The scene that welcomed him was so gruesome that he covered his mouth upon seeing the dead, mutilated bodies of the guests on the floor. The grand hall was engulfed in flames and at the center of it were his two older brothers.

“Riven!” Ria called out Riven’s name and broke free from Ren.

Riven looked in their direction and Ren couldn’t believe what he was seeing. His older brother, Riven, the Second Prince of Illyria, looked bruised and beaten, and was wielding a sword in his right hand.

In front of him, was his opponent – Johann, the First Prince of Illyria. Johann was covered with blood and in his right hand was a sword coated with dried blood.

Ren stood motionless on the floor. He couldn’t stop Ria when she ran towards Riven. He was having a hard time processing in his mind what was happening in front of him.

“Riven!” Ria yelled as she approached Riven.

“No, Ria don’t come! Stay away from here!” Riven yelled in response.

It all happened in a split second, Riven took his eyes away from Johann for a moment and Ren saw Johann’s sword descending upon Riven who was distracted by Ria.

He didn’t understand what was happening, but his feet carried him towards their direction. He ran as fast as he could to try and stop Johann from killing Riven. This was bad. It wasn’t just a friendly spar between his brothers. Johann’s intention was to kill Riven!

There was no time for his brother to avoid the attack and so he threw himself in front of him and in that exact moment, he heard Ria scream.

“NO, DON’T!!!”

A silver light appeared from where she stood, it shot upwards, past through the high-ceiling, and straight to the sky. Ren was momentarily blinded. The silver light was so bright that it swallowed the grand hall.

After a few seconds, the light ebbed but a faint glow still remained. When he opened his eyes, she saw Ria bathe in a brilliant silver light with her eyes closed.

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“Johann, why did you…”

Ren fell on his knees and clutched the hilt of the sword embedded on his chest. He couldn’t believe that Johann impaled him with a sword. With his eyes wide in shock, he looked at him and his blood froze in his veins.

The Johann in front of him had a face devoid of any emotion. He looked like a completely different person. Gone was the gentle look in his face. His aqua blue eyes were as cold as ice.

“Johann, you bastard!” Riven raised his sword against their older brother.

Johann removed the sword from his younger brother’s chest and Ren felt the sickening pain and sensation of the sword sliding against his bone and flesh.

The two princes continued their attacks on each other. Ren coughed up an enormous amount of blood. Johann missed his heart a few inches but it was still a fatal wound.

“What’s going on with you, Johann? You stabbed Father and Ren and killed everyone. You’ve gone mad!” Riven screamed at Johann while avoiding another strike.

Ren’s vision was getting blurry and his chest hurt so much that breathing was painful. He was lying in a pool of his own blood. He could hear the clash of swords and Riven’s angry voice. Johann wasn’t speaking a word. He wondered if that person was really his brother.

Ren knew he was going to die at any moment. He didn’t have much time left. His eyelids felt heavy and he couldn’t seem to hear the sounds around him anymore. He thought that dying wasn’t scary at all when you want to protect a person you care for.

His life flashed in front of him. He remembered the happy times he spent with his family and the pranks he pulled on Riven. He remembered the sweet voice of his mother and the warmth of his father when suddenly, a voice called out to him.

“Ren! Ren! Please wake up. I will perform a spell on you and this spell will exchange my life for yours. Live, Ren. Live your life to the fullest and protect the people of this kingdom. I leave everything in your hands. I have faith in you, my son. Your mother and I have always been proud of you.”

Alaric Clarendon, the King of Illyria, crawled his way to his youngest son with a hole in his chest. Ren was overwhelmed with a strong emotion hearing his father’s voice. He wanted to run into his arms and fall asleep, just like the old times, wishing that this was just a bad dream.

Ren felt his father’s cold hands on his chest. He heard him chanting some kind of a spell but he couldn’t clearly make out the words. Then slowly, Ren felt warmth coursing through his veins. He felt the sensation of the wound on his chest closing by itself. His strength slowly came back and he didn’t feel any pain at all.

He opened his eyes and saw his father’s gentle face. They had the same hair and eye color. He closely resembled his father among the three princes.

“Ren, listen to me. Ria is your sister. Take care of her.”

The King of Illyria took his last breath. Ren’s tears fell as if a water dam was opened inside him. He was still disoriented but he hugged his father’s body and wept like a child.