Accept Defeat

Ramza looked at his friend sadly. "For someone who never falls in love, you are knowledgeable my friend," he said and smiled a little.

Zemeth chuckled. "That's good! Cheer up! Start smiling, the sooner you will get over your heartbreaks the better," he said.

A bittersweet smile broke in Ramza's face. He looked at the imposing gate of the castle on the hill trying to guess what they have done to Kate causing her to screamed in a frightened voice. It's sad and heartbreaking that he can't rescue and protect her. Why they have to meet in a difficult situation? Why he found a love so beautiful during a mission that was both dangerous and life-threatening?

If only, he meets her at a different time. The situation might have been different between them.

When he joined Zemeth in this mission in the mortal realm, he goes for the adventure aspect of it. He didn't expect that he would found the love of his life in the mortal realm. Yet, their love story was tragic, she was taken away from him, too soon for his liking.

What a pity!

"Is there a possibility that Ivy and Kate still alive inside the castle?" Ramza asked.

Zemeth shook his head. "I don't want to give you any false hope. This castle was notorious for its macabre rule. Once you step inside the castle you can never get out alive," he said.

"What happened to the people that were taken from the village?" asked Ramza.

Zemeth shrugged. "I dunno...we will find out soon enough if we are lucky. But I have a wild guess...either they're already killed, tortured, turn into a slave and transformed into many things we don't know about. One thing I can assure you, those creatures inside are bored to death. Humans can have many uses for them though — to take their boredom away."

Ramza's eyes widened in horror. "And who are these monster you are talking about?"

"Well...a lot of monsters has been imprisoned inside the castle ranging from Savage Vampires, Orcs, Minotaur, Golem, Dryad, Goblin, Demon and many others," Zemeth replied.

"Huh? How come they are put in one place together and why in the mortal realm? It's dangerous for the mortals living nearby," Ramza said.

Zemeth drew in a long breath.

It's a long story but today is the right time to tell his friend what he knows.

"In return for the peace of all race inhabiting this planet, those monsters were being given the freedom to collect mortal victims now and then as long they won't exceed their quota. As long they won't bleed the mortal realm dry, everything they do is tolerable.

There is a century peace treaty that took place between the Nephilim realm and other realms, to provide the demons their place in the mortal world as long they keep their slaughter to a minimum then they are allowed to collect victims now and then."

Ramza's brows knitted together. "How did you know that they were not exceeding their limits?"

"Someone is keeping a tab on their activities outside. Besides, nobody is allowed to enter the castle on the hill, only mortals can. Our kind can be easily detected on their end, so we can't get inside, or else they will rebel and the long peace treaty will be destroyed allowing the monsters to roamed freely in the mortal world and create unimaginable slaughter for centuries to come."

Ramza sneered. "Why can we just terminate those demons and monsters inside the castle and burn them alive?" There was a huge amount of anger rising in his voice.

Zemeth sighed.

"Calm down, Ramza. We can't breach the century-old treaty, as long the monsters were honoring it, then the Nephilim and other realms won't do anything against the inhabitants of the castle on the hill. Or else, chaos will reign supreme on earth again and millions will suffer," Zemeth explained further.

"But why our realm and the others are turning their back on the suffering of the mortals in the hands of these monsters?" Ramza can't understand the logic of the treaty.

Zemeth sighed.

"Because everyone wants peace! And these creatures won't die easily, they will rise again and again to create chaos on earth and everyone suffers and we can't enjoy peace for a long time. The constant endless battle will ensue if the demons won't get what they want. They were given what they want here on the mortal realm so that majority of other races can enjoy peace in exchange for the sacrifice of the few innocent victims, like Ivy and Kate."

Ramza was experiencing a painful headache while listening to his friend's explanation. "The leaders who made the treaty way back are dumb as fuck!" he commented.

Zemeth doesn't agree with his friend's negative opinion about the peace treaty.

"Not really. It's the only way to seal the demons in their backyard and limit their venom and destroying capabilities. So far, it works well on both's sides. Everyone enjoys a long century of peace. Before the peace treaty was established, war erupts everywhere and peace was impossible to establish between kingdoms of all races," he explained.

Ramza looked at his friend. "Go on...continue the story 'coz I'm listening." He encouraged Zemeth to continue his narration hoping he can find enlightenment after he knows everything.

"The war between good and evil was never-ending. Then two creatures from the Nephilim and evil race made the ultimate sacrifice for the peace of all. I will tell you about them one of these days." He paused for a moment and continue. "You are just reacting badly right now because your beloved woman was inside the castle. If you didn't fall in love with Kate, you would probably don't give a damn about what's going on. Am I right?" Zemeth said.

Ramza did not reply, his friend does have a point though.

He was unfortunate to fall in love with a human who's bound to be a victim of the castle on the hill.

Zemeth retreated in silence and Ramza did the same.

Midnight comes and still, there's no sign of Kate coming out of the gate.

Ramza finally accepted defeat.

He glanced at the gate of the castle one last time...' Goodbye my love. I'm sorry I can't do anything to help you. I feel so guilty and broken inside," he said and cried silently. His heart was breaking into a tiny million pieces and he was powerless to do anything about it.

"Let's go, buddy!" Zemeth said and waved his hands at the horses and the wagon.

A few seconds later.

The winged creatures disappeared from the base of the hill along with the horses and the wagon.