“I wonder what lies beyond those blue skies. If I were to guess, somewhere far away, going towards the sun, we would find the Creator. I don’t believe our Creator is limited to the sky beyond our own, I think the Creator is in a place vastly different, where our worlds don’t look the same, and the rules don’t apply to the Creator, since the Creator is the one who made them in the first place.”. The thoughts of an old man, who has seen two wars and the end of a time that changed the planet to the worst, or better.

The earth was shattering below their feet, as Hran was stepping towards the Foolish King, and him towards Hran. Kinak and Uel were going to the left and right, Elde standing between Kinak and Uel. The Foolish King was switching gazes between the three, his eyes rapidly moving, not sure of which target to choose. So, he went for the one which seemed least difficult to deal with, Kinak. With a sprint of his legs, he was in front of Kinak, but, with a glow in his eyes, Kinak let go of the hammer, caught it with his left, and to the Foolish King’s surprise, he punched him in the face. The hand went through the veil, as Kinak was able to surge his light throughout the body with high efficiency, thus being able to also do the opposite, and stop the flow completely. This weakened his blow, but was still strong enough to turn the Foolish King’s head to his left. Then, as the veil wavered for a short moment, he came from below with the hammer. The light inside of it, as it hardly passed through the veil, when it made contact, shattered the skull of the Foolish King, and smashed his brain against the cranium. The veil completely collapsed around him, and Hran didn’t miss the chance. His steps were of an extreme weight, as the space around him distorted. The ability of the gem he hand infused, gave him a power comparable to that of the Frostborns.

Slowly, moving towards him, Hran could appproach the body on the ground. With a raised fist, he brought it down on his chest. The impact shook the ground violently, even Omega loosing its balance. The Foolish King stood unmoved on the ground, then, with a sudden pulse from his back upwards, his flesh tied itself together, and his mind came back to him. The power which he held, would need the First Six to kill him time and time again, until it was no more. Amel noticed this through his constructs, and the plan he had devised, would have the Foolish King dead as he wanted him to be. First though, they had to deal with his power that was having seemingly no end.

The Foolish King then took hold of Hran’s light, taking it inside of him. But doing so, instead, took out some of his light. Something stronger was pulling at the light, it was the force inside the gauntlets which needed far more light than even Hran could provide them with. Getting it from the Foolish King, made their glow stronger, and brought about the full strength of them. Realising his mistake, he let go of the light, but was too late, as both Hran and Kinak descended their combined wrath upon him. The Foolish King wasn’t expecting such power from these siblings, but it was only a given, as one of them was pouring his life into the battle, while the others were ready to do as much. Seeing as their resolve was to die if needed be, the Foolish King hesitate no more. While his body was blown to pieces, he adopted a more wild form of attack. Crawling on top of their hands, and taking hold of Kinak’s light, the Foolish King was having his body let be cut in half in order to get at Kinak. This prompted Hran to blow him away, but Kinak was within a moment to his feet, the Foolish King growing even stronger. Amel couldn’t allow him to regain his strength, so he sent in his Primas. Viciously and in a perturbing manner, the constructs attacked in a similar manner the last fallen one was. Letting go of their light for brief fractions of a second, then infusing themselves only when needed to. With Amel helping them at their backs, they could proceed to be faster and more efficient in their methods of attack. Hran was able to pull Kinak back, as the Foolish King was trying to deal with the eight constructs, continuously attacking him.

Elde was healing Kinak, Eve offering her light however she could to both of them, as Hran was still in a more dire state, his light being consumed at a fast pace by the gauntlets, soon to enter their second stage. The Foolish King managed to kill another Prima, but his body was uncontrollably being torn to shreds. Whenever he would heal part of his arm, nine or more blades would be there to cut his meat into fine pieces then throw them away. They were accounting for all ways of healing, including him being able to bring his lost portions together. Hran understood the delicate balance of the battle, that was yet to tip in either one’s favour. Uel then stepped in, concentrating light inside her hand, then letting it go as a small sphere of pure, condensed light. The Primas saw the incoming projectile, and went away from him. The Foolish King tried to defend himself with the veil, but upon impact, the light caused a concentrated explosion to happen, bursting his body into flames and disintegrating anything it touched. He was trying to get away from it, in order to heal, but Hran wouldn’t allow it. He once again approached him, and with the full might of his gauntlets, he once more shook the ground, even worse than before.

The Foolish King, seeing as there was no way to deal with them, had started to think of other ways to attack them. So, he gathered light inside his palm, then released it as a burst of energy towards Uel. Even with her body, she got her arm sliced off her shoulder, having only her right left to herself. While she couldn’t attach it back to her shoulder and heal it, the Foolish King ensured the arm was then destroyed with another burst of light. Hran hit him once more, but was met with the veil, even stronger than before. The Foolish King was using his high reserves of light to brute force his way into defeating them. A few short moments after the Foolish King started his offensive, Amel noticed a change in his light. It was slight, but amongst the countless strands which accumulated into the Foolish King’s own, it was a great change. And this became more apparent when Hran had tried to hit the Foolish King, but was met by the same grip Kinak had.

“My power, it cannot be compared to those which haven’t seen what’s beyond the light,” the Foolish King had said, then, holding a strong grip on Hran’s fists, even though their bones were shattering then healing, he threw Hran at his back, towards where Uel was. Hran took control of his body quickly after, but it was too late, as the Foolish King was upon Kinak, continuing to steal his light. Omega intervened and let its giant fist upon the Foolish King, who took the blow, while Kinak was saved by two Primas. Once a bit back, and the dust rising high up in the air, Kinak could see from below Omega’s fist, the eyes of the Foolish King, glowing with light, while at the middle, a dark depth which went into a place he couldn’t begin to comprehend. “Even if you posed the whole race of humans against me, and then some, you wouldn’t be able to defeat me,” the Foolish King then pushed Omega’s fist high up in the air. Hran had to walk towards him, as the weight of the gloves and the constant need of light started to wear him down.

“It doesn’t matter who,” from behind the walls, entering the inner portion of the castle, “but you will die by our hands,” Amel made his way inside, his eyes firing with the light. The Foolish King set his gaze upon the boy. It was he who managed to stunt the advance of his armies, he who planted the trap behind the castle, and he who kept on matching him in the battle of wits. “Now die, so that my parents can rest in peace, and I can move forward,” with his words, while the Foolish King had tried to run towards him, Hran grabbed him from behind, the gauntlets crushing his bones to dust. The Foolish King ripped his arm from the shoulder, then kicked Hran with the ability he stole from Kinak, pushing him some ten metres back. But it was too late, as the ground below him started to move, and in a second, it enveloped his body. He tried to blast through it, nothing, then use force to launch himself off the ground, but it would grab him by the legs and take him back below.

The First Six were watching as the Foolish King was getting buried under the ground. However, his most troublesome ability remained, and soon, the Foolish King was finding ways to grab even the tiny strands of light attached to the small bits of stone and earth that were swallowing him. Amel considered this, and applied the same strategy to them, by calling back the light and then infusing it back into the ground. This was a much heavier toll, as each bit of the ground had to be coordinated and attributed their own strand of light. “This won’t last long, so you better prepare your best, otherwise, we will all die soon enough,” Amel said as he struggled to perform the intensive task before him. His Primas gathered around him, protecting him as best as they could, while Omega sat itself atop the ground that was swallowing the Foolish King. Kinak had to leave the battlefield, as he could no longer infuse himself with light, and his body grew older by a couple dozen years looking from the outside. Uel could still fight, as her stronger arm was good, and the bleeding was handled by Eve, who was looking weary herself. Elde enhanced her mind with the light, her eyes glowing a powerful white. Hran breathed in and out, his body feeling the strain throughout, but able to fuel his light and blood into the gloves once more, his face turning a pale white.

Seeing everyone was ready for the fight, Amel conserved his light, and brought it back from the ground into him. The Foolish King took no time to wait, and, with his hand first grabbing for the surface, twisted fingers and displaced bones rose from the ground. His head peeked through, as his body was being pushed up. The first to attack was Uel, gathering a powerful sphere of light inside her hand, burning even her skin and making her bones creak. With a moment of silence, she launched it. The veil of the Foolish King was opposing it, but once the burst of light enveloped it, it weakened his veil, and Hran came with a short dash towards it, punching his way through, and then into the Foolish King’s chest. The Foolish King did the same, and grabbed onto his gauntlets, the strength of the grip crushing the bones of Hran. The Foolish King smiled, but so did Hran, as Elde took a hold of all his lights, and made them weaker. For a brief moment, the Foolish King was weakened to such an extent that he couldn’t hold his veil up. Seeing the opportunity, the Primas jumped in and started to cut at his body. He tried to protect himself, but Hran crushed his head from the front with his own, causing the Foolish King to lose concentration, and then, the Primas cut at his neck, the Foolish King’s head flying high up in the air. His body hit the ground, then Amel, from the back, threw his glaive at his head, as Hran couldn’t jump due to the weight, and the Primas were eviscerating his body. The glaive pushed the head further above, where it was met by Omega’s hands, completely destroying it. The body, Hran waited a few moments to regain his breath, then, as the Primas were cutting of his the body’s limbs, then sliced to pieces the Foolish King’s body, they spread away from whre Hran was, as he hit the ground with his fists, an impact which brought down a large force all around, sent the pieces of the body deep inside the earth. Amel then infused himself with as much light as he could once more, and made the ground move, swallowing the body whole.

They all stood in place for a few moments, unsure if it was over. While everything seemed to be, the lights which the Foolish King had, were still converging at a central point. It was where the head was detached from, a sphere of darkness, where countless strands of light swirled and circled it, before being absorbed into it. Amel was sure of it, “The soul.”. While a soul is usually made of light, in order to be able to command the light, mind and body, the Foolish King’s own soul was changed, a core aspect was missing, that being the light which one inherently has. The lights which converged were trying to fill the void created by his lack of light, but it was pointless, purposeless, being absorbed time and time again without regaining stability. It was a fate worse than death, where one cannot live nor die, in a perpetual state of nothingness. Amel wanted to approach it, maybe try to see if he could do something about it, so did Elde and Eve, but, before they could move more than a couple of steps, from within the darkness, flesh was starting to be built around it. In an explosive manner, the chest of the Foolish King was reconstructed, the strands of light attaching themselves to it in order to sustain the fragile life.

Hran tried to attack it once more, but his fists were caught by the hand emerging from the Foolish King. He didn’t let the Foolish King get a hold of him properly, and pushed harder against him. “You are indeed worthy of the title, o’ Mighty one,” the Foolish King had spoken as his skull was coming back into shape, half healed, half still not there yet. The Primas tried to assault the still healing body, but were met with blasts of light, portions of them flying away. The seven remaining ones scrambled around. “I will come for you once I’m done with him,” the Foolish King said, then started to apply pressure on the gauntlets. While the gauntlets weren’t giving in, the pressure was being transferred into the bones and flesh of Hran, who felt his hands no more.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“Done with me?” Hran asked, then hit the Foolish King with a knee from below, “We’re only done when I say so.”. The Foolish King was smilling, but Amel could tell by the lights which were gathering, that the Foolish King was using a lot more in order to recover from the last assault. However, the issue remained that he still had more to spare, and Kinak, Hran and Uel partially were disabled. Eve could barely hold on, while his Primas were shattered to pieces. He had to construct a plan in the moment, so he let the light course through his mind and body, in order to course some of the strain throughout. His body wasn’t trained for it properly, so it could only take so much, but every little was good, as he could perform thousands of operations more than before. His army was still chasing the monsters, killing them from behind, while the armies of humans dwindled to thirty thousand, as they lacked the proper leadership. The fight on that front was almost over, as only a few thousand more monsters were present. He recalled two thousand constructs, a plan forming inside of his mind. Omega had to maintain some distance, as it would be easy for the Foolish King to grab at its light, which had a good portion of Amel’s light into it.

In the span of a couple of seconds, he performed all the operations, and with the Primas disabled, he planned to make one last stand with them united as one. The Primas received his will, and six of them broke themselves down to pieces. Using the help of Eve, the construct made use of the light to fuse itself where it needed to. And, while the Foolish King was being preoccupied by Hran, a Prima with the power of six individual ones, their components helping each other and taking different roles, was called “First Prima,” by Amel. The First Prima approached the Foolish King, moving on multiple sets of limbs and having a large variety of weapons. Hran kicked the Foolish King in the stomach, backing away. His body was drained for light and blood, so he let go of the gauntlets, crashing on the ground. Amel hurried over, aiding him in order to help him back to where Kinak was.

The Foolish King had recovered from his wounds, testing his limbs for strength and movement. “Fascinating,” he said to himself, as the First Prima attacked him. The many limbs allowed it to let go of the light in different sections at the right moment for them to still strike. The Foolish King grabbed at whichever he could, and crushed them with the ability he stole from Kinak. This was merely a last distraction, so Amel could figure a way to defeat him. The only thing which came to mind was the soul which kept on feeding upon the light. They had to stop the flow of light or destroy the soul in order to kill him, but the only one capable of getting a hold and weakening his light, couldn’t do much more than that, while destroying the soul was something forbidden deep inside their genes and nature, a protection which Kilon built into their design, so they couldn’t destroy one another.

Amel finally came to the conclusion that nothing could be done about it, and said “We must retreat,” his voice couldn’t be heard, so he repeated louder. “We must retreat at this moment!”. Another way he could see was to deprive the Foolish King of light. His soul had to consume a continuous supply of light in order to keep him alive. Take it away, and there will be nothing left to consume soon enough.

The Foolish King saw the revelation the young boy had, and couldn’t allow for it. While it would take a long time, if they retreated, he was sure that the First Six and Amel could eventually find a way to take everyone away, and leave him to die before he could destroy anything more. The Last Prima wasn’t allowing him to move out of the place he was, and Omega stepped in, not allowing any harm to come Amel’s way. “You’re the tricky one, so I’ll have to find a better way to you,” the Foolish King aid, looking then at his left where Uel was at. With a dash, he took leave from the place, Omega standing its ground, as it could trample the others, while Last Prima rushed after him. Elde tried to weaken the Foolish King again, but he called upon greater reserves of light, and, in just a moment, he had his hands upon Uel. “Do not worry, your death will bring about a new age, one where suffering will be no more, as there won’t be those which can suffer,” his words were promising something that Uel didn’t care for.

She took his hand with both his hands, as her light was being pulled away from her. “Then we’ll both see it,” and with a smile, her body shone brightly, an explosion which dismantled the ground to the smallest bits and pieces following. The Foolish King didn’t have the time to react, and had his body dissolved once more. The soul was once more naked for their eyes to see, while Uel managed to escape alive. She had cast another layer of light on her body while letting go of the prior one. Given that a part of her light was stolen, her body was still covered in deep injuries, her muscles and some of her bones exposed.

Amel couldn’t forfeit the opportunity, so he approached the soul with a run. His mind was hurting, and his body ready to give in from the strain it withstood from earlier. But he kept running, the Last Prima supporting him however it could, Femel making his way back, as he could see his brother rushing towards a place he couldn’t see. He thought he was coming for him, or Uel, but once he was close enough, just when Amel touched the soul, for a brief moment, Femel could see the world of lights which his brother was familiar with. Like the water of a river, the lights were going up and down, from their bodies into the skies, and from the skies into their bodies. The image struck him deep inside for a moment. It was the sight of a blessing which he never could have had part into. For a moment, Femel forgot where he was, his mind enchanted by the sight.

Amel, once he touched the soul, found himself inside his mind. He knew the place, he was familiar with it, and a special sensation was what made him realize instantly. Inside his head, there was another mind, he could tell. Looking around, he could see no one. He tried to gain information, but his mind didn’t work like he wanted it to. Instead, around him, the blank, empty space, filled itself with structuers and people. It was Amouldes, the city of his childhood. Kids were running and their parents talking with each other behind. He thought this to be a memory, but looking further down the streets, he could see homes yet to be built, and constructs of an odd design walking around. It was a place from the path, a memory which wasn’t his own.

Then, from behind him, he could make out a single voice amongst all of the other noises, it was that of a small kid, running around with what seemed to be his brothers. They were playing on the large streets, chasing each other and throwing sticks. “Those are my ancestors,” the other mind spoke, he didn’t recognize the voice. “Oddly enough, I can see their memories. They’re ingrained into my mind, my soul. They were always there, I just could never draw upon them. They’re connected though, through the light, and kept deep inside ourselves,” the other mind took shape, stood by the side of the children. Amel saw a tall man, but no taller than his brother, his face had a gentle look, and his features seemed to be that of a common man. “Let us go to another place,” the structures disappeared in a mist, and once the mist had passed, they were in another city. This one was busy with people, a cold air and wind sweeping across it. Looking behind the man, Amel could see the mountains which stood at the back of Mouner.

“Is it because I touched your soul? That I’m inside your mind?” he asked the Foolish King, who changed his face into a slight smile. “You are daring, to show me memories of a beautiful past, after all you took from me,” the space around them shook violently, and the image of the city started to crumble.

“I’m showing you things which me and you have had in common, then they were taken from us,” the image of the city recomposed itself, and the people were walking once more around it. “Come inside with me,” the Foolish King said, then, the space moved at a fast speed towards the castle. In a blink, they were inside, and he could see a young boy studying in the throne room, while the Foolish King was watching from his throne. “This boy, has been like a son to me. Some of my children, have died of a sickness. It wasn’t something planned by anyone, it simply happened. So, I took sympathy in another boy, who showed me a brilliance that exceeded that of those greater than me,” the image changed, the boy grew into a young adult, and took his leave from the castle. “He also left from my life. I knew he couldn’t be contained, but it still hurt me,” the scenery changed, and they were deep below the castle. “For a time, I’ve had these impulses inside of me, dictating what I should do. I tried to fight them, but they were leading me to places inside of history, between the pieces of reality which were hidden from me, from us.”.

“Forces, you say,” Amel spoke, his eyes following the Foolish King’s younger self, reading from a book that was written in the Lightborn language. “Is that your excuse?” he followed the lines of text, seeing documentation that was meant to be forgotten, about some beings that stood in direct opposition of the one which created the world and them. “Terrors,” when he spoke the word, the image from the past crumbled, the mental space shaking and hurting him.

“Yes, Terrors,” the space regained composure. “Seekers of destruction, dead beings from an ancient past, where the forces governing our reality, collided and fought for supremacy.”. The space around them changed once more, and they were back in the throne room. The Foolish King looked a lot more like he looked in that time’s present. Long, white hair, and eyes which swallowed the light around them. “They have pushed me further and further from my own humanity. They were taking everything from me, and soon,” Amel looked at the floor, drenched in blood as the Foolish King’s wife and daughters were killed by his hands. “Soon nothing was left, as the crimes I committed furthered me from any possible salvation,” a light entered the room, it wasn’t the sun, but cast upon by the once young man, then a fully grown adult. “There was, one last ray of hope for me. If he had killed me that day, I might’ve still been the one I was.”.

A fight between the two ensued, and from the looks of the man whom the Foolish King thought of as his son, it was Amelor, thought to be the greatest Master of Light to have ever been. Amel was named after him, and many books about Amelor have been written. His contributions and advancements in all sorts of fields, allowed humans to prosper. “You killed him,” Amel stated before the battle was concluded. The body of Amelor laid on the floor, Amel could see the soul of the one whom his name was from. It was pulled by the light inside of him, that was detaching from his body.

“I did, and with him, the last remaining piece of me died,” the image started to shift once more. Amel kept his eyes on Amelor’s body, and before the image could completely change, he saw the soul of the man enter back into his body, stronger than before. “There’s nothing to see in him, his cold body I personally buried deep under the castle,” Amel was surprised, but the Foolish King didn’t realise that Amelor was still alive.

The scenes that followed, were of the butchered people of Mouner, being torn apart by monsters and beast, then put back together, so they could too become monsters of their own. “This was you also?” Amel asked, getting a side to side shake. “The Terrors, they took hold of your body,” the Foolish King didn’t have to say it. He could see it, in his eyes, while before they were swallowing the light, they still had a semblance of the once gentle king. But none of that remained, and the eyes peered into a darkness too deep to understand. When the Foolish King in the vision turned his head towards Amel, Amel found himself naked before the man. He tried to call upon his constructs, but then remembered there were none. He thought it was a coincidence, but the Foolish King was moving between the monsters, soon to reach his neck with his hands. The scene changed before he could reach him, the deep, dark eyes disappearing at last.

“Those are forces which we cannot control, that go above our understanding, and as you can see,” Amel touched his neck, he felt the Foolish King touching him through the vision, “they breach our understanding.”. Amel felt like the hate he had for him was no longer aimed at the king, but at the forces which moved him. Hate and fear, one combination hard to explain. A force which he nor anyone can have control over, taking hold of one’s body and driving them to such insanity. He felt a sort of compassion for the king. “I’m not asking for forgiveness, and I can tell, you’re a good boy. The world just made you cruel, and that was part of my doing. If only I could look past the grief of my children, embrace Amelor’s path and accept his way, then maybe, none of this would’ve happened.”. Amel saw the Foolish King let a tear run down his cheek, while he felt his heart ache. He hated the Foolish King and Umshaow, he wanted them to die and burn time and time again, until nothing was left of them. But, seeing the pain and shattered soul presented before him, he approached him.

The Foolish King looked at him from above, the image of a three years old child. “I made mistakes of my own,” the environment changed, and they were on a farm’s land. It was Amel’s and Femel’s heritage, something left behind. The Foolish King could see blood splattered all across the grass, and a large construct responsible for the carnage, children dead in its arms. “The forces inside of me, I couldn’t control them, and this is one of the instances which I was led to because of it,” the scenery changed once more, they were in Mouner, only a couple of hours before their present. The armies of constructs were running wild, and Omega stomped humans, killing dozens and dozens. The images flashed some more, his constructs causing death all around them, each image of the constructs killing a human, deeply ingrained into the boy’s soul. “We’re not the same, and our paths have led us to act out of our own will. But we are both human.”.

The Foolish King looked at the boy grow into a tall, fully grown adult, the image which conflicted with his younger self. “That we are,” the Foolish King accepted the boy’s words. “Thanks, Amel” Merolen extended his hand, Amel looked at it a bit, then took hold of it.

“I’m sorry, Merolen,” Amel tightened his grip, and Merolen let his light surge once more, his body, mind and spirit enveloped by it. From the outside, it seemed as Amel only touched the soul, then a bright light emerged from inside. Once it ceased, only the black soul remained, flesh slowly rebuilding on top of it.