Epistem- Rise of the Slave King's Heir

by Jani Griot

  The symbols stood like two cracked doors of white light at Khalif’s fingertips as he strained. The words of Arcana grew as he spoke them.

  The light stretched from his palms and formed pillars before a malicious swirl of red energy spun to life behind him. The pillars floated away and moved to frame the portal at his back—an arch connecting the two as they slid into place. Khalif sighed as red waves of energy washed over the sky. The lines of energy shot forward, rushing the unsuspecting victims below with univers.

  The effects were immediate. Members of different houses began fighting one another after the Dragon breathed indiscriminate flames, which spread through the various camps. A wreath of fire wrapped itself around the tents, housing the gathered nobility in the center.

  Volantes’s face shifted downward. His son had twisted materials from far and wide into a powder keg of destructive magics and dangerous individuals that were all ready to explode

  Khalif turned back to the visage of the Sky King. “Below are all of the old bloods. I’ve set the Dragon’s heir loose upon them. Ochloc’s daughter has been taken to be used as bait for the false king, and with all of their planning to attack this kingdom, they’ve started infighting,” said Khalif pointing toward the shoreline.

  Volantes chuckled at the spectacle. Mercenaries and soldiers turned on one another after training together moments prior. The magics used weren’t powerful enough to put out the dragon’s flames. The blaze spread rapidly, consuming everything. Khalif watched as the arriving ships came into shore by the dozens, unknowingly trapping themselves between each other and the building flames.

  The Sky King nodded at his son and disappeared without any further communication or instruction.

  Khalif scanned the gory scene below him and swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. He nearly choked trying to get his last, desperate words to the boy out, to speak them, even if they would go unheard.

  “Forgive me, brother.”

  The Ire of the Forgotten

  The reality of the circumstance hit Aemillious as he stood before it. The massive door burst inward to reveal the boy and girl hanging through the well of the dead god’s bedroom. Aemillious had not known his grandfather, but he knew the Sandmaker had been forged from the sun and univers itself.

  The massive room spoke to him as he entered. It was not as lavish as their palace, but its magic brought the room to life. Books of forgotten languages floated across the room. Bright blue and green flames lit every corner. As he looked up, he even saw that the mural of the roiling sun painted on the ceiling was moving once more, lighting the room in a way Aemillious had not seen since his childhood when his grandfather still lived.

  Aemillious ordered the mob that followed him to the top of the stairs to return to the bottom, giving the direct instructions to guard the entrances no matter what happened. He did this knowing Khalif’s power and by being very studied in the battle tactics used in the Sky Kingdom’s warfare over the past thousand cycles.

  The Sky King was known for turning his enemies on themselves using magics unknown to the rest of the kingdoms. Aemillious, potentially the most intelligent individual born in hundreds of cycles, wouldn’t be bothered by dozens of enraged slaves while trying to hunt a dragon and a sylph. He had laughed silently to himself when he watched his father purchase the boy.

  The boy and girl stood stared at him. He looked between the two and grinned. It was a confirmation between the two. They were going to run. He rolled his eyes and cracked the knuckles of both hands.

  “Hello little creatures. Shall we?” said Aemillious. He raised his palms upward and vanished before their eyes. His laugh echoed through the room as he appeared before the boy, grabbing him by the neck. He smiled as he flung the boy across the room.

  The girl’s shock quickly wore off and changed to slight confusion. Aemillious’s smile deepened before he spit flames of varying colors at her. The fire mixed with a sparking air that seemed to strengthen the flames. The fire lit the small space and the embers of that flame carved an outline into the air. A large, airy structure formed at Aemillious’s back. The stolen characteristics of his ability left him with one glimmering wing of light. And another wing. This one was composed of air but only made visible by flame and ember. The outline shone in the room. It was an ethereal vision made dark by the very existence of that wing.

  The girl attempted to repel the spray of fire with an explosive burst of her own, only to be tossed clear across the room by the erupting power of the attack’s collision. Aemillious, unaffected, took time to examine the wings at his back, letting his targets come to their feet. He had only fought individuals with wings a handful of times in the past. So, as an Omni, he could only remember the experience of flight through those few memories. The characteristics of his stolen abilities left him with two smoldering wings of light. Both hawk-like in structure and design, only large enough to fit a man his size.

  “My father thinks me to be an idiot,” said Aemillious as he vanished again. The look of dread that passed through the girl’s eyes made the prince chuckle.

  The boy shouted into the air before him before vanishing himself, “You’re not the only one with that trick, you coward!”

  Aemillious watched from above as the boy ran across the room toward the girl. The boy was certainly inexperienced in applying univers as he barely was able to mask his energy and aura even though he himself was invisible.

  He appeared before the girl maybe a dozen feet away. She spit flames of blue and green right into the face of her smiling attacker. The boy hurtled into the path of the fire and slammed into the girl. The might of Aemillious’s blow took the boy off his feet and then the girl as the two connected.

  “You see, that is the thing,” continued the prince as the girl and boy bounced off the wall behind them. “I am no coward. My pride is only hurt when Father declares me to be one.” Aemillious didn’t let the slaves touch the ground, catching them as they separated in the air. He threw them straight up as if the two were as light as small stones, laughing as they crashed into the ceiling. He then disappeared and reappeared just above the two falling bodies.

  “Now I know what you’re thinking,” he said as he pressed his palms flatly against their backs, flying straight down at such an alarming speed he nearly collided with the floor.

  He flinched at the sounds their fragile bodies made as bones broke and muscles stretched and tore. He felt bad for his new prisoners, as he had not killed them, but he knew their escape was now impossible. He didn’t know their value to the prince of the Sky Kingdom, and he didn’t care. All he wanted was to face a true challenge.

  “I must be quite stupid to not understand why I’m hurt by my father’s perception of me, but the thing is,” he said with the subtle flick of his wrist and a surge of univers. The air twisted beneath the boy and girl, lifting them off the ground, leaving them floating in front of Aemillious. They were no longer conscious when Aemillious touched down, but he continued to speak, nonetheless.

  “How could a man with such power, be so stupid?” Aemillious asked himself though he dreaded the answer. His father had long thought him weak after he’d declined to fight the king. He knew full control was not within his grasp and while drawing on his father’s power in the past, he felt the tremendous might of it taking over his mind. He could kill his father if he lost control within the tremendous power held by the king of Vassilious, and only struggled with the reality of his situation because the king didn’t recognize his true strength.

  “No matter. You will continue to dig your own grave, Father, or others will do so for you,” said Aemillious as he let the heat of his Elementals gauntlets cool. The light blue energy settled before he pulled out two sets of golden manacles inscribed with runes. He latched one set to the girl’s wrist and her eyes fluttered open momentarily. Her gaze flicked to her wrist and then toward Aemillious with pure fire until the effects of the runes activated, feeding off her own life-force. Aemillious smil
ed once more at the face the girl made at him before he shackled the boy as well. He rose to his feet, strode over to one of the large room’s many balconies and flew off the floor. Taking his prisoners with him.

  The Reign, the Rage, and the Cloud

  Almarine looked down at her wound and dragged herself along sandstone floors. Blood flowed from her body, leaving a trail leading all the way back to the trap door, with its glowing, pillared runes, next to the single tree beside Vassilious Keep.

  Just a bit farther, she willed herself as she crawled. Avery’s army of slaves and guards had killed every one of her kin. The imagery of those tragedies was branded within her memory. Scorching. Forever seared, sealed, within her.

  The king and his entire household slept, and she should have as well. Vola had shown her, long ago, the magic of univers, and his lessons culminated in that very moment. She simply knew enough to dodge the very same spell the king and his family had fallen victim to. Had the enemies of Vassilious been aware of her mental strength, she would have been targeted personally, but that same strength that had protected her, also failed her.

  She used her only functional arm to pull herself forward. The hallway she crawled through would be laden with traps, unless it was illuminated. One of the minor magics Vola had taught Almarine, was the ability to make her wrist and palm glow; her arm served as a biological lantern, keeping her safe from trickery. She managed to move forward with her free hand, pressing all her weight onto her side and weakly scooting her feet forward.

  “You’re dying,” said a woman down the hall. Almarine looked up to see PRO striding toward her. The end of the hall grew much brighter as the woman picked up speed to reach the dying slave.

  “I am,” spoke Almarine softly. She watched as PRO stopped before her, crouching on her tiptoes. PRO brushed Almarine’s sweat-drenched hair from her face. PRO’s hands glowed with a healing light, which soothed Almarine in her final moments.

  “Vola and I had high hopes for you, and even more for your child,” said PRO as she evaded Almarine’s distant eyes. Almarine focused on PRO in that moment; the woman’s words filled her with a fear so deep it momentarily revitalized her.

  She lifted her head as high as she could, though she could not match the crouching woman’s height, she could match her fervor. “You and your kind will never have my son, nor will the lords of any land or kingdom. His rage belongs to the fury of the cloak now. And so does he,” spat Almarine in absolute despair. As light slowly left her eyes, PRO’s brimmed with intensity.

  “That cannot be…” PRO trailed off as she derived a startling meaning from what the woman had just stated.

  “Who is your father?” asked PRO. Her eyes locked on the woman as she mouthed words. PRO repeated herself softly, slightly shaking Almarine. The woman smiled as her breaths faltered.

  “My brother will not protect my son, because my mother was a slave. Will you let the lands rip my son apart because of his blood?” asked Almarine softly. She choked and struggled to meet PRO’s eyes again. The woman lifted Almarine into her arms, shaking her head slightly.

  “Who is your brother?” PRO asked.

  Almarine shook her head, her lips pressed taut. She would take the secrets of her lineage to her grave. “Never mind that. Teach my son, teach him of the cloud, teach him of the reign, teach him to control the rage that burns within him.”

  PRO knew what Almarine alluded to, but she couldn’t bring herself to believe it. She ran her hands down her face, applying enough pressure to cause her vision to darken. Her brother, Arkanous, had constructed the Fury’s cloak. But then he’d been cast out of the highest realm by the gods who opposed their family. PRO was cast out alongside him. As were many others.

  PRO knew that her brother had only grown to be a threat worthy of banishment from the highest realm because of his dealings with all seven of the godly families. None of their supposed allies came to aid her brother before Arkanous had been shoved through the white hole, leaving the man nearly defenseless throughout the entire process.

  If not for the Fury’s cloak, Arkanous would have been destroyed. The cloak was imbued with a single ability from each of the godly families, making its wearer nearly invincible. So long as the wearer was supported by at least one member of each of the opposing families.

  Arkanous had been, until his betrothed was killed, using an ability that tied all the others together, dramatically weakening the leader of the Furies.

  “Arkanous had such a grand plan to unite the higher realm. It’s always been such a pain in my side,” said PRO as she looked down on yet another who would die for connecting herself to PRO’s bloodline. PRO felt the woman’s heart stop beating and watched as the light in Almarine’s hand extinguished. PRO would have cried if she were capable.

  She had long ago promised she would watch over her brother’s descendants, even if they were mixed-blooded abominations. That was until Almarine told her about Vola’s child.

  PRO slowed as she thought of the implications, coming up to a pit in one of the many trapped hallways that were underneath the crust of the kingdom. She jumped into that darkened pit, knowing that it led to the city below and not imminent doom. Her thoughts plunged into darkness with her. The words Almarine had used, were the same words her nephew had used.

  “The reign, the rage, and the cloud,” said PRO, quoting Vola. From PRO’s understanding, the words meant that Vola hoped to be the descendant of Arkanous, who unlocked the chaos cloud within the Fury’s cloak.

  Through my anger, I will reach the immortal sky and live above those who reign as a furious storm cloud in the world of Epistem, for we are the world.

  The words of her brother rolled through her mind. Predictions the man had made, long ago, even before their banishment. He knew one of his descendants would unite the families either through friendship or kinship, and now it had happened. For the chaos cloud was the highest ability. With the potential to either destroy or lift the highest realm, and the surrounding realms, into the final age.

  “I will never forgive you, brother, if my oath to you destroys our home.” PRO closed the distance between herself and Almarine. She scooped the lifeless woman into her arms before falling into the large open space above the city, having just passed through the doorway into the pocket dimension.

  The piece of the highest realm occupied that alternate space, which they had once called home. It was in a perpetual state of growth. As the needs of the families grew, as their knowledge grew, as their connections grew, so did their seat of power. Only none of the outcast family knew of its existence.

  The city was an endless landscape of wealth and resources. Filled with homes and large structures for crafting, construction, and an endless number of libraries and information. Relics from times yet to come and times long past scattered the landscape, forgotten.

  PRO landed atop the library at the center of the city, silently settling in the garden there. She did it as if there had not been hundreds of feet between where she had jumped and where she landed. Almarine’s body left her hands and floated toward the center of a bed of flowers underneath her control of univers.

  PRO stood, stuck watching Almarine, remembering when she and Vola had first met and spoke about their dreams for the future. Now she faced a future she thought would never come. Could she train a child who had the potential to destroy the highest realm?

  Runes lit the stones surrounding the garden and a bright light filled the area. “Goodbye, love of my kin, you will be remembered eternally.”

  PRO did not look back as she turned and walked toward the entrance of the library. Almarine’s soul and body would now feed the city and generate its power. She could not find it within herself to watch it happen anymore, no matter how beautiful the golden lights were.

  She found herself in the room she had been in before she was alerted to Almarine’s presence. PRO’s connection to the city made her cognizant of all life that entered the walls and its surrounding area.


  Before she left the room, she had been watching, through her use of univers, the child of Vola. She wondered how much of her nephew resided in the boy. The room filled with clouds and began to shift and shake violently until the clouds solidified, taking on the form of people, and buildings, or structures. PRO stood in the center of it all.

  It only took her a moment to realize where she was as the scene emerged. She stood outside one of the many entrances to Sand Mountain—her home. She watched as a small cargo ship pulled up to the nearby dock to unload a group of slaves. She had not seen so many different houses in Ochloc’s façade of a kingdom since Vola had been a child. PRO saw more mercenaries than actual house guards. She knew an army when she saw one.

  “Avery, Dara, Carter of the guild,” she said contemplatively.

  “What have you gotten yourself into now, Ochloc?” said PRO as she searched for Vola’s son. She found him, following close behind a girl who was shackled at the ankles with manacles only found in the Sky Kingdom, where the magic of univers saturated everything.

  “They are coming for you, son of the sands,” said PRO, trailing off the moment she saw the rune of protection over the boy beside Vola’s son. It was a mark of significant protection that was different dependent on the blood of its target. PRO had seen many of the earthly gods grant such protections on mortal children, but this boy’s mark showed ties from both royalty from the Sky Kingdom and much darker places. The rune flickered in her vision like a black diamond surrounded by a vicious wind.

  A guard yelled from one of the many towers surrounding the base of the mountain, alerting the immediate troops to Vola’s son and the boy from the Sky Kingdom. An arrow landed at the feet of Vola’s son and a moment of shock passed through the crowd as the shackled girl tripped and the slaves were charged.

  PRO watched as the chaos cloud burst to life around the boy. She froze as the girl her descendant had been following soared upward and out, free of the cloud. Brilliant wings of light stretched out from the girl’s back as flames raged free of her mouth, incinerating parts of the nearby watchtower. Men were left ablaze.