It took him some more time before he spotted some wooden structure similar to the carriage.
He instantly increased his speed and reached down, only to be shocked by the fate the carriage had been through.
It was damaged beyond recognition, it was impossible for anyone to survive in it after looking at its wretched state.
Still, Asterion bent and checked the carriage, only to find one of his guards inside. He inspected the man's power only to realise that he was dead.
Asterion felt grieved for his guard. They were all men who had been with him through thick and thin, fighting life and death battles alongside.
He looked around but there was no trace of Ether. But he had made up his mind, he was not leaving without her.
He climbed down even more, his willpower strong.
'Where are you Princess? Give me one last chance! Please stay awake. I will reach-' Asterion was thinking internally when he saw something red near a huge rock.
He instantly ran that way, only to discover that Ether's body was barely existing beside that huge rock and any movement would crush her beneath it.
Asterion instantly knelt beside her, holding his own breath as he checked her pulse as he couldn't inspect her powers. He was praying to god-knows-who, but he only wanted her alive.
And finally he found a feeble rise, settling his rapidly beating heart to normalcy.
Her face was covered in dirt and small cuts, some of them deep enough to let blood flow. Her dress and hair were already a mess, not giving view to all the wounds that were inflicted to her body.
But the worst out of them was her right arm, which was slightly beneath the rock and with only one guess Asterion knew that it was severely injured.
Meanwhile up there, other men had reached near the carriage and found one of the men lying dead.
After some time, they spotted their crown prince kneeling near the Princess's body as his eyes looked abnormal.
They went near him, not understanding what would have happened with the Crown princess for him to react like that. But by the time they were standing near him, the crown prince was back to his expressionless face.
"Find the other man." He said, not telling them if the princess was alive or not.
But they did as they were told, searching for the other man who had sat in the coachman position.
It had been a long time, darkness had engulfed the entire sky, but there was no clue about the second man.
"Let's go now. We won't be able to find him in the dark. We will send a team tomorrow." Asterion finally said while not letting go of the Princess' body.
He had already turned the huge rock into freezing ice and blasted it into a million shreds, saving the princess from its weight.
Asterion picked up Ether princess style as all the men were looking solemnly at the princess, unsure of what to say.
"Take his body along with us." The crown prince ordered in a stiff voice.
He took a step but stopped in his tracks, waiting for others to fetch the dead guard's body, his mind a whirlwind of thoughts.
Once the rest of the men were back with the body, he summoned his contractual spirit, a sea serpent.
The serpent instantly moved graciously in front of them, before stopping in front of its master, his deep blue skin glowing in the dark night as its silver scales shone under the moonlight.
"Climb this." The Crown prince ordered before stepping on the sea serpent.
The serpent could easily understand that his master was in his worst mood, with his mind in chaos. Even he was surprised as his ever so calm master was thinking a million thoughts right now, but he better knew that he had no say in it. Hence he was not going to spout anything.
The rest looked at each other before stepping on the huge serpent, all their bodies fitting on its huge surface. None of them would have ever imagined that the serpent, which had only appeared in dire states of battle, would be used for something as domestic as carrying them up the mountain.
And why won't they be shocked. The serpent was so dominating on the battlefield that even the enemies feared it. The legendary sea serpent was one of the most powerful contractual spirits in not just country Nero, but the whole world.
The men were sweating profusely under their master's cold demeanour as well as shock from being on the serpent.
They just wanted to land quickly and get off this huge beast which had only seen deaths and knew nothing but bloodbath.
Finally, after what felt like eternity, which was only a few moments, the sea serpent reached the edge of the valley as all of them climbed down the serpent, except their prince and princess.
"I will not be visiting the Water palace. Head directly to my palace once you reach country Nero. Also, none of you would leave my palace till my orders and dare anyone report anything out of this to the Water palace." Asterion spoke in a cold voice that was enough to frighten all those men including the captain and vice captain.
They had never seen their crown prince being so cold to them as he was now. And they dared not to disobey his orders as they climbed their horses while Asterion stayed on the Sea Serpent, going faster towards Country Nero than the rest of the men.
*Who did this?* Finally the sea serpent spoke, knowing only his master could hear him as the princess was unconscious.
Since the sea serpent resided in Asterion's body, he was well aware that the princess was alive.
"I don't know." Asterion replied curtly.
*Give yourself some breather. Your thoughts have been in chaos since you found her near that rock.* The serpent paused before speaking.
*She is different, right?* He said, his statement finally eliciting a reaction from his master.
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Hey peeps!
You can now vote the book. Also our novel is being recommended on the 'Fresh Stories' page and I am so sosksksksksks happy. Stay healthy everyone!
- Kizy