Death came for him in the shape of a beast.
Kazimir heard it before he saw it, the crunch of heavy footsteps pressing into freshly fallen snow, the rasping of laboured breath cutting through the silence. It prowled closer, its presence thick in the frozen night, and with every step, the air grew heavier.
The stench hit him first, foul and rotten, like something long decayed. He closed his eyes. He had no strength left to fight.
So, he waited.
But death did not come.
What came Instead was a terrible, piercing shriek, the unmistakable death cry of the beast.
Kazimir's eyes snapped open.
Moonlight revealed the grotesque form of the creature before him. A writhing mass of human limbs, fused together in a horrific, unnatural shape. Too many arms, too many fingers, too many mouths gasping soundlessly. Hollow eyes, countless and empty, stared into his own, devoid of life. From its hunched back, slick, slimy tentacles slithered, twitching even in death. Its once-pristine white feathers were now drenched in thick, dark blood.
And standing atop its fallen corpse was a knight.
She stood bathed in the pale silver glow of the moon, a figure both ethereal and unshakably real.
Tall and imposing, she was clad in resplendent silver armor, the crest of the Umbrax royal family emblazoned on her chest, a white flame encircling a crescent moon. Her long, snow-white hair cascaded over her shoulders, a stark contrast to her battle-worn face, marked by more scars than even Kazimir himself bore.
She stood motionless, her white cape billowing in the wind, her gaze unreadable.
In her grip, she held a silver sword wreathed in white fire, its flames consuming the last remnants of the beast's flesh, burning away feathers and sinew alike.
Her pale silver eyes settled on him, studying him as though trying to unravel something unseen.
Then, behind her, where there had been only darkness and empty land, a castle loomed.
It had not been there before.
Towering and vast, its walls shimmered as if woven from pure moonlight, casting an eerie glow over the frozen ground. It was beautiful, yet impossible.
The knight's gaze flickered with something, confusion, perhaps disbelief. But then she moved.
Effortlessly, she leapt down from the carcass, her steps sure and unhurried as she approached. Her piercing eyes swept over him, unreadable yet filled with silent understanding.
Kazimir tried to speak, but the words never came.
A faint, almost imperceptible smile touched her lips. And then, just as suddenly as she had appeared, the world faded.
Darkness closed in, and the last thing he felt was strong arms lifting him, carrying him toward the glowing castle of moonlight.