Three Children of Death

A day before the eve of Katacuesta.

Kali had been studying for the past few days to test the ideas he had come up to see if Sage Magic works the way he think it is.

It mostly led to failures, bringing him to realization of either it works in limited ways or if it is more complicated that he thought it was.

He decided to browse for more ideas of dark arts from the other books.

Kali: "Stasis, Gorgons, Golems, Elementals, Cataclex Ultima."

"Genetics Theory, Surgical histories, Immune system, Heal Spell Theory."

"Hormones, Mana Gland, Philosophies"

"These are quite interesting ideas. Although are lacking of many details as they're still being studied, since it only assumed the data that it managed to fully prove thus I can be pretty confident that these information are mostly true. I can use these as the basis, which means the only thing for me to do now is to piece them together to discover the other unexplored parts of these subjects."

Footsteps are heard coming from the entrance of the dungeon. Sakal entered the labyrinth carrying a candle on it's candle holder.

The slaves will be sent here tomorrow. You no longer have to rely on pig flesh. You will be able to study better with human test subjects.

Upon hearing those words, Kali felt like something heavy in his chest out of anxiety. He felt sick. He knew this day would eventually come, but he didn't want to believe it'll be this soon, yet here it is.

Kali nods then Sakal left.

Kali haven't slept that night. He studied his magic as much as he could, hoping to prevent any errors from occurring in his future tests, prioritizing the well-being of the slaves.

The next day.

Due to lack of sleep, Kali looks more frail and pale than usual. He's gotten eye bags and his eyes are more reddish, sore, and teary. His well being is as terrible as it appears to be. Starting off the day in a terrible mood yet the worse is still about to come.

Miss Gale entered his room.

Gale: "Kali, your father is calling for you."

Kali: "Right away, Ms. Gale."

He got off his bed.

Gale: "Are you okay? You don't look well."

Kali: "I do not have to be worried about."

Gale: "Tell me if something feels wrong."

He left without replying back to her.

Kali thinks to himself: "Yes, I should be the last person to be worried for. I do not deserve anyones sympathy. A weakling like I am, who hopelessly had to rely on a vile magic, do not deserve everything I have."

"Incompetent, weak, dimwitted. The only thing that is keeping me going is my fear of death, and it's pathetic. Hard work, dedication, passion? All of it stems from my fear. My fear of death that is a sign of my life near in it's end, since if anyone deserves to die, it should be me, and deep down I am concious of it."

Kali made up his mind.

He entered the labyrinth. He was immediately greeted by his father at the entrance.

Sakal: "Follow me."

They went to the deeper and darker corners of the labyrinth, which extends through a long hallway without any kind of light source and is rarely visited, let alone cleaned, an atmostphere that this dungeon should have given at first impression, as it is finally starting to feel like an actual dungeon.

At the very end of the hallway is a metal door locked from the outside. Sakal took out a key chain from his pocket with multiple keys attached, belonging to the multiple locks on the metal door, and unlocked them one by one. They entered the room behind the door.

Inside, a young man and a young girl are chained in a seperate cage both glaring at Sakal.

Sakal: "They're soldiers of Victland, both part of the recent terrorist attack at the southern gate. They are the traitors of Agham Empire, feel no remorse for them."

Young Man: "What are you planning to do with us?" He asked in a serious tone.

Sakal: "You're both about to die."

Young Man: "You must be the emperor. I swear on my life once I've broke out of this cage, I will kill you!"

Sakal: "In a war, you're not just betting your own life, you are betting on all the lives of the people close to you. To go to a war is to protect the people you care for, not to kill your enemies. So before you start thinking of how are you going to kill me, you should first think about how are you going to save your sister."

Young Girl: "Kill me, but please let go of my big brother!" She cried.

Kali: "Father, I've already made up my mind before I got here."

"I wish not to kill people. Just as you said, I only wish to protect our people. I want to find a way to protect everyone without killing anyone!"

Sakal: "Fool! They are no longer human for all the things they did! There are people who don't deserve another chance, people that will never change their ways! You cannot escape violence! You cannot escape your fate to kill these animals! You cannot save everyone, eventually you will run out of choice, at that point, to kill is the only thing you could do! This is how our world is designed to be. If you want to live, you have to accept it!"

Kali: "I do not care, still!"

Sakal slapped him and grabbed him by his hair: "I did not gave you any choice, did I?" He whispered in a dead serious manner.

Kali's trauma resurfaced. His extreme fear of his father left him unable to speak. He experienced far worse punishment before, but to think that it could happen once again or possibly even worse, he isn't taking the risk.

Kali is shivering, breathing heavily, and quiet.

Sakal left.

The Young Man: "And here I thought the prince had the best life compared to everyone in the world. So the pain between our lives is just manifested in different forms."

Kali: "I doubt my problems are any significant."

The Young Man: "Isn't that a good thing? Your name must be Makali. My name is Timothy. Her name is Dorothy. We are siblings who joined the war to kill the evil emperor."

Kali: "Yes, I am Makali. Nice to meet both of you."

Timothy: "And here we all assumed that the prince is the most spoiled and selfish person alive."

Kali: "Really?"

Timothy: "For real! Everyone in our nation think so."

Kali: "Is that the reason why people are afraid of me?"

Dorothy: "Possibly, but your title alone is enough to make them intimidated."

Timothy: "Luckily it wasn't the case or we would have been dead by now. Thanks!" He shouted his gratitutde.

Dorothy: "We appreciate it."

"Now I will put aside the shame I feel for all the things I owe you, but there's one more favor I would like to ask."

"Please Lord Makali, lend us enough amount of giera for our sick brother!"

Kali: "Is he suffering from whitebane?"

Dorothy: "Yes. Please save him!"

Timothy: "We hope you could save him. My siblings are the only family I have left, I don't want to lose anyone anymore."

Kali: "Leave it to me."

Oh three children of Death God

Be not mistaken

The God is not simply a harbinger of death

As he as well spare lives to his sinners not worthy of death

Oh three children of Death God

Make no evil to him

As a man who does evil to him gets to live

While his followers die as a reward for acts deserving death

Oh three children of Death God

Now make a choice

As the choice you pick will lead his judgment upon you

The evil girl will live

The holy boy will die

And the defiant boy who wish to kill the god will die

Oh God of the Dead

No reasoning can be found from you

As you do the opposite of natural

So as to not be fooled by your prowess oh God of Death

I will remind myself that you are no god

Since a god cannot perish

Thus a God of Death who cannot die is no god

God of Death

To remind myself that you are no reasonable nor god

God of Death

You are a devil of a man opposite to the True God

–Pheonix Scriptures: Prophecy of ?.?. ??.???: Chapter 3: Song to the Sorcerer of Death.