What—what have you done, Adel?" Miro stood on shaky legs, looking utterly terrified by what he was being made to see. A son killing his own father? But that wasn't the only fear coursing through him—it was the fact that his only friend had done it. He cared about me. He knew that if anyone saw me like this, I'd be brutally punished until I was dead.
Below MUD, who was now in suspended animation, a black puddle formed on the floor. Several zombie-like hands reached out from the dark liquid, grabbing him and absorbing him into the depths. Then, the puddle disappeared just as quickly as it had come.
"Miro—you're bleeding too much!" I ran toward him, catching him as he collapsed against my shoulder. His breathing was shallow; I could feel his chest rising and falling raggedly against mine.
"Adel, leave now. Go. Get away," he wheezed. "If they find out it's you, the rest of your family will torture you." He coughed, dark blood staining my shoulder.
"I won't be able to hold on much longer. I was struck by that devil's attack... I'll slowly mutate into a blob of meat. I can already feel my organs rotting from the inside." His voice began to break, trailing off into a wet, pained rasp.
I said nothing. Instead, I wrapped his arm over my shoulders and hauled him up, carrying his weight as we moved out.
"Adel, the guards will be here any second. Why won't you listen to me?" Miro wheezed.
"You didn't listen to me when I told you not to go," I said. My voice was low, almost a threat, forcing him to just go along with it.
He went speechless, remaining silent as I lugged him through the dark corridors.
"Where are you taking me?" he asked eventually, his voice tinged with annoyance at the silence between us.
"To the spell room."
"The spell room? What for? There's no cure for this in there—wait. Don't tell me... are you going to use that freeze spell?"
"Yes. I can't let you die. Not like this. I'll freeze your body while you're still alive. When I find a cure, I'll unfreeze you and heal you."
"There is no cure for this," Miro whispered.
"Let's not lose hope, Miro." I tightened my grip on him. "You said you only live for the sake of others. That if they're gone, you don't deserve to be alive, right?"
Miro gave a faint, "Yes."
"Then don't die. Because I'm still alive."
His eyes widened, staring into the darkness of the hallway from behind my back.
"Adel, faster... I feel like someone's following us."
I broke into a run for the spell room the moment he said it. When we finally burst inside, I found a long wooden chest big enough to hold him and dumped its contents onto the floor. I lowered Miro inside; he grunted in pain as his body settled against the wood.
"Where are you going to hide me?" he asked as I frantically searched the shelves for the freeze spell.
"There's a secret room here. Only I know about it. My dad built it so I'd have a place to hide if anything ever happened."
As I spoke, a sharp ache flared in my chest—a blade of regret slicing through my heart. He loved me, even if he was a monster to everyone else. What kind of son does this to a father who cared for him? My hand trembled, and I jumped as the door creaked open, revealing a void of darkness beyond.
I raised a spell of poison and aimed it at the shadows. "Who is it?!"
"It's..." a faint, girlish voice drifted from the dark. "It's me... Adel..."
"Freya?"
She didn't appear, and she didn't step into the light. I stayed tense—was someone trying to lure me out? Then, I noticed a hand on the floor. Fingers clawed at the wooden panels, dragging a body slowly toward the doorway. When she finally pulled herself into the room, her head tilted up. Her hair was scorched away, and her face—
"FREYA!" I dropped the spell and scrambled toward her.
Half of her body was charred and blackened. I collapsed in front of her, pulling her onto her back. "HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?" I shouted, shaking her shoulders.
"Revolt... it's bad... they'll kill everyone," she wheezed, her voice fading.
"What? Who? Who is going to kill everyone?"
Before she could answer, her eyes slipped shut. Her skin was still radiating heat, and the heavy scent of burnt flesh filled the air.
"Freya?"
"She's almost gone." Miro had dragged himself out of the chest and was sitting right beside me. He looked at her charred face, his expression a pained mix of sorrow and revulsion.
"The freeze spell won't work on her—she'll die anyway," he said, coughing up more blood. "It requires at least a little life left to latch onto. I still have that , but she... she's got nothing left."
My eyes went wide. I looked from Miro back to her, cradling her head in my arms. "There really isn't any way to save her, is there?"
I couldn't hold it back anymore. I clenched my teeth and squeezed my eyes shut, tears running down my cheeks in silent streams. My head throbbed with a rhythmic, pulsing ache, as if someone were beating hammers against my temples.
"Adel, tell me. Do you care about her? Do you care about the life of a simple maid?" Miro looked at me, his right hand still clutching the left arm where the devil's strike had left a hollow wound.
I looked at him, startled by the question. I didn't ask why he was asking; I just nodded. Any words I tried to speak would have only turned into more tears.
At my response, a faint, tired smile touched his lips.
"Fine, then. I can save her. I'm going to perform a ritual."
"A ritual?" I whispered.
Miro stood up, his gaze hardening as he prepared his final words. "Adel, do not interrupt me while I am performing this. Breaking a ritual means death for both the doer and the one it is being done upon. It is the rule of the gods. That is why rituals are only for those who can remain undisturbed."
He took a shaky breath. "Adel, these are my last words to you. No matter what, bring this world back to normal. I have a bad feeling things are going the wrong way from here. You're the only person I've ever trusted other than my mother. And I still trust you. Take care of the maid. Fight alongside her, fight for her, and be there for each other."
Realization hit me like a physical blow. I lunged forward, grabbing him by the shoulders and slamming him back against the spell shelf. Glass vials tumbled from the racks, hitting the floor with a violent, chaotic jangle of shattering crystal and the sharp splash of spilled spells in it. The silence that followed was deafening as I stared into his soul.
"I'm not going to lose you! No, this is wrong! I won't let you sacrifice your life. We'll find another way to save her!"
The shock in his eyes faded, replaced by a calm that hit my chest harder than any fist. "She's already dead, Adel," he said softly. "The only way to save her is to resurrect her by giving away my own life."
I turned my head to look at her. He was right. She was still.
"You can only choose one of us. Her or me. But I don't want you to choose me. I'd rather see you living a happy life with her than with a ghost like me."
"WHY?" I shouted at him. "WHY DO YOU SAY SUCH THINGS?"
"Because I'm cursed, Adel! If I stay with you, you'll only see more suffering. A cursed child is better off being alone or dead. And I'd rather be dead than alone."
As my grip momentarily relaxed , he caught me off guard. He drove a punch into my stomach with every ounce of strength he had left. The force threw me across the room, my body sliding against the stone until I hit the far wall. I couldn't stand; my legs gave out, and my breath was gone. He had put everything into that strike.
Miro walked toward Freya's body, his hands moving through complex signs as he began the incantation:
"O, Mother of Life—You who spares the innocent and seeks out breath amidst the chaos. Progenitor of all, Mother of Mothers, reach down from the lofty heavens and lend Your hand to mend this broken soul. Restore this innocent soul to its vessel once more. In exchange, I offer my spirit and my flesh; I forfeit my remaining years, my blood, and my very essence to the one who lies before me. Take me, and let her live!"
Freya's body healed right in front of me, the burn marks fading away. Her soft, white skin reappeared, and her long golden hair returned to its full length. She was healed now. Her chest began to rise and fall as she came back to life, though she remained unconscious.
I stood up, grunting in pain. I felt like throwing up after that punch, and my back was throbbing. I pulled down a curtain from the nearby window, walked over to her, and wrapped it around her naked body; her clothes had been burnt away.
Then, I turned to look at Miro.
He was standing there like a statue. His eyes were open, but there was no life left in them.
Miro was gone. Now it's just a body without a soul.
I opened the secret room and carried Freya inside, placing her gently onto a soft bed. I used the freeze spell on Miro; it wouldn't bring him back, but it would stop his body from rotting. I placed him inside and locked the room.
I left a letter for Freya for when she woke up, explaining everything and giving her instructions on how to escape. I triggered the safety system and the room disappeared behind the wall of the spell room. No one would find them now. Only I knew they were there.
I stepped out, the moonlight guiding me through the dark hallways. When I walked out of the castle, I saw an army of guards surrounding the entire building. They were only a few steps away from me.
"Adel! Are you alright?" The commander of the royal guard ran toward me, looking shocked at my appearance. I was covered in blood and filth.
I stared at the floor with dead eyes. I regretted everything—killing my dad, losing my friend. It was all too much. I felt powerless. I didn't even have any powers; I was just a weak crybaby. What was I supposed to do now? They would find out eventually.
A guard came sprinting out of the main gate behind me, looking terrified. "THE KING HAS BEEN MURDERED!" he shouted.
A shocked gasp went through the crowd as they began exchanging worried whispers. The commander, an old but powerful man whose eyes usually glowed with confidence, looked shaken for a moment before regaining his composure. He looked down at me.
"Adel... do you know what happened?"
"Yes, commander. I know." I looked up. "It was me. I killed him."
His lips curved into a smirk.
"Good. We already know. And I'm happy you did that job for me."
I froze. My mind was already a mess, but this felt like the ground had vanished beneath my feet. The Commander—the man who was supposed to be the kingdom's greatest protector—was smiling. A proud smile.
The guards didn't move. They didn't draw their swords or rush to arrest me. They just stood there in perfect formation, looking at me with cold, knowing eyes.
"What?" I managed to rasp, my voice breaking.
"You saved us a lot of trouble, Adel," the Commander said, stepping closer until his shadow completely covered me. "We were prepared to do it ourselves tonight, but having the prince do the deed? That makes the transition so much easier for the rest of us."
"Now we don't have to worry. Our hands stay clean, and the people of this land won't doubt us for a second." He stepped behind me, circling like a predator.
I could only stand there in fear, grounded by an immense pressure that made it feel impossible to even breathe.
"This kingdom shall now be ruled by the Enlighteners," he said, his voice cold and triumphant. "The ones who will take us to The World Beyond."