She stared into the eyes of Death and begged him for forgiveness. Aurora knew she could not die, not after she had achieved so little. As she felt his bony hand, she sliced his bony hand, but Aurora felt the icy touch of death. Impossible. With his other arm, Death touched Aurora. She felt nothing, she was numb, and visions played in her mind. They were visions of a world of fire, and a child of ash sitting on a throne of skulls. 

‘You cannot win. His reign is inevitable.’ The visions stopped. Aurora woke up, to find her covers drenched in sweat. Oh no, she thought, He saw visions too, and look what happened to Him. The Lord of Darkness they called Thruity’il had seen visions, and he had placed the world in a state of darkness that took decades to change. Aurora got up from her bed, taking off her shirt. On her stomach, was a wound that was bleeding. It had been the exact place Death had touched her, did that mean it was real? Were those distorted visions the future of the Kingdom? 

There was a knock at her bedroom door. She looked through the keyhole: The Sentries stared back at her. 

‘Let us in!’ They pounded their fists on the door. It was a well-known fact that Sentries were not patient, for they felt no emotions other than revenge. The Emperor had moulded them into cold-blooded killers, regardless of who they were. 

Aurora knew better than to open the door to Sentries, it was a death wish. Instead, she went into the kitchen, picking up a kitchen knife. Her hands trembled. The Sentries continued pounding on the door, and then, Aurora stuck the blade into the keyhole, stabbing one of the Sentries in the eye. The Sentry screamed in agony, and the other two kicked the door down. Shit. Aurora searched through her pockets, hoping to find something that would buy her time. Then, she felt what seemed to be a box of matches. Perfect. Aurora took them out of her pocket and struck them as the Sentries approached. She threw the match on the floor, the flames spreading in front of her. The fire was not enough to contain them, so to worsen the fire, she took her blade and threw it into the fire. The fire spread to the wooden handle, whilst Aurora smashed the window with her fists and jumped out into the streets. She was safe for the time being, but if the Sentries had found her, it would only be a matter of time before they found other members of the Resistance. 

⤖

‘You failed?’ His tone was angry, for his Sentries had failed to catch the most wanted criminal in the Kingdom. ‘I trained you Sentries to be powerful soldiers, not to be beaten by a seventeen- year old! You all have the privilege to serve me, and you take advantage of that! Do you think you can get a life of luxury if you fail? No, you receive nothing! Now, have you the girl’s friends? Or have you been vanquished by them in addition to her? Open the gates to the Palace. Let Miss Arkov come to us.’ 

‘What? Your Majesty, this is incredibly foolish. Even with the gates shut, we find it difficult to protect you, but in doing this, anyone can get in. Are you sure you want to do this?’

‘You dare question my leadership?’ He took out a long blade from its scabbard and pointed it at the Sentry. ‘I can kill you more quickly than you can say “dead” for you are.’ The blade pierced through the Sentry’s heart, spilling blood on the polished marble floors of the castle. 

‘Goodbye, the others will miss you.’ He cackled and kicked the body off of the balcony. The Sentry’s corpse hit the water below. The other Sentries did not hesitate and fulfilled the Emperor’s orders, opening the Palace gates. 

‘I see you still have talent with a rapier.’ The Emperor turned to see his brother standing behind him. ‘I cannot believe you are opening these gates after so long, you vowed to shut yourself off to the world after..’ He took a deep breath but did not say the last few words, for the Emperor would disapprove. ‘Who is Aurora Arkov? Why is she such a threat to your empire?’

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‘Of all citizens in the Kingdom, she is the one to refuse my new empire, my reign. She is an ignorant young girl and hasn’t the faintest idea of what truly goes on in the kingdom. Think of it like this: she is a domino, and I need that domino to stay in place, or every domino gets knocked down.’ The Emperor looked at his kingdom from the balcony. ‘I have spent years trying to curate the perfect Kingdom, the perfect empire, but she ruins it. I am the backbone of the Kingdom, of the Empire, and I cannot afford to lose what I have spent years working for.’ Suddenly, a Sentry came rushing towards him. 

‘We have detected an intruder at the castle.’ The Sentry bowed down to him.’ We must shut the Palace gates immediately, to ensure that nothing gets in or out. It is a risk for you to be in the Throne Room Your Majesty, for they could be anywhere in the Palace. I suggest for you to go down to the Tunnels, my Lord, or else the intruder may strike at any moment. He has the element of surprise.’

‘He? How do you know it was not the girl?’

‘Because we saw him coming through. He murdered the others, I managed to escape and warn you before it is too late. I advise you to go to the Tunnels. Good day.’ The Sentry disappeared from the Emperor’s line of sight. 

The Emperor did as his Sentry advised, and went down to the Tunnels, only to find them not looking the same as they had the day before. Blood was smeared on the grey, brick walls. A body was beneath the Emperor’s feet. He had recognised it immediately as the body of Shiyun, the ruler of Asderia. No, they cannot do this. She was innocent. He sunk his head into his hands and hit the brick walls with his fists. They had taken an innocent soul. The Emperor continued to follow the Tunnel, which stopped at the shore. He saw a shadow that looked like that of a human, and so he pursued them, looking for answers. 

‘You did it, didn’t you! You killed her!’ The Emperor tackled the man to the ground and stared at the figure. His face was frozen, paralysed. Poison. A note was stuck to the figure’s hand, which read in bold, red letters:

Meet me at nightfall at the top of the Hijyak Peaks if you want answers. Refuse to cooperate, and many other Royals will die. Good luck. You will need it. 

Furious, the Emperor tore up the letter. As if the murderer thought he would listen to such a petty threat! It was obvious that someone was trying to destroy the Empire, but the question was, who? Aurora Arkov could not attempt such a thing, her heart was as weak as her mind. This had to be someone from inside. Only his closest guards knew about the Tunnel. He headed back to his palace, to find that the Palace Gates were not shut as his Sentry had promised. The intruder remained hidden in the castle, but where?

‘Sentries!’ He called, his voice echoing, ‘Shut the gates at once! This intruder must not escape!’ There was no response, they must have been dead.

‘Here I am, Emperor. I was the one that killed them. War is coming, my Lord. None of you people are safe when the New World comes. Your empire will crumble in seconds to his great reign.’ The Emperor observed the Intruder. 

There was malice in his eyes, but this wasn’t who he was. It was Dathryl, a substance made illegal twenty-five years ago, for it was used to control the innocent, to make them do your bidding. Coward. 

‘Tell your master he is a coward! Tell him that I will do nothing to aid him. I refuse to cooperate with psychopaths like him! If you can hear this, I am coming for you, and when I do, you will beg for death.’ The Emperor punched the Intruder in the face before tying him up, which the Sentries usually did. It made no sense. A hypnotised stranger had taken out his immensely-trained soldiers in a matter of mere seconds. This was no stranger, it had to have been a Sentry themself, which meant that whoever was behind this had come here after all. All of this was connected somehow, it had to have been. The Intruder was placed into the most highly guarded cell there was, in the Tower. The Stranger was the only way to find answers, which meant he could not lose them at all costs. A greater enemy had planned this, worse than Aurora Arkov. It was unlike anything that the Emperor had seen in his twenty-seven years of ruling the Kingdom. No death threat had been this severe. The Emperor contacted the King of Asderia at once, for he was a target as were any of the other Royals. He would need to warn them all, but how? A meeting could be possible. If they all met each other in the same place, the Emperor could warn them before it was too late, and so he did. Invitations were sent to every Royal in the country. While he was gone, the Emperor would need someone to be in charge of his empire. Brother. 

After writing a letter to his brother explaining the terms, The Emperor went outside of the Palace, shut its gates, and began the long journey he would have to take.