CHAPTER 54: CHAPTER 53: THE END OF THE JOURNEY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WHIRLPOOL OF MEMORIES (1)

The scene shifted again with overwhelming speed.

This time the prince appeared bound with rough ropes while being dragged across the dirt ground between tree trunks.

Dust clung to his face and clothes, and the rope dug brutally into his wrists.

In front of them stood Darin, and his voice carried no warmth anymore.

Around him stood the men he had personally trained in the past, men who were now soldiers of Darin alone.

Their weapons were taken from the knights who already died, their faces pale and exhausted, but every gaze fixed firmly on him.

The prince shouted with a hoarse, angry voice,

"What are you doing? Darin, untie me immediately."

Darin turned to him as if he had been preparing for this moment for many years.

"No, I will not."

His voice was sharp and completely dry.

"Your foolish decisions and actions are the reason everything collapsed until now. We followed you long enough. You are no longer the prince and the kingdom no longer exists."

The prince narrowed his eyes.

"Yes I know can you free me now?"

Darin gave him a strange look, something that carried a shade of regret.

"That is not possible."

"What are you talking about by the creator of the sky? I am no longer the prince you can leave me and go."

Darin gestured toward the men behind him.

"You are not the prince anymore but they still see you as one."

"Just tell them the truth. Tell everyone what really happened. It is that simple."

"That idea is the stupidest thing I could possibly do. You were the only reason they kept going. You were their only symbol of hope. If they knew that you were the cause of everything that destroyed their lives and everything that happened to us until now, most of them would lose hope. They would collapse and they would not be able to keep going. Our numbers are already small. We cannot afford to lose more."

"And what will you do with me now? Tie me in the forest and leave? That will break them the same way in the end."

"Yes, that is what will happen. But what if we change the story a little."

He pointed at the prince.

"A heroic sacrifice by the prince to protect his men. A final message as he takes his last breath asking them to endure and giving them a reason to continue."

"You cannot do this to me. I thought we were friends from the beginning until now."

"We were. But unlike you, I chose the good of everyone, not my own interest."

Silence fell for a moment, broken only by the sound of wind.

"Since when were you planning this?"

"Since the moment I discovered you were the cause of this entire disaster. But I did not have the courage then."

The men dragged him until they reached a tree and tied him there.

In front of him, at a distance, there was a cluster of large trees with black leaves.

And the thick black fog spread everywhere around them.

They tied the prince near that area and he did not resist.

He no longer had the strength to fight. He was exhausted from guilt.

Exhausted from the eyes watching him at every step and from the weight of every soul that died because of him.

And despite his feeling of betrayal, something inside him was strangely grateful to Darin.

For him, he was already tired of continuing forward.

There were many times through the past years when he wanted to give up.

But he could not. Behind him were many people depending on him.

And he was the direct cause of all the suffering they endured.

The prince lifted his head toward Darin.

"Where will you go now?"

"We will try to find a way out of the forest and return to the kingdom."

"You know that area is full of monsters even after the great spirit disappeared."

"We have no other choice. We already lost too much in this forest. Better to die fighting in our kingdom than die slowly here."

The prince shrugged with difficulty.

"I think you are right." He sighed heavily. "In the end, here is one last advice from me, stay away from the trees with black leaves."

"That is unfortunate. We cannot. Those trees are everywhere. The path back is full of them."

"Do you even know the path back?"

"I knew it since the moment we left."

"You are being reckless if you try to approach them. The the Grays warned me to stay away from those trees."

"You want me to believe the the Grays learned our language suddenly while you were his prisoner?"

"Yes that is what happened. Believe me, you should not go near them."

Darin looked toward the black trees then turned to his men.

"Untie the prince."

They loosened the rope around the tree but the ropes remained tight around his arms and body from behind.

Darin stepped forward, raised his sword, and placed it in front of the bound prince.

"Move forward."

They continued walking, the ropes restricting the prince’s arms while Darin walked behind him with the sword pressed against his neck so close it almost touched his skin.

When they neared the range of the black trees, the fog grew thicker.

The prince tried to turn his head but the sword stopped him.

"You are risking your life just to see if I am telling the truth. You realize this is one of the worst ideas you ever had."

Darin did not lower the weapon.

"Someone has to try."

"And if you die with me?"

"Then we end exactly as you said, the prince and his lieutenant in an epic end."

"So you are ready to die."

"You do not seem afraid."

"I am afraid, but I am also tired. At least for the first time I feel like I am actually serving my people."

Darin’s jaw trembled for a moment before he tried to hide his reaction and returned his face to its rigid expression.

They continued walking and the more they advanced, the denser the fog became.

After several steps inside that area, the voices reached them.

The first was the king’s voice.

"My son, I am here."

The prince stopped for a split second but did not turn. He only frowned and kept moving.

Darin, on the other hand, heard something else. He heard many overlapping voices.

Whispers calling him and shadowy faces moving between the trees.

When he heard them and saw them, he slowly lowered his sword.

The prince quickly moved his shoulder to block Darin.

"Darin stop. Something is wrong. These are not real voices."

But Darin had already lost his focus completely. He stared toward the sounds, stepped back a little, then took a bigger step into the fog.

The prince shouted at him,

"Darin! Come back!"

But Darin vanished into the fog before the prince finished speaking.

Then another voice came. A woman’s voice.

"Aren’t you tired, my little one? Come to me..."

The prince lifted his head toward the voice. It sounded like his mother.

She stood between the trees, arms open, a warm smile on her face.

He felt something pulling him from his chest forward. His feet moved a step, then another.

But he stopped when the earlier detail struck him.

His father’s voice calling him my son, a word he had never heard from him in his entire life.

His expression hardened. He turned and began running through the trees.

As he ran, many faces appeared in front of him. Friends who died.

Soldiers who fell in the battle against the great spirit.

Knights who died accompanying him through the forest.

All of them reached toward him and called for him.

But he did not look. He ran until pain stabbed his chest. He stopped and gasped for breath.

He tried to wipe his forehead with his arm but it was bound.

"I know you are watching me. These tricks will not work. Show yourself."

The fog in front of him began to twist until it formed a vaguely human shape.

The features were hidden under a massive hood covering the head and face.

It wore a black robe that reached the ground and moved like it was made of fog.