The Path of Ruin

When Kael went out into the garden, he wasn't quite sure where he should go. He knew he had to get away from the palace, yes... But he couldn't do it through the entrance gate. He was either the only survivor in the palace or one of the very few. So they wouldn't let him out easily.

'It won't be long before they come...'

The palace was not connected to any city, the nearest city was a few kilometers away. So... it wasn't really that far away.

'Was there another entrance or exit to the palace?'

Actually, the palace already had more than one entrance... but he was looking for something else. A more... hidden entrance. Like a hole in the walls, for example. But he had no knowledge of the existence of such a thing.

The longer he waited, the more he felt like he was wasting his time, so he started walking again. This time... he was heading towards the walls. And it wasn't long before he reached the nearest one.

The walls were almost ten meters high. He had no idea how thick they were, but he was sure they were not thin.

He turned to his left, on the opposite side to the entrance closest to him, and started moving forward.

Minutes followed minutes, he felt like he was running out of time... though it was a miracle that no one had arrived so far. The palace was the center point of the kingdom after all... there were many people coming here every day.

He paused, his brow furrowing as he realized something he hadn't thought about before.

Yes, indeed, dozens of people came to the palace every day. But... why was it so... deserted now? The state of the palace should have been noticed long ago, in the very first minutes.

He didn't know, it was a matter that really puzzled him. But, eventually, he gave up. It suited him anyway, and there was nothing to be gained by continuing to question now. So, he stopped thinking and kept looking for a way out.

However, no matter how hard he searched... he couldn't find any exit.

It wasn't long before he started to worry about his second chance. He needed to escape, to get away from here, but... it was as if he was trapped inside!

He quickened his pace, trying his best to be faster. Then, after a short while... something caught his eye. When he squinted and looked ahead, his eyes widened.

'Of course!'

This time, he started running. After a while, though, he paused again. In front of him was a small, one-story building. The peculiarity of this building... was that it supplied the palace with water from the river in front of it. The river ran under the walls and stretched onward!

With a smile on his face, Kael approached the point where the river met the walls. The river was quite clear, so it was also crystal clear. And so what he saw... he didn't like.

For the river to flow continuously, they couldn't close it, so there had to be a gap... But there was no way they could leave such a vulnerability in the palace! He had seen many soldiers roaming around here before. But now, there was no one here and he counted on that.

But... it seems that soldiers on constant patrol were not the only security measures taken. Because a perforated barrier had been built under the wall so as not to obstruct the flow of the river!

'Damn it!'

Kael continued to study the perforated wall under the river, then took it back. Because... the holes were actually not that small.

Not big, yes... but definitely not small. It made sense... after all, they didn't want to disturb the flow of water too much. The flow had to be fast and undisturbed. That's why the size of the holes in the wall had to be carefully calibrated.

And these holes... were big enough for a child to pass through, even with some difficulty. It was impossible for an adult, no matter how skinny they were... But Kael was not an adult. He was an emaciated fifteen-year-old slave!

Still, as he examined the holes, he had his doubts.

Kael could swim. One of the places he had worked before was a river like this one and he had been forced to learn. But the problem was... what if he got stuck trying to get through one of the holes?

Drowning was one of the last things he wanted to do, he was sure of it.

So, one by one, he examined all the holes he could see. He crossed to the other side of the river and examined the holes on that side too. Finally, on the other side, he caught a glimpse of one. It was a little more worn than the others, with moss growing around it. It was a hole he could pass through more easily than the others.

Kael took a deep breath, thought for a moment... but then decided he had no better plan. He readied himself, placed the dagger he had taken from the king's chamber in his clothes, and took one last look at the hole. Then he jumped into the river.

The river was not very deep, but not shallow either. It was over Kael's height, and probably over the height of a few of the adults, but Kael didn't think about it. As he held his breath under the water, he approached the hole he had spotted and looked inside.

The walls were... really thick. He would have to crawl almost a meter to get through the hole. And when he realized this, he became even more worried.

'No, it's wide enough for me to get through, although it will be a bit difficult.'

So, he made up his mind.

He went up again to catch his breath, inhaled deeply, and... dived into the water again.

This time, he didn't hesitate or stop, he didn't think. He stretched his arms forward, then put his hands and then his head into the hole.

Just as he had expected, it was a small hole, even for someone like him... But it wasn't that he couldn't move. He could move forward, even if he had to force his way through! And so he did.

His elbows kept bumping against the stones, he even hit his head a few times... But he didn't stop. Finally, his hands reached the outside of the wall. Kael acted fast. He grabbed the outer parts of the wall with his hands and pulled himself out. First, his head came out, then his chest and waist. And finally... his feet.

Without waiting, he swam upwards, reached the surface, and swam out of the river. When he was finally out of the river, he took a moment to catch his breath, turned his eyes back, and... looked at the palace walls.

His body was full of scratches. The inside of the hole was not smooth, it hurt a lot... But he had made it! He had made it out of the palace! Now, he could get away from here!

He smiled, stood up. He put the palace aside and focused ahead.

He was in a... forest. The trees were not too close together, but... there were too many of them.

Now... what was he supposed to do?

Kael paused for a moment, staring blankly ahead. He had made it out of the palace... what was the next step?

He closed his eyes, trying to remember what the area around the palace had been like. At that moment, he remembered something, something he had forgotten...

'There was a detailed map of the kingdom in the king's room... Idiot! Why don't you look at it before you leave!'

But it was too late, he couldn't go back. He was left to his own devices. And what he knew... wasn't much.

The river he used to get out of the palace ran eastward across the continent, reaching more than one kingdom. Apart from that... the forest he was now in was quite large. And the nearest city, the one where the king's brother lived, was on the other side of the palace.

That was all he knew.

Kael kept thinking.

The forest couldn't be too dangerous. After all, it was right next to the palace. But... if it was really big, that would change as he went on. He would encounter wild animals, maybe even creatures.

Could he survive?

His eyes squinted, a moment of despair came over him.

He had to stay out of sight for a while. He knew what would happen to him if someone like him was found somewhere near the palace when the news got out. So... he had to stay alive until the events here were forgotten. But therein lay the problem.

He pulled from his clothes the dagger he had sto- borrowed.

So far, he had actually killed only two creatures. One in the greenhouse and the other at the end of the fourth floor. Both times, he had come close to death. In fact... he should have died in the last one. He had survived because of the chance the king had given him.

Kael didn't trust himself, nor should he, and he knew it. He was just a scrawny fifteen-year-old boy.

Nevertheless...

Despite everything...

"Haaaaah..."

He sighed deeply. He gripped his dagger tightly, his eyes fixed on the forest.

"It doesn't matter what happens. I... will survive."

And so, he began to move forward. With his torn, blood-soaked clothes and his scrawny body... With the will to live that pervaded his whole body, even though his dagger was the only weapon he had.

When he thought of what he had been through so far... what was a simple forest?

Even as a young boy, he had survived the catastrophe that had ended a kingdom. He had killed two creatures even though he had no power. He had conversed with a king in earnest. He had come back from death itself. And... despite being a slave, he had the blessing... okay, maybe the curse for him... of a king.

He could and would make it.

So, he made his way deeper into the forest... leaving behind everything he had experienced in this palace... and took the first steps towards his new life with a determined look on his face.

But there was something he didn't know. And that was... that there was actually someone, or rather something, watching him...

High above, above the trees... No, much higher. Beyond the sky, in the dark void that stretched into infinity... something was looking down at him. And... it was smiling.