Phoenix: The nuruk beast.

Chapter twenty seven: Victory

 Aldrich found himself facing William where he once buried him, he reached to touch his face but it turned smoke right before he could touch it. As the face re-formed, Aldrich said to it in a shaky voice,

"I-I'm sorry, if I had foreseen this, I would have-" William said to him in a grey voice,

"What does it matter, I am dead now." Aldrich moved towards him and said,

"I really didn't want you dead."

"Then what did you want?!!!" he bellowed, "Did you just want me out of your way?" Aldrich turned his head away and closed his eyes, "look at me Aldrich!!" the figure shouted, Aldrich faced him while trying to hold back his tears and said,

"You were my only friend for a long time, how could you think that?"

"Well what do you expect me to think?" Aldrich began to step away from him, he shook his head as he said,

"No, you aren't the William I know." the place became as it once was before, an empty space full of black mist with the nuruk wolf right in front of him. The grief in Aldrich's eyes disappeared in an instant, "William is gone." he said to himself.

"But your sins aren't." the wolf said, Aldrich looked it in the eye with a much more controlled expression and said;

"And so what? I will not let my mistakes be the end of me."

The rajmirik began to feel his balance coming back, Gallithan slumped onto his knees while Lydia tried to support him by his shoulder. The dark green eyes and pointed ears he once had had become normal again. The rajmirik shook its head and in a moment, it got a firm grasp of its surrounding. The beast felt stings of pain all over its body, it realized it was covered in flesh wounds. None of which however was deep enough to make it bleed gravely. As the twin knights came from both its front and back ready to plunge their swords into it, the creature rolled by its side having them almost stab each other. It immediately it got back on its feet and bolted into the castle.

Aldrich now saw the nuruk wolf for what it truly was, its grin had now faded and Aldrich could feel its blood lust once more.

"You really think you deserve to go free after what you did?" the wolf said to Aldrich,

"What I deserve is of no concern to you."

"So you deny that you are guilty of his death?"

He bowed his head and said, "No."

"You see, you are just as guilty a crime as all the bandits you've killed and captured."

Aldrich took a deep breath and looked him in the eyes again, "Maybe I am, so what?" a small part of the black cloud began to get sucked into Aldrich's chest, the nuruk saw what was going on and began to speak more agitatedly.

"You brat!! You killed your only friend."

"I have other friends now."

"So you replaced him and found no use for him?"

A small smirk appeared on Aldrich's lips as he replied, "You and I know that's a lie." most of the nuruk got drawn into Aldrich's person.

"Fool!! You admit to your crime and think it is okay to go on. You don't get to decide whether you go free or not."

"Neither do you." The entire black mist along with the nuruk wolf all got drawn into Aldrich.

The rajmirik ran as fast as its limbs could carry it towards the throne room. It ran up the stairs not even paying heed to the two knights that were hiding in the castle. Alas, it entered the throne room where it met Aldrich on his feet holding the nuruk dagger. He held it up to his left palm and cut it slightly.