He stood there, alive once more, yet not entirely human. His green-turquoise eyes now had a malevolent glow. He looked down at his trembling hands, flexing his fingers as if trying to remember who he was.
The guards had retreated, their cries for help fading into the night. The only sounds were the distant tolling of the city bells.
He lifted his hand and a dark mass formed from which a handle protruded. With a quick motion, Aldwyn pulled on it, revealing a Sword. It had the appearance of a long, black Nodachi with a blade of condensed matter. Its surface pulsed with faint purple runes and the hilt was connected to an energy core that also pulsed purple.
He spun the sword in his hand and struck it to the ground with the command "Return". The guards, their eyes widening in fear, watched in horror as the essence of their being seemed to be pulled in the direction of Aldwyn. They were no longer able to flee and followed the 'command' Aldwyn gave them.
Aldwyn pulled his sword out of the ground and raised it in the direction of the guards. "Finish yourselves!" These words echoed in the guards' minds and as if they had been hypnotized, they followed the order. They drew their swords and slit their throats.
The executioner watched in horror as his men fell, their lifeblood painting the ground. He tried to run but his legs refused to move. He felt his soul being drawn back towards Aldwyn. He fell to his knees, trembling uncontrollably, and offered the only weapon he had left—his own life.
Aldwyn stepped forward. His gaze was cold, but in it, the executioner saw a flicker of something—pain, perhaps. The guards' cries for mercy had ceased, their lifeless eyes staring up at the dark sky.
Aldwyn looked at him and a tear escaped his right eye. It slid down his cheek, a silent testament to the grief and anger that surged through him. With a single movement, he stabbed the executioner in the throat.
The blade sliced through the man's flesh with a sickening ease, and he gurgled, his eyes bulging in shock. His hands went to the wound, a futile effort to stem the tide of crimson that spurted forth. The guards' lifeless bodies lay around them, a grim reminder of the price of their loyalty to a false queen.
With a final blow, the executioner collapsed to the ground, his life force merging with the dark energy rising within Aldwyn. He tumbled back and let the sword fall from his trembling grip, it immediately dissolved into dark smoke. The weight of what he had become washed over him like a tidal wave of despair. He fell to his knees, the world spinning around him as he desperately tried to catch his breath.
Looking down into the pit, he saw the lifeless forms of his father, Mariel and the others. The sight of their bodies, twisted and broken, filled him with a rage that threatened to consume him whole. His chest tightened, and he could feel the power of the Abyss surging through his veins, demanding vengeance.
He whispered to himself, "What have I become?" The words echoed in his head, taunting him. The man he once was, the hero of the Great War, lay buried beneath layers of dark magic and deceit.
His gaze turned once more to the corpses of his loved ones. "I will not leave you here... You don't deserve this...." His voice broke again and again, the grief clearly palpable.
The night was still, almost eerie. Aldwyn reached out with his power, his newfound control over the dark essence, and wrapped it around their lifeless forms. With a silent command, he began to pull them from the ditch, lifting them with the same cold precision with which they had been cast away.
One by one, he laid them out on the ground, each body a grim reminder of the price paid for power and deceit. His father's once proud visage was now a mask of agony, frozen in the moment of his final betrayal. Mariel's beautiful eyes were closed, her serene expression a stark contrast to the horror that had claimed her life.
With precise care he placed their heads back on their bodies, they had the same black marks on their necks, that he himself had.
The dark energy pulsed around him as he grew the wings of the Abyss. Each beat of the wings sent a gust of cold wind that seemed to suck the warmth from the very air. The wings grew larger, blocking out the moon and casting deep shadows.
Aldwyn lifted into the air, his newfound power a stark contrast to the moments of despair that had brought him here. His father, Mariel and the other innocents were wrapped in his dark energy.
....
After flying for what felt like an eternity, Aldwyn's dark wings grew weary, the weight of the souls he bore heavier than any armor he'd ever donned in battle. He scanned the horizon for a suitable resting place, his eyes finally landing on a hill that stood alone, a bastion of untouched beauty. With a final beat of his wings, he descended, the shadows retreating as his feet touched the soft, dew-kissed grass.
The hill was a silent sentinel, surrounded by a ring of ancient, gnarled trees. The moon cast a soft, silvery light on the earth, guiding his trembling hands as he began to dig. Each handful of earth felt like a weight lifted from his soul. His breathing was frantic, but he kept going.
For hours, Aldwyn toiled, sweat mixing with his tears as he dug deep into the unforgiving ground. The scent of the freshly turned earth mingled with the lingering stench of death, but he did not stop. The bodies of his father and Mariel, along with the others who had been falsely condemned, lay before him.
Finally, the last soil was placed atop the makeshift grave. He stepped back, panting from the exertion, and surveyed his grim work. The mound was a silent testament to the injustice that had been wrought upon them, a monument to the lives stolen by Elezabeth's treachery.
He whispered to the grave, "I will not rest until your names are cleared. I will not rest until Elezabeth faces the same fate she has dealt unto you. I am the last of House Lyrendis, but I am not the end. I am the vengeance of the wronged, the herald of your justice."
Aldwyn's gaze turned downwards, "What was the last thing you wanted to tell me father?" He paused for a moment, his voice trembling. "The fact that I'm still miraculously alive is a destiny... And I'm going to make the most of this opportunity!"
....