I ran.
Breathless.
As if fire itself were chasing me.
There was nothing left that wasn't stone.
Panic flooded me.
When I finally reached the castle gates, I threw myself inside.
"Dad!" I screamed.
No answer.
No one came running.
My voice echoed back at me, hollow, as if the castle had turned into a cavern.
I don't think I've ever felt anything like that before.
It was so overwhelming my throat closed on itself, like I couldn't breathe anymore.
The maids.
The pages.
Frozen in the strangest positions, caught mid-run.
Like my mother, they were statues of black stone.
My chest tightened.
I stopped running.
I moved through the corridors slowly now, senses razor-sharp, half-expecting an enemy to leap out from every corner.
The statues walked beside me.
Then I saw more.
These shattered something deep inside me.
I recognized them one by one.
The knight trainees from the training grounds lay scattered across the floor—
terrible gashes carved into their bodies, terror etched into their faces.
Nearby, stone swords.
Stone spears.
Stone shields, abandoned where they had fallen.
The floor was smeared with petrified blood.
Everywhere.
My head was spinning.
I don't know who did this, but whoever it was…
they enjoyed it.
Killing.
Terrifying.
Destroying.
I stepped closer to Ghrian.
My best friend.
I reached out to touch him—and my hands began to shake violently.
Tears blurred everything.
I couldn't see anymore.
I ran.
Again.
And at last, I reached the Throne Room.
I forced myself to breathe.
To stand tall.
And I entered.
"Dad?"
I looked around.
He wasn't there.
But at the far end of the hall, beneath the family tapestry—
"Helbert! What did they do to you? Please—answer me!"
Helbert.
Dad's advisor.
My fairy friend.
I screamed and knelt beside him, lifting him carefully into my hands.
His eyes were wide open.
But he wasn't stone.
I don't know why he was still normal like me—but he didn't move.
I rocked him gently.
Called his name.
Stroked his face.
Nothing.
No breath.
No life.
When I finally understood there was nothing I could do, I closed his eyes and laid him on my father's throne.
In that moment—
I don't know how to explain it—
something inside me changed.
An unnatural calm washed over me.
I prayed to the Great Universal Sage to protect that small, fragile body.
Then I stood up and walked away.
I crossed the corridors again, weaving through petrified soldiers.
I pretended I didn't know them.
Pretended they were just grim, tasteless decorations.
And I kept searching for my father.
I found him outside the Treasury.
Kneeling.
Collapsed forward.
Hands bound behind his back.
His face twisted in agony.
Stone.
I tried to lift him—too heavy.
Tried to free him—but how do you untie knots made of stone?
There was nothing I could do for him either.
Then I noticed the door to the Treasury was open.
Had this been… a theft?
I didn't want to believe it.
All this horror—
for jewels and coins?
I had to know.
I went inside.
And I saw it.
The display case that held the Sigillum Maximum—
our Golden Scroll—
destroyed.
Nothing remained but fine dust and scattered shards of blackened metal across the floor.
I picked one up.
Stared at it.
I didn't know what to think anymore.
The room was overflowing with treasure.
All stone, yes—but untouched.
Nothing missing.
Had they planned to steal it all, only to realize stone was worthless?
And why destroy the Scroll?
My breathing turned shallow.
My legs gave out.
I sat down.
I was wrapped in a silence I had never known before.
The only sound left was my own heart, pounding wildly in my chest.
I was—
I am—
completely alone.
I didn't know what to do.
Then my mother's words returned to me.
"This is the gateway to the Elven Realm…
The magical Knight of the Golden Light…
A powerful elf…
Find him…
He will help you…"
I don't even know what an elf truly looks like.
But if my mother told me to find him, then I will.
No matter the cost.
Maybe he can help me bring them back.
Mom.
Dad.
Helbert.
Ghrian.
Everyone.
I stood up, a new resolve burning inside me.
I left the castle and returned here.
Before the cave, I paused and looked at my mother's statue.
"I will bring you back," I promised.
Then I took a deep breath—and stepped inside.
At that moment, the stone entrance Eloria had summoned vanished.
Now I am wrapped in darkness.
There is no going back.
Only forward.
-----
My footsteps are music.
The sound of victory.
Even the shadows cast by these towering torches seem to celebrate me—
look how tall they make me, how regal.
A true ruler's silhouette.
I can't wait to announce the success of the mission to King Bàistec.
There he is.
That useless, bought-and-sold elf.
Sitting, as always, on his precious wooden stump, doing absolutely nothing.
"Announce me. The King is expecting me."
He stands.
Bows.
Enters.
So much servility.
I feel an urge to slit his throat.
He comes back out—and just stands there, staring into nothing.
Infuriating.
"Oh, pointy ears! Wake up! What did he say? Can I come in or not?"
I snap, yanking him by the sleeve.
At last he snaps out of it and looks at me.
Terrified.
My gaze must be savage.
"Ah—oh—yes, yes… I—I apologize, Prince. Please. Please."
He sinks into yet another useless bow.
There's something odd about him.
Exhausted, I'd say.
Not my problem.
Move.
This is my moment.
I finally step inside.
My father approaches—his massive body wrapped in dark, coarse fur so thick it looks like a second skin.
Bulging eyes.
A fleshy, blunt nose.
Short for an orc.
Far too tall for me.
At least six meters.
One day I'm going to get permanent neck pain.
He looks agitated.
"There you are at last! Well, Dorcha—what news do you bring me?"
I puff up like a strutting turkey, already savoring his reaction.
Joy.
Pure joy.
"Excellent news, Father. The Golden Scroll… has been destroyed."
I announce it proudly, lifting my chin to watch his face.
He goes pale.
Silent.
Is he so happy he's speechless?
Then his expression twists into something indescribable.
He explodes.
"Idiot! Who told you to destroy it?! You were not supposed to destroy it! You were supposed to bring it to me!"
Idiot?
Has he lost his mind?
"But… Father—"
"By the Universal Sage! That's why we're in darkness!"
Now I panic too.
Darkness?
What does that mean?
I didn't cause the darkness!
"That can't be the reason, Father!"
He looks at me with a fury so intense my blood freezes.
I'm embarrassed.
Confused.
I don't understand.
He seems to force himself to calm down, then starts speaking rapidly.
"The Scroll was the living core of the Realms that form our world! Without it, I can no longer seize absolute power! And as if that weren't enough, we're plunged into darkness! Your mother was right—you're incompetent!"
"But… no. That's impossible!"
I shout it with everything I have.
IMPOSSIBLE.
This can't be my fault.
"Oh, it is very possible! Have you forgotten the words of the Eternal Conclave?
Peace shall endure in the Great Realm only while the Golden Scroll exists.
For within the celestial seal rests its fate; it must remain in a Realm of Light so that the Just Sovereign may rule.
And the plan was simple: steal the Scroll, become the new Just Sovereign, and bring light to the Storm Realm as well! Light, Dorcha! Not darkness! It wasn't that hard to understand!"
I lower my gaze, humiliated.
Still—this isn't fair.
After everything I did, I don't deserve this treatment.
And besides… "just ruler."
Ha.
I answer.
"There's a small flaw in the plan, Your Majesty. You are not just."
I probably shouldn't have said that.
He's furious again.
"How dare you, ungrateful wretch! I am more than just—I am perfectly just!
If someone kills, I have them killed.
I recruit the starving into my army and feed them in exchange for their service.
I teach young orcs to use mud and stone so they can build new, magnificent structures to expand my court and my home!
Who—who is more just than me?!"
I clench my fists.
Hold my breath.
Calm down.
He is still my father.
"No one, my Lord. You are right."
"Of course I am. I am always right. Now enough of this nonsense—tell me: what became of the King, the Queen, the Princess of Nuvolandia, and their impertinent fairy pet?"
"The fairy is dead. I killed him."
"Good. One less nuisance."
"The King was petrified. The entire kingdom was. Inhabitants included."
He looks shaken.
"Petrified? Did you do it?"
"No…"
For a moment, he seems lost in thought.
"It can only be tied to the Sigillum… Does that apply to the Queen and the Princess as well?"
"I didn't see them, but… I think so."
He advances on me threateningly, lifts me with a single finger, and brings me right up to his face.
I glance down.
So high.
He opens his mouth.
The stench of his breath hits me—
it's unbearable.
"I think? You think?! 'I think' is not certainty, fool! We're going to the Royal Seer. Move!"
He slams me to the ground and storms toward the exit.
It hurts—but I don't dare complain.
I scramble to my feet and run after him.