I’d won.
Honestly, it was pretty anticlimactic…
I wondered if I got to keep the flame enchantment on my blade, since it still remained, even a full minute after I watched the last embers float away from the burnt-out corpse of the One they’d once called the Forlorn King. And strangely enough the music still remained, though somewhat subdued at the moment, but not entirely gone.
Then, a black monstrosity crawled from the ashen husk its vessel had become, like some monstrous insect moulting out of its carapace. It was disturbing to watch and made me deathly afraid, despite the overpowered weapon in my hand. Part of me wished the room would just become shrouded in darkness again so I wouldn’t have to look at its malformed, disturbing appearance.[1]
As fast as my feet could carry me, I ran in the opposite direction, seeking the comforting protection of my steadfast pillar, but that thing was faster. The most disturbing part was how silent it was. It was entirely shadow, after all.
I was seized around my stomach and waist by a crushing darkness, which hurled me across the room like one might toss a used towel. Unlike a towel, however, my body cracked as it collided with the solid throne.
I hit the top of the throne shoulder-first and my entire right arm dislocated itself, the shoulder bone torn apart as well. I almost passed out on the spot, but unfortunately the Shadow wasn’t done playing ‘Toss the Human’, and I was pulled from the floor and cast towards the entrance, not too far from where I’d dropped my flaming sword. I didn’t break anything as I landed, but I was already in enough pain as it was, so it wouldn’t have mattered anyway.
Fuck, I thought. This is it. This is how I die.
I tried desperately to scroll through my inventory to grab a healing potion, but by the time I had it in my hand, the Shadow was back for more, and, when I took flight again, the flask fell from my grip and shattered where it landed.
After landing hard on the flagstones and sliding for a bit, I didn’t try to heal but instead ran for my blade. I almost reached it too, but then a deformed black hand slapped me into the nearby pillar, cracking two ribs and punching all the air from my lungs. It didn’t seem like I’d get to die easily.
Distantly, I wondered how much abuse you’d be able to take in this place before it affected you in the real world when you returned. When everyone finally escaped from this otherworldly prison, they’d have phantom pains, PTSD, and several other mental illnesses, of that I was sure.[2]
Using my one good arm, I dragged myself across the floor, heaving for air as if I had forgotten how to breathe properly. Everything hurt. Whether I moved or not, my entire body was on fire with the pain from my shoulder and ribs, not to mention the million bruises I sported all over my body. The dark hadn’t creeped into the edges of my vision yet, but I was dangerously close to losing consciousness with every tug of my body across the dirty floor.
The Shadow hadn’t grabbed me yet, as I slowly advanced towards my sword, but instead stooped over the burnt-out corpse, laughing maniacally to itself in that distorted-and-alien voice, perhaps mistaking the body for mine. Its malformed, abominable outline bulged further outwards and it was suddenly seized by a frenzy, lumbering over towards the throne which it pulled from the floor and slammed repeatedly into the ground, the quakes trembling across the room.
I managed to grasp the hilt of my blade and prop myself up against the pillar it lay next to. The familiar touch of my weapon filled me with the resolve I needed, and while the Forlorn Shadow raged about the room, crashing into the walls and pillars in some monstrous fit, I succeeded in drawing the remaining potion from my inventory and pulled the cork from the flask using my teeth. As the life-giving red liquid washed down my gullet, the air was pumped back into my lungs and the dizziness faded.
That being said though, it hurt like a bitch when my arm returned to its socket, and I involuntarily let out a cry, which echoed across the room and immediately snapped the Shadow out of its frenzy.
With amazing swiftness, the Shadow charged towards me, and I sent out a Quick Draw of my blade that, despite just being a desperate move to scare it away, hit it directly in what was possibly its face. The shadowy abomination had no substance, so there followed no satisfactory feedback as my burning edge passed through it, cleaving its body cleanly in two. The sword subsequently flew from my hand, my shoulder apparently not healed enough to immediately take the abuse I was putting it through.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
But it didn’t matter. This time I was sure I’d won. And no, I wasn’t celebrating early. I saw the entire shadowy abomination dissipate in the air before me, the single burning strike enough to finally end it, and thank the Gods for that or I’d probably have been crushed to death or tossed around the throne room again until it grew bored and killed me properly.
As the epic melody faded into the eerie silence of the castle, I couldn’t help but feel incredibly underwhelmed. I mean, where was my fanfare? My crowd of adoring villagers who I’d saved? My princess in the tower? Nowhere, of course, go figure... Though a small glowing wisp above the burnt-out husk of the King did promise some kind of reward.
As I made my way to it, I made sure to collect my trusty katana, which I had so rudely tossed across the floor. The True Flame had finally vanished from the flawless black edge, its task now fulfilled.
The item I found on the King’s body was honestly really disappointing. It was a ring…
----------------------------------------
‘The King’s Seal’
-Accessory-
Jewellery > Ring
“In the old days, this ring would pass from father to son with every new ascension to the throne. It was said that any King who wore this ring could always tell Right from Wrong. Now its splendour has been corrupted by a Shadow forlorn and any who wear it sees the world through the Shadow’s wicked eyes.”
Trait(s):
‘Possessed’
‘Shadow Eyes’
Equip
Discard
Weight: N/A
----------------------------------------
…Yep, just a ring. A lousy accessory. But then I looked at it properly as it sat there in my inventory. The tooltip showed a rusted gold ring with a clouded, grey gemstone. Along the rim of the socket holding the gem in place were faded, unreadable letters, and inside the gem itself was a blurry image of a dark apparition. The ring was weightless and had two traits attached to it, which surprised me, when I had at first simply assumed it to be a mere accessory that might be worth a small fortune to the right buyer, but nothing more.
And oh, how wrong I was. Looking at their trait descriptions, they read: “The wearer will hear voices” and “The wearer gains the ability to see in the dark”. It was pretty obvious whose voice I’d hear if I put it on, but, even then, I considered it a worthy trade for an ability as powerful as that of being able to see in the dark. Lastly, I read the flavour text at the bottom out loud to myself.
I immediate clicked ‘Equip’ and heard that disturbing voice in my right ear, like the whisperings of a manipulative friend. “How splendidly it hides the Sun. Seek the blade,” it simply said and then vanished. The dark throne room was then washed over by a wave of grey and a flickering amber that set the outlines of all nearby surroundings aflame in its strange light. For some reason the Sight hadn’t been available to the Shadow while it rested in the husk of the King, but I attributed that curious fact to the corruption of the King’s eyes, which I’d noticed when I’d seen him in the lantern light.
While I admired my amber-and-grey surroundings, a soft ping sounded in my ear, like an electronic bee buzzing within my ear canal. Looking at my skill menu, I saw one new available point to upgrade. Because I think better when I’m seated, I planted my ass on the filthy floor, which in the Sight of my new ring was unfortunately revealed to be far more disgusting than I could’ve ever imagined.[3]
This time, I had three abilities available to choose from: ‘Triple Lacerate’, ‘Helm-Splitter’, and ‘Ghost Blade’. Triple Lacerate would add a third slash to the Lacerate ability, which seemed useless when compared to what the other two offered. The description of ‘Helm-Splitter’ stated, “With the katana raised above your head, slam the blade down hard enough to shatter armour and bone.” As a new addition, the skill had traits, which stated that it was ‘Unblockable’ and ‘Impossible to deflect or parry’. The third-and-last option was called ‘Ghost Blade’ and had the same traits. The ability itself said, “When used, the next normal katana strike will pass through any defence.” I liked the sound of being able to bypass any defence, but ended up going with Helm-Splitter, since it seemed the most useful. If I’d had this ability when I’d fought Captain Tabian in the tournament, then he wouldn’t have given me so much trouble. Granted, Ghost Blade would also have done the trick in that scenario, but I suppose that I just liked the idea of being able to break armour as opposed to bypassing it, not to mention the fact that my ‘Passing Breeze’ already did bypass most types of armour I’d encountered, and so being able to break the armour, which I couldn’t bypass with my blade, seemed the most logical option.
----------------------------------------
[1] I suppose this is the point where I admit to celebrating too early. My bad…
[2] Though one could hope the Watcher was a benevolent deity, who’d wipe everyone’s bad memories as a reward for conquering his wicked trial.
[3] If what you are picturing is: fifty-or-more years of collected dust, animal droppings, old dried blood, and scattered body parts, with a side of smashed bone fragments; then you are on the right track.