Requiem Of A Failed Hero



The entire door trembled. From the point of contact, large cracks ran through both doors. 

Raith's fist had caused a webbed crack on the lower part of the door and caused the door to lose its rigidity. 

One more punch and it would be shattered to bits. 

"What the hell!"

After trying to hold the biting pain for a few minutes, Raith cried out, holding his wrist and rigorously shaking the hand he had used to punch the door. 

The large crack on the door seemed impressive but he had thought his punch was going to break a hole into it. Or even cause the door to shatter at once. 

His fist was smeared with blood that came together to crystallize on the edge of each finger. It almost looked like he was wearing red crystal knuckles. 

The pain did subside a little and he had to give the crystals a little pull before they fell on the floor. They were much smaller than the one before. 

'Seems like the smaller the blood the smaller the crystal, the larger the blood the bigger the crystal.'

He bent down and picked the crystals. 

Then clenched his fist again. 

Antares stepped closer to him, lowering his head with his hands on his chest. 

"My king... allow me." 

He besieged Raith. Which was a very great idea. 

'I have to start learning to use these guys rightly.'

Raith thought as he retreated backward for Antares to go forward.

'Shit shit shit shit shit... I should have gone instead, what will Master think of me now? Wouldn't he be disappointed, I have to show master that I can be depended on...'

Behind, someone continued to suffer from overthinking. 

-whish-

Antares revealed his razor-sharp claws that were almost a glinting black. He leaned forward and darted at the door. And began to slash at it multiple times.

Each slash generated more power, got faster and stronger and his hands became a blur as time passed. White smoke from the ice being slashed over and over again began to spread around.

With the door already weakened by Raith's punch, Antares' slashes began to have effect after three minutes. The door began to creak and the crack began to spread even wider. 

"Step back Antares." 

At the command of his master, Antares took a big leap and landed back, behind Raith and just beside Crimson who was so distracted. 

The cracks continued to spread and the door began to rumble, causing tremors in the walls of the cave. Raith wondered for a second if the tree was going to be alright.

'This place was beneath the tree, if it gets destroyed wouldn't it affect the tree...' 

There was no answer for now but one thing was sure. Whatever was beyond this door, the tree needed to be liberated from it. 

At last, the door began to break apart from the upper parts, it crumbled down completely. The cloud of cold white dust spread even further and thicker, filling the whole cave. 

And a pile of ice debris filled the lower entrance. Raith had to climb over them to finally step into whatever this place was.

His eyes lit up. 

'...what in the world is this place?' 

It was a palace. 

An ice palace...

Raith had never seen anything like it. Not even the palace of the Emperor of Pomeii was as glamorous as this. 

Frozen chandeliers hung from ceiling to ceiling in horizontal and vertical arrays, retracting light into a mesmerizing dance of blue hue to flicker across the icy floors. The hall was so wide that if a hundred people stood side by side with arms spread, they still wouldn't fill it.

Elaborate sculptures of mythical creatures stood like silent sentinels waiting to come alive. 

Frozen pillars here and there stood between the ceiling and the ground, they spread everywhere far and wide. But because of how much they spread, it was easier to find the middle. 

From the center of the hall, was a blue carpet that ran down to the end of the hall, and right at that end, following the ten stairs up, stood a centerpiece. 

The ice throne exuded an air of regal elegance. Glistening icicles drape from its backrest, creating the aura befitting of an extremely powerful monarch, one that seems to be the sovereign of ice. 

And right there on the throne...

'Wait a minute?' 

Raith doubted what his eyes saw. He scrunched up his eyes ahead and looked again. 

From how far he was, he still could see it very well. A human was sitting on it. 

Or it could be a human-looking figure. 

But it had to be a human. 

"Hello!" 

Raith shouted. Which was very careless of him. 

Again, poor decision-making skills. But who would blame him, the palace was so beautiful that it would make anyone forget why they were here. 

Even after shouting and the echo of his voice traveling far for a few more seconds, there was still no response. 

A deafening silence followed the last streams of echo. 

'Ah, this is kind of awkward...'

He arched one brow up and wondered what he should do in this case. The only way forward was moving forward. 

"Be careful master..."

Noir's voice resounded from the darkness within him. It caused him to raise his vigilance and remember once again that this was supposed to be the lair of a dragon. 

He stepped forward with all the carefulness he could garner.

-step-

-step-

-step-

-step-

It was distressing how only his steps interrupted the infinite silence of the palace, every step he took resounded far and wide with its echoes traveling beyond seconds. 

And after a few more steps, he was at the base of the ten stairs that led to the throne seat. And could now see the person sitting on it closely. 

Her skin was white and smooth like porcelain. Her hair was equally white just like the snow. She had a small oval face with a pair of large blue horns protruding from her forehead. 

Her eyes were closed and she was resting her head on her head which were well rested on the arm of her throne seat. 

Her body was adorned with large clothing, almost looking like the Eastern fantasy robe but with blue flowery linen and white edges, it covered her all through and seemed too big for her in fact. Only the arms that her head rested on could be seen. 

"Beautiful." 

Raith muttered.