Why do I always tire? I walk down the corridor, moonlight streaming through the windows, creating an eerie glow. Each footstep roared through the hall, echoing in my mind like ritual drums. I feel the cracks of the cold cobblestone beneath my feet, sending chills through my legs, crawling up my spine until the sharp pains stab my brain. My body aches from dusk to dawn as my skin peels from my bones. This is my punishment. I head for a large, wooden door at the end of the hall, pushing it, the hinges screaming through the dark. I look inside to find a great ballroom. A staircase leading down unto the main floor. Pillars streaming down from the ceiling like giant legs. The space seems to expand for miles, lunas light casting glowing pools on the marble flooring. I step in, my bones cracking like gunfire. Making my way down the step, reaching the cold ballroom floor. I look down the massive hall to see a silhouette of a dress. Stepping closer, almost gliding along the surface, I find the features in the face. A lambent, almost magical light falling upon her fair face. Her eyes, glowing a bright blue in this gray monochromatic world. Her long, golden hair flowing down her face like a waterfall. Her round face, casting an even softer glow. My beautiful lady. I reach out a hand to feel her face, longing for my normal life back. Longing to see my children, my kingdom, my queen. My hand glides through her. I watch as her expression of softness fades. Her skin becomes dark, her eyes and cheeks hollowing. Her hair, slowly fading to black. Small cracks for in her face, peeling the skin off to reveal rotten flesh. Her eye sockets nothing but a pit of black. Her body loses mass until her dress was covering nothing but a skeleton. A cloud of dust falls to my feet. My hand lay still in the air, where my once true love stood. My hand, nothing but charcoal colored bone.This is how I pay for my sins. The monsters I faced for my people and my family. The wars I fought to keep the land in harmony. I was trying to serve justice. To slay the demons of the world. Trying to slay the demons within myself. How? How am I to protect my people from monsters.. When the monster is me..?
