Chapter 6 - The Shattered Throne
Lord Valerius slammed his hands against the glowing stone of the emergency portal, but the runes refused to ignite. The magic of the city—ancient, foundational magic rooted in the very earth—was ignoring his commands, recognizing a true sovereign presence in the pit below.
"This is madness!" Valerius turned back to face the arena, his face twisted in ugly desperation. He drew a heavily ornamented ceremonial dagger from his belt—a blade forged from dark-iron and dipped in soul-rending poison. "You think a street rat can overthrow centuries of order? The Council will burn this entire city to ash before they let a bastard of the old blood take the throne!"
He leaped from the high balcony, defying his age with a burst of desperate, desperate adrenaline and personal combat magic. He plummeted toward the pit, the dark-iron dagger aimed straight at Elara’s heart, a streak of lethal shadow against the midday sky.
The crowd gasped, some shielding their eyes.
Elara didn't dodge. She raised her right hand, her palm open, catching the exact trajectory of his descent.
A sphere of condensed blue light materialized around Valerius mid-air. His momentum ceased instantly, leaving him suspended ten feet above the sand, thrashing like a beetle trapped in amber. The dark-iron dagger slipped from his fingers, clattering harmlessly against the stone floor below.
"Order built on lies is nothing more than a cage," Elara said, walking slowly toward the suspended magistrate.
She clenched her fist.
The sphere of light compressed sharply. Valerius let out a choked gasp as the invisible pressure squeezed the air from his lungs, forcing him slowly, inexorably downward until his knees hit the sand at her feet.
"Look at me," Elara commanded softly.
May you like
Valerius raised his head, terror stripping away all his arrogance, leaving only a pathetic, trembling old man. "Please... have mercy. The Council—they made me do this. They ordered the purge."
"Mercy," Elara repeated, the word tasting strange on her tongue. "Did you show mercy when you dragged my mother into the streets? Did you show mercy to the thousands you silenced in the name of your false peace?"
