53
(Purity Ring- graves)
Brenden
Drunken dreams usually never came to me, but one did. The same dream I’d been having. The one I couldn’t make sense of.
“Yo B!” Desmond called out from the door to our bedroom. “Wanna head out? There’s a show or a presentation or something today.”
My eyes were struggling to focus on anything, or even to stay open at all. The world spun around me with every step while jarring pulses made sure I couldn’t keep a single thought for more than five seconds. “Huh?”
Desmond took a sip from his flask and handed it to me with a smirk. “You’re hungover as fuck, dude. Hydrate.”
My parched mouth ached for water, so that flask was at my lips and upside down in a second until I reeled forward, coughing and choking. “This is…” I held my hand in front of my mouth. “This is booze, you dick!” I gagged, trying to hold myself back from making yet another mess on the floor.
Desmond snickered. “Yeah, it’ll get rid of your hangover.”
“I’m not trying to be drunk all day!”
“Then drink and ride it out.”
“Desmond, when was the last time you were sober?”
“I wouldn’t worry about it.” Desmond looked down at me condescendingly. “We’re rockstars, dude, it don’t matter how much we drink.”
“Answer the goddamn question.”
“I don’t feel like it.” Desmond spun on his heel and sauntered in the direction he came from. “Let’s fucking go, Brenden, I’m pretty sure it’s gonna be starting soon.”
I sighed. I didn’t need to put him through an intervention. “Sure, whatever. What even is this show? Is it like a play or something?”
“I don’t know, I just found out about it.”
“Who told you?”
“I was just outside listening to random people’s conversations.”
“It’s too early for your shit, Desmond.”
“Gentlemen! Alex, Eddie!” Riviera’s anxious voice called out to us from down the hall as she quickly knuckled toward us.
“What’s the word, bird?” Desmond threw up finger guns toward Riviera.
Riviera grunted and sighed away her disdain, turning to me. “Alex, rather, Brenden, Lord Hallax has requested the two of you immediately attend the Court of Blood.”
That certainly woke me up. “The Court of Blood? Huh?”
“The Amien Manor arena. Where combat is displayed for the city.”
“Oh, yeah,” Desmond said, “we were actually just going to that.”
I followed his comment. “What exactly are we looking for, Riviera?”
“Lord Hallax instructed me to instruct you to attend and relay everything you witness to him.”
I furrowed my brows in thought.
The instructions are way too broad. How am I supposed to know what to look for?
I shot an idea to Desmond. “Can we go find out what we need to, uh, find out?”
He shrugged. “Yeah, we should hit the big man up before we go.”
Riviera chittered to herself and mozied past us. “Do as you wish.” She nodded to me and continued down the hall. We turned the corner and approached the middle of Hallax Hall, to the throne room.
“Damn, what’s her problem today?” Desmond was thinking out loud. “She’s usually pretty nice.”
“I don’t think she liked when you called her a bird.”
“Jesus, nobody here can take a joke.”
The grand doors to Hallax’s throne room were already open and the giant man of gold sat angrily, rapidly tapping his fingers as he berated Dex.
Dex was shaking on his knees at the bottom of the steps in a saluting position. “Lord Hallax, I… Fera escaped my sight during the storm last night as she was leaving Good Moaning.”
“You worthless inbred!” Lord Hallax spat with every venomous syllable, slamming his fist into the chair arm. “I order that you watch my daughter so she does not fly, and that is somehow too difficult for everyone! Everyone in my hall is somehow too inept to complete the most basic of tasks! Dex, take Zerick with you to find my daughter. If you two cannot find my daughter, nay, for your negligible worth, I’ll say a sliver of information on the whereabouts of my daughter. Should you return empty handed, I will have your head.”
“Yes, Lord Hallax.” Dex was shaken as he hurried out of the room, not even glancing at us.
“What are you two doing here?! Could Riviera not waddle fast enough to catch you?!” Hallax’s voice boomed through the metal echo chamber of a throne room.
I saluted Lord Hallax. “Lord Hallax, we simply wish to know what we are supposed to look for when we get to the arena.”
Hallax took a deep breath through clenched teeth before continuing in a sinister growl. “Anything about my daughter. And I suppose while you are there, find Tarynn and tell him I request his presence in my hall immediately.”
Hallax was minding his anger, trying to repress it and keep composure, but the veins in his head bulged as every breath rumbled through him.
Desmond’s cocky ass piped up finally. “Uh, Lord Hallax, what’s-”
“Lower your eyes, boy, or I will gouge them with my thumbs.” Hallax’s quiet rage silenced Desmond like I’d never seen anyone except his father do.
“Lord Hallax,” Desmond said more meekly, “what do you want us to say to Tarynn? What’s the point of seeing him?”
“His role is keeping my daughter away from Diona. That is what I want, that’s all he is good for. If he does not retain his nobility, then there is nothing preventing Fera from defecting to Diona, and we will no longer be able to oust her business! Now, go make sure that doesn’t happen!”
“Yes, Lord Hallax,” I said.
Desmond and I shared a glance of worry and took off for the arena. The seats were almost full when we arrived. We found a spot near the back, high up on those wooden benches where everyone was trying to yell over each other, getting lost in the cacophony of gossip and speculation. In the center of the arena was a small stage with a wooden frame constructed on it.
“What do you think that is,” I asked Desmond and tapped his shoulder, pointing to the structure.
“I dunno. But isn’t that the blue guy from the wagon? Simira’s buddy?”
“Oh yeah, I guess so. It’s hard to see from back here.”
“Not a problem for me. My eyes are aweso- Oh shit! There’s Tells!”
“Really? Where?”
He pointed to the other side of the arena, directly under the noble seating. “Right down there. She looks fuckin’ pissed right now. She’s not chained to Simira either.”
“Can you find Vetia or Adam?”
“I’m not seeing either of them, but look at what the blue guy’s got. That’s a gnarly lookin’ hammer right… hold the phone that thing is, like, electric! That’s badass!”
“Electric? Like it’s got lightning in it or something?”
“How am I supposed to know?”
“Yeah I guess.” We both paused, gazing around the arena for anything else to talk about. The crowd suddenly hushed to silence as the blue guy raised the hammer and a massive figure stepped out into the grounds. I whispered to Desmond. “Oh shit, there’s Adam! Woah, is that his armor?!”
Desmond whispered back. “Wait did he… no shot he did. No way. That armor is sick! And that sword!”
The blue guy started his speech. “People of Vehfirn, of the Amien Quarter. Last night, Viscountess Simira Amien was murdered in her sleep, slain by a secret her family had been keeping. She had told me before that she wanted to prove to the world that even a cursed child could be like us, that she could raise him from his curse…”
I whispered to Desmond, “Simira’s fucking dead? Oh the plan’s probably fucked. Wait, is this…?”
Desmond was beaming. “Yoooooo! An execution?! I’ve always wanted to see one in person!”
“Uh, I’m not sure I wanna stick around for this,” I put a hand on Desmond’s shoulder to get him to look at me, but he was enraptured with the display.
“Bro, are you serious right now? It’s just a little death, what’s there to be scared of?”
“A little death? No normal person wants to see people dying, Desmond! That’s not a normal thing to like!”
“I’m plenty normal.”
“You’re pretty fuckin’ far from normal and you’re a raging alcoholic.”
“Nah, I’d say I’m a functioning alcoholic.” He waved my statement off.
“Wait, did he just give Adam that hammer?”
Desmond’s eyes opened wide with shock as he looked down into the arena. Our eyes followed the guards dragging a man toward the wooden frame.
“Brenden, I don’t think that thing is a set piece.”
“No, no, no, are they gonna make Adam kill that guy?”
“Yeah, that’s exactly what’s going on.” Even for how apathetic and desensitized Desmond could be, he was worried. “I don’t know if Adam’s got the nuts to kill a guy, though.”
For how much I was horrified of seeing what would happen next, my eyes were glued to the scene. Adam raised the hammer back and slammed it into the center of the screaming man’s chest. A crack of thunder silenced the arena. Adam leaned on the hammer, absolutely haunted.
I swallowed and opened my mouth to say something to Desmond, but all of my attention was still on the center of the arena and the limp corpse dangling by chains.
“Brenden,” Desmond said nervously, “Tarynn’s coming out.”
A shadow passed over the snow, which was only just glistening in the sunlight. Clouds darkened everything in sight.
The blue guy started. “In lieu of the late Viscountess Simira, Lord Tarynn will be succeeding the Amien estate as the sole heir to the name. It is with great honor that I present him to declare his first decree before all of you.” Blue guy stepped aside as Tarynn raised his head and solemnly gazed across the entire arena. He stared sorrowfully at the man suspended by chains before addressing us. The blue guy dropped his head in shame as Tarynn stepped forward, as if he knew of what Tarynn would say.
“Andris, do not call me a lord. I am no longer a lord, and you are no longer a captain. I am not a leader, nor a ruler. I was never fit to lord over this land, nor was it mine to lord over. As the final standing Viscount of the Amien name, I return the Amien Quarter to the Count for reallocation.”
Gasps and whispers shot around the crowd and everyone began turning to their neighbors to gossip and fret.
“The manor and all its grounds are to be returned to the yeffen of the Zeltem Order, the rightful denizens of that land. Nothing will change for any of you, the people of Vehfirn, except for some new faces. The yeffen are good people and although their lifestyle differs from ours, they are eager to enrich this city. I will be leaving Vehfirn in a week's time with Andris. We will be leading a caravan westward to aid Triali war efforts. Any guards, servants, or subjects are welcome to accompany us.”
Tarynn paused awkwardly like he didn’t know how to end it, but Andris jumped in, speaking like he was devoid of all purpose.
“Tarynn and I will be awaiting any new recruits starting now, please join us down here if you would like to serve alongside us. As for the rest of you spectators, this concludes the morning, and the Amien reign.”
Desmond nodded with a sneer. “Talk about going out with a whimper.” He shot back from his flask.
People sparsely stood up to leave before finally crowding to the exits. Several guards jumped into the arena to join Tarynn and Andris, so I made my way down the steps.
“Brenden, what are you doing? You’re not going to join the military, are you?” Desmond reached out and grabbed my arm.
I stopped in my tracks, not even looking at Desmond. “I’ve made up my mind.” I walked down the steps toward the side of the arena and hopped up onto the edge.
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“Wait, Brenden! Why?! What about the plans?!” Desmond was stumbling down drunk until he crashed into me, almost knocking both of us over the wall. “Brenden, think about this for a second!”
I finally turned around and looked into his frantic, confused expression. “I’m going to talk to Adam and Tarynn, dipshit.”
“Oh, uh, alright.” Desmond glanced over the edge and reeled back. “I’ll find another way down.”
I hopped down and slowly approached Adam, who was still as a stone.
“Hey, dude. What’s up?” I walked around to his front and waved my hand in front of his face. “You doing alright?”
Adam’s hollow eyes were staring a thousand yards through the ground. His mouth started to open, but he didn’t say anything.
“Adam, what’s going on?” I ducked into his line of sight and looked up at him.
“Oh. Brenden. I… it’s you. Are we going now?”
“We’re gonna try to leave today, yeah.”
“Yeah…”
Silence. Here he stood before me, this man, my friend who was like a brother to me, broken. The hammer fell out of his hand and clanged on the ground as Adam slowly dragged his feet toward the gate. I followed him until we were out of sight of the crowd.
“Adam, are you okay? That’s a stupid question. I know you’re not, but…”
He turned his head and looked at me without a word. Adam flopped down onto the ground and leaned against the stone wall.
“I’m sorry you had to do that. You don’t deserve this.” I sat next to him and crossed my arms around my knees.
“He didn’t do it, Brenden.” Adam whispered shakily and stared into the dirt.
“What?”
“Eulin is innocent.”
“Is that-” Several men wheeled the frame suspending Eulin’s corpse past us, the odor of burnt flesh searing into my nose. “Adam, no, you’ve gotta be overthinking things. They wouldn’t just… do that. They wouldn’t just kill somebody like that.”
“They would. They did. I did.”
“Even if they did, this isn’t your fault. You were just following orders. I was watching. I saw it all.”
“Brenden?”
“Mhm?”
“Would you sell out your friend to save an innocent man, even if your friend was justified?”
“What… what kind of question is that? Adam, what’s going on?”
He fell silent for a moment. “We leaving soon?”
I paused. I couldn’t imagine what was going on in his head, but I wanted to be there for him however he needed.
“Yeah. We’ll meet up at Hallax Hall, that’s where the wagon is. You wanna grab Tells and Vetia and head over there? You think you can do that?”
“Sure. Vetia isn’t here, though.”
“What? What do you mean?”
“She faked her death to get out. She’s staying with a guy on the road we came into town on. Montak. In a farmhouse with a four-pointed star above the door.”
“Alright. Desmond and I will go get her. If we’re not back by the time you get to Hallax’s, Tell Miriel that you’re our friend. She’s a nyadin, like me. She’s got some friends we’ll be traveling with. They’re expecting you.” I stood up and leaned over Adam, warmly resting my hand on his shoulder. “Adam, look at me. We’re gonna get through this together. Don’t do anything til you’ve talked with us about it, though. We’re here for you. Let’s just get out of here first, okay?”
I stepped back, only for Adam to grab my arm as I was pulling it away. “Watch out for…” He paused, his mouth hanging, shaking his head for a moment. “Rowan, Vetia, whoever… is all fucked in the head. I don’t know what’s going on, but I don’t know if that’s our friend.”
What the fuck happened here? What happened to them?
Without another word, Adam rose and trudged away. I couldn’t help him. He needed time and space to think. But I’d be there with him, ready whenever he would be.
“Where’d Adam go?!” Desmond yelled down the tunnel after a few minutes had passed.
“Getting Tells. Let’s talk to Tarynn real quick and then go get Vetia.”
“Hell yeah, brother.”
The small crowd around Tarynn and Andris had dispersed. Both of them watched us approach solemnly.
Desmond yelled to them. “It’s good, fellas, we’re just here to chat.”
Andris stepped in front of Tarynn. “You’re Adam’s friends.”
“In the flesh,” Desmond gave a toothy smile.
“So you have come to collect him, then?”
I entered the conversation. “I already talked to him. He’s getting Tells.”
Desmond tilted his head in confusion. “What about Vetia? You talk to her yet?”
Andris looked away like he didn’t want to talk, so Tarynn stepped up next to him. “She’s dead. I’m sorry, Brenden, Desmond, but my sister’s abuse was too much for her. She… she cut her own heart out.”
Desmond’s eyes went wide as Andris snapped his head toward Tarynn. “Tarynn, don’t speak ill of your sister like that! We all know it was your father who’s at fault, and he is dead for it!”
Desmond finally caught up with what was going on, bewilderment gripping him. “So what, you just let her die?! You didn’t try to do shit about it?! She’s actually dead?!”
“She is dead. But I’m making up for it now.”
Desmond stomped forward. “You motherfucker! Making up for it?! Making up for what?!” He clutched Tarynn’s collar and screamed into his face. “What the fuck are you making up for?!”
Tarynn’s eyes broke into tears. “I was too scared to speak and she killed herself in front of me.”
I hadn’t seen Desmond look like such a rabid animal before. He pulled his fist back and slammed Tarynn’s nose, then his cheek. “Pussy-ass bitch!” Tarynn recoiled as I rushed forward and put myself between them, pushing Desmond back while Andris stood between them, not exactly caring about what happened to Tarynn.
“You’re right. I’m unfit to rule and to love. So I’m giving it all up and doing what I do best. I’m running. I am whole-heartedly sorry for your loss. I wish I could make it up to you, but I can’t. The one thing I can do now is be better.”
Desmond grimaced at him. “You’re fuckin’ pathetic. I ever see you again, Imma rip your asshole out through your mouth.” He turned around, stomped, the dirt, and threw his flask on the ground. “FUCK!”
I pushed Desmond back. Even though I knew she was alive, it probably wasn’t safe to break it here if she did fake her death. “Desmond, can you just go wait at the wagon? I’ll finish up here.”
“Don’t fuckin’ tell me what to do.” He went off to the wagon.
I waited for Desmond to be out of earshot before I started talking to Tarynn again. “Listen, I know it wasn’t your fault, Tarynn. Desmond is just…” I didn’t know what to say.
Andris nodded over toward him. “You ought to control his drinking. A man is only as strong as his discipline.”
“Yeah.” I sighed. “Tarynn, I know you aren’t obligated to tell us, but if you don’t Hallax is going to forcefully summon you. He wants to know where Fera is.”
Tarynn shook his head. “I wouldn’t know. She only sees me when she has nothing else to do. I never know where she goes or what she does. Last I heard, she was still with Madam Diona.”
“Okay. She didn’t say anything else?”
“She talks, but it’s nothing worth listening to.”
Andris nodded silently.
I nodded, not really sure how any of this was helpful.
Tarynn raised a finger in thought. “I do remember, she said Madam Diona was leaving the city soon.”
I sighed. “Shit. Okay.”
Andris became impatient. “Is that all you require?”
“Yeah. Thank you, both of you.”
“No need to thank us,” Tarynn said, “I owe this to you.”
I bit the inside of my cheek as I gazed over Tarynn’s face. For how properly he was dressed and trimmed, his eyes had heavy bags, he was terribly pale, and his face never broke its melancholy.
“I didn’t get to say this before, Tarynn, but thank you for being with Vetia back in that village, when we couldn’t be there. She needed you then.”
“I needed her then, too. But I shouldn’t have acted so immature like I did.”
“You needed each other there and then, and that’s what matters. So, thanks, for being there for her.”
Tarynn’s dewy eyes softened and he finally smiled. “Thank you for your words, Brenden.”
“Take care, Tarynn. You too, Andris. I hope we cross paths again.”
“As do I.”
“Be well,” Andris nodded.
I met Desmond at the wagon. He was sulking in the back, uncorking a bottle to fill his flask with.
“Man,” Desmond said, “fuck this place.”
I stepped over the wooden crates and grabbed a nearly-empty bottle from his hand.
“What the fuck, Brenden?!”
“She’s not dead, Desmond. She faked her death.”
Desmond dropped his flask. “What?”
“She faked her death to get out of the Godforsaken place. Tarynn and Andris don’t know, so I couldn’t tell you back there. So stop fuckin’ drinking.”
“You deadass?”
“Straight as a shot. Adam was apparently in on it. He told me.”
“That’s a weirdly fucked up thing to do.”
“I know. Desmond, I need you to go tell Hallax something so I can get Vetia and we can skedaddle.”
“Yeah, what?”
“You’re not too drunk to remember this, right?”
“Yeah. No, yeah, bro, I’m fuckin’ great.” He was not great, but I really didn’t have any other choice. We were in a time crunch.
“Okay. Tell him about what they said about giving up the manor and shit, then tell him that Tarynn doesn’t know where Fera is, but he said Diona’s leaving the city.”
Desmond nodded and then thought for a moment. “Is Diona leaving ‘cause of Ol’ Ricky?”
“Oh my God, Miriel told Diona about Richard so she could leave and she wouldn’t lead him back to us. Do you think she’s taking Fera so there’s no trail?”
“Shit, fuck, shit, you might be right! Brenden, get out. I gotta fuckin’ hurry then.”
“Desmond, go to Hallax! I got Vetia.”
Desmond hopped up front and I faintly heard the sound of the “Freebird” solo playing from his pocket. He smiled and swigged his flask. “Beautiful mornin’ for boozin’ and cruisin’.” He whipped the reins and sped off toward Hallax Hall.
As for me, I speed-walked across the quarter to the road we came in from. The city caked with heavy gray snow was nothing like when we arrived. Even for being impoverished, the city still felt alive. Now, wherever I went, it was desolate. Guards were out in droves and the few people that were out, they hurried around with their heads beneath veils. The evergreen needle trees had turned a deep red and a little orange, but they weren’t falling.
A small wooden house and the four-pointed star above the door sat surrounded by blankets of dusty snow. Snowed-over prints riddled the expansive yard. I couldn’t help the bleak feeling washing over me as I approached and knocked on the front door.
The door didn’t open, but I heard a voice. “Declare yaself!”
“Um, my name is Brenden. I’m looking for my friend.”
“Who’s your friend?!”
“A woman named Vetia.”
The door slowly creaked open and a man with short disheveled blond hair and kind brown eyes stood on the other side. He looked like a mess. His sepia shirt was torn and bloody with a massive slash across the front. He gestured with a shortsword for me to enter.
I slowly walked in and halted next to the door while he stood across the table, between me and a smaller figure in a cot behind him.
“Why’re you lookin’ around for Vetia?”
“I’m her friend. I’m here to get her so we can leave the city.”
“Nyadin, Brenden… she told us everything about you and your lot earlier. Said you’d probably come lookin’.”
“You make it sound like she left.”
“She did. She saved me and Lotti’s life and left.”
“Where did she go?”
“Said she was paying a visit to Madam Diona.”
I sighed heavily. “Nothing but a wild goose chase today. Alright, thank you, Montak."
Once again, I was out and hurrying back to the city. The cold wind slashed at my face and the snow clutched my boots with every step, but what stopped me in my tracks were the plumes of smoke rising from the city, from somewhere in the Hallax Quarter.
Fuck! Another thing!
I picked up my already racing pace, speeding through the slums, into the Hallax Quarter, and to the roaring fire spreading from Good Moaning.
“Brenden!” Zerick yelled out to me from across the road. He stood with Dex, who was yelling about something. I ran to him and caught my breath, panting while he spoke. “Brenden, did you see Desmond? He ran off! We can’t find him!”
“No, I didn’t. Did you find Fera?”
Dex looked down in shame while Zerick responded. “We’ve been looking all day. Caught Desmond on the way into the Hall. Hallax was enraged, so we came back to looking here. The whole place was empty, and a fire broke out on the third floor. No Fera, anywhere.”
“And Desmond’s gone?!”
“He just up and took off.”
“And the fire?”
Dex finally looked up. “The fire suppressors are already here.”
Guards surrounded the building, laying massive stones with sigils at every corner. As the sigils activated, frost crystals slowly created a sheen of glitter over the brass exterior and the flames started dying almost immediately, too cold for anything to burn.
“We don’t know the cause of the fire, but there was a guy in red armor flying away when it began.”
My blood went cold. “Red wings? Long red hair?”
Dex nodded. “Exactly that.”
“Dex, Zerick, that’s Richard. We gotta go now!”
Zerick stopped me with a hand on my chest. “What about Desmond?”
“He’ll find his way back.”
We rushed to Hallax Hall, only to find Hallax up and pacing around his throne room. The servants and guards were all avoiding him as he stomped and whispered damning things. Zerick and Dex ran forward while I stayed by the entrance.
“Lord Hallax!” Zerick yelled out to him. “Richard was spotted at Good Moaning and the building is burning! Fera is nowhere to be found.”
Hallax stopped in his tracks. His face cruelly contorted at what he heard. His words were calculated and seething. “Say again in more detail.”
Zerick stepped forward and kneeled. “After leaving with Desmond, we investigated Good Moaning. The entire building was empty and a fire had started on the third floor, so we were forced to retreat. Both Madam Diona and Fera were nowhere to be seen, but we witnessed Richard of the Elysian Halo flying away from the building as the fire started.”
Hallax stepped up to Zerick, towering over the young man and staring disgustedly at him. “Where is my daughter, Zerick, Dex?”
Zerick and Dex both exchanged a look before Dex spoke. “She has presumably flown with Madam Diona.”
Hallax took a deep breath in. He shook with rage, but retained his cold composure. His vengeful eyes returned to Dex. “Dex, tell me, whose responsibility was it to keep watch over my daughter?”
“Mine, my lord.” Dex’s voice quivered.
“So then whose head does this blame fall upon, for not watching my daughter well enough?”
“Mine, my lord.”
Miriel’s hand gently touched my elbow as she, Al’Li and Hestrel stepped next to me at the entrance to the throne room.
“My daughter is unbound by the arrangement with unlorded Tarynn, she has gone unseen for a day, and the one person who would use her has disappeared.” Hallax violently grasped Dex’s jaw and pulled him to meet his furious eyes. He gritted his teeth in rage as he whispered seething words at Dex. “Dex, you do not have a son or a daughter. You do not know the pain of losing your heir, the child you raised from a baby to an adult and watched every moment with love. Can you fathom the pain I feel in knowing I will never see my daughter again because the person I hate most in this world has taken her? Can you?” Hallax’s composure finally broke and he screamed out in pure wrath and anguish. “CAN YOU?!”
Dex forced out what he could as Hallax grasped his cheeks. He shook at every word so much it was almost impossible to understand him. “No, my lord.”
Zerick spoke up, racing through his words to catch Lord Hallax’s attention. “Lord Hallax, we will go out again. We will search as long as it takes! If the building has just burned down, she has to be in the city still! We can find her! We will find her!”
Lord Hallax returned to his enraged composure and sneered down at Zerick. He let go of Dex and stepped in front of Zerick.
“Dex, you have searched with Zerick all this time, yes?”
“Yes, my lord.”
“And Zerick, you would go out of your way to search for my daughter, just for Dex?”
“Absolutely, my lord. Dex is my best friend. I would never abandon him to search alone if it meant protecting him.”
“And Dex, you would do the same?”
“Of course, my lord. I would do anything for Zee.”
Hallax took a deep breath and looked up. “One of you two must suffer for the loss of my daughter. Who will it be?”
Almost immediately, they both responded, “Me, my lord.”
A long pause came over the room as everyone watched, waiting for Hallax’s decision. “No, no.” Hallax eyed them coldly. “Only Dex will suffer.” Lord Hallax’s hand shot down to Zerick’s head. Before any of us could blink, a series of wet snaps rang out and Zerick’s head was facing us blankly, then fell right off, completely severed.
“Zerick!” Miriel shouted and took a step forward.
Hallax yelled out, “Do not take a step forward, Miriel, or Brenden’s head will follow!”
“Zee… Zee…” Dex was in shock staring at Zerick’s collapsing body.
“Dex,” Hallax continued, “you will live the rest of your days with just a shred of the pain I feel having lost my daughter. Now leave my Hall before I extend this lesson to your friends in my doorway.”
Dex grabbed Zerick’s body and began dragging it toward us in a panic.
“Leave it!” Hallax’s booming voice stopped him dead in his tracks.
Dex stared down at Zerick’s body and let go in a mess of tears. “I’m so sorry, Zee.” Hestrel and I pulled Dex along as we hurried out of Hallax Hall.
“Guards, take this sooty eyesore and parade his head in front of the rubble. Let any potential dissenters know what becomes of arsonists in my city.”