Prologue - Carrots

"What are you thinking about?"

"Carrots."

"Carrots?"

"Yeah, carrots."

"What the f*ck are those?"

"I don't know."

"Then why do you want them?"

"I've never had them before." And yet she spoke so much of them.

Laying on the ground, he glanced at the sky above. The stars slowly reappeared, one by one, as the red moon dimmed.

Its soft pale light flowing against the fiery blue horizon created a purple afterglow for him to bask in. The piercing cold wind was whisked out, replaced by a warm radiance from a false sun.

"Not a bad way to go." He murmured. The ground beneath shook, as if it would give away.

"Don't say that." His companion pleaded. The sky above trembled, as if it would come crashing down.

'It was a good try,' he thought. 'But a failed attempt.'

His wings began to fade, the raven black feathers dissolving into tendrils of the night. His crystalline horns, bathed in snow white ashes, finally shattered. His essence was depleted, and regenerative powers stripped away by that damn curse. Nothing could save him.

Soon, everything would return to normal, his existence erased.

"Just kill me. Better than to suffer in this sorry mess."

Besides, he couldn't give that piece of shit, self-righteous, so-called 'hero' the satisfaction of ending him.

"You know I can't." His companion looked at him with solemn eyes.

"Take the survivors to Mecretus. I'm counting on you to lead the rest of them in my place." As for him? The sooner he left this god-forsaken world, the better. "So just do it. Get it over with."

"I honestly can't."

"Grow a pair and do it!" He was beginning to grow frustrated at his second-in-command's incompetence.

"Like seriously, not possible. I'm out of mana."

There was a pause as they stared at each other in silence, wondering why the other was an idiot.

"Useless prick."

"Dying loser."

Another few seconds of silence followed, until they both broke into light laughter.

"What's next?"

"Like I said, take whoever's left and-"

"Not that. For you." His companion gestured at the ring.

His only item that hadn't been torn to shreds or broken to pieces. It was transparent, clear as glass, with a small emerald colored stone imbedded at its top. It rested on his middle finger, which he stuck upwards at the heavens.

Lifting his arm and holding out his hand against the sky, he admired it.

"I know I swore to never use it."

"When was the last time you kept a promise?"

He closed his eyes, remembering all the hardships he had went through, and the battles he had fought. The allies he had gained and eventually lost.

If he used it here, it could be all for nothing.

In the distance, the smoke began to clear, and he watched as the banners were raised in triumph. The humans had caught up. He could hear the cries of joy and feel the euphoria coursing through their ranks.

Their sounds of victory. The feelings of supremacy. It sickened him, to his very core.

Closing his eyes, he remembered how he was struck down.

~

He saw through the eyes of his enemy.

"Stop this!" Lukius anxiously gripped his sword, his other hand opening and closing in nervous energy. "You know this isn't what she'd want."

"Why should I care?" The demon sneered. "She's dead because of you."

"That doesn't mean you have to do this!" Lukius barely raised his guard in time as the demon closed in, throwing a powerful overhand cut.

"You hypocrite! WE TRUSTED YOU!" His wrath was present in every blow, his blade crackling with demonic spirit. But Lukius held his ground, parrying each strike with equal force.

"Don't make me do this!" He pleaded, but this was inevitable. Lukius flew into the air, and the demon followed, his massive black wings glistening with dark energy.

Under the light of the moon, they fought. Clashing in the sky, their gigantic bolts of magic had signaled for the armies below to start.

~

Then he saw through his own memory.

Everything was red in his eyes. Just red. Red like the moon he created. Red like the blood he was forced to spill. Red like the flames he used to scorch the land, incinerating thousands of human soldiers.

With his magic, meteors rained down and dragons forged from storm magic ravaged the earth.

Lukias had no choice but to retaliate, every swipe of his sword leaving aftershocks that scarred the world.

And only hours later, did their battle come to an end.

It was when he let his guard down, that he was struck. Ensnared by magic, the hero Lukias landed a fatal blow.

He had no choice but to flee, and now he laid on the ground, at death's door.

~

As the noises drew closer, he opened his eyes and sighed.

"What a pity." There was so much he could have done differently, so much he would have accomplished. If only.

"Will you be leaving us now?" His companion asked.

He nodded.

"Good bye, Ezraele."

"If you come back, we'll be waiting." With these words, his companion swiftly left his side.

"Even if I come back, how long will it take? Will this land still be the same?" He pondered.

Clenching his fist, he forced the last of his power into the ring. The ring's clear glass began to fill up with a hazy white mist, as if injected with smoky fog. The stone atop started to crack, until it fell apart.

The ring floated off his finger, until it hung over his chest. It started expanding until it covered his entire body. The ring grew silver tendrils of sparkling energy that tore into him, gripping his heart.

The ring's circle filled up with a black ink, transforming into a dark mirror that showed him his dying state.

"This other world... I wonder what it will be like. Maybe I'll be able to enjoy those carrots she spoke so fondly of." The tendrils pulled something out of his body, a tiny flickering speck.

With that, his soul was swept into the void, as his body was left behind, an empty husk.