Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

Lady Tenia crouched to the ground to retrieve the elf's sword. She also grasped onto a small ring with an obsidian-black gemstone. Desmond immediately recognized it as something similar to the one that magically appeared and disappeared on Lucius's hand when he used his Mark.

Tenia examined it carefully with a sad gaze for several minutes. It was a look of remembrance. How was she…

"Desmond Adler." Tenia closed her fist around the ring. "I know this boy has been looking for this object. Unfortunately for him, it is not to be just yet."

She glanced over to Lucius, who had fallen unconscious at some point. The glow from earlier had vanished along with the tendrils of shadow and smoke that had tried to fend it off.

Tenia continued, "I don't really care about the balance as much as others, and I have little interest in joining their game. I do care if the boy dies, and if he takes this now, it will kill him. Not his body, but his soul. The man you know as Lucius Kane would cease to exist, replaced by something else entirely. When he gains the strength to keep himself, I will give this to him."

"Game? What game?" Desmond breathed. A part of him wanted to take the ring from her. It was something his friend desired after all, but he wasn't stupid. A world where he could succeed at anything over the oldest Empyrean did not exist.

"The world's fate is cyclical. It is a game that has been played time and time again. With every cycle, new players are added, using their pieces as best they can to come out ahead. In the past they did not care about 'balance' yet something has changed. Someone has changed it and I do not know how… Be careful boy."

Desmond tried to ask for clarification from Lady Tenia, but before he could open his mouth she vanished in a flash of lightning, taking with her the ring. The sounds of distant battle began to wane. With their added forces, the Resistance had Varris under their control. Now that trade could once again flow through Aedrider, the civil war would end. Their duty was no more.

Snow hobbled out of the doorway, exhausted from the effort of hopping on a single leg. Her eyes went wide with concern seeing the devastation around Desmond.

"Don't look at me. I didn't do this."

"Is Lucius breathing?"

"Yeah."

"Good…" Snow sighed.

Cheers erupted from the front garden. Followed quickly by a roar that enveloped the entire city. It seemed that the battle was one. A terrifying draconic roar accompanied them. They had won.

***

Kestis ran through the streets. Surrounding him were a number of their best guards. Though the news that the city had been won already reached them, there could still be those loyal to Indarel that wanted his head.@@novelbin@@

As the buildings melted away, opening into a wide-open space. Where the walls of his family estate once were, there was only rubble, bodies, and blood. Standing in the middle of them was Sheza. Her body covered in more scales than before. Death radiated from her. Kestis felt a part of himself recoil when her predatory eyes fell upon him. However, that quickly vanished; replaced by a sense of relief.

"You're okay." He whispered.

Sheza's eyes opened wide as he rushed her. Kestis wrapped his arms protectively around her, bracing the back of her head with his hand. "Gods, Sheza, you're okay."

The predatory presence she exuded faded, once more becoming the familiar comforting one belonging to his friend. Sheza returned his embrace, gripping his back tightly.

"Yeah. I'm okay. We did it Kestis, we won. The city is finally yours."

Kestis pulled his head back slightly. His body still pressed up against Sheza's. Her eyes gazed at him questioningly, expectantly. Her lips shimmered in the light of the flames still burning in his family's garden. "Ours." He whispered as he leaned in and kissed her.

Shouts and cheers exploded around them as their soldiers showered them with support. He vowed that he would protect this city with Sheza at his side. Never again would the flames of destruction touch his fair city or its people. Those that died here would be forever remembered as heroes.

One thing interrupted his thoughts. Wulf. Somewhere inside his home was the man who came up with this plan. Kestis released his hold on his friend-turned-lover and strode toward his home. Following the path of destruction, he found himself standing in the back garden. A body lay in the dirt accompanied by a purple-haired human and Wulf's bodyguard Snow. The body wore the familiar armor belonging to the man in question.

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"Does he live?" Kestis questioned with a stern tone.

"I do." Wulf slowly picked himself off the ground, coming to a seated position. His mask no longer covered his face. A hood no longer hid his head. Kestis's eyes widened as he saw jet-black hair waving in the breeze. Wulf's face revealed scars along his cheek, chin, and neck. Gold and Silver eyes peering into the depths of his soul.

"Lucius Kane." Kestis breathed. "You were here?"

"Yes."

"So when Wulf confirmed Lucius would not destroy the city…"

"That was me. There were many reasons not to destroy this place. One was that I thought your brother had something important. He did not." Lucius sighed. "The others are less important."

"Is that so? Then we owe this victory to you and your support."

"In part, yes." Lucius answered. The man winced as he shifted himself slightly. "But I think the truth of it lies with those that support you. Losing Varris would be a blow to Aedrider. After witnessing you and your subordinates' loyalty to you… I realized that losing some of the people within it would hurt just as badly. It is them you should thank."

Sheza's footsteps approached from behind. Lucius's gaze fell on her and several other soldiers that had joined them.

"There are few people in this world that I trust, Kestis." Lucius continued. "I keep them very close. You should do the same. Anyway, it is time I take my leave. General Falin should be somewhere in the city. His forces will support you in the reconstruction. My allies gathered additional supplies for the express purpose of supporting and reconstructing Varris upon its recapture."

"Truly? You planned that far ahead?"

Lucius stood, shakily. "No. Others did. I only fought."

Kestis watched as the three people before him passed by. The human lifted Snow into his arms, following closely behind the hobbling form of Lucius.

"Lord Kane!" Kestis interrupted. Lucius turned to face him with a blank expression. "Your plan was brash and put many people's lives at risk. I thought it would result in pointless death and loss."

"It is a leader's job to send people to their deaths. War's only purpose is death. Whether it is the death of people or ideals." Lucius answered. "It is something worth learning, Lord Kestis din Varris."

"A callous way to view it, don't you think?"

"Yes." The man answered.