Chasing Embers | 1

28

—  

Impossible. Maddox slammed his fists in the bloody sand. They were gone. Ember had played some sort of mind trick on him and now she had escaped. He had seen it all. Her trick. Maddox had watched as she froze the world around her, including him, and then made everything explode in a blinding flash.

It was then that he realized the girl was stronger than him. She had outwitted him twice now. Dread filled Maddox at the thought of potential failure. His king would destroy him for her disappearance. He couldn't let that happen. Ember would not escape his clutches again.

Maddox called to his remaining soldiers, and they were sucked into the sky with the flick of a wrist from his strongest Zian. The lord closed his eyes, hating the nauseating feeling of jumping through the folds of the world.

He and his men returned to the flourishing city of Porthmore. The tall, elegant skyscrapers loomed above their master in greeting. The capitol seemed quiet as if expecting his return. Perhaps it knew of the greater force taking control.

The sky was a dark shade of grey. Clouds swirled in a growing storm that brewed over Maddox's palace of glittering obsidian and glass. The palace took a futuristic spin on a gothic cathedral and consisted of giant spires of the dark material that reached into the sky, intricate tendrils of obsidian wrapped around the deadly points. They glinted in the sky, a reminder of the power in which Maddox contained.

His black cape slashed through the wind as he stormed through the courtyard, soldiers standing at attention in perfect lines. As Maddox approached the large dark doors, the two men standing guard flanked him. The doors swung open on their own, the deep sound echoing throughout the courtyard. A blast of cool air hit Maddox's face and blew his mangled hair out of his eyes. There was fear in the icy orbs, for he knew what waited for him inside.

The guards did not follow as Maddox strode through the great hall of the palace and to the throne room. The sound of his boots hitting the cold floor as he walked echoed across the hall. Two guards stood silently in front of the tall, wooden doors that separated Maddox and his worst nightmare.

The lord didn't have to pause for the guards to push the doors open. They knew who held power over them. A blanket of nerves settled upon Maddox when the doors opened to reveal a large, circular room. It was dark inside, the only source of light being the giant window behind a massive slab of stone that was his throne.

He looked at the throne in distaste, but not because it wasn't pretty. He scowled because that throne belonged to him. He was the one in charge. Maddox scowled because instead of him being the one seated in that chair, it was a being far beyond his control. Suddenly, Maddox didn't feel as though he really was the one in charge.

Maddox shook in fear as he knelt on the ground before the cloaked, dark ghoul that lounged on his throne. The demon had no body, only what seemed to be a skeleton of black ink. He was covered in black, tarnished robes similar to the lord's. A hood was pulled over his head to cover his face, leaving nothing to see but a black hole.

"My king," Maddox began with a shaky voice.

"Silence, boy!" the figure demanded. His voice filled the room and shook the glass chandelier hanging above Maddox's head.

Maddox flinched and focused his eyes on the tile below his feet.

"You have failed me for the second time, my dark prince. What do you think that makes me want to do to you?" the ghoul growled, rising from his seat. His fingers dug into the arms of the throne, cracking it.

Maddox did not look up, fearing for his life. "My sincerest apologies, my king."

The figure glided across the room, his tattered robes rubbing against the floor. He stopped in front of Maddox's crouched form and gripped his chin, forcing him to look up. He drank in the feeling of the boy's fear. It amused him greatly.

"You will not fail again. I will be less forgiving than I am this time." He dug his bony fingers into Maddox's cheeks, sending black shadows of darkness into his skin.

The boy screamed in agony and clenched his eyes shut. The shadows continued to move deeper inside his head, torturing his mind. Maddox's worst fears sprung to life in front of him. Vivid images of his mother's death haunted him. His cries for her replayed in his mind. Her blank eyes and pale lips filled his vision.

The demon reveled in Maddox's pain and suffering. It strengthened him. He sneered down at the pathetic excuse for a ruler below him. What a waste. The dark king would have his way through the scrawny, naive boy. Soon, he would have no use for him.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the figure let go. Maddox fell back against the cool floor, pale and weak. He coughed, the only indicator that the young man was still alive.

The demon leaned in closely, his hood hovering above his pawn's ear. "Bring me the boy."