Chapter 22
As the boards on the staircase creak with each step taken, the approach to the door on the second floor tightens his heart with a strong anguish.
His hand trembles over the doorknob. Before him, a door; in his mind, an ocean being illuminated by a cold, distant blue glow.
Even now, the waters sway before his eyes, carrying the small canoes along with their calm waves.
Riley touches the icy knob and recalls the tremor he felt when the canoes were struck by the flaming arrows.
The fire spread quickly, consuming everything around him. Yet, despite knowing it shouldn't be so, even now he can't see his dead companions being consumed by the luminous, destructive fire.
The door opens, revealing a bed surrounded by small lines of flames. In a illusion generated by his mind, waters emerge, replacing the dark wooden floor, swaying the bed as the fire around him spreads.
Running toward the bed and moving his hands quickly, Riley immediately extinguishes the flames.
As he approaches, he can't say anything. His hands threaten to reach for the figure lying on the bed, but they don't even reach halfway.
"You can't leave me... not now..."
Tears fill his eyes, and as they stream down his face, his legs weaken. Simultaneously, his knees hit the ground, falling together with the tears that have gathered on his chin.
Trembling, his hands reach for one of the hands of the figure lying on the bed.
"I... I'm still not ready, mom..., so please..."
His tears fell uncontrollably, dripping repeatedly onto the hands he holds with such tenderness and tremors.
However, despite Riley not noticing immediately..., his eyes weren't the only ones that were wet at that moment, and his hands weren't the only ones trembling.
"Please... please, don't leave me...."
***************
Standing before the door of the Medical Center in the Demon Kingdom, hesitation consumes him. His hands constantly approach the knobs, but never actually touch them.
"What am I doing..."
Taking a step back and turning around, Aiden seems to have put aside the idea of entering through that door.
"No...! I just came to get my jar... it has nothing to do with her."
Turning again and approaching the door, determined and with confidence, Aiden placed his free hand on one of the knobs.
"Yes..., it's just for the jar..."
At the moment he was about to open the door, hesitation crept in again.
It took a lot of willpower for him, while bodies kept pouring through the castle gates, not to run to where Silvia was.
Now, standing before the only thing still separating them, even more willpower is needed to finally open that door.
Pulling the knob, a small crack was opened. A crack large enough for his eyes to see through.
After a few moments, Aiden finally managed to spot Silv amidst that sea of nurses, doctors, patients, and beds.
Seeing her smile was priceless. Her joy immediately warmed his heart, making him unconsciously smile along.
However, his anger soon made itself present again, filling his eyes as he clenches his teeth. For, as good as it is to see her smiling, seeing Silvia using her magic to heal even the slightest of wounds is extremely painful and cruel.
"To throw away her life in such a foolish way... Damn it!"
Crack!
Coming from the door, the sound of something breaking spread throughout the medical center. The investigation led to nothing. When the cause of the noise was searched for, only a pile of shattered glass along with a strange unknown bluish substance was found on the floor, behind the door.
The demonic city remains silent.
Everyone goes about their daily routines, whether it's work or any other tasks, nothing has been set aside. However, lively conversations cannot be heard, and smiles cannot be seen.
When people see Ethan, they try, but the smiles don't come out as expected, no matter how hard they try. Indeed, this is not a day to smile.
The cold isn't the only thing different on such a downcast day. Perhaps it was just something caused by excessive sadness, a strange illusion created by their minds affected by all they've been through lately, but it's not just the demons; Ethan also feels something similar; he feels that even the light emanating from the red moon seems weaker today.
"This is quite unusual," said Clovis, standing next to Ethan on the central bridge of the city.
"I come to the city?"
"Yes, normally, you'd be on the rooftops of the castle right now."
"I..."
Ethan looked around, observing the people on the other side of one of the bridges surrounding him. Sadness was still evident on their faces and in their eyes, which were still teary.
"Is what I'm doing right...?"
"Pardon?" replied Clovis, confused.
Ethan looked down, at the lake beneath the bridge. The red light reflected on those strange waters, and its glow tried to illuminate his clouded thoughts.
"Should I be protecting them? So, is what I'm doing here right?"
"You've dealt with those who would have been the greatest problems for the Kingdom; there's no doubt about that," affirmed Clovis, exuding confidence in his words.
"That's not what I'm talking about, Clovis... It's not the Kingdom."
Ethan lifted his head and pointed to the island across the bridge, pointing to the people who reside there; "It's them. Is what I'm doing here right for them?"
"They are the Kingdom," said Clovis, looking at the demons on the distant island. "Protecting the Kingdom means protecting them."
"But what about those who are dying as we speak? They are also part of the Kingdom; should I not protect them too?"
"Not everyone can be saved," Clovis clenched his fists.
Ethan turned and looked at Clovis, the knight beside him. His red eyes were teary and filling with tears.
"You may be right, but... I will do what my title tells me to do."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I won't stay here much longer... The next time they bring the wounded, I'll go with them to where the real war is happening."
***************
Slow steps are taken in a corridor that seems to have no end. The doors on both walls stretch infinitely, as if the entire Demon Kingdom could be contained in that place.
Clovis stops in front of one of the doors; "Ethan has decided he'll go to the front lines soon, sir."
A rumble echoed through the corridor, followed by an intense tremor that shook the whole place. The black door opened slowly.
The room on the other side of that door extends to nothing more than four square meters. Its walls are indestructible, as is the door that seals it. Nothing can be brought into that place except clothes, not even food or any kind of liquid external to one's body.
Not just a place for intense training, but almost a torture chamber. There, not only your physical but also your mental will be trained to the extreme limit.
A place created exclusively for overcoming any limit you may have been born with, whether physical or mental; and even a limit imposed by the "world."
"The front lines?" questioned the being who emerged from the door, his voice emanating a pressure worthy of the noblest royalty, exuding the power of a king. "Hadn't I said that, for now, it wouldn't happen?"
His long white hair reaches the middle of his back, carrying a messy and spiky look that sways with his steps.
His bulky, muscular body is so large that it prevents any light from reaching Clovis, who follows behind him.
"He can't bear to see bodies entering the gates of the Kingdom without being able to do anything about it anymore, sir... And honestly... neither can I."
The demon king stopped. His grandiose body turned slowly as his red eyes directed toward Clovis; "What?" he questioned, his voice carrying a terrifying pressure.
"I will go with him to the front lines, Your Majesty," said Clovis, bowing in respect but not yielding to the pressure that surrounded him.
"..."
The pressure vanished, and the king turned away, facing away from Clovis; "It's okay now, it doesn't matter anymore. This war has lasted too long. It's time to put an end to it for good," said the king, a monstrous, almost sickening smile beginning to form on his face as he walked down the corridor.
"And maybe we should start with Camelot."