The Mage King

Dark, too loud, too much. The energies crackled like a warning in the stilled air around them. The world froze, all except for them.

"What is this? Rai, what...what are you doing?"

Scarlet splattered though it were flung from a brush, before easing into a slow drizzle down his face. If it weren't for the glow of the faded sun reflecting off the blade in Railan's hand, one would think them tears, and the both of them had plenty to mourn, but neither the time for tears.

"What must be done! Don't you see, Ke? We can't win, not like this!"

The blade slid into place above the jugular. Keo could see the defeat in his Lord's eyes. He knew very well the capabilities of the great Warlord of Ardellus, but Lord Az-Reth did not gain the reputation of the most revered Warlord in the Five Isles with just his might. The rebel army had been far greater than any could have foreseen, and their Lord's wounds were extensive. His soldiers fallen, lying in various stages of death and destruction around them. The only to remain, his High Mage, now watched as the rebellion tore asunder everything he ever knew.

A rebellion, supposedly led by the only man he'd ever loved.

A young servant girl of the Stronghold had come to alert him to the rebels' presence at their gates, to warn him of their impending breakthrough into the fortress. Once alone, he'd settled Railan on the bed, bringing their intwined hands to rest on his lover's cheek and begged him to stay behind while he dealt with the threat at hand. Rai had promised.

He believed that promise, right until that familiar blade found its way to his Master's throat.

"There is no hope for us, for you, while Ardellus stands, and if a kingdom built on bodies must fall so that we may be free, and so that you may live, so that I may love you? Then so be it!" The blade jumped closer, but Railan kept his composure.

A spritely, young boy stood before a skeletal woman, a ring of gold around her irises and rings adorning the fingers she used to take his hands into her own. His mother's hand settled at the small of his back, and she gave him an encouraging smile before he turned back and gazed at the seer's closed eyes. She hummed in concentration, eyes darting beneath her lids as she searched, when her eyes snapped open, glowing a fierce, terrifying white that almost had the boy pulling away if it weren't for the grip she had on his hands.

"A love fierce as fire,

will fizzle out and fade,

at the hands of a king

who will see himself betrayed.

A life taken to save the Isles,

in blood is bathed a crown

stolen from its rightful land

who's heir shall then be found."

From that day forward, his mother knew he was destined for something great. The Seer could provide no further clue as to his role in the grand scheme of things, but a part to play he had. Keo's mother protected him fiercely, until she could no longer. When the Burning Hand came, their flames took her with them, and took Keo as a prisoner of war, eventually finding his way to a servant in the High Warlord's stronghold. There he met Railan. There he discovered those latent magical abilities, buried under decades of mingling between mage and human, that eventually earned his High Mage status.

The buzz in the air stilled into a quiet hum, and the sound of his own ragged breathing in his ears weighed far too heavily on Keo's system. His fingertips tickled with flickering sparks from previously cast spells-- spells he'd continued to cast with ferocity at the rebel army until he caught sight of their leader.

Railan pulled the blade ever closer, nicking one of the smaller veins and bringing a hiss from between Lord Az'reth's teeth. Within seconds and with eyes begging for forgiveness whilst also burning with ice cold hatred, he pulled his arm out to the side, and Keo could barely jump a half-step forward before his Master's body dropped to the ground at his feet. In a blind instinct, Keo threw out his hands, a flash of light striking out and throwing Rai back. He fell to his knees as far too much blood pooled around his Lord's figure far too quickly, and knew even he did not have the power to slow death. The gaze in Az'Reth's eyes fell farther away for any to see save him, and Keo reached out a trembling hand, sliding his lids shut before he stretched that same hand out to catch himself, gasping for breath as he raised his eyes towards his lover, now standing above him. Railan reached a hand down, caressing his cheek as though it were not stained red.

"All is settled now, darling. Don't you see? The prophecy is fulfilled! We can rebuild, and rule a new, unified land side by side! Come, let us leave this place."

Keo had forgotten what being a prisoner felt like, right up until those hands lifted him to his feet and dragged him along to a new life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Keo had to admit, Railan had fallen into the role of slayer of the great Warlord and ruler of the kingdom of Solcis-- born of the forced unification of Ardellus and Animora--with astonishing grace. The mountain of lies crumbled more and more as their days passed, and Keo found himself seeing new sides of his lover that had been masked so well before that it made him dizzy.

To the face of their kingdom, he was Lord Keo, Head Advisor to the new Warlord. Once their doors closed, he became nothing more than Railan's toy. He'd forced him into bracelets that dampened his magic, citing an inability yet to trust him with the very powers that had aided his predecessor. His time withered away with each day he spent locked within the Stronghold confines when he wasn't being paraded to Railan's people, and with it, his love for Railan. One day, as he had managed to slip away from his detail on an outing to the local market, he found himself knocked with quite force to the dirt below. When hands reached down to help pull him from the ground, he first pulled away and, upon seeing them as a stranger and not Railan's guard, he accepted the hand.

"I apologize, are you alright?" The man seemed rushed, but kind as he ran his eyes along the length of Keo's body, inspecting it for injury.

"Yes, yes, thank you. It's no trouble."

"Good, good. I'm sorry again." As the man turned to bolt in the opposite direction, Keo grabbed hold of his sleeves.

"Are you alright? You seem troubled by some--" The sound of hooves stomping cut him off and the man jumped, quickly grabbing Keo by the wrist. His world spun, and once it righted itself, Keo noticed the buildings and market stalls had become trees and clear, blue skies.

"I'm sorry, where are we? You..." He noticed the man, who had seemingly fallen to a knee upon landing, rising and brushing himself off. "You're a mage."

"And you were once High Mage. It is nice to see you again, though I did not expect to be having this meeting so soon."

As Keo opened his mouth to ask who exactly the man thought he was and what he meant, he stopped, truly examining the features of the face before him closer and remembering a life that seemed to belong to another. "Gael? Oh my, it's good to see you again!" He surged forward, pulling his old friend into a tight embrace. Days of sneaking out of the Stronghold in the dead of night to snatch snacks from the Night Market stalls and racing after rabbits in the woods came back to him, as well as the fear of never seeing his friend again once his powers had been discovered, and Az'Reth kept a tighter leash on his servant.

"Look at'ya, High Advisor to the 'new king of kings'. I'm surprised you remember me at all." Though he said so with a chuckle, Keo flinched at the bite in the words.

"Gael, you must understand," he pleaded, sleeves slipping down as he wrapped their fingers together to reveal the shimmering bracelets etched with Railan's mark and that accursed dampening rune. "I am nothing to him, and I would do anything to be rid of this life. I...I never forgot you, I just..."

"Hey," Keo raised his head to those stormy gray eyes. "I know. I had hoped you would remember. It's been a very long time, Ke, but still, I hoped."

"You said you did not expect to meet 'so soon'. You planned on seeing me?"

"What is left of the Council is hidden away in the ruins of Az'Reth's stronghold. Railan's army left its shell as a reminder to those who cross it that Ardellus is gone, but the Sanctuary remains. We managed to masquerade it before they stormed the Stronghold. I'm going to be honest, my friend, most of us thought you dead, but I was patrolling the market one eve, and got wind of the new king being able to 'tame even the most powerful sorcerer', and I just knew they meant you. I waited so long into the morning hours to see if you would come out so I could see it with my own eyes that I worried 'Val, and he risked a lot to come hunt me down, but you should have seen his face when he saw ya!"

Keo jumped as he finished his tale. "Aldaval is alive?"

"All of the lower-level mages are. The only ones brought to battle were the thirds. The rest of us were left back, and used the opportunity to fortify and hide the Sanctuary."

"Listen to me very carefully, Gael. I'm in very serious trouble for running off. If I go back to Railan, will I see you again?"

"As soon as 'Val knew you weren't six feet under, he started scheming ways to come get you. We're gonna bring the whole thing down, and we'll get you outta there, that I can promise! All you have'ta do is wait 'till the first snowfall comes, and we'll be comin' for ya."

"Good...Good, I can do that. You better bring me back there. I'm already in trouble for sneaking off from the guards. If Railan gets words I disappeared from the Market entirely--"

"Nah, I hear ya. Come on, let's get you back."

Gael took hold of Keo's hand, and in an instant, they were in a presently unoccupied market stall, each on opposing sides of the wooden counter. Keo looked around for a moment, collecting his bearings, before he noticed Railan's guard turn the corner and start on in their direction. Something clattered against the countertop, and when Keo turned back he noticed an odd little trinket, golden halo encircling a pristine white gem that shimmered in the setting sun.

"So, as I said," Gael piped up, leaning against the counter with a sly Cheshire-esque smirk as he waggled his fingers towards the merchandise now in Keo's hand, "The jewel's imported from Drommeade, but the gold's fool's, which I wouldn't just tell anyone, but you did me a kindness, and that does not go unsettled 'round these parts, so consider it a gift."

One of the guards set a hand on Keo's shoulder and pulled him back to his level, eyeing the pendant looped around Keo's finger. "What is this?" His skeptical glare switched between the two, challenging one of them to answer first and answer incorrectly.

"Oh, I, uh-"

"Nothing more than a fair exchange of goods for services, my friend! You see--" Gael went on to spin the most fantastical story of crime, bravery and heroics Keo had heard in ages, and it took everything he had to neither laugh in his friend's face at his complete absurdity nor applaud his ability to come up with such frivolity.

"So, my good sir, since this honorable fellow was so kind as to stop the assailant from makin' off with my wares, I figure it's only right he gets a small token of my gratitude! Don'tcha think so?"

"Fine, fine. We must be returning, come along," the guard scoffed, ushering Keo into the back of the cart. As the horses pulled them off, he shared a look back at Gael and noticed the stall abandoned. He sighed and slumped around in the cart, before he jumped at a splash of water against his forehead. He looked around, before he looked up, only to be struck again.

"What in the-- it has been clear skies all day!"

"S'not entirely unwelcome. Those fields have needed some water lately!"

As he bumped along in the back of the cart, Keo tuned out of their conversation, focusing on fostering the warm feeling growing in his chest. For once in a dreadfully long two and a quarter years, he remembered what life had been like before-- running the fields of Ardellus with Gael after Mage training before he'd been promoted through the ranks, sparring with the rest of their division and the celebration the boys had thrown once he'd gotten word of his moving on, Aldaval and Gael sneaking off to the markets and using pooled coin to get a small feast together.

To find out they were all alive, and to soon be able to see them once more?

Keo remembered what hope felt like.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Railan had perched himself by the open window of their bed chambers since the sun had begun to set, speaking of a shifting wind and seasonally-inappropriate chill that had begun to settle. He watched the stars twinkle in the night sky, watched the fog roll over across the crescent moon above, before finally locking the windows and drawing the blinds. Keo, as he always did whilst waiting for his Lord to come to bed, laid gracefully across the small chaise beside their bed, fiddling with the hem of his sleep tunic. As Railan approached, he pressed the very tip of his index finger ever-so-lightly to Keo's cheekbone, grazing it down the side of his face before lifting his chin to look him in the eye. Just as he knew he preferred, Keo pursed his lips, blinking seductively and watching Railan's eyes sparkle at the dusting of long, dark lashes across glazed-over-- with lust, love, or desperation, neither seemed able of telling.

"You, my heart, grow more and more beautiful with every day that goes by."

Keo hummed, allowing himself for just a moment to fall into the foreign bliss their love had once poured over him, relishing in the warmth of Railan's hands against his skin. "Thank you, my Lord."

"Oh come now, none of that. What ever happened to all of those pretty little names you once called me?"

"I apologize," he whispered, eyes tilted downward towards the floor in a sign of respect before they met his once more. "Thank you, darling."

"That's better. Now, let's get some rest. We have--"

"My Lord! They're storming the Hold!"

As Landis explained to Railan the current state of things, Keo couldn't help but drift back to a different time. Railan said something to Landis before the soldier turned and exited, closing their door behind him. Railan knelt on the floor before Keo, holding his face in his hands. His eyes scanned across his face, almost questioningly at first, before he seemed to shake any accusational queries from his mind. "We have riots breaking out, and Mages breaking in. I need you to remain here, do you understand me? I will not have you in harm's way. Landis will be just outside the door should you need anything, and I will be back as quickly as I can." He pressed a chaste kiss to the back of Keo's hand, before pulling himself from the floor and leaving the room. Landis closed his door, leaving him in the growing darkness.

"You will stay here. There is speak of rebellion spiking in the markets. As High Mage, I am being called to assist in settling things."

"I will be here when you come home. You will come home to me, hear me?"

"I promise, my darling." He had pressed his lips into Railan's with enough passion and fire to melt the room around them. "I'm sure it is nothing serious. I will be fine."

How wrong he had been.

'How wrong he is about to be," Keo thought, listening to Railan's retreating form in the hallway. Once it grew silent, he threw himself to his feet from the chaise and threw open the window. He could see the yellow-orange halo of fires spreading through the marketplace, and hear quite a cacophony of shouts, explosions, and cries. He turned at the sounds of a struggle outside his own door, before the light from the corridor blinded him with the door thrown open.

"See! I told ya he was still kickin'!"

"I believed ya, ya fool. We wouldn't have stormed the place if he weren't!"

Once his eyes settled to the light, his eyes met pitch black pools of anger and relief, and he surged forward until his arms found the familiar space that had long ago been the only constant home he, Gael, and many others in their ranks knew.

"It's good to see ya 'gain, kid," 'Val sighed, beaming as he took in the shape of his charge. He frowned as his eyes raked over the bracelets adorning his wrists. "He been restricting your magic? How long?"

"Since Lord Az'Reth fell. Since the day I..."

'Val nodded, understanding well enough. "You know very well the longer magic is restricted, the harder it is to reach it again."

"I do."

"Then you know this is gonna hurt."

Keo merely nodded, and 'Val turned back to Gael, recommending he at least close the door, and if he valued his safety, wait out in the hall. Gael closed the door, leaning against it and bracing himself with a sympathetic smile in Keo's direction. 'Val reached into his pocket, pulling out a small vial half-full of clear liquid. He pulled the stopper with his teeth, spitting it out across the room, before taking Keo's left wrist and letting three drops loose on the thick metal cuff. He did the same to the other wrist and instructed Keo to keep his wrists out, palms toward the ceiling. The metal began sizzling, and Keo watched as the potion began eating through the metal.

An odd tingle took up its place in his fingertips, before it became a furious heat that burned through his hands, arms, and eventually crawled up his chest. A scream choked up in his throat as he dropped to his knees, before he let out in a shaky exhale that morphed into sobbing breaths as his veins seemed to blister. His skin itched and he noticed a hazy glow shimmering over his hands. Gael watched in horror as his friend's eyes burst open and met his, usually dark eyes glowing with a translucent white film that ran from the top of his eye to bottom like waves flowing down a waterfall. Once the light passed, Keo fell forward, barely catching himself on trembling hands, his chest heaving for air. The hazy aura around him dissipated, and everything in the room settled.

"How's it feel?"

Leaning on one of his hands still, Keo turned his hand over in circles, staring at the skin as familiar magic danced between his fingertips.

"Right."

"Good. Now, get yerself up, boy. We have a warlord to find."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Clashing swords cried out in the night air, the marketplace had become a halo of flames turning the sky a grey-black as smoke mixed with fog, and bodies littered the street as the three Mages snuck between two stalls in an emptier portion of the market, scouring the different faces for one in particular.

"We need to pull back, my Lord, let the rest of the army take care of this. Your injuries will only get worse."

"No! We fight on. I have had enough of this petty uprising!"

'Val stopped Keo from stepping closer, eyes warning him to stay down and stay quiet. When Keo opened his mouth to argue, 'Val pulled him back, further into the darkness behind the stall. "You're gonna get yerself killed if you don't hush. We're gonna get him alone. It does us no good if we have him surrounded by his entire guard, ya hear me?" Once he had Keo's affirmation, he turned to Gael. "You and me are on them. Ke is gonna get to his boy, and once you have him," he said to Keo, "you're gonna port us to the Hold."

"You remember how to port?" Gael teased, gently jabbing his elbow into Keo's shoulder. Both Keo and 'Val rolled their eyes in unison before looking back at the scene escalating before them. An extra set of guards had made their way to Railan's side, much to his openly displayed vexation. Keo turned to the glow of magic in the corner of his eyes, dancing blue and white across Aldaval's fingertips, before it poured from his hands and filtered through the air in easy-going waves. Railan's men, amidst their bickering, did not take notice of the smog coming their way until it came in contact with the skin of the men closest to them. The two soldiers dropped to the ground like a sack of bricks, making the surrounding men nearby jump. Before they could ask too many questions, some had already moved to flank Railan, pushing him back behind a sort of wall. As the smog took out more and more, Gael jumped into action with his own spell. Unlike 'Val putting them to sleep, Gael's spell wrapped invisible tendrils around their ankles, hauling them away at his command and leaving them with a few guards and Railan.

The warlord pushed through his men with a fury in his eyes, grabbing the sword from the sheath of the man beside him and pointing it in the direction the smoke appeared to be coming from. "Come out here now!" he shouted into the darkness. Keo shimmered out into nothing, before rematerializing behind Railan, smirking at how foolish the guards were to all pool in the direction of the attack, especially knowing now how they were dealing with magic. He grabbed hold of the back of Railan's tunic, planting a hand over his mouth and fading away. The men all turned, realizing their Lord's disappearance and fanning out. Before the men could look any closer into their hiding spot, Keo appeared behind Gael and 'Val. Gael and Keo took hands while Gael grabbed onto 'Val, and Keo brought to mind an image of Az'Reth's stronghold, recalling the front grounds where his Lord had met his end. As he landed, he looked up at the ruins of the Stronghold, the long since broken-down door decorated with a wooden pole.

Not a flag, he noted, nausea rising in his chest. The decaying, greying head of Lord Az'Reth.

"What is the meaning of this? You will all pay with your lives for this absolute disrespect! Do you have no idea who I am?!"

"A tyrant, just a cruel if not more so than the last."

Railan's head whipped around and locked eyes with Keo, rage melting away into surprise and fear. "Darling, what are you doing here? You could have been--"

As he made to step closer to Keo, Gael, who had picked himself up from the ground where he had rolled a few inches away, jumped over to place himself between the two, hands raised and layered with red hot light. Off to the side, 'Val stood, watching Railan with careful eyes. Railan merely scoffed, hands raised in a phony gesture of peace, attempting to gain some rationale from the men around him. "Who is this we have here? I believe you have something that does not belong to you, my good sir. I'm sure we could settle this in nicer manners."

"He belongs to no one, especially you!" Gael shouted, hand jerking forward and throwing Railan backwards with a blast to the chest. As he caught his breath and let the shock wear down, Keo's hand settled on Gael's shoulder, pleading in his eyes as they stepped around each other and Gael reluctantly stood down, if only for a moment.

"Keo, love, what...what is all this?"

"You do not get to call me that. Not anymore." A tear fell down his cheek and soaked into the earth below, and he felt the shadow of Gael stepping closer at the shiver of his shoulders. "When I met you, I trusted you with a destiny I had shared with no other soul my entire life."

"A destiny I saw fulfilled. You still do not get it! Az'Reth would have seen to it that our love be destroyed! I am the true and rightful heir to the Isles, and in ending his life I protected us, I reunited the lands, and I helped the people thrive!"

"Your people, Rai." Keo was pleading now, voice hoarse and tired and begging his lover to hear his words. "You helped those who aligned with you thrive. You forced people to care about you and then abandoned those who did not wish to do so out of force. That is not how caring about people is supposed to be, that...that is not how loving someone is supposed to be, Railan!"

"You knew very well that I love you. Everything I did was for you!"

"You did, that I believe," Keo sighed, looking over his shoulder at Gael, who nodded towards him in encouragement with pride filling his eyes. "You...loved me because I loved you. I adored you, and you fed on that, and then as soon as that was put at risk, you did not come to me. You did not trust me, or talk to me. You destroyed an entire kingdom, and in doing so, destroyed me, destroyed us, and all because you could not love yourself enough to love me for anything more than what I was for you-- a wrap around a bleeding, infected wound. That is the difference between the two of us. I do not need to be loved by you to know I am worthy of it."

He dropped to his knees before Railan now, tilting his head up to face him, only for Rai to jerk out of his grasp and take his hand. "I loved you when no one else would! You would go on and on about how alone you were, how tiresome your days had become, and then the great Lord Az'Reth sees a poor little mage so eager to please people! Oh how easy it was for him to take a mage with a little bit of power and convince him he could be great. He manipulated you! I actually made you great, as you deserved! Because I loved you, Takeo!" He had begun sobbing, throwing himself into his love's arms, to Keo's surprise and Gael's growing irritation.

"You made me into a pet-- something pretty for you to play with as you wish, something to be shown to your friends and adored, something to love you and depend on you, to boost your own worth."

His hand reached out to his side cautiously, and as soon as Railan had begun to pull back in rebuttal, Keo surged up and forward. Railan stilled immediately, breath coming out in a harsh exhale, and blood pooling over his lower lip with a blade through his lung and out his back.

"I do not depend on you. And, Lord Railan, I do not love you."

He pushed him back to the side, and as the blood pooled around his paling form, Gael rushed forward to help lift Keo to his feet. He stayed held up only by Gael's arms wrapped around him for a moment, watching the light fade from his Lord's eyes as they grew more and more distant. He tapped on Gael's hand and, though Gael looked unsure, he released him. Keo stepped around the body to the side of his head, and noticed Railan's crown--once that of Lord Az'Reth-- fallen off his head and sitting upside-down in the spreading puddle of blood at his side. He took it into his hands, examining the jewels encircling it, before he dropped it as it burst into a shimmer of white light. Once it hit the ground, it glowed for just a second more, before he felt it safe to pick up again.

"Hey, kid?" 'Val piped up from Gael's side. "What exactly was this you didn't tell anyone?"

A life taken to save the Isles,

in blood is bathed a crown

stolen from its rightful land

who's heir shall then be found.

Keo groaned, one hand finding its way to his forehead as his vision swam and melted into another. Pictures of a different battlefield--one he'd never seen before-- and armies with faces unfamiliar to him flashed before his eyes, until he noticed something painted across a castle wall. A circle of blue and white encapsulating a pair of open eyes glowing white. On the backs of the invading soldiers, he could see the familiar emblem of the Burning Hand.

Vidana shall fall, a voice whispered. Vidana shall rise.

He snapped back to reality to Gael's hands on his face, trying to find him in the depths of his own mind. "You ok there, kid?" asked 'Val, as though he'd seen such a phenomenon a thousand times.

He nodded looking down at the crown in his hands. "Vidana," he mumbled, and remembered the prophet's words. His skin tingled as his fingers traced over the crown, like it would disappear and everything would be revealed as a dream.

"Vidana? Like, the ancient Mage lands? What about them?"

Gael was the one to piece it together, as well as the one to say the words Keo couldn't bring himself to speak. It all felt like too much, too quickly, and it made his head spin. He took the crown from Keo's hands, making him jump at the loss of the weight, and settled it on his head.

"The lost kingdom, which lost its King and fell. Don't you remember? Ewyn taught us about the King which claimed to have no heir, the bloodline of Vidana falling with it! Keo, you're one of the most powerful Mages of our time. If you're seeing Vidana, then perhaps it is a sign! Perhaps you are the one who will bring Vidana back!"

He let Gael speak his conclusions, as he had already sorted out the pieces. The prophecy made more sense than ever before now, and Keo had never quite felt so wholly himself in his life. He listened to Gael's words, and couldn't help but smile with a tear in his eye as he knelt beside Railan.

"You were the one that poured the water on our love. You were betrayed because you betrayed your own heart as well as mine. It was your fear, your jealousy, and your selfishness that became your undoing. I do not know when our destinies became intwined, whether my path was chosen because I'd met you, or before so. I am sorry, either way, that you could not see what was before you all along, and that this had to happen. I am not, nor will I ever be, sorry for loving you. I am sorry for what became of us, and then again I am not. I did not deserve to be held back so that you could fly."

He leaned forward, took Railan's cold hand in his own and pressed a kiss to his forehead, his other hand closing his eyes as he retreated.

"We deserved to fly together."