Echoes of a Dying Realm

Dear Brother,

Dear Father, Brother, Sister, I have failed the great house of the Golden Sun. My demise has been set, and my head will fall on the day of the hourglass, where the moon is no more and the sun shines as bright as our kingdom of old.

Brother, do hear me now. I falter in my madness and my reckoning. I am that of witch and sadness, be it as it may. He who wanders into the light will only fall into the light.

Brother, I remember your words, I remember your warning. I remember the sun and its greatness, and the morning when the blade of the giant fell like the very breath that laid our kingdom of old.

The Gods of the world will falter in our madness and our greed. We are to blame, for we fall into the madness that we set and build, what kind of madness or kindness can we find that has been built of old? Can we?

Our eyes brim with the fogs of time and the mourning of death and decay. We see the end and we see the beginning. We hail the kingdom of new with flame, and we see only cause in our desire for power and our wish to be free of it.

Hear me, Brother. Can you see it? The tales you spoke of, the words you said to me: the day of reckoning and the day of paradise. Who am I in this pursuit of madness and hell? Who am I, Brother?

I have failed as a father and a brother. You gave me this kingdom out of your own desire for your own truth. What have I done for it but lust and riches? I am a slave to my own desire, and my own mouth cannot stop touching the flames of death, for I am at fault.

I have lost our sister. I have lost Lilith. I have lost our sister, Brother. I have lost our kingdom. I have lost my sons and daughters, for I will die with them, and my wife will adhere to it like a demon. She laughs at me. She laughs at my strength. She laughs at my wisdom. She laughs at my faith—my faith in you, Brother.

My lust has been my reckoning. The three-headed flying serpent has come to slay me, slay my sons, my kin, and my kingdom.

Brother, I remember… I remember the day you left. You spoke of the tale of the great truths, of the wonders beyond our understanding. I remember your words, that even after my death, my kingdom will rise once more. For even though I was drunk and faltered, your vision of time and what is to come stayed etched in my heart.

You who slayed the children of Gods. You who could command the storms of the void. You who split mountains. You who were chosen by the ancestors, the great ruler who walked with Gods. You who were my brother and my friend… Will the sun rise once more on our kingdom? Will it?

"It is time. Are you done?" The soldier's voice cut through the musings. He stood outside the cage, clad in gleaming, clever armor, his stance indifferent.

"Yes… Just give me a moment…" Before the blue-haired man could finish, the soldier snatched the brown sheet from his hands.

The prisoner tried to protest, his fingers reaching for the stolen words, but a forceful shove sent him tumbling back into the confines of his skeletal prison. The cage loomed like a dark, skeletal cocoon, its bars unyielding as they encased him.

Clutching the cold metal poles, he stared at the soldier. "Please, remember the promise. You must deliver it—"

"I haven't forgotten," the soldier interjected. "Now, where's the gold?" His gaze bore into the pitiful man in the cage, taking in his ragged state. Dark blue hair, tangled and dirty, fell to his shoulders. Blood-stained cloth covered the upper half of his face, hiding the void where his eyes had once been.

Collapsing back to the ground, still gripping the bars, the prisoner murmured, "East. Beneath the red timber tree, the only one left near the castle. Dig there, and you will find a box with the gold."

"Good man," the soldier sneered. "Your execution will proceed in ten minutes. Don't bother resting; death comes soon enough." He laughed, his voice echoing as he turned to leave.

"Time... time will falter, time has come for me. Time is over," he murmured.

The seconds passed, the minutes stretched on, and soon he was greeted by a soldier clad in armor adorned with blue stripes. His face bore deep scars, each one carving menace into his expression, adding a grim weight to the already somber air surrounding the blue-haired man.

"By the House of Old and New decree, from the south, I am here to speak of your crimes and walk you to your end, King Kade Renovar."

"I see, Knight, go on I know my death is set to speak of my false crimes.."

Bang!

The knight flung his hands, sending the king sprawling to the ground, bloodied and defeated, his regal dignity crumbling in the face of relentless cruelty.

"You speak of false crimes against me. You claim the queen has lied… Tell me, what lies has she spoken?"

The fallen king knew in his heart that this so-called judge had no intention of offering him freedom or justice. The trial was a mere performance, and his fate had been decided long before.

"So, with your silence and without testimony, I judge you guilty!" The knight's voice boomed with finality.

Striding forward, he reached down, seizing the king's trembling hands and binding them with clever cuffs, the cold metal biting into his flesh as the sentence was sealed.

leaving the prison the fallen king was led to a dark carriage.

...

The carriage moved through the city streets, its path marked by the emblem of the king's crest. The presence of the king was undeniable as the nobles and commoners alike shouted greetings, their voices echoing through the air. The carriage neared the city's center, but beneath the celebrations, a sense of dread was spreading.

The cries of the people grew louder, mingled with the unmistakable scent of blood staining the streets. As the king's carriage moved forward, the kingdom was descending into madness.

Blood stained the feet of the Kade as he stepped out of the carriage. His guards formed a protective circle around him as he walked toward the guillotine.

"Traitor, your demise has come."

"What madness have you brought upon us?"

"Why, king, why?" The voices of the citizens cried out in unison, desperate for an answer.

"We can't allow this to continue," one noble spoke, his voice shaking as the crowd surged around him.

"Who said that?" demanded one of the silver-armored soldiers.

"It was him!" a peasant shouted, pointing at the noble.

Before the noble could react, his head fell to the ground with a sickening thud.

"AAA!!"

The crowd erupted in chaos, their cries intensifying. Children hid behind their mothers, too frightened to watch.

"SILENCE!" shouted the knight overseeing the execution.

"Watch as your king falls," the knight continued. "For today marks the end of the Golden Sun. The daughter of the Everit Empire shall take this land."

"All hail Lulu!"

"All hail the Queen!"

"All hail the Queen!"

Some voices faltered, others wept, but fear kept them silent.

At the front of the execution stage, a carriage covered in gold and blood approached. From it emerged a woman, her dress white as snow, her long silver hair flowing, and her bold eyes piercing the air. She gazed upon the fallen king, her expression one of cold satisfaction, as though he were a mere object in her grand design.

As the scene unfolded, the king, once a figure of power, now stood surrounded by enemies and citizens who once adored him but now regarded him with nothing but pity.

Small footsteps could be heard approaching the stage. Three children, no older than ten, emerged, their clothes tattered and stained with dirt and blood. Their eyes sought their father's face.

"Father, why are we dying?" one of the boys cried.

"Father, stop!" the other shouted.

"Dad, please help us! Please take us home!" the girl pleaded.

"Move!" the soldiers barked, pushing the children toward the fallen king.

"Mother! Mother!" the children cried out, their voices filled with pain. But the queen, standing with a smile, showed no sign of sympathy. Only a gleam of satisfaction.

Three high nobles soon joined the execution stage.

"By the decree of the Empire, we sentence you to death for crimes against the Queen and the Everit family," they announced.

The cries for mercy echoed through the crowd, some pleading for the children, others for the nobles, but they were silenced by the guards and knights.

"Any last words, king?" the knight demanded.

"Forgive me, brother. Forgive me," the king repeated over and over, his voice breaking.

"Walk!" the knight commanded.

The king's head hung low as he slowly walked toward the guillotine. He gazed at the queen, at the madness she had unleashed.

"YOU DEVIL!" he cried. "I hear a call from my God, a call from the world. It may be my fall, but not to the blood! Even if you took my golden eyes, I can still see. My mind is bound by time, bound by space!

Hear me! Hear ME!"

The crowd stood still, struck by the king's words. For the first time, he spoke not as a man, but as a ruler with the power of a king. His presence brought terror to the guards and knights.

"My salvation has been set, my reckoning has come. My end will not halt the flow of time. I will fall, but who of you can kill a God? Who of you can end the end?!"

The crowd fell silent, as if caught in the king's words.

"I see it! I see it! The end of everything. The beginning of everything. The great madness, the burning stars, the fall of the morning sky turned red. The cracks of chaos will break the very ground. He will rise once more, awakening in the blood of time!"

"My brother, you were alive! I can see it! I can see it!"

The soldiers, filled with dread, glanced at one another. The king's mind was too strong, too powerful. He had fallen into the abyss and returned with the strength of a demi-god.

"Your kingdom will be filled with terror! Your father will kill you!" the king shouted.

The crowd grew silent.

"What did you say?" the queen hissed, her eyes filled with fury.

"I see your end. I see your end!" the king declared.

"Look at me while you can, wife. I have no regrets. It has been set. For he has told me all I need to know. My end is the leash that will bring pleasure to your demise. I am nothing in the journey he has set."

"Who? WHO?" the queen demanded, her voice shaking with fear.

"My brother, the great ruler of all," the king proclaimed. "The ruler who lies before me. Watch, wife, for I will be upon you. Your life will be no more. The house will fall, the stars will fall, and the world will turn red. The children of chaos will come to set me free in my death."

"IT HAS BEEN SET!"

The crowd, once filled with fear, now felt a strange peace wash over them. They felt the king's power, his strength, his final words reverberating in the air.

"ALL HAIL KING!"

"ALL HAIL KING!"

"ALL HAIL KING!"

For the first time, the crowd spoke with true dignity, their voices filled with remorse and reverence for the fallen king.

"Kill him!" the queen shrieked, trying to silence the uprising.

But her power was waning, and for the first time, she feared the end was near.

Before the blade fell, the king's gaze wandered over the crowd, over the city that had once been his kingdom. He looked up to the sky, his eyes tracing the fading light, then down to his people, to those who had once stood by him, to the soldiers who had fought for him, now fallen in the chaos. His heart weighed heavy as he turned his gaze to his wife—cold, unfeeling—and then to his children, who stood amidst the tumult, their innocence shattered by the world he had built and now destroyed.

His eyes locked onto each of them, his thoughts racing, his heart heavy with the burden of regret and resolve.

And then, the blade descended.

As it cut through the air, the king's final thought echoed in the silence that followed.

"Do not forsake me, brother... Do not forsake my death."