Rosinanti_Rise of the Dragon Lord

by Kevin J. Kessler

  Seraphina’s jaw clenched, and she pressed the ice into Kayden with such force he groaned in pain.

  “You don’t have to…answer,” he said through the crushing fury of her reactionary torment. “I know…the answer. You felt the thrill of the…kill.”

  “Shut your mouth!” Seraphina yelled, pushing the ice into him with such intensity that she could hear his bones groaning in protest. He cried out, spitting a trickle of blood, which stained the crystalline confinement.

  “How could you…ever hope to lie in bed beside my…sainted…brother…when you’re every bit the monster…that I am!”

  “SHUT UP!” she screamed as Kayden echoed distant, silent fears she hadn’t even realized were alive within her. Seraphina formed a jagged icicle over her upturned palm and flung it toward the taunting Spirit of Darkness.

  Kayden’s eyes exploded with purple energy as he effortlessly shrugged his way through Seraphina’s frosty prison, smashing it to bits with mere gestures. He caught the incoming projectile in one hand, a mere centimeter from his jugular. Dropping it to the ground, he chuckled at the panting queen.

  “Now, that’s what I was waiting for.” Kayden smiled as though he were proud of what she had done by striking out at him in anger. “It’s no fun to fight a princess. I want to face a killer.”

  Seraphina chided herself at such a horrific mistake. Kayden was fighting smart. He knew of the inherent weakness of her power, in that constructs of order would falter when formed under mental distress. He had fed the darkness and chaos within her heart and suckered her in. She had to clear her mind and push Kayden’s taunting jeers from her psyche. She needed to maintain the calm superiority of order if she hoped to win this battle.

  “Are you ready to play, Seraphina?” He mocked her with an exaggerated wink of his eye. Seraphina’s arms moved with blinding speed, fingers sparking with magical might as she loosed bolts of sapphire lightning at her black-clad adversary. Kayden leapt up out of the way, twisting his body nimbly out of the destructive magic’s path. He landed gingerly on his booted feet, and Seraphina let the electrical surge of her power fly once more.

  Again, Kayden dodged gracefully from the path of those clawing bolts of order, and this time responded with a gesture that tore rocks larger than Seraphina’s head from the crumbling walls of her temporary home, flinging them in her direction as he moved. Seraphina floated up into the air, letting the stony weapons of darkness pass harmlessly below her. As Kayden landed, he sent a man-sized shard of stone on a collision course with Seraphina’s face, but the empowered princess gestured forward with the rigid fingers of her right hand, pulling water from the air that slashed into the rock like the blade of a knife, splitting it into two pieces, which harmlessly passed her on either side.

  “Impressive, Seraphina,” Kayden said as though he were praising some simple pet for showing mild proficiency.

  Seraphina’s teeth clenched in frustration. All around them, the rebels swarmed, fleeing the scene of destruction, and she found herself holding back the bulk of her power in an attempt to buy them time and avoid any collateral damage. There was a contingency in place for such an occasion. The people of her rebellion knew that in the event of a raid, their first objective was to flee the scene and then meet at a predetermined location within the city to regroup. It was an excellent plan in theory, but coupled with the terror of combatant and non-combatant alike in the face of a battle of gods, their frantic scurrying became a distraction that held the Spirit of Order back.

  “You have no idea what I’m capable of, you inhuman monster.”

  “Inhuman?” Kayden scoffed in mock surprise before a sly grin spread along his lips. “You flatter me, Madame. It’s a pity I cannot say the same for you. All of your pathetic weakness and theatrics as you desperately try to buy these doomed failures the time to escape is so laughably human.”

  “Compassion is not weakness. But someone like you could never understand that.”

  “Compassion is the definition of weakness, you simpleminded slag.” He gestured out to his sides, and several sharp pebbles flew forward. Seraphina raised a magical shield over her body to ward off the lethal imapalers, but to her horror, none of them came even close to her. Instead, they flew beyond the Ice Queen’s reach and struck many of her fleeing subjects in the chest, along vital arteries, or in the base of their skulls. Men, women, and even children dropped silent amidst a spraying of red, hot blood that oozed like a morbid rising tide.

  The remaining rebels who had yet to flee panicked, and Kayden began to levitate several rocky instruments of murder. Seraphina screamed in desperation, and a tight dome of ice formed around the two gods, entrapping them in a six-meter-wide frozen boundary. Seraphina shuddered. This tactic put her at a marked disadvantage. Should Kayden manage to get his hands on her, the battle might well be ended. But she had to give her people time to escape. No more innocent Kackrittan blood would be shed by this creature who she once called friend. If that meant exposing herself to added danger, then so be it.

  Kayden scoffed at Seraphina’s sacrificial play. Sealing herself into a confined space with an opponent who could cleave her head from her shoulders with a single blow was noble in theory but fallacy in execution. What would become of these hapless sheep once she fell at Kayden’s hand? The Skirlack would seek them out upon Aleksandra’s orders, and there would be nothing standing between those who still believed in the former kingdom of Kackritta and oblivion. The elite warriors would crumple like paper beneath the might of Aleksandra’s empire.

  “I’m proud of you, Seraphina. I truly am.” He smiled at her as though this statement were true. “You’ve really become a true hero, haven't you?”

  The princess snarled beneath the sapphire luminance of her gaze. “I wouldn’t count me out just yet, Kayden.” Before he could question her, the princess let loose a caging storm of lightning from her fingertips, which bounced off the walls of her frozen dome, spiraling at Kayden from all directions. The Rosinanti’s smirk became a snarl as he twisted his body out of the path of Seraphina’s electric onslaught. The blue, sparking storm careened and twisted through the chilled air, swinging so close to Kayden’s nose and mouth he nearly choked on the ozone.

  He leapt and spun and desperately flailed away from the sizzling magic. Every moment he remained entombed within this icy prison, Seraphina poured more and more damaging magic into the air. She was scarcely visible amidst the electric maelstrom, and all Kayden could make out amidst his desperate scramble for safety was the billowing of her brown hair and the unblinking, unwavering glow of her stare. He had been suckered in, and he was trapped within her world now.

  Kayden bent back allowing clawing bolts to pass over his exposed chest, brushing against his flesh with the tingling sting of static energy. He sensed another onslaught of magic coming at his right side, and he kicked his legs out and smashed into the hard floor to avoid it, immediately rolling through the momentary disorientation to dodge another bolt that fell straight down at his face.

  The black dragon of the Rosinanti spun through the air in several graceful barrel rolls, always finding even the slightest sliver of safe space as his daring dodges took him ever closer to the witch at the center of it all. He was drawing in toward her, two meters away, one meter away, half a meter. He rolled across the ground, coming inside her guard, rising to his feet with a glowing fist of mana, poised for the triumphal blow that would end this conflict. His eyes erupted in amethyst light, locking onto the princess’s eyes and the spot between those two azure orbs where his explosive knuckles would cave in her frontal lobe.

  As he wound up, Seraphina suddenly clasped her crackling fingers together, and a concentrated burst of lightning flew from her, striking Kayden point-blank in the center of the chest. The burning sting of her power felt much different than the crimson hate carried from the hands of her sister. Aleksandra’s magic burned and boiled his insides, while the force of Seraphina’s order sparked and caused his body to convulse wit
h prickling pangs of pain. It was so wildly different, and yet the pain felt no less lethal.

  The magic pressed him to the ground with such force that the air pushed out from his lungs, leaving him breathless and unable to cry out. Kayden was actually grateful for such a phenomenon, as being forced to scream in agony at Seraphina’s hand would be a humiliation that would scorch his pride. Once he was stationary upon the ground, Kayden was a prime target for every bouncing bolt within the freezing dome. They fell down upon him as one, singeing him, jolting him, biting at his organs, and sending his heart into frenzied palpitations.

  The Spirit of Darkness rolled onto his belly, gritting his teeth through the pressure and heat of Seraphina’s oppressive spell. This does not happen to me. It cannot! I do not allow it! Trying to reach down past the pain, Kayden braced his hands against the ground and attempted to rise through the storm into a crawling position. He made it halfway before his elbows began to buckle. How could this be? How did he not have the strength to match her? How could he hope to be a match for Valentean, for Aleksandra herself, when Seraphina was knocking him around like a grunt-level soldier. It was then that he realized it was not his weakness. It was not any lack of skill or power. It was the folly of underestimation that rooted him in place.

  Seraphina had grown mighty. She nearly equaled Valentean in terms of ability, and he had looked upon her as simply a helpless damsel. He stared through the electric miasma with a newfound respect, gazing not at a victim but at a peer, a challenge. The threat represented by the princess stirred something new in his heart and mind: excitement!

  Kayden felt the stony floor beneath his palms and drew upon its strength, feeding the darkness within his heart. The biting pain felt more like a nibble as he energized himself with the dark power that forged his station in life. Amethyst energy erupted from his eyes, and he slammed his fists into the floor, screaming in rage and exhilaration. In response to his outburst, shards of stone erupted from beneath them, shattering Seraphina’s dome and tossing the princess into the air like a helpless doll. Kayden watched in satisfaction as she smacked into the newly uneven floor, hair strewn about and falling over her face as she turned onto her hip and started to rise.

  He allowed her to, drinking in the moment, anticipating the fear he would see etched across her face. But when Seraphina managed to stand and brush the hair from her eyes, they were absent of the terror he had been expecting. Instead, shining in the sapphire glare of her gaze was sheer defiance. A chill of excitement ran down Kayden’s spine.

  “You impress me, murderer.” He mocked her with a smile and stare, but she would not waver.

  “I’m not here to impress you, Kayden. I’m here to beat you down.”

  “Oh? Are you going to take my life as you did to poor Sophie? Tell me, what did it feel like to kill someone who changed you as an infant? I’ve killed a lot of people but never anyone that close to me.”

  “Mind games aren’t going to work.”

  “You should enjoy the reprieve because once I start fighting again, I’m going to be playing for real. Surely you don’t think you’ve already seen the extent of what I’m capable of. I’m holding back the bulk of my power.”

  “What a coincidence,” Seraphina said with a playful tilt of her head, the blue shine of her eyes doubling in volume. “So am I.”

  Kayden snarled at her confidence and screamed in exaltation as the darkness flooded his body, bathing the room in purple energy. He saw lightning the color of twilight skies cracking around Seraphina’s body, her brow furrowed in concentration. He could sense the magic welling up within her, and it was monumental. This was going to be fun.

  With a scream of thrilling rage, he leapt at her, and their true battle began.

  Seraphina’s flesh tingled at the rush of magical energy. There was fear interspersed within the cavalcade of emotions crashing against each other in her mind, but she pushed it down, refusing to allow anxiety or dread to weaken her power. The princess jumped to the side to avoid Kayden’s initial assault, silently casting a spell of levitation, flying up toward the vaulted ceiling of the rebel headquarters.

  Their battleground was empty save for the scattered lifeless bodies that were mangled in Kayden’s initial assault. The rebels had fled, as per their contingency plan, and Seraphina would have to reconvene them, provided she survived this encounter.

  Stop thinking like that, she chided herself. You’re going to make it out of this. You’re going to win. It was a simple matter to fly out of the destructive path of the stony projectiles that hurtled at breakneck speed toward her in response to Kayden’s frenzied gestures. Then, Kayden redoubled his efforts, flinging boulder sized weapons of destruction toward her faster and faster. Those Seraphina could not dodge around, she smacked aside with a pulse of water or destroyed with a bolt of lightning. All of her attention, however, remained focused on avoidance and defense, which left her unable to counterattack.

  Artful dodging would not win this battle, and Seraphina gritted her teeth, determined to find some opening in Kayden’s assault from which she could strike back at him. With alarming suddenness, the onslaught ended, and Seraphina’s fingers sparked with electric intent. Kayden was nowhere to be found. She felt and heard a whoosh of air behind her and turned a fraction of a second too late. Kayden had leapt into the air at her back and swung a glowing, green fist down at her, which exploded against the side of her face. Seraphina’s body slammed with a smack upon the floor, and she rolled to an uneasy stop amidst the rubble strewn about their battle. She rose to her hands and knees, pain echoing along her jawline. That punch had nearly broken her mouth. Her jaw clicked as she moved her chin back and forth.

  The rocks and stony shards that littered the room suddenly leapt into the air as Kayden landed back upon the floor, and Seraphina’s breath stopped as she stared up at the looming avalanche. Kayden smiled triumphantly as he flung his arms downward. At his silent command, the rocks turned toward her and plummeted with the promise of death. Seraphina pushed up off the ground and attempted to fly from the devastation.

  The pounding of rock against floor kicked up a cloud of dust, and the displaced air whooshed over her back, sending her veering off course. A stone larger than the princess’s head smashed onto her spine, and it was only thanks to the impregnability of her magical shield that her vertebrae didn’t shatter on impact. She fell face-first onto the ragged flooring and tried to stand until another clump of large rocks slammed into her left hip.

  Seraphina hit the ground once more, pain radiating down her leg, and a calming silence filled the room. She looked up to see Kayden smiling down on her. The princess attempted to stand, but the pain in her leg was severe, and she collapsed back to her knees.

  “This is an interesting perspective for you isn't it, Princess?” She attempted to raise her sparking fingers back toward him, but Kayden was beyond ready. He quickly shot a hand forward, summoning a slab of rock the size of a pumpkin that crashed into Seraphina’s chest, shattering as it impacted the blue tint of her shield. Seraphina fell to her back, coughing, gasping for air. It took several seconds of near asphyxiation before she could breathe again, but her first gulp full of oxygen was interrupted by a ragged cough that brought the taste of copper to her tongue. She spat a trickle of blood upon the ground, which welled up from deep within. The Ice Queen saw the reflection of her pained expression in the surface of it as the goopy, red liquid pooled upon the ground.

  “I’m sure you are used to people being on their knees before you,” Kayden said, slowly advancing upon her. “People have bowed to you for all of your life. The Princess Without Magic. If only they could see you now. So powerful, so brave, and yet for the first time in your life, on your knees to one so vastly your superior.” Seraphina glared at him in defiance. “It’s a shame my brother can’t witness your valiant struggle. You know, he thinks you’re weak. He would never say it, but why else would he offer his protection the way he did? If he had it his way, he would have been of
f on some merchant vessel exploring the deserts of the Western Continent. Instead, he’s bound to you because he thinks that if he wanders more than five paces away, you’ll walk off the face of a cliff. How does that feel, Princess? To know that you effectively ruined the life of the man you love?”

  Seraphina swallowed the anger he tried to draw out from her. She knew these hurtful words were naught more than words. Val would never believe something like that. He had always been her rock in painful times, and nothing Kayden said could ever make her doubt the man who held her heart.

  “Seraphina!” The unmistakable voice of Aqua, her predecessor, whose essence still lingered within her, resounded through her thoughts. “His mind! You must attack his mind!” Her brow furrowed as she contemplated the statement, and Aqua responded to her silent questioning. “Reach out with your thoughts, with your feelings! You have the ability to see into the minds of others, to walk in their dreams. You can control this ability; simply reach out and dominate his psyche!”

  Seraphina narrowed her eyes and tried to stretch out with her feelings as Aqua had commanded. The presence of this ability did make sense, as she had been sensing the emotions of her followers in the months following her training. Kayden’s pace quickened, and he ran at her now, fist drawn back, sparking with mana energy. Seraphina lashed out with her mind and felt a wave of twisting conflict hurl toward the advancing Rosinanti. Kayden felt it and recoiled. As he stumbled back, Seraphina could practically taste his emotions as they washed over him. There was pride above all. But there was also anger, jealousy, and…sadness.

  “What are you…?” Kayden stuttered, flailing his arm before his face as if trying to ward off a horde of bees.

  It was working! Seraphina pushed harder, and she began to see flashes of imagery in her mind’s eye. Most of it was violent, disgusting even: a dragon standing atop a field of bodies roaring into the night; Valentean broken, bleeding, and begging for mercy; Kackritta exploding in a haze of purple energy; the entire world covered in a dark shadow. The emotions practically exploded within Seraphina’s mind—the panic, the desperate struggle to conceal his innermost thoughts from her. Pushing even harder, she broke through and felt stillness and contentment, all stemming from one image. It was Vahn hugging both Valentean and Kayden as children against his strong chest beneath the stars.