For the last time, Roland and Aranella exchanged conditional glances - and with a decisive signal nod of Aranella's head, Roland grabbed Ewan, who was thrilled, and rushed with him a dark abyss. He caught a glimpse at the last moment out of the corner of his eye, catching the rapid movement of a fragile figure in a delicate pink dress, rushing at the enraged indomitable Dark Knight.
"Nella!" the desperate cry of the young defeated king pierced the darkness.
Then everything calmed down. Roland and Evan sank lower and lower into the abyss. It is not known how long this flight lasted, maybe five minutes, maybe only about thirty seconds, but Evan did not care. In these few seconds, gold pages unfolded before him, like a large illustrated book, a childhood in which a large number of vivid episodes of his memories, at different stages of his growing up and development, are connected with a tender and kind green-eyed girl, who took upbringing on her fragile and strong shoulders the future king - the rising hope of the people - replacing Evan's mother and sister in one person.
And now, the only creature close to Evan was left alone with the monster and the murderer of her father, left to be torn to pieces.
"Nella! Nella!" the cry of the boy turned to a hopeless sob.
The enveloping darkness of the abyss brought painful images and memories not only to Evan. Roland was silent. Evan was losing and, possibly, has already lost the closest person. But what about Roland? Before the eyes in darkness obsessive ghosts circled the wreckage of his ruined past, the ship of his life, broken on an iceberg of inexorable rock. These fragments, as well as the image of the world exploding on a volcano of human greed, from which Roland miraculously transferred here, scattered around in all directions, enveloped consciousness and did not allow breathing. And through this veil of ash appeared the shadow of a small figure, rushing to eat a ruthless monster. This figure, at some point, merged in Roland's imagination with another figure, lost among the wreckage of a ruined world, scorched by a dead crimson of a sunny sunset ... And the last color of life radiated by her eyes went out...
A splash of water cleared the ashes of consciousness - Roland and Evan sailed to dry land.
"We made it," Roland summed up, not taking his eyes off the water, as dark as the abyss they had just overcome. "Just..." Roland hesitated, looking at the heartbroken boy.
Evan jumped to his feet.
"N-Nella! We have to go back! We can still ..."the boy insisted through the rising tears.
"Calm down," Roland insisted firmly, trying to keep his composure and ability to act soundly and reason. "If we go back, we'll be captured for sure – and she'll given her life for nothing.
"Given her ...? You mean she's ...?" Evan looked bitterly imploringly at Roland.
"I ..." Roland turned away, unable to bear the gaze of Evan and some burning and painful feelings in his heart at the memory of a fragile girl who remained completely without protection, heroically sacrificing herself for Evan and the future people that Evan embodied for her. Roland struggled with a keen desire to return and snatch the life of a heroic girl from the clutches of a monster, but he realized that it was probably already late and nothing could be changed.
"I think we have to assume that," Roland answered, not looking at Evan. "Come on. We need to keep moving."
Roland moved decisively along the winding streets of the cave. Evan followed his new protector, barely forcing himself to move his legs, from tears of despair and powerlessness to change something.
"If only I were stronger... Perhaps ... Perhaps I could have saved her..." Evan complained, sobbing.
"We all have our roles to play, wasn't to fight. It was to escape. You have to survive this. Your kingdom needs you."
Roland and Evan followed on, lost in thought. Evan accompanied his thoughts with changeable sobs and heavy sighs, Roland walked in silence, he always seemed unperturbed, and only one feature could betray his hard inner struggle - a shadow covering his face and a strained focused expression. Two feelings fought in his soul: a feeling of protest against global evil and mutual revenge, and humility with reality and the realization of the need to move forward, a violent aversion to death in the color of the years of a brave girl and the acceptance of the fact that, according to him, each person has a role, its purpose. Aranella acted as she should have done for the good of a loved one - the king and the good of the people. But the purpose of the young girl is death?
The thoughts of the travelers were interrupted by a terrible roar. The Dark Knight appeared before them, as if from underground. Not allowing himself to come to his senses and realize what was happening at least for a moment, Roland ducked headlong into a fierce battle with the monster, but the longer the battle lasted, the monster did not weaken at all, and even more gained strength and began to spit out the red-blue flame. Suddenly, the monster stood on its hind legs, bent in an arc and sent a long fiery burning stream in the direction where Evan was in the shelter. Roland could not have predicted such a turn of the battle and accordingly defended the little king:
"Evan!" He exclaimed.
In an instant, a thin figure flew out of unknown direction, pushing Evan with a decisive movement, and took upon herself the whole blow of a fiery avalanche. For a moment, Roland caught the light outlines of Aranella's image, then he went out, her body flew off to the side, falling helplessly onto the cold floor of the dungeon.
And here the contradictory feeling of protest and the arguments of reason, humility were resolved in one desperate, furious "No!"
"NO!" Roland cried out, and, not realizing the report in his actions, he took out a gun and with one bullet plunged the monster into the abyss. "Dammit!"
In the dense darkness of the dungeon of the Ding Dond Dell Castle, which seemed to have no end, with its monotonously painful character in the color scheme of sour green, yellow tones, a bright ray of sun suddenly penetrated, resembling a sharp sword in its shaped outline. The ray went through the mournful faces of travelers, the emaciated, scorched face of a girl whose fragile and helpless body now hung in Roland's arms, carrying Nella closer to the light, so that Evan said goodbye to her beloved nanny, sister, mother, teacher and defender all rolled into one. When a ray of light fell on Aranella's face, Roland seemed for a moment, as if, despite its wounds, exhaustion and burns, it suddenly shone and became transparent. And the whole body became transparent and almost weightless, as if a girl with the last breath of her life gave herself to the sun's rays, merged with them. It seemed, literally just a moment - and it would melt in Roland's hands and dissolve with the light, and they would not have time to say goodbye to Nella. Subconsciously driven by a superstitious sensation, Roland quickened his pace. Overwhelmed by the grief of loss, Evan tried to keep up with his new elder friend, bending over Nella's body and irrigating her with bitter tears, which seemed like clean streams rolling out of huge oceans.
Finally, here it is - the treasured exit from the dungeon, letting a beam of a sword through into the slushy and dank corridors of damp. Almost at the exit, the travelers stopped. Roland gently lowered Nella to the dark green slabs against the wall, Evan fell in tears to his knees next to her. Aranella opened her eyes and looked at the boy with maternal tenderness and boundless faith.
Aranella opened her eyes and looked at the boy with maternal tenderness and boundless faith.
"Evan ..." Aranella said, making her last effort. "You will be the kindest king."
When Aranella spoke, her face shone again - the ray of sunshine now shone brightly and hugged the whole figure of the girl. In her pink dress, which reflected the traces of the fateful battle with the Dark Knight, with burns, scratches on the delicate skin of her face and hands, Aranella reminded Roland of a wilted tulip that was strewed with tears by a golden-haired boy. Nella's last words seemed to be transformed under a ray of sunshine, figuratively taking shape in consciousness into a quietly whispering and shimmering in the light stream - a memory stream, testament, and not only for Evan, but also for Roland.
"You have to be strong, Evan. You must ... build a kingdom. Where everyone ... can live happily ever after."
Pain and bitterness burned his heart Roland for a second: he could not build his "kingdom". He lost everything, he could not save even what was already. He lost loved ones, his world, his country, his life ... How much did he give to save what was entrusted to him? And this brave woman, in the prime of her beauty and youth, devoted her life to other people and, without hesitation, threw herself into an avalanche of fire.