The queen of the zeryn kingdom.
The moment vannesa tooked them and left… my life was finished.
The world became quiter... Not because the battle had stopped, The clashes of steel still echoed beyond the walls in the palace ground, Explosions still shook the palace. but my sole reason to live was gone.
My children were gone.
Alex—just a eight years old little boy.
Ciel—my first child only twelve years old girl.
For a brief moment after Vennesa leapt from that window, I stood there… unmoving. My eyes still fixed of the that window, begun to tremble faintly.
I could still feel their warmth. The way Ciel clung to me.
The way Alex declined to go, his voice breaking as he shouted.
"…I should have ran with them."
The words escaped before i could understand what i was about to say.
A whisper, filled with selfishness.
My chest tightened painfully, and for just a second—just one—I imagined it.
Running with them.
Abandoning my own kingdom.
Leaving this cursed kingdom behind.
I wanted to be... just a normal mother.
"…I could have…"
No.
I slapped my cheeks gently to come back to my senses.
I closed my eyes slowly.
And when they opened again, that selfishness was gone.
"I couldn't."
Because I am the 24th queen of the zeryn.
Because this kingdom… no matter how small it is, no matter how fragile it is… was our to protect.
And because of that…
My family was destroyed.
A bitter smile formed on my lips, tears fell from my eyes.
"…All this… for a little kingdom..."
My fist tightened slightly.
I turned to the door.
If only...If only you were here.
The king, my husband.
The man who once stood for me, who was strong enough to make even enemies hesitate.
"…Why did you choose that way… you stupid idiot... you knew that, didn't you?"
The question lingered in my mind, heavy, shaking and unanswered.
There was no time to waste on it. No time to be sad or emotional, i only have to stall time now.
Because the war had already reached my door and the defeat was certain but one last thing I could do is to protect them.
I heard footsteps.
Quick and loud.
I turned slightly as two figures entered the room, both clad in armor and were carrying the presence of dependable warriors.
"Your Majesty," the first one spoke, bowing slightly despite the urgency in his voice.
Axel reynolds
His yellow armor was stained with blood, dents and cuts showing the brutality of the battle he had endured.
"They've entered the palace."
Of course they had.
I didn't react.
I knew but still asked. "Report."
Axel straightened. "Multiple parts of the palace have been destroyed. Inner gaurds defeated."
Before he could continue, the second knight who wore the special black armour of the zeryn kingdom stepped forward.
Grim Carter.
The strongest knight within the palace.
The mentor of vennesa.
His presence alone felt enough, more deciplined—like a blade that had cut through countless fights and never faltered.
"…The citizens," I asked quietly. "What of them, are they good?"
There was a pause.
Grim's jaw tightened slightly in anger.
"Those near the palace…" he replied, his voice low, "many are heavily injured."
He let out a deep breath.
"…Some of them died."
"And our soldiers?" i asked.
"…Not enough." he answered without any kind of hesitation.
Simply not enough to stop them.
Not enough to stop the red knight.
I nodded slowly.
Then turned and looked towards the room's open door.
"Open the path to the Dragon Hall."
Both of them froze.
"…Your Majesty?" axel asked, doubt clear in his voice.
Grim frowned slightly. "That place is sealed by your ancestors for a reason."
"They will force their way in anyway," I replied calmly. "If the Dragon Sword falls into their hands, everything ends here."
None of them questioned.
Then.
"…Understood."
Axel hesitated again before speaking. "Your Majesty… your back…"
I glanced at him and let out a sigh. He was strong but still young.
"It was the first attack."
Their expressions sharpened.
"The blast was meant for me," I continued. "I avoided the direct hit… but the palace didn't. Fragments, stones and broken bricks. That strucked my back."
Axel tightened his fist until it blead.
Grim couldn't say anything.
But I could see it.
Their anger... And helplessness.
I looked at the beds of my children. Alexcious' football, ciel's dolls. Their toys. At last I saw their wooden sword laying down of the floor.
"Move," I said.
We ran.
Through corridors splashed with blood.
Through halls that held only death.
The deeper we went, the heavier it became.
Until—
They appeared.
Ashrahan soldiers, Blocking the path.
Axel didn't wait.
He charged forward, his blade covered in stone particals. He used his stone magic to cut through the first soldier before he could even react.
Grim followed immediately with his long dark black scythe. "die!!" he shouted. His movements were precise and lethal—each strike ending a life.
"Go, Your Majesty, we can't take them all they are too many" Axel shouted.
I didn't look back, i couldn't look back.
I moved forward, their battle fading behind me as I reached the massive doors at the end of the corridor.
The Dragon Hall...
Ancient, giant, dark and durable.
I placed my hand against the giant door.
Blue mana flowed from my body into the door.
ancient symbols lit up in response.
For a moment—
Nothing happened.
Then—
The giant door began to open.
Slowly and heavily.
Creaking loudly.
Revealing the emptiness within.
I stepped inside.
It was silence, deep and unnatural.
The hall stretched endlessly, its walls lined and was older than the kingdom itself. At it's center… an altar.
And upon it—
Nothing.
The sword wasn't there.
It was supposed to be waiting to choose its wielder.
They say it's capable of killing even the Dragon King.
If such a being still existed.
"…So this is the heart of Zeryn."
My head tensed.
I turned back slowly, he stood there, right at the giant door.
The red knight.
His armor… drenched in blood, the blood of our people. And he himself was unscratched.
His presence felt wrong, heavy and oppressive.
His presence felt like as if it doesn't belong in this world, Like he was something else.
"…I expected something... grander," he
continued, stepping towards me. "Don't you think it's Strange that how such a... small kingdom holds something so… valuable."
I didn't say anything.
He tilted his head slightly, his eyes locked up on me.
"And you… you must be the queen."
He stared at me.
"…I imagined that you'd be much older."
I met his eyes.
"And I imagined you'd be… powerful."
A faint smile appeared on his lips, but there was irritation beneath it.
That's Good, i can lure him.
"Still," he continued, "you're… my type, i could make you my concubine."
Disgusting, this man is too despicable.
"I would never choose... you, even if i become insane i would still... never choose you." I replied coldly, looking into his crimson eyes.
"In fact… you may be the person I hate the most."
I stepped forward slightly, while pulling out my sword out of sheath.
"And I already have a husband."
My voice didn't waver.
"A loving one."
He didn't dared to say a word.
"And two children."
His despicable smile faded.
"…Children?" he repeated. "Where are they?"
I hesitated for a brief moment.
I don't want him to hurt them.
"…Somewhere safe." I replied coldly.
He looked at me.
Then laughed, Loudly.
Too despicable.
"Then let's make this easy for us," he said.
"Give me the Dragon Sword… and tell me where they are—your children i will end them, so that you could be mine." He offered.
His eyes darkened.
"I will let you live as one of my concubine."
His words echoed in my head as insult
I could never hate anyone as mush as i hate him.
I laughed, softly with confidence and coldness.
"Do you really think that someone like me would trade my children and honour… just so i could live!" I exclaimed. "moreover to live as... your concubine?!"
My gaze sharpened.
"You're not just a monster."
I took another step.
"You're a fool. A despicable dog!"
The air shifted.
His smile changed, from fun to serious.
"You gave a wrong answer and even dared to insult me." He said anger visible on his despicable face
He dashed, like a flash of light.
His sword ignited with fire as it came towards me.
I barely managed to dodge, his swing
The heat alone scorched the air and a part of my face got burned from my nose to my left side of the jaw.
We clashed.
Again and again, yet i was the only one was getting hurt and burned.
Each strike more powerful than before.
My body screamed in pain with every blink, the wound on my back begun to tear further, blood loss slowed me down.
My whole back was covered in blood.
But I didn't stop, how could i? I still had to buy more time for them.
Because every second—mattered, Eventually… i was cornered.
My breath uneven, My vision blurred.
At the end i depleted my mana.
His blade pressed against my throat.
"This is the last chance," he said quietly. "Let me kill your children and take that sword... And eventually make you my concubine." He smiled like a maniac
"…Or else I'll kill you."
He paused.
"…And find them myself." He continued further.
For a moment i didn't said anything neither did he.
Then—I smiled, widely.
And used the last of my strength—my mana turned dark blue and begun to orbit around me.
"Water Magic."
A surge of force shooked between us, pushing him back.
"…Soul World: deep dark ocean" I opened my soul dimension.
Everything changed.
The hall disappeared.
Water surrounded us, the water that was from the deapts of the ocean.
The Endless flood.
My sword completely dissolved into liquid and formed as a blade of pure water.
My hair turned blue.
My eyes—Burned gold.
Power surged through me.
Overwhelming and unstable.
This was my last true strength, my soul world.
But—My body…it Couldn't handle it.
My bleeding increased the water around me turned red as my blood mixed in it.
The power slipped and got out of control.
"…So this is your true power," he said and then a pause
"… It's not enough to even scrach me."
He moved, only once.
Landed a single strike with all his might.
His sword covered in fire a, fire that was burning even it the domain of a ocean.
Flames tore through the water. And he slashed me right on my neck.
The world returned.
The hall.
The floor beneath me flooded with a layer of water that remained from my magic.
I couldn't move or even breathe.
The pain… was fading.
"…Pathetic," he muttered, turning away as he looked the alter and begun searching the hall
But I didn't hear him anymore.
Because my thoughts… were somewhere else.
Alexcious.
Ciel.
I saw them—both of them.
Laughing.
Running.
Fighting over nothing.
Just like everytime dispite the gap between their ages.
"…Again!" Ciel's voice echoed in my memory.
"…I win!" she laughed.
And Alex—
Trying so hard to act strong. Even when he wasn't, just like his father was before our graduation.
My eyes flooded with tears.
Then, another memory.
Softer, warmer and preserved.
"…Hey, love," a voice that I wanted to hear the most.
I was laying on the bed, i turned.
And there he was.
My husband.
Just after my labour he was holding something in his arms with high carefulness.
His expression—was gentle, filled with love.
"…My dear Princia," he said softly.
He leaned closer.
"…It's a baby girl, we will name her ciel."
I remember reaching out.
Taking her in my arms.
She was so small, so fragile and so weak.
Ciel.
"…She has your eyes and our hair," he said.
I smiled.
Back then… everything felt endless. Peaceful.
"Was it... enough? Was i really able to save them? I want to see you all again."
The words barely left my lips. Almost like a wishper.
My vision blurred.
Because somewhere—far away—my children were still running. I felt it.
Please stay alive... You don't have take revenge for me... Just live a be happy.
And that… will be enough...
To be continued...