Pyrus (19 page)

We climb the stairs towards the chambers of the king. I had to stop and ask for directions twice on the second floor—the guards stared after me as I walked past with confused looks on their faces, but they said nothing. I was always on alert, waiting for someone to point and shout: “They aren't with us! Seize them!” But they never did. Our disguises and plan were foolproof.

We finally found the old oak doors that were the entrance to the king's chambers. Once again, there were two or three guards stationed outside of the doors, protecting the chambers. Lying that we had some urgent business to speak with the king about, I tried to enter the door. One guard passed his sword over the door, preventing me from entering.

“Under what grounds do you seek to speak with his majesty?” he asked curiously.

“There has been word of the location of the rogue magician who broke the seal. We were dispatched by the Shinso to locate and attempt to capture this person. Most of our troop was wiped out however, and the Shinso are nowhere to be found.” The guard looked shock as I spoke, and he wordlessly removed his sword from my way. It took a lot of energy to hide the smile on my face. We were in.

Chapter 25: The Ending

The doors close behind us upon entering, and the first thing I notice about this place is the size. This room itself was almost as big as the hallway. Red cloths hang from the banisters and the marble walls.

“If you have come to kill me, then I am afraid you are too late. I died long ago, when my son was taken from me and the Shinso overthrew my rule.” My brain needed a second to translate the Pyrian. A short man with red skin approaches us from the shadows, a dagger clutched in his trembling right hand. He looked like an aged version of Gron. The only difference was that his hair was black and a golden crown lay on top of his head.

“I am Jack, and this is my companion, Lyra.” She nods at her introduction. “We aren't here to kill you.” He looks at me puzzled. I slap my head, realizing that I was speaking in English. I quickly translate what I had previously said, and his eyes light up in recognition, but then darken again just as quickly.

“I do not care what your names are. You are intruding upon my chambers. The Shinso did not need to send a polite assassin; you will die just like the others.” Realizing the situation I am in, I quickly take a few steps back. This man is crazy.
Well, he's not crazy
, I thought.
He's just paranoid from all of the attempted murders that he has had to foil. Think, Jack, think!

“The Shinso are dead.” That makes him drop his guard almost immediately. He was stunned. His eyes became dead. There was no activity. I actually had to wave my hand to make sure he hadn't died. The motion of my hand brought him back to reality, and he lunged almost instinctively towards me. The dagger goes right through my hand and almost pierces through my clothing. I let out a scream of pain as the dagger swiftly pulls back. Lyra was already about to release Bolt, and Leo was so ticked that he insisted on letting him free so he could eat the king.

“Any more attempts at foolery you would like to try before your demise?” Sol's eyes widened with insanity as he licked his lips.

“As a matter of fact,” I began. The king looked ready to kill me for speaking back to him. His whole body quivered in anticipation. “We met your son,” I continued. Once again, the king dropped his guard. This time I didn't go over to see if he was alive, I had learned my lesson. He began to tremble with rage as he yelled at me. Tears were flowing down his wrinkled face as he fell to his knees.

“My son was killed long ago. Do not lie to me, you wretched cur! I will have you killed if you even mention his name. My son meant everything to me. They took away not only my throne, but my pride, my joy! After me, the lineage of kings will perish!” He was a wreck. I fall onto both of my knees and look at him the way Leo looked at me the time I had broken down. I placed my hands on his shoulders and he gazes up at me..

“Flayre was my mentor,” I speak calmly. Lyra couldn't help me on this, so I had to trust myself and hope that I could convince him to spare us. “I am now the Kreydur of Pyrus. I have returned the land back to its original state with his help. It hurts losing someone that you care about—believe me, I know. But we need you, as the king, to assume the true throne of Pyrus. It's what your son would have wanted, and it's the only way to truly honor his name.” He looks at me for a second and then laughs right in my face.

“If my son was alive, then where is he now? Show me my son, and I will believe your words.”

“Flayre is dead,” I reply emotionlessly. He looks at me again, and now I begin to think that telling him so much only made it worse. It was like losing his son for the second time.

“And how did he die this time?” he asked me coldly. I knew he didn't believe a word I was saying, but the only thing I could do now was be honest.
And if that does not work, then we can always knock him out and abduct him by force,
Leo reminded me.
That is a last resort!
I reply sharply.
There is always a way to convince someone; you just need to know how.

“He died while protecting the Magician's Core against another Kreydur. After saving himself from death the first time, he had weakened himself to the point that he could only use magic when it was absolutely necessary, and training me only weakened him further. I was pursuing the Shinso at the time and was too late to save him.” Sol looked at me curiously. I think he began to believe me, but only because I had revealed so many of the secrets of Pyrus. His vision became distant again, and I glance at Lyra staring at the entrance. Both of us felt the urge to get out of here. This was taking way too long, and it wouldn't be long before the guards discovered we weren't who we said we were.

As if in response to my negative thought, there was a loud banging on the doors. Lyra motioned to summon Bolt but remembered what she needed to do and stopped.

“Alright, Sol, you can either come with us willingly to the true palace or we will have to take you by force. Either way, you are coming with us, so hurry up and decide!” He nodded his head, but continued to stare into the distance, completely unaware of the sound of the banging. The bang became a crash as the doors were knocked off of their hinges. I have to admit I was impressed; it's not every day that you get to see a battering ram as big as the one the four guards were using. It was dropped with a loud
thunk
as they began to draw their swords.

“Lyra, take him and move!” She looks confused that I'm not going with them. “I'll hold them off! Don't worry about me; I'll be right behind you! Move!” She hesitates. I look away from her, knowing she'll see right through the lie. She raises her right arm and summons a thundercloud. A black puffball begins to materialize in the center of the room, and she runs over to me, grabs Sol by the arm, and drags him through it.

You know you will have to keep that promise
, Leo nags at me. I smile, forgetting that he can't see it. “It's very rare that I lie about these kinds of things, Leo—even you know that. Kreysire!” Skipping through the animal stage, I swing the cloth box as it appears. The flames engulf everything around us, igniting the room and making it seem like a giant fireball. All the guards charged at me, and were defeated by a three-sixty spinning slash. The cloud disappears, and I realize just how much trouble I'm in.

Lyra dragged the king through the charcoal plains. She kept staring back at the castle, waiting for him to rejoin them. She knew that she should have been there with him, but he had promised to catch up to them, and she bound him to his word.

“Where is the castle?” she asks him for the second time. He looks strange now. His once young features aged as he exited the palace. He constantly zoned out, making it hard for him to walk on his own. He begins to speak in Pyrian, but without Jack there is no way for her to understand what he is saying. He points to the west, and uses three fingers to try and tell her.

“Maybe this wasn't the best idea.” I pant as I block the swords and spears coming at me. Every time I beat one wave of soldiers, a new one would come and take its place. It was endless. The only good thing was that I was out of the king's chambers and back in the main hall. Actually, I think it was a bad thing.
We have no other choice but to fight our way out, unless you prefer to swim in lava,
Leo says through the blocks and the collisions. Foolishly, I charge at a stained glass window in the main hall and forcefully hurl my body into it. Shards are scattered everywhere as I make contact.
That was a possibility I did not consider
, Leo replies, impressed. I stagger to my feet and glance at the boiling lava that was the moat of the castle. The ditch was very wide, but I may be able to make it with a magii-enhanced jump.

Do not even think about it!
Leo says once my thoughts began to rack together.
You have already used enough magii in defeating over five hundred guards. Your magii chambers cannot take much more of this.

“Surprisingly, I feel fine,” I reply. I was being dead honest too. “You did say that I had to use as much excess magii as possible, right?” I could tell he was still unconvinced. “It's either I use a little here, or I use a lot while fighting the other half of the guards.” When faced with choices like that, who couldn't agree with me? Taking a few steps forward to gauge my jumping distance, the dirt crumbles under my foot and I struggle to keep my balance.

Do you still not want to fight the guards?
Leo asks me. “It's better to keep lives than take them away,” I reply. It was true. What I had done to Ivan sickened me to the point that I didn't want to fight again, but for some reason, I always have to. Could nothing be solved with words? Thinking more about it, I could have probably prevented this entire journey by just talking to Fred. Instead, I am stuck struggling for survival above a burning pit of death. Turning behind me, I notice the guards have gotten out spears, each one ready to poke me into the ditch.

“Well, I have no choice now!” I yell out to Leo, and without taking a running start, I make my leap towards the other side. I just end up going upwards though, no forward motion involved. Waving my arms like a bird, I attempt to push myself centimeter by centimeter towards the other side. I wasn't falling yet, so I knew that I had some time.
You know you could just use me as a jetpack.
Leo reminds me once I start to fall. Talk about embarrassing. I have to slap myself on the forehead later for not thinking of that. Pointing towards the castle, I release every amount of magii I have in my body.

The flame propels me like a rocket towards heaven knows where. I just hope that I'm going in the general direction of Lyra and the king; otherwise, it will be hell to try and find them, even when traveling via Leo airlines. “Do you think they went this way?” I shout out to him.
I have no idea
, he replies. Off into the great unknown, or at least until my magii runs out. Have you ever sped through something so fast that you couldn't see anything? Imagine that, but with bright lights surrounding you.

I think we need a new plan!
My mind was already looking for a way out without stopping abruptly.
We have no other choice
, Leo intrudes.
The less time we spend flying around, the more time we can focus on rejoining the others.
Everything he says makes sense, but there was the key element of pain that I was worried about. Well, we always need a constant flow of magii, so what if I steadily decrease the flame size until I can properly land? My plan shows promise, but it was still in the “what if” stage. I could totally screw this up and kill myself.

Closing my eyes and concentrating, my mind begins to picture a tap. I almost laugh at how nostalgic my strategy was, but it would wreck my concentration. My hand slowly twists the knob on the sink. My breathing is deep, controlled. I hear the flames around me begin to fade, but due to the volcanoes, I think it may just be me zoning everything out. It was now or never. I had no idea where I was; if I had slowed down enough; even my height was a mystery. My mind faltered, and the tap was jerked closed. I fall, rapidly towards the ground only to land on my butt.
So much for drama
, Leo says, aware of my relief.
You were only a few centimeters off of the ground.
I release him into his physical form, tired of him picking up my thoughts all of the time. It was cool, don't get me wrong, but I felt like he knew me better than I knew myself sometimes—and that wasn't cool.

“Well we are not that far from the palace,” Leo says.

“I thought we were travelling for a while! Do you think the guards will pursue us quickly?” He could hear the tension and agitation in my voice. He motioned at me with his paw as a smile began to form on his face. I immediately became very ticked; how could he laugh at me? I had done the single most insane thing I could think of. .

“I think you are referring to the wrong palace,” Leo says to me as he motioned with his paw. Instead of jumping to conclusions this time, I follow his paw and stare into the valley below me.

“Yeah … Did I mention how convenient this is?” I ask him. We didn't need to go looking for Lyra, she would come to us. Now we could stake out at the true palace, fight off any defenders, and clean the place up until they arrive. The fear of being attacked once I reach the true palace evaded my mind as I glanced at the moss-stricken walls. This thing was old, but it had a glow to it, a certain vibe that told you this place was for royalty, despite its condition. The walls were cracked, some of the windows were shattered, and the moat that was once probably was a sea of lava had run dry.

“Remind me why we didn't just assume leadership in the good palace?”

“You know why; it is the rally point for this country. King Sol can lead our armies from here, and it is your job to ensure that peace is restored.”

“By leading armies, how are we ensuring peace? We're just causing more casualties, more death, more suffering. How can you be okay with that?”

“It is not my choice that I am part of this war. I just have seen many more battles, and my body always quivers in anticipation at a new and stronger foe.” Leo contradicted himself, but I wasn't going to tell him. He was avoiding my question by shutting me off from his true feelings. I wasn't going to be assured of anything he said anymore.

I look at the volcanoes around us, the ash that had stuck to my pants, and I think of home. Memories of my friends, my family, my life. And that's all they are ever going to be now: memories. I couldn't go back, not while I was still a part of something here. My role is just starting, and I have much to learn, but something was nagging at me in the back of my mind that makes me forget about my past life. I feel this really hot sensation in my pocket. At first it's soothing and relaxing, until it becomes unbearable. Taking the bottle from Kris out of my pocket as I sit down on a nearby rock, I examine it. I now had another thing on my to-do list after Lyra arrives—for the bottle was now Pyrian red.