Lord Venlock was rooted to the spot, his eyes staring as if incredulous. Only moments before, he had worried about Elysia. She was a 2nd Circle mage - promising, raw talent if ever anyone had it, but far, far from the pinnacle of power. Still, before his very eyes, she was altered into something far beyond understanding. The air around her hummed with power so great that it seemed to curve the space they stood in. Where once he could feel her magical presence, now was an overwhelming emptiness, with no concrete power that only gave a whisper of an immeasurable depth.
Lucian was standing beside her now, calm and commanding, as though everything had been orchestrated by the flick of his wrist. His very presence dripped authority, but Elysia was the true center of attention. She was no longer the little girl whom he had fostered under his roof. Her eyes glowed like lanterns around which ethereal lights danced, form and figure shining with shimmering auras of arcane energies that whispered secrets from beyond their reality. The power she now wielded seemed to swallow and dwarf everything about her.
The Lord of Venlock wanted to say, wanted to demand answers, but his throat closed. His mind refused to comprehend what had just taken place. He could only stare.
Darvis, standing a few paces away, had watched the transformation with growing unease. Now, it flamed into indignation as his eyes caught Elysia's. It was an affront that Elysia, who had once been beneath his notice, now had a power far beyond his own strength.
"How dare you!" Darvis growled, his voice a knife slicing through the charged air of the courtyard. Anger alight in his eyes, he fastened them upon Elysia. "Who do you think you are to look Father in the eye?"
He must have been blinded to the change that had occurred; otherwise, there was smugness to his voice. His body trembled with barely checked anger and his hand quivered, perhaps imagining it could stretch out for a spell. Elysia's newfound power was one that threatened the status quo of the family too much to be tolerated.
Elysia didn't stir. Her face was like a mask, but the energy coming from her was anything but quiet. Calm and serene, her eyes were dragged towards Darvis. When she finally spoke, raising her hand seemed a matter of course, as if she was acting according to a foregone decision.
Tremors started sweeping through the air around them. Then, without warning, some sort of terrific suction force started issuing from Elysia's outstretched hand. Darvis barely had time to scream as the energy seemed to surround him, trying to pull at the very essence of his being. Such a force he had never experienced before was now consuming his body, jerking him towards her with wholly futile attempts on his part to resist.
No! he shouted, and panic welled up within him. His hands wildly waved out to the side as if searching for something-anything-to hang onto in this seemingly endless chasm of nothingness. There was nothing to hold on to; his body, his soul, his very existence, were all being dragged down into the void of nothingness.
And with a flicker of the eye, Darvis was no more. His body imploded inward, swallowed by the voracious void Elysia had awakened. The air where he once stood grew eerily still, as if nothing ever happened, and the silence that ensued was so stifling, it was a killing thing.
Lord Venlock could only stare. His son—his heir—was gone, erased from the universe in the movement of one hand. His mind spun in a whirlwind of thought, trying to catch up with what had happened. Darvis was a 5th Circle mage; the man had power. Yet Elysia treated him like an insect.
Elysia's eyes flicked towards Lord Venlock. She had seemed old now, weighed down by something much heavier than any human head could bear to hold. And yet there was no animosity there, only a staunch faith.
"Do you want your home destroyed?" she asked in a voice that was even, but charged with an undeniable power. The words went rolling round the room as if heavy with some weight that left Venlock's knees to go weak beneath him.
Venlock's heart pounded in his chest. The words struck at the very core of his being. Centuries of influence built into the fabric of power in the world, and the last building block: Venlock himself, absolutely in his daughter's control-no, in that goddess's control.
The pressure of her power built down on him and forced him to his knee, hands quivering to touch the cold stone as he bowed his head in submission. He knew, in that moment, that defiance would be met with swift, merciless destruction. He'd seen it with his own eyes.
Elysia advanced forward, her very presence overwhelming. She stood before him, her aura of power more intense than any god or monarch. Lucian watched the events, as nothing went through his lips, unreadable, yet somehow he seems to have orchestrated it all to perfection.
Now do you understand, Father?" Elysia went on, her voice gentle but unyielding. "The powers you once knew are insignificant against what I have become. I am no longer the daughter to whom you ruled, no longer bound by this world's shackles. I am the Goddess of Magic, and I shall not be oppressed over further with offending treatment.
Lord Venlock's throat was dry, and his breathing shallow. Words would not come. Fear clawed at his heart in the realization of what Elysia finally represented. Her power was infinite, her will absolute. He was but a speck of dust before the vastness of her dominion.
He bowed his head even lower. "I... I understand," he stammered, nearly wheezing out a barely audible whisper. "Please.... spare the family... Spare the legacy."
For a long, long moment, she said nothing. Her gaze sliced right through him, then finally she pulled back on her aura enough so he could take a steadier breath.
"I wouldn't be so cruel to break this house," she continued, her voice softened. "But you must know your place in this new regime. I'm now beyond your comprehension. Threats will only fulfill desolation. But submission. will provide you with treasures greater than your imagination can assure."
Lord Venlock nodded feebly, still trembling. He had no choice. Resisting would automatically be an invitation to annihilation.
Lucian finally emerges, breaking the rigid situation with his voice. "Elysia is under my protection now, and she is armed with the powers of the Goddess of Magic. From today onwards, the Venlock family will be under her servitude. If rebellion will bring worse than what you are witnessing now.".
His words were calm, almost casual, but he told it with the word of absolute authority-no room for negotiations. Lord Venlock couldn't do other than nod in his submission, crushed under the heavy power of two beings standing in front of him.
Elysia turned away from him, gazing onto other things that were more important than he. Her transformation was complete; her attention found itself drawn to far greater matters. With a wave of her hand, the magical tension in the room shattered, but the echoes of her power clung to the air.
Lucian leaned forward and rested his hand on her shoulder. No words were needed - this was a silent nod of acceptance, and they turned and departed the chamber. Behind them, Lord Venlock remained on his knees. His thoughts spiralled, his body trembling. He, who once was the man with influence, a lord in so many other people's lives, was now beginning to grasp just how little and insignificant that power really was.
As he stepped outside of the hall, Lucian turned a sly look her way, a knowing glint in his eye. "Well, it seems that you've grown rather attached to your position now, Goddess of Magic."
Elysia smiled and showed little from it. "I have... and much more left to delve into,"
With those words, they walked into a new dawning over the horizon-one to forever be shaped by the power of the Goddess and the Supreme Being at her side.
In the stillness left by their leaving, Lord Venlock stayed where he knelt, the weight of his new reality stuck to him. His son gone, it was as if he had never been; now his daughter-no, his Goddess-would rule him, with a power that couldn't be fathomed.
It had all come crashing down with the snap of one finger. The proud, grand Venlock house lay in shards upon the cold stone floor. And though he was still drawing breath, Lord Venlock knew that his future-and that of his family-now lay in hands far beyond his.