. And with that, he launched straight at the monster.
His blade slashed across the Dreknar's stomach, but the strike barely cut. Too shallow. Too weak.
The Dreknar's head snapped back. Its hands clutched its skull. Then it screamed.
No, screeched.
The sound tore the night apart. Nox's ears rang, blood hammering in his skull. He dropped his blade, hands clutching at his ears. But it was not enough. The screech grew louder, sharper, shattering his senses. His vision darkened. His consciousness began to slip.
And then.
Silence.
The boy stood before him, face close, eyes fierce.
The so called prince.
And then he blacked out.