[color=Royalblue][center][h1]Drosil Maeneld[/h1][/center][/color]

[i]Death of Hope[/i]

[color=Royalblue][i]We're dead[/i][/color]

This was the thought that went through Drosil's head as the necrotic monstrosity burst from the ground, the aura of despair and terror it gave off only matched by the foul stench that rolled off it. The flames around him died down to nothing as he lost the will to fight knowing that it would all be pointless. He doubted he could tickle that thing, much less kill it. All those years of studying and training, and it meant absolutely nothing before the beast that the Advisor had brought forth before them. As the Prince tried to talk some since to the Mad King, Drosil was thinking on how funny the Divines were, giving him life again only to have it be snatched away mere days later. Or maybe, this is the punishment for trying to run away from death, a punishment that has the potential to be so much worse and take much, much longer.

This contemplation was interrupted, however, by the shout of the Queen who, in her selflessness, offered her life to the king, wanting her blood to be the last spilt. While on the outside all he did was watch, in his mind he was screaming at her to stop, that this wouldn't solve anything, that all her sacrifice would do was satisfy this maniac's twisted desires even further. In the end, this indignation, might've done something to give him cause to move, to do something beyond standing in fear. But then he felt it, a pulse of something emitting from behind him, followed quickly by a curse from Christopher. In the moment that he turned to look at the boy, he heard a sharp crack ring through the air, and turned just in time to see the Queen's body be flung lifelessly around in one of the abominations twisted mouths, his eyes growing wide for a moment as he simply watched it for a moment. In that instant, he suddenly realized why, even after everything he'd gone through, even after all of the insanity and danger, that he was still following the Prince. He once thought that it was because it gave him a purpose, and while that was true, it also gave him something else, something much more precious and rare. 

It had given a poor orphan boy hope that the world wasn't such a bad place after all.

The Queen was kind and fair, her family was lovely, and she seemed to do no wrong. She was the ideal of what every ruler should strive to become, and in her, he saw all the hope this world had to offer. If it wasn't for Kori, Drosil probably would've left long ago, distracted by the next shiny thing to catch his attention on the road. She had, with her very existence, made him thing that maybe the Divines weren't as blind as he believed them to be, deep in his heart, that there was light to be had in what seemed like all-consuming darkness.

But as he saw her broken body fall to the ground, then he knew that he was a fool. This world was harsh, it had always been harsh, and the only way to get anywhere, to make real change, was to dig into the filth and force it. To become the change you wanted to see, you couldn't let morals stop you from doing what must be done. There is no room to be 'good' in this world, for only those hardened by experience and pain, only those willing to forgo everything, even their own humanity, were able to achieive the real power needed to make the world better.

[i][b]In history, there have been only been two kinds of Divineborn: Heroes, and Tyrants. Do you aspire to be either? Do you know what you'll do next?[/b][/i]

Those had been the words that the Queen had asked Shadar, and he had predictably laughed them off, because they had never really thought of ruling or entering anything. Of course, Drosil had his ambition, but even back when he said it to the Paladin, the bluster and force was mostly the drugs talking. He didn't truly believe he could do it, no matter what he tried. But now, with this great injustice before him, he came to a simple decision: Heroes die and get remembered, but ultimately make little difference in the long run. As such, even if he became a tyrant, he would do whatever he could to purge this land of filth like Gartian. No law, no morals, no man, woman, even children, nothing would stand in his way, not anymore. It was weakness that he couldn't afford to harbor, not if he wanted to truly realize his ambition.

[color=Royalblue][i]Rest in Peace, Kori. . . and I'm sorry that I couldn't stay on a righteous path. Please don't hold anything against me in the afterlife for the man I see that I must eventually become.[/i][/color]

Drosil bowed his head, paying little heed to the following events as Cyril destroyed the beast, any curiosity or shock he might've felt unable to present themselves as he simply paid his respects to the greatest woman he'd ever had the pleasure of knowing. And then he turned his eyes to Gartian and his Advisor from where he stood, unmoving at first as the others started to retreat, reinforcements approaching soon. Despite the distance, his gaze would burrow into the madman, the rage held within his gold and blue eyes burning low, but at the same time, with an intensity that only Cyril's could overcome. That man, to Drosil, showed to him everything that was wrong with the world and, no matter what, he would see to it that this man died one day, and if he had a say, it would be slow, painful, and humiliating. It was no less then what a worm like him deserved.

Drosil then turned and followed the other's in retreat, effortlessly mounting one of the horses and galloping off, away from the sight of failed rescue.

When the group arrived in the Campsite, Drosil was around during the heartbreaking scene between Cyril and Ayano, though he looked away as soon as the young girl appeared, knowing the results before she said a word, and he had more class than to watch the siblings as they grieve. Instead, he walked over to wherever Stark was, as she seemed like the only natural person to go to right now. He would approach silently, not speaking a word at first as he simply seemed to contemplate what there really was to say. In the end, he guessed there was only one thing to say.

[color=Royalblue]"So . . . what happens now?"[/color]