Shadow Slave: Immortal Ice

Gasp

Suddenly, Eirwen's eyes snapped open as he greedily gasped for air. His lungs desperate to fill after what felt like an eternity without any oxygen. His chest heaved, and he immediately bolted upright, only to wince through gritted teeth as a burning ache surged through his arms and shoulders.

He expected himself to wake up on that damned bed, bound by chains again, but no. Fortunately he hadn't died.

"Your Royal Highness!" a rough voice called out from Eirwen's left.

Turning his head, he saw a broad, tanned young man with a sharp, angular face and a crooked nose. His dark short hair clung to his forehead, wet with sweat. His face was painted with concern, his chest rising and falling heavily as if he'd just sprinted across a battlefield.

Eirwen shot him a quick glance before looking down at his legs. His breath caught, and his eyes widened as the realization hit him like a train. Below his left knee there was quite literally nothing.

A surge of fury spread across his face, his lips pressing into a thin, tight line. His teeth gritted audibly as anger boiled within him. 'A cripple? Are you kidding me?!' he cursed silently, his fists clenching as his knuckles turned white.

The man followed Eirwen's gaze and swallowed hard, his voice low and heavy. "We... we had to amputate that part, Your Royal Highness. It was just a mesh..." He spoke as if apologizing for a personal failure, his eyes down and filled with guilt.

If Eirwen wasn't surrounded by so many knights, he would have slammed against the floor with his fists in attempts to vent his anger, but he couldn't do that. Eirwen still had to play the role of whoever he was. 'What if the prince was the stoic type?' he pondered bitterly, forcing himself to inhale deeply. Perhaps the real prince wouldn't even flinch at the sight of a missing leg. His teeth clenched, but he channelled every ounce of his self-control into swallowing his fury.

"Thank you," Eirwen said before meeting the knights gaze, "You are?" He asked emotionlessly. "Bernard...?" The knight answered after a second.

Eirwen sighed and scooted back to sit against a wall. He noticed that they were somewhere else now. "Where are we? And where are the other forces? Don't tell me you guys are the only defence left?" He bombarded Bernard with questions.

"We are in the barracks on the ground level, your Royal Highness. And I do not know where the others are unfortunately. I just know that most of our forces perished when all of this started. The previous commander made me the leader, since I was closest to Ascending further. They all rushed to save our Majesty," Bernard reported, his voice clearly showing how exhausted he was.

'He's not that important, that's why he didn't question why I didn't know him…' Eirwen quickly processed the new information, doing his best to avoid looking at his missing calf. 'This also means the Prince doesn't really care about his people if he doesn't even know his own guards,' he grinned. That meant he could pretty much act as himself and didn't have to pretend to care for them.

'I suppose there is at least one Saint or Master, probably more, among them. How come they send so many for the King, but only sent one singular group for the Prince? Was I that disliked? Also, since they call me the Royal Highness, I must be the heir too,' He concluded his thoughts.

Now Eirwen wasn't sure whether it was appropriate to ask what exactly happened, so he let that be for now. Instead, he asked something else, "Where are the main enemy forces?"

Bernard paused for a brief moment, his heavy, spiked black armor catching the dim light. The plates rose high around his neck, resembling a thick, protective collar. Without the helmet, his sharp features were more apparent, though Eirwen dismissed that thought quickly.

"I'd assume most are on the opposite side of the castle," Bernard finally replied. "Or in the private wing, where His Majesty Himself resides. Most of the tremors and explosions are coming from that direction."

Eirwen nodded stiffly, wincing as he braced himself against the wall and pushed upright on one leg. The raw disgust he felt at his crippled state burned in his chest in the form of pure anger, but the thought of ending himself and restarting the cycle -despite knowing he could- didn't even cross his mind.

Bernard moved to assist him, his massive, gloved hand reaching out, but Eirwen slapped it away with a sharp gesture. "Don't you have any healers among your men?" he asked coldly, his voice showing just how close he was to snapping.

The commander straightened; his movements disciplined like a true knight. Eirwen thought he was trying too much, but he liked the feeling of power he had over him. It was like he was playing some game. Now that he even had his own "save/load" option he started to take this slightly less seriously -except for when he was fighting. Not that he would use that "load" option though, Eirwen did not want to die again whatsoever. After experiencing death for around eight times he has had enough.

"They did everything they could, Your Royal Highness. Unfortunately… this was all."

The Prince's brow twitched in frustration as he pushed himself upright, balancing on one leg while pressing a palm against the cold wall. Around him, the knights were scattered, some resting, others quietly chatting or thoroughly cleaning their weapons.

The room they occupied was cramped and rather ugly, resembling a storage area tucked within a barrack. Its walls were made from black stone, rough and imposing, while the sparse furniture was crafted from dark wood. Eirwen's gaze swept over the whole place, his lip twitching. 'What a depressing place,' he mused. And the Knights somehow had to live here and then have the motivation to protect the royalty.

Eirwen sighed sharply, frustration clearly visible across his pristine face as he glanced up at Bernard. He hated doing that. Looking up at someone worse than him. "Escort me to the throne room," he commanded, his tone sharp. He was careful, aware that asking for directions outright could reveal that he didn't know anything about the Castles structure.

'Perhaps I'm overthinking this,' he mused bitterly, his teeth clenching. 'He's just some weak knight who got left behind with his useless group.' But that thought quickly gave way to a surge of anger he barely managed to suppress. 'And now I have to rely on this idiot because I'm a damn cripple!' His nails dug into his palm, this helplessness fueling his burning rage.

Just as Bernard opened his mouth to respond, Eirwen's vision darkened, a fog appearing in his line of sight, and his hearing abruptly vanished. His expression stiffened as he fought with the sudden shift. 'Am I blacking out again?!' he thought slightly panicking.

But no, he neither fainted nor died. Instead, something entirely unforeseen occurred.

A faint whisper, sounding like countless voices in a choir, crept into his ear. The ethereal whispers seemed to echo from within his skull. "Kill them all, soak this place in their blood, and I will give you your leg back. A simple deal."

Eirwen's eyes widened in alarm, but he shook his head, as though trying to shake away the voices. 'What is this? Am I losing my mind? Or is my own anger playing tricks on me now?'

Suddenly, Bernard's voice cut through Eirwen's stupor, pulling him back to reality. "That's why I think we should just stay here and wait, Your Royal Highness." He finished what seemed like a report. Great, Eirwen had missed everything because of some schizophrenic episode in his head.

Eirwen's eyes widened again. He could have sworn he heard a scoff echo in his mind.

"I don't care," Eirwen snapped, his tone sharp. "We need to go to the throne room immediately." He didn't even wait for Bernard to repeat himself. He didn't care what the commander thought. He was just a projection anyway.

Bernard's eyes widened slightly, but he quickly nodded.

With a swift turn, his armor rustled as he took a few steps back. He raised his voice, shooting it across the room. "I want you all prepared in five minutes. We are going to the throne room!"

Eirwen scoffed amusedly before turning and leaning his back on the wall. Now was the time to see what Memory he received from slaying that damned Elephant creature.

He dove into the Soul Sea and the first thing he noticed, was that his leg was fully healed in there. That only made him angrier.

With a scoff he cursed and summoned the Runes to his new Memory:

Memory Name: [Bone Gauntlet]

Memory Rank: Awakened

Memory Tier: II

Memory Type: Weapon

'An Awakened Weapon? Finally, I can't keep using that knight's sword,' he thought.

Memory Description: [The fearsome Column Elephants once roamed the Gardens of Hell, until one day their Lord grew weary of them and cast them into a sleeping volcano, transforming them into the terrifying creatures they are now.]

Eirwen chuckled, 'Interesting'

Memory Enchantments: [Bone Blades] [Sturdy]

[Bone Blades] Enchantment Description: [The Gauntlets can release long, sharp bone blades from the forearms. When the blades are summoned, the overall toughness of the Bone Gauntlets decreases, but the strength increases significantly.]

[Sturdy] Enchantment Description: [In their original form, the Gauntlets are incredibly sturdy and durable, capable of being used as a shield or for parrying. They can absorb one attack within a 24-hour period.]

"Pretty good," he mumbled with a nod. "I can't use them as a real weapon, but at least they'll work as a shield."

Just when he closed the Runes and attempted to fall back into reality, a set of Runes appeared in front of him.

[Accept the deal?]

[Yes] [No]

"Huh? What Deal?" Eirwen asked out loud, scratching his nape and the hair that fell there.

Answering his questions the Runes expanded and now they read:

[Kill every human in the barracks, spilling as much blood as possible and quenching the #######'s thirst. In return They promise to fully heal your body.]

[Effect immediate on accept]

[Humans killed: 0/9]

Eirwen's eyes widened as he looked down at the Runes.

'What the actual fuck…'