The Emperor got off of the dragon and entered the Palace of Syronia. He had finally arrived, but on the way to the city, he had lost the girl who had helped him escape. It gave him sorrow thinking about it, for by now, she was probably dead.

The Sentries stood by the entrance but did not let him pass. He tried to squeeze between them, but they would not budge.

‘Let me through at once! I am your leader!’ He pushed them aside, but they tackled him to the ground. The Emperor took off one of the Sentry’s masks and saw why they were doing this. There was Dathryl in their eyes, the same thing that had been used on the prisoner who broke into his Palace.

‘You thought you could escape me,’ A voice jeered,’ You can run to the other end of the kingdom, and I will still find you, and tear you apart!’

A masked man stood in front of him. It was the same mask as the people who had attached gunpowder to the Citadel. The Sentries pointed spears at him. His guards had turned against him.

‘First, you escape the island I specifically asked for you to be put on. Secondly, you run away with the girl before I can even question you. No more running.’ There was malice with each word he spoke.

‘What do you want from me? I will never yield my empire to you. You are just a terrorist who could be eliminated by my Sentries in three seconds.’ The Emperor spat at him.

‘I knew you would say that,’ He put his hand out flat in front of him, ‘Maybe this will make you consider otherwise.’

A bright orange flame appeared in his hands, and he changed it to a black flame. The Emperor could not believe what he was witnessing. Magic. That is impossible, I got rid of all of the magic. A chill went down his spine. With magic, that man could do anything. There was only one thing he could do, and to do that, the Sentries would need to not be controlled by the terrorist.

‘I will give you my empire, but first, get rid of the Dathryl that controls the Sentries.’ The masked man agreed and removed the Dathryl. This was the only time the Emperor could manage to attack the terrorist and be victorious. In his pocket, was a small pocket knife. He gripped it tightly, and then, tried to stab the terrorist in the heart. He stopped it immediately.

‘Did you think I would be that stupid? You may be an Emperor, but you are a fool. There is nothing you can do, it is inevitable. Your empire will fall, and then, the world will be run by those who are powerful, not weaklings who are born into a long line of Royals. This world will be a battlefield, and you will not stop me.’ The confidence of the terrorist surprised the Emperor.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

‘It was you who sent that prisoner, and wrote that letter. You were the one who killed the Sentries, and the one who killed Queen Hilyun of Asderia.’ It was a shocking realisation.

‘Ah, that is where you are wrong. I had nothing to do with her death. She was not part of my plan at all, but because of whoever killed her, they put fear through you, which I was happy for you to experience,’ He paused,’ I knew that the letter would mean nothing to you; you receive thousands of those types of threats every day. When I heard of your departure to the Fortress, I knew that I could strand you on that island. What I did not plan was your escape. If you would have stayed there, this would not need to happen. I cannot let you escape this time.’ He stabbed the pocket knife into the Emperor’s stomach.

‘Who are you?’ The Emperor staggered backwards onto the concrete floor.

‘My name is Ember Arkov, but they call me the Child of Ash.’ The Palace Gardens set on fire as Ember released the flame from his hand. ‘Interfere with my plan again, and I will burn your whole kingdom down.’

The Emperor nodded. His vision slowly blurred and his eyes became heavier. The loss of blood was doing things to him. The Palace Gardens on fire were the last things he saw before it all went black.

⤖

‘Brother,’ Prince Frederick stroked his brother’s face.’You survived. The doctors thought the loss of blood would kill you.’

‘It does not take a pocket knife to kill an Emperor, it takes an army,’ He got up from the bed,’ Now, what are you doing here? You were supposed to guard the palace?’

‘There is nothing to guard, the Palace was reduced to ashes two weeks ago, by a group of thugs wearing dragon masks.’ Prince Frederick responded, sinking his face into his hands. ‘I am sorry to have failed you, brother. They ransacked the place, I was unsure of what they wanted, but I tried to fight them anyway.’

‘Did all of them escape?’ The questions poured into the Emperor’s mind like a river. He wanted to know every detail of what had happened in his absence.

‘Yes, even the girl. She was taken by them, kidnapped.’ Prince Frederick responded.

‘This girl, who was she?’

‘I am afraid I did not get her name, though she had a birthmark, a V on her left cheek. That may help you identify her.’

The Emperor scoured his memories from the last month or so. He thought of the girl from the previous day. It was her! They captured her!

‘Brother,’ His voice was deadly serious. ‘She let the prisoner in the Spire of the South go. Then, she was betrayed by him.’

‘The prisoner escaped? We must find both of them at once before the Child of Ash does something to them.’

‘The who?’ Prince Frederick had never heard such a strange name.

‘The Child of Ash. He planned this all to happen. I do not know his motivation, but he is coming for the Empire and is planning to build a new one. We have to warn the Royals not to go to the Citadel, else they will all be killed. It is an ambush. Prepare our army, I want this magician dead before he does anything stupid.’

‘What about the Resistance? I heard that Aurora Arkov told you the location of the Outpost when you visited her in the Fortress.’ Prince Frederick had heard the rumours but was unsure whether they were true.

‘I must let her free, for I promised Jack Sathilyn that if I used his dragon to get to Syronia, I would let her free. However, I know how long it has taken for her to be caught, so she will be accompanied by you.’

‘What?’ Prince Frederick was completely surprised. His brother wanted him to look after Aurora Arkov, a girl who could not be trusted with anything.

‘Meanwhile, I will destroy the Resistance, and rid the kingdom of the Child of Ash. At dawn, we will both part ways and fulfil our quests to make sure no threat poses to the Empire, which will continue to expand until all magic is eradicated. Good morrow brother, I hope to see you when this kingdom is a better place.’