My fire will need time to spread. My exhale coats a branch in fire; flames search for an opening through which the heat can seep in.There. Got you!
“I gave you everything!” Galen shouts from inside.
I circle the cage, inspecting it. “You trapped yourself; you’ll die in fire and smoke unless you come out and fight me. Sword to sword, like a man.”
He laughs, then, like a predictable snake, he strikes. I see the assault a second too late to form the time shield. It’s not just a cage he built; it’s a weapon. Thorns erupt, stretching out as far as a limb, reaching for a target. I hiss as one stabs me in the thigh, halting my steps and trapping me.
I grunt as I push myself to the side, freeing my leg. I slap my palm to the wound. It’s deep, stabbing me like a dagger. Nostrils flare, lips curl as I push my healing magic into it. The bleeding slows, but the cut remains open.
I step back and roar as flames leave my body, spreading faster and faster until his cage is covered.
Come on, you coward.
He forces us to wait until a large section of it crumbles in and a path is clear. In the center, Galen stands, surrounded by smoke, framed by flames. He smirks, with arrogant eyes, at the black roses he holds in his hands.
That’s when I notice it. The ground is covered with black roses.
“Sword to sword,” Galen murmurs. He must not have much magic left. I used a lot, but I had my mate’s blood to fuel it. I could easily last fifteen more minutes.
Without his crown, he’s used every last drop he had.
“I don’t obey your orders now, Galen.”
“Tell me, Titus,” he caresses the rose with more admiration than I thought his eyes could possess. “Did Selene put you up to this, twist your mind, promise you love in exchange for my death? She’s just like her sister; you think it’s just a fuck, but they don’t just take your body, they screw with your mind.”
He doesn’t let me answer as he begins to pluck off each rose petal. His forehead shines with sweat as the rest of his cage burns down.
“Selene will betray you. In the end, she will pick herself.” Galen sounds like a wounded lover who is clinging to life and lost dreams. Broken. Accepting. “And it will kill you. This will all be for nothing.”
He holds the stem tightly, eyeing the cluster of seeds once hidden, now free. In a violent gesture, he rips out the seeds, tossing them in the air. If he thinks his memory will survive and grow like those seeds, he’s wrong.
I’ll find every seed, every flower, and burn it from this world. All for my mate; never again will her eyes look into dark and thorny petals.
“She thinks she won, but I warned her. This is the long game. She has no idea how it’s played. In order to survive, you can only care about yourself. It will kill her.” He laughs. “But I don’t think it will kill you, Titus. I think you’ll survive and be forced to suffer.”
I pull my blade free and close the distance. Galen knows he’s cornered. A raise of my hand would cover him in flames. But that’s too easy. “Take your sword out and fight me,” I demand. Burnt vines crunch under my boots.
He smirks at the floor of his roses. The petals are thick and saturated with fragrance; they’ll take time to burn. He levels me with a cold winner’s stare. “No.”
His reply feels like a hidden attack I didn’t anticipate.
“Burn me. Burn my body with honor. That’s what you do, isn’t it, Titus, the honorable soldier who won my war? You burn and bury. I heard that the men found it noble. I found it lacking. I hoped you’d die in battle. I never dreamed you’d win it all for me.”
His chest widens with a lungful of smoky air, and my eyes narrow.
“You won,” he admits as he nods. “You took my crown, depleted my magic. I could draw my sword and fight you, or I could stand down, not rewarding you with the drenching of my blood upon your blade. A weapon I gifted you. I might die, but in the end, I won this battle.” He leans closer without fear. “I denied your predator a kill it craved. Hungered for!”
He tips his head back and laughs in my face.
Each exhale fans my flames, but deep inside, water is poured on my vengeance.
“Some battles are fought with swords; others are won with words.” He opens his arms and mockingly bows.
He’s right.
I hate it. I want to lash out, cover Galen in flames, so his wicked tongue curls and withers away. How did this happen? How did Galen beat me?
“Your mistake was fishing with no bait,” Galen continues. “I see your wants, a need to slay me in battle so you can wear that badge when you return to Selene. I refuse to bite. You may take my throne, wield my crown, but you will not have my honor.”
