Infinity Blade - The Secret of Castrair

Chapter 2: Dark Citadel

I, Castrair, venture far from my home. It has been two days since I forged the dual swords, and left the village. I have travelled many miles, not finding any civilisation. Fortunately, no bandits have attacked either. Currently, I travel through a mountain range that lasts until the lake of Lantimor, for no reason in particular. 

As I get closer though, I know the risks of finding a Titan grow bigger. I am in the territory of a previously very powerful Deathless. Finally, I reach the peak of the mountain, and have a magnificent view over the lake of Lantimor. I search for the Dark Citadel. It's relatively easy to spot; it's pretty close to the shore of the lake. As I start the long descent on my faithful brown horse, which I have named Autumn, I realise just how close I am to the Temple of Lantimor. 

The cold of the altitude bites at me, the wind freezing me to the core. I grit my teeth, and try to warm up, but the feezing temperature is amde worse by the fact that I don't have a coat. I try to urge my horse to go faster, and Autumn moves. It tries to go faster, but ultimately stumbles on the rocks and pebbles of the steep, rocky path. They crumble, and my horse slides on some ice, and falls. I scream in surprise, and I fall, holding the reins, making my horse buck, and throw me off. 

The brown horse runs as I fall, panicked, and I don't see it until I get to my feet, and leap over a boulder crashing down. I run down the steep mountain, stumbling, leaping over obstacles, but never catching up to the horse. Somehow, my bag of provision fell off my horse, and I grabbed it, never stopping my mad dash to the bottom of the mountains.

I stop, panting, the effort too great, the lack of oxygen too pronounced. I walk down the hill, and then start running again. I take a short break, eat a bit of stale bread with cheese, and run again. I see no trace of my horse, but I had given up on finding it a while ago. Stooping under a fallen tree, I slow down, and notice the sun going down. I hunch down under the tree, and try to sleep.

I can't, at least until it's pitch black outside, and I cannot see anything. Finally, I fall asleep, tossing and turning on the rough and hard ground, once or twice waking and bumping my head on the tree.

I wake up for good, the crunching of steps on the pebbles around the tree rousing me. I try to focus on the thing creating the sounds, but I can't see in the darkness. The clouds are covering the moon. My eyes aren't accustomed. I wait for a while, and the sounds slowly get fainter. Unhurried, I get out from under the tree, and see a wild daeril. Maybe more are around. I can not distinguish the features of the daeril, nor its skin colour. I approach it, and it draws its sword. I fall into the basic Aegis form meant to start a duel, and the daeril follows suit. Somehow, I knew the Aegis forms from the beginning, without ever learning them. It's instinctual. The daeril raises its blade, pulling me back to reality. I parry the attack, drudge under the next one, and dodge beside the final swipe. The beast is open, and I take my chance. Slicing with all of my might, I open cuts all over the daeril's back, shoulder and part of its torso. I inwardly beam at myself for the damage I've done before even getting touched. The beast attempts a kick, and I'm off guard, letting the blow hit me. I fall, getting up again right after. The daeril swings again, and I block. 

Everything is a bit confusing when I fight, as if I have to do something, but I'm too slow, too clumsy, too lazy to do it properly, and a voice in my head says "Do that, so this! Oh no! You idiot! You did this wrong!" It's very annoying.

I block the daeril's blade again, creating an opening. I slice and hack at the beast, and bring it down. 

Its cloak, which I can now distinguish, folds oddly, as if something is inside it. I feel, and hit a hard item. Dragging it out of the cloak, I find a ring, just a normal ring in appearance, but I can feel energy buzzing around and inside the ring. I can feel its power. I slip the ring on, forget about it, and try to get some more sleep.