Fate of the Empires

“Are you ready to go?” I hear a voice from the darkness.

“Who are you?” I ask.

“It is I, Amida, here to guide you to paradise.”

“Why can’t I see you? Why can’t I see anything?”

“There is always darkness before the light.”

“I cannot accompany you.”

“You don’t have a choice. You died.”

“How?”

“Why do mortals always want to know how they died? You were betrayed by one you trusted.”

“Magnus? But his mind was enslaved.”

“What are you going on about, mortal? Who is Magnus? Kwon is the one that turned on you and his mind was quite clear when he did it.”

“Kwon? Kwon Zhang?”

“Yes, he attacked you while you were meditating.”

“The last thing I remember was pushing Leaia out of the fireball’s path. I…I don’t…”

“Zhao, I think the trauma from your death has you mixed up, but I assure you-”

“Zhao is my father.”

“What?”

“I am Jun Fang, son of Zhao Fang.”

“Well, I’ve never made that mistake before. Your spirits are very alike. I am sorry for the confusion. You were not supposed to be held here.”

“Wait. Is my father dead?”

“He will be once I find his soul in this black abyss. He doesn’t have long. I’m sorry.”

“I need to get out of here! Now!”

“Then go.”

I wake up gasping for breath. I quickly look around. I don’t know this room! I stand up from the bedroll. Where am I? Where is my father?! Calm down, Jun. It might have been a dream. I scan the room once again. I see my father’s armor on a stand. I would recognize the General’s armor anywhere. This must be my father’s room. He has to be here. I make my way into the next room.

A general living area. Everything is in disarray like the room has been searched. The table is knocked over. Rice is scattered across the floor and… No! A body slumped over on the ground! I rush over. It is my father. I kneel down and pull him up. There is blood everywhere. I find the wound. He has been run though from behind. He’s breathing. Barely. His eyes open slightly. He sees me and slight smile comes to his pale face. “My…son,” he says weakly.

“Father, who did this to you?”

“I never…saw them, but it had to be…Kwon.”

“Hold on. Just hold on and I will get help.”

“No…it is too late for that. Jun…they were…they were looking for the Seal. Kwon will go to the Imperial Palace next.”

“I have to stop him!”

“Son, the Emperor is…already dead, but Kwon will find a surprise when they…go to look for him.”

“What do you mean the Emperor’s dead? What happened?”

“Jun, take my hand,” he attempts to lift his right arm.

I take his hand in mine. He grips as tightly as he can. He mumbles something, but I can’t make it out. A red glow appears between our hands. My palm starts to burn. It only lasts a moment and fades with the light. My father’s hand relaxes. I let go and look at my palm. There is a brand. It is a Densetsun dragon intertwined with a tiger. The two animals are circled around an ancient text. I’ve never seen it before. “What is this?” I ask.

“Kwon believes the Imperial Seal to be…an object. Something valuable. It is not…he who holds the Seal in their hand holds nothing…and everything at the same time. You now hold the Seal.”

“But how did you-”

“My real name…is Hansakuy Kaneshiro.”

“Emperor Hansakuy Kaneshiro?”

“Yes, my…son. Which makes you the rightful heir…to the throne of…Densetsu. There is…a gateway hidden behind a…false wall in the front room. It will take you inside the palace. You have to…stop…Kwon. I am sorry…we didn’t…have more time…together.”

He is fading quickly and for the first time in my life genuine tears flow from my eyes. “Don’t go…” I say, holding his head close to me.

“Do not weep for me. I will finally be…reunited with…Inalia. Be strong, my son.”

I wipe my eyes. He is right. This is not the time to mourn. “Turn to Amida, father.”

With that his head falls lifelessly into my chest. I carry his body to his room and lay it on the bedroll. I take my father’s sword and head to the front room. The false wall he spoke of has been cut down. It looks like it was hidden behind a bookshelf. I enter the small space to find a stable gateway. As I stare into the blue light of the portal thoughts of revenge fill my head. I look at my father’s sword. It is a practical weapon. Decorative, but deadly. The edge has been folded hundreds of times and its sharpness will send Kwon Zhang to a hell he’ll never forget.

I step through the gate and into the Imperial Palace. I am in a huge bedchamber. There is not one item in this room that does not have gold in it. Everything has been overturned. The large bed in the center of the room once had a canopy with silk curtains enclosing it. That has all been cut down and the bed shredded. The wealth in this room alone is astounding and yet none of the riches have been taken. Kwon must want the Imperial Seal badly. I look down at my palm before clenching my fist. I’d better not keep him waiting then.

I leave the bedroom and move into a large hall. An enormous window takes up one whole wall allowing plenty of light inside. I walk up to the window and look out. I must be near the top of the palace. I can see out passed Jinsei for miles! The view is breathtaking. I wonder how often my father spent gazing out at this marvelous sight. What would he think about? He probably thought of my mother as standing here brings me thoughts of Leaia.

I hope she and the others are all right. My thoughts turn from the beauty of the Densetsun countryside back to Ethan and Kwon. I cannot allow them to take any more lives. I get back on the trail of my prey. It’s not hard to find as they have left destruction every place they have gone. I believe they are moving towards the throne room. If Kwon thinks the Seal is in the palace he will look for it there.

It is amazing the sheer amount of history that is catalogued here. And Kwon is destroying it as he continues through the palace. Ancient statues that lined the halls have been smashed to rubble. Elegant paintings and works of calligraphy have been shredded. The written works of our country’s wisest scholars have been torn apart and burned. If I don’t hurry there may be none of our history left when Kwon is finished.

Suddenly the walls begin to shake and I hear a loud explosion from somewhere within the palace. I run towards the direction of the sound. I turn a corner to find a hallway filled with dust and smoke. Shards of wood are scattered everywhere. Two dismembered Kodasai bodies lay near the end of the hall. Some of their fleshy pieces are still burning. It looks as though the explosion knocked the bodies through the doors that used to be here.

I wait for the smoke to clear before entering the site of the explosion. It is the throne room. That must have been the surprise my father mentioned. There must have been an abundance of black powder. Everything in this room was destroyed. Even the gold throne at the back of the room was blown over. Charred bits of Kodasai are strewn about the outer edges of the room. I doubt anyone in here survived. I wonder if Kwon was present. I hear movement. I look towards the sound. A pile of debris starts to shift. A figure emerges from underneath it. It’s Lieutenant Motori! He looks pretty banged up. “Jun!” he says, “Help me, please.”

I sheath my father’s sword to help the Lieutenant get clear of the wreckage. He is having trouble walking. He may have some internal injuries. “What are you doing in here?” I ask him.

“I’m sorry, Jun,” he says, “I have failed your father. I arrived too late and Kwon had already gotten to him. I followed them through the gateway to stop them. I had trailed them to this room when that black powder bomb went off.”

“You’re lucky to be alive.”

“I dove behind cover just in time.”

“Was Kwon with the Kodasai in here?”

“I didn’t see him.”

I hope he is still alive so I can have the pleasure of taking his life from him. I have to find him, but I can’t leave the Lieutenant here in this condition. “Let’s get you back to the General’s quarters,” I say, moving back towards the hallway.

“We have to find the Imperial Seal before Kwon does,” Motori says.

“Let me worry about that,” I respond, “You’re hurt.”

“Okay, but can you get my sword?” Motori asks, “I think its back over there where you found me.”

“Alright,” I say, “Wait here.”

“Of course,” he answers.

Motori leans against a wall as I walk back over to the debris pile. Something is wrong here. Based on the damage to this room and the way the two Kodasai near the door were blown through it, there is no way Motori would’ve been this close to the blast and lived. I turn back to Motori just in time to dodge a shuriken thrown at my back. “What are you doing?!”

Motori seems to be standing fine on his own now. He was faking to get me to turn my back. He looks at me with an evil smirk. The man I thought I knew is no longer there. “You’re getting in my way, Jun,” Motori says as he walks towards me.

“What have you done here?”

“I want the Seal, Jun. And I’ve waited too long for anyone to stop me. Fenholm made many promises and so far nothing has gone to plan so I am taking matters into my own hands.”

Motori is the traitor? How could I have not sensed it? If he has been working with Ethan that means… “You’ve been undermining us this entire time.”

“Bravo. Yes, from the moment I helped you in the teahouse you’ve played right into my hands.”

“Why?”

“Why?! I was tired of living in Fang’s shadow! Fenholm made me a very prosperous offer. Who was I to refuse?”

“So you sold out your country for power?”

“I haven’t sold out my country. My leadership would be far superior to that of the reclusive Emperor Kaneshiro!”

“Don’t you see that this is all a set up? You are the one being played! Do you really think that Fenholm will honor his part of the bargain?”

“I had already assumed that he would double-cross me as soon as he was in his seat of power, which is why I already planned to backstab him first. The thought of controlling the two strongest empires in the world is one that helps me rest comfortably at night.”

“That will never happen.”

“What makes you think that?”

“I will stop you.”

“Fang thought he could stop me and look where it got him.”

“You killed my father?!”

Motori laughs. “Ah the General. Yes, I did. You know when Fenholm told me you were his son, I didn’t believe it, but once I saw you I knew it to be true.”

“You were his friend!”

“Friend? Friends don’t block each other’s paths to glory. Your father was too honorable to go after the Seal himself. His loyalty to the Emperor was pathetic. You should thank me for ending his life.”

Stay calm, Jun. Anger will only blind you against this foe. “The life you ended was the only one that knew the location of the Seal.”

“Now that’s not true. I know your father told you its location. You will show me where it is and I will make your death a quick one.”

“If you want it, come and take it,” I say as I reveal the Seal on my palm.

Motori’s eyes widen with delight. “The Imperial Seal,” he says lustfully, “Why do you have it?”

“My father gave it to me.”

“Your father?” Motori starts to laugh to himself, “Of course. Oh Fang, you were a clever one. So your father was really the Emperor, which makes you the new Emperor. Well, my liege, since duel identities are being revealed, allow me to introduce myself…Kwon Zhang, at your service.”

Motori bows dramatically. There is no Kwon Zhang. We had been chasing a ghost and Motori was more than willing to play the game with us. He was the one that killed the Kodasai warrior that fought Leaia. He led us on the chase for Slade to buy more time in hopes that I would kill my father. “Seems your father was right not to trust me when he was playing the General,” Motori continues, “And he was also correct not to trust Kwon with the Kodasai when he was being the Emperor.”

“I don’t care what your true identity is, traitor,” I respond, “Today you die.”

“Does that mean I’m relieved as head of security?”

Motori takes up the blackened sword of a dead Kodasai. I draw my father’s blade. We meet in the center of the room, circling, waiting for the other to make the first move. Motori is overzealous and strikes. I parry and counterattack. He dodges. We continue our dance of the blades until Motori slices me across my leg. It was a lucky hit and not very deep. I swing high. Motori moves his head to the side, but as I retract the sword I lightly cut into his neck.

He touches the wound. The sight of his blood sends him into a frenzy. He attacks at full force. Bits of steel fly as our swords clash blade to blade. Motori pulls out a small blade he’d been hiding and uses it to trap my sword. We struggle over control. We both lose and the blades get thrown. I wait to see if Motori goes for them. He doesn’t.

Motori jumps at me. This time he doesn’t hold back as he did in the training yard. He comes at me with techniques I’ve not seen any other Suang Tai master use. I almost struggle to keep up with him. I study his movements as I block, looking for an opening in his defense. I see it and strike. My hit sends Motori stumbling back. He looks surprised. “I see,” he says, dusting himself off, “I’ll have to step it up a bit.”

Motori runs and leaps into the air. Before he reaches me he vanishes. Just as he disappears in front of me I get kicked in the spine from behind. I roll into the fall and instantly regain my footing. Motori now stands behind me. He used a teleport attack of some kind. I won’t give him that opportunity again. I attack. As I swing at him he vanishes again. This time I get punched in the lower back, again from behind. It’s like fighting Slade. I attempt a spinning backfist, but he catches my arm and throws me. I land hard, but get back up as fast as I can.

Motori leaps towards me again. As he teleports I step to the side. His attack comes from behind again, but this time he misses and lands in front of me with his back exposed. Payback. I deliver a powerful sidekick to his lower spine. Motori recovers from the attack and faces me. “I have underestimated you, but I grow tired of this,” he says showing his anger, “Give me the Seal.”

“Never.”

“Then I will kill you and cut it from your flesh.”

Motori disappears once more. This time I feel a sharp pain in my left arm before he appears again. I reach over to pull out the shuriken that pierced me. I examine the star. Poison. He has already killed me. “Recognize that?” Motori asks with a smile.

I toss the poisoned shuriken aside. Once the poison takes effect I will have only a few minutes of life left in me. I can already feel it moving through my bloodstream. “If only your father could see you fail just as he-” his words are cut short.

Motori looks down to see a shard of wood lodged in his shoulder. His gloating gave me the moment I needed. It wasn’t a dagger, but the jagged piece of wood did the trick. He’s not the only skillful one around here. Now I won’t hold back. Before Motori can pull the projectile from his shoulder I am within striking distance. I attack faster than he is able to defend. I first take him to the floor with a kick to the knee. I follow it up with a series of strikes to his chest and a kick to the throat. Just when I think my victory is certain the poison cuts me down. All my energy is sapped leaving me unable to attack further.

Motori picks himself up off the ground. He pulls the wood shard out of his shoulder and rushes me with it. It doesn’t take much to bring me down. Motori sits on top of me as he stabs the shard into my shoulder. This is it. I’m dying… “Give me the Seal,” Motori says to me, spitting out his own blood as he talks.

I have one chance. “Take it,” I say as I hold my hand up.

Motori lets his guard down to take my hand. I quickly wrap my other arm around the back of his head and pull his face down onto the edge of the wood shard. The jagged wood is pushed further into my flesh as it penetrates Motori’s skull, but the pain doesn’t matter at this point as I will be dead momentarily. Motori’s body struggles and squirms until the life-force has completely left him. I use the last of my strength to push his corpse off of me. My vision starts to go. I guess I will be seeing Amida again today…

I have avenged you father, but I have also failed you. I have left the country without a ruler. I have not only let you down, but our people as well. I’m sorry. If only I had been stronger…

My sight fails completely and I lay in darkness once more waiting for my escort into the afterlife. At least the poison has killed my nerves so I feel no more pain. As I take my last few breaths my thoughts focus in on my last regret. Leaia. I spent so much time fearing what might happen if I got too close and now I have missed the chance to tell her how I really feel. I love her…but I suppose it doesn’t matter now.

I begin to drift off. I hear Leaia in my head. The sweet melody of her voice calling my name. Wait. It’s not in my head! I actually hear her. “Jun, hold on,” her voice is very close, “I’m here.”

I can feel something. She must be healing me. I feel the soft touch of her hand on my face. I open my eyes. It hurts, but I see light. I see…her, holding my head in her lap. I still can’t move, but maybe I can speak. “Leaia…” it barely comes out a whisper.

“Don’t talk,” she replies.

“I have to,” I push to get the words out, “If I don’t say this…I may never have the…chance.”

She looks thoughtfully down at me. Her eyes appear to be watering. “You need to save your strength,” she says.

“Leaia…I need you to know that even if we can never be…together…my heart…is always yours…”

I reach up and touch her cheek with my hand. Tears stream from her eyes. “I will not lose you,” she says.

She lifts my head up and presses her lips to mine. Her kiss brings more than joy. It brings life. I feel my heart rate quicken. My vision becomes normal. All of my nerves spring back to life. The sensation of pain returns to my wounds. Warmth fills my body as the poison is destroyed within my blood. When the kiss ends she gently lowers my head. She smiles at me. I force a smile through the pain. “I wasn’t worried at all,” I say playfully.

“I need to remove this so I can heal you,” Leaia points to the shard of wood still in my shoulder.

“Do it,” I answer.

She rips the wood free taking some flesh with it! I bite down so as not to verbally express my agony. She immediately places her hand over the wound. “By the grace of Arus,” she casts, “Heal.”

I feel the muscle binding as the holy light transfers from her hand to my body. The skin reforms over the new tissue as the spell ends. Oh, that feels so much better. “Thank you,” I say, sitting up.

The two of us stand up. There is a moment of silence as we gaze at each other. What to say? My feelings are out. I’ve let my guard down and I’m vulnerable. This is not something I am comfortable with. I have to say something. “Leaia, I-”

“My heart is yours also,” she interrupts.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you before. I let my fear control me. I didn’t want my feelings for you to get in the way of our mission, but it wasn’t until I was faced with my own mortality that I realized what it is that makes life worth fighting for. You are that reason for me just as my mother was for my father.”

“You have nothing to apologize for. We were both afraid, but we’re not any more and that is what matters.”

“I suppose you’re right.”

“I am right. Now come on, Draccus and I need your help.”

Suddenly everything comes back to me. This whole thing hasn’t ended yet. I was so overwhelmed by thoughts of revenge that I forgot about everything else. What has happened while I was absent? “Where is he?” I ask.

“He is in the base fighting Ethan’s men.”

“I have missed a lot.”

“You have no idea. Let’s hurry, I will fill you in on the way.”

The audacity of Ethan to stage an attack on the Imperial Army surprises even me. We must have scared him into acting hastily. If he has gone this far here, I fear we may be too late to save Lord Darkwynde. I didn’t want this kind of bloodshed on either side, but we need to take this fight directly to Athust. Unfortunately, I don’t know what we will find waiting for us there. It may be our only shot to stop Ethan so going in blind is a risk we are going to take.

Leaia told me that Magnus is still missing also. I hope we don’t find him in Athust still under Ethan’s influence. He is a formidable opponent and I’d rather not fight him again. If only we had succeeded in breaking Ethan’s hold.

Leaia and I step into my father’s quarters through the stable gateway. I go straight outside. I cannot risk seeing my father’s body right now. I need to stay centered. The sight outdoors is not any better. Bodies lie everywhere. The stench of death clouds the air. The carnage of war has touched my father’s nation and peace between the countries will never be the same.

I follow Leaia’s lead. We are met by Draccus before we get very far. “I was not certain you would still be here, Priestess,” Draccus then turns to me, “It is good to see you alive.”

“It is good to see you as well,” I reply.

“Do you have a report?” Leaia asks Draccus.

“We rounded up the rest of the Imperial soldiers and finished off the last of Ethan’s men.”

“Good,” Leaia sighs with relief.

“But our victory was short lived,” Draccus follows up, “We got word that there was an attack in Jinsei so the troops and your warrior friends went to investigate.”

“The base is empty?” I ask.

“Yes,” Draccus answers.

“We had better get to Jinsei,” I say, “There is nothing more we can do here for now.”

“Agreed,” Leaia says.

We have a long journey ahead of us, as all the horses have been either taken or killed in the attack. We make our way through the aftermath of what looks to have been many battle encounters and head to the front of the base. As we enter the training yard we find our path is blocked by assassins. A dozen Brotherhood members wait for us with their weapons ready. There has already been so much death, but they won’t leave us any choice. Leaia, Draccus, and I prepare for a fight. The assassins rush towards us. “Adflicto exuro exitium!” I hear from above.

A wall of fire wraps around the assassins. They are trapped inside. Their screams are barely audible over the roar of the magical fire. A couple of the assassins jump through the wall. They are still burning. They run, but they don’t get very far before collapsing. The fire subsides and all that is left of our enemies is ash.

We look towards the sky. Magnus! He hovers above us like a guardian angel of death. He wears robes similar to his Black Flame outfit, but these are made from new material. He lands nearby. “Magnus!” Leaia shouts in her excitement.

“That’s right, boys, girls, and lizards,” Magnus says with his usual grin, “I’m back.”

Seeing Magnus lifts my spirits. The four of us are whole once more. Ethan had almost succeeded in tearing us down, but we have overcome and now we will make him pay for the suffering he has caused. Things will get worse before they get better and many more will die along the way, of this I am certain. All we can do is trust in each other and fight for those that cannot. In the end fate will take its course. It will be our job to make sure that course is a just one. We’re coming for you Ethan.