Kallisto
An alluring sound resonated through the ballroom walls as the musicians played a festive tune. Glass chandeliers hung from the glorious beamed ceiling and the marble floor gleamed in the candlelight. He always found balls suffocating and bothersome. The way the nobles smoke veiled complements, or how they looked at him-eyes scrutinizing his every move as if telling him: You don't belong here. He always stuck out like a sore thumb during these events, the other nobles never even approached him.
The strong scent of expensive perfumes wafted across the ballroom distracting him from his train of thought- lilac, cinnamon, vanilla. The way they mixed together creating a strong, indescribable aroma hurt his nose. He scrunched his nose. Somehow, he found being in the battlefield more comforting than being here. At least he had people-knights he could rely on there, fighting to survive had brought them closer. In a way maybe being thrown into the battlefield was a blessing in disguise.
Kallisto fought the urge to smack the king in the face. He has just gotten back from a monster subjugation expedition (courtesy of the king) where he was almost eaten by a giant eight-armed cyclops, burned to death by a fire-breathing snake, and run over by a stampede of 6-foot-tall wolves. He was beyond exhausted but the king somehow thought it was a good idea to make him attend a ball.
At least the ballroom was pretty enough. The nobles took their time chattering, some drinking wine while others gossiping about the latest trends in high society. The ballroom was encased with tall glass windows and four balconies on each side making the moonlight illuminate the room. Scoffing, Kallisto pivoted his heels towards the balcony. The fact that the nobles were idly talking and basking in luxury while the kingdom's citizens were dying at the hands of monsters made bile rise in his stomach-it almost made him barf.
"Duke Dreiyling, congratulations on your recent expedition!" A voice called from behind him. Inwardly, Kallisto rolled his eyes. Outwardly his face ached with a polite smile he maintained for the last two hours. "Ah yes! I appreciate the compliment Count Vernon, although It would be a stretch to call the expedition a success given the number of Casualties," Kallisto said with a smile. He took a glass of champagne offered by one of the gloved servers and took a sip, trying to recapture the feelings of excitement that had buzzed through his veins as he hurried through the forest earlier that day and forget about this disgusting pig in front of him.
He started twisting his mustache and looked at Kallisto head to toe—something that would have been considered rude according to imperial etiquette if not for the given circumstances. He laughed boisterously catching the attention of a few nobles. Kallisto mentally cursed, looks like Count Vernon was planning to cause a scene. "Indeed, it would be. I heard this year's wave was far larger than last year's. Most in the knight's order have been gravely injured. It's quite a miracle you however came out of the battlefield unscathed." He said in a mocking tone. Kallisto fought the urge to punch him right in the face. Of course, they would be gravely injured you made us fight straight into a mob of monsters.
His stepmother's words rang in his head. "You shouldn't let them get to you darling. They're simply jealous of how amazing and talented and kind and handsome and.." The voice trailed off. She would continue listing all kinds of compliments about him and poked his tummy at every compliment.
"Given the circumstances, it was inevitable for everyone to complete the expedition uninjured." Kallisto masked his anger with a calm façade and took another glass of champagne from one of the servers and offered it to the count. "I completely understand young Duke! The knights' order was only competent enough to protect you and not themselves. Of course, how could they let his grace; the duke return with a scar right?" The count said in a mocking tone. Was he implying that he simply stood by and cowered in the back lines while the other knights fought monsters?! Blood boiled in Kallisto's ears he wanted to undress right there and show the count just how many scars he received from the battle.
A murmur erupted among the nobles who were obviously eavesdropping on their conversation. No matter how much people glorify the upper class, they were nothing more than egotistical people who seek enjoyment through gossip and the humiliation of others. "Allow me to address your ignorance count Vernon, it seems you are unaware of the commonplace tasks of the imperial knights since you spend your days holed up in your estate…fattening yourself" I smiled and took a sip from my glass. I could see his face turn red with anger and perhaps embarrassment. Hah what an idiot indeed.
He was about to retort when a voice announced the arrival of the king.
"Announcing the arrival of His Majesty Erthea Lehonhardth Eon III, the great ruler of the kingdom of Eon!" Even from a distance his from projected power befitting that of a king. Kallisto bowed my head along with the other nobles present. The emperor raised his hands signaling us to raise our heads. His arrival signaled the start of the ball and the moment he descended from the flight of stairs the nobles started dancing to the music. Kallisto sighed he wanted to leave before the king arrived. He was almost sure he would send off another monster-killing expedition.
The tune shifted into a waltz as King Erthea made his way into the ballroom greeting the nobles along the way. Just looking at the nobles dancing made Kallisto's legs ache. Another hour of standing and he was sure his legs would give out. Then suddenly a strong gust of wind blew the candlelights enveloping the ballroom in uneasy darkness. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness he saw a shadow from the moonlight that seeped into the ballroom. "Duck!" He yelled. The nobles looked around confused then the music stopped. A loud shriek echoed across the ballroom. Kallisto ducked in time and brought his overcoat over his head as the glass windows shattered. Instantly, dozens of stymphs-giant flesh-eating birds flew into the ballroom in a strong tornado of black feathers. The nobles screamed in fear, some were clutching their wounded arms and legs from the explosion.
Stymphs looked like normal birds, except for the fact that they were as tall as a grown man, the smallest one being at least 5 feet. They circled the ballroom as if inspecting their prey, wondering which one would taste the most delicious. They got really impatient quickly because some of the swooped down and grabbed a random person with their razor-sharp talons. The stymphs flew chaotically above head, bumping into columns, walls, and chandeliers. The giant double doors of the ballroom swung open and an army of royal guards marched inside.
"Protect the King!"
They raised their swords and willed them to turn into spears which they threw at the flying birds. He watched in terror as they plucked nobles from the ground one by one and flung them into the air, catching them just before they hit the ground with their giant beaks. His hand slid to his waist where his word would have been.
It wasn't there.
He cursed and made a mental note to himself: Never go anywhere without your sword. He focused on the wind around him, focusing them on a singular point. A surge of energy surged through his veins like he was being struck by lightning. He swung his hands in a horizontal line and two birds in front of him were cut in half. He ducked and rolled, making blades out of the air to cut any stymph than charged at him as he raced towards the king.
In the corner of his eye, he saw nobles fleeing towards the door only to be stopped midway where they were either crushed, eaten, or taken for a flight (Which they would never come out of alive).
He sighed as he slid under the foot of a stymph in an attempt to get a sword between its legs. When he reached the sword, he raised it and cut the stymph in half. Another stymph charged at him from above, he waved his hand, and a blade of air cut it in half. He tried his best to help the nobles along his way, distracting the stymphs before cutting them down but there were just too many of them. He summoned a gust of wind and 3 stymphs were blown towards the wall are they hit their heads at collapsed.
Kallisto didn't know how they even reached this far into the kingdom without being shot at the border. He felt his legs quiver halfway through the ballroom, exhaustion from the travel earlier that day finally catching up to him. His arms felt heavy as he swung his sword at another stymph. Kallisto used too much of his powers yesterday at the battlefield and it looks like he couldn't muster another blade of air.
He looked towards the end of the room, there the king stood terrified surrounded by a dozen royal guards who were slowly plucked one by one by the stymphs.
Reinforcements came thundering through the door. Thank goodness. Kallisto thought to himself. This was the 4th Knight's order that entered-an the order of knights solely to protect the king. The archers took their aim and took down the Stymphs above heads.
"Commander, we await your orders!" They exclaimed in unison.
"What are you waiting for? Take them down, protect the king. Make enough breathing space for the nobles to escape the ballroom!"
I yelled at them. They shouted 'understood' and drew their swords. Soon Stymphs collapsed one by one. All of the knight's order were filled with transcendents like him, this made killing monsters easier-well as easy as killing monsters could get. A wall of flames enveloped each of the broken glass windows and balconies burning the stymohs that attempted to enter the ballroom "Thanks, Aki!" Kallisto yelled as he passed the brown-haired knight whose fingertips were smoking slightly from the magic.
Kallisto reached the king and held out his hand to him. "We have to get you out of her your majesty!" The king glared at him as if saying: I don't need help from the likes of you. A stymph swooped down about to tackle the king before an arrow shot it in the head and it crumpled like paper. The shivering king stood straight like nothing happened and glared at his guards. "Well? Stop standing there and get me to safety!" He roared.
He tried his best to clear a path for the king and his men with his weary limbs, he cut the wings of a stymph that lunged from the right, blew a gust of wind from those who attacked from above, ducked and rolled, and trust and parried. His limbs grew wearier by the second, the sword in his hand seemed to weigh 10x heavier than it was supposed to and it took all the strength in him to keep his legs running.
Just a little more, just until the doors, He urged himself. A part of him wanted to scold himself for being weak but he thought otherwise it is the nature of man to grow tired and weary he thought. At last, they were only a few feet away from the doors, the knights around them kept their guards up, doing what they can to keep the stymphs away from the king. But a bird broke through their defenses, one a few inches bigger than most, he was the biggest among the stymphs in the room Kallisto noticed-most likely their leader.
It dove towards them with the such frightening speed that the knights were sent flying from the gust from its wings. It raised its talons and lunged at the king. Before it reached him Kallisto darted to the king, shoved him to the ground, and was caught by the stymph's talons instead. Perhaps he would be punished for pushing the king he was such a man who would do that. He could hear him cursing at him even in the stymph's grasp far above the ballroom.
He let out a sigh and tried to thrust his sword upwards towards the bird's throat before it decided to eat him. It was almost useless though his arms felt too heavy and his body would not listen to him any longer. He summoned all the will in his body just to lift the stupid sword when he finally did, the tip grazed the creature's throat, not so deep as to kill it but deep enough to make it bleed and flail.
It was too late when Kallisto realized what was happening. The bird had released its grip on him as it thrashed in pain and he was falling face first to the ground. 20 feet. He started calculating how long it would take for him to reach the ground and how loud he would fall. He tried to summon the winds again, to at least soften his landing but he was drained. His muscles ached and his head throbbed. His whole body felt numb maybe because of his extensive use of his powers. There are worse ways to die, he consoled himself as he slowly closed his eyes, black engulfing his visions. He heard a sound, thud, a rush of pain, and everything went black.