At the last moment, the Prince turned and ducked away.
With a resounding crash, Ramael shot past him and straight through the side of the building. As the dust settled, the Prince followed, sword drawn and ready to fight.
They were in a dark rectangular enclosure with unlit torches lining the walls. Numerous pillars went from floor to ceiling, and in the middle of the room was a large marble tomb.
All right, now I’m here, what do I do?
He looked left and right, but his brother was nowhere to be found. How did someone run through a wall and then have the clarity of mind to hide?
His nose wrinkled: he smelled blood and sweat and oiled metal. He dropped to the floor and once again felt the heavy wind of a battleaxe pass over his head, inches from beheading him. He rolled behind a pillar, got to his feet, and ran for the other side of the Temple.
With a resounding boom amplified by the large empty space, the Prince of Oxen swung his axes and destroyed the pillar in a shocking display of raw power. As the dust settled, Ramael stepped into view, swinging his axes easily by his sides, a horrible grin on his face.
How do I defeat that?the Prince thought in despair.
The building around them seemed to shake for a minute, and then settled. The Prince’s breath caught in his chest, and he realized he’d just found the answer.
Praying his plan would work, he ran toward another pillar. Ramael followed, and as soon as the Prince was behind the pillar, Ramael tore it down with a savage blow that struck sparks as the metal of his blades tore through the heavy stone, ripping it down. As the dust settled, Ramael looked around… and saw nothing.
The Prince had taken the opportunity of his brother’s momentary blindness and the enormous crash of the crumbling pillar to run to the other side of the Temple and throw himself behind another pillar to hide.
“Brother, brother, brother,” Ramael said, amusement coloring his voice. “Are you hiding? No wonder Mother is so disappointed in you…”
The Prince clenched his hands, and he forced out a slow, shaky breath.
“Did you know that there was a bet between the Children over which of us would be the one to bring you home? Though I suppose credit should be given where credit is due… Mother was the one who offered the prize for your head…”
There was another huge crash and the sound of screeching metal as Ramael tore down another pillar. The roof above them shook ominously, and a patch of stone ceiling crashed to the floor. The Prince tensed, but the dust settled, and the building remained standing. The Ox Lord continued.
“My bet was on Geofred, to be frank… he seemed to think it would take cunning to find you. But I always found you so predictable. At first, I thought you were being clever, luring me to the Kindred lands, trying to buy back your place in the Children with the end of the Exiles… who knows, it might have worked. But when the Bloodmages told me you had moved, I knew you had gone over… I knew you had been corrupted away from your duty and your blood. Scum… rebels… the worst dregs of humanity…”
“They are better than you will ever be!”
The words were out before he could stop them. He snapped his mouth closed and held very still. Ramael began to walk slowly in his direction.
“You actually believe you’re doing the right thing, don’t you? Think again, little one. You’ve betrayed your family! You’ve betrayed your Empress!”
“She betrayedme!” the Prince shouted, coming out from behind the pillar before he could stop himself, rage boiling so hot inside him that hecouldn’t see straight. “You all did! You tried to have me killed! You took away my name, you sent me into exile, and then you tell meI’mthe traitor?!”
He charged, all rational thought gone. There was a furious exchange of blows that threw sparks into the dark temple. Ramael made another swing with his axe; the Prince ducked, and it hit another pillar, which came crashing down.
“Too slow!” the Prince taunted. His rage was so intense that it bordered on madness, but he could not pull back.
Ramael reversed the swing and almost took the Prince’s head off. He had to scramble back ungracefully, and as he rolled back to his feet, his brother was laughing.
It was then that he realized Ramael was toying with him.
“Is this all about Mother taking away your name?” Ramael asked. “Poor little boy… would you like a new one? I’m sure I could think of something.”
“I HAVE NO NAME, AND YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO GIVE ME ONE!”
He launched himself forward, sword light as a feather in his hands, and pushed his brother back across the room. A sharp swing from one of the axes brushed across the Prince’s ribs so closely that he knew he had barely avoided evisceration. The valerium sword lanced out again, but the axes were there to meet it and repel it.
The Prince dodged away, and the axe hit another of the pillars; and, as the pillar crumbled, the entire temple, weakened to the point of collapse, came crashing down.
The Prince dove to the ground and covered his head with his hands as an enormous rumble vibrated through his body, and then he was struck with falling rocks. He cried out in pain as a stone smashed into his spine, and he felt his hands go numb and his vision grow dark. If it wasn’t for Tomaz’s strength keeping his body whole beyond the point of natural endurance, he was certain he would have died.
The shaking and crashing subsided. After a few moments of ringing silence, he managed to pull himself out of the pile of rubble with one hand. His head emerged first, and he drew in a gasping, shuddering breath and set about freeing the rest of himself, dirt and powdered stone clouding the air and making it impossible to see. Blood was in his eyes from a cut on his forehead, and his left arm was hanging uselessly by his side. His legs still seemed to work, but when he tried to stand, his strength finally failed him, and he slumped back to the ground.
