Perspective : Conrad Garnier
"But I am not going to give up".
As I contemplated the effectiveness of drawing my blade, I couldn't just give up, I had to try, because it was my only option.
With my right hand reaching for my blade, as expected, the ant pounced towards me.
Reacting instinctively I attempted to shield myself with my left hand, but its sharp teeth painfully pierced my flesh. The pain of its teeth sinking in my left arm, was quick and intense.
Without hesitation I swiftly unsheathed my blade, drawing an arc through its head, with one strike, I severed its head.
As I did so, a rush of Icy air swept past me, carrying shards of ice towards the other ants, peirceing through the heads of the closest to me.
"Conrad... Conrad".
I heard that voice as my consciousness tried to fade, my vision became dimmer.
As I was about to fall someone caught me,
It was Regina.
She cried,
"Conrad .... Conrad... answer me".
As her hands embraced me, I felt a twitch in my arm that was bitten.
I tried to have a look,
"Ahh, It's because of that ... isn't it".
"What should I do?".
I felt a searing pain, shooting through my left hand.
The reason?
There it was a glaring red mark on my skin, surrounded by mildly irritated area, It was like a tiny beacon of discomfort amidst other wise normal looking hand.
[Or so I thought].
While I heard others shouting and casting spells, I was in a limbo state, a state of seemingly both sleepiness and awakened, similar to being drunk, but this state was way worse.
As I squint to get a better look, I noticed that the bite had caused some swelling. My hand looked a bit puffed up.
Even the slightest touch sent a jolt of tenderness through my nurves, Imagine how painful it would be if I was being dragged behind, by Regina.
Because I was.
My head, felt heavy.
The venom from that ant seemed to be doing its thing, I could feel warmth radiating from the bite, which made me break out into light sweat.
Regina took me further to the mouth of the cavern, I could experience a combination of chilly and cozy sensations.
As she gently positioned my body on a corner, allowing me to lean against the wall for support, I took another glance at my wound, my heart sunk as I noticed my arm's nurves becoming swollen and turning an alarming shade of blue.
Suddenly the pain intensified shooting through my arms like lightning bolts.
"Ahhhhhhhh".
I let out a cry in pain.
Regina out of concern asked me,
"Tell me ... what can I do to comfort you?".
(There is only one way isn't it?)
I with an commanding tone, spoke to Regina,
"Listen, freeze my left arm .... not even my blood should flow".
She replied,
"But ... won't that be....".
I rushed her,
"Quickly.... ".
Regina's eyes filled with determination she unleashed her Ice magic, summoning an tiny but powerful gust of Icy wind.
Time seemed to slow as the freezing cold enveloped my arm, rendering it numb but intensifying the relentless agony caused by the venom.
With every passing moment the pain grew more excruciating, threatening to shatter my mind.
But I knew, I had to bear through it, and save myself at any cost.
Summoning every ounce of courage in me, I focused my willpower on my frozen hand, watching as the ice glimmered with an ethereal glow.
At that moment, I knew what I had to do, with a surge of determination, I shattered my own hand,
the sound reverberated through the air, echoing the pain that consumed me.
In the aftermath, I found myself surrounded by glistening shards of Ice, a physical manifestation of the agony I endured. Yet amidst the suffering a sense of security emerged, along with a profound feeling of accomplishment for taking action at the right time, before it was too late.
In that moment the overwhelming satisfaction of escaping my impending doom far outweighed the pain and loss of losing one arm.
{Change}
Perspective : Regina Clement
I was right there, and I didn't expected him to do that. Suddenly, with a single smooth thrashing, he banged his frozen hand on the hard ground. In one swift move, his hand shattered into pieces, glimmering before my very eyes. It was mesmerizing as tiny shards of ice, which were once a part of him, slowly flew through, right in front of my eyes.
For a brief moment, time seemed to slow down, allowing me to witness every intricate detail. As those shards drifted by, I caught a glimpse of my face, subtly mirrored on their icy surfaces.
"What ?".
I hadn't even been able to process, what just happened?.
Once the arm shattered, something changed within Conrad. His eyes widened with intense and almost unsettling look. A crazed laughter escaped his lips as if the pain had ignited something darker within him, that pushed him in a sense of exhilaration and frenzy.
Previously, even unable to talk, now standing before me, with a frenzied look at his face.
His expression never changed, I haven't even seen him once smiling, after we got engaged, except when he breaks, that teary eyes betraying a terrifying smile on his face.
(Why .... why must he suffer like this?)
(Haven't he had enough.....)
With only one usable hand, which held his black blade, Conrad launched himself into battle against those ants.
His moments were a blur of calculated strikes and acrobatic maneuvers.
Each swing of his sword seemed to possess an otherworldly strength and precision.
As Conrad fought, his haunting laughter echoed through the air.
Conrad, his eyes ablaze with almost feral intensity, lunged towards the ant, with lightning fast reflexes he dodges it's swift mandibles and counters it with a spining strike, delivering a powerful blow that sent the ant sprawling.
I had never seen him fight like that, he was like an intense ball of compressed energy, which had broken its limits and was bursting in front of us.
With one smooth strike he drew an arc right through the ants face, slashing through it's eyes, As the ant writhed in discomfort, he swiftly thrust his sword towards its head.
Others seemingly taken a back by Conrad's insane display, found themselves frozen in awe and disbelief, some watched wide - eyed, unable to comprehend the spectacle before them, while others couldn't help but feel a sense of fear and unease at the sight of Conrad, finally being himself.
It wasn't the Conrad we knew, It was the Conrad that was being repressed inside him, chained by himself, by his own self inflicting agenda and ideals.
It was the Conrad, that yearned to be acknowledged by himself, all that suppressed anger and hostility, was finally bursting out.
In a flurry of insane maneuvers and strikes.
And yet it was fated to be sealed again, by himself.
Because knowing him, he was always good at suppressing and controlling himself. He knows self discipline like no other.
As another ant charged at Conrad, it's massive form shaking the ground beneath them, Conrad along with his maniacal laughter, performed a daring somersault over it's head, slicing through the air, with his sword.
The blade connects, leaving a deep gash across the ant's exoskeleton.
Those ants were sturdy,
and it would take more than that to kill one,
But Conrad knew that,
On a daring move Conrad leaps onto the ants back, gripping onto it's chitinous armour, laughing maniacally he drove his sword repeatedly, striking the vulnerable joints between the ant's segments, the creature thrashes in pain, desperately trying to dislodge him.
But Conrad didn't stop, and at the end he thrusted his sword deep into that ant's abdomen, therefore, finally ending it's suffering.
There were a flurry of ants, rushing towards him, from the depths of that cavern, Conrad dripping in his own blood, stood unfaced as more of those disgusting beasts approached him.
Conrad, fuelled by his hatred and an eerie determination, exhibited incredible agility. As one huge venomous 'replete' appeared before him.
He dodges the ant's venomous attacks with fluid accurate movements, practically dancing between each attack, with each dodge he countered with an equally precise strike, carving into the ant's tough hide.
And with one perfect opportunity, he carves an arc through the ant's inflated abdomen, as he cuts it open, the ant practically becomes immobile, as it writhes for it's impending doom.