by Tony Johnson
As the three friends all stared at the army in front of them, they watched a green, elemental tornado rip through a cluster of orcs.
“I don't think she needs his protection!” Ty laughed at the wind-empowered companion he adored.
“It looks like we're driving them back now!” Kari was ecstatic. “We’re winning!”
“Let's go finish this!” Steve exclaimed, tightening the grip on Brightflame. “I want Silas for myself.”
“I’ll catch up!” Kari said as the two brothers took off, forgetting about her lack of mobility.
“Kari, I’m sorry,” Steve apologized, seeing her limping after them.
“Don’t be. Go. I’ll be there soon enough.”
Fighting their way all the way up Edgewater Beach and into the grasslands in front of Casanovia, Steve and Ty made it to where Grizz and Shana fought and joined them. Kari soon caught up and the five of them battled together once again.
“There he is,” Steve told his companions, seeing the white-armored prince and his eleven Celestial warriors killing people left and right. Pushing forward through a few more enemy lines of defense, the Shadow Prince stopped fighting after he killed the last nearby Casanovian, looked up, and saw the red-armored warrior with a blue sash around his waist.
His eyes widening in surprise, Silas fingered the huge scar on his mouth, as if seeing the warrior who injured him caused it pain.
“Kill them all!” the Shadow Prince screamed at his eleven guards and pointed to the elemental-colored heroes. “But leave the red-armored warrior for me!”
Steve echoed Silas’ order to his friends. “Don’t let anyone interfere with us,” he commanded. “Silas is mine.”
As Kari, Ty, Grizz, and Shana engaged in battle against the Celestial-betraying warriors, Copper, Willis, Krause, Rylan, Artazair, Jun-Lei, and her crew fought alongside Casanovians, Almirians, and pirates against the monster army. In the middle of them all, Steve walked forward to face his enemy, the self-declared, King Silvanus Zoran.
“Nice scar,” Steve smiled, admiring the work he had done with the meat cleaver in Celestial. Giant, black stiches sewed shut the side of Silas’s mouth from the corner of his mouth to the back of his jaw.
“Nightstrike claimed he killed you,” Silas spoke through a different voice that was somehow more ominous despite his speech impediment.
“He should’ve been more thorough.”
“Thankfully he wasn’t so I can have the pleasure of killing you myself.”
Turning his armor into ice and the golden Aurelian Sword into fire, Silas attacked Steve, but, even though he didn’t have an element, Steve held his ground and deflected each blow with his shield and Brightflame.
I didn’t know he could use two elements at once, Steve realized, seeing Silas have two equipped. I guess the gods’ elect are like Anthropomorphic Monsters in that they can turn any piece of metal into their element, but no piece of metal can have more than one element at one time. I don’t know how I can defeat him when he can defend with ice and attack with fire. Plus, he’s more skilled now than he was beforre. His strikes are made with more precision. I don’t know how I’m going to survive this. I need the final element. Please, Alazar. It’s the only way.
Unable to land a critical hit, Silas grabbed the metal shield his opponent was blocking all his attacks with and turned it into ice. The unexpected weight caused Steve to drop it, leaving him open for an ice-gauntleted punch straight into his face.
“Oh no! A broken nose again!” Silas cackled at the popping sound as Steve reeled backwards and blood poured from his misaligned nostrils. Seeing the warrior dazed and fighting to not pass out from the violent blow, Silas teased Steve as he readjusted King Zoran’s golden crown atop his head, “Don’t you quit on me so soon. I’m not nearly done with you.”
With Steve having taken a couple steps back to recover, Silas used a ranged attack by pointing his sword and sending a plume of fire at Steve. Rolling out of the way in time, Steve pulled himself up, only to be struck by the same type of attack in ice form. Much like the frost breath of an aerial monster, the chilling vapor coated his red armor and would’ve frozen him in place had he not picked up his shield, pushed forward, and batted Aurelia with Brightflame.
The prince attacked with a flurry of strikes using his elementally empowered sword which he expanded into a club with icicle spikes. Steve blocked most of the attacks but failed to avoid one that slammed into his still-healing shoulder.
“Come on,” Silas yelled, disappointed in his opponent. “At least make this a little bit challenging!”
Angry at himself for failing so far, Steve attacked aggressively, forcing Silas to defend himself. With his sword still encased in ice, however, Brightflame measly bounced off with each hit. One attack, however, broke through the Shadow Prince’s defenses and forced him to block Steve’s blade with his gauntlet, although the armor’s ice-covering protected him from any damage.
If he didn’t have his element that strike would’ve chopped his arm off at the middle of the forearm, Steve knew.
Frustrated, Silas used another fire plume attack, but
Steve, again, used his shield to block it. Silas cranked up the heat, making it almost unbearable for the Celestial warrior to continue holding his shield. Once Steve pushed close enough, instead of knocking Aurelia out of the way to disrupt the attack like last time, he swung Brightflame low, striking the ice-armored kneecap of the Shadow Prince. The force was enough to bring the villain down, which allowed Steve to jump on top of him and press his scalding red-hot metal shield against the side of Silas’s face, melting his hair and skin.
Screaming, Silas used his free hand to grab the side of Steve’s face and make his gauntlet as cold as possible. In a battle of wills to see who could last longer, it was Steve who lost because Silas could continuously increase the cold while the shield’s heat was rapidly wearing off.
Pulling his shield back to himself and standing up, Steve was immediately attacked by an enraged Silas, who in his pain, relentlessly beat his sword down upon Steve’s shield.
From an irregular stance, Steve desperately swung his weapon, but Silas used his ice-coated gauntlet to catch the blade in his hand. Pushing Steve down with his boot, he ripped Steve’s sword upwards to himself, acquiring Brightflame.
In protest, Steve got up to retaliate, trying to smash his battered and dented shield into Silas, but Silas, holding both Aurelia and Brightflame, blocked the shield with one weapon, while cutting open Steve’s left thigh with the other, forcing him down to one knee. When Steve tried to get up, Silas kicked his uncut leg from the side, causing Steve’s fibula to snap in two.
“That’ll keep you down,” Silas muttered and spat in Steve’s face as the warrior writhed on the ground in agony. With his enemy unable to defend himself, Silas ripped Steve’s shield off his arm and threw it away. To make sure his defenseless opponent stayed down, Silas stuck the pointed ends of both swords behind him in the mud and pummeled Steve, whose broken leg and exhaustion prevented him from retaliating in any way.
“I understand you made this sword?” the Shadow Prince asked, expecting no answer as he turned around, pulled up Brightflame, and examined the finely crafted blade. “Those Celestial promos about you, your horse, and your sword here, really built you up and made people love you. It’s quite well made,” he waved it through the air. “Lightweight, but powerful, and very sharp. But how durable is it?” Silas asked, standing over the defeated warrior.
“Please, don't,” Steve pleaded, knowing what the prince was going to do.
Using his elements to turn the blade to the hottest possible temperature he could create, Silas then switched over to ice and instantly froze Steve’s sword in the coldest temperature he could manifest. With a cracking sound, like breaking glass, Brightflame shattered into six jagged pieces.
Chapter 106
As Silas turned to pull the Aurelian Sword out of the muddy ground and kill the bloodied, b
roken, and battered Steve, Steve looked around and happily saw that Kari, Ty, Shana, and Grizz were all alive. Grizz and Shana were defeating the last of the eleven warriors while Ty and Kari watched Steve with concerned looks. Both were beginning to come to his aid, but a quick glance told them he didn’t want anyone to interfere.
Just as Silas had done in Celestial, he began pacing around the defeated warrior like a shark around its prey. Unbeknownst to the Shadow Prince, people started slowly forming a large circle around him as they eagerly awaited to see who would win in the battle between the two army leaders.
“You have no idea how much I hate you,” Silas gritted his teeth. “You were the epitome of how everyone in Celestial felt about me. I was next in line to be king. I was supposed to be loved by all the citizens, but no one ever gave me the same adoration they gave to King Zoran.”
“Can you blame us?” Steve sat as he painfully readjusted his leg with his hands and tied his blue sash tightly around the gash on his other leg, all while not taking his eyes off his enemy. “You cared more about yourself than the people of the kingdom. You made sure you always won in the exhibition jousts. You wore white because you tried to create a persona for yourself. It was all about you, your appearance, and your power. As soon as Malorek came along and told you that you could have elemental powers and be the king, you betrayed everyone you knew.”
For his comments, Silas kicked Steve.
Ahh, violence, his classic way of retaliating for knowing I’m right and not having a comeback.
“You’re so blinded in your lust for power, you forget that a leader is empowered by his people, not through his strength and abilities,” Steve continued. “Zoran was trying to teach you that! That’s why he didn't let you be a warrior.”
Silas kicked Steve again, harder than the previous time, but the warrior continued talking, trying to egg on the prince.
“Do you ever think about how many people you’ve hurt? You were willing to kill thousands and allow the people of Celestial to be enslaved.”
“They deserve to be enslaved! It’s their purpose to serve.”
“I know your father believes that, but do you honestly believe that yourself, or are you just trying to make them pay for never loving you the way they loved Zoran?”
“The reasons behind my actions don’t matter! My destiny is laid out in this prophecy,” he held up Aurelia. “Once my twin brother is killed, then I’ll lead the monsters to victory in this war.”
“Seems like you have trouble following through with the first step,” Steve said, subtly revealing the lineage he learned from Kari’s vision.
Silas smiled, realizing the implications of Steve’s sentence. “So it is you! I had a feeling it might be. I figured my twin brother was probably living in Celestial. That’s why I ordered the deaths of all nineteen-year-olds males in the capital. Oops,” he said sarcastically, not caring he had committed genocide of an entire age-group. “Turns out you weren’t even in the city when I made that order.”
“You didn’t!” Steve’s anger flared, thinking of the sheer number that must’ve died when the order was carried out.
Silas continued smiling. “You know, I think I see the resemblance now.” Then, looking inquisitive he asked, “How’d you learn you were related to me?”
“I’m one of Alazar’s five elect. He’s been giving my friends and I visions of our father’s past. It’s through the visions I found out Princess Kyra and Malorek were our parents.”
“You are next in line to receive Alazar’s elements that used to belong to Oliver?” Silas mockingly cringed, “I think he’s made a mistake. Regardless, it doesn't matter who you are or how we're related. It doesn’t even matter if you’re the good god’s elect. The prophecy is clear about what happens next.”
Silas’s assurance in the prophecy’s words was so strong, it momentarily caused Steve to question if it really did foretell the future so precisely, but then Steve looked around for a second time. The ring around him and Silas had intensified and included hundreds and hundreds of Almirians and Casanovias. All were members of Alazar’s four races. Nowhere could a monster be seen alive on the battlefield.
“How sure are you?” Steve challenged Silas’s conviction. “Look around you,” he gestured around them. “You didn’t lead your forces to victory. You failed. There’s no way you make it out of here alive. Even if you kill me, I heard what King Zoran told you in the observation tower: the prophecy says you are going to die.”
Silas kicked Steve for a third time, and Steve knew, this is how I can defeat him. While his skills may have increased and he has an additional element, his personality has not changed. He remains the same angry person who lets his emotions get the best of him.
“Listen to me Silas: Zebulon and Malorek know your fate. Since they believe the prophecy speaks of you and they know you’ll die, they’re letting you live out your fantasy of being a hero, but in reality, you’re doing the dirty work of taking over the kingdom for them.”
Steve stood, careful not to put weight on his broken leg. As he did so, he slowly gripped his fingers around one of the jagged shards of Brightflame, holding it against the back of his forearm so that Silas couldn’t see. “Malorek’s just waiting back in Celestial to claim the crown for himself and become the new king. He’s always wanted that power for himself. I’ve seen it. I know his story. I feel sorry for you. You’re just a pawn in his plans.”
Silas didn’t say anything, but his face and body’s expressions told Steve his words had struck a nerve. In his anger of knowing everything Steve was saying was true, Silas reacted just how Steve assumed he would. The Shadow Prince swung the Aurelian Sword in a fit of rage, attempting to decapitate the red-armored warrior.
Ducking under the feverous attack, just as he had with the meat cleaver in Celestial, Steve took Silas by surprise, using his enemy's uncontrolled emotion to his advantage. Only this time, rather than taking a desperate, wild, swinging motion at Silas with a kitchen blade, Steve instead stabbed with the hidden weapon he was holding.
The shard of Brightflame sunk deep into Silas’s neck. Spurts of blood shot out of the severed artery as soon as Steve pulled out the sharp piece of metal. Silas dropped his sword and used his hand to put pressure on it, but nothing would be enough to save him. Blood spewed between his fingers and ran down his white gauntlets. It seeped between his teeth and out his mouth.
Steve caught his brother and gently laid him down in the mud.
“I thought the prophecy was about me, but I was wrong,” Silas gurgled. “It's about you.” Then, in a rare act of accepting defeat, the Shadow Prince took the golden crown off his head and placed it into his twin brother’s hand. “Enjoy it while it lasts,” he said, the last words he would ever speak.
Closing the eyelids of his brother who died within a few seconds, Steve secured his grip around the crown and took Aurelia with his other hand. Turning and standing, he noticed people around him were bowing. Everyone who had encircled the two brothers as they fought, including Ty, Kari, Grizz, and Shana, as well as Crimson and the other aerial monsters were down on one knee. Not everyone was bowing, but most were.
“Word has spread that I am the king,” Steve spoke to them all, standing off kilter due to his broken leg. “It is true that I am the heir to the throne, now the only known living descendant of Oliver Zoran. We,” Steve gestured to his four friends standing together, “learned this through visions we’ve been receiving from Alazar that we see each time he grants one of us an elemental spirit.
“Although I am the rightful king, I cannot wear this crown until we reclaim Celestial,” he looked down to the golden crown in his hand featuring the five elemental stones and a diamond in the center. “Today was a great success. Casanovia was saved, but our work is not yet done. Misengard needs aid, and the Primary Cities need to be united before we can take back the capital. But I assure you this, to all of you from Almiria, and to the few of you from Serendale: w
e will take back what is rightfully ours.
“To those of you from Casanovia, thank you. You have no idea how important it was that we won this battle. Tonight, we will celebrate, the greatest party this city has ever experienced, because Casanova is saved and victory is ours!”
“Victory!” someone yelled from the audience.
“Victory!” the rousing, joyous shout was carried out by everyone as the crowd erupted in cheers.
“Victory!” Ty shouted along with everyone else, grabbing and kissing Grizz on his bald head in sheer happiness.
Glancing at Kari with a smile they both shared, Steve limped his way over to her and put his arm around the Halfling. Standing with her, listening to the crowd celebrating, Kari whispered to him with utmost confidence, “We can do this. We can take back Celestial. We can win this war.”
Chapter 107
Since there was still a third of the day left before nightfall, everyone banded together to collect the bodies of the dead and being the clean-up process of the destruction following the battle. At the same time, no one wanted death and sadness to mark the momentous occasion of what was accomplished. A group of people used the undamaged northeast section of the city to set up food and fireworks. Although not everyone attended the event, particularly those who were in mourning of fallen loved ones, the majority of Casanovians and Almirians converged on the area and participated in the celebration.
It was here, at night, during the noise and festivities, that Steve quietly escaped. With his injuries cleaned and bandaged, and his leg casted, he used a pair of crutches he was given to head up to the roof of a tall building that overlooked the city. Standing alone under the bright red moon, he held his breath and unsheathed the Aurelian Sword.
It’s finally time to see what the prophecy says.
First, he inspected the perfect craft and design of his grandfather’s former weapon. Like the crown, its hilt had five amazing gemstones with a diamond in the center. Then, holding the curved, golden blade close to his face so he could read the inscription upon it, Steve read aloud the small-print of the prophecy which he knew spoke of himself.