“I’ve been waiting for you!” The man said, striding towards the guardians, “I was starting to think you’d never show up!”
“The dragons!” Lirya cried, “You killed them!”
He placed his foot on one of the shapeless forms and stomped down hard, shrugged and said, “I tried to tame them first, but they refused to submit to me, so I killed them.”
Nausea welled up within her, but Lirya suppressed the urge to gag and forced herself to keep her eyes on the stranger and on the carnage around him.
Her gaze fell upon the mangled corpse of a young dragon—or that was what she assumed it was, for that shapeless lump resembled nothing of the majesty of dragons depicted in books.
How cruel… She thought.
The man stepped closer to them and Lirya drew back instinctively. Jason had his sword drawn, a wary expression on his face.
No one dared to move a muscle or utter a word and the tension hung heavily in the air.
That was when there was movement at the stairwell. The guardian group did not dare leave their backs exposed to the strange man in the room, nor could they ignore the potential threat posed by the source of the movement, so they awkwardly shuffled to the sides, leaving the stairwell entrance open.
<--<< >>-->
Descending carefully and peering around the corner, Adrian Blackrose stuck his head out. The others followed right behind him. Halian couldn’t shake the feeling that something dangerous was lurking nearby, but he followed anyway.
This whole temple is infested with demons… that’s probably why I’m sensing danger at every turn, Halian thought.
Seeing the room free of any demons, Adrian stepped out a little more and asked, “What happened here? And who’s he?”
“I can answer both questions for you, little prince,” A voice that chilled Halian to the bone answered.
The voice was not cold, but strangely emotionless and terrifyingly familiar. A pit of dread pooled in his stomach and he stepped over to Adrian. He knew that what he might see would probably be what he dreaded, but though ignorance was bliss, he could not ignore the truth. Halian drew in a deep breath and steeled his nerves and beheld the room before them.
In a daze, he whispered, “That’s my brother.”
At least, in some way his brother. There was no way he’d not recognize his elder brother, despite his hair lacking the Whiterose dark curly locks—as though it had been drained of colour, and his once warm grey eyes were cold and empty and blood red. But that shape—his build, his height… his achingly familiar voice—belonged to his missing brother.
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For a moment, his brother looked confused, then his face cleared and he said, “Ah, you’re the younger Whiterose brat. Congratulations, you’ve become the sole heir to the Whiterose fortune now.”
Halian felt a cold shiver of dread and he desperately asked, “What do you mean, brother?! As long as you live, you’re the heir!”
His brother shifted and levelled a cold gaze upon him.
“You really don’t understand?” He said, “Kuban Whiterose is dead, and I killed him. Your beloved brother is gone!”
Kuban Whiterose’s lips twisted into a smirk—one that the kind hearted soul that was Halian’s brother could never have done.
“This body is merely a vessel for me… Kuban Whiterose ought to be honoured that his body was used to house my spirit—the spirit of a king!”
He shook his arm and sighed, “Alas, his body is weak. I will have to procure a better vessel elsewhere…”
Halian shook, his mind filled with turmoil.
A burning anger and an icy sadness churned within him, as he cried, “Who are you?! Give me back my brother!!”
The being that looked like Kuban scoffed, “I go by many names and titles… I am ‘the Master’ and I am ‘the exiled king’. I am your worst nightmare and the bedtime story parents tell their children to scare them! The scion of the fallen Herus house—Garyth Herus. It matters not to me how you address me, for you will not live long past this encounter.”
“As for my vessel,” He continued, “You will never get your brother back. This vessel will crumble when I finish with it.”
Halian felt a blind rage seize him and before he knew what he was doing, he rushed at Garyth. What he aimed to achieve, Halian truly did not know. All he knew was that he wanted to stop that man from spewing more awful words while wearing his brother’s face.
Garyth easily stepped aside and sighed.
“You’re annoying, Whiterose brat,” He said.
With a flick of his hand, he disappeared. Halian blinked, then noticed the other group gone as well. The only ones remaining in that room were the Blackrose royals and a young man with dark blue-black hair streaked with crimson.
<--<< >>-->
Leus felt the whole world spinning briefly, then a blast of dry heat and a bright light that blinded him. He fell to the ground and felt hot grains of sand beneath his palms.
W-What just happened?!
Leus quickly shut his eyes tightly and slowly opened them. What he saw was golden sands and a clear blue sky and dunes as far as he could see, rippling slightly in the hazy heat.
He squinted and scanned the area. Leus saw the others huddled on the ground near him and standing further away from them was Garyth Herus. His cold gaze sent a shiver down Leus’ spine even as he was sweating from the heat.
Garyth raised his arms upwards and snapped his fingers. Immediately, a massive portal swirled into existence in the sky above them. Then another followed—and another and another followed until the sun was blotted out by the dark swirling vortexes. From those portals, demons came crawling out. As if unaffected by gravity, the demons drifted slowly downwards, surrounded by a magical barrier. With them, they brought weapons of war, among them catapults and trebuchets. It was clear that they were not just there to deal with the guardians.
Garyth grinned and yelled, “Fight, guardians… fight for your life!”