[Fantasy novel, completed ✓]
In a world filled with magic, dragons, witches, demons, deadly creatures and other magical beings, the life of the king's daughter Victorine changes with a single blow when her kingdom is attacked.
She loses not only he...
How do you destroy a monster without becoming one? - Unknown
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- Nicolas -
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I could do nothing but watch Victorine's back. Of course, I would rather concentrate on slaughtering Cephas' soldiers. But the king's daughter was running around in a possessed frenzy to protect the villagers.
I had a slight suspicion that she would threaten me with her sword if I tried to stop her. So, together with Tryphosa, I held the soldiers off her, the battlefield emptying more and more as the enemy soldiers had clearly been outnumbered and were now falling one by one. Even the villagers had finally made it away, supporting and carrying the injured.
I had been in quite a few wars. That was probably why I didn't pay much attention to the corpses at my feet. Victorine, however, paced around to look at the people on the ground and check to see if anyone was still breathing. I, on the other hand, paced around to stab Cepha's soldiers once more through the neck, just to be on the safe side, and to guarantee their death. I truly did not need a surprise attack from behind.
Tryphosa stepped toward me and pulled her helmet off her head. She wiped shiny sweat from her brow and ran it through her short hair that stuck to her head. "What do we do now, King Nicolas?"
I turned my gaze to the castle walls and Cepha's kingdom, which loomed ominously in the distance. What to make of Victorine's warning, I did not know. Were the armies of Cephas really insurmountable? Did I not even have the slightest chance?
But if I did not overthrow Cephas today, I would never be able to do it. My chances were getting slimmer and slimmer with each passing minute if his witch really was summoning deadly creatures incessantly.
I had no time for further delay. No time for doubt. I had spent years preparing for this day. For years I had made war plans, worked out strategies, trained troops. For many dark nights I had known that the only way to free my soul was to kill Cephas. The memories of the murder of my parents had been bearable only because they were always accompanied by ideas about Cephas' death. The two were linked by fate and could not be separated.
I was not a good person. Especially compared to Victorine. When I looked at her, everything about her reminded me of light and hope. She did everything to protect her loved ones and to protect innocent people. She wanted to save the world, while I only wanted my own salvation. My own liberation.
Victorine went to this war to save other people. I went to this war knowing that all the men and women behind me would die. I had always accepted that fact. And nothing about that had changed.
While my army would distract Cephas' soldiers and armies of deadly creatures, I would sneak into the castle and kill Cephas. My soldiers were nothing but a distraction. They were like slaughter cattle that I sent out there to keep the butchers busy for just a brief moment. They were only to stay alive until I could cut off Cephas' head.
