I feel like my entire body is underwater. I run full speed and yet my body feels heavy like it's made of led. All I hear is the pounding of my own heart. My chest feels tight too. I breathe mouthfuls of air and yet I'm suffocating. My visions a stinging blur from the sweat. This isn't happening. This can't be real... The entire city is in mourning. Every soul. Every creature. I run into the front yard of the Palace and stop. Red and blue flowers lay by the entrance... No... I slowly walk past them and go inside. The eyes of the guards follow me without a sound. A Palace maiden spots me and runs over to me in sheer panic.

“Master Ira! Please! Save the child!” She clings to my shirt. Desperate.

“The child?”

“The Priestess has locked herself inside her room for weeks now! We haven't seen either one of them in days! She stopped eating! Nobody has even heard the child cry! Please! PLEASE!!”

I pluck her grips off myself. “I understand. I'll take care of it.”

“MASTER!”

“CHIEF!” Voices and footsteps flood the corridor. Men drop to their knees in front of me.

“WE FAILED!”

“KILL US!”

“PLEASE!”

“NOT NOW!” I roar down on them. “I'll deal with you lot after I confirm the Heir's condition.” I walk away from the men. A small crowd is gathered in front of the bedroom door. They clear a path for me. I knock on the door.

“LEAVE!” A shriek. I try the handle. Locked.

“Will somebody care to explain it to me why the Hell nobody has torn down this door yet?”

“It's the Priestess's...”

“We don't dare...”

“Your cowardice may have cost the life of the first-born Heir to Noxanda! Now is not the time for titles and rules to get in the way!” I ram a dagger into the lock and tear it apart. I kick the door in.

“I SAID GET OUT!!!” Another shriek. The windows are closed shut too... I walk over to the bed. A quiet humming reaches me. Devona sits on the floor, by the bed, cradling a sleeping child... She's skin and bones... Both of them... Don't tell me... A crack beneath my foot. I stepped on a bottle. I try to see in the dim light of a single candle. Vials are scattered all around her. Potions. Probably. I carefully crouch down and try to reach for her.

“Devona?”

“Wykren! Look! She has your eyes! Pretty baby! See! Look how pretty she is! Our little Gazarria... Your greatest treasure...” My blood freezes...

“Yes. She's pretty... Very... Can I hold her, now? Please?” I kneel down by her side.

“Huh?” Devona turns to me. “Who... I...ra...” Oh no. Her eyes scream in pain, her face rearranges itself into another shriek.

“GET OUT!!!” She turns the child away from me. I grab Devona's arm. She struggles.

“Devona! Give me the child!”

“NO! ONLY WYKREN CAN HOLD HER! LET GO!”

“NO! YOU LET GO! DEVONA! STOP! YOU'RE KILLING HER!” She tries to fend me off with one hand. I grab it with ease. I can feel the bones of the arm rub together... Don't do this...

“I SAID NO!!” She persists.

“DEVONA!! LOOK AT HER! LOOK AT WHAT YOU'VE DONE!” I struggle to take the child from her mother, without hurting either one of them.

“WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO TREAT HIS FLESH AND BLOOD THIS WAY!” Devona freezes for a moment. “I don't care what you do to yourself, but don't you dare harm his child!” Her grip loosens. I take the chance and take the child from her arms. I rustle in the dark for the pulse... Please... Please... There! Thank the Stars...

“Wy...kren...”

I wave over to someone. A maiden scrambles over and takes the child from me.

“Make sure she gets everything she needs. Keep her alive no matter what!” I whisper.

“Yes, Master.” The girl nods and crawls away. The rest of the spectators disappear as well.

“Wy...kren...” Right. One more problem to solve...

“Devona?” I try to reach for her again.

“Wykren! Where's Wykren! Where IS HE!” She shrieks again, throwing herself at me. I grab her wrists. She struggles. “WYKREEEEEEN!”

“HE'S GONE! YOU KNOW THAT!” I try to contain her, but lose my balance instead and fall on my back, with a raging Devona over me.

“LIES! ALL LIES!”

“DEVONA! SNAP OUT OF IT! WYKREN'S GONE!”

“NO! HE CAN'T BE! HE PROMISED! HE PROMISED TO COME BACK!!”

“HE'S NOT COMING BACK! EVER!!” I struggle to calm her without injuring her...

“LIAR!! HE CAN'T BE GONE!! HE can't... Leave me... I can't... Do this... Alone...” She gives out and slumps mid-air. I carefully wrangle out from under her and lower her hands to the ground. She curls up in a ball on the spot.

“Wykren... I want my Wykren...” Her cries pick up again. “WYKREEEEEEEEEEN!!!” She screams and cries, and all I can do is sit there and watch it happen... You, BASTARD! What gave you the right to go off and die like that! See what you've done now! Tears wet my eyes... I didn't think I had those anymore... Devona's cries quiet down a little. She gasps for air and passes out on the floor. I pick her up and lay her down in the bed, tucking her in.

“Master?” A single Robe stands in the doorway with a candle in hand. I walk over closer to him.

“How's the Heir?”

“Stable. Now. Malnourished though...”

“Can you help her?”

“Well... The thing is...”

“Spit it out already.” I growl under my breath.

“The child needs the mother's milk...”

“The mother is not exactly in the right state of mind for that, or health, for the matter.”

“Sadly...”

“Can you find a substitute?”

“Perhaps if another mother were to...”

“No. Find another way.” I shake my head. “Use goat's milk or something.”

“Master, with all due respect, sustenance from an animal is... Not safe...”

“Then make it safe! There are plenty of Cleansers here! Purify it if you must! Or find someone who will!” I glare at the old man.

“He nods. Perhaps that could work...”

“Good. Make it happen. The sooner the better.”

“Of course.”

“Is that all?” I stare at the Robe.

“No. There is an avalanche of problems and no-one to solve them.” How bold of him to point that out now.

“I'll take care of it. Have everything laid out and sorted by urgency on the desk in the Throne Hall.”

“Of course.” The man hesitates.

“What?”

“Master, are we to assume you shall be staying with us? Considering...”

I grin. “I left you people in charge and you let your King die. The Queen has gone mad with grief under your watch. Not to mention that you failed to secure the safety of the Heir too. Need I even mention that the one and only legendary and sacred Saber is nowhere to be seen, either?” The man looks away from me. I carry on.

“This entire horrid reality happened thanks to all of your collective mistakes. I am well aware the kind of a reckless fool our King was. But you people should have been prepared for that. It should have been your responsibility to stop him at all cost. Yet you hide behind titles and rules to justify your spineless attitude. Tell me. When was the last time any of you saw the King do the same?” The realization in the Robes eyes reflects nicely in the weak light.

“To answer your question. No. I won't simply be staying with you. I will have your heads for your incompetence! Now get out of my sight.”

The Robe nods.

“And fix the damn lock first thing tomorrow.” The Robe bows and I close the door again.

“The Hell happened here...” I ask nobody... How did this happen... What am I supposed to do now... I'm no King. I'm not him... I can't... I'm the Shadow... I failed... I'm a failure as the Shadow. I never should have left... I smash my fist into the wall...

“Wykren, you bastard...” I stare into the darkness in front of me. “I should kill you for this...” I feel my body tremble and try my best to pull myself together again. I try to clean up the vials and the drapes around the room. I scramble around in the feint light. I find plates. Jars. Solutions... What in the world is all this? Was she keeping the child alive with magic? If that's true, then she must have burned through her Mana... I check on Devona again. She looks like a corpse... I take out a Mana potion and freeze again. I take Devona by her chin as gently as I can and open her mouth a bit. I pour the potion in. It spills all over. I stop and try again. I put my finger over the top of the vial and leave only a tiny gap open. I drip the potion into her mouth a drop at a time. It takes a while, but I manage. I use another vial for Mana and another one for Health, just to be on the safe side... I can't believe how she looks... I turn away and open a single window. A light breeze blows in. The end of Spring. The End of Wykren... Noxanda's first King...