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CHAPTER 21:

FATHER AND SON, PART II

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Rief had led them further out of the tunnel, onto a large stone plateau above the lava.

"So," Karis said, "this is where you want to fight?"

"Yes," Rief said. "I believe this is a suitable stage for us."

"Why here, if I may ask?"

"It wouldn't be appropriate for us to engage on that narrow stone strip," Rief explained. "You could have fallen into the lava, and I couldn't let that happen."

Karis bit her lip and surveyed the area, looking for anything that could give her an advantage.

"See that door behind me?" said Rief. "That leads outside. I would give you the key if you could defeat me, but of course that will never happen though. You will lose, you'll return along the path from which we came and you'll beg Lord Arcanus for forgiveness."

The remaining prisoners stood behind Karis, watching anxiously as they awaited their fate.

"Well then, let us begin," Rief said, drawing his staff. "Please don't resist too hard. I'd rather not have you damaged too much."

He didn't want her to be 'damaged'. Somehow, it seemed to Karis that she had become a certain someone's particularly valuable piece of pottery. And Rief, he was going to try his best to loyally deliver this pottery back to its owner, Lord Arcanus of the Tuaparang, without damaging "it". What had happened to him?

"What do you make of me?" Karis demanded, as she thrust forth her palm, causing an explosion of white plasma right where Rief was standing. "Shouldn't you be worrying about losing to me, rather than 'damaging' me?"

Rief managed to jump out of the way, but wisps of smoke rose from his singed robes.

"I know you well!" he yelled back. "Have you forgotten the months we traveled together? I know exactly how you fight!"

And yet you must avoid anything that could kill me, Karis thought. You think I'll hold back, do you?

A rain of ice missiles flew at her. She called forth a tempest of wind and sent them back at Rief. "Then," she shouted, "you must also remember that I was always a better fighter than you!"

"I've changed, I've grown since then!" Rief yelled back. He quickly deployed one of his djinn, Shell, to erect a shield. The icicles shattered against Shell's power.

Okay, if you want to play that game, I can do that too, Karis thought. She knew she had to defeat him as fast as possible, before any reinforcements came. Then, she would get to the bottom of whatever had happened to him…

She dodged another barrage of icicles and deployed her djinni, Kite, who enabled her to move twice as fast. She immediately called forth another, Swift, and with its power let loose an arrow that preempted any defenses Rief might have thrown up. He cried out in pain as the arrowhead punctured his arm. "You tell yourself what you want," Karis called over to him. "I'll finish you fast, just you wait!"

Karis then let loose a third djinni, Gust, on Rief. Gust buffeted Rief twice, sending him sprawling backward, defenseless as he crashed down to the ground. Rief pulled the arrow out of his arm, and deployed another one of his own djinn to heal his wounds.

Karis knew what to do next. She'd summon Procne the wind goddess with her djinn and devastate him. But, for some reason, she found herself hesitating.

Wait, she doubted herself. Can I really go all out on him?

Karis bit her lip again. She couldn't actually kill him, could she? But then, what if holding back would cost her the fight?

Her thoughts were cut short when all of a sudden she felt something being sucked from her, and saw the spirits of the three djinn she'd just deployed being pulled toward Rief. He was holding his arm out, as if beckoning them.

What is happening, Karis thought, alarmed. Was Rief doing this? He'd never been able to do this before.

Regardless of what it was, Karis knew she had to brace for what was next.

A vortex appeared between them, and from it emerged an enormous beige-colored dragon she knew well as Eclipse. They had acquired the ability to summon it, together, in the Luna Tower. She gritted her teeth and readied herself as it flew at her, jaws open.

-~:|~~|:-:|~~|:~-

Arcanus tapped the dull end of his blade on his son's chin, nudging him to look up. "I'll give you one last chance, " he said.

Myalkni stared blankly back at him. You're giving me a 'last' chance… again?

"I know you could've done much better than that… You were made a fool of yourself yet again," Arcanus said. "I threw off your balance by saying things to anger you, and lured you into traps easily because of your hysteria. Come, you must realize now that you're better off cutting your losses. Submit. You have such potential, but you just won't learn, will you?"

"I guess that's how I am," Myalkni said blandly.

"It's so easy," Arcanus said. "Emotions make people vulnerable, so easy to defeat and to manipulate. Even in mass numbers."

"That's how you did it in Morgal, I saw," Myalkni noted. "Would you do that in Ayuthay too? Have you already?"

"Maybe I have," Arcanus said with a coy smile. "I do it everywhere. But you are my son through and through. I saw how you finished Latakia. I had never imagined she was so pathetic. It just goes to show, after all my years of raising her, she could never be the same as my flesh and blood. She could never have the potential you hold inside yourself."

Myalkni loathed every little bit of this man.

"Think, use that head of yours for once!" Arcanus urged. "If you choose not to die, there are still so many possibilities for you that you don't even realize. How do you know there isn't still something in life for you?"

Arcanus removed his foot from his son's arm. "Maybe you'd realize my plans for the future aren't so bad after all," he said. "Maybe you can influence the future to be more like what you'd like to see by standing by my side. Or maybe my plans will fail in the end."

As much as Myalkni hated to admit it, what Arcanus was saying made sense. Maybe it did make more sense to stay alive, to try to influence the future for the better.

"Who knows? If you live, you'll always have some power to do things," Arcanus reasoned. "Don't miss out on what you don't yet know."

But if I do that, Myalkni thought, how could I live with myself, having betrayed Tyrell yet again? But still, at the same time, dying would mean not being able to repent for all the other things he had done. He thought of the caravan he had burnt in eastern Morgal. How could he ever put loyalty to Tyrell before making up for all the lives he had taken then?

Myalkni looked up to see Arcanus grinning triumphantly at Tyrell. Was he reading my mind again just now? Myalkni hoped not, but Arcanus' grin suggested otherwise

"Don't listen to him!" Tyrell yelled to Myalkni.

"You know you should," said Arcanus.

"You're not even really his father anyways!" Tyrell said.

"What do you mean by that?" Arcanus asked, narrowing his eyes. "I did sire him."

"When I was in Ayuthay, I could tell," said Tyrell. "Even if you did sire him, it's Paithos who acts as his father."

"But he has my blood," countered Arcanus, "and the blood he shares with me shapes him as a person. It shapes his temperament, his physical appearance, and almost everything else about him. Without it, he wouldn't even be an adept!"

Not only that, Myalkni thought, but almost everything about my life would be different. He might hate to admit it, but in a way Arcanus truly had influenced every part of his life, even in absence.

"Okay, fine. Maybe that's true," Tyrell conceded. "But he's so much more than just that! He's his own person, not just your son."

"Ah, more of the your identity delusions," Arcanus sighed. "You always fall back on those. They might make one's existence feel less meaningless, but the fact is that in reality they don't make a bit of difference."

"But Myalkni," continued Arcanus, "he's different. He is my progeny, after all. I'm sure that with time, he'll learn to discard these useless lies of identities and emotional bonds. One day— "

"It's you who lies to yourself, Arcanus," Myalkni cut in. "You tell yourself all this stuff about how you're this superior being who has risen above emotional nonsense, but you DO have emotions. You're just as irrational as the rest of us!"

"What do you mean?" snapped Arcanus. "When ever have I-"

Myalkni cut him off again. "That's the real reason you kidnapped me in the first place. How was that truly necessary for your goals?"

Arcanus opened his mouth to speak, but Myalkni continued yelling over him. "I bet the truth is that you missed my mother, and that while you might think you don't care about emotions and relationships, you want me to be your son."

"But that's-" Arcanus shouted back.

"Shut up!" blasted Myalkni. "Deep down, you know that's what you want. All your reasons are just excuses. But you lost that chance ages ago. I'll neveraccept you. Never."

"This is all nothing but a bunch of self-inflating lies," retorted Arcanus. "You're disappointing me."

"Am I? I think the fact that you get disappointed proves my point. Not only do you want to be my father, but you have to worship yourself by making me just like yourself!" Myalkni exacted. "That and my mother, that's really why you want me by your side. If that's not irrational, I don't know what is!"

"There are plenty of rational reasons for all of this," Arcanus replied. "After all, you are my progeny, an adept and a prince and therefore you have an important place in my plans."

"Arcanus," said Tyrell. "I have a question."

"And what would that be?"

"Did you," Tyrell asked, "kill Princess Veriti of Ayuthay?"

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"I'm sorry for being so forceful earlier," Nowell told Matthew as they wandered through the halls of the complex. "I just really want to save my brother. I hope you understand."

"It's fine," Matthew said. "I understand… rather well. It's just that, at the same time, I'm always reminded of… things from the past."

"You mean like what happened in the Luna Tower?" asked Nowell.

"Yeah," Matthew said. "That."

"But we're working to fix it all now," said Nowell. "Aren't we?"

"Yeah I guess," Matthew mumbled as he opened the door to the next chamber. "Let's focus on getting our job done here."

"Yeah," Nowell agreed as she walked through the doorway.

As soon as Matthew let the door go, it slammed behind them with a bang.

Nowell inhaled sharply. "Look this way," she hissed, "and be quiet as death."

When he turned around, Matthew almost jumped back with fright. Right in front of them, stretched out wide across the ground was a giant orc. And it was waking up.

The two of them tried to quietly move around it, but it was too late. As it started to rise, its eyes locked on them.

"Crap," Nowell swore under her breath. "We don't have time for this…"

"We didn't mean to intrude," Matthew said cautiously, "but really we need to pass. We mean you no harm."

The giant got to its feet and reached for its axe.

"It's no use," Nowell said. "Quick, follow me!"

Matthew followed as she sprinted along the wall of the room and into a channel. He turned around to see that not one, but five giants were chasing them.

"Run!" he cried.

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Myalkni stared at Tyrell, astonished. Did he know something?

"Where did that come from?" Arcanus asked. "What would ever make you think that?"

"It just suddenly occurred to me," Tyrell said. "I had a feeling that there's something off about it."

"Oh, of course," said Arcanus. "Of course you would rely on just a 'feeling' to come up with these ridiculous ideas you have."

"But it makes sense too," Tyrell argued. "The whole thing is so fishy, how you were with Princess Veriti and how she died."

"'Fishy'?"

"You come in a mask, and don't show yourself to anyone but her," Tyrell said, "and then right after she gives birth to your kid, she mysteriously dies. Maybe she had served her use, and then she had to die so she couldn't reveal your secrets."

"So that's what you think, then?"

"Didn't… didn't my mother die in childbirth?" Myalkni asked. His heart pounded. His throat felt heavy, and he gritted the teeth as he tasted blood in the back of his mouth."…Did you kill her, father?" he asked, his voice low but clear.

Arcanus remained silent.

"Tell me!" Myalkni demanded. "Is it true?!"

"…She had indeed served her use," Arcanus said. "And she knew far too much."

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Next Chapter: Verity

Authors notes:

*Reviewing makes people awesome, as always :)

*This chapter was originally much longer but I split it in three, so the next may be coming… a lot faster than the typical rate (which I admit has been very slow lately, I've been busy :( ).