"Who the hell are you?" the man shouted, his voice broken with panic. 'Get away! Get away from me!'
The figure in front of him did not move. It stood upright, motionless, as if the chaos did not affect it. Around it, the world was burning.
Heart-wrenching screams mingled with the crunching of bones. The smoke was thick, harsh, filling his lungs like gravestone dust.
The ground creaked beneath bodies that could not flee.
Impossible creatures, formed of dust and fire, devoured men, women, even children. They made no distinction.
But the stranger's voice was warm. Serene. Almost compassionate.
"Fear not, my brother," he said. "Death is not punishment, it is liberation."
The skin burned.
"The goddess Kise has given me the gift of purification. Death... is her embrace."
The flames consumed the flesh.
He smiled. Not cruelly. Not madly. He smiled as a priest would when baptizing a child.
The man screamed.
The creatures of ash jumped on him.
The roar shook the air.
Krau opened his eyes when the light of dawn barely touched the stone of his ceiling.
He did not sit up with a start. He did not gasp.
He just woke up, as if his body already knew that his rest was over.
War, again. The same memories. The same screams.
Why do I keep dreaming about that?
There was no answer. Only the silence of the room.
A soft knock on the door brought him out of his thoughts.
"Ser Krau," said the voice of a young squire on the other side. "The duke requires your assistance."
Krau sat up, unhurried.
"What kind of help?"
"A griffin. Apparently, it has nested in the southern cliffs, in your hunting grounds. The duke wants to capture it for his banquet tonight."
Krau rubbed his face with his hands.
"An adult griffin?"
"Yes, but according to reports, it hasn't attacked anyone. It only scared off some hunters."
Krau sighed in annoyance.
"They are territorial creatures. They don't leave their nest unless provoked. And the duke wants me to hunt it?"
"Yes, sir. He says he wants to show it off to his guests. As a trophy."
Krau stood up with resignation.
"Then it will be a long day for everyone."
Later, after the hunt
The cart moved slowly along the dusty road. Beside it, Krau walked with a weary look, his step steady but worn.
The squire broke the silence with a triumphant smile.
"Well, that was quick. We finished off that creature in no time."
Krau didn't even look at him.
"It was an old griffin," he replied dryly. "If it had been young, I'd be bleeding to death and you'd be dead."
The squire's smile tightened.
"But we did it," he insisted, trying to regain his spirits. "Old or not, the job is done. Although I wonder... why didn't the duke want it alive?"
Krau stopped.
"What did you say?"
"That the duke... didn't want it alive," he repeated, uncertainly.
Krau glanced at him sideways. His expression was not one of anger, but of complete disenchantment.
"He wanted it alive."
The tone of his voice was not reproachful. It was a sentence.
The squire swallowed, not knowing how to respond.
Hours later, at the banquet
The music stopped abruptly when Krau burst into the great hall.
He carried the griffin's corpse on his shoulders. With apparent ease, he threw it onto the central table. Plates were overturned, glasses rolled, and the nobles stood motionless, horror painted on their faces.
The duke rose from his seat, incredulous.
"What the hell are you doing, Krau!?"
Krau bowed casually, without a shred of respect.
"You asked for a griffin at your banquet. Here you have it."
The duke's face went from disbelief to anger.
"I wanted it alive!"
Krau bowed his head, feigning surprise.
"Oh, you wanted it alive?" he repeated ironically. 'Why didn't you say so before?'
Without waiting for a response, he turned and began to walk away. The air in the room was tense, with murmurs growing among the guests.
He had taken no more than a few steps outside the hall when several royal guards surrounded him.
Krau sighed.
"Does this mean you're taking me to my room?"
The captain of the guard did not smile.
"The duke ordered your arrest. You will go to a dungeon. He will decide your punishment."
Krau let out a weary snort.
"Charming," he muttered. "I suppose my stay here just got better."