Raziel woke a few hours later. Her ear over his heart. A new set of feelings tugged hard at him. Something very foreign to him.

She lifted her head. “Are you ok? Your heart is raci…” Her words froze in her chest as her eyes locked with his.

“DeLarian? Be my Queen?” She had no words. She simply nodded.

He smirked and took her in his deep embrace.

Raziel woke the second time to shouting outside. “Erikson! I told you that we did not kill the dragon!”

The eerie calm response, “Someone did. There is a dead dragon out here. I am just asking who did it?”

Raziel went to get up but there was something preventing him from moving. DeLarian was cuddled into him. Her head on his chest. He paused as his heartbeat raced out of control. He laid there with an idle smirk.

He ran his fingers through her hair and a soft groan escaped her throat. This only made his smile grow. He let himself indulge in her company. He continued to stroke her hair.

Instinctually she leaned into his hand clearly enjoying his attention. Even if only subconsciously.

“DeLarian, I.. I need to get up.” He secretly wished he didn’t have to but the voices outside were drawing his attention. She shifted, sat up and blushed deeply.

“I…I am sorry I should not have cuddled in so close. It is not my place.”

He smiled. “You are alright. But I think there is something outside that needs my attention.”

She shifted and moved allowing him to sit up. He withdrew from under the covers. His feet went to the floor. He stood. Raziel walked over to his bag that someone had brought in for him. He pulled his traveling clothes out and got dressed.

The ’nobility’ robes, seemed to feel heavier today and held a meaning he never thought they would hold. Raziel grabbed his satchel, leaving the bow as he did not think he needed it.

He walked down the hall to the stairs. In the center of the tavern was Phalentine and another man. He wore draconian armor. His brown hair fell with easy to his shoulders.

“I will ask you again, who killed the dragon Phalentine?”

“I did.” Raziel descended the stairs with an air of confidence he has never felt before and a weight of responsibility he never wanted.

Erikson turned and looked at him. His brows furrowed. “You killed my dragon?”

He smirked, “I did, what exactly are you going to do about it?”

Erikson frowned. His golden eyes glowed with power. “Who exactly are you? And why would you help them?”

“Because, I…” He looked around to the tavern full of aquatic elves. He smirked and looked back to the man. “I am their prince.”

Erikson laughed. “I highly doubt that! Their prince has forsaken them.’

Raziel growled, and his silver eyes glowed with irritation. “It is hard to forsake something you do not know exists. Who are you?”

“My name is Erikson.”

“Ah, so you are the “Lord Erikson” that allows his dragon to torment and kill them. You have the nerve to stand there and mock me forsaking them. When it was my bolt that took down your beast?”

“Bolt as in an arrow? That object in the dragon’s chest is not an arrow.”

Raziel shrugs, “You do not need to believe me. You have the right to live in the shadows of your lies.”

Erikson laughed; it lacked humor. “I will tell you what boy, if you are really a prince come outside and enter a duel with my men. If you are what you say you are, you should be able to defeat 75 percent of my men.”

“What do my people get if I win?” Raziel felt ripples of pride to say, ‘my people’. It danced like electricity across his skin.

Erikson narrowed his eyes. “They get to keep the land, their village. To make it interesting I will even include their lake. It is the source of their magic, they will become their own nation and not be subject to my taxes or leadership. You my young ‘prince’ shall have the start of your ‘kingdom’.”

Extreme mockery dripped from every word Erikson said. Raziel’s gaze hardened, and his anger began to flair. “Fine. Let us go outside and I shall defeat 75 percent of your men.” Raziel accepted the Lord Erikson’s challenge. Together they exited the building.

Elrian watched from the second-floor landing. Phalentine looked up at him with a worried expression in his eyes. Elrian descended and walked over to him.

“Do not worry. Your prince, is a prince, for a reason.”

They nodded and went outside to watch the show.

Raziel realized his mistake when he saw the huge army outside. He narrowed his eyes. “You want me to fight an entire unit? There are over a hundred mounted men here.”

Erikson just chuckled. “I do, you have to fight and defeat seventy-five percent of two hundred men. If you can do it with only the resources on you or that you can personally call. Your ‘people’ will be given a talisman to protect them from my dragons.”

Erikson crossed his arms. The smug look on his face was more than Raziel could back down from.

“Fine, you have a deal. Tell me your rules.”

Erikson clapped his hands, “Oh you are a fun one! Alright the rules are: five of my men will fight you at a time. It is not a battle to the death but if they die well, I guess they should have been stronger right?”

The tension in the air was palpable, the silence only broken by the distant rumble of thunder and the rustling of leaves.

“Are you good with the sword?” Erikson inquired.

“That is to be determined. I have never tried, Sir.”

“I see. Well, let us determine your worth Fae. Come over here.”

A wicked expression crossed his face. “People of Taleriansk, your ‘Prince’ has decided to fight for you. Would you all like to come watch him die, I mean fight? He will fight five of my men at a time and we shall see how good your little boy here is!”

“Are you going to give me a sword?” Raziel demanded, his voice echoing with a mix of frustration and defiance.

Erikson’s laughter rang out, cold and mocking. “If you don’t have it on you, then I guess not. Remember the rules: any resource you had on you.”

“You have no intention of a fair fight, do you, Erikson?” Raziel spat, his eyes blazing with fury.

“Fair? Where’s the fun in that?” Erikson replied, a sinister smile spreading across his face.

Five men dismounted and drew their swords, their movements precise and practiced. Raziel’s eyes narrowed, his heart pounding in his chest.

The flesh on his cheeks clenched, and then he smirked. “Fine this shall become a fight to the death. Your men shall meet Lilith today.”

Erikson shrugged his shoulders, his eyes gleaming with malice. “Ohh, cocky little thing are you not? Well I suppose that will make it even more fun when I see the life leave your eyes.”

Raziel felt a surge of frustration. He had left his bow upstairs and was not far enough away for it to teleport to him. With extreme irritation, he closed his eyes, his mind reaching out to his bow. “Aurlien, I need your assistance.”

He took a defensive battle pose, his body instinctively moving into position. Erikson laughed at the boy’s antics until a magical aura built around him, the air crackling with energy. There was a flash of light from the window of his bedroom.

Raziel’s silver eyes opened, burning with a cosmic deadly glow. He went through the motions as if he had a bow and set of arrows. Erikson smirked, “Does he think this is pretend? I mean, he is going to…”

Before he could finish his sentence, a recurve and quiver obeyed Raziel’s call. The sky darkened, thunder rumbling ominously, and Elrian smirked. His eyes twinkling with amusement.

“Are you sure you wouldn’t like to just give him a sword? You are about to lose your first round of men in an instant.” Elrian laughed, the sound rich and full.

Erikson’s horse became antsy and started prancing, sensing the rising tension. Raziel’s fingers gripped the fletching of an ancient shard of ash wood. He nocked it and pulled the string taut, the bow humming with ancient magic.

“No, I do not, I want to see what happens.” Erikson crossed his arms, his curiosity piqued.

The bow, ready to fire. Raziel spoke to the bow. “I don’t want to kill them. I just want to take them all down at once.” The runes on the bow lit up, and the palm of his right hand glowed with a long-forgotten power of old.

Erikson raised a brow and realized too late what he had done. Raziel released the arrow for it to take its commanded flight. Mid-arch, it split into five arrows, each one crackling with electricity. They hit their targets true but stuck to the warriors, not piercing the armor.

Raziel was confused, he took a step back as the five soldiers advanced on him with menace. Erikson rushed to stand between the boy and the men. “WAIT.”

The men paused for a moment before taking another step toward Raziel. A bright light flashed, and lightning struck from the sky, the arrows acting as conduits.

All five of his men were electrocuted by the sky, their bodies convulsing before collapsing to the ground.

“Fuck,” Erikson turned, his face pale. “You did not tell me that he had Aurlien!”

Elrian laughed. “If I had told you, you would have given him a sword. But you would not have had any ‘fun’ in a fair fight.”

Erikson deadpanned at Elrian, “Fine, fair enough. I did want to ‘see what would happen’.” Erikson’s voice dripped with a twisted curiosity.

Raziel lowered the bow and took a step back. The men writhed on the ground, their bodies convulsing as electrical currents surged through them. Their movements grew erratic until they finally ceased, lifeless.

Raziel narrowed his eyes and stepped closer, realizing with horror that the bow had not only killed them but absorbed their very souls. The flesh on their bones melted away, leaving only skeletons encased in armor.

The bow hummed and glowed, feeding on their essence. The sapphire in Raziel’s eyes flashed, reflecting the eerie light. He closed his eyes and shook his head, trying to clear the disorienting sensation.

When he opened them, they glowed with cosmic power that slowly faded back to their normal color. He jumped back, startled. “What the fuck!”

Raziel had never killed a human like this before. The sight was morbid, and the realization hit him hard.

He became sick to his stomach, doubling over and vomiting. The acrid smell of burning flesh still lingered in his nostrils, making the nausea worse. The remaining soldiers took a cautious step back, fear evident in their eyes.

Erikson, observing the scene, drew his sword and tossed it over to Raziel. “So I have decided to give you a sword. Let us ‘even’ the fight. None of my men will survive against Aurlien.”

Raziel, still reeling from the shock, stood up. He put the bow on his back agreeing not to use it again. He looked at the sword lying on the ground in front of him. He walked over and picked it up, its weight unfamiliar in his hand.

Five more soldiers dismounted, their swords drawn, rushing him without giving him a chance to pull the same bow and arrow trick. Raziel growled, “Five swords against one! How is this ‘even’?” Instinctively, he raised his left arm over his face like a shield.

Erikson visibly hit himself on the forehead. “I should have known better than to challenge a fae.” His voice lowered and time seemed to stand still.

He grimaced as all five swords collided with an ancient Fae Shield, causing a haunting, ethereal ringing that disturbed the soul dwelling inside the shield of the Fae Litch King.

The sound reverberated through the village corridors. It sent shivers down the spines of all who heard it.

Skeletal hands, cold and bony, emerged from the shield, grabbing hold of the weapons. The five soldiers were pulled into the shield, their screams fading into the void, forever lost to the realm of the living.

Erikson growled, “He has yet to actually use the damn sword!” He went to take his sword from Raziel but hesitated when he saw the blue stardust swirling within his eyes.

The power of the astral light seemed to dance, reflecting the cosmos itself. Erikson took a step back and growled, “Give me my sword back.”

“How do I know you won’t use it against me before I have a fair chance?” Raziel scowled, his voice carrying the weight of ancient wisdom and youthful defiance.

“Because I won’t be absorbed into your fucking shield. Now, please, this time it will be a fair fight.”

Raziel growled and against his better judgment tossed the sword to Erikson.

Erikson nodded to his soldier, who brought him a sword. He tossed it to Raziel, it slid across the grass and stopped at the boy’s feet.

“Now, make that stupid shield go away.” Elrian smirked, his eyes glinting with mischief, and snapped his fingers, sending the shield back to the fae treasury in a swirl of green and gold light.

Erikson smirked, his confidence returning. He raised the sword and rushed Raziel before he could pick up the one on the ground before him.

Raziel, with no other options, raised his right hand above his head as a guard and slammed his eyes shut. The clashing of steel made him open them once more.

A glowing astral sword, forged from the very essence of the stars, met Erikson’s blade with a resounding clash.

Erikson growled, “Where the fuck did that come from?!”

Raziel, now furious, realized this man could not keep a single promise he made. Power pulsed in the young boy’s eyes.

Erikson took a step back in surprise. “What the fuck?”

Elrian laughed. “Erikson, I think you have gone too far.”

Raziel screamed, and a bolt of electricity struck the young prince. His body became charged with cosmic power, his veins glowing with an otherworldly light.