Amethyst looked at the Golden City from the camp, not so far from the city.
Golden City... Home... Amethyst thought to herself. At long last I am back where Lion of the Night breathed life into me.
After nearly three months of riding they were close enough to the city to see it glow from a distance. The early hours of the morning were still as black as night, but Golden City glowed like a burning flame in a dark cave.
Over ten years had passed from the day Daemion recused her from the city... Ten years from the day her father was silenced and replaced by her brother... Her beloved BuGai.
The only brother she ever truly loved.
Amethyst calmly shook her head and called out. "Sly."
Sly walked to Amethyst. "Yes, Mistress?" Sly, unlike most days, wore armour, though a light one for he couldn't find an armour that would cover his large body, especially his large belly and muscular arms. His head was shaved and his orange mustache was recently dyed anew.
"Are the archers ready?" Amethyst asked Sly as she calmly wore her helmet.
"Yes, Mistress." Sly answered. "Commander is also ready."
"Will you call him for me?" Amethyst asked calmly as she turned her gaze toward Golden City.
"Of course, Mistress." Sly spoke and with that, he walked away to find Daemion to call him for Amtheyst.
After moments passed Daemion walked toward Amethyst. He wore the armour that she had made for him five years ago. The armour he nearly died in the first time he wore it... His long raven black hair fell over his shoulders, as his breathtakingly beautiful face looked calm, but his deep violet eyes were determined.
"My Empress." Daemion spoke as he bowed his head. "Having second thoughts?"
"No, my dear Daemion. I only wished to see you before you left to burn an opening for the army." Amethyst spoke as she turned her head and looked at Daemion, her black eyes looking deep in Daemion's deep violet eyes.
"By afternoon you will be Empress, Amethyst. I promise." Daemion spoke detemaind. "You've led us through all these years, made alliances that brought all our men here today... You are the Lioness of Yi-Ti."'
Amethyst felt as if her doubts were washed away, for she had Daemion's confidence, as always.
"Then watch this with me, Daemion. Watch as the result of ten years of our struggle." Amethyst spoke as she turned her gaze back to Golden City. Daemion stood by her side and looked at Golden City.
"Let the arrows fly." Amethyst spoke loudly.
Upon hearing that Sly turned his head toward the archers and yelled. "MEN!" And the Archers drew their arrows and waited for the final command, Sly turned his head toward Amethyst and waited for her command.
Without turning her head toward Daemion, Amethyst spoke calmly. "Are you ready to fly too, Daemion?"
"Yes, Lioness." Daemion spoke calmly.
Amethyst looked at the Golden City. Amethyst spoke with the passion of an Empress worthy of her name. "Loose."
And a thousand burning arrows flew through the air toward the Golden City.
As the arrows left the bow, Daemion grabbed Amethyst's hand. Amethyst turned her gaze toward Daemion and looked up at Daemion's beautiful face and deep violet eyes.
The thousands of burning arrows in the sky took the shape of the sun, brightening up the sky as Daemion and Amethyst held hands.
"I love you..." were Words that neither have them ever spoken. Words that were only ever spoken through their deeds... Amethyst could not help but worry if it was too late to say those words... I had ten years to speak those words... But today... One of us might die... If one must die, let it be me...
Daemion looked deep in his Empress's eyes. No matter what happens... No matter what happens here today... I will see you as the Empress... I will live through today to see that, my beloved Amethyst... I promise.
Daemion squeezed Amethyst's hand and began running toward Modread.
The moon hung low in the indigo sky, casting a silvery glow over the ancient Golden City. Empress Amethyst, clad in regal armour adorned with amethyst gemstones, stood at the forefront of her army. Her eyes, a fierce black, reflected determination and unwavering resolve as she surveyed the majestic city that belonged to her family.
Amethyst raised her hand, and her army, a diverse and formidable force, fell silent. Warriors from different realms, united by their loyalty to the Lioness of Yi-Ti, awaited their Empress's command. The Golden City's colossal gates loomed ahead, guarded by the elite soldiers loyal to BuGai.
With a nod, Amethyst drew her gleaming sword, its blade crafted from a rare alloy infused with the power of amethyst crystals. The air crackled with energy as her brother's forces charged forward, and Amethyst led her army into the heart of the Golden City.
The streets echoed with the clash of steel, the tumultuous roars of battle, and the fierce cries of Amethyst's warriors. As they fought their way through the Golden City's winding passages, the glistening towers rose like golden spires, casting long shadows in the moonlight.
And with a roar of a dragon, the foundation of Golden City was shaken... and then Modread's shadow covered half of Golden City.
Amethyst watched as Emperor BuGai's loyalists looked up at the sky, and the monstrous dragon with horror, as if a demon from the deepest parts of Diyu... Hell... Had come to the realm of men.
And before the archers on the wall could shoot their scorpion arrows, a breath of fire burnt the walls of the city, and then the spread of fire reached to the streets of Golden City, where Amethyst and her army were.
Modread continued to breathe fire upon the walls of the city, and some of the buildings of Golden City. Amethyst raised her sword and roared "CHARGE! There are still ways to go!"
And her army screamed and cried a cry of war as they pushed forward. I've come too far... way too far... I have to push further... Amethyst thought to herself.
Amethyst cut through the enemy lines, her sword dancing with deadly grace. She moved like a whirlwind, her light black armour deflecting arrows and blades alike. Her brother's loyalists fell before her, unable to withstand the might of her army and the unwavering spirit of their Empress... Or her two dragons that breathed fire upon them.
As the gates of the palace swung open, Amethyst raised her sword high, a signal for her army to advance. The journey through the once-glorious streets of the Golden City was fraught with peril, but Amethyst led her troops with unwavering determination. Her heart beat in tandem with the rhythmic march of her soldiers, each step echoing the resolve to restore justice to the empire. Her eyes, like precious jewels, sparkled with determination as she faced the looming palace, guarded by her brother's loyal forces.
The clash erupted like thunder in the night. Amethyst, with her blade dancing in a graceful rhythm, fought at the forefront of her army. The Golden City's defenders, torn between loyalty and doubt, hesitated in the face of the Empress's righteous fury.
Modread got close to the ground and breathed his firey breath upon the walls and parts of the Golden Street. The screams of terror and horror could be heard. Screams that only pained a horrifying image of this large monster of a dragon.
But Modread got close to the ground, and Amethyst watched as Modread's rider, Daemion with Dark Sister in his hand jumped off his dragon onto the ground.
Amethyst's eyes suddenly met the Raven prince from a distance, as he cut through soldiers with ease.
Dark Sister tore hearts out and Daemion showered his beautiful face with the blood of her victims. He was a beautiful and deadly creature, one Amethyst could not tear her eyes away from.
Her Dragon.
"Empress!" Daemion roared and rushed to Amethyst. Amethyst slayed whoever was between her and Daemion so they only could be closer to one another.
As they reached one another amidst of the Golden Street, Amethyst and Daemion grabbed each other's hand and pressed their backs to each other, as they had trained together, and fought the Emperor's loyalists.
The loyalist to the Emperor fell and Amethyst's men marched deeper and deeper into the street... But they were yet to find the man they knew would fight until his last breath... but he was nowhere to be found.
The legendary Jumong-Chan was nowhere to be found.
Nowhere.
"Clear the city!" Amethyst yelled at her men and began to run toward the stairs that would lead her to the God-Emperor's palace.
Daemion followed her. "I am coming with you, Empress."
As they began walking up the stairs of Golden Palace. But when they pushed open the gate that faced the Palace and the courtyard around, they noticed no soldiers were present on the stairs or even around the courtyard of the God-Emperor's palace.
This is beyond strange... First, we cannot find Jumong anywhere, but why there are no soldiers in sight to defend the palace? Amethyst thought to herself and looked around.
Daemion appeared to be just as confused as her.
"Do you think Jumong is by BuGai's side?" Daemion asked calmly. "I did not see him from atop of Modread, nor did I see him when I jumped onto the ground."
"A man like him is hard to miss..." Amethyst spoke uncertainly as she and Daemion began walking toward the Palace to enter it.
"Did you also notice that there were also significantly less soldiers than that assassin told us?" Amethyst asked .
"I did. On top of Modread, as we were burning them down, I noticed their numbers. There couldn't be more than five thousand men. Do you think that assassin lied?" Daemion asked calmly.
"Now is not the time to think about this, Daemion... first... my brother..." Amethyst spoke calmly as they pushed the door and entered the God-Emperor's glorious hall.
"Amethyst..." Daemion spoke calmly as they walked. "...Don't kill BuGai yourself."
Amethyst paused and turned around to look at Daemion. "Why?" Amethyst asked calmly. Deep down she had begged the Lion to do something... Anything so she wouldn't have to kill BuGai herself... He was her brother... her only true brother... She had wondered many nights whether she could truly kill him or not.
"You don't want that kind of blood on your own hands... Especially blood of BuGai, whom you love... allow me to do it." Daemion asked her calmly. "...Don't kill a man that you might regret. Hate me for killing him... don't hate yourself."
Amethyst calmly nodded. "I could never hate you, Daemion." Amethyst spoke softly.
Daemion smiled and they began walking toward the final door.
The door that will open to the throne room.
The door will open toward the Golden Throne.
_________
BuGai was not sitting on the Golden Throne. He was sitting on a table that was placed under the stairs of the throne, a table that did not exist ten years ago.
BuGai's handsome face had not changed, though his light brown hair had begun some greyish colour to it.
His eyes did not meet Amethyst's eyes, for he was writing on a paper, with more written papers next to him. He wore a golden robe with traces of crimson red.
"Amethyst." BuGai spoke calmly as he raised his head to meet her eyes and put his written paper down.. "My sister."
"BuGai. My brother." Amethyst spoke calmly.
The God-Emperor turned his head toward Daemion. "Prince Daemion." BuGai spoke calmly and as gracefully as Daemion always remembered him by.
"God-Emperor." Daemion spoke respectfully. "BuGai."
"The war is over, brother." Amethyst spoke calmly.
"I know. I have lost." BuGai spoke as he stood from the table, gathered all the written papers he had written and stacked them up in order, like a book, and calmly walked around the table, with no fear, or sorrow. "And I have finally finished writing my book..."
"A book?" Amethyst asked calmly as she looked at her brother.
"Yes. A book. A book about the unwritten part of our nation's history. Though I struggle to find a good name for it." BuGai spoke calmly and gracefully.
But Daemion's curiosity's attention laid elsewhere.
"I had been told you had 8000 men in the city. But I saw only around 5000 of it, less even." Daemion spoke calmly. "What happened to the rest of your army, Emperor?"
"Jumong, our older brother, upon hearing that the Black Dragon and his dragon marching toward the capital, took 3000 thousand men and ran away. 'There is no power that could compete with the power of the dragon that bastard rides' Jumong said." BuGai spoke. "And I can see why he ran away. Your dragon is quite a weapon of mass destruction... Now I can see why my father wanted you or your child to marry into our family... to possess such a power..." BuGai spoke nearly impressed, which was rare.
Amethyst looked at Daemion with wide eyes. Daemion had never told her of the terms that he had discussed with her father... The subject of the matter was always difficult for him, therefore she never asked.
Daemion avoided Amethyst's eyes.
BuGai walked across the throne room to the massive window that view the far distance and stood in front of it as he looked outside. "Amethyst, sister, come to me." God-Emperor spoke.
Amethyst walked to her brother's side and stood by him.
"What do you see?" BuGai asked Amethyst calmly as he looked at the far distance, at the bright green forests and the beautiful sun warming the sky, and the burning walls of the Golden City.
"I see our land." Amethyst spoke calmly as she looked outside.
"There is more than that, Sister." BuGai spoke calmly as he continued to look outside. "Don't see it with your eyes, see it with your mind's eyes."
Amethyst looked once more.
The fields, the forest, the burning but yet strong buildings of Golden City. "I see Yi-Ti." Amethyst spoke calmly and looked at her brother. BuGai was softly smiling as if he was satisfied with her answer. "What do you see, brother?"
"What I see, is the future. What can be, what could have been, what we have right now and what we will have afterwards..." BuGai spoke as he looked at the distance. "I see a vision... a vision that was born with our grandfather." And BuGai continued
"When our grandfather became God-Emperor Yi-Ti was a black shadow of her former glory, even darker than the days of Amethyst Empress and Bloodstone Emperor... But our grandfather could see that Yi-Ti could see another Empire of Dawn... even a better one... He passed that vision to our father... and our father, in his own ways, passed it to me unknowingly." The God-Emperor spoke calmly. "And I too swear that I would realize that vision."
"Even when it meant that you had to order Amethyst's execution." Daemion spoke calmly
"Yes." BuGai spoke calmly as he looked at Daemion. "And I would do it again if I could go back to that time that I gave that order. My emotions in regard to her execution, and even her death were irrelevant in the grand scheme of things."
"And the men who followed you? What about them? Were their lives also irrelevant?" Amethyst asked calmly as she looked at her brother.
"Those who stayed were no madmen or bewitched. They were men who believed that I was the God-Emperor who could shine the light of The Lion of The Night upon Yi-Ti once more... And your men who won you the throne, for they believe you to be that Empress... In the end, Amethyst, who can judge who was the rightful Emperor or Empress? I believe that question is irrelevant. It is who's vision lives longer..." BuGai spoke calmly and gracefully. "I do care for my soldiers, and I do love Amethyst, Daemion."
"But why, Emperor? Why do such a thing when you claim you care for her or your men?" Daemion asked calmly but his grip tightened around the hilt of Dark Sister on his waist.
"Casualties of war are always there, Daemion. I care not what people think of me. I care not about the thoughts of the people who will read my story and the deeds I did. People will always have their thoughts and opinions... People are only words. They always speak of a perfect kingdom without knowing the cost of what it takes to make that kingdom. Blood. Rivers of blood. Blood of innocent and sinner, blood of family and enemy. At the end of the day, it is me who had to make the choices that would change the course of history of my country." BuGai spoke as he watched outside. "I don't imagine your grandfather, Aegon the Conqueror, cared much about how many men, women and children were burnt alive during his conquest, nor did your grandmother or your aunt, for he knew the death of thousands and even his sister-wife were inevitable."
"Good Kings or Queens need not spill the blood of thousands to bring a vision that no one knows how long it may stand. It is the stability of love that holds a kingdom together." Daemion spoke. "Respect and the love of people is what makes a good King and Queen."
"Good and kind King and Queens would rule peacefully, but unknowingly they will lay seeds of a greater war that would come after. And that war, Daemion... Is always the bloodiest of war. For those wars are always among the kin." The God-Emperor BuGai spoke. "Don't you hear of this little revolution that is taking place in Westeros? People are screaming and yapping for the independence and freedom of the Targaryens... Under the peaceful rule of King Aenys Targaryen, and his father before him."
"So you don't care about how history would remember you. Then what about me? Your own sister?? Your own family? Jumong betrayed you and your sister and mother and left them and you in our hands!" Amethyst spoke slightly angered.
"You prove my point, my sister. Family, just like everyone else, will eventually betray you. My mother betrayed me when she sent that assassin to your camp, which led to your victory. Jumong betrayed me when he took the soldiers of my army form the city..." BuGai spoke as he ran his hand in his short brown-greyish beard. "...This is why my loyalty was never to you or that of my family... but to Yi-Ti. To the idea of what Yi-Ti could be. To the vision of a greater Yi-Ti. Let people call me a usurper, a monster. For as many people who would call me a monster, there are people who will call me the Emperor who laid the seeds of what someday may be a great Empire... The man who saw ruling for it truly was... For this... this is what power is. A burning flame that would burn others, but you too will burn with it..." The God-Emperor calmly continued.
"Power... power belongs to those who are unafraid to take it. Now that power is yours, sister, if you are willing to burn..." BuGai spoke gracefully as he looked outside of the window to the distant field.
Amethyst could not speak. Amethyst has seen enough war and of the world to hear the truth of BuGai's words. The family would always betray you... was BuGai wrong? She could not decide, and she did not need to look only at her own family to see that BuGai was right... Even Daemion was betrayed by those who were his family.
And BuGia continued speaking as he watched outside of the window.
"What I've always wanted, is a nation powerful and strong, for us to be the wonder of the world, the gods chosen people on this earth... and I was close... I was truly close... But I will not weep, nor wonder what might have been had I remained Emperor." BuGai turned his head toward Amethyst. "...Now it is up to you to build that Empire, sister. I did what I could with the time I had... Now you are the future of Yi-Ti... Realize that dream... that vision..."
BuGai reached for the Golden crown on top of his head and took it off, and calmly handed it to Amethyst.
"I vow it... brother." Amethyst promised as she felt a plump in her throat as she saw BuGai calmly smile upon hearing her words. "I will see the Empire that you always dreamed of turn into reality... For the sake of our nation, for the sake of her people, and for the time that you and I were family."
God-Emperor BuGai smiled and slightly leaned down and kissed Amethyst's forehead. "I've always loved and cared for you, sister. Keep a memory of me... Not just as an Emperor, but as your brother. I am sure you understand why I did everything that I did."
"I do, BuGai..." Amethyst spoke calmly. "I will make sure you will be remembered. As a powerful man. A wise Emperor... And my brother." Amethyst spoke calmly as she leaned up and kissed BuGai's forehead.
"Bury me in the Lion of the Night's temple next to where our grandfather and father are buried." BuGai spoke calmly. "Next to two generations before me who also sacrificed all they had, all they were, for a greater Yi-Ti..."
Amethyst calmly nodded.
BuGai smiled and kissed Amethyst's forehead once more and walked toward Daemion.
"Daemion Targaryen. The Black Dragon. The Raven Prince. A man who made a name for himself in my country. A man who fiercely remained loyal to the cause he saw worthy to fight for, for ten years... You are a true warrior of Jinqi..." BuGai spoke as he stood in front of Daemion. "I respect you for what you are and what you have accomplished. You are a man worthy of your name... worthy of your place in the stories that they will tell of you... Of your legend which will live as long as there are those who their heart bleed for righteousness, as your heart does." BuGai spoke as he stood in front of Daemion and looked him in his deep violet eyes as he continued.
"I only pity those who will wear your name after you, for they have much to live up to... For as much as your name inspires hope among the men who follow you, it will be a burden to those who will carry it... For how will they ever become greater than Daemion the Black Dragon?"
"Will it be a Burden... or a Legacy?" Daemion the Black Dragon asked calmly.
BuGai only smiled. "That is a question that only the man who would wear your name after you can answer." BuGai spoke and looked at Dark Sister in Daemion's hand.
"A Valyrian steel blade..." BuGai spoke as he looked at the blade. "What do you call it?"
"Dark Sister." Daemion spoke calmly. "The sword that my grandmother wielded during the conquest, passed to my father who wilied it in Stepstones, and then he passed it to me."
"A sword bore by warriors." BuGai spoke calmly.
BuGai calmly studied the blade of Dark Sister as he calmly ran his finger with the edge of Dark Sister's blade.
"It would be an honour to die by a Valyrian steel sword, and even a greater honour that the wielder of that sword is a man worthy of his Valyrian blade and his story..."
"The honour would be all mine...BuGai." Daemion spoke calmly as he softly put the point of Dark Sister on where BuGai's heart was located.
As the point of the Dark Sister was pressed against BuGai's chest, he calmly opened his arms as if he was ready to fly away, but he only spoke a sentence in Yi-Tish:
"True excellence eludes meaning, yet humanity is bound to pursue its elusive essence..."
And Daemion slowly shoved Dark Sister in BuGai's heart, showering her with the blood of the God-Emperor.
As Daemion shoved Dark Sister deeper into BuGai's heart, he leaned close to BuGai's ear and spoke calmly. "I will never forget our conversation that day in the library... For you taught me what no other ever did... Go with peace..."
BuGai weakly smiled and as blood began to run down his clothes. "I finally have it... the... name of my book..." BuGai whispered as more blood left his wounded heart.
"Yi-Ti... The Eternal Empire..."
BuGai fell on his two knees as he held his fatal wound, and with one last breath, he looked outside of the window once more, so with one last breath he could see what he had always seen in his dreams...And The God-Emperor BuGai, fell on his chest, as with his last breaths he looked at what he loved the most...
Yi-Ti.
________
Amethyst watched as BuGai's blood ran on the ground. Amethyst took in a deep breath and walked toward his lifeless body and leaned down to turn BuGai's body, so his body would rest on his back rather than his chest.
Amethyst calmly looked at BuGai's brown, and lifeless eyes which were still open. Amethyst calmly reached for his eyes and calmly closed them and only whispered. "Goodbye, my brother. Goodbye."
Daemion leaned down on his knees to Amethyst's height. "Amethyst?" Daemion spoke softly.
Amethyst calmly looked at Daemion, but Daemion could see the pain and grief behind her black eyes.
Daemion softly reached for the Golden crown in her hands and grabbed it.
"Shall we, Empress?" Daemion spoke calmly. They both could hear Amethyst's army marching onto the city as they cheered, celebrating the conquest of Golden City.
"Jumong is still out there." Amethyst softly whispered. "He will return... He has an army on his side... We have his mother and sister, yes, but I know the bastard, He cares more for his boots than his own mother and sister..."
"A problem for another day... Now, let us celebrate..." Daemion whispered as he caressed Amethyst's shoulder reassuringly. "You've led us to victory... You did, Amethyst. You are the Empress now..."
"But will Yi-Ti ever recover from this? How many died for me to have this victory? Against mine own brother?" Amethyst asked bitterly.
Daemion had no words, for he knew she was right. A war between brother and sister had led to thousands of deaths... The victor would sit on the Golden Throne, but at what cost?
Suddenly the door was opened, and only Zhea walked in.
Before Zhea could speak, her eyes fell on BuGai's lifeless body next to Daemion and Amethyst.
"The God-Emperor is gone... It's over..." Zhea spoke calmly and then smiled. "Long live the God-Empress."
Daemion smiled at Zhea and looked at Amethyst and nodded.
Amethyst stood up, and put her sword back on her waist, and began to walk toward the door, so she could present the army with the sight of the new Empress.
Zhea immediately walked next to Amethyst and accompanied her. Daemion began to walk behind them with the Golden Crow in his hands.
Amethyst stood atop of the stairs, in front of the God-Emperor Palace, as her army shouted and cheered.
"Emperor BuGai has passed! The Golden City, Yi-Ti is ours!" Zhea announced loudly. "Today is the beginning of a new reign!"
Daemion walked behind of Amethyst's back, and calmly and put the Golden crown on top of her head. "A new age... A new God... A new hope... For let us pray should reign long and true!" Zhea spoke loudly.
And Amethyst spoke.
"Under my rule, we will begin a new era in our history. I will realize the dream of my forebears, my father and his father before him, and my brother, God-Emperor BuGai, the dream of a powerful Yi-Ti. An Empire greater than Empire of Dawn!" Amethyst spoke loudly.
The army, the new loyalist, cheered, as Modread flew in a distance from the Golden City.
"All hail Empress Amethyst, the Amethyst Empress reborn!" Zhea yelled as she kneeled before Amethyst, and following that, thousands of men kneeled before their Empress and hailed Empress as the God-Empress... as The Amethyst Empress Reborn.
Daemion walked around Amethyst and stood in front of her as he towered over her. Daemion calmly kneeled before her, and grabbed her hand, softly kissed her fingers, and whispered.
"God-Empress Amethyst."