Bab 4: Valir
I used Fire Magic to untangle the lasso immobilising Vale.
"This is Court matter, your highness," Quiltanas advised. "Please do not interfere."
"My brother is harmless. What threat does he pose among all of you?"
I walked up to the throne, sitting beside my father. "I would like to hear the woes of the accused."
I dared not look into my father's eyes, for it sure was filled with anger.
"I have dealt with the matter in secret, Valir," my father said. "An army has gathered east of the Fire Kingdom, preparing for an uprising today. I sneaked into the night and burned them all. The Wind Immortal is here to face divine punishment and surrender his power as to not destroy the balance."
The Four Immortals cannot be killed. Not only are they powerful, but a death of one disrupts nature's course, damning the realm. Centuries ago the Earth Immortal was killed, and we were faced with famine. All the crops, plants, trees, and flowers withered. The mountains and earth were filled with dark creatures. Only when the Elementium chose another Immortal did the curse stop.Then a few decades ago the Water Immortal disappeared, and the realm was doomed with drought. The springs and rivers were emptied and no rain fell from the sky for ten years, sea monsters attacked those that tried to cross the sea, until the Princess of the Water Tribe came of age and was chosen by the Elementium.
"Are you guilty of these charges, Wind Sultan?" I asked.
"Yes, my prince," the Immortal answered. "But I beg the Fire Lord not to harm my son. In my death he is to succeed my throne, and will be an Immortal chosen by the Elementium."
"Do you admit to conspiring treason with your father, Prince Vale?" I asked the prince.
"No, brother. I am innocent. However it's the Fire Lord's decree that all the family members of a treasonist be executed. Please show no mercy," my brother replied, kneeling.
What an idiot. He really is trying to get killed!
"Father, this is wrong. Vale did nothing wrong."
The Fire Lord closed his eyes, as if reconsidering. I know he cannot kill Vale. We're family.
"We cannot abandon a decree because of personal attachment, My Lord," one of the council suggested. "It would not be fair to those who were killed because of this reason."
I eyed the old man angrily.
"My Supreme Decree is final, Valir. No one is exempt from it."
The throne room exploded in gasps and commotion. Prince Valir is adored in the four realm. His talents and wisdom have reached even the Southern Seas. He will be a fine Immortal someday. He cannot die because of his father's sin.
"I will not allow it!" I shouted, standing in my seat. I walked down the steps in front of Vale, shielding him from my father.
"Stop this impudence right now, Valir! Are you defying me in front of the court?" The Fire Lord asked. The Fire marks in his skin started to glow. Mine did too.
"If you kill him, you will kill me too."
"This is the King we have been serving for many centuries," the Wind Sultan said with a loud voice. "He will kill an innocent child, a child he has raised and nurtured, just to remind the realm the price of questioning his ruling."
"Silence, Sultan!" My father shouted, his voice echoing through the room.
"I will not be silenced," the Wind Sultan removed the lasso with ease. Only those with supreme fire can do that. It showed how powerful an immortal is. The Kingsguard gathered around us in a circle, pointing their spears at the sultan, Vale and I.
"My conscience is clear," the Sultan continued. "The Fire Lord is the disease that is killing this realm. In order to take the supreme throne and take the Elementium you killed the Earth Immortal. You have scorched kingdoms and families that dared question your rule. You have incinerated tribes and murdered my brother and my wife for proposing that the Elementium be divided and protected by each of the Immortals, instead of you. All beings in the world are sustained by the blessings of the Elemental Realm, they think that we are peaceful and nurturing the balance, but what they do not know, that our own realm is in constant suffering because the Supremacy is corrupt, cruel, and is maddened by power! We do not need protection from creatures of the Dark Abyss, we need protection from our own King!"
"Silence!" My father shouted.
"You call me a treasonist. But I did not do it to take power. I did it for the sake of the realm, for the peace of each being in it, and to answer the agonies of all that were wrongly burned by your hellfire. I am not afraid of death."
My father summoned hellfire in his hands. "Escort Prince Valir away from the traitors. I will burn you into nothingness, not even ashes will be left to be mourned!"
But the Kingsguard did not move.
"What are you doing? Follow the King's order!" Ion shouted at his men. His mouth spilled blood as one of the guards speared his chest.
The Kingsguard raised their spears and pointed it at my father. The Immortals stood and so did the rest of the council, raising their hands to summon offensive spells and directed it to the throne.
"The realm has spoken, Fire Lord," the Sultan said, summoning tornado waves. "Your Supremacy ends today."
I felt Vale's hand in my arm. "We should leave, brother."
"Go. I need to stay with my father," I whispered. "May we meet again."
"May we meet again," he echoed as he removed his hand and backed away. Be safe, brother.
I moved to go to my father and try to calm everyone, but I couldn't move. The Earth Immortal summoned vines that kept me in place.
"Surrender your power, Fire Lord, and your prince will live," Quiltanas said. Even my father's Hand betrayed him. Are all these accusations true?
"Traitors, all of you!" My father boomed angrily. His hair turned into fire, eyes shining red. "Face my wrath!"
"Everyone retreat, the Immortals will handle this," the Wind Sultan ordered.
The Fire Lord raised his arms and with a mighty force threw giant fire balls from the sky, breaking through the ceiling. The council started to scream and run, but some of them were not lucky. The Water Immortal blocked further assault with large waves, turning the fire balls into steam.
The Wind Immortal guided his tornado towards my father who dispelled it with Fire Breath, causing an explosion that blew off the walls and pillars. The throne room started to collapse as the Four Immortals battled.
Everything happened so fast. Tornados formed from the sky, tsunamis were summoned and the earth started to shake. The ground beneath my father opened and swallowed him, and I thought it was the end. But then he rose a few seconds later, riding a wave of magma as it poured out of the earth, making the other immortals jump into elevated spaces. Some of the Kingsguard burned as others fled. I closed my eyes as the magma touched my feet, expecting it scream in pain like the others, but I wasn't harmed.
I manipulated the magma, melting the prison vines encapsulating me. I was free, but I didn't know who to attack. The silent throne room became chaos in a matter of seconds, and the palace started to fall from all the damage.
The Wind Sultan rode one of his tornado and flew towards father, blasting air blades that were thin and sharp. My father created a fire wall that blocked most of it, but a few blades passed through and hit a few parts of his body.
The sky grew black and massive rains fell to the earth. The Water Immortal turned batches of raindrops into ice shards and threw them at my father. Large roots sprouted from the ground and held on to him like snakes. I sprang into action and breathed fire into the ice shards, melting them. A few still managed to pass through, and hit my father again.
"Father, please surrender," I begged. The Immortals stopped and looked at me, as if only remembering I was there. "Father, it's over. Please."
My father smiled at me and shook his head. "I'm only getting started, my prince. Go somewhere safe."
A cloud of light formed in his hands, and the Elementium appeared after it. It floated majestically in his palm. The Elementium is a sacred gem, no being is allowed to touch it, or their souls are cursed with eternal doom.
"You dare harness the power of nature itself?" The Water Immortal shouted.
The Fire Lord raised the gem and suddenly everything stopped. The tornados dissipated and the air turned calm, the rain stopped and the sky cleared, and the roots holding my father's legs retreated back to the earth.
"Death to traitors," my father announced.
"Father, please, killing the Immortals will curse the realm," I heard Vale say. He's standing near the throne. I thought he already left?
"They betrayed me, son. They will pay the price. Get your brother and hide until this is over."
My father used the Elementium to fire blasts of light to the Immortals, but he stopped halfway through. I saw it first. A tiny gust of wind, a movement swift and languid it was impossible to notice. An ice dagger passed through my father's heart and his mouth watered with blood.
"No!" I screamed. Vale's face appeared behind him as he fell on his knees.
"I have avenged you, Mother," my brother said without emotion.
"Run," my father mouthed at me as he closed his eyes, his body falling onto the ground. I saw his soul being forcefully extracted by the Elementium, releasing a tormented scream as it was absorbed by the gem.
I ran.
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