Kings in Hiding

Chapter 8

"Dad..."

Both Leo and Mal's eyes glow as strong as Kirk's had earlier. Kirk's eyebrows furrow; he drops down to his knees once more, looking at Greg fiercely.
"Listen to me Greg. I want you to run as fast as you can, find a hiding spot, and wait until I've finished dealing with these two. I-" Kirk starts, interrupted by his son.
"Dad, I'm not going to leave you this time. I can't bear to stand by and just watch you get hurt. Please, let me help."
"I understand. I just, I love you too much to see you hurt, either, you know," Kirk says, trying to be rational.
"I'm not leaving without you," Greg says, tearing up. "I want to fight for my freedom too, Dad, and I can't just let you go and do everything by yourself..."
Kirk thinks for a solid moment, and giving into his son's requests, he sighs. Kirk places his hand gently on Greg's face, wiping away his tears; Greg places his own on Kirk's wrist.
"I guess I have no choice then, do I..?" Kirk asks, smiling. Greg smiles too, laughing a bit. Kirk looks back up at his brother and beloved; he creates a plan in his mind as he looks back at his son. "I want you to distract Mal and her guards for me."
"But, how do I do that..? If I confront them, I might-"
"You asked what that light was I made earlier, correct?" Kirk says rushed as he leans in, resting his hand on Greg's shoulder. "There's a magic that's been passed down through generations of my family's bloodline. People say the one who passed on the magic was a powerful wizard. He dealt in very broad types of magic, but when many of his descendants inherited his power, they'd gain a specific skill and it usually differed with each person. Based on the personality and the parents of the beholder, they'd have one to three different types of magic." Kirk glances up at Leo, who had begun advancing down the stairs. "I inherited fighting magic from my parents, and I know you did too. The light you saw was that magic. When one of those knights confront you, remember that you've got that within you." Kirk takes Greg's hands and closes his eyes; some light from Kirk's hands transfers over to Greg's. Greg begins to gaze at this light in awe, he'd never seen anything like it before. Kirk opens his eyes once more and remains still.
"Use this to your advantage, only when it's absolutely necessary, and surely you will be alright, okay?"
"Yes, Dad."
"Good." Kirk stands, facing Leo's direction. "You ready?"
"Yeah, I'm ready," Greg says, somewhat unsteady.
Mal, remaining solid like stone, commands her three guards to follow Leo down the stairs; they move towards the boys like pawns on a chess board. As Kirk has instructed him, Greg advances towards them and holds up his fists, ready to fight.
"Okay, just like Dad said..." he whispers to himself. Greg takes a deep breath, closing his eyes. Once he becomes at peace with his mind and body, the power Kirk passed onto him awakens once more; Greg's eyes glow like amber in the sunlight. His fists light up, and as if his power had given him the strength of ten men, he pummels the first guard to approach him in the gut and knocks him senseless. Greg then smiles, gaining the courage to continue onward. He dashes towards the other two guards, avoiding their attacks, and strikes as necessary. Quickly rendering all three guards unable to fight back, Greg jogs up the stairs and confronts Mal.

Above the gardens, Ika paced furiously behind glass windows. He notices the young boy approaching Mal; Ika nearly drops his jaw as he determines what Greg had planned to accomplish. Using his own set of magic, Ika stares down at Mal's figure and relays a message to her telepathically. As the message reaches her, she looks back to Ika and nods.

Leo and Kirk begin to face off, utmost rage overwhelmed them. The two brothers start going at each other's throats, cussing at one another with every breath.
"You're weak, Kirk! Face it, you'll never make it out of here, whether dead or alive! I will promise you that!" Leo states.
"I've told you before, and I'll tell you again to get it through your thick head," Kirk shouts, dodging a beam of pink light from Leo, "there's a thing called trying!"
"Trying will get you nowhere! Remember, your idiot sister dying because she tried to help others? Why won't you ever learn?!" Leo insults.
"She was our sister, Leo!!" Kirk rebukes. "She died because of a deadly disease no spell in this damned world could cure!! She sacrificed herself back then so others could live!"
"Her body was feeble; she wasn't meant to live!" Leo says furiously. "Just like you."
"You know," Kirk says, "it sounds like you're blaming her death on me! I had nothing in the matter, I wasn't responsible for the plague that infected us all that year." He prances around a barren tree trunk and hides for a moment, letting Leo's attack fly past him. He pops out his head and continues, "and, if I were so weak, would you really think I'd be out here now, fighting you??"
Leo runs at Kirk, yelling. "Shut up!! I know it was your fault, and I won't let you keep denying it any longer!!" He unsheathes his sword at starts swinging it at Kirk in frustration. Kirk bends over and picks up a sturdy, dead branch that had fallen to use as a weapon against Leo. He holds it out in front of himself, protecting his bare chest as Leo struck down on him. Leo, pushing with all the strength he could muster, snaps the branch in two with his sword. Kirk stumbled back a step or two, dropping the remnants of his makeshift weapon.
"It's over, Kirk." Leo tightens his grip on his sword, approaching Kirk with a deadly look in his eye. Kirk faltered upwards, ascending a small set of stairs as he faced his brother below him. Leo continues on, "it is my duty to carry out your execution, and I won't let my father down."