The city burned below, but the high road was silent.
Two brothers stood across from one another, flames and light spilling into the smoke-choked sky. The clash had already shaken the quarter, and still neither yielded. Guards hovered at the edges of the road, too afraid to flee, too afraid to stay.
Karl dragged the back of his hand across his mouth, smearing blood down his chin. His grin was sharp but no longer playful. It was raw, edged with fury that tore at his voice.
Kael rolled his shoulders once, golden aura rippling off him in waves. Calm. Composed. That same infuriating steadiness Karl had hated since they were boys.
"Ready to fall, little brother?" Karl growled, voice low.
Kael’s eyes narrowed. "Ready to bury your delusions."
Karl’s claws flexed, red-gold flame dripping from his fingertips like molten metal. The stone beneath him cracked with every step. He surged forward, heat spiraling into a storm.
Kael moved at the same moment. His golden light burst like a sunrise, sharp and blinding, his fist glowing as it cut the air.
They collided in the center.
The shockwave flattened the street. Houses split down the middle, roofs blown into the night. Guards were thrown back, their screams lost in the roar.
Karl slashed low, his claws sparking against Kael’s arm. Kael twisted, golden light hardening across his skin like armor. The blow skidded off, carving only a shallow cut. Kael countered with a straight punch.
Karl blocked with both arms. The force still sent him skidding backward, his boots carving deep lines into the road. Sparks burst from his claws as they ground against stone.
He spat blood, grinning wide. "Still punching like father taught you."
Kael strode forward, aura pressing hard. "Still hiding behind jokes."
Karl roared, lunging again. His claws swept wide, a storm of fire bursting outward. The air warped, stone melting beneath the arcs. Kael crossed his arms, golden aura hardening to withstand the blaze. Fire screamed around him, but he didn’t move.
Karl dropped from above, claws aimed for Kael’s head. Kael snapped his arms upward, catching Karl mid-strike. The flames cracked against his shield of light, searing his skin, but Kael held. He shoved back, slamming Karl into the ground with a quake that rattled the whole street.
Dust and smoke shot upward. For a moment Kael thought it was done—
Then Karl erupted from the crater, flames spiraling like wings at his back. He slammed both fists into Kael’s chest. The blow cracked his golden armor, sent him flying into the side of a building. Stone shattered, walls crumbled, and Kael burst through, rubble collapsing behind him.
Karl landed on the road, chest heaving, eyes blazing. He tilted his head, voice sharp with rage. "What’s the matter, perfect son? Cracks showing already?"
The rubble exploded outward. Kael walked free, golden aura flaring brighter than before. He wiped blood from his lip with the back of his hand, his face calm, but his eyes glimmered with something sharper now.
"You’ve grown stronger," Kael admitted. His tone didn’t soften. "But strength without discipline is nothing."
Karl laughed, fire blazing higher around him, searing the air. "Discipline? That’s what you call stealing everything I ever had? That’s what you call killing her?"
Kael’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t answer.
Karl’s fury boiled. His flames twisted, coiling tighter until his whole body burned like a star. "Tonight I show you discipline, brother."
He launched himself forward.
The road shattered under his step, a line of fire tearing across the stone. He slashed in a blur, claws moving faster than eyes could follow. Kael blocked the first, parried the second, deflected the third. The fourth cut deep into his shoulder, sparks bursting as blood hissed in the fire.
Kael’s golden aura flared, healing the wound in seconds. He swung hard, his fist glowing like a comet. Karl ducked under, claws raking up Kael’s side, searing through the armor. Kael grunted, twisted, and drove his knee into Karl’s ribs.
The crack echoed through the burning quarter.
Karl coughed blood, stumbling back, but he only laughed, clutching his side. "That’s more like it!"
He spat blood onto the stone, flames curling from his teeth. "Hit me harder, brother. Or I’ll burn you alive."
Kael’s golden aura blazed brighter. "Then burn."
Fire and light tore through the high road, each strike shattering stone, each blow carving deeper scars into the mountain. Karl fought like a beast unleashed, every swing raw and furious. Kael countered with precision, every move clean, measured, aimed to end the fight.
Karl slashed wide, flames roaring in arcs that melted walls. Kael stepped through them, fists glowing, striking clean into Karl’s chest. Karl staggered but caught Kael’s wrist, twisting, dragging him into a headbutt that split both their brows. Blood ran down their faces, steaming in the heat.
They broke apart, panting, glaring. The guards who had lingered fled now, scattering into the smoke. None dared stay near this clash. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ NoveIꜰire.net
Karl’s flames surged higher, licking the sky. His body glowed like molten steel, cracks of red fire racing across his skin. He bared his teeth, voice raw. "You killed her, Kael. Say it again. I want to hear it while I tear you apart."
Kael’s chest heaved, golden light spilling from every pore. His gaze didn’t falter. "She was weak. She chose you. That was her mistake."
His aura erupted, flames blasting outward in a dome that flattened everything in reach. Buildings crumbled, towers cracked, the road itself split open. Karl lunged through the inferno, claws blazing brighter than ever.
Kael met him, golden aura surging into a shield. Their strikes collided, one after another, each one shaking the quarter. Fire carved trenches, light split the air.
Karl slashed, Kael blocked. Karl roared, Kael struck. Over and over, faster, harder, until the night itself seemed ready to break.
At last, Karl caught him. His claws ripped through Kael’s guard, slashing across his chest. Blood sprayed, searing in the fire. Kael staggered, his golden light faltering for the first time.
Karl laughed, savage. "Not so perfect now!"
He drove his claws forward, aiming for Kael’s heart.
Kael caught them with both hands. The flames seared his skin, burned through flesh, but he held them. His teeth clenched, his eyes blazing gold. "You’re still weaker."
He shoved Karl back with a burst of golden light, the force sending him crashing into the far wall. Stone cracked, fire flared, rubble rained down.
Karl burst free a moment later, battered but still grinning through blood. He spat, his voice hoarse but sharp. "Weaker? Then why are you bleeding?"
Kael wiped blood from his chest, golden light flaring brighter. His aura swelled, lifting him slightly from the ground. "Because you’ve grown. But growth doesn’t mean victory."
Karl’s flames erupted again, rising higher than ever. His veins glowed, his eyes burned red-gold, his teeth bared in a savage grin. "Then come prove it!"
They charged one last time.
The high road collapsed beneath them. The shockwave ripped through the capital, shaking towers, scattering soldiers, even drawing Kaelis’s roar from above. Fire and light collided in a storm that swallowed the street, devouring everything around them.
Inside that storm, the brothers fought. Claw to fist, fire to light, rage to calm. Each strike shook their bones, each clash tore deeper. Blood spattered, flames roared, light burned.
Karl screamed her name as he struck, every blow carrying the weight of his grief, his fury, his loss. Kael answered with silence, his fists steady, his gaze unbroken.
The storm raged until neither could stand straight, until their bodies bled and burned, until the high road was nothing but rubble and ash.
And still they fought.
Because neither would yield.
The guards froze as a shadow swept past them.
"Who is that dragon?" one whispered.
"It’s too big," another muttered, voice shaking.
"Where is the King?" a third asked.
A voice cut through the air, low and steady. "He isn’t coming for you."
None of them had time to turn. Their heads rolled before the words even settled.
Lucian appeared as the bodies hit the ground, stepping out of the fold in space like smoke peeling back. His blade vanished into nothing again, leaving only silence behind.
"That was clean," Lucy said quietly, eyes moving over the fallen guards.
Lucian didn’t look at them. His gaze was already fixed ahead. "We don’t have time to linger. Four dukes still stand between us and the King."
Lucy’s eyes flicked to him, sharp but unreadable.
He exhaled, a faint ripple in the air bending around his shoulders. "And there’s something else. I sent word to Reia days ago. Nothing. No reply. That’s not like her."
Lucy’s brow furrowed. "She doesn’t miss messages."
Lucian’s jaw tightened. "Exactly."
The flames from the capital glowed faint against the mountain walls, but for a moment the quiet between them weighed heavier than the war.