A heavy silence settled at the palace gate, and nothing could be heard except the slow footsteps of the beast as it advanced inward, leaving behind the scattered bodies of the guards on the ground.
There was no urgency in its movement, as if it were walking through a place that had already become its own.
Not far from the gate, one of the guards was leaning on his knee with difficulty.
His right arm was no longer there, blood flowing heavily from where it had been, while one of his eyes was closed, blood covering half his face.
He was gasping violently, and each breath he took seemed to be torn from the depths of his chest.
Beside him, a young maid knelt on the ground, holding his uninjured arm with both hands, her eyes full of tears and fear.
“Come on…
we have to leave!
Please, I don’t want you to die here.”
She tried to help him stand, but he groaned from the intensity of the pain, and his legs nearly failed him.
“Lean on me…
please.”
She wrapped his shoulder with her arm, giving all the strength she had to help him get away, while trembling with fear, glancing back now and then at the beast that continued its advance with calm steps, as if their presence meant nothing to it…
yet.
The guard breathed with difficulty, then shook his head refusing, while pressing his one remaining hand against the place of his severed arm trying to stop the bleeding.
“No…
go.”
The maid looked at him in shock, her eyes filling with tears.
“What are you saying?”
The guard took a broken breath, then said in a tired but steady voice:
“One of the guards has already gone to inform His Majesty the King of what is happening here.
If you flee now, no one will remain to delay that beast until they arrive.”
The maid shook her head firmly while holding his arm.
“But…
you’ll die!
You’ve been bleeding for a long time!”
He didn’t answer her, only kept his gaze fixed ahead.
At that moment, the sound of heavy footsteps began approaching little by little over the stone floor of the gate.
The two of them raised their heads at the same time.
The beast was advancing toward them slowly, until its features began to appear clearly under the torchlight.
Its tall, thin body, its rigid red eyes, and its expressionless face made the maid’s features turn pale.
Her whole body trembled, then she stepped back before her legs failed her and she fell to the ground, staring at it with eyes widened in terror.
The guard turned to her for a moment, then returned his gaze to the beast.
He tightened his grip on his sword, planted his feet in the ground, then raised the blade with one hand despite his trembling arm and exhausted body.
“Leave from here…
there’s no more time to waste.”
The guard looked at the maid once more, then screamed with all the strength remaining in him:
“I said leave!”
And in the moment he turned his face toward the beast, he realized it was too late.
The beast had covered most of the distance between them, and lunged toward him with terrifying speed.
The guard tightened his grip on his sword, and let out his final scream as he brought the blade down with all the strength left in him, ready to die fighting.
But…
A sharp scream rang out from the beast itself.
The guard’s eyes widened, and his sword remained frozen in the air, not believing what he was seeing.
The beast’s arms had separated from its body, and fell to the ground before it.
The beast stepped back several steps, and its eyes were not looking at the guard, but at something standing behind him.
The guard turned slowly.
And his eyes widened in astonishment.
Prince Adrian was standing beside him, his sword still extended after the strike, while drops of blood dripped from its blade in silence.
The guard kept staring ahead, not believing what had happened, while Prince Adrian stood calmly beside him, his eyes never leaving the beast.
Adrian approached him, then cut a piece from the edge of his cloak with his sword.
The guard was startled and quickly extended his hand.
“My prince, there’s no need for that…”
But Adrian didn’t answer him.
He wrapped the piece of cloth tightly around his severed arm, then tightened it to stop the bleeding as much as possible.
Then he raised his head and looked at him directly.
“Take the maid with you, and go treat your wound immediately…
as long as you’re able to move.”
The guard remained silent for a moment, then said hesitantly:
“But…
my lord Adrian, will you fight that thing alone?
It killed many guards with ease.”
Adrian didn’t turn to him.
He stepped forward a few steps, and began to face the beast directly, while the creature’s gaze began to change for the first time since its appearance, as if it realized that the one standing before it was not like any other opponent.
Adrian gripped his sword tightly, then said in a calm and firm voice:
“It seems you’ve forgotten something…”
A short silence fell.
“I’m not just a spoiled prince.”
He raised his sword slowly, directing its blade toward the beast.
“I am a knight…
and it is the duty of knights to destroy these savage creatures.”
Adrian said without taking his eyes off the beast:
“Go, guard…
for I will handle this beast.”
The guard hesitated for a moment, then bowed respectfully.
“As you command, my lord.”
He went toward the maid, helped her stand, and the two began moving away from the battlefield.
As they walked, the guard glanced back once more, and saw Adrian standing alone facing the beast, holding his sword steadily without retreating a single step.
A faint smile formed on his face, then he said with confidence
“He’s right…
that beast that tore through all of us so easily cut off my arm.”
He took a deep breath, then continued as he kept moving away
“I’m certain…
The beast remained standing in place, staring at Adrian with fixed eyes.
It did not lunge at him as it had with the guards, and showed no movement to attack, as if it were reassessing its opponent for the first time.
As for Adrian, he returned the same gaze, then let out a calm breath as he tightened his grip on his sword.
“What’s the matter?”
He tilted his head slightly, then continued in a cold tone
“Have you become afraid…
just because I cut off your hands?”
A light smile formed on his face, and he raised his sword directing its blade toward the beast.
“It’s fine…”
Then he said with confidence untouched by hesitation
“I’ll make sure to cut off that head too.”
Adrian took a few small steps forward, then struck the ground with his foot and shot forward like an arrow toward the beast, directing a quick strike at its neck.
But the beast slid backward at the last moment, so the blade passed its target by a narrow margin.
The beast’s gaze didn’t change.
It kept staring at Adrian with the same rigid eyes, as if it were watching him more than fighting him.
And suddenly, a strange sound came from it.
“Kheh…
kheh…”
The sound seemed like a stifled cough…
or a distorted laugh that couldn’t be distinguished.
Adrian’s eyes narrowed, and he didn’t give it another chance.
He lunged at it again, and began directing a series of quick, consecutive strikes.
His sword gleamed under the torchlight, and each strike targeted a lethal spot.
Yet the beast continued to evade silently, moving with strange agility, avoiding every attack by a narrow margin, while that faint sound kept coming from it now and then, as if it were enjoying the confrontation.
Adrian lunged with a straight strike toward the beast’s neck.
At the last moment, the beast pulled its head back, so the blade passed its neck by a narrow margin.
A light smile formed on Adrian’s face.
“You fell for it.”
He took advantage of his sword’s movement, smoothly reversing the blade’s direction, then brought his arm down quickly, directing a swift strike toward the beast’s chest.
The sword split its skin with force, opening a deep wound that extended across its chest.
The beast let out a sharp scream, and its body recoiled slightly from the force of the strike.
But Adrian didn’t give it a chance to catch its breath.
He turned quickly, then directed a powerful kick at its chest.
The beast was pushed back several meters before regaining its balance, while blood flowed from the deep wound left by Adrian’s sword.
Drops of blood fell from the beast’s chest, and its body began to shake slightly, while it was clear that the strike had hurt it.
Adrian turned his sword in his hand, then said in a cold tone:
“Not a nice feeling, is it, to be in pain?”
He fixed his gaze on it, and continued in a voice carrying suppressed anger:
“Don’t worry…
I’ll make sure you taste pain well, as punishment for everything you’ve done…
you monster.”
The beast made that strange sound again.
“Khekh…
khraa…”
But this time it was louder and sharper, until it seemed to shake the air around it.
Then it raised its severed arms forward.
The blood stopped flowing, and flesh and bone began growing at a terrifying speed before Adrian’s eyes.
The wound began healing little by little, but what appeared were not hands as they had been before.
Each arm transformed into a long black claw, like a sharp blade, extending from the elbow to the tip, surrounded by bony protrusions that made it look like a weapon created for killing, not a limb of a living body.
Adrian’s eyes narrowed, and he stepped back half a step as he tightened his grip on his sword.
“…Wait.”
He fixed his gaze on the new arms.
“His hands…
they weren’t like this at first.”
Only moments passed before the deep wound in the beast’s chest began healing before Adrian’s eyes.
The edges of the flesh closed together, and the bleeding gradually disappeared, until no trace of the strike remained, as if it had never happened.
Adrian’s features hardened, and he took a more cautious stance.
“So…
it really does regenerate.”
He tightened his grip on the sword, then muttered as he thought:
“The fight will be harder this way.”
He suddenly stopped, then scratched the back of his head in annoyance.
“Wait…”
He furrowed his brows trying to remember.
“How did knights used to kill beasts that had the ability to regenerate?”
He began pressing his fingers against his head.
“Ah…
remember…
remember…
remember…”
At that same moment, the beast lunged at him with lightning speed.
Adrian raised his head immediately, and swung his sword just in time.
The sound of a powerful collision rang out, and the beast’s strike stopped after colliding with the blade of his sword.
The two weapons remained locked together, while sparks scattered between them.
Adrian smiled faintly, and said as he pushed his sword forward
“Ooooh…”
“Seems you’re not a coward anymore.”
In the next moment, the beast raised its other arm, and lunged with the long claw toward Adrian’s side, trying to pierce his body with one strike.
But Adrian had anticipated it.
He raised his knee quickly, placing it in the middle of the claw’s path the moment it arrived, changing the direction of the strike before it hit him.
The claw veered to the side, piercing the air instead of Adrian’s body.
Adrian’s smile didn’t leave his face, while he kept his sword locked with the beast’s other claw.
“Slow…”
Adrian’s eyes narrowed as he watched the beast’s movement moment by moment.
His grip on the sword tightened further.
“It realized I can match its speed, so it tried to get ahead of me…
turning its arms into two blades to force me to defend from two directions.”
A confident smile formed on his face.
“But…
I’m still better than you.”
“Haaa!”
He let out a powerful scream, and pushed his sword with all his strength, throwing the beast off balance and forcing it back.
Adrian seized that moment without hesitation.
He swung his sword in a slanted arc, and the blade traveled from the top of the beast’s shoulder to its waist, splitting its body with a deep strike.
The beast let out an angry scream.
But it didn’t retreat without a response.
It used its other blade, directing a swift strike toward Adrian’s shoulder.
Adrian leaned his body at the last moment, but the tip of the claw grazed past his shoulder, tearing part of his clothing, opening a shallow wound from which a few drops of blood flowed.
Adrian lunged first, and the distance between him and the beast vanished in an instant.
The sword collided with the claw, sending sparks flying into the air.
Neither of them stopped.
Adrian directed a horizontal strike toward its waist, the beast retreated half a step, then countered with a vertical strike that nearly split his head, but Adrian ducked beneath it, and turned his sword to attack its leg.
The beast jumped back, and the moment its feet touched the ground it lunged again, turning its claws into a barrage of rapid stabs.
Adrian retreated a step, then another, while his sword moved with astonishing speed, deflecting blow after blow without allowing any claw to touch his body.
The sounds of clashing echoed throughout the gate.
A strike…
then another…
then a third…
It was no longer possible to tell which of them was attacking and which was defending.
Both their features vanished behind the speed of their movements, leaving nothing but the gleam of the sword and the shine of the claws crossing constantly.
Adrian seized a small opening, lunging forward and stabbing the beast in its shoulder.
But the beast caught the blade between its claws, stopping its advance by force.
Adrian smiled, then twisted the hilt of his sword violently inside the wound, forcing the beast to release it.
The beast turned quickly, directing a wide circular strike.
Adrian jumped back, but the tip of the claw sliced through the air directly in front of his face.
The moment he landed on the ground, he lunged forward again without hesitation.
The two exchanged dozens of strikes in mere seconds.
Every attack was met with a parry.
And every parry turned into a new attack.
Neither of them managed to gain the upper hand, while the ground around them began to fill with the marks of swords and claws, and fragments of stone scattered with every violent collision.
But Adrian’s smile never left his face.
He exchanged several more strikes with the beast, then spotted a small opening.
In a flashing moment, he pushed the beast’s two blades away from their path with his sword, and lunged inward before his opponent could regain balance.
The blade of the sword gleamed.
And in the next second, the beast’s left arm separated from its shoulder, and fell to the ground.
The beast let out an angry scream, but Adrian gave it no chance.
He struck the severed claw with the tip of his foot, sending it rising slightly into the air.
He caught it with his left hand at the same moment, then lunged forward and drove it forcefully into the beast’s shoulder, pinning its body for a moment and preventing it from carrying out its next attack.
The beast’s eyes widened.
And in that brief moment…
Adrian turned with all his strength.
His sword passed in a swift horizontal line.
And the beast’s head separated from its body.
The head flew several meters before hitting the ground.
The beast’s body remained still for a moment without any movement.
Adrian loosened his grip on his sword slightly, believing the fight had ended.
And suddenly, the sound of a faint clapping rang out in the place.
One clap…
then another.
A light smile formed on Adrian’s face, and he turned around
But there was no one there.
“What?”
His smile vanished immediately, and his eyes narrowed.
“No one…”
And in the moment he turned again, his eyes widened in shock.
The beast’s left arm had fully regenerated, returning to its natural shape, and its long claws shot toward him with lightning speed.
Adrian lowered his head in the last fraction of a second, so the claws passed directly over his face, but the tip of one of the nails sliced his right eyebrow.
Drops of blood scattered into the air, and Adrian jumped back several steps, placing his hand over the wound.
He raised his head slowly, and looked ahead in disbelief.
The beast’s head was still lying on the ground…
Yet, the body was moving as if it had never lost it at all.
Adrian stood in place, a drop of blood flowing from his right eyebrow down to his cheek, but he didn’t try to wipe it away.
His eyes were fixed on the beast without blinking.
Before his eyes, the severed head began to shake on the ground, while the body started moving as if it had never lost it at all.
The head rolled slowly until it came close to the body.
And in the next moment…
The beast picked up its head with its hand, then lifted it calmly, and returned it to its neck.
The flesh and bone began healing at a terrifying speed, and only seconds passed before every trace of the cut vanished completely.
The beast moved its neck right and left, faint cracking sounds emanating from it, then it fixed its gaze on Adrian.
Silence fell.
Neither of them moved.
But this time, it wasn’t shock on Adrian’s face, but seriousness.
He finally realized that his opponent wasn’t the type that ends with a beheading.
His grip on his sword tightened, and his mocking smile vanished for the first time since the fight began.
“Now I understand…”
He raised his sword slowly, taking a fighting stance once more.
“So…
I’ll have to find another way to kill you.”