The Kingdom of Sirtik never fancied its people, with the royal guards always finding some kind of excuse to execute the common-folk. There was a good reason, as Trudnyh was an unmerciful place. Not only were the creatures that roamed this world the twice the size of a kingdom's resident, the raids of other kingdoms were quite common, especially in Sirtik, and the guards, or the "higher-ups" of the kingdom didn't want to waste time figuring out if a hooded man was a spy or not. So, in a world where serving the king meant life or death, Aurelius found himself thankful that he was considered the kingdom's hero, along with the king's right hand man.

He didn't mind doing the king's dirty work, it was better than getting executed for refusing the king's orders. So, he took up any task he was asked of.

Unfortunately, though, Sirtik in the past couple of days was met with a terrible fate. Or, at least, that's what the people thought, as raids were getting more and more common, along with the rising number of traitors betraying the kingdom.

Surprisingly, in a world where every day was a threat, Sirtik was considered a very safe place to live. "We can thank our king for spreading his luck", the residents would always say, but it seemed that luck was now fading away, and the king had to find out a way to stop this mess.

So, it wasn't unusual for Aurelius to be called to the royal palace.

It's weird that he's calling me now. Thought Aurelius. And he was somewhat right, as during the increase in danger, the king never called for his aid. Now, all of a sudden, he wants it? What happened to the days before? Was the king waiting for a serious occasion?

His concerning thoughts were proven right, he thought, as he entered into the king's room, only to find him looking extremely distressed.

"Your Majesty," Aurelius spoke, slowly getting his right knee on the ground, "For what reason did you call me? Do you by chance need me to protect this kingdom of yours and-"
"Silence." Said the king, harshly.

Aurelius went from being calm and collected to fearful and frightened. His face had gone cold, and he swore he could feel a sweat dropping from the side of his skull. What could have he done to upset the king?

"Apologies, my dearest Aurelius, if I seemed too cruel by my response. The truth is that I am not in the bestest mood myself." Explained the king. "When the chance of your kingdom getting completely overthrown by the enemies keeps increasing by the day, you won't be in a good frame of mind yourself."

Aurelius let out an audible sigh of relief. Thank you, Lord, for giving me another chance at life. He knew he did nothing wrong, but the king could very well change his mind whenever he pleased, and nothing could stop him.

"I understand your concerns, Your Majesty," Responded Aurelius, "I wouldn't imagine dealing with such traitors in our land." He continued, "How can I help with defeating these distasteful foes?"
"My task is quite simple, and I am not asking for much." Said the king, turning his back. He was still quite in a state of distress, and his hands were getting increasingly shaky.
"You need to get rid of the bad luck, I need you to kill the princess." Commanded the king, not even turning his back to greet Aurelius' eyes.
Aurelius was taken aback. "But, Your Majesty..."

"I know." Added the king.

Aurelius couldn't believe his words. He wasn't scared to kill the king's daughter, but the king didn't have a daughter. Aurelius was aware of his two sons, but not of his daughter.

"She has brought good luck upon Sirtik," started explaining the king, "But in recent times she's... well, we don't know what's up with her, but she's not okay. And, it has gotten out of control, and I want her gone. No, I want it gone."

What in the Lord's name is my king talking about? Thought Aurelius, still kneeling in front of him. Why was he talking about his daughter like that? Why was he hiding her away from Sirtik? What in the world is going on?

But, Aurelius couldn't ask any more questions, as the king went to his table, and tossed a key to him.

"If you go to the basement of the palace, and go past the cellar, you'll find a trapdoor. The key will unlock this said trapdoor. Inside you will see the princess, and from there I want her slayed. Gone. Dead. You understand?"
Aurelius hesitated at first. "...yes, Your Majesty."
"Good, I knew I could count on you."

And so began Aurelius' descent. He visited the cellar many times, but he never trod this deep. He didn't know the palace went this far underground.

The sound of his footsteps were echoing through the place, as he was traversing through the damp floor of the palace's underground. Presented by sheer darkness, Aurelius had to light a torch to be able to see what was in front of him, and, he thought, he could defuse the torch any time because he didn't need it, in front of him was nothing but emptiness. Just one hall, whose width was getting smaller as he went on deeper, his anxiety slowly creeping up on him.

Eventually, what after felt like an eternity, he stumbled upon the trapdoor. It took him a good minute to pull out the key from his pocket, as he was staring upon the trapdoor. What horror's could lie there that even the king feared?

He slowly unlocked the trapdoor, and, with sheer caution, started descending as he was greeted by more stairs.

"Weeeuugghhh..." The sound of a beast could be heard. Aurelius prepared his hand on the hilt of his sword, now treading even slower, his vision now more focused due to this sound.

He couldn't make it out. It wasn't a sound of a creature that roamed the wastelands of Trudnyh, nor did it resemble an ordinary domesticated animal.

"Weeeuuuggghhh..." The creature repeated itself, with the sound appearing closer as Aurelius went deeper. I hope to God that monster isn't moving.

Aurelius finally made it to the last steps of stairs, cautious more than ever before, he set foot upon this room, as the roars continued, this time getting more and more desperate.
The he found it. He found her. His stomach twisted at the sight of her. The princess.

"Weeeeeeuuuuugggghhhh..." The princess cried out.

He couldn't believe the sight of her, no, of it, he couldn't believe the sight of it. This wasn't a human, this is a creature in human's skin. It was pale yellow, with its flesh lanky and dripping in sags. Tumors protruded through the body, as its tentacles were lying motionless onto the ground. The head was twisted and wrinkled, with a mournful-like appearance, with the form inhuman and repulsive. The expression on its eyes, now humongous, with what seemed like mucus running down them, gave of a feeling that it was depressed, along in pain and torment. It had no mouth nor nose, but it had void-like entrances on its sides that served as... ears? A mouth? It lay there, in front of Aurelius, motionless, as all it did was scream that disturbing scream.

"Weeeeuuuugggghhhh..." Exhaled the princess, once again, the screech now louder than before, the air waves sending more shivers down Aurelius' already cold and afraid body. He couldn't believe his sight, that was once human?

And he couldn't bear the sight anymore, he removed his sword from the sheath and stabbed and slashed the princess as much as he could, until the lanky head fell down from its body and onto the cold, dead floor of the underground.

Aurelius stabbed the lifeless body as much as he could before green substance started oozing out of her, what seemed like it was sticky in nature. He cleaned his sword, put it back in his sheath and ran as fast as he could.

The reflection of the sword, Aurelius took a quick glimpse of it, but he saw a pale and lifeless man, he didn't resemble himself. The stare was one of thousand yards, his eyes seeming dry and painful. He ran as fast as he could up the stairs, as he couldn't, no, he shouldn't, see the princess' corpse no longer.

As he made it out, he locked the trapdoor, and forced himself to puke.

No more, no more... He kept repeating to himself as he was making his way back from the basement.


It was no surprise that a couple of days later, the king found Aurelius in his home, laying motionless on his bed, with his sword lodged in his neck.

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