Garinor decided that it was best if the prince ruled the land. He had been groomed for the task and so would be well-suited to taking charge. He also chose to live and therefore he turned on his best friend and offered him as the sacrifice. Perhaps the injustice of living as a decoy all his life caught up to him, but once stated, his decision was final.
“I choose Tomli to be given to the scepter.”
“Very well, Chosen One,” spoke the ethereal Voice for the last time.
The blue light surrounding Tomli pulsed and glowed and then was pulled in toward the scepter. As it went, the sapphires inside the crystal top dimmed and faded to darkness, and Tomli’s body melted into a grotesque puddle and then vanished, leaving behind only his skeleton.
A strange fire lit within Garinor’s body. It was violently hot but he also knew that it couldn’t actually hurt him. The heat centered on his thigh and he reached into his pocket, but all he found there was a pile of dirt. Vaguely, he realized the stone he had picked up in the enclave had disintegrated.
The scepter rumbled and a small chunk of obsidian released its darkness into the air, where it fanned out and crept into the room eerily. The inky light seeped through the walls of the cavern and then reached across the land, informing all of the death of the true king and the ascension of the prince as the ruler. When its task was complete, the scepter shattered into countless bits of dust, leaving no trace of itself behind. Even the odd gray light and heaviness in the air were gone.
The prince looked up at Garinor, bewildered. “You… live?” He broke into a maniacal cackle that echoed piercingly in the cavern. The light from the two torches lit one half of the chamber but Garinor could see the delight on the prince’s face clearly. “Truly the ultimate deception!” he shrieked in glee. “It was this boy and not you all along, but you failed him and gave the world to me.”
Garinor stepped forward. “Not the world, just this land. And I expect compensation for what I’ve done.”
“Yes, surely you will be compensated. Let us cut a deal right here and now before these two witnesses. They will attest the outcome of our negotiations.”
Garinor set a firm jaw. “Fine. To start, you will give to me and my family a strong plot of land and revenues whenever times might be difficult. You will also accept me into your counsel so I can speak for the people who don’t have their own voice. Together we’ll see that this country thrives.”
The prince listened with an interested air. He nodded slowly. “You ask much indeed. But I do see the logic of what you propose. I accept.” He stepped toward Garinor with his hand outstretched and the boy walked forward to take it. But when he reached the prince it was not the man’s hand he grasped, but his sword. Deftly, the prince swung around the weapon he had taken from Tomli and plunged it into Garinor’s body, bringing him crashing down.
The prince left the cavern after dispatching the Daggerfist, whose eyes were wide as saucers, and then he made his way back to the main camp. His forces reclaimed power and Terrian and the others were slain, completely obliterated so they could not rise against him again. The hunger of death lit the prince’s eyes and his reign of terror sparked for years to come.
There were times, however, as the prince sought to harm others that a strange occurrence interfered. His plans would inexplicably falter, and he could never understand the cause. Collaborators with whom he had conspired for years would suddenly fail a task and not even comprehend why themselves.
It was a bloody rule and the people rallied as best they could under a secret obsidian and azure banner that honored their lost heir. They battled back the prince’s rages and his attempts to enslave the land, and it was a fight that would last for decades.
The prince gained countless treasures as he overtook the land, but there was one prize that was never his. Regardless of how many times he tried, he never was able to have children. No woman from any part of his land or any of the neighboring lands could bear him a child and the frustration led him to complete insanity in his later years.
Over the land, the obsidian and azure banner hung in the hearts of all who believed in Tomli, who, though he had been claimed by scepter, watched over them still. For, when the scepter had claimed him and cast its light across the land, so too was Tomli’s spirit released to protect his followers where they may be. It was their only refuge in a world that ruled against their favor.
Thus it was that Tomli’s noble soul kept the prince’s line from continuing through his blood-stained hands, and when the prince died at last, the kingdom was given over to his brother, who did not share the prince’s vengeance and helped to bring a modicum of peace to the unstill land.
Garinor, however, did not witness such events, as his body lay on the cold stone floor of the cavern, just one more casualty of the prince’s schemes.
You have come to the end of Garinor’s adventure, but there are other paths to explore. Start over and guide Garinor again along his journey.
The End…