End of an Empire

A dark figure stood on the balcony of the towering spire, protruding from its smooth surface and breaking the uniformity of the structure. The figure, a man named Constance Mortifax, leaned onto the railing. His clawed gauntlets gripped the painted alabaster stone in impotent frustration. A droplet of moisture struck the surface a moment later, and the man who had brought thousands to their knees stifled a sob.

  He cast his gaze down below, at the canopy of the Great Forest. The treetops were largely without leaves now and further in the distance, closer to the pulsing heart of the forest, he could see the trees had undergone even more severe changes. Unspeakable things were they, writhing sinewy pillars that were horrid to look at even from such a distance.

  Another tear fell, and it was becoming harder for Constance to keep his composure. The thought that his little girl Aria was in there, alone and defenseless, was driving him crazy. For weeks, his men had combed the forest floor for any sign of her without results, but he was not ready to accept her being gone.

  He mulled his own decisions over in his mind. How could he have been so monumentally stupid? Even novice mages prepare contingencies and exceptions for their spells, he should have done so with his decree and Aria. Why didn't he?

  His internal self-flagellation was interrupted when another figure emerged from within the tower onto the balcony. This was Constance's chief advisor, Broder Telemos, a sniveling lickspittle without a spine to call his own.

  "S-Sire?" Telemos began, his voice almost drowned out by the wind buffeting the balcony.

  "What is it, Telemos? Did the men find her?" Constance grumbled, briefly re-assuming his role as the Overseer, a cruel tyrant that sheds no tears.

  "No, my liege. The men... there is talk among them that after all these weeks... it is unlikely that the girl is alive. That we should stop." Telemos said meekly, fidgeting with his bony fingers.

  Anger flared up inside Constance but like a spark that fails to light a fire, it fizzled out and the cooling embers of sorrow took its place. He slumped against the railing, taking off his helmet. Telemos averted his gaze, in fear of being punished for looking at the Overlord without his explicit permission.

  "How long have I reigned, Broder?" Constance suddenly asked the huddling advisor, who was visibly taken aback by the question.

  "B-By my estimates, my liege, you've been the rightful ruler of this empire for at least two centuries, maybe more. Why... why do you ask, sire? I-If it is not impudent of me to inquire, that is."

  Constance sighed, and removed the circlet wrapped around his temples. He looked at the silvery bauble, turning it in his hands. As he saw his own weary face reflected back at him in its gleaming surface, he felt that strangling grief bubbling up to the surface again, fermenting into the bitter venom of hatred. He had come to a decision.

  "Telemos." He began. "I am done. With all this. This wretched world has taken the one and only thing that mattered to me."

  Broder recoiled at this sudden proclamation, taking a step back and propping himself against the wall of the tower.

  "D-Done? But sire... the kingdom! Your people! What-"

  Constance threw the circlet onto the balcony floor, the metallic accoutrement releasing a loud clang as it bounced off of the stone surface before coming to a stop next to Telemos' feet. The servile man flinched, considering himself unfit to even touch the symbols of the Overlord's rule.

  "I have no desire to continue lording over this... this cattle. Idiotic serfs that beg and grovel for someone with the tiniest bit of ambition to tell them what to do, what to think. From the moment I took control and asserted my rule over these people, they've disgusted me. No more. I will leave them to their own devices. Take up my mantle if you so wish, I do not care anymore."

  Constance took a hold of his helmet, examining it wordlessly. Telemos was silent, too, though his was a silence born from shock. Once he collected himself, he spoke up.

  "W-What will you do, sire? Where will you go?" He asked, as he cautiously picked up the circlet.

  Constance looked again towards that crimson orb in the distance, dominating the horizon. Within that dreadful thing slept the being that had taken Aria away from him. His brow furrowed.

  "I will march an army to that abominable heart and awaken the slumbering god within, so I can look it in the eye as I end its loathsome existence."

  Once more, Telemos reeled from the words spoken by his liege.

  "Y-You mean to k-kill the Adversary? Sire, I feel I-I must remind you that no mortal man can even approach the heart. N-n-not to imply you are a mere mortal, my liege, but t-the men under your command will be, no?" Telemos stuttered, fidgeting with the circlet.

  Constance began making his way towards the door leading into the tower, Telemos stepping out of his way and bowing.

  "Then I shall raise an army that does not consist of mortal men. Goodbye, Broder. Consider yourself a free man." He said, before vanishing inside the tower.

  Telemos was left stunned on the balcony, holding on to the circlet of the Overlord. As he snapped out of it, a wide smile spread onto his lips as he lifted the circlet and placed it upon his head.