Focusing on the ribbons of sand circulating along the sphere that engulfed my body, I rose higher than I had during my previous attempts, calling each granule towards my closing fists. The burnt-orange bands dispersed and reunited once more, forming rotating belts that reminded me of the atom symbol—thousands and thousands of grains shifting in unison over my fists.
Raithian’s arms lifted towards me, pointing his sand bombs to a dune behind me. His sinister smile returned when I aimed towards him too, mimicking his movements. “Fire!”
With the simple opening of our hands, the energy was released, our sand bombs hurling forwards. Two of them crashed against the other, blowing up in a burst of powerful wind that ricocheted against our spheres, pushing us back in the air. The other bombs flew right past us; his exploded closely behind me, but mine pierced a large mound several feet behind Raithian.
Unlike the others, the explosion occurred once inside the “desert mountain”, sending several surges of sand spraying the land in all directions, until a peek of fading colored fabric was revealed. It wasn’t the only thing my sand bomb unearthed.
Multileveled ruins made of orange and gold peeked through, the broken structure slightly gleaming under the burning sun. Somber scraps of brightly colored flags still clung from what appeared to have been towers once. Its tribal symbols and crest ripped in half, ruined by Raithian just like everything else.
They were the ruins oftheCresting Sun Empire. What remained of the castle Knight showed me in his memories… when it still rose to its full glory.
Clenching my fists, I lowered myself until my boots sunk into the ground.
“It was a remarkable kingdom once,” he pondered, calling my flaming gaze to him.
“Until you destroyed them because you wanted power, and nothing was ever enough.”
Raithian’s face contorted with disgust. “Until they destroyed themselves for refusing to recognize me as their true king. I never set out to destroy this realm, Braxton. I set out to be the most powerful king Caelisium ever saw, but they refused me my rightful place. Their options were clear, but this is what they chose.”
He gestured to the ruins.
“You were never their true king,” I seethed, ire coursing through me with the audacity of his statement. “You killed the king and stole his power. Angus Devenish III wastheirtrue king.”
The Warlock’s eyes narrowed fiercely on me. “You are too young to know that name.”
“And you are too old to be so naïve, Raithian. You had everything you wanted, yet you shattered it for this…” I gestured to the dead land that once thrived under our family’s protection. “A half dead world that is only the shadow of what it used to be… Was it worth it?”
His narrowed gaze relaxed, a certain resentment clouding his features instead. “You have no idea what my life was like. I—”
“Oh, boo-hoo!” I snapped. “So, you didn’t have a perfect family, a perfect childhood. Guess what? No one fucking does! But the rest of us choose to rise above the bad moments. We learn from them and move on. We don’t take it out on everyone else and kill the only people who ever loved us. We don’t enslave innocents, then set out to destroy an entire world only because we went through tough times.”
Fury returned to his gaze, and he hovered closer to me. “You have no idea what—”
“Oh, shut the fuck up!” I grumbled, rubbing both hands over my face while the magic that formed my sphere returned to my core. I was so fucking tired of him. “Actually, tell me something. If you succeeded in defeating us. If you actually won and enslave the rest of us, or killed us all,” I shrugged because what the fuck, “what exactly is left for you to enjoy? What is your prize?”
I gestured all around us yet again, there was nothing but solitude.
“All that is left are the ruins of a world you consumed until there was nothing left. There are no more royals to scare into bowing at your feet. No more kingdoms to fear you and offer their riches or daughters to you to calm your wrath. Gold coins aren’t even worth anything anymore. You said it yourself, Raithian, your fortress is done. You don’t even have use for slaves now.”
“I can always find use for slaves,” he growled.
“Fine, so we are all your slaves. What exactly is your reward, Raithian? What do you get from centuries of war? Who the hell is left to fear you? Without us, there are no more people to fight.”
Surprisingly enough, my words sobered him. The energy sphere vanished around his form while he slowly made his way towards me. A strange emotion captured his face, his gaze seemingly lost behind me.
“You didn’t plan that far ahead, did you?”
“Two hundred years have come and gone,” he answered instead, his attention shifting back to me when he stopped a few feet away. A new light entered his gaze. “Join me, Braxton.”
Raw shock swept through me with his words. “Join you?” I repeated, dumbfounded.
“We do not have to be enemies,” he urged, a certain madness capturing his gaze. “Consider how much I have taught you so far. In just a few days your magic has grown far beyond what a mediocre Wizard could ever achieve. Now consider how much more I could teach you if there was no threat of war between us. You could have real power, rule your own slaves.”
I wished I could have laughed it off in his face. I really did, but the disgust was too real. “Are you serious?”
“Yes!” he answered, disturbingly excited.
“What the fuck makes you think I want to own slaves? That I would ever do to my people what you did to them?”
