THE GRAND OLD

PART 11: THE BLAZE

THE GRAND OLD
PRESENTED BY DEFLUX STUDIOS

Erik stood on the scorched walls of Leopardsburg, his once-proud city now little more than a charred husk of its former self. The fires had long since died down, but their heat still seemed to cling to the stones, and the smell of ash and death hung heavy in the air. His gaze wandered over the blackened rooftops, the broken streets, and the twisted remains of what had once been a symbol of Valerian might. This was what he had wanted, wasn’t it? To destroy the Senate, to burn away the corruption that had led to the empire’s fall.

Yet, all Erik felt now was emptiness.

In the beginning, when the rage had been fresh and his heart still aflame with the death of his family, he had known only one truth: they had to pay. The Senate, the nobles, even his siblings had all been complicit in letting the empire fall. His father, Garios IX, had been the last true emperor, and they had all let him wither and die as the empire fractured. Erik had sworn vengeance, had vowed to tear down the institutions that had betrayed his father and his people. And he had succeeded.

But standing here, amidst the ruins of his own making, Erik could no longer see the justice he once sought. His hands clenched the stone parapet, knuckles turning white, as he stared at the devastation he had wrought. The people had once hailed him as their savior, as the man who would restore Valeria to its former glory. Now, they cowered in fear of him, their former champion turned tyrant.

"All of this for what?" Erik muttered under his breath. His voice, once full of fire and purpose, now sounded hollow even to his own ears.

Behind him, his most loyal lieutenant, Brutus, approached cautiously. "My lord," he began, voice low. "The people are growing restless. Supplies are running low, and the legions—what’s left of them—are demanding pay."

Erik didn’t turn to face him. "Let them rest, Brutus. Let them turn against me, if they wish. They’re no different from the Senate—greedy, power-hungry. Let them try."

Brutus hesitated before speaking again. "With respect, my lord, if we do nothing, Aric Thalor will be upon us soon. His forces are growing by the day. The people whisper his name in the streets. He promises them protection, food, order. They’ll turn to him if we—"

"Aric." Erik spat the name, finally turning to face his lieutenant. "A fool, playing hero to a broken people. He’ll burn like the rest when they see him for what he is—just another man trying to take what isn’t his."

Brutus shifted uncomfortably but held his ground. "He may be a fool, but he’s winning the hearts of the people. They don’t care about old grudges anymore. They care about surviving."

Erik’s eyes blazed with the fire that had consumed him for so long. "Surviving? Surviving is what brought us to this! The Senate, the nobles, my own siblings—clinging to survival, to their power, as the empire fell apart around them. No. Survival is for cowards. The only way forward is to burn it all down and start anew."

Brutus bowed his head, knowing there was little more he could say. "As you wish, my lord."

Erik turned back to the ruins, his thoughts now spiraling. Aric. Farengar. Theodorus. His siblings and this pretender, Aric, were all just different faces of the same problem—people who believed they could restore what was lost, who thought they could piece together the broken remnants of Valeria. But they were wrong. There was no restoring what had been shattered. There was only the fire. Only the destruction that would purge the land of its weakness.

Yet, as the wind howled through the crumbling streets, Erik could feel the weight of his actions pressing down on him. The people no longer looked at him as their savior. They feared him. Perhaps they were right to. Perhaps the madness that had consumed the empire had finally taken him too.

"Let them come," Erik whispered, his voice carried away by the wind. "Let them all come. I will show them the true cost of their weakness. The flames will consume them all, and from the ashes, something new will rise. Not the Valeria they knew, but something stronger. Something pure."

But deep down, in the quiet places of his heart that he rarely let himself visit, Erik wondered if there would be anything left when the fires finally died. Or if he would be standing alone in the ruins, with nothing but his vengeance to keep him warm.