Ezra’s blood began to boil, memories flashing through his mind of all the lives that had been lost along the way. Faces of innocent men, women, and children burned into his memory. They had begged him for help, pleaded for mercy, but he had been too weak—too afraid—to stop what was coming.

  All he could do was watch as his father swarmed through planets like an unrelenting tsunami of destruction—cold, calculated, and locked on its target.

  The weight of it all pressed down on him. Every scream echoed in his head. His fists trembled, his eyes burning with rage and guilt.

  “They talk about their lives as if they are nothing,” he said, his voice shaking. “Just part of the never-ending cycle they call life. But their lives do mean something. Their lives are worth something. They may not be kings or queens, but they lived and breathed just as we did. They strove to be the best they could be.”

  Ezra’s voice cracked, emotion spilling through his words. “And because of a power-hungry king, their lives were taken away.”

  A tear rolled down his cheek, hot against his skin, as his gaze hardened. For the first time, his sorrow and fury burned as one.

  “Look at him, Beof—he’s crying. Save your tears, brother, for those who deserve it, not for the weak. If we didn’t take their lives, it would just be someone else in our place,” said Cane.

  “No... no, this is wrong. It’s all wrong,” shouted Ezra as he curled his fingers into a fist.

  He could feel the very earth itself moving, the wind beginning to shift to his beat. His rage reached its peak, electricity sparking off his body as his eyes turned bright blue.

  “If it’s a fight my brother wants, who am I to not oblige him? Finally, I’ll show Father how truly worthless those marks are that he carries on his skin,” said Cane.

  Cane’s marks along his arms began to glow bright green, as did his eyes. “You forget who your superior is, brother. No matter—I will remind you,” he said.

  “Enough talking. More fighting,” snapped Ezra.

  “As you wish, brother. You don’t have to tell me twice,” Cane replied.

  Both brothers charged at each other, their minds filled with nothing but violent intentions.

  “Stop.”

  The word cut through the air like a blade. Both froze, turning toward the voice.

  La Mort stood in the far corner of the room, his presence colder than the walls surrounding them.

  “Father, do not save him,” Cane said. “He forgets his place. All the beatings I’ve given Ezra clearly haven’t been enough.”

  “Come and beat me again, Cane. Please—I’m begging you, try again. The people would love someone to wipe that pompous grin off your face once and for all, brother. And I’m more than happy to oblige,” Ezra said.

  “Enough.”

  La Mort’s tone silenced the room. “Both of you, stop right now. We have more pressing issues than a petty rivalry between brothers. Planet Zoron defies my law, and now they must perish. Beof, round up my men.”

  “Yes, my king. I will alert our soldiers immediately,” Beof said before leaving the room.

  “Father—another planet?” Ezra pleaded. “This lunacy must stop. They defied your rules, so they go? Their people will be slaughtered. Families, children, wiped out. Please, Father, have mercy. If not for them, then for me.”

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  La Mort’s face was cold, void of warmth or affection. “You would use your kinship to try and grant those people a pass? How weak and pathetic, boy. Death is the only thing guaranteed in this world. The moment we enter it, we are on a clock, never knowing when it will be our time. Your affinity for the weak, your softness to the inevitable, disgusts me, Ezra. But you are still young—there is time for you yet.”

  Cane stepped forward, a faint smirk spreading across his face. “How many chances must you give him before you see he will always be like this? He is your weakness, your blind spot, Father—just as Mother was. No wonder you didn’t see her coming.”

  La Mort snapped. In an instant, he crossed the room, seized Cane by the throat, and lifted him off his feet.

  “You dare speak to me as if I’m one of your playthings? Never forget, boy—no matter how big or how strong you get, you will never be strong enough to take me on. That woman you speak of—her blood runs through your veins. Her limitations exist in you. Remember that,” La Mort said, tightening his grip around Cane’s neck.

  “Father... let him go! He’s your son!” shouted Ezra.

  “I’m sorry, Father,” Cane gasped, barely able to get the words out before La Mort loosened his grip, dropping him to the ground.

  Father’s more gone than I thought. To do that to your own son... there are no limits to how far he’ll go. No resemblance of any light exists in that man. I need to stop him. I will stop him—even if it costs me my life, he has to be stopped, Ezra thought to himself.

  “You will both attend,” La Mort said, his voice lowering into something dangerous. “And Ezra — any resistance from you, and those workers you think I don’t see you fraternising with, those people down in the city you call your family... they will meet the same fate as your dear friend Joseph.”

  Ezra’s fingers curled into a fist. He wanted to defy his father, to stop the chaos and destruction there and then, but he knew better. He wasn’t strong enough to take on his father. Not yet.

  He simply nodded, spun on his heel, and stormed out of the room toward his room.

  Hours later, soldiers were sent to gather the brothers. One headed for Cane’s room, another for Ezra’s. Both soldiers echoed the same message:

  “Your father demands your immediate presence. The soldiers are gathered, and we leave for Zoron immediately,” said the guards with authority.

  Cane rose from his bed, eyes sharp with anticipation and hunger for bloodshed. He hoped today would be the day his father allowed him to take to the battlefield and wet his blade.

  Ezra on the other hand was the complete opposite, he sat up slowly, shoulders heavy, head low. Another planet. Another sea of innocent lives about to be lost. He felt helpless and weak. Guilt flooded every corner of his body.

  The brothers donned the skies and launched toward the gathering. As they flew, they bumped into each other.

  As Ezra opened his mouth, Cane caught his glance.

  “Do not say a word,” said Cane.

  Ezra released a deep sigh. “Can I not worry about my own brother?”

  “You do not need to worry for me. I spoke out of turn, and Father—our king—acted as he should,” Cane said, barely meeting his brother’s eyes.

  Ezra’s expression hardened. “Surely you can’t actually believe that, brother.”

  “What I believe,” Cane replied, “is that Father carried the load as a parent and has expectations of us both. I failed to live up to those expectations in that moment, allowing my anger to get the better of me. If you allow someone to control your emotions, they control you. Never again.”

  As the brothers descended, the world beneath them came into view. Rows upon rows of soldiers stretched as far as the eye could see. Banners swayed, moved by the cold wind, and at the heart of it all in the background stood the great city—Elden City.

  Cane and Ezra landed on the platform surrounded by thousands of soldiers, each one ready to give their life for La Mort’s cause.

  The brothers stood behind their father in silence, waiting for him to speak.

  La Mort stepped forward and addressed the soldiers gathered before him. “Men, we have another planet that dares to defy me,” he said. “Another planet that believes itself above my law. They try to pull the wool over my eyes, but I have been in too many wars. I have seen every trick anyone man, woman or beast could throw at me. La Mort paused for a moment, taking in the adulation from the soldiers gathered before continuing on his tirade. So if it's a way out they seek then we shall give it to them.

  “I am the void they cannot shake—the ever-looming presence that haunts their every waking hour. The uniter of worlds. The breaker of wills. The bringer of death.

  We march on Planet Zoron to purge the infestation that has overstayed its welcome.”

  A thunderous roar erupted from the soldiers, their loyalty echoing like a storm. They could almost smell the blood of the Zoronian people—like sharks drawn to a wound in open water.

  A legion of the most elite warriors, assembled from across the galaxy, was about to descend upon Planet Zoron. And there was nothing anyone could do to stop what was coming.