"Any solar manifesting the Blue Aspect of Destruction must be immediately contained or eliminated. They are a threat to the entire stability of Solus." - P.A.C.T., Article II, Section 1: "The burning Blue"
***
25th June, 197 years After the Divergence
Caerum, Capital City of the Central Dominion
The guard's voice shattered the silence. "Queen Dinah!" he called, rushing inside. "Thaddeus is here. He requests your presence outside in the yard."
So, the time has come. Dinah's thoughts raced, her heartbeat quickening. Her gaze swept the room.
"Where is the captain of the guards?" she asked, her voice steady despite the sudden tightness in her chest.
"He left this morning, Your Majesty," one guard answered. "He said something about an urgent task, you personally assigned."
A lie. I haven't spoken to him today. Is this Thaddeus's ploy. My guardian angel has left me.
"Tell Taliah and Jonah to leave at once. And tell them to take her with them," she whispered to one of the royal guards.
Dinah descended from the throne. A guard rushed forward, holding out her black cloak embroidered with the insignia of the Sentinels of the Blue Flame. She fastened it over her Sentinel Uniform. Her left arm was bare, revealing the black tattoo, Dinah, etched into her skin.
She walked outside, stepping into the sunlight. Perhaps for the last time.
The yard was filled with Sentinels. All wore formal attire. They stood in silence.
Her heartbeat quickened. This isn't a friendly chat.
In the middle stood Thaddeus. He was tall, clad in the same uniform. His sharp eyes measured her, taking in her long black hair, the modest crown, the formal uniform. His gaze lingered on her bare left arm. His own tattoo was more elaborate. It bore his name and his title: The Visionary. He outranked her.
"Your Majesty," Thaddeus greeted her with a mocking smile.
"Thaddeus," Dinah tried to answer coolly. She drew her right hand down the length of tattoo in salute, as tradition demanded.
Thaddeus didn't return the courtesy.
"I've come to end the chaos you've caused, Dinah. Since you can't follow even simple orders, I demand you step down."
"You know that I will not," she replied. "Royal blood does not yield."
"If you don't step down, your house ends with you. Here. Today." Thaddeus's voice hardened. "You look pretty enough. Perhaps you could earn money that way. I am offering you an easy path out. Leave Caerum."
"I would rather die, than let Central Dominion suffer your rule."
"That can be arranged."
He came for blood.
She was trapped in her own palace. He was her superior in the Sentinels. His command was law. Only the captain could rival his rank. That left her only with one way out.
"I challenge you to the divine duel," Dinah said, lifting her chin. "Let the Lord of the Blue Flame decide who is worthy."
His smile grew wider. That is what he came for. "Let's follow the old way."
Dinah nodded. She had trained vigorously, she was confident she could beat him.
One of the Sentinels stepped forward. Lydia was written on her left arm.
"Do you acknowledge me?" Lydia asked.
Thaddeus agreed, unbothered.
Dinah measured Lydia with her gaze. She seemed trustworthy. Dinah agreed.
Lydia formed a black quarterstaff in her hand and slammed it into the stone ground with a loud thud.
It was time.
They stood opposite each other. No weapons. No armour. One of them would meet the Lord.
Lydia slammed the staff again.
Five heartbeats.
Dinah stretched her hand.
Black smoke spilled from her palm, twisting into the shape of a glaive.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Her heartbeat hammered.
The glaive took form. Thin, curved and sharp.
Thud. Thud. By the fifth beat, she sealed the weapon.
Thaddeus was slower. He was still conjuring a brutal war scythe.
Lydia slammed the staff a final time. The duel began.
Dinah lunged, closing the distance. A flurry of strikes aimed at his vitals. Thaddeus, his weapon still forming, was forced to dodge. The black blur of her glaive carved shallow cuts across his abdomen.
He finally finished his weapon and Dinah was forced to retreat creating some distance. She tried a few stabs. He parried easily. He was skilled, but his eyes were full of hunger.
He went on the offensive but left an opening.
She dodged his slash. She feinted an attack to the right. He tried to block. She slid her grip up the shaft and smashed the blunt end of her glaive into his face. It connected with a loud smack.
A sharp cry escaped Thaddeus. He staggered back, blood dripping from his split lip.
"You are one hell of a crazy woman," he spat.
"From you, I consider it a compliment." Her confidence grew.
"But I am done playing."
His hair and eyes began to glow with a bright, unnatural blue light. He started laughing. Blue mist formed in his left hand.
What's that? Dinah froze. That blue. It can't be.
"Aspect of Destruction," she breathed, horrified. "Heretic."
"This is no heresy," he said with triumph. "It is a blessing."
"You will destroy Caerum!" she yelled, glancing at the other Sentinels.
Lydia spoke, feeling Dinah's gaze, her voice cold. "The rules do not mention solari."
No one would help. Rules didn't expect heretics.
Dinah focused back on Thaddeus.
Thaddeus didn't even lunge. He simply flicked his wrist, like a conductor leading an orchestra. The blue mist surged forward as a single thin tendril.
Dinah swung her glaive, the black blade whistling through the air to sever the connection. But the mist wasn't solid. It parted around her steel like a smoke, reforming instantly on the other side.
Impossible.
Thaddeus smirked, closing his hand into a fist. The mist obeyed instantly. It didn't strike her body, it coiled around her face.
The mist enveloped her head. She was suffocating. She struggled for breath, but no air entered her lungs. She could only taste the taste of death and decay.
Coughing, she collapsed to the ground.
Thaddeus's triumphant voice cut through her gasps. "This is what you deserve, you bitch! Die like a worthless dog!"
He moved closer. Dinah mustered her last strength in a desperate attack, but it lacked speed. He parried it easily, knocking the glaive out of her hands.
He kicked her hard in the chest. The remaining air burst from her lungs as she collapsed, vision narrowing to a blur. He stepped forward, planting his heavy boot on her throat, pinning her to the stone.
"Any last words?" His smile was cruel. Dinah clawed at his ankle, but the mist had left her powerless.
Only a choked gurgle escaped.
"I guess not." Thaddeus removed his foot and gripped his scythe, keeping a small tendril connected to the mist enveloping her head.
She saw him swing.
The blade sliced through her neck. Blood splattered on his clothes.
"Your long awaited death," Thaddeus whispered to her lifeless head.
Then he crouched, grabbed a handful of her long black hair and lifted the head for all Sentinels to see. He held it for a moment, a trophy, before tossing it away like clearing debris from his path.
He turned to the witness. "Let the new era of the Sentinels begin!" he proclaimed. "Destiny has spoken. The torch of the future is now mine to bear!"
Lydia acknowledged his victory, saluting him. The other Sentinels followed her lead.