Darius

Clyde peered at the ember standing on the rooftop, his presence igniting a fierce hatred in Clyde's eyes.

"Darius, please, stand down," the man's voice hissed, twisted with malevolence. Dark energy radiated from him, distorting the air with a palpable rage that crackled like static.

"Don't you speak," Clyde growled. The man who called him Darius, the tallest and most formidable among them, stood with menacing stillness, hands clasped behind his back. His jet-black armor seemed to absorb light, exuding a sinister aura. His eyes, black voids devoid of humanity, bore into Clyde. "You flee from our family, hiding like a busy old man? You thought we wouldn't eventually find you?" he sneered.

Darius, or Clyde as he had once been known, stood stoically. His expression was impassive, but then, with a sudden shift, his facade crumbled. Revealed beneath was a man of striking presence: his flowing black hair complemented eyes that burned with fiery red intensity. "Ah, that's more like it," the man taunted, leaping gracefully from the rooftop to land a few meters from Darius. "You didn't take kindly to what we told you, but to flee? Truly pathetic, man. Come on."

Darius remained silent, his response a swift and lethal strike. His short silver blade flashed through the air, narrowly missing the man's jugular. At the last moment, the man jerked back, minimizing the wound to a mere graze. "Ah…" he murmured, wiping the trickle of blood from his neck. The droplets lifted from his skin, transforming into deadly spikes that hovered, poised to strike.

"Nice or rough way, Darius. Or Clyde if you prefer," he sneered, igniting a spark of fury within Darius.

A swipe of lightning, crackling with power, ripped through the air. The vast area it graced made it a dangerous spell.

Darius countered, the blood spikes launching forward to meet the lightning, shredding the spell as they clashed. But still, the remnants of the lightning surged onward, nearly reaching Darius.

Before the spell could land, a black blade descended with lethal precision, leaving only a blur in its wake. The blade exuded an aura of death and decay.

"Kill yourself," Darius spat, his voice cold and devoid of mercy.

Seth, his brother, surged forward, his armor shimmering as it stretched, almost teleporting him in the eyes of the onlookers. Darius moved to evade, his black hair streaming behind him, barely dodging the vicious strike.

The clash between Darius and Seth was ferocious, each movement a contradiction to their brotherhood. The air around them crackled with energy, their powers colliding in bursts of light and darkness. As they fought, the tension in the atmosphere thickened.

Without warning, a new presence emerged from the shadows, a woman with ethereal grace. Karoleen, another Ember, and Seth and Darius's sister, stepped into the fray, her aura a mix of serenity and lethal intent.

Karoleen moved with fluid elegance, her every step a calculated strike. Her eyes, cold and unyielding, locked onto Darius. She raised her hand, and the ground beneath him erupted, jagged spikes of earth shooting upward. Darius leaped back, his reflexes sharp, but she was relentless. She conjured a whirlwind of energy, its force tearing at the ground and hurling debris toward him.

Darius fought back with ferocity. His blade twirled through the air, deflecting the onslaught of attacks. He summoned flames that wailed to life, engulfing his siblings in a fiery inferno. Yet, the Embers were undeterred. They pressed on, their teamwork empowering their deadly assault.

Seth, his eyes transforming into molten gold, unleashed a torrent of fire, the flames twisting into serpentine forms that struck at Darius from all sides.

Darius was a blur of motion, his blade slicing through fire and earth alike. He called upon the shadows, their tendrils wrapping around his enemies, constricting and suffocating. Seth, his mobility restricted, glanced in discontent as a bolt of lightning struck his shoulder. His arm held firm, but the impact caved in, pressing agonizingly into his shoulder. He sneered and tore the tendrils off his body with pure strength.

"Aha! So you learned from Father well! You quad element-wielding freak!" Karoleen roared.

Karoleen moved in for the kill, her hands oozing essence. She thrust her hand forward, a beam of fire shooting toward Darius. He barely had time to react, raising his blade to deflect the attack. The force of the impact sent him skidding backward, his feet digging trenches into the earth.

The intensity of the battle reached a peak, the air thick with the acrid smell of burnt objects and the metallic tang of blood. Darius knew he was outnumbered, but he fought on.

Amid the chaos, Seth's voice rang out, a chilling command cutting through the din of battle. "End this, Darius. You cannot flee again, no matter how much of a fight you're putting up. As of now, your buddy will be dead. You're alone. So listen to me."

Darius's eyes blazed with defiance. "I will never listen to you again," he growled.

The Embers closed in, their combined might a force of nature. The ground trembled beneath their power, the air crackling with electricity. Darius stood his ground, his blade gleaming with deadly light.

"Who said I was dead, exactly?" a familiar voice called out. Lourdes stood atop a nearby roof, the night breeze catching the flowing robe he wore. His golden eyes blazed like those of an avenging angel. Seth sneered. "Ah, so Rilad really fell. Pitiful." Karoleen shook her head.

"Which one was that? The girl whose nose I caved in, or the big guy with the really big sword?" Lourdes asked casually, a mocking grin spreading across his face.

Lourdes was busy. On his way, he had been confronted by a man wielding a greatsword. Lourdes had dispatched him with difficulty, coming too close a few times. He had been tempted to take his head as a trophy. When he arrived, he was dumbfounded to hear them speaking his language, but hid it from his face. "But…" He glanced over to Darius, "How is he involved in this mess?"

The two guards exchanged glances before looking back at Lourdes. "He's Clyde! He was just hiding his real self. He's our brother. Crazy, right? He was supposed to be the heir of Weryn!"

Lourdes turned his head to Darius, his face emotionless. They stared at each other until Darius finally broke the silence. "I'll explain later. It'll make sense to you, probably." Lourdes didn't respond; he simply looked away.

"So, last time, Darius. Will you come back?"

The question echoed in Darius's mind. Could he return to them? Should he? The weight of his past bore down on him, the memories of betrayal and loss swirling in his mind like a storm. He looked at his siblings, their faces. He felt the tug of a past he had tried so hard to escape.

"Come back with us, Darius," Seth urged, his voice softer now, almost pleading.

Darius's heart clenched. He remembered the days of their childhood, the bond they once shared. The laughter, the shared fantasies of a fate where they ruled together. But that was before everything fell apart, before the betrayal that shattered his trust. The dreadful outcome of those lies. The deception that led him to kill his own love.

He looked at Seth, seeing not just a brother but a reminder of what he had lost. The hurt, the anger, the feeling of being betrayed by the ones he loved most. It was all there, bubbling to the surface, threatening to overwhelm him. He missed his family. But after that, there was no return.

"I can't," Darius whispered, "I can't go back."

"I know what we did was horrible, beyond it. But it was ordered, and it needed to be done. If you kept quiet, she wouldn't have known any secrets to begin with." Seth spoke dearly, his eyes narrowing. "We loved her too. Don't forget that."

The words twisted in Darius's gut like a knife. Family was supposed to be a source of strength, a refuge. But his family had become a source of dread, tearing his only solace away from him and the world.

Hearing his brother blame him only made the mass of nasty emotions churn in his stomach. He thought of the life he had built for himself, the person he had become. And the people he had lost.

"Please, Darius," Seth's voice cracked, and for a moment, Darius saw the boy he used to protect, the brother he had once loved so fiercely. He knew deep down, despite their battling, he loved him deeply, and vice versa.

Tears welled up in his eyes, blurring his vision. He wanted to believe, wanted to trust that they could be a family again. But the scars ran too deep, the wounds too raw.

"No," he admitted, his voice breaking.

Darius frowned, the conflict tearing him apart. The urge to go back, to find consolation in the arms of his family.

"If you could bring her back, I would." He didn't need to clarify what he was speaking about. The other two siblings peered at each other before sighing in unison. "If you insist."

And suddenly, all hell broke loose again