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The endless ashfall provided a scenic atmosphere to the sheer cliffs and endless wastes of the Kingdom's Edge. Much like snow, it accumulated on the ground, on the plants, and the few structures built out in the wilds. However, those were not the only things the ash accumulated on. Strewn across platforms of the massive chasm that bordered the City of Tears were the corpses of the poor bugs who fought and lost at the Colosseum of Fools. Bugs who walked, bugs who flew, bugs who slithered along the ground, all kinds lay dead on the rocks of the Kingdom’s Edge, and those who didn’t land on rocks ended up in the pit of sizzling acid. They fought for glory in that accursed colosseum, and were not lucky enough to come out alive or claim the title of champion. Even still, bugs of all kinds made their way to the colosseum, ready to risk it all. Few succeeded.
Their corpses were covered in the ash, and the ones that were fresh would inevitably be as well. It did a good job at hiding the mass graveyard that was the Kingdom’s Edge, dooming these bugs to be forever forgotten by time. Like haphazardly painting over a piece of art, destroying the intent of the piece and erasing the previous appearance. Eventually these corpses would decompose, but for the time being, they served as a grim reminder of the fragility of life, shadowed by the veil of ash, doing its best to erase the memory of these poor bugs.
The Knight felt no sympathy for these fools, for it could not. Instead of regarding the dead around it, it continued its ascent through the massive chasm, jumping from platform to platform and slashing at the Primal Aspids and Booflies that were unfortunate enough to get in its way. If the bodies of these non-sentient bugs didn’t fall into the acid, their corpses would be covered in ash at some point as well, doomed to be even more forgotten than the fools. The Knight paid no regard to this possibility. After evading a pesky Belfly, it jumped to another platform, and just as it was about to jump to another, it tripped over a lump in the ash. The Knight was about to go headfirst into the acid before it caught itself on the platform it was on and pulled itself back up onto it. Taking a closer look at the lump, the Knight dusted off the ash that covered the mysterious pile and doing so revealed a familiar face. It was that arrogant bug, Tiso. The Knight kneeled down to get a closer look, dusting off more ash as it did.
His corpse was heavily lacerated, battered, and bruised, hemolymph staining his ripped clothing and slightly leaking out of many cuts in his chitin. It appears he’d done bleeding for the most part. His eyes were wide open, empty of the life that once occupied them, face contorted into a look of dull shock. The shield that he wielded so confidently was scuffed, dented, and covered in infection. It got even worse as the Knight looked further, Tiso’s entire left leg severed. Looking up above, the Knight’s hollow eyes stumbled upon the massive shell of a beast that the colosseum was built in. It appears that Tiso wasn’t one of the lucky ones that made it out of there alive, nor did he obtain the glory that he so desperately sought. A tragic fate to an ambitious bug. If one were to look closely at the Knight’s mannerisms, one might think the way it stared at the corpse of Tiso implied it felt sadness for the fallen bug. It poked the corpse with its nail a few times but seemed to give up.
The Knight got up from its kneel and began to step away from the corpse, but as it did a strange noise came from out of nowhere.
“Khhhhhhhhhhhhhh…”
Suddenly, something grabbed onto the Knight’s leg, causing the vessel to swing its leg around in an attempt to have the mystery attacker relinquish its grip. In spite of the Knight’s attempts, the hand held on, and after giving up on getting it to release, the Knight turned around and looked at who grabbed it. The grabber was Tiso, barely clinging to life.
“Help… me… I… I don’t… want to... die…” he choked out.
The Knight stared at the suffering bug. The look in his eye was that of pure desperation, his face twisted into a look of pure agony. His grip on the Knight’s leg was faltering as he attempted to drag himself closer to the little ghost.
“Please… khhhh... everything… b… burns…”
Tiso’s movement had restarted the bleeding, and he was hissing between words at the pain it caused. The Knight continued to stare at him as he laid prone.
“Why… me…”
The suffering bug had begun to cry, the pain starting to overwhelm his senses as he continued to plead to the Knight for help. Unfortunately, it had no medical equipment on hand, and there were no places he could bring the bug to to help him. Well, the colosseum was nearby, but it’s doubtful they’d be willing to aid a failed warrior. Tiso was beyond saving in the obvious meaning of the word.
Seeming to make a decision, the Knight unsheathed its nail and held it up above Tiso, seeming to look expectantly at the prone bug. Tiso’s eyes widened as he eyed up and down the finely crafted nail, its edge glistening.
“No… I… must… live…”
Suddenly another sharp pain shot its way through Tiso’s body, and he wailed in pain as he let go of his grip on the Knight’s leg. He was suffering so much, and in that moment he realized what had to happen.
“D… d… d…”
The Knight continued to stare expectantly at Tiso.
“D… do it…”
In a swift motion, the Knight stabbed its nail down into Tiso’s body in an act of mercy, drawing one last scream of agony out of the suffering bug before he went limp. The Knight pulled its nail out of his corpse, the blade stained with his hemolymph. The Knight then hoisted his corpse up on its shoulders and made a large leap over to an outcropping of rock that was sheltered from the ashfall. Once having landed, the Knight walked over to a corner and set the corpse down, and placed Tiso’s shield on his thorax. After giving one last look at Tiso’s corpse, the Knight leaped to another platform and began to make its way back on track to where it was originally going; the Colosseum of Fools. Tiso’s corpse sat motionlessly, and while he had lost his life, his body wouldn’t have to endure being erased from history by the endless ashfall. Maybe his valiant efforts wouldn’t be forgotten after all.