Blood of Decusia

Chapter Twenty One

The raspy voice sent a chill down my spine and I could feel Sage tense next to me, no doubt this voice haunted his dreams as they would mine. I could feel the power radiating from within me, the stone likely calling out to the others.
"Come, children," the voice called again.
Not in control of my body, we made our way down the hall and through the giant doors. Sage had called this the throne room, but it was the exact opposite from the one in Majestas. It was a giant dome-like room, but it lacked the poshness and luxury you would expect from a throne room. The whole room was empty of any sort of decadence except for the large, gaudy black metal throne that sat in the very center of the room.
Behind us, the doors slammed shut, causing me to jump.
"Who would've thought this day would come."
Sage and I whirled back toward the closed door. Standing between us and the exit was a tall man, completely shrouded by a dark black cloak. The man held out his pale, wrinkly hand and suddenly a large staff appeared. It was ornate with crude- bat-like silver wings coming off the side and at the very top, was a black gem that glittered and gleamed.
Something stirred in my chest, the warmth in my chest was almost overwhelming. The stones, the power wanted to come together.
"It's very kind of you," the man purred, "To bring them both here for me. Saves me the trouble of having to retrieve it myself."
He took a step forward. Sage and I stumbled back.
"You feel it too, don't you?" he rasped, "The power, like calls to like, you know? They're not meant to be apart, together, they're more powerful."
I couldn't see it, but I could sense that he was smiling.
"Like families," he continued.
Sage took a step forward, pushing me behind him. I could only imagine that the smile grew larger. I pushed past him.
"You don't get to talk about families," I said, fighting the shakiness rising in my voice, "You've slaughtered countless of them."
The man led out a sharp laugh.
"Including yours, you mean," he sneered.
I didn't have a response to that.
"You know," he said, "You two are the spitting image of your parents
Once again, silence.
"But you," he said, pointing his pale finger at me, "You've got their heart, their passion. Unlike your useless brother."
Sage tensed behind me.
"It doesn't have to end in bloodshed, you know," he continued, "Give me the stones and you may live. You can return to the two Lupidium mutts outside. You all walk away. It would be a shame for you to lose another person you love."
I let out a harsh laugh.
"You're full of shit," I said, "if you get the stones, you'll set the world on fire. Nothing will be left. You have no intention on letting me live; you murdered my parents, my aunt, tried to murder my brother. You've wiped out an entire race of people, attacked innocent men, women, children."
"Collateral," the man rasped, "Simply obstacles on my way to greatness."
"Greatness meaning the entire decimation of worlds, people bowing before you, only for you to kill them on the spot."
I don't know where this courage came from. Maybe it wasn't courge, maybe it was stupidity.
"What can I say?" he shrugged, "You got me. You're clever, unfortunately not clever enough."
I glanced quickly back toward my brother, whose face was a flurry of emotions: fear, anger, confusion. The man laughed, sensing the shift in the air. He took another step forward, while we stepped back.
He then reached up and removed his hood. I don't know what I expected, but it definitely wasn't an ancient old man. But, he wasn't your average looking old man. He was covered in wrinkles, but his skin was also tight against his skull and had blackish veins all around his face and neck, cheeks sunken and hollow. His eyes were pure black and were piercing.
But, the longer I stared, I noticed his face wasn't really clear. It became more and more difficult to focus on it, like it was fading in and out. The black stone was glowing, shifting like a pool reflecting, similar to the focus of his face.
The magic from the stone was altering his face. I couldn't tell how, but he and the stone were somehow taking power from each other. Sage must've realized this at the same time, because he grabbed my arm and pulled me back another step.
"How?" I asked, the words feeling numb.
The man smiled. An evil smile, that revealed very few teeth.
"Unlike you," he smirked, "I don't have to rely on false confidence to hide fear. There is no fear, only power. Power that is mine, power that should've been mine a long time ago if it wasn't for the bitch and her whore."
"Shut up!" Sage barked, "You don't get to talk about them!"
There was a brief flash of confusion that was so small that I almost missed it. The man erupted into a wheezing laughter.
"You really are brainless, aren't you?" he laughed, "You think that your parents were anything other than an inconvenience. They were nothing, just like you are nothing."
Something in my brain clicked, a story. A queen sacrificing herself for the greater good, a man who loved her, trying to save her. The world exploded, leaving only power in its raw form. Power from the two of them and another, someone spent on bringing about the destruction of everything good.
The man looked at me, knowing what I now knew. He smiled.
"Say it," he purred, "Tell your brainless, spineless brother what you so cleverly figured out."
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. Something that seemed so improbable, impossible even, but the definition of that word changed.
"Go ahead," he murmured, "Say it."
"Clove," Sage said, "What is he talking about?"
My mouth was so dry. We were doomed. There's nothing we could do, everyone was going to die and we couldn't stop it.
"Let me break it down for you, boy, since your sister is feeling a little shy," he smirked, taking another step toward us, "The stones were formed from the pure power of the three leaders of Decusia of the time, a result of their deaths, when they were in their rawest form."
My brother didn't respond, slowly putting the pieces together. The man's smile was now wider.
"But what if they never died?"
"Veneficusia" I breathed, "He's Veneficusia."