“What is taking him so long,” The Second Prince huffed in annoyance.
Cadian ignored his younger sibling's petulant whining. He assumed his brother's irritation came partly from his expectations that the man, Lord Norman, would assist in killing him.
The thought that some random commoner had a chance at killing him was almost enough to make him crack a smile. He resisted the temptation though. Of Course, he had known about his younger brother's correspondence with this so-called necromancer. It was a weak play by his brother. And just another example of why Second Prince Shaladi would never make a good Emperor.
It was true his younger brother was the more conniving of the two of them, but he put too much effort into trying to convince others to do his dirty work for him. Now, had his brother convinced one of their cousins to make an attempt on his life, then he might have respected him more. But even the other nobles of the Empire weren’t foolish enough to fall for his brother's scheming lies.
A disturbance outside the doors to the Great Hall cut the First Prince’s musings short.
“It appears our guest has arrived, little brother.”
He smirked slightly as his minor insult caused Shaladi to grind his teeth. There was no other response from his brother as he activated his domain.
Cadian felt the wind whip around him for a moment as his brother gathered the air to him and began to rise off the throne.
Had they not had an agreement to put their succession struggle on hold, he was certain his brother would have used this opportunity to strike at him. But dealing with a threat to the Empire came first.
Cadian drew the marble his throne was carved from up into the air, pulling from the raised platform it once stood upon. Soon he rose slightly higher than his brother. If Shaladi noticed, he didn’t comment on it.
Moments later, the great door began to rot out and fall apart. Once the opening was large enough, an unassuming man stepped through wearing a black outfit with red trim. If it wasn’t for the other outsider, Donovan, he may have dismissed this mage outright. He still didn’t think he was as dangerous as Donovan made him out to be, but he had agreed to the proposed plan.
When the mage had first come to him, he refused to even see him. An outsider demanding his time, how audacious. Yet somehow the man had gotten past the guards and into the Grand Hall. Intrigued by this strange human’s abilities he had listened to his tale.
Cadian had been born into power and had been around royalty and politics his entire life. It wasn’t hard for him to pick apart the lies from the truth and he knew almost every word that came out of Donovan’s mouth was zitha shit. All except for the part about the Third Prince.
That fact and that alone had convinced him to assist this outsider. So he invited this Lord Norman here. And now? Now he was left slightly disappointed by the man that stood before them.
***
Shaladi seethed internally. His plan to have this outsider weaken his brother had been upended when Cadian demanded he accompany him at this meeting. It wasn’t fear of this mage that had him angry to be here. He had only sent the scroll as any opportunity to hurt his brother helped him. He never truly believed the man would win. How could he? He was a nobody, not even a Golatian. Just some strange grey-skinned human from another world. The man didn’t even have a domain.
As for their brother Mushuari's death, he suspected either treachery or incompetence on the Third Prince’s part was to blame for bringing their youngest sibling low. But it didn’t matter. Mushuari had died in this man’s lands, so he was accountable for that transgression whether he was responsible for it or not. That was the way of the Empire.
It would be different if this man had a high standing in Golatian society, but he didn’t. Even if he called himself a Lord, he had no right to rule, no lineage to speak of. He was just some peasant with delusions of grandeur.
He wasn’t sure exactly why his brother hadn’t just sent an execution squad, but the First Prince had demanded a face-to-face meeting. Shaladi suspected it had to do with that recent visit from that other outsider, but he couldn’t be certain. The details of the encounter were kept from him and his normal sources didn’t know what had been discussed.
Despite being kept in the dark, his experience in Empire politics told him there was likely some reason for this meeting. It was just one he wasn’t privy to. He would prefer to sit and await whatever outcome occurred, but Shaladi couldn’t just sit back and watch events unfold this time. He had been ordered by his brother to be here, and despite how it grated on him, he could not ignore the First Prince's command.
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His plan was ruined, but that was fine, he would just have to come up with another way to weaken his brother and claim the crown. Because he knew, if he didn’t his brother would, and there could only be one contender for the throne of the Empire.
He gathered wind underneath the item his older brother had given him and slowly moved it out of sight as he himself rose into the air. His brother was slower to ascend, which allowed him a small victory, but Shaladi knew his brother’s domain was formidable. Soon the man he had warned of this meeting stepped into the room and it was time to play his part.
***
Norman quickly appraised the massive open room and the two men inside. Much like the people he had seen as he walked through the city, these two were wearing toga-style clothing. Only their chests were much more exposed, showing off hard muscles and the slightly purple-tinged skin of their race. And unlike the clothing the masses were wearing, these two – whom he assumed were the First and Second Prince – were wearing clothing that looked to be made from spun gold and silver with royal purple accents.
They were also wearing those strange jeweled headpieces that Norman had learned increased mana.
It was bad enough that they were domain mages. Now he had to deal with not one but two of them with increased mana. What's a domain mage you might ask? Well, Norman didn’t know what they were either until he overheard a conversation during his time in California.
Apparently, it is a very rare form of calling. One that allowed the person to have almost complete control of the element they are attuned to. After witnessing a rather weak domain mage show off his ability without having to cast any spells, Norman realized that was exactly what the Third Prince was. His domain had been gravity or something close enough to it to make no difference.
And it appears domains ran in the family. He could feel the pressure from the air around him as well as the slight shudder in the ground.
As he stepped into the room, something zipped at him from the corner of his eye, he wasn’t quick enough to avoid the object but it just brushed against him as it flew off. His eyes tracked the speedy object, going wide as he realized what it was, just before it was encased in flowing stone.
Norman didn’t waste a moment as he started firing spells out. He didn’t know how the Empire had gotten their hands on a soul trap, but he needed to get it back.
The prince floating in the air easily avoided his spells while the other prince just blocked them by shooting lumps of stone forward.
This was not going to be an easy fight. To punctuate that, Norman felt the air around him forcibly removed. Had he been alive, that probably would have been enough to kill him, but he wasn’t.
He sprinted forward, avoiding the floating stone spikes that shot up from the floor as the other prince lazily waved his fingers about.
Neither man was taking this exchange very seriously and it pissed Norman off. He hurled a pocket full of spell anchors out, but as they landed, the ground swallowed them up. Only two of the spells manifested and the dinosaurs contained within roared and charged across the room.
The air domain prince waved his arm and the air thickened so much that Norman felt like he was dunked into water. The dinosaurs struggled to move forward until the other prince clapped his hand lightly and two walls of stone slammed into the undead creatures from both sides.
Thankfully, Norman had prepared for this. As the two dinosaurs died, their bodies were consumed to activate the spell he had hidden in them with a trigger. Instead of blood and guts being sent everywhere, two Flaming Skulls shot out from where the two dinos stood a moment before they were crushed.
He heard the stone prince tsk before his entire body was engulfed by the stone that soon formed into a towering golem. The other prince rose higher and used violent currents of air to keep the skulls at bay.
The skulls tried their best, but could not get close to their quarry. Soon they winked out, their limited mana spent. That was one downside to triggering the spell as he had.
“Enough of this nonsense,” the stone giant spoke with authority.
With a jerk, Norman was brought up short and his lower body was engulfed in the same liquid stone.
No! He was so close to his target. He tried to pull free only for his hands to get swallowed as well.
Unable to move or cast any spells, Norman was pulled closer to the stone giant.
“I don’t see it,” the man spoke from inside his thick marble armor. “You somehow defeated our brother?”
Norman didn’t answer the question as he struggled against his rocky prison.
The other prince didn’t come near, probably wary of a trap.
“Nothing to say for yourself? Very well. As the First Prince, Cadian Gol of Golat, the primary successor of Emporer Var Gol of Golat, I will weigh your fate. As an outsider with no standing in the Golatian Empire, your heinous acts against an imperial successor have only one outcome. Death! I First Prince, Cadian Gol of Golat shall carry out this sentence immediately. May this action put our brother’s soul to rest. Any last words, criminal?”
Norman laughed. “Your brother was a fool, and so are both of you.”
With that, he was covered completely in stone. There was a moment of absolute darkness and quiet, before a wrenching sensation followed by death.
***
With a sigh of disgust, Cadian released the twisted remains of Lord Norman. He had used his domain to break every bone in the man’s body as well as crush any internal organs. The only thing that remained mostly intact was the head, although a gaping hole in the back spoke of the marble spike he had shoved through it. Donovan had said the man was rather resilient, but he doubted anyone could survive from this.
Speaking of, he deactivated his domain and slowly lowered to the floor. All of Lord Norman’s spells had faded away finally. Eventually, his brother joined him.
“What now?” Shaladi asked as he looked at the minor damage to the room with disdain.
Cadian smiled. It was clear by his younger brother’s response, that the man hadn’t learned of his conversation with Donovan. Perhaps he had overestimated his brother’s spy network.
He pulled the stone-coated orb from the ground and floated it in front of them. “Now, dear Brother, I get what I was promised.”