The grand halls of the manor stretched before Boy, bathed in the soft golden glow of candlelight.
’How am I back here?’ he thought curiously as he looked around the place, making sure that it was the sa place.
He took in a deep breath, taking in the scent of old books, polished wood, and the faint perfu Lady Elaria always wore filled the air.
’I am indeed back... How is this possible?’ he thought as warmth settled in his chest, sothing that he could almost imdiately identify— a sense of ho.
He stepped forward, slowly beginning to make his way through the hallways that he had made his way across countless tis as his claws clicked softly against the pristine marble floor.
As he made it down the hallway, he stopped at a door on his left, staring at it intently as a burst of mories shot into his mind, ’My room... The place where I dedicated myself to studies...’
He contemplated opening the door and walking into his room that he had not seen in a long ti. But as he was about to walk in...
"My dear boy..." a soft eloquent voice of a young female sounded. Almost imdiately, Boy’s ears spiked up as his eyes widened and he completely tunnel visioned onto the voice.
’Is that...’
He turned to look down the hallway at the source of the voice and at the far end of the hall, she stood there, her back turned to him with the unmistakable elegant posture with a decorated paper fan that she always carried.
"Lady Elaria..." he murmured, his voice carrying the weight of longing he had never dared to acknowledge.
Seeing her his emotions rang wild as he found his steps quickening, his body moving on instinct as he ran to approach her.
His paws reached for her, he wanted- no- needed to feel that warmth again and he ran into her, his paws suddenly turning into hands as he wrapped his arms around Lady Elaria.
A deep sigh escaped him, all the tension lting from his body as he pressed into the embrace.
For the first ti in what felt like forever, the weight he had always carried was lifted as he felt her arms caress his head softly.
In this mont, it was as if all his burdens, fears, and doubts dissipated in that mont, leaving only the warmth and security of her presence.
It was here that Boy realised how much he so desperately craved and needed this feeling.
"I knew it was all a lie..." he spoke out as tears began to well up in his eyes.
But then- her breath hitched.
"O- my dear dead boy..." the soft elegant voice he had known so well turned hoarse, rasping in a way that sent a shiver up his spine.
Alard, Boy’s ear imdiately flicked, his muscles tensing as he slowly looked up, pulling away just enough to see her face.
And then he saw it- wrong, unnatural, twisted in an eerie grin that stretched too far and without even moving her lips, she spoke, "It was never a lie."
His breath caught in his throat, and an icy fear shot through him as he stumbled back, his heart pounding.
"What happened to you, Lady Elaria?" Boy spoke out in fear as he found himself subconsciously retreating from the lady as she simply stared at him with her smile still the sa.
Suddenly, the ground beneath him vanished.
He plumted into darkness, his limbs flailing as the cold swallowed him whole. Then—impact.
His body slamd against a hard surface, pain jolting through him as he lay immobilised.
The air around him crackled with an unseen energy. A deep sense of wrongness settling in his bones as he realised he had felt this before- the crushing weight, the paralysing stillness.
The Ritual!
Panic flared across his body as his mind scrambled, mories rushing in.
"No... No... No..."
He rembered every excruciating pain, both ntal and physical, that he suffered here as his breathing began to grow ragged. His heartbeat slamd against his ribs while his lungs rebelled, shrinking, suffocating him as he felt that his lungs were full of air despite not being so.
"NO... NO... NO..."
The world blurred as his vision tunneled, shrinking into a suffocating void of movent and noise. Voices emanated from the darkness around him, warping into an unintelligible hum, so near, so far, pressing in from every direction.
"NO NO NO NO NO NO!"
The fear was absolute as the walls of the room felt as if they were closing in, their edges shifting, pusling, pressing inward.
"NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!"
But then, just as the room completely enclosed itself, Boy felt a slight breeze.
The darkness beyond the ritual room shifted.
At first, it was subtle, like ripples in water. Then, it expanded. The air thickened as the breeze grew into a gale, charged with a strange energy as the surrounding void peeled away.
The walls of the confinent stretched outward, reshaping the scene entirely. The dull glow of the runes which marked the ritual circle flickered and dissipated into the ground as a new scene was revealed.
The Battlefield!
’What... is... happening...’
The sight made his breath hitch. He was still gasping for air, his chest rising and dropping rapidly as sweat dripped down his body which had now beco human.
His body trembled... His limbs felt weak... Barely able to register what was happening.
His mind struggled to keep up with the rapid, shifting reality around him.
’Too fast... too much...’
His thoughts ran rampant, spiraling into chaos.
’Where am I? What is happening?’
He desperately tried to move his hands but it would not budge, locked in place by an overwhelming sense of paralysis.
Just then, countless figures erged from the blackened mist- summons...
And not just any summons as Boy recognised each and every one of them. They were the ones he had led. The ones who he had sent away to find aid. The ones who had died for him.
They all stood in eerie silence as they surrounded Boy, their forms still, their gazes fixed only on him.
No words were spoken, yet their emotions and thoughts slamd into his mind like a crushing wave.
Accusations...
Betrayal...
Resentnt...
His telepathy, unbidden and uncontrollable, pulled him into their thoughts- their raw, unfiltered pain.
’You left us.’
’You promised we’d survive.’
’You led us to our deaths.’
The weight of their stares beca unbearable, Boy’s body shook hard though he could not move it.
Every summon he had fought beside, every being that had followed him into battle, was now standing before him but not as allies, but as specters of bla.
Then... the ground trembled...
A low, guttural rumble echoed through the void, shaking the battlefield itself. Boy’s breath hitched as the sky above cracked open, golden light searing through the darkness.
And then- it erged.
The dragon.
The great beast descended like an on of destruction, its blackened wings swallowing the stars as its golden gaze locked onto him like a predator to prey.
The pressure of its presence alone crushed the air from Boy’s lungs, pinning him where he stood.
He could not do anything but stare with widened eyes that were drowning in fear as its enormous form landed before him, fire swirling in the depths of its maw.
Only being able to manage short gasps, he could feel it, the inevitability of it all.
The dragon’s golden eyes bore into his very soul, and the longer he stared, the smaller he felt.
Then the dragon exhaled, and fire erupted from its jaws, a consuming tide of golden destruction surging toward him.
And then just as the fire was about to swallow him whole, another presence erged within the inferno.
A silhouette erged, a warrior stepping between him and oblivion.
A man dressed in battle-worn armour, his stance unyielding. His blade was already drawn, glowing with a faint, lingering radiance.
Commander Darius.
His back was turned to Boy, but his presence was undeniable. The sa weight the soldiers had spoken of, the sa unwavering strength. And yet, as he raised his sword to et the dragon’s oncoming inferno, Boy felt the bitter sting of realization.
Darius was not here to win. He was here to shield.
The dragon’s mouth did not move, but the words resonated through the void, a voice as deep and endless as the abyss itself.
"What are you?"
Darius swung his sword, a single, powerful slash cutting through the blaze. The attack split for a re mont—but it was not enough.
The fire engulfed him.
Boy watched in horror as the commander was swallowed by the inferno, his form disintegrating into embers.
The sheer force of the attack surged forward, reaching him next, and in that final mont, before the fire took him too, the dragon’s voice echoed once more.
"You strive for power, for strength... But you can’t even ensure your own survival..."
And then, all was nothing.
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