Talon rubbed his temples as he placed a letter on the table for the other council members to read. King Durran had responded more severely than before. Besurlde looked at him with surprise; Talon didn’t normally let the others read the messages he received from other kings.

Besurlde took the note and read it aloud. “To King Talon, your constant begging for a meeting is admirable but misplaced. We can deal with any threat by ourselves and am astonished that you don’t think we can. Perhaps you’re struggling with all the assistance you’ve provided to the other nations or perhaps you have an ulterior motive. Whatever the reason, there will be no treaty, and the next person you send to me to ask for one will be imprisoned. The one after that will be executed. There will be no more warnings. King Durran.”

Besurlde put the letter back on the table. “This isn’t a surprise. The Vandalor people are a stubborn lot, something I told you and your father many times. Trying to secure a treaty is like telling a tree to move itself. It’s impossible,” he said.

What a saying, though he’s right, Talon thought bitterly. He hated that his uncle was right and now he was forced to admit to himself that his task of uniting the continent was impossible. All his plans were amounting to nothing. Something had to be done.

“Do you think Durran really would imprison or execute a messenger?” Talon asked.

“I believe so, your grace,” Alayna replied. Her hair was in a tight bun and the green jewels on her shirt brightened when the light hit them. “Durran can be ruthless.”

“She’s right. Durran doesn’t bluff,” Hectar said.

It was the same information each time. Talon didn’t understand why he even asked any questions. Sometimes he wanted to cancel these sessions altogether. What was the point of meeting every week just to hold the same conversations? He knew the council’s response before asking a question. Alayna no longer hid her disdain about the aid being given to the other nations, especially with Talon’s recent change of heart in regards to helping Malvarian with their rebels.

King Dashan had promised him a meeting if he sent aid to help against the rebels. Talon had eagerly accepted the proposition. Besurlde was the biggest critic of this and said Dashan would have strict requirements to accept a treaty.

“What about the royal family of Vandalor? Would talking to them be worthwhile?” Talon asked. He needed a way to get Vandalor to work with him and he was getting desperate.

“I’m not sure,” Hectar replied, looking thoughtful as he swirled the wine in his cup.

“Durran’s family won’t risk going behind his back,” Besurlde said.

“Agreed. It can’t hurt to send a message. But what will you do if the messenger gets discovered and imprisoned?” Alayna asked.

It was a good question. There were too many problems and not enough solutions. The last thing he wanted was a war with Vandalor. Sometimes he wished the kingdoms were ruled under an emperor like in the old days. The Durmaddon family was the last to rule the entire continent of Aidris until they were overthrown fifteen hundred years ago.

“Durran is in good health. I don’t see him being replaced anytime soon,” Hectar said.

“Send a message to his wife. I believe she would support our cause.” Talon looked at his uncle, who glanced at him with disapproval.

“I’ll get it done,” Alayna said.

“Thank you. That will be all for today.” Talon got up and walked out of the room. Another minute with the council and he would go insane. He didn’t expect Durran’s family to change his mind, but there was something he could do if the royal family was willing to work with him. Best not to think of going that far, Talon thought.

“Nephew,” Besurlde said, catching Talon by surprise.

Too focused on my own thoughts to notice my uncle coming up behind me. What if he had been an assassin? Talon sucked in a deep breath and exhaled. “Uncle,” he replied politely. He was in no mood to hear another suggestion.

“Are you ready to concede that your plan to get the other nations to work with us isn’t going to happen?” Besurlde asked.

Talon took a turn down an empty corridor, waiting a few moments to calm his rising temper. “As I’ve told you a thousand times, not yet,” he said.

“Why?” Besurlde said with frustration. “Do you not see how your ideas are failing? How Azzellia is hurting from your actions? You are throwing money away by doing this!”

Talon stopped and whirled on his uncle. “I know things aren’t going as planned. Malvarian’s stipulations to sign a treaty will most likely be too much. Skahad has stopped responding to my messages. Eshil Domain has no plans to meet and Vandalor is threatening my messengers. That doesn’t mean I’m going to give up. I’m missing something and I will figure out how to get these nations to work with me.”

Besurlde listened without hiding his anger. Talon had never seen his uncle so angry before. “Is there no way to convince you to stop wasting your time and our resources on this? I need to know.”

The way his uncle asked sent chills down his spine. Why did Besurlde sound so desperate? Talon ignored the feeling. He was being paranoid. “No. I have to get this done or we’ll become slaves to these invaders.”

“The invaders are a myth,” Besurlde retorted. “One of the nations tricked Lerin and you’ve fallen for the same lies. The other nations are using this to their advantage! How can you not see that?”

“Enough!” Talon shouted, unable to hold back any longer. He wanted to reach for the power and smack his uncle. “I’m done with these talks. I want to be left alone. Don’t follow me.”

Without waiting for a response, Talon turned his back on Besurlde and strode away. The nerve of his uncle, pushing his limits to try to convince him to ignore his father’s advice. His back tingled and Talon suddenly realized someone was using the power.

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Talon turned around, summoned the power, and put up a barrier just in time. A powerful gust of wind blasted the invisible barrier, hitting the window behind him and shattering the glass. As quickly as the wind arrived, it vanished, leaving him facing Besurlde, whose hands were outstretched in front of him.

A moment passed as Talon tried to comprehend what had happened. There was no way his uncle could use the power. No way his uncle would try to kill him. It wasn’t possible. Besurlde was staring at him with his mouth agape.

“You can use the power?” Talon and Besurlde said at the same time.

They both gathered their wits quickly and Talon grabbed more of the power to counter-attack. His uncle had other ideas. Instead of attacking or defending, Besurlde reached out his hand and created a portal. He ran through the portal before Talon could launch an attack.

In the few seconds before the portal closed, Talon saw what his uncle had done to create it. He also saw where Besurlde had gone. In the background of the portal he could see trees and grass. It was a spot where Talon used to go to calm himself down; and his uncle often found him there.

Visualizing the exact spot he saw, Talon reached out his hand and unleashed energy in front of him. A portal appeared, showing the same trees that he had seen from his uncle’s portal. He looked around and found it odd there were no guards to witness what had happened. My uncle must have called them off, planning to kill me if I couldn’t be convinced. Whatever the reason, Talon was glad he wouldn’t have to figure out how to keep the guards quiet.

He stepped into the portal.

Now Talon knew who had set Daermod on his path to kill his father. Besurlde was behind everything. He couldn’t allow his uncle to get away. With the power, Besurlde could portal into his room and kill him while he slept. He could be anywhere and attack when he least expected it. If Besurlde got away, Talon would never be safe.

Besurlde was running when Talon appeared through the portal. The trees were still and they were at the edge of a forest, roughly one hour away from Carhan. Why did his uncle not go somewhere else? Why here?

Hoping to catch his uncle by surprise, Talon unleashed a bolt of lightning from his fingertips. Besurlde turned and created a shield, causing the lightning to explode. Smoke made it difficult to see and Talon summoned a wind to blow it away. His uncle was staring at him, wide-eyed at how close he had been to death.

“I won’t let you get away with killing my father and trying to kill me!” Talon shouted.

“You fool!” Besurlde took a few steps toward Talon before stopping. The power was swirling around them both, with Besurlde gathering more than Talon. “I am doing what’s best for Azzellia! You’re destroying our great nation!”

Before Talon could respond, Besurlde unleashed multiple bolts of lightning and fire. The grass burst into flames and Talon created a shield, protecting him from the attacks. Heat rolled over him in waves as the flames were forced to the side. It didn’t take long for the smoke to cover him.

Talon ran sideways. His uncle would be able to sense where he was and that was what he wanted. He used air to force the smoke to follow him. Here it comes. Talon could feel the attack that was about to come.

Then he ran into an invisible wall and fell back a few steps. “Got you!” Besurlde roared and fire swirled inside the bubble Talon was trapped in.

Maintaining his calm, Talon used a technique he had learned a few months ago and absorbed the flames into his body. Steam started pouring out of him. He felt the heat inside, causing him to sweat profusely. A second slower, and he would have been burnt alive. The invisible wall Besurlde placed around him contained the steam, making it impossible to see and difficult to breathe.

Talon broke through the invisible wall and ran. The battle was intense, with the ground exploding all around them. Rocks pelted Talon repeatedly, breaking his skin and bruising him. Talon had never been so terrified. He had trained and seen a few battles in his life, but this was the first time he had fought with the power. He now realized why the mages were strict when it came to using the power and why they were not allowed to fight in wars.

Talon gathered all the power he could and unleashed a single bolt of lightning. Besurlde raised his hands, creating a shield that exploded and knocked him backwards.

A whirlwind of air whipped around Talon. A few cuts split across Talon’s face and limbs then the whirlwind vanished as he created his own to cancel out his uncle’s attack. Blood dripped down his cheeks and he was finding it difficult to maintain hold of the power.

Besurlde was kneeling on the ground with his left arm hanging loosely at his side. The skin on it was black and Besurlde winced when he forced himself up. He spat on the ground and stared at Talon.

I can launch one last attack, Talon thought, trying to ignore the exhaustion creeping upon him. His uncle was struggling to stand and was surely having trouble maintaining the power. One thing was obvious from this fight: Besurlde didn’t know about the hidden archives. His techniques were sloppy, his attacks inefficient. If Besurlde had been trained properly, he would have easily defeated Talon.

This next move was going to be complicated. Talon had read about it and wasn’t sure if he could pull it off. If he could, there was no way his uncle could deflect the attack, not with his injuries. He focused on creating clouds above them, using the air around him and swirling it toward the sky.

Besurlde didn’t make a move and watched what Talon did with caution. Talon tried to appear vulnerable. He set a barrier in front of him that would absorb any attack, at least enough to prevent any serious damage. A black cloud appeared in the sky and thunder echoed in the sky.

“What are you doing?” Besurlde asked, his voice nearly drowned out by the wind.

“Ending this,” Talon said, and put the rest of the power he contained into the cloud. Numerous lightning bolts struck the ground around Besurlde and then started striking at his uncle. It was difficult to control the lightning. A slight slip-up and Talon might blast himself.

There were ways to counter this. If Besurlde were skilled enough, he could cut apart the cloud or create a barrier that attracted the lightning. But Besurlde knew nothing about this technique. He tried creating a shield.

One bolt struck the shield. Two bolts. Three. Then the shield exploded when the fourth and fifth connected at the same time. Besurlde let out a blood-curdling scream as lightning lifted him into a tree and went silent as he slammed into the ground.

Talon could have let more lightning strike his uncle’s body but stopped. He would kill Besurlde himself if he wasn’t dead already. The cloud dissipated and the power left him, leaving him wobbly as exhaustion overwhelmed him. He slowly walked over to his uncle and fell to his knees.

He could hear Besurlde wheezing. The stench of burnt flesh filled Talon’s nostrils and he saw black on his uncle’s chest. Blood was dribbling from his lips.

“How could you kill your own brother?” Talon asked. Tears began streaming down his face now that the reality of the situation hit him. His uncle, the one who’d helped him get out of trouble. The one who helped people less fortunate than him. The one who helped train him with a sword, and took care of him when his father wasn’t available. How could he be a traitor?

Besurlde coughed out blood and raised his head a few inches off the ground. “L-listen to me… please…” he wheezed and coughed. “I didn’t want to… I had to… For Azzellia…”

“Killing my father didn’t help Azzellia!” Talon would have yelled if he had the energy, but he found himself sobbing at the loss of his uncle. The man had been a second father, always there for him. How could the world be so cruel? First his father was gone and now his uncle. “You betrayed the people who loved you.”

Besurlde gripped Talon’s wrist. “I betrayed you and I regret that… Listen to this… last bit of advice,” he winced. “Y-you must be ruthless. If you want the other nations to… follow you… You must be ruthless. It’s…the…only…way.” His grip weakened and his hand fell to the ground while his eyes stared at Talon.

Besurlde had gone. All Talon could do was stare at the body with blurry eyes and wonder why the world was so cruel that his uncle had tried to kill him. He let out a scream.