"Let’s go."
After knocking out the guards, the squires entered the Royal Palace.
The first thing they did was search the periphery of the place.
"I don’t see any needle pointing north like you mentioned."
"Likewise."
The group gathered to discuss their findings.
All eyes then shifted towards the palace. There was only one place they hadn’t searched yet, the palace. Since the outside was all clear, then the thing had to be inside.
"Let’s go." While it was a dereliction of their duty and a great offence to barge inside the palace, they had no choice.
As one would expect of the Royal Palace of Solaris, it was extremely big and stately.
The marbled floors, the artwork on the walls, tapestries, everything in the palace was elegant and sophisticated, positioned in the right place and environment.
As soon as the squires entered the palace, they were fascinated by the grandeur of the place. Even nobles like Gwen were no exception.
"This place is... unreal."
Kevin gulped. Everyone had the same thought. Every corridor branched like veins, hundreds of rooms hidden behind gilded doors, all identical enough to confuse anyone. The palace was so big that it would take hours to search each room individually.
Gwen pulled Kevin to the side. "Hey, what else did that sword of yours say?"
Others from the different orders might not be too familiar with him. However, she knew the latter like the back of her hand. Kevin was not bright enough to figure out what was causing the disturbance in the capital.
It had to be the sword he always insisted could speak.
Kevin recalled what the sword told him. "Um... [Tiamat] said the core needle points north, and that it is always located in the most important place."
"Always located at the most important place. The most important place in any palace is..." Gwen murmured to herself when suddenly her eyes flashed open. "...is always located where the sun rises," she finished. "The throne room."
They exchanged glances and then hurried towards the throne room. The others, noticing their urgency, followed behind.
As none of them had been inside the Royal Palace before, no one knew where the throne room was. However, they all instinctively understood that it had to be the grandest and biggest room of all.
Before long, they arrived in front of a large passage that led straight towards the huge double doors at the end.
Usually, this place would be heavily guarded by guards. However, due to the incident that fell upon the capital, all of them were missing.
CREAK...
Just like the entire palace, the majestic throne room was vast and empty too, a testament to the crisis that had befallen the entire capital.
From the luxurious chandeliers and golden columns, the squires’ eyes shifted towards the thing that was in the middle of the hall.
And there it was, the thing they were looking for. It wasn’t a needle in the normal sense of the word. The thing rose like a dark pillar from the floor, thin as a spear and as tall as a grown man. Its surface was jet black, and a faint red glow pulsed around it, making it appear disturbing and ominous.
At the very top of the dark pillar was a small directional arrow that trembled slightly, always pointing to the far north.
"Found it..." Kevin whispered to himself.
The moment others placed their eyes on the needle, they were also convinced. That thing right there was the source of the disturbance.
"This thing, it is trying to pull my stamina," Stark stated.
"Same here, feels like someone is tying strings to my limbs."
"Let’s break that thing."
Just as the squires were about to move, they suddenly noticed a presence that had previously gone unnoticed in the throne room.
At the end of the hall, on the sun shaped throne of Solaris, which was reserved for the ruler of the kingdom, sat a lone figure.
With beauty that could mesmerise the whole world, the person seated on the throne was none other than the Queen.
With one arm propped against the throne’s armrest, head resting on her hand, it appeared that she had simply nodded off mid thought.
She was asleep just like the rest of the populace of the city. That said, there was something about her that felt different.
It made their skin crawl just by looking at her. She was covered in an aura so dense that it pressed against the lungs, making it difficult for them to breathe. The air around the Queen rippled faintly, like distortion ripping through space.
"This isn’t like her usual presence..." Kevin muttered. He, Gwen, and the others had the opportunity to serve and talk with the Queen while escorting her back at the Kingdom of Aetherion.
The previous her usually had this pleasant, soft air to her that made others want to instinctively protect her.
In contrast, the current her gave off no warmth, no kindness, no serenity. Only raw, suffocating power.
"It’s violent. Aggressive. Like she’s... a completely different person," Gwen added.
"Maybe it’s because of the needle," Kevin thought; no, forced himself to believe.
"If we disrupt it, everything will get to norma..." He took a few steps towards the dark pillar.
However, at that moment, just before he could complete his sentence, a massive shadow fell on top of them. Before anyone could react to it, it crashed on the floor.
"Move!" someone shouted.
The impact shook the entire hall, squires flew back, marbles cracked, and dust erupted like a storm.
"W-What’s going on?"
Everyone hurriedly propped themselves up, their training and experience kicking in immediately.
Through the dust, a massive silhouette emerged.
GRRRR... At the same time, a low, rumbling growl sounded out, followed by two more, overlapping in perfect, chilling harmony.
Finally, when the dust settled, it could finally be seen.
A body larger than ten meters, with fur like deep obsidian that had a faint orange glint crackling with fire.