"Shall we begin?"
With great speeds, Arin and Regius attacked simultaneously, Arin forming a barrier around Aaron and Regius attacking Caius. Immediately Arin delayed Aaron's movements, she turned towards Caius, immobilizing him.
Regius closed in, unsheathing his sword, which was now shrouded in golden light. As he struck, Caius broke free from the restraints, parrying Regius' attack. Regius evaded the counter slash as he headed towards Aaron, who had now broken the barrier.
"Think you can defeat me without your dear wife?" Aaron shouted as he cast a massive magic crest, with the sign of a dragon at the middle. Sensing what it was, Arin cast a barrier around Regius, pulling him back.
"Summon: The Hermit of wind"
Mighty winds levelled the walls down entirely, as a gigantic dragon appeared.
"A Hermit! No way!" Renard thought.
"Creatures known to be the closest to Sovereigns... How does he..." Lucia wondered.
Caius lifted his odachi up with both arms, causing the skies to be covered by dark clouds.
"Sovereign of the swords, grant your vessel the right to act on your behalf, to do what is righteous and just....."
"That... It is a prayer.... But....." Renard thought as his chest tightened. Up above, a purple aura was filling the sky, in response to Caius' prayer.
"Why are they granting him power... To do what is righteous? Just? Killing all of us.. What have we possibly done to get this treatment!" Renard shouted out loud, as tears rolled down his face.
"We are known as cursed, the rare blood elves.. Beings that should not exist.." Lucia said, as she looked at Renard. Her eyes looked empty, as if all hope had left her. She smiled at Renard, making him cry even more. He knew that she had already given up on everything, and so had many others behind him. Goblin Knights were seen rushing towards them, their bloody weapons ready to kill.
"Lucia... We can still fight.. Soldiers, we can still fight!" Renard shouted, trying to psyche them up.
"You really have a strong will, Renard." Lucia said as tears flowed down her face, "But," she added as she pushed Renard with all her might.
"This is the harsh reality."
As he watched, unable to do anything, he saw all of them look at him for a split second, smiling, before they all got covered by explosions and bloodthirsty goblins.
Everything happened as if time had slowed for Renard, the sword stabbed through Lucia, Sylvia trying to speak her last words, screams and falling heads. His body could not move, as if fear had frozen his body in place, to witness the nightmare in front of him.
Suddenly, he felt his mother's embrace behind him.
"Mother..." He called out as he tried to turn towards her.
"Don't look behind dear, everything will be alright..." He heard, as his mother held him tightly in her arms.
"Is father alright?" He asked, his voice shaky and just a faint whisper. The silence that came afterwards was a clear answer, and as if to prove it, he saw his father's crown fall in front of him, as Caius approached the two, his sword painted crimson.
Renard finally came to understood that there was truly nothing that could be done. The Kingdom had fallen, the people had been wiped out, and the king was no more all that was left was his mother's crown, tightly held in his hands, his mother and finally, the last prince; himself.
All had been lost, and that was the reality. The Kingdom that was once peaceful, shrouded in happiness and laughter, was now in ruins, devoid of hope and life. Snow was now falling, some of it turning crimson as it landed on blood, some of it falling on the destroyed rubbles, some of it on the corpses of the elves.
The clouds had cleared a bit, revealing the moon partially. It was beautiful indeed, but in Renard's eyes, it had only obscured the faces of the two standing in front of them, the goblins that had now surrounded them, and even the mages who were levitating up above their kingdom.
"Renard dear, remember, never let go of that crown, okay?" His mother said as Aaron walked towards them, an icy spear forming on his hand.
"Okay mother.." He said as he closed his eyes.
"Good boy. That's my dearest son. Remember, I love you, and always will."
With all his might, Aaron hurled the spear towards towards Renard and his mother, impaling the two of them right through the chest.
Time slowed, as Renard saw all his memories, rush through his mind, as he felt his consciousness fade, as he felt his body going numb, and his eyes getting more and more blurry, until everything became silent and dark.
"Finally, we have gotten rid of these cursed beings." Aaron said as he kept making spear after spear, hurling all of them towards the bodies of Renard and his mother.
"You could have at least given the child a peaceful death." Caius said as he sheathed his sword.
"I wanted to see the look on Arin's face when I killed her son.. But I accidentally made a scenery worth painting," He said as he looked at the two.
True indeed, it was a grotesque yet a scenery worth painting; the son in the tight embrace of his mother, holding a crown tightly. Countless spears were lodged in them, and another crown was a few paces away from their feet, its golden shimmer covered by blood.
"Let us withdraw now, the snow is piling up." Caius said as the goblins all wiped off the blood on their faces, making way for Aaron and Caius. As they all withdrew, Caius took one final look at the scenery in front of him.
"Indeed, I shall look for a painter to paint this for me."
The forces quickly withdrew from the wasted kingdom, hurrying as snow kept on accumulating.
As they did, clouds covered all continents in the world, and it started raining. But this was not the usual type of rain, it was crimson in color, as if it were blood. In the northern continent though, it snowed, a deep red snow that night, the day that came to be known as The Heaven's Lament in history.