The Phoinix: Age of Demigods (21 page)

Romulus fell beside Remus and grabbed
the dagger with both hands. It then dawned on Brian how he
recognized the dagger. He knew it from when he studied at Ériu.
That was Eversor’s dagger. He remembered the story Eversor told him
about his wife, the gods, and the dagger.

“Noooo!” Brian shouted as he sprinted
towards the Twin Kings. “Do not removed the dagger,
Romulus!”

Romulus did not heed Brian’s warning
and pulled the dagger from Remus’ chest. Wrapped around the blade
was a string of red light. Shocked at what he was seeing, Romulus
instantly dropped the dagger and dragged his brother away from the
mysterious object.

Cailean immediately ran to help move
Remus. Together, they dragged Remus by the wrists to a pillar and
propped him up. Cailean tried to use a healing spell on Remus, but
nothing worked. Blood continued to ooze from the wound in his
chest. Cailean tore long strips of his shirt to wrap around the
king’s chest while Romulus, on his knees, rocked back and forth
apologizing, holding Remus’ hand.

“Romulus!” Cailean shouted to get his
attention, “Where did you get that dagger?”

“I don’t know, I have never seen it
before.”

“There must be some type of poison
that I can’t heal,” Cailean shook his head, unsure of what to do
next.

Meanwhile, Brian grabbed the dagger
and ran back to the pillar where the dagger was once stuck. Just as
he was about to stab the dagger back in the hole, he was yanked
backwards. The dagger slid out of his hands with the light still
wrapped around the blade. It slid to the foot of a man Brian knew
well.

The man also looked familiar to Remus.
This man stabbed his wife.

“Hello, Brian.” The man smiled
smugly.

In utter shock and fear, Brian could
barely breathe the name. “Eversor.”

Chapter 17

Farewells

E
versor, after all the centuries, was still as handsome as the
day the gods made him. The wound in his abdomen, the one Lysandros
gave him while protecting Alina, had completely healed.

Remus coughed up blood as he tried to
speak his brother, “Rom, that is the man who tried to kill Alina.
You may not have liked her, but she is my wife. Avenge
her.”

Romulus was hesitant to leave his
brother’s side but did as he asked. He picked up his sword and
advanced on Eversor. Eversor casually swiped his hand in a
dismissive manor and the son of Mars froze where he
stood.

Remus tried to stand to help his
brother, but Cailean pushed him back down. In protest, Remus pushed
Cailean’s arm aside and called out to his soldiers to
attack.

Reaching inside his pocket, Eversor
turned towards the army. He carefully pulled out a pile of black
dust and blew it in the army’s direction.

The Gaels recognized the powder and
tried to stop Remus’ men from advancing, but they were too late.
The Gaels, who could reach their enchanted shields, formed a wall
of armor to protect themselves from the powder.

When Eversor blew the powder towards
the soldiers, they disintegrated where they stood. Brian swiped his
arm causing a gust of wind to blow the powder to the windows. The
glass disintegrated when the black particles collided with
it.

“Get out of here!” Brian shouted to
his men.

A ball of blue light flew past the
soldiers’ heads and slammed into a barricade that blocked a secret
passageway. Cailean peered around the pillar with one arm extended
towards the wall while his other hand grasped Remus’. Cailean’s
heart dropped into his stomach when he felt Remus’ grip loosen. He
turned around just in time to see his friend smile up at him and
then smile at Brian and Romulus.

“Hang on, Remus. This is no time to
give up. We’re getting you out of here next,” Cailean tried to
sound upbeat.

Another ball of blue light flew out of
from Cailean’s hand to the back of Eversor’s head. When the ball
hit, it freed Romulus from Eversor’s spell. He rushed back to Remus
and clutched his hand.

Remus tried to laugh as he patted the
back of his brother’s head. “I told you, you were always the
hotheaded one.”

Romulus half cried and half laughed,
“And you were always too cautious.”

Remus winced as he coughed up more
blood and turned to Cailean. “Thank you for your help. Tell Brian
you both have been like family to me. I entrust my daughter’s life
to you now.”

Remus looked from Cailean to Romulus,
and then to Brian, who distracted Eversor from attacking anyone
else. He smiled and whispered, “My family.”

His head slumped to the side of his
shoulder and his hand slid out of Romulus’ and
Cailean’s.

Wiping tears from his eyes, Cailean
turned towards Eversor with a vengeful mind. It may have been
Romulus who stabbed Remus, but it was Eversor who provided the
enchanted dagger that possessed Romulus to kill him. Cailean
refused to wait to seek his revenge.

Brian slid in front of Cailean and
pushed him out of the way. He ordered his grieving brother to help
the others. Cailean tried to argue but could not get a word out as
his throat constricted.

Eversor laughed as he bent down to
pick up his dagger with the red light still attached. “I don’t even
need to raise a finger to choke the life out of you, Cailean.”
Eversor laughed loudly, “Tell me, how does that make you
feel?”

Romulus dove at Eversor. Without much
effort, Eversor clenched his fist and twisted it in Romulus’
direction. Romulus hunched over, clutching his stomach and gagging
on deep red blood.

“Release them! You have me to contend
with and you have already killed one child of Mars today. I would
not make that mistake twice,” Brian growled.

“Two halves of a whole, do you
remember that? If the gods wanted to save them, they would have
intervened. That is what they do best,” Eversor cast an evil grin
as he continued to torture Romulus.

Brian knew he was no match magically
for Eversor, so he hurled his body at Eversor’s abdomen, tackling
him to the ground. Eversor did not expect a physical attack and in
his surprise, the dagger slipped from his hand, inches from his
fingertips. However, Eversor did not need to reach it. He used his
powers to call it back to him.

The torturous grips
Eversor had on Romulus and Cailean ceased once Brian tackled him.
Cailean and Romulus were ready to attack. Before they took a step,
Brian shouted, “
Invenire
Regina
!”

“Nooooooo!
” Eversor screamed,
pushing Brian off of him. He scrambled to the grab the dagger, but
the red light unwound itself from the blade and vanished, leaving a
wisp of red smoke in its absence.

“Qui est
Regina
?” Eversor yelled, demanding the
location of The Power. His eyes turned black as his anger
grew.

”It’s your own history and
you don’t even know it,” Brian said, backing up to Remus’ body. “It
was on the stone, Eversor. ‘Two halves of the whole will reinstall
as Regina to all.’ The owner of The Power is a queen to
become
The
Queen.
”

Brian reached into his pocket and
pulled out a tiny grey ball.

“This will not be the last time we
meet, Brian,” Eversor threatened, “I promise you that!”

Brian threw the ball on the ground and
a puff of grey smoke spiraled upward, providing cover for the three
men to escape with Remus’ body. Eversor dove for the dagger and
from the ground hurled the knife into the smoke.

When the smoke cleared, the four men
were gone and so was the dagger. Eversor let out a thunderous howl
that shook and crumbled the walls around him. The windows shattered
outward, the pillars gave way, and the ceiling collapsed, leaving
the palace in ruins.

A massive white cloud and marble ruins
occupied the site where the opulent palace once stood. A single
gold eagle emerged from the smoke, screeching as it flew
away.

* * *

In a cave overlooking the destroyed
palace, the three men stood over Remus’ body. Romulus crumbled to
the ground with the dagger lodged in his side. Cailean ripped it
out, half expecting there to be another string of red light around
the blade. He sighed, relieved at the sight of the clean
blade.

Brian moved Remus’ body to the side
and returned to help Cailean heal Romulus. Their hands hovered
above the wound. A blue light appeared in their palms as they
chanted a healing spell. After about two minutes of chanting,
Romulus' wound healed without a trace of trauma.

“How could you heal me but could not
save my damn brother!” Romulus shouted at them.

“Because it was not the poisonous
dagger that killed Remus. By all rights, that wound should have
healed. Have you forgotten what Pluto did to you the day you
conquered Alba Longa? The only object or person with the ability to
kill Remus was you. The fact that it was you who stabbed him with
the enchanted dagger is what prevented us from healing him. You are
now a true immortal, impervious to death except by the hand of your
brother,” Brian raged.

The brothers left Romulus to grieve
with Remus’ body. It took all of Brian’s self-control not to attack
Romulus for killing his best friend and chasing Breanna out of the
kingdom. Brian was surprised at Cailean’s self-control as well. The
brothers knew they had a long journey ahead of them and took
advantage of the only time they would have to mourn their beloved
friend.

After their tears dried, the men
agreed to bury the king in the cave that overlooked his former
kingdom. It took Cailean and Brian an hour to conjure a marble
sarcophagus worthy of a great king. The engraved coffin told the
story of his life, from when Lupa raised him to when he died in his
brother’s arms.

Once finished, the three men decided
they should hide the dagger with Remus. “We cannot afford to have
this weapon unleashed into the world. If Eversor uses it again, the
world will be in great danger,” Brian said, placing the dagger into
Remus’ belt.

When the men closed Remus in the
sarcophagus, they each cried silently. Romulus slumped over the
cover, weeping on the stone chest of his brother.

Afterwards, Brian explained to Romulus
the origins of the dagger. He provided the history of Eversor and
the collection of power the gods formed during the Trojan War.
Brian secretly knew who The Queen was but did not divulge that
information to Romulus in case he tried to take The Power for
himself.

Unfortunately, they had left the city
without transportation. The o’Conaill brothers summoned three wild
horses that resided over the ridge to take them to their
destinations. Romulus headed south to his kingdom, while the
brothers headed west to find either Alina and Lysandros or Breanna
and Eoghan.

In the distance, they could hear two
wolves howl in lament for the fallen king.

Chapter 18

Alina’s Story

W
hen Alina left The Great Hall, she found Remus dressed in his
finest clothing. Butterflies zoomed in her stomach as her heart
raced at the sight of her handsome husband. She reached up to
stroke his cheek, but his cold skin stung her fingers. She gasped
and cupped her mouth as she began to cry and then threw her arms
around his neck.

“There, there, sweetheart. I am all
right,” Remus said, rubbing Alina’s back as she sobbed into his
shoulder. “Pluto made a special appointment for me at his court. He
claims it is because I ‘have done honorable things in my life that
do not warrant an eternity of suffering.’” Remus mocked Pluto’s
deep voice and chuckled at his own joke. “I think it is so he can
keep an eye on me in case I try to start a rebellion, being the son
of War and all.” Remus puffed his chest out proudly and gave her an
award-winning smile.

Alina smiled at his ill-timed joke. He
was dead, yet trying to make her feel better. “I need you, Remus.
Our little girl is in danger. She can’t do this on her
own.”

“She is not on her own.” Remus wiped
away a tear. “She has the o’Conaills, her brothers, Eoghan,
Lysandros, and you. Romulus will also play a part in this
quest.”

Alina tensed. Her lip curled as she
said, “He has already played his part and will suffer at my hands
for it.” Her voice was low and venomous.

“Such fire! That is why I fell madly
in love with you. Despite your anger towards him, his part must be
played or else everything will be lost.” He took her hand to walk
along the moonlit coastline. The waves danced in the white and blue
hues. “Come, we don’t have much time.”

“Because I have to go or because Pluto
will make you go?” Alina asked, squeezing his hand.

“Does it matter?” Remus smirked and
made Alina blush. She turned away to hide a small smile.

“What do you think of our sons, Dear?”
Alina asked, changing the heartbreaking subject.

“Our three fools?” Remus corrected.
“They are fine warriors, always have been, but hot tempered
trouble.”

“It is not
I
they resemble most,
dear husband. Besides, Nikolaos has grown into a fine man, poised
and strong, like his father,” Alina said and hugged Remus’ arm,
pulling him tight to her body.