The Dragon's Kiss

"Are you crazy?!"

"Please, Your Highness! Listen to us!"

"Have some sense!"

The group of old corrupt men that made up Mevani's council had gathered in one last attempt to rally their king. Amidst the turmoil outside, they had filed self-importantly into the royal hall as if swaying the King's word was the only aid they could possibly offer in the face of Serin's invasion.

Their young ruler's indifference to their pleas had left them flustered, but still they persisted.

"We have to fight!"

"How could we give up on our country like this?"

Finally, out of the cluster of frantic men, stepped a tall knight with graying red hair and pale drooping eyes.

"Son…"

Sir Arden, who had never before shrunk in the face of danger, took a trembling step toward the King's throne.

".. Sir." Leif addressed him formally, a tiny tremor disrupting his absent gaze.

"Was this your plan all along?" Sir Arden broached. "You.. were on their side the whole time?"

The rowdy council fell quiet behind the bold knight.

Though unspoken, a single word lingered behind everyone's lips.

Traitor.

"And what will fighting them accomplish?" Kel piped up from where she stood at Leif's side.

It was the same place the King's head guard traditionally stood, a place Sir Arden had occupied often when the previous king still remained on the throne, and the place that Kel had rejected from Leif many times.

How funny to think that in one way or another, she had ended up exactly where Leif wanted her.

At her question, the council members exchanged looks, nobody willing to come forward with an answer.

"Hasn't enough blood been spilled?" Kel continued. "We cannot save the people of Mevani by fighting. It's too late for that."

The looks of the old men quickly turned to grimaces as murmuring erupted among them once again.

"Even with the most power," Leif whispered, his blank stare returning to his lap, "I'm still powerless."

Kel opened her mouth to respond, but soon closed it again.

While the councils' lips spit insults and complaints, their eyes were filled with fear. They hadn't come here to save their kingdom; they didn't even care about that.

They were worried for themselves.

And they should be, Kel scoffed, recalling the image of the Dragon Emperor's court cowering before his fury. Even if they were lucky enough to keep their jobs, things would never be the same for them.

The only person among them who seemed to be maintaining his composure was Sir Arden. Contrary to his anxious expression when facing his son, he was now watching Kel with curiosity.

It was the face of the hero Kel had admired while growing up as a royal guard. After hearing Leif's story, the same face suddenly belonged to a wicked beast, but now, it just looked like the face of a small, pathetic man.

It made her sick.

Kel turned away just as the knight moved to approach her, when the hall doors flew open, surprising them both.

The chaos outside the thick walls immediately began gushing through the opening.

Large men, covered in scars and wielding sharp pieces of debris, alongside limping knights and shrieking maids poured inside the royal hall.

The blood stains on everyone's bodies blended with the knights' uniforms, making it impossible to tell whose blood it was or where it had come from.

"Move it, Kid!" one of the scarred, rubble-bearing men barked at Leif. "We're taking over this place!"

Kel realized it must be the group of underground rogues that Leif had joined with to stage the coup. They looked more like vulgar bandits than calculating rogues, however.

Sching!

Clack.

A small knife clattered to the ground in front of the throne, knocked out of the air by Sir Arden as it flew toward his son's bowed head.

"Leif! Y-your Highness! You need to go!"

As soon as danger had arrived, Arden had automatically assumed body guard mode.

"After all our hard work, you're just gonna give it all away to the Empire?!" the rogue shouted again, marching threateningly toward the throne. "We can't allow that."

Behind him, the wounded knights did their best to hold off the other attackers while the council men hid behind the maids.

Kel's heart pounded.

No. It wasn't supposed to be like this.

Among the knights and the maids, there wasn't a single face she didn't recognize.

Sir Arden was barely holding the much larger man at bay as he rampaged toward Leif, who was still sitting as if he was oblivious to his surroundings.

Was it the same as Leif had said? Was she truly.. powerless?

Kel's fist clenched as her chest began to prickle.

Burn them.

An unfamiliar voice whispered in her mind.

Burn them.

She was mesmerized by the voice. The feeling in her chest grew stronger, until it felt like thousands of searing needles poking her heart.

Burn them all.

Itzae's voice that so often guided her fire had been replaced entirely with this new being, urging her to unleash everything.

Her veins ached as they filled with blazing energy.

Deep in her bones, a feeling lingered that she had never truly tapped into her power until this moment--that the lightning shooting her veins was only a tenth of the might still buried in her heart.

Burn them all.

She could. With one breath, she could reduce the room to a pile of ashes. If she raised her hand-

"Urp!"

Kel fell to her knees, clutching at her neck.

The prickling in her chest wasn't listening to her. It was climbing into her throat, choking her and burning her all at the same time.

I can't let my guard down like this, Kel panicked, desperately trying to regain control of her power.

She dug through her thoughts, searching for Itzae's calming voice.

Tell me what to do! How do I make it stop?

Burn them.

Burn-

"Aaaaah!"

Her hands still at her throat, Kel unleashed a scream.

Except, no sound came from her mouth.

Instead, a pillar of flames burst from her lips, roasting the skin on her face as it shot toward the ceiling.

When it was over, she crumpled to the ground, holding her arms over her head as chunks of the stone roof fell and cracked the tile around her.

She laid there panting for several seconds before peeling her stinging face off the floor.

Between singed pieces of rubble, she could see that everyone in the room was frozen in place, eyes wide and glued to her. Sunlight and smoke trickled through a large hold in the ceiling, directly above her.

What had she just done?

Suddenly, a single voice cut through the silence.

"Well, well. It looks like I'm a little late to the party."

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