บท 5: Dark Garden of the Palace

Kael tried quite hard to get the creature's body off of him. Even though it didn't look like it, the creature was truly heavy... and also difficult to move. But eventually, he managed to get himself to a point where he wasn't suffocating to death. Then, he crawled out from under the creature and got as far away from it as he could.

Now, as the adrenaline was slowly wearing off, he could feel the pain of the wounds on the side of his head and back. He was panting and his heart was beating so fast that his chest felt like it was going to burst. Still, he restrained himself as best he could, looking down at the creature's body on the ground.

Its chest was rising and falling, however weak it was. He couldn't see its face because it was face down, but it probably still had the same straight lips and expression. He was sure of that.

He gritted his teeth, stood as far away from the creature as he could, and approached his table. He picked up the knife he used to cut the roots from the plants and approached the creature once again.

He got on its back, crouched down. He grasped the knife with both hands and raised it, then took a deep breath in and out.

He had never killed anyone or anything before, but he had seen a lot of corpses and bodies covered in blood. Where he lived before coming to the palace... people were sometimes even slaughtered for fun or something so stupid that it didn't even make sense. Just like someone he knew closely... So he was not far from the concept of 'killing'.

Finally, he gritted his teeth and brought the knife down firmly where the creature's heart was. The tip of the knife broke before it pierced all of the creature's skin... but it did manage to pry it open a little.

The creature's body shuddered violently as if it were trying to respond in pain to the poison coursing through its system... It even noticed Kael on its back and tried to throw him aside. But Kael didn't stop. Even though his knife was broken, he lifted it again, and brought it down in the same spot as before.

This time, the blow went much deeper, as the creature's skin had already been opened once... The broken piece of the knife also touched the creature's heart, and because Kael was a bit clumsy, he scratched the side of his hand.

But Kael did not stop again. He raised the knife once more, ignoring the knife fragment that scratched his hand, and struck again at the creature's heart. And this time... the fragment of the knife reached the creature's heart, piercing it. Kael's broken knife also went deep.

The creature struggled and struggled, but it didn't have enough strength. Its red blood watered the clothes it was wearing, spreading to form a small puddle on the ground. After a few seconds... it finally stopped moving.

Kael inhaled the deepest breath he could, then exhaled it back as deeply as he inhaled. He looked up towards the sky. Then... he couldn't see the moon and he remembered his situation again. His eyes widened.

'Idiot! Why are you relaxing, nothing is over!'

He quickly jumped to his feet, throwing himself back into the plants. He constantly looked around, watching the palace garden through the transparent walls of the greenhouse. If someone or something from the outside had even glanced once in here, they would have easily seen everything that had happened. It was a mistake to be relieved that he had managed to kill the creature!

'Huh, though... why is there a creature inside the palace in the first place?'

It was easy not to think about things when he was struggling to survive... Though, now, he could think.

'That man in robes who entered the palace... I think of him for some reason.'

That man was too suspicious. He would not have been surprised if he was the cause of what was happening here now. But... why was this happening in the kingdom, especially in the king's palace?

It was at this moment that he remembered what he had heard the other day.

'The empire, one woman destroying an entire scout troop... Ah...'

It was just a simple thought, but it made a lot of sense. The Empire was powerful, he had learned that the other day in the healers' building. If one woman could destroy an entire scout troop... why couldn't someone more powerful take over a single palace? The world was full of crazy things, after all, full of blessings and curses impossible to comprehend...

'But if it's really the Empire... Why bother with something like this? Kill the king, announce that you've taken over the kingdom, and be done with it. Isn't that easier?'

Even though he could understand some things, there were things he could not. His eyes shifted to the body of the creature that had formed a pool of blood.

'It was a human, at least it used to be a human. I'm sure of it.'

There was no way it could have gotten the clothes it was wearing from some random place. So... he was a human back then and had been transformed into this creature.

An ugly expression appeared on Kael's face. He tore his eyes away from the creature, back towards the palace.

Was it... safe for him to stay here now? He had heard that some creatures were sensitive to the smell of blood, and this place was... very bloody. And even though he was hiding in the plants, this creature had spotted him easily just a few minutes ago. It only had to look in his direction to do so.

'It is... not safe here. I have little chance of survival in this place if there are other creatures. I must act, I must find a safer place...'

So, he quickly came out of hiding. First, he checked his surroundings, but there was no danger anywhere he could see... for now.

He quickly went to his table. He looked for Elsin's bag and found it. Even though he didn't have such a thing, Elsin always used it to make her work easier. It was quite a big bag, he could store a lot of things in it.

So, he quickly filled it with herbal powders, bowls, and ready-made medicines. He had three bowls of anesthesia that he had overdosed on, two narcotics, two medicines for his wounds, four knives, and two bowls of poison to use with them. He would have liked to take more, but that was all he could fit in his bag.

'Okay, here we go...'

He slung his bag over his shoulder, then took a deep breath... and finally made his way to the door of the greenhouse.

The first thing he did when he got to the door was to check outside again. And again, he could see no danger.

Still, he took no chances. He ran towards the wall of the palace, clinging to it, his eyes darting here and there. He wasn't sure where it was safe, but he certainly didn't want to be exposed in the open. Entering the palace through a window was the most logical option and that's what he was going to do.

So, he made his way across the garden along the palace walls. He knew a window within his reach, he had seen one on his way to the healers' building. He could use it, it was not far from the greenhouse.

He went on, and on... He kept walking while always looking around.

He didn't have to walk far to reach the window. At most... two minutes? That would be enough, he was sure. So, he kept going. But when he reached the end of the first minute, for the first time, his eyes caught something... and he quickly crouched down.

He had seen something moving. It was quite far ahead, the window should have been closer to him than what he saw... but he couldn't risk it.

He crawled to the nearest bush, then raised his head slightly and looked up at the movement.

There was indeed something there. Something tall, just like the creature before, another... creature. But the same.

It was so far away that Kael could not see it properly. But he was sure it was a creature, its red eyes glowed no matter how far away it was.

As he watched the creature for a while, he realized that it was moving. It was quite slow, but it was definitely moving. It seemed to be... moving away.

Kael breathed a sigh of relief. He could wait for the creature to move away, then keep moving towards the window. The danger in front of him now was... not a great one.

At least, he thought it wasn't...

Kael continued to watch the creature, and the creature continued to move away... But then there was a change. Although Kael couldn't quite make out what it was... it was as if the creature had stopped moving away for a while. It just stayed where it was.

'What is it doing...?'

As this thought crossed his mind... the creature suddenly turned its head so quickly that Kael blinked and the creature's appearance seemed to change in an instant. The single red glow that he could see because he had been looking at the creature from the side... now there were two.

The creature was looking at him.

'Oh, shit...'

Kael didn't even think twice. He jumped to his feet and ran towards the window. He didn't stop, he didn't even slow down. He just ran.

But he wasn't the only one who started running. Along with him, the creature suddenly increased its speed.

'Fuck, fuck, fuck!'

It was a stroke of luck that he was able to defeat the previous creature, he was aware of his capabilities. He had little faith that he could kill a second one. So he had no intention of engaging in a fight with this one. But... could he reach the window?

And... what if the window was closed, what would he do then?

'Of course I'll break it, don't think about stupid things! Run!'

And once inside...?

'Don't think!'

He looked at the creature out of the corner of his eye. It was a woman this time, but just like before, she had black skin and was tall. The clothes she was wearing were... strangely familiar. But the problem was that, just like the previous creature, it was speeding up!

Kael stopped thinking, put everything he had into his legs, and ran with everything he had.

Soon, he saw a slight protrusion in front of him, at one point in the palace walls.

'The window!'

He forced himself to run even faster. The window was definitely closer to him than the creature, he could make it! No, he would make it! There was no room for hesitation!

He finally made it in front of the window he remembered. Just as he remembered, it was high enough for him to easily enter.

But there was one problem...

The damn window was actually closed!