𝔸 ℂ𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕃𝕠𝕧𝕖 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕎𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕙 (Book 2)

Hundred-Twenty-Nine

Kill the King of Hybern, and the Flame would merely come back in full force. Kill Stijin, and his soldiers would come for me. Kill Hyberns soldiers, he had armies to spare.

Always one waiting, always one lurching ready to step in.

No, if I wanted to win—truly win—if I wanted to demolish Hybern and all he held dear—if I wanted to become all Stijin feared—if I wanted to end this war...I could not do so only by blood and violence.

I would be cruel and cunning and calculated. Cold and rageful and icy. I would be all they made me to be. Deceive them. Ruin them. End them.

After all...the devil doesn't come dressed in a red cape and pointy horns. He comes as everything you've ever wished for.

─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

    Sharp. Everything was sharp and drawn and vibrant. Like a painting. A surreal vision that could only be imagined but had now become my reality.

I was new. As though I had died and been reborn as something...powerful. Infinite. Immortal. I was not human, nor Fae, nor anything, I was a creature not yet born. Not yet found or named.

I was a damn god.

And they all knew it. Knew that I was the predator they should fear, not the King, not the Flame, me.

But...not yet. Not now. Soon, they would all know the true extent of my abilities. Soon, they would all quake in fear at the mere mention of me. Soon, they would all realize how true my ties to this world were. But...not yet.

No, first...first I wanted my way with them. I would prove just how much I didn't need this power to make them fear me. First, they would fear my mind. My intellect. I did not need to possess magic to ruin them, I merely needed to be better.

Only then, once I had destroyed them so thoroughly through mental warfare would they finally see the power that roared in my veins, my mind.

Only once Rhys and my family and friends were safe and protected would I unleash myself.

    And it was that thought—that promise alone that forced the words from my mouth.

"My king," I said to the King of Hybern, still clutching his skinless arm. The cold stone of the floor nipped at my knees from where I bowed, my head hung low not meeting his eyes.

    A display. A show, I told myself even as my very existence screamed that this wasn't right. That my power far exuded his own and I could erase him from the planet with a mere flick of my wrist. Could destroy this world with a mere snap of my finger.

    But I was also smart. And I would play this in a way they would not expect, deceive them so horribly they would never see it. Kill two birds with one stone.

    I spoke again, not yet looking up at the king, not until he said to. "The Cauldron has bestowed me with a gift best of use to you, my king. Just as the Cauldron does, I serve you and only you."

    Disgusting.

    The King of Hybern was panting, trying to catch his breath as he watched his wound slowly heal, "What?" he asked.

    "I serve you. I am under your command for whatever you wish." I repeated. He would not believe me, not yet. The King of Hybern was no fool—well, in the sense he was smart enough not to think I was his loyal servant...yet.

    But he would. I would prove it to him. Become his weapon along with the Cauldron. I would make him believe I was his to wield like a blade. And then I would ruin him and the Flame. Annihilate all they held dear.