Prologue ~ Broken Shield

Nailmaster Oro stood silently beneath the howling cliffs of the Kingdom's edge, it wasn't often that he wandered out of his secluded house, deep inside the caverns, but one could endure the same four walls only for so long before having to choose between going outside or going insane

So every once in a while, he would leave his hermitage and go wander through the white wasteland outside, even if just for a short while, today has been one such day

Oro shook off the thin layer of white dust that never ceased to fall from above, the Nailmaster supposed he could find that view somewhat beautiful, if he didn't know what the source was, that the dust falling from the sky was literally the dead skin of his former king's previous body

Such a powerful creature he has been, that even his death completely transformed the landscape of this realm, ancient too. Oro could not remember time when the kingdom's end was not covered in a thick layer of white dust

He could, however, remember when it was not strewn with corpses

It seemed that every minute somebody would foolishly die in that wyrm-forsaken arena and their body would be thrown out to join the rest below, it was lucky that most of them fell into the acid pit at the bottom, otherwise, Oro suspected, one would have to walk on dead bodies in order to get anywhere

With that thought in mind, Oro turned around, and continued climbing even higher than he already was

Usually he didn't venture that far from his hut, the cliff range has grown a lot more dangerous in the past few years, along with the rest of the kingdom, and it's not like there was anyone he could visit, not anymore at least

Yet today he decided to go much further, not for any particular reason, he just felt like it. Afterall, not everyone needed ''Destiny'' and ''Honor'' guiding their every move

As he walked, he observed the bodies in his path, he never fought in the colosseum himself, but he knew enough of it to recognize that none of these bugs were real warriors, most of them wore so much armor they could hardly move and their idea of fighting was to charge the enemy, without planning on what the next step should be, and swinging their weapons in their foe's general direction

Some of them had some sort of trick up their sleeve, but usually only one, and once that trick was learned, they became equally as easy to defeat as the others

And some arrived at the colosseum without proper armor or weapons to participate in such a barbaric entertainment, either out of poverty or arrogance, and so they died foolishly, even more so than the rest. One such bug was the one laying before him right now, on the edge of a cliff, one hand dangling uselessly in the wind

An ant, if Oro was not mistaken, the nailmaster walked closer to get a better look

An ant indeed, with only a simple chestplate, now cracked, and a round shield lying by his side, their face hidden by his hood, no sword in sight. The sight of the fallen fool was somehow particularly saddening to Oro, even though he just walked past at least a dozen of other corpses

Why did this bug come here? To the colosseum of fools? What did he hope to achieve? Fame? Fortune? Recognition? Glory? Something else?

Whatever it was, he would get none of that now, the last things he probably received were finishing blow and mocking laughter

Oro frowned to himself, why should he feel pity for that fool? He knew damn well what he was getting himself into. The Naimaster suddenly lost all interest in further exploration, and begun turning back, it was past time for him to return to his hut and make sure that no damn aspids decided to make a nest there during his absence

And he would do just that, if not for the hand gripping weakly at his leg

The Nailmaster slowly looked back at the fool, not yet dead after all. He was trying, and failing, to pull himself up, Oro could see the pair of white eyes under the hood, looking at him in desperation and disbelief

~why….?~

It was all the ant managed to whisper, before he slumped back to the ground, unconscious yet again

For a moment, Oro just stood there flabbergasted, then he looked up, at where the colosseum of fools was, had this bug just been knocked out, mistaken for dead and consequently thrown down from the arena?

Details like that could probably slip past the fools pretty easily

But if so, he should be dead anyway, no one could survive that fall, not even if you somehow managed to miss all the platforms and cliffs and landed in the liquid below

But by whatever miracle, the ant at his feet was still alive and breathing, if only barely, Oro could feel many conflicting emotions inside himself, and many conflicting ideas in his head about what his next course of action should be

…

But there was only one thing he could do here, wasn't there?

…

~Wyrm-damnit~

And with that final grunt, the Naimaster lifted the extremely lucky fool from the ground, and begun his march back to his hut, deep beneath the carcass of his former king