“Of course,” Arara answered to the Queen as much as to Sels. She trembled. “Ottont, take off your cloak.”
Ottont pulled back the hood of the cloak and swept it back off one shoulder, revealing his curly tail and white fur. Gasps rose up about the room. The bustle of activity slowed down and then stopped entirely as everyone stopped to stare.
“This is Ottont. Sels and I organized his escape from the dungeon.”
“I see,” the Queen’s eyes bored into her. “Ottont, what can you tell us about this false-sun?”
“The night becomes the day and the end of all unless the flames of night cleanse the sins of the father. The final night is nigh when the city of the sun bathes in flames and the day becomes the night.” Ottont quoted. “That is part of the prophecy told to the Yaka soldiers before we came to Sebaine. The prophecy is the whole reason why we came. To prevent the end of all, but we failed. Until the eclipse, you still have a chance.”
“And after?” the Queen asked quietly. Her low whisper carried about the room as everyone held their breath in anticipation.
“It is too late. The world is doomed.”
SELS LEANED OVER THE spire’s railing, gazing down at the city spread out below him. From here everything looked tiny and it was impossible to make out individuals. Stone towers poked out of the trees in the northeast, the halls of Sunspire University hidden behind the trees and the smoke. Half of the dormitory trees there were on fire, yet Sels couldn’t see any coordinated effort being made to put it out. Even from this lofty perch, Sels could make out several obvious battles being fought.
A large wall demarcated the northern edges of the Jegeran District from the University. The market was a patchwork of dyed fabric tents and stalls that lent a splash of color amidst the mud-daub dens. Narrow streets twisted this way and that, with no rhyme or reason in their turnings. Behind him to the south was where the rest of the Kin and Jegeran of the city lived.
His attention was focused to the west, where the false-sun was beginning its descent behind the horizon, outlining the Garden District in brilliant pinks and yellows. In a few places there was obvious destruction, but it was minimal compared to the rest of the city. This was where the Kin nobles lived and they had been the most successful at keeping peace there by using their magic on the Jegera who had earlier stormed through the area towards the palace gates.
Tukura and Recka had been coordinating the guard around the city, to try and quell the worst of the fighting. But the guard were too few and they had been reluctant to use force against civilians. Their toothless response had done little to quiet the rising tide of violence. Arara was downstairs with Ottont, using her mind reading powers to try and glean more information from him that might help them, leaving just him, Sesay, and the Queen to stand the vigil for sunrise.
The last bit of false-sun slipped below the horizon and twilight enveloped the land. A stray breeze peppered Sels’s fine robes with ash and carried with it the acrid smell of smoke. Next to him, Sesay squeezed his hand as the sky continued to darken. The Queen moved away, going over to the eastern side of the sky-deck. Sels and Sesay moved to join her. The mood was tense and quiet while they waited.
Just as the first stars began to twinkle overhead the light brightened again, and the stars vanished once more from sight. The sky continued to lighten, until the sun peaked up right on schedule. The true Sun.
Sels tasted the light on his skin, closing his eyes and trying to compare it to the light of the false-sun. He couldn’t detect any noticeable difference.
The Queen sighed. “I think we could all do with a few claw-markss of sleep.”
“Yes,” Sels yawned and they made their way below to their respective quarters.
A page woke him a scant claw-mark later. “Your Highness, the Queen has requested the presence of you and your sedyu in the Throne Room. Speaker Elric, with a large group of Kin nobles, have entered the palace and are demanding an audience with the Royal Family.”
Sels nudged Arara through their bond and she agreed to meet him there. He arrived at the Throne room to find the Queen and Sesay already in place, Tukura and Recka standing at their sides. A third chair had been placed on the dais next to Sesay’s throne. Sels sunk into it. Arara entered the room a few moments later and took her place next to him.
The Queen nodded to a guard at the door. “Let him in.”
Elric limped in alone, leaning heavily on his cane. The cane tapped oddly on the wood of the floor when it landed, a hollow ringing sound.
A shiver ran down Sels’s arms, a surge of power like he only had felt from the star-metal. He did his best to discreetly look around, but he couldn’t locate a source.
“Your Majesty, Your Highnesses” Elric said with a smirk, although he neglected to include the appropriate spreading of his arms to them.
“Speaker Elric, bright day to you. What brings you before the Royal Family today?” The Queen spoke without inflection, her voice as formal as Sels had ever heard it.
“Bright days indeed.” Elric’s smirk widened. “I came to offer you the chance to surrender, to turn over your crown to me.”
The Queen straightened, gripping the arms of her throne. “You are mad.”
“No, visionary. You can’t have missed my little display last night. Can you really hope to stop me, when I can command the very power of sunlight itself?”
Sels surged to his feet, eyes flashing. “You're the one responsible for that and the chaos in the city? What were you thinking!”
“I was thinking that Kin have been debased by their association with the Jegera. Weak, complacent. Left helpless at night with the absence of the Sun God’s life giving magic, we are forced to rely on the help of such savages. Well no more!”
Elric punctuated this last statement with a thrust of his cane into the floor. The wood floor splintered and cracked where the staff hit, shaking the floor with such force that Sels fell back into his chair with a startled cry. Moon magic permeated the air despite the full morning sun streaming in through the windows.
“This Empire could not have come about without full cooperation between Kin and Jegera-” The Queen said.
“Silence!” Elric yelled, spittle flying from his lips. “I will not be swayed. Surrender the Crown to me by the day of the eclipse.”
“Elric,” the Queen’s voice softened and she leaned forward, meeting Elric’s gaze for the first time since he’d entered the hall. “Ricard, beloved. Meet with me in private. We can discuss this like reasonable people and come to some kind of a compromise.”
“Never. I’ve given you all the warning you will get. After you turn over your Crown and Throne to me, perhaps I will take you up on your offer. But if you don’t, I will be forced to take drastic measures against you and yours.”
“Against me?” The Queen leaned back, her words quiet. “Against your own son?”
At this Elric’s facade cracked the tiniest bit. His smirk tilted down at the edges and his eyes softened. “Yes. You have three days. I will return for your surrender the morning of the eclipse.”
Elric turned to leave. The scrabble of claws on hardwood was all the warning Elric had as Arara, Recka, and Tukura all charged at his exposed back. At the same time, Sesay and Seuan began chanting.
Tukura reached Elric first, her jaws spread wide as she leapt at the back of his neck. Elric lifted his staff with a cry and a shimmering barrier flared into life around him. Tukura’s snout hit it hard, and staggered back, bowling over Arara who had been bringing up the rear of the pack. Recka took advantage of Elric’s distraction, coming at him from the other side. Elric chanted something and swung his cane. It connected with the side of Recka’s head with a resounding crack and Recka dropped senseless to the floor.
Sesay screamed and crumpled, her half-cast spell cutting off with a sizzle. Sels pushed his chair away and dropped to his knees by her throne, grabbing her. His mother finished her chant and a man-sized tornado sprang from her hands and rushed toward El
ric as Arara and Tukura scrambled out of its path.
Elric finished his chant and spun back towards them, pointing his cane at the oncoming wind. The gale whipped at his robe and vines but he held fast, gripping the end with both hands. As the edge of the spinning funnel-cloud hit the cane’s tip it shrank, the wind swirling into the cane. The wind died as the last of it disappeared inside.
Sels stared in astonishment at the sharp, twinkling tip of the cane. How had he never felt before the center of Elric’s cane was metal? Then it hit him. The wooden box that protected the star-metal, prevented it from being detected, hid its power. The outside wood of the cane had concealed the metal core. Elric had removed the tip, like opening the lid of a box, and unleashed the power of the metal.
This was his arena now. Sels gently laid Sesay out on the floor and stood, gathering power into himself, just like Elric had taught him. He threw a bolt of fire out, straight at Elric’s chest. The shot flew true, striking hard enough to punch a hole through the magical barrier around him to send Elric stumbling back a few steps.
With a wave of Sels hand, the flames raged over Elric’s body, consuming him head to toe in a blazing inferno. But to his surprise Elric didn’t make a sound, didn’t fall over. He stayed standing, even lifted out a hand palm up. The flames wavered and ran, streaming together to gather in the palm of Elric’s hand.
The Queen gasped in surprise and Sels’s mouth fell open.
“Didn’t you wonder where you got your power from, boy?” Elric grinned up at Sels. He tossed the fire over his shoulder - straight at Tukura and Arara, who had been stalking predator slow towards Elric’s back.
Arara jumped in front of Tukura, throwing her paws up. The flames parted around them, Arara straining with the effort of holding them at bay. Tukura yelped and huddled behind her.
Elric turned and waved a hand at Recka’s limp body. Recka lifted into the air, his arms and legs dragging on the floor as he floated out of the throne room after Elric. Arara and Tukura were helpless to stop him, still trapped in the inferno.
Sels pointed the guard at the door as he jumped off the stage. He had to stop the fire, but he couldn’t let Elric leave with Recka. “Stop him!”
The guards ears went back and he raced out. A moment later there was a yelp and he flew back through the door, his fur singed and his head twisted at an unnatural angle. His glassy eyes seemed to stare accusingly at Sels.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
SACRIFICES
Arara watched through the writhing flames, helpless to stop Elric as he left with Recka in tow. The fire beat down on her, the heat scorching the pads of her front paws even as she held back the fire with the power of her mind. Sels jumped off the dais, yelling at the guard, but how could one lone guard help when he’d overcome the might of the entire Royal Family? She was right, as moments later the dead guard fell at Sels’s feet.
Gradually the intensity of the fire died down as Sels wrested control of it back from Elric, although by the time he did so a big section of the floor and wall were blackened and charred. As soon as the fire was out Sels rushed back to the dais with Tukura and Arara at his heels.
The Queen was crouched over Sesay, healing energy pouring from her hands. Sesay stirred just as Sels dropped to his knees by her side. He took her hand and her eyes fluttered open.
“Recka!” she cried groggily.
“Elric took him, Sesay,” Sels said. “We tried to stop him, but we failed.”
Sesay burst into tears. Sels gathered Sesay up in his arms, hugging her to his chest and rocking her as she cried.
The Queen sighed and got to her feet and began healing Tukura, whose flank had been caught by the initial blast of fire before she’d gotten fully behind Arara’s barrier.
Arara looked at the dead Jegeran guard and shuddered. That could have been any one of them. It could have been Recka. The thought made her sick. Arara walked over to the guard, her ears flat and her tail between her legs. She knelt down next to him, gently closed his eyelids and straightened his head.
Just as she finished up Ottont entered from the back of the room accompanied by several Alpha-Guards. The guards headed for Arara and their fallen comrade, while Ottont went to the Queen and Tukura. Arara moved aside and allowed them to take their friend away.
“Ottont,” the Queen said, finishing up from healing Tukura. “What did you find out from Elric?”
“The false-sun spell is not permanent, yet.” Ottont replied.
Arara perked her ears and drifted back towards the dais. She hadn’t realized Ottont had been nearby. She wondered how he had been able to read Elric’s thoughts without tipping him off that he was there, although it was probably just a matter of superior skill and control.
“Where did he take Recka?” Sesay demanded. She clung to Sels, her sobs had died down and Sels was patting her remaining tears dry with his sleeve while he held her.
The Queen shot Sesay a sympathetic glance and briefly squeezed Tukura’s paw. “Did you get a sense of what Elric’s final plans are, or when the spell might become permanent?”
Ottont nodded. “He need the eclipse. It is a, um...”
“Catalyst?” Arara supplied. Ottont cocked his head and Arara could feel him gently prodding her thoughts.
“Yes, that is accurate. He needs more power.”
“What about Recka?” Sesay pushed away from Sels and pulled herself up using the arm of her throne. “Where is my sedyu?” Sesay screamed.
“Please, Ottont,” the Queen said.
“He took him to his mansion. He needs him for the final ceremony and plans to keep him alive until then. I could not get any more without alerting him that I was there.”
“Thank the Sun God,” Sesay took a shaky breath.
Sels stood and put his arm around her and Sesay leaned into his chest.
“When you say the spell is not permanent, you mean Elric has to cast it each night?” The Queen asked.
Ottont nodded.
“I had wondered why Elric waited until the false-sun set to visit. Why not come while evidence of his power is in the sky? Because he could not.” The Queen straightened, her expression fierce. “Such a complex spell surely requires constant power and all his concentration. He’ll be vulnerable for the next few nights.”
“Surely you can’t be suggesting...” Sels pulled Sesay close. “Not after what happened. We can’t beat him.”
“It is our only chance.” The Queen’s voice was firm, brooking no argument. “No matter how slim the odds. No matter my feelings for him, the country and its citizens come first.” Tukura flicked her ears in agreement.
A sharp rap interrupted any reply that they would have made. Two Jegera stood at the door to the throne room.
“Enter,” the Queen called.
“Your Majesty,” one of them said as they approached. “We are sorry to interrupt, but we have an emergency. As Elric left the rioters began a coordinated attack against the gates. We need to get you and the rest of the Royal Family to safety.”
Arara had been doing her best to ignore the flurry of gefirs about the state of the city. Now she closed her eyes and really listened. Fires had broken out in more of the city and the fighting between Kin and Jegera had worsened. The Jegera had broken down the gate between the Garden and Jegera district and now fought hand-to-paw with Kin mages in the streets. From the reports the more numerous Kin were winning, but both sides were suffering heavy casualties.
She’d grown up thinking of Kin magic as non-threatening with no use in combat, Sels’s powers of fire and explosions being the exception. However during the Yakan led uprising a few moons ago she’d seen Roel wield Wind magic charms against their pursuers. It seemed the Kin were doing such now against the Jegera, finding clever ways to turn harmless utility spells for gardening and household chores into deadly weapons of war.
When Arara wondered why Kin had never done such a thing before, Sels bristled through their bond. With their loyal Jegeran protectors, whose cla
ws worked day or night and who had a natural inclination for protecting their pack, there was no call for the gentle-souled Kin to do such a thing.
“We will not retreat,” the Queen stated, folding her arms.
“Besides, where could we go that would be safe in the midst of this?” Arara asked the Queen, shivering.
“Do not despair,” the Queen looked at Tukura. “We can quell the fighting, although we had hoped it would not come to this.”
“Follow us,” Tukura said.
“Ottont as well?” Arara asked when Ottont turned to go.
Tukura answered with a nod and an affirmative flick of her ears.
Ottont gave a chirp and trotted over to walk next to Arara. Sels and Sesay had linked arms and walked ahead of them as they followed the Queen. To Arara’s surprise, Tukura and the Queen led them back up to the sky-balcony at the top of the tree.
Everyone was flagging when they reached the top and Arara was struggling to stay awake, despite the exertion of the climb. It had been a long day, literally.
The Queen and Tukura had moved to the center and she gestured Sels and Sesay closer. “You will need to work together to defeat Elric. Strike hard and true, at night, when his attentions and magic will be consumed by the false-sun spell.”
Sels nodded, as did Sesay with a determined look in her eyes.
“Stand back children,” the Queen said, facing Tukura. They clasped paw and hand to form a triangle between them.
“Mother, I’m no longer a sprout. I bloomed many seasons ago and am an adult as of this summer.” Sels protested as Arara pulled him and Sesay away to stand at the railing with her and Ottont.
“You’ll always be my child,” the Queen replied with a smile. To Arara’s mental senses sadness emanated from her in waves, but Arara wasn’t sure why.
“Wait, Mother, what are you planning?” Sels lunged forward, easily pulling out of Arara’s grip. Her claws caught in the fabric of his embroidered sleeve, ripping it open from wrist to elbow, but Sels didn’t even notice.
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