chapter 11:
The rain had stopped. Thunder has halted it's dance, as the clouds that once covered the night sky like gloomy tears from heaven rolled away in waves like they had never been there.
But unlike the clouds, Sol didn't move and inch, he was still kneeling there with his hands soaked in blood as Lora's body felt cold and stiffbin his arms.
It no longer had the warm and vibrant feel it once used to. He would no longer be able to see that flustered look on her face whenever he teased her, and he would no longer be able to dream of her anymore, as all he would see now was the nightmare that transpired a few hours ago.
The sight of seventeen arrows being struck into her body, as she made a desperate attempt to stop them from reaching him.
She had protected him till her last breath. She had died in his arms, and all he could do was stare in horror, not even daring to move a muscle as the fear of death clinged to his heart.
But this pain. This pain he was feeling right now was much more than what death would feel.
He wished....he wished the roles had been switched and that he had been the one to die instead of her.
After all, he did cause her death. He should have been the one to die!
If only he had listened when she told him to leave with her. If only he hadn't gone to dine with the snake he aller his uncle.
But like the saying goes: There's no pill for regret.
And so no matter how much pain and regret he felt, he couldn't do a thing to fix it. All because.....he was weak!
" I promise you by my soul And the heavens, you will all pay for what you have done. A debt of blood must be pain in blood," He then stood up, gently cradling her body in his arms, as he stared back at the towering structure he once always looked with warmth and called home.
But now, now he looked at it with emptiness and sorrow. Now he wasn't the Sol of the past. Now, he was broken.
•••••
After a few more minutes, he decided to finally let her rest in peace. He couldn't just leave her body there for animals to come and feazt on, nor could he carry her around.
He could only bury her now.
As much as his heart ached and his mind fell into chaos, he stood strong, as he dug the ground with nothing but his bare hands and carefully placed her body inside the pit he had dug.
As a prince who had only been exposed to the good nature of humans, the betrayal had struck him hard as he had never thought of man being so wicked.
He had also never attended a funeral before in his entire life. He knew that eventually he would attend one, but he had never expected that the first funeral he attended would be Lora's funeral and he was the one burying her for his mistakes.
And there it was, he broke down again, tears flowiufrom his eyes as he covered her back in the dirt and walked away.
That last action was probably the hardest thing he had ever done in his life. Walking away had never been a problem for him, but walking away from your lover was something different.
There was a kind of emptiness that he felt no one could fill, like a hole without any thing to place inside.
As he walked away, he started recalling the faces of the ones who had caused him so much pain, as his heart tightened whenever he thought of Henry.
He had trusted him, but like the snake that he was, he had been able to fool him, a little and gullible child from the royal bloodline.
As he walked farther and farther away from where he had buried her, he can across a stream that was brightly lit by light of the moon in the night sky.
He walked closer to the river and decided that he needed to drink something. And so when he bent down to take a sip from the stream, he had caught a glance of his reflection, causing his expression to stiffen and eventually turn into coldness and fury.
But he didn't yell.
" It seems even Alzuras has abandoned me," Sol said, a small cold and broken laughter escaping his lips.
Looking at the reflection of his face, he couldn't help but smile coldly.
The reflection was no longer the him that he recognized. He had no longer the fiery red hair of the sun, but instead a plain black like that of a commoner.
Even his golden eyes had now become black like shadow.
This means only one thing,
He had lost connection to his patron God. He no longer had royal blood running through his veins. And the only way for such to happen was if his patron god deemed him unworthy and strips him of his title as a royal, and at the same time kills the others in his bloodline... Meaning:
" If Alzuras has truly abandoned me, then....my parents are.....dead,"
Silence.
He didn't cry.
He didn't smile.
He didn't even flinch.
All that remained In the air was silence. The type that could chill your bones and make you look away in fear.
He knelt down there in silence, almost as if waiting for the response of the universe. Almost as if he was still expecting love from someone, anyone.
But it didn't come. Life and hope was lost. He couldn't even become an awakened now as his patron god had severed his connection with him, deeming him useless and unable to take the trials in the Aetherwomb dream realm.
He wanted support. He wanted help.
But it didn't come.
Then he stood up, ready to leave this forest of forsaken memories.
And that's when he heard it.
A voice of salvation.
" Do you want to see them all burn? Even a god?"