Tucan stood at the edge of the Bleached Pass, staring at the ashes of his wrath. The wind carried whispers—monster, tyrant, god—but louder still was Hafa's voice in his memory: "You're not a ruler. You're a storm."
He clenched his still-bleeding hand. Silver blood pooled in his palm, a reminder that even time could wound. I will not be a storm again.
The Water Kingdom: Tide and Tempest
The Water Queen's palace floated atop a glacial sea, its spires of ice glowing like drowned sapphires. Guards flanked the gates, tridents crackling with frost.
"Your Eternity," the queen greeted, her voice as cold as her domain. She sat on a throne of living coral, eyes like shattered glass. "Come to turn us to dust?"
Tucan stood unarmed, his cloak damp with sea spray. "I come to offer terms."
"Terms?" She laughed, sharp as an iceberg's edge. "You, who annihilated the Fire King's army? You, who banished your own servant to the void?"
"Hafa is not my servant." The words tasted strange, bitter and true. "And I am… tired of graves."
The queen leaned forward. "What do you propose?"
"An alliance. Open your archives to the mixed-born. Shelter them. In return, I will halt the tides at your shores—no floods, no erosion, for a century."
The court murmured. The Water Queen's mask slipped, revealing hunger. "And if I refuse?"
Tucan met her gaze. "Then I walk away. But your people will drown in their own fear long before the sea takes them."
She stood, her gown swirling like a whirlpool. "A pretty speech. But words are air. Show me."
He knelt, pressing his bleeding hand to the ice. Silver light pulsed. The glacial walls around the palace thickened, their cracks healing. The sea stilled.
The queen's breath hitched. "You would… gift us peace?"
"No," Tucan said. "I would earn it."
Tucan had shown people how cruel he could be when necessary, but for what purpose? What's the point of winning when you're the one who loses the most?
''Next stop, the kingdom of earth...''