The King's Remorse

We Can Go With You Did It

The snake huffs, snickering about how Freedom's magic is failing.

Her magic is slow to seep from the bodies of the Guard and Soldiers. They flinch and step back as the yellow drips down to the ground, disappearing as soon as it touches the ground. When the last of her magic has left the bodies of the Guard and Soldiers, the shift in their expressions is immediate. The once genuine confusion melts away into murderous rage. "What did you do to us, Freedom? What did you do, huh? Think you could get away with that? Think changing our emotions would keep you safe, huh?" They snort in disbelief.

Kill them, the snake whispers. They're not being controlled any more. Won't your lame conscience let you kill them not that they can think for themselves? Come on, kill them. They wronged us. It's self-defense. Self-preservation. You're in the right. Kill them.

Brook tenses, gaze never breaking from the Guard and Soldiers. They outnumber her at 7 to 1. If you kill them, it'll be 0 to 1, the snake says. Freedom rolls onto her stomach as she begins to recover. "Stay back," Brook spits. They lunge, weapons drawn. 1 of the Guard gets impaled on Brook's horn, and he hunches over the wound, blood spilling from between his fingers. When he falls, he doesn't get up.

I snap out of my trance when a Soldier slices a gash on Brook's shoulder. I will the dust to rise from the ground and obey my command. It shivers around me, thrumming with energy.

Brook lashes out with her hooves and catches a Soldier on the side of the head, leaving him crumpling to the ground as red coats his face. So you are going to kill them, huh? I knew you would. You just can't resist the temptation of watching the life bleed away from their bodies. I knew it. You and I, we're not all that different.

We couldn't be more different, snake.

Freedom blinks slowly, seeming a little disoriented. She looks around, and her gaze settles on me. As I pour energy into the dust that howls around me, it trembles, shaking with the power it holds. I curl my fingers before throwing the dust forward in a wave that shimmers with black and purple. Time seems to slow down as the dust hurtles toward the Guard and Soldiers. Brook steps to the side, looking up. A Guard nocks an arrow in his bow. A Soldier avoids a fellow Soldier's sword. Freedom scrambles to her feet and starts running. A Guard tugs on the arm of a Soldier and they begin to move.

The Guard angles his bow and releases the arrow just as the wave of dust crashes down. Purple lines zap between the clumps of dust like little bolts of lightning. The dust smothers the Guard and Soldiers in clouds of black. It would seem you're killing them. See, we're not all that different.

I'm not killing them, snake.

Ah, but you are.

No, I'm not going to kill them.

Yeah, but you are.

No, I-

You're going to kill them right now. See? The snake surges forward, taking just enough control to overload the dust with energy. It retreats back to the depths of my mind. Amethyst flares in response. 1 of the Guard, the 1 who had tugged a Soldier into motion, cries out in surprise when the Soldier begins to dissolve, crumbling away. What are you doing?

Told you you're not so different from me.

You killed them!

That's not what everyone else is going to think. The snake's amethyst eyes twinkle. The other Guard and Soldiers follow suit, bodies blowing away as they turn to dust.

Brook exhales sharply through her nose. As the dust settles, I can see her better. She stumbles, keeping her legs wide to remain upright. An arrow is lodged in her chest. Her ears are drawn back, and her nostrils are flared. Every muscle in her body is taut. "Brook!" I race forward. The snake snickers in the back of my mind, but I shut it down.