Chapter 64: Chapter 64
Gian
The Royal Palace, Kingdom of Howard
He felt it burn in his skin, the screaming of their mother, the worry of their father, it all echoed in his thoughts as he tried his best to resist his younger brother, corrupted by foul magic apparently, pushing down on him, the cursed sword nearly breaking through the skin in his neck.
“Colter please do not do this!” Their mother Regina, screamed continually, fighting against all the odds and hopes, just to break Dyron’s control over Colter. There were tears streaking down her cheeks as she had watched the violent battle between princes of the kingdom. Colter had shown no mercy, he had not held back and him being much more powerful than his older brother, he almost managed to win.
“Get out of my head, witch!” Colter roared at Regina, shaking his head violently, as if trying to resist Regina’s magic tricks. “You are not my mother; my mother was killed long ago by your own deceitful race!”
“What are you saying?!” Regina cried out in horror, “You are my son! Both of you are my sons”
“Get out of my head, I said!” Colter roared and Regina stepped back at the volume of hatred her own son just aimed at her.
“Colter!” Malik cried this time, “How can you do this, my son?! I have treated you wrong all this time and I apologize for all of that. But do not involve your mother in your crusade of hatred!”
“Fuck you, old man!” Colter shouted, still not budging, struggling to impale Gian with the sword, “You started to hate me when you could not control me like a puppet! I am not your puppet!”
“You are the puppet here” Gian groaned, still pushing back against his younger brother, “But we do not hold the strings, brother. You were always so free and independent, why do you rely on this monster now?”
“You’re the only monsters here!” Colter roared and unleashed a circle of flames around them, Gian screamed in pain as the flames pressed in against his skin, leaving burn marks all over his body.
But as if on cue, the flames disappeared and Colter stared in wonder at what was going on.
“Your powers fail you, brother. See, even your own gifts do not wish to kill me.” Gian joked lightly, as Colter lowered his guard for a bit.
“Silence, fool.” Colter muttered and slapped him with his offhand, Gian spat out blood as his lower lip exploded from the impact. “It only means I get to kill you even slower.”
“Colter please listen to us.” Regina cried again, and this time Dyron aimed a wave of black magic at her, which she barely managed to deflect.
“Mother!” Gian cried out, trying to get out of Colter’s grasp, but to no avail. The younger prince still had him pinned down to the palace floor.
As he squirmed, Colter pushed down and managed to slightly pierce his armor, it buried itself immediately in his chest and Gian coughed out even more blood.
“There we go.” Colter whispered fiercely, twisting the hilt of his sword.
Gian felt a flare of pain as Colter suddenly yanked it out of him, his hands immediately moved to the wound area trying to assess the damage done to him.
“Good one, brother.” Gian said painfully.
Colter thrust downwards again and this time, the point of his sword was glinting against his throat.
Dyron goaded him from the background, roaring his approval at this attempt of fratricide. “Yes, my son. Finish off this fool of a prince who wanted to be a king”
“He is not your son.” Regina said defiantly, casting a spell that Dyron deflected without even looking.
“I guess this is it, huh?” Gian muttered as the blade slowly pierced his throat, deciding to die with dignity, he wanted to leave his final words towards his younger brother:
“I have been committed atrocities that would and should strip me of my status as prince, there are hateful things that I did in order to hold on to this idea of power. I did wrong to the people, I did a lot of wrong things to our parents and I did wrong things to you, brother.” Colter paused at this, and Gian decided to continue “I was always envious of you, you always managed to do things without effort, you were skilled, handsome and beloved by the people. You lived a life unbound by our status, you roamed around the kingdom and talked to people like you were living a life like them. Now that I think of it, brother; you actually did live a life like them.” Colter faltered and stared into Gian’s eyes, who only smiled in encouragement then continued “You experienced their hardships, something father and I never did. Thus, I unconsciously treated you like trash. We grew up always fighting against each other because we were different beings, even though we may look alike. I wanted to uphold majesty and royalty, while you ran around laughing and bonding with the common folk. The common folk that I am unable to protect right now as prince.”
“All the blood this kingdom has shed will be repaid” Colter growled, reverting to his evil self again.
“Kingdoms are always bathed in blood, Colter. People have died building it, preserving it and protecting it. Every kingdom goes through this, but the innocent folk who had no say in this, can you say they deserved the death they got?”
“For all the pain you have caused to my own father, even the blood of the innocent will not be enough!” the younger prince muttered, his eyes starting to glow once more.
“I see. The corruption runs deep inside you. I thought you were the better one! Very well, let me die with dignity then, brother. Let my blood repay whatever debt this is, for all the things I have done, to you especially little brother. I shan’t ask for your forgiveness, but my last request is that you spare our mother whose only reason right now is protect us and love us. It may have taken a while for me to realize it, but I understand now. For what it’s worth, Colter, take my life and spare them. If this eases the hate and pays back the pain, I have caused you. Let my blood be the last one shed. Too much has been wasted.” With that Regina cried out as Gian closed his eyes and Colter brandished his sword, as he thrust downward, he stopped.
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Colter
The Royal Palace, Kingdom of Howard
His tears dropped onto his older brother’s face, he felt his body shifting wildly, the energies inside him thrashing like a caged animal.
“Gian…?” he asked dumbfoundedly, looking at his bleeding brother underneath him, “What have I done?”
Colter’s eyes returned to normal, the usual emerald green that glowed with adventure and thrill, he scanned the surroundings and saw the debris and blood. In the distance, he can hear the screams and clashing of weapons.
“What the hell…?!” he asked, dropping his sword and falling to the ground in shock, “What’s happening?!”
Regina gave a gasp of shock as she noticed that her second born son had returned to his senses, “Colter! Please, come back to us now.”
“Close call.” Gian said, coughing slightly, “I was prepared to die right there, Colter.”
“What...?” Colter asked again, still in shock as he tried to process what was going on. “I hate you but I could never kill you!”
“Colter!” Regina repeated and he stared at their mother who was now crying her tears out in relief,
“Mom?” Colter asked as he noticed that even she had wounds and scratches all over her body and armor. He stared at his hands and saw the evil markings that were still glowing vividly.
“NO!” a roar of anger this time, as Dyron grew shock at how he had managed to surpass the poison even more, “I will not fail! You will not fail me!” he made a quick motion with his hand and lobbed a ball of black energy towards the younger prince.
“Move!” Gian cried out in warning as he pushed Colter away, who was still looking at his hands, the spell had hit his older brother squarely in the back, melting through his armor and leaving a blackened mark.
“Gian!” they all cried in unison.
“Damn, that was quite a hit.” Gian whispered as Colter held him in his arms before losing consciousness.
“Finish him off, son” Dyron chided, his voice a deadly mix of honey and poison in sweetness once more.
“You!” Colter roared in anger, pointing at Dyron who only smiled at him sweetly, instantly recognizing the king of darkness.
“Me.” Dyron said happily, pointing at himself and unleashed a dark aura that he sent spiraling towards Colter without a second thought.
It was pain. It felt like every inch of his body was being burned, his brain, his heart, his lungs, every fiber of his existence cried out in agony as the dark spell coursed through him. Dyron was transferring the darkness into him and Colter’s body could not take it. It felt like it was about to burst with all the sinister energy flowing through.
His eyes were starting to glow red again as Dyron forced him to revert into his corrupted form, the younger prince shrieked and cried in pain while Regina mourned at what was happening to her children.
The stream of magic stopped again and Colter was back to his evil self, without a word he picked up the sword.
“Do it” Dyron commanded the prince and he raised his sword towards the shattered roof of the palace, “Don’t give me a reason to do it myself, princeling.”
Colter wordlessly obeyed and approached the unconscious Gian.
Malik stared in disbelief but finally realized what was going on, Colter was not only corrupted, he was poisoned and totally under Dyron’s control. He glanced over at Vida and Tessa, who were still hiding and realized what to do.