by JBV and Joel Quill
Jay hesitates to ignite his magic and attack his brother, but Euctis and Illia do not hold the same repression. Immediately Euctis eyes turn green once more and Illia's glow blue. The earth begins to shake underneath Euctis's feet and the wind roars in a flurry around Illia. Tyrius's eyes glow like the stars themselves and his smile continues to antagonize his brothers. Euctis thrust his hands towards the ground and the earth begins to shake in a wave towards Tyrius. Tyrius easily walks through his portal, to another that appears just out of range of the earth quake. However, as he steps out of the portal, Ilia extends his pointer and middle finger and flings them towards his brother. A blast of air projects forth, sharp as a razor, straight for Tyrius's neck. Tyrius moves his head slightly, but doesn't anticipate the speed properly. The air nicks the side of his throat causing a slight bit of blood, before the pressurized air crashes into the earthen wall behind him and causes the wall to split. Tyrius rubs the blood on his neck then starts to laugh maniacally. "You must really hate me to go for the neck right off the bat!" Tyrius exclaims looking crazy eyed at his brother, "do I not deserve a right to explain?" Euctis thrust his hands into the ground and pulled up a large rock that had to be at least 300 pounds and put it over his head ready to throw.
"You lost the moment to speak the moment that portal appeared in the bay," Euctis throws the boulder at an alarming speed towards his brother. Before it reaches Tyrius's smiling face, it stops in mid air, barely tickling his nose. Euctis and Illia turn to Jay, who has glowing white eyes and beads of sweat falling down his face. "Jay let go of the boulder," Euctis says with animosity.
"No," Jay says a little stifled while holding the rock, "he's our brother." Euctis has a shocked look on his face and Illia becomes angry.
"He has lost the right to be our brother!" Illia yells, "Take down that boulder now, you are supposed to protect Illverstand, King!" Illia's words are of pure ice. He does not say 'King' in a manner of respect, but of anger. Jay wavers for a second and does not pay attention to his brothers. Illia swings his hand upward and a slice of wind around the same size as a human thrust across the floor and cleanly cuts the rock in half. The rock falls to the floor in two halves, but on the other side, there is nothing but the wall.
"Now, Now…" Tyrius says from behind Jay and the others, "I have to agree with our little brother for once." Jay turns to Tyrius who is now holding a knife to his brother, Lalend's, throat. In the short time of the argument between Euctis, Illia, and Jay. Tyrius was able to appear behind Lalend, kidnap him, and make the guards disappear to where only family was left in the room. Euctis has a grave look on his face.
"This is impossible, your powers have never been this fast before, you were never able to create more than one portal a minute before!" Euctis's logical mind deteriorates at his brothers new astounding speed. Tyrius tilts back his head and full on laughs without a care in the world.
"Oh Euctis you SIMPLE MINDED brother of mine!" Tyrius exclaims, "each of you has put your magic into a box, believing you are strong just because you are elementalist. My magic is at a level now that each of you could not even comprehend. However to fully explain it to you would be idiotic, why give away the upper hand." Jay speaks up to Tyrius.
"Where are the guards?" Euctis and Illia look around realizing they are gone as well.
"The guards? OH you mean those toy soldiers that could barely even manifest magic. I thought I wouldn't mess around with their party tricks they call 'magic' and just go ahead and end their lives now." Tyrius manifested a small portal in the hand not holding the knife, "Did you know that I can control the world within my portals to my will? Expand it, crush it, make it feel like your head is running through a meat grinder." Tyrius looks puzzled for a moment, "actually I am curious as to what that feels like. I would ask the guards but obviously...I can't" Tyrius laughs over the wave of tension in the room. The concern Jay once held dissipates at his brother's laughter. The man that cackles before him is no longer the brother he once knew. Jay begins to reach out with his power but is stopped by Tyrius pressing the knife harder against Lalends unconscious throat. "Woah, woah, woah little king. I wouldn't do that if I were you, your brother Lalend may not wake up if you are too bold. It's tragic isn't it? The only one in here with enough magic to maybe, possibly, contest me is out cold because he's a worthless screw up."
"You have no right to talk about Lalend's issues when you are the one who is a murderer!" Jay yells. Tyrius shrugs,
"You are probably right," he concedes, "but at least I have actually done something for this kingdom. Poor idiotic Lalend believed he could find that answer at the bottom of a bottle."
"What have you done for this kingdom," Illia says through gritted teeth. The anger in the room is rising by the minute. The knife by Lalends throat is the only thing impeding Jay, Euctis, and Illia from ripping their brother to pieces. Tyrius stops laughing and looks at his older brothers with great disdain.
"I am saving this kingdom from you," Tyrius has no humor in his voice anymore, "you think you have a right to rule? YOU? Each of you is pathetic! I never concerned myself with Jayfifth because he is a child, but the two of you were the closest obtaining the throne and you both had no grasp of reality!" Tyrius begins to rant, Jay notices that Tyrius's hold on the knife loosens a bit as he gets caught up in his righteous rant. "Do you know the true tell that shows the fault of man? When they look at the world around them and go 'this is fine' with no clear action to try and make something of it! The two of you seek the title of king clearly just for the fact that you love the idea of a title. I seek the crown TO CHANGE this kingdom! The kingdom has become so caught up in complacency that they can't even see the cracks that are starting to form. Do you even recognize that magic is more than just a power randomly given to us? We can do so much more than just make wind or move the earth or create a storm. Magic can be used within objects and to create infrastructure. A world that never even had magic is able to innovate themselves to a level beyond imagination and they can't even use magic! Imagine that! We are the superior beings having inherent power and yet do you know who is destroying our kingdom right now? A bunch of people who can't use magic, and they are crumbling our magic to ashes." Tyrius lets the miniature portal that was in his hand float in the air and extends his finger to point at his eldest brother. "I bet even the great prince Illia, hero of the people, didn't know that you could make your magic more powerful!"
"That is enough Tyrius…" Illia says with a meek voice, the words of his brother are piercing his soul.
"No it isn't Illia, I have only just begun...Let me show you what magic looks like when finally applied in the right manner. Tyrius turns his free hand to have his palm facing upward, he closes his fist then reopens it and in turn the portal that was once small begins to expand. When it reaches about the size of Tyrius, with a simple snap the portal goes flying forward and encompasses the middle of the round table, taking the king inside the unknown void. Tyrius closes his hand and the portal closes with their father inside of it. The middle of the round table disappears as well with the two sides collapsing without the support of the middle. The brothers are all astonished by the sight, none in the room wanted to give Tyrius the satisfaction of being right; but in this instance they could not help it. Tyrius's magic was on a level that they had never seen before.
Tyrius had been able to create portals since he was about Jay's age. Over the years as he grew he began to gather a better understanding of his magic, but the limit that he had reached was being able to create one stationary portal at a time, that could not be expanded or contracted once conjured. He was able to create portals about 200 meters within his eyesight or to places he had been to within about a five mile radius. However, the power he wields now is a huge leap from the limits of his power he once held before. Within Illverstand, it was the belief of the people that when someone reached the age of sixteen, the magical power they have at that time is the highest they will ever reach. This fact had been established centuries ago and was taken very seriously by the people of Illverstand; an immutable truth of their world. Tyrius was closing in on his seventeenth birthday and his power was still continuing to amass. The sight of such growth in magical ability destroyed the walls of truth the boys had in their minds. The magical limitations they put upon themselves made them just as Tyrius called them; weak.
Euctis and Illia drifted off into each of their thoughts, not able to fully process the events as they had been laid before them. Jay, while being surprised as well, is broken from his inner mind by the sight of Lalend within Tyrius's arm. Lalend opens his eye and looks at Jay. A stormy gray glow surrounds Lalends Iris. With that small bit of movement, Jay understands that his brother is trying to be released from Tyrius's capture. Jay nods his head to his captured brother and waits for the moment to strike. Tyrius is so caught up with his triumph over his older brother's minds that he does not pay much attention to the two closest to him. Lalend gently moves his hand, causing a gray wisp of cloudiness to appear in his hand. Lalend flicks it behind him and a cloud forms just out of Tyrius's sight. Jay focuses his sight on the knife in Tyrius hand, gaining a grip with his mind upon it without tipping off Tyrius to this. Lalend slightly nods his head and Jay's eyes ignite once again. Tyrius turns to Jay in a threatening manner but before Tyrius can react, Jay releases the knife from his hand with great force, sending it upwards on a path to the ceiling. On the knife's ascent, unbeknownst to Jay, the knife cleaves into Tyrius's face. As it shreds upwards it slices up the right side of Tyrius's face and eye cutting deep into his flesh. As the knife finally releases from Tyrius's face it drips blood as it heads towards the ceiling. Tyrius cries out in pain and holds the side of his face as blood begins to drip down it. Lalend breaks himself free and spins himself towards Tyrius. Lalend reaches his left arm out and closes his fist, as he does so the cloud behind Tyrius begins to crackle and a bolt of lightning bursts forth towards Tyrius back. The brothers could taste victory over their brother, but Tyrius screams out in anger and multiple portals appear before him. The lightning collides the portal behind Tyrius's back and instead of hitting its mark, is transported through the other portals in front of Tyrius heading for the brothers instead. Jay tackles Lalend and the lightning narrowly misses them, decimates the wall behind where they stood creating a hole in the wall to the outside world. Illia, having superior magical speed, lifts himself into the air, floating just high enough the lightning misses underneath him and hits the wall of earth behind him. As it did with the other wall, this bolt destroys the earth Euctis brought forth and the door behind it. Euctis, was not so lucky compared to his brothers. Euctis tried to raise a wall of earth to block the lightning, but earth is considerably slower than that of lightning. The bolt hit Euctis directly in the chest, burning his garments to a crisp and setting his very skin ablaze. Euctis flies across the room and hits the wall causing a large crack across the earthen structure. Blood and ashes fall off of Euctis's body, he lays there still, no breath of life seems to be within him anymore. Lalend arises from the ground after the commotion has seemed to cease and looks at the body of his twin brother.
"Euctis...EUctis...EUCTIS!" Lalend runs across the room and grabs his brother's body. The room is filled with the cries of Lalend, he cradles his brother's body, yelling out "I have killed my own brother!" Illia floats to the ground from the air and runs over to tend to his brothers, hoping that maybe resurrection is possible. Upon seeing the result Illia knows in his heart that Euctis can't come back. A large amount of green steam is rising from his brother's body that gives the room the odor of fresh earth. Tyrius lays on the ground bleeding and panting, the amount of magic he exerted causes him to not be able to do anything more than wobble on all fours. Jay tries to concentrate on just Tyrius, not wanting his guard to fall, but hears screams coming from the hole in the wall beside him. He peers through the hole, hoping to only catch a glimpse, but he instead completely loses his guard at the tragedy bathed in flames before him. The world itself is on fire, the town is crying for help as explosions turn the buildings into craters. Hundreds of soldiers, fully in black, carrying miniature versions of the explosives coming from the ship are storming the castle and the guard that once stopped them is completely helpless. The world itself is crumbling before Jay, and he is helpless to stop it. He looks down at the gold phoenix pin and feels great anger in the fact that the scene that lays before him is the kingdom that he inherited, that he has failed it in his short time as king. It was never his destiny to begin with. In a fit of rage, Jay turns from the hole and approaches Tyrius. As he gets to where his brother lays, he lets the knife he was holding in the air drop into his hand and positions it at his brother's neck. A hoarse laugh comes from Tyrius as Jay pushes the knife against his throat.
"Woe the king of Illverstand, are you proud of the kingdom you have inherited," Tyrius speaks words of ice and does not have even the smallest hint of remorse. Despite the presence of a knife, Tyrius does not spare his words and holds no fear in his eyes. Jay is unsure if this means his brother accepts death, or if he believes Jay won't kill him. Jay wants to slash Tyrius's throat so badly but he can't bring himself to make that one small swipe. Even after the atrocities Tyrius has caused, something within Jay is still saying he is your brother, you are just a child. After three minutes pass, Jay drops the knife. The voice within him won against his desires. Tyrius smiles one last time at Jay and points a trembling hand at his bleeding eye, "You will pay for this mark, young Jayfifth." A portal opens around Tyrius and closes an instant later, he is gone.
Jay doesn't shed a single tear, his body is too alert to process emotion beyond overwhelming shell shock. He walks over to Euctis and his other brothers but they push him away. "We don't want you to see this Jay…" Illia says looking at him with a side eye. Even with the title of king, he is still just a kid to them. Jay raises his voice in protest, but stops trying to choose his battles wisely, this is not the moment to fight over his maturity. Hector comes through the hole in the wall that used to be the door. His arm is completely limp and bloody and his left eye is swollen closed. He is limping from his right leg and it looks as if the leg is turned the wrong way. Hector looks right at Jay and not towards anyone else.
"King Jay…" Hector says, Jay winces at the words, "...you must leave now. A group of soldiers are heading here now and the barrage from the ship is about to start again...I am the only guard left and I am afraid I am spent." Illia stands up and walks to Hector. Like Jay, he doesn't have a tear in his eye, he takes hold of Hector to give him support and doesn't look at Jay.
"He's right Jay," Illia says, "you have to leave...the king cannot die." Jay cannot take the title any longer.
"I AM NO KING! That title is a curse on my name! I am not going to leave your side just because of some destiny that belongs to you! Illia you should leave as you are the best shot at redemption." Illia shakes his head disapprovingly. He sets Hector down gently against the doorway and approaches his brother.
"You may not realize it yet, but I have faith that Dad was right about you…" Illia says as he meets his brother's eye line, "someday you will be king, and being a loyal brother to my king I cannot on good conscience let you die here when you have a kingdom to save."
"The kingdom is gone! It has become a world of flames! How am I supposed to save the dead!" Jay clenches his fist till his knuckles are white as he yells.
"You are an agent of redemption...just like our mother yo…" Illia trails off as a loud bang comes from behind them. Blood begins to fall from Illia's peck. He reaches down to touch the red coming from his clothes. Jay screams and tries to grab Illia but is pushed back by the person he seeks to help. A Group of soldiers yelling in an indistinguishable language begin to run down the hall into the room. Hector screams one last time causing them to fall back before he is struck down by the same bangs that were heard before. Illia grabs his brother's face one last time, getting a small amount of blood on his cheek. Illia's eyes glow blue as he is hit two more times causing blood to come from his other peck and his shoulder. Illia amasses a large amount of his magical energy into his hand before releasing it all at once towards Jay. The final moments, for Jay, seemed to progress in slow motion. He began to fly through the air, leaving the throne room by being thrown out of the large hole in the wall. The wind funnels around Jay carrying him into the sky. Illia looks at his brother's ascent as soldiers surround him and fire upon him, causing pain and blood to encompass his being . Despite the large amount of projectiles that Illia takes, he keeps his magic alive until Jay is out of sight. Jay floats through the sky, looking towards the castle before it becomes small in the distance. He flies over his kingdom set ablaze, and witnesses the ship level the place he once called home. The feeling from flying at such force begins to dull Jay into unconsciousness. The last things he remembered before conceding to black were a shattering that lead to a cold hard landing, light coming through a small window, and the face of a girl looking down on him.