Pain was the only thing that Ember had known all of his life. Even at birth, unfortunate things happened to him. Today would be his revenge, for today would be the day the Royals paid the price. It would be perfect, and it would attract Aurora Arkov to him, which would initiate the next phase in his plan. However, the girl and the Emperor escaped, which he had not meant to happen. The Emperor could not stop him, for it would be far too dangerous. Nobody knew what Ember was capable of, not even himself.

‘How long until the Empire is gone?’ One of his allies asked him.

‘Patience, dear boy, the Royals will come soon, I will make sure of it. Then, we can take the cities, forcing the Emperor to hand us the Empire.’ Ember put his hand on the boy’s shoulder.

‘That was not part of the plan. You said we would take the Empire.’ The boy took off his mask to reveal a pale face with remnants of facial hair on his chin.

‘And we will, but first, we will use the Empire to storm the gates of Iceria and show them what they showed my Queen. Once Iceria is burnt to the ground, we will take down the Empire and free the magicians, warlocks and wizards. Also, the witches. After that, we will make the mortals live in a world of magic, and do what they did to us.’ Ember smiled at the prospect.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

‘That is wrong, Ember. You cannot do that! Not all of the mortals did this to us.’ This was not what the boy had signed up for. It was to avenge his friends, not to put others in his situation.

‘I know it is wrong, but they watched us suffer, so now, they can know what it feels like to be segregated, imprisoned, tortured and killed. If you try to stop me, you will be my enemy.’ Ember whispered into his ear.

‘This was not what I signed up for. You never told me what horrible things you would do. You lied to me,’ The boy threw his mask on the ground, ‘And that is why I am leaving.’

‘Sometimes, the truth hurts.’ Ember uttered a spell and set the mask on fire. In the fire, he saw the Citadel in flames, and the Emperor was injured. The boy walked away, looking at Ember a final time before going into the woods.

Ember laughed. What a weakling, he would have been out of my team anyway. This will come back and bite him once I rule the kingdom. Then, he will realise that people must stay loyal to their leaders. Ember thought of his queen. The image of her on her deathbed, asking to see Ember and her whispering words in his ear. The same words that haunted him.

‘Avenge me, Child of Ash. Make sure you do not fail me.’

Those words brought him to tears. He sobbed and kneeled before the fire. He had done nothing to avenge his fallen queen, not killed a single person that had been involved with her death, blown up not a single outpost that the killers used. The Child of Ash would get his revenge, and then, the whole kingdom would feel his pain. They could not run from it, but embrace it as he had. The world burned him, so now, he would watch the world burn.