Chapter 43: An emissary of death

"Yves? Is that you?" Aemon's voice cracked. Xerxes caught the tremble in Aemon's hands. His sapphire eyes were full of fear, his usual joyful face a mask of desperation, this wasn't anything Xerxes ever associated with Aemon, he never thought he could feel pure and unfiltered dread.

Who the hell is he? Xerxes thought, his muscles were coiled so tightly he might as well have been frozen by a tier 1 ice mage. He was unable to move, to even breathe.

The man dubbed Yves grinned, " Why of course, elder brother, it is I, but I haven't come here to warm up your celebration, I have come to end it, with the promise of death."

Conrad swiftly move Aliya by Xerxes and Leiya, whilst Lieutenant Mairon and Conrad stood next to Aemon, one with their sword drawn and the other brandishing their axe.

Aemon stuttered in his next question, "How and why are you here?"

Yves sighed and provoked Aemon, "Have you grown that senile, you forget everything I say? I told you, I'm your finality and the person who helped me do that without even knowing...was him"

He raised his blade, the point cutting through the air as it settled, not on Aemon, but past him.

Their eyes followed the sword, and everyone said, "Xerxes" in disbelief.

Yves went on to explain, "The power I sensed six months ago, it wasn't a fluke," Yves continued coldly. "You don't seem to understand, do you, Aemon? All your life, you've thought you have been helping others, but nothing has ever come of that, because in the end, you won't be able to save him, nor yourself."

A maniacal and unrelenting grin appeared on his face, "Do you see it now? Do you finally understand why I came? I've found you so that I can destroy your ideals and everything you have built."

Then, like a crack of lightning, Yves vanished from view.

In a breath, he blitzed past Conrad, Aemon and the Lieutenant. Yves' eyes were dull and dead, yet they were filled with so much hunger. His eyes locked onto Xerxes' as his blade was already mid-swing, the blade hungry to taste Xerxes' blood.

But before the edge could bite, a shockwave of wind tore through the air.

Airi, his destined companion, wasn't going to allow Xerxes to die. Her wings flared as she collided with Xerxe,s and strangely, she had fused with Xerxes' body in a burst of light. Flames erupted where Yves' blade should have struck, as the sword passed harmlessly through the fire.

Aemon instantly ignited the power of truth, his eyes illuminating with the sapphire that gleamed more sinisterly. He dove through the air and threw a roundhouse kick with the force of a god, aiming it at Yves' head.

However Yves grabbed the kick and swung Aemon around, propelling him straight into Xerxes, Leiya and Aliya as they crashed back.

Lieutenant Mairon and Conrad simultaneously ran in. They couldn't permit any more hurt to their family and friends. Within a few steps, the distance with Yves and them were both closed.

Conrad muttered, "Orion's hunt style; maximum output!" Mairon roared and activated his soul shard, his body glowing crimson, whilst Conrad's shone blue.

The lieutenant swung the axe overhead, bringing it straight down like a sledgehammer, as Yves casually sidestepped the attack and reciprocated with a kick, that broke all the bones in Mairons leg.

Conrad used this time to leap towards the right flank of Yves and drove his blade straight towards his chest.

Yves watched Conrad like an eagle stalking it's pray, whilst causing Mairon pain. Conrad tried to deliver the attack, but all it took to close down the loose canon, was a minuscule surge in Yves power, which pulled Conrad to Yves feet.

in, as he surged his mana slightly weighing down Conrad, as Yves raised his leg, and brought it down like an axe kick, directly onto Conrad's arm, as it tore from his body.

Yves raised his leg high, then stomped down like an executioner's axe. The impact cracked through the air and tore Conrad's arm clean from his body.

A guttural and raw scream escaped Conrad's mouth as he clutched his arm that still gripped the sword. Yves looked down at him with an uncanny calm. "Blue hair, a snobby and shabby look, you must be my nephew. I was hoping for more. Aemon must have bred with subpar women to make you. That will likely be the same for her, won't it, my granddaughter?"

Conrad gritted his teeth through the pain, blood staining the corners of his mouth, "To hell with you, bastard," he spat, as the blood landed on Yves' face.

Yves sighed, his expression unreadable, "And here I thought I was being generous, taking a moment to show interest in my family. Well, if you want to be a brat, then I will kill you first."

**

Aemon ensured the kids weren't hurt and wiped blood from his mouth. Leiya's eyes were filled with tears, shock and desperation as she asked her grandfather, "What... what's happening, grandpa, are we going to die?"

Xerxes shared the same thought, but his face held more guilt, thoughts like only if I listened, only if he had warned the Truth family about this, then they all could have escaped without facing Yves.

Aemon lowered his gaze, a shadow of resolve falling over his features. His expression was solemn and he knew there was no time to use comforting words that could soften the truth and the magnitude of what was happening.

"Leiya, Xerxes..no matter what, keep your distance from the battle. Right now, you'd only hinder my battle. But when I give you the single, run. I'm sorry, Xerxes, but all this time I could have gotten you back home if I wanted to." Xerxes rebutted, his voice full of distress.

"I don't care, Aemon, this place has become my home, I wouldn't ever fault you, just don't leave us."

Aemon shook his head and ignored it, "I can sacrifice half of my power to create a portal. I can't control where it leads, and I can't hold it for long..but I can at least guarantee you will both be somewhere in Elaijya, your continent."

Leiya grabbed his cloak, her grip trembling. "What the hell are you saying, Grandpa? You're acting like you're not going to come with us. You, Mum, Dad, all of you can't leave me, I'm not ready." She wiped tears from her eyes, "I'm not ready to live without you. Please, come with us!" her voice cracked as more tears streamed down her cheek.

However, the dreams Xerxes had with the man in his soul core, and everything Xerxes knew about portal and stargates all intertwined. Stargates were ordinarily known to facilitate a certain number of people and have a cooldown period, and that meant..

"Leiya, they can't. Only the two of us can escape; it's our fate." he said regrettably.

Her voice snapped, as she looked at Xerxes hysterically, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN, only the two of us?!"

"The portal," Aemon said gently, "Xerxes is right with his line of thought, I can only send two people. Even if I gave up all my power, that's four. I wouldn't be able to guarantee safety, or even aim the portal to a safe degree. I'm sorry, Leiya. I love you, I know you'll become someone incredible, but not here in this broken land. Remember? You always said you wanted to see the world beyond this barrier."

Leiya shook her head slowly, her hands covering her mouth. Her voice came out as a choked whisper, "Not like this. I can't..not like this..." she repeated.

Aemon rose to his, urgency returning to his voice. "There's no time left. When I give the signal, run straight for the castle. The beasts are closing in faster than we thought. I love you, Leiya."

His eyes shifted to Xerxes.

"And you, Xerxes, you're not broken for being different, you are forged by it. You may think the world and your fate is trying to bury that fact, but embrace it, Xerxes. Every flame that dares to burn alone lights the way for others lost in the dark. Maybe you were never meant to fit in, but that means you are here to stand apart, to rise and redefine who you are, Xerxes. Life isn't about finding your purpose but creating one."

"I love you like you're my grandson. Be confident in who you are and keep Leiya safe. I love you both."

Xerxes reached out, his hand trembling. The man in his soul core already showed him the truth. He knew escape was their only option, but his heart rejected it.

"Don't go." They both said in union, Aemon embraced them both ,and the two watched helplessly as Aemon began to run. He had once run from the truth, but not today. Even if it meant dying in the process.

His son was just inches away from dying, and he wasn't going to let that happen. Diving in Aemon, activated the power of truth, which enabled to allow him to read the movements of Yves for 30 seconds. 

He saw in a different way to everyone, that Yves was going to slash down, however, Aemon punched Yves straight across the face, his clothing from his arm torn, revealing runes of different nature.

Then he began to circulate mana in his hands and wind gathered from everywhere, the currents of wind so strong, it began carrying the debris, the shards from the barrier, as it formed into a phoenix like creature.

Instantly it propelled soaring through the air, and crashed directly with Yves creating an explosion of pure and unrestrained mana.

Aemon coughed even more blood, the level of combat he was at right now was comparable to the level he had to be on in the great war of succession, and at his age and physical state, it wasn't sustainable, but he had to press on.

For Xerxes, for leiya. For his own past.

Using wind to propel his movement, he soared straight towards the explosion, as Yves sprawled out the debris, and an ebon marking of something separate from mana, appeared to cover parts of his face.

Aemon roared, "I didn't mean to leave you YVES!" as he materialised a sword from earth and enchanted it with fire properties and slashed, meeting Yves blade, which contested Aemons strike.

"You think I care about that now? After 700 years you think your greed for power makes me hold a grudge? No, it made me walk in your steps, embracing my primal nature: greed, hatred, death it's what makes us human isn't it, so I don't fault you but thank you for making me more human."

The darkness painted on Yves' face, transferred down his body and consumed the swords surface and shattered Aemons blade. It tore through the defence and carved straight through Aemon's stomach.

Yves quickly retracted the sword, making Aemon stumbled to a knee, Yves followed up by plunging his blade forward, directly towards his brothers brain.

But the extents people went to when they were fighting for their life, for the lives of others, far outweighed sensations like pain and emotions like anguish. Gripping his blade with his left hand and using the stub on on his arm as a brace, Conrad pushed the blade towards the side.

Then, he spun with grace, generating as much power as he could, allowing Aemon to recover in that time, and slashed against Yves and struck his shoulder, however even with the hours of training and honing his skills, it was useless.

Yves quickly glanced over at Aemon, to see him attempting to get up, struggle evident on his face, as black shadows emenated from Yves holding Aemon down In place and restricting Conrad's movement.

"Aemon, use your power, use your truth and tell me what's the only thing that is final within this world. TELL ME!"

Aemon struggled and tried to unrestrain himself but it was useless, his body wouldn't allow it, as Aemon's mind was running with truths about what was about to occur, the power being both a curse and a blessing.

"NO YVES DON'T, NOT MY SON, TAKE ME, TAKE ME!"

 Conrad looked back to his family, his home. Xerxes and Leiya, were screaming trying to make their way to him in the nick of time, his father, Aemon was struggling, trying his best to save him. Lieutenant Mairon was running, his bestrfriend was trying to get towards him, just like everyone. His wife Aliya, who was still knocked out from Yves' initial landing was on the floor.

"Thanks dad, for everything, I love you Aliya - I'm glad you won't see me like this, I love you Mairon - you fatass, I love you Xerxes you damn little rascal and my daughter Leiya, I'm sorry I wasn't there for you as much, but keep on going forward and carve your own future."

Yves then cleaved off Conrad's head, as blood sprayed everywhere and across his face, Aemon screamed and roared and Yves mocked him.

"The answer isn't screaming Aemon, the only thing that is final for you, me and everyone in the world is death."