The kingdom of Solmara stood on the edge of ruin.
The King spent hours in council with his ministers, generals, and advisors, searching for a solution that did not exist.
The first threat was The Corruption.
It had spread.
It had grown.
It devoured the outskirts—life after life swallowed whole.
Those who returned from those lands came back changed.
Fear lived in their eyes.
"It is covered in mould," they whispered."It is covered in ash."
The King had not slept in days.
The strain soon reached the Queen as well.
Her once radiant face had dulled, worn down by worry and exhaustion. Icarus visited her often.
She smiled when she saw him.
But it did not ease her suffering.
"The King is not well," she said quietly. "He is… so tired."
It was true.
The King's hair had begun to grey rapidly.
He looked older each passing day.
Icarus could not bear it.
Whenever his father looked at him—
he looked away.
He wished he could do more.
The King coughed.
"Minister Alros has returned from the outskirts."
Icarus straightened.
"I will meet him."
Minister Alros was one of the oldest men in court.
Eighty-four years of service—and still loyal.
Still standing.
The King had sent him to investigate the outskirts.
Though… there had been no need.
Everyone already knew.
Thousands were dead.
The people of the outskirts flooded toward the capital, desperate to be saved.
But the capital had limits.
And fear had walls stronger than stone.
Icarus stood at the palace gates, waiting.
Beside him stood Aletheis—his guard, his shadow.
Aletheis pointed into the distance.
"Look, Prince. They've arrived."
A royal carriage approached.
Gold-lined.
Marked with the blazing sun of Solmara.
Hope stirred—faint, fragile.
Perhaps… good news.
The carriage rolled to a stop.
Icarus stepped forward immediately, Aletheis close behind.
Without hesitation, he seized the door—
and pulled it open.
And then—
—
—
Inside…
There was no minister.
Only a pile of mould.
Minister Alros was gone.
The pile of mould crumbled slightly as the door opened.
Icarus froze.
For a single, fragile moment—
his mind refused to understand what he was seeing.
Then it did.
He staggered back—
and fell to his knees.
He retched violently, bile rising in his throat as the reality crashed into him.