Maraus, Year of Severus, 15, I.R., the 77th day of Fall, Arenfal

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"Brother! You don't know what's down there!" Prince Arterius tried blocking Prince Veritus from getting into the hole.

"Oh, please, I have vanquished a lot of foes bigger and stronger than I do!" Prince Veritus smirked. "What would those little monsters do against my blade?" He pushed him off to the side.

Prince Arterius tried to block him off once again, but his brother completely overpowered him once again. Stolas immediately got a hold of him before he dropped to the ground.

"Stolas!" He squeezed his shoulder. "Get Lord Prestonheim here!"

"That wouldn't be necessary." Veracon came out of nowhere bringing his brother's great sword and a few his men. "Lord Commander Prestonheim need not to worry himself with this futile encounter."

Stolas helped Prince Arterius stood up and replied. "What my prince commands, I obey. When he says he's calling Lord Prestonheim, you get out of my way." He pushed the lanky knight away and ran towards the commander's tent.

Veracon tried to chase him but Prince Veritus stopped him the moment he took a step. "That wouldn't be necessary, Veracon. It would be nice to get one of our greatest commanders to witness this once in a lifetime feat conquering this god-forsaken mine!" He grinned.

Arterius knew that it was arrogance and not honor that made his brother to decide to be there in the isles. Veritus thought that he could end his brother's dilemma with him solving the problem. His brother's confidence was intoxicating his knights with false courage. They marched with him across the dusty camp and into the well-guarded hole.

He followed Veritus into the hole but suddenly blocked by his brother's men.

"Get out of my way!" He commanded them.

"Let him through! For crying out loud that's my brother!" Veritus shouted, all the while being geared already for his descent.

Arterius approached him and grabbed his arm. "I begged you brother, don't go there. That hole is a void full of surprises. Who knows what it might do—"

"To me?!" Prince Veritus grinned. "It'll be lucky if it could scratch my armor!" He thumped his golden armor plate made from adamantite alloys.

Prince Veritus tugged the rope, trying its strength against his weight. After he was contented with it, he immediately grabbed Prince Arterius by the chest and grinned.

"Oh, brother! You're coming with me!" He hugged Prince Arterius' fragile body and jumped into the hole. "I will meet you there, Veracon!" He shouted as he plunged deeper into the darkness of the dangerous pit.

Arterius' heart leapt out from chest as he plummeted down the hole, all the while his brother howling with excitement. He had to close his eyes as he focused his thoughts on not hurling his breakfast towards his younger brother's armor. His skin prickled as the rush of cold air touch against his skin. For some reason, he felt like they were almost close to bottom ground.

Suddenly, they stopped. He opened his eyes and saw dimly lit ground below them. The torches the knights placed below was a comforting sight to see. The light made the hole a little less terrifying. They dangled a few footlings above the ground.

"You can open your eyes now, brother."  Veritus said while stifling his laughter.

"My eyes were open the whole time." Arterius tried to downplay his actions earlier.

"No, they weren't."

Prince Arterius wanted to do another round of banter, but his eyes got fixed on the insides of the hole. The barren and dusty ground with some dried blood caking sparsely at some spots made his skin crawl once again. Veritus cut the rope that secured him in place and landed on the ground along with Arterius in his arms.

"Stay behind me, brother." Prince Veritus immediately stepped forward and covered him after putting him down on the ground.

He took offense of what his brother said, but it frustrated him even more knowing that he was indeed nothing, but a deadweight compared to his brother.

Prince Veritus took a step closer towards the white wall. There was not a shred of hesitation in him. It was clear that his younger brother wasn't even flinching at the caking blood on the floor, he simply stepped over them like it was any other dirt.

Arterius tried to follow his younger brother, but fear controlled his body and froze him from exactly where he stood. He could feel his mouth drying up and his heart thumping violently on his chest, while helplessly watching Prince Veritus approaching closer to the wall.

"Don't touch it!" Prince Arterius efforted himself to take a single step but his fear effectively rendered him unmoving.

"Yes, mother." Prince Veritus snickered while touching the white wall. "Ow…ohoh! So, it has some kind of barrier magic? Hmm…"

"W-what do you mean by that?!" Arterius peeped from the safe distance. "You said, ow earlier…are you hurt?"

"Just a slight tingle." Prince Veritus went back to him grinning. "There's a barrier covering that wall, do you know that?"

Prince Arterius nodded.

"So, you knew about it and didn't even care to disarm it? You have a Lord Commander with you famously known to destroy anything set in his track and still you cannot command him to take this one down?" Veritus clicked his tongue.

"It was of our best interest that Lord Prestonheim left it the way it were."

"Pfftt…I am underwhelmed with that kind of thinking." Prince Veritus yawned. "If he was concerned of protecting you or anyone else, he should've destroyed this wall and everything else inside along with it. You know…bringing the chaos to them?"

"It worked as it is," Prince Arterius answered. "He said the monsters lurking are far too strong, even the most experienced once would cower in their presence alone."

"I didn't take the great Lion of the Gorge to be…cowardly and senile." Veritus sighed.

"Take that back." Prince Arterius pointed at him. "Lord Prestonheim knows what he's doing, you'll be stupid to think about it otherwise!"

Veritus looked at him exhausted over their banter, "Alright. I'm sorry." He said bluntly. "Now, let's get back over to this."

His brother looked up into the hole, "Veracon! Get me that sword!"

"I will be there in a moment, Prince Veritus!" Veracon's voice echoed from the hole.

And not a moment too soon, Veracon and the rest of his men descended from the hole carrying his brother's gigantic blade. The sword was seven footlings long and four footlings wide, a smithing marvel at best and a weird over the top weapon at worse. It was exactly what his brother specifically asked for from the dwarven smiths.

It was a bulky blade that only he can swing and slash properly. Veracon and the rest were just bearing it for him since he found his weapon too awkward for him to carry it on his shoulder most of the time. It took about five knights to carry the blade to him but when it was brought up to him, he only needed one hand to lift the enormous weapon.

It was one of his brother's most prized possession. He often bragged about how it could stop armies and cleave iron gates and even magic shields like leaves. He bragged at how the dwarves infused it with powerful magic runes enough to cancel out even a dragon's fire. Although the latter was yet to be proven, that didn't stop his brother from looking for a suitable challenge to his blade.

"Everybody, out of the way!" Veritus shouted as he lifted the blade over his shoulder. "Veracon, protect my brother and make sure he stays alive!" He added as he went for his stance.

The rest of the knights ran back and went as far as the edge of it. When his younger brother saw how everyone was far away from him, he lowered his stance and swung the blade with all of his might.

"This is not a good idea, brother!" Arterius shouted his last effort to deter his brother.

"Shut…up!" His brother growled at him as he swung the blade against the stone wall.

The metal collided with the stone. The sharp clanging sound was followed by a huge explosion like thunder clashing against each other. Prince Arterius covered his eyes as a bright light pulsed throughout the hole. That was the last thing he saw.

By the time he opened his eyes, he was already lying on the ground. He looked around and saw everyone scattered and unconscious. He looked up and saw fragments of his brother's blade scattered all over the ceiling.

He tried crawling but his body was too heavy for him to move all he could do was lay there and let his eyes look for his brother. Not a moment later, heard a thud. It sounded like a something plummeted from a great height. He looked around one more time and saw his brother lying face down and unmoving.