System Change

“Okay, everyone, calm down.” Edward motioned with his one hand, trying to get a little control of the situation.

“And why is the crippled crown prince here?” Traven rolled his eyes at Edward’s gesture, but did seem to calm down some afterward. “Seriously, Edwin? You’re going to let this failure of a prince take charge? Pathetic.”

“And how is your crown prince doing?” Marrick cut back in. The old man’s former hunched posture was now nowhere to be seen. He was standing straight-backed and actually had a few inches of height over Edward. The former feeble old man was completely gone. “I heard he just didn’t have the heart for battle.”

To Derek’s side, he heard Alanah let out a small gasp, then a slight chuckle before she covered her face. ‘What is it?’ he sent to her telepathically.

‘I… uh… I ripped the Crown Prince of Astrus’s heart out in front of the combined army,’ she answered. ‘It was right after I transformed for the first time in decades. He’d kind of struck a nerve… Wait… he’s…’

Before anyone—almost anyone—realized it, a piercing sharp spike made of black ice flew from the former king and at Marrick at a blinding speed. Derek, wanting to make sure that nothing happened to the old coot, quickly shifted into the void and began to make his way toward the man. However, before he even moved a muscle, he saw that the old man had everything in his control.

From his place, and while still shifted into the void, Derek watched the spike of ice travel inch by inch toward Marrick. The old elf didn’t look scared at all, and just as fast as the piece of ice was moving, earth and sand was beginning to rotate around the elf’s feet and move up his body.

Soon, the earth and sand formed into a small shield that moved just in front of the old man’s forehead. Derek continued to stay shifted just to make sure that the small earthen shield was enough to protect the man. His worries were unfounded, because the spike soon hit the shield of sand. The sand stretched an inch or so—allowing an impression in the sand of the ice spike to move within an inch of the man’s forehead.

Then, the ice stopped, and the sand completely encompassed it. The sand then began to rotate around the dark ice spike—like a grinder grinding the ice. Soon enough, the sand spread out and rotated back around the old elf’s body—the ice had disappeared like it had never existed in the first place. The whole while, the elven elder stood with a half smirk on his face—not batting an eye.

Everything happened in an instant, but because Derek had used Void Shift, he saw the whole proceedings in an almost slow motion. Derek shook his head, then moved back out of the void. Alanah looked over at him with a sly grin on her face as well.

‘It looks like you weren’t needed after all,’ she sent to him.

‘It sure seems that way,’ he sent back. He looked back at Marrick and silently chuckled to himself.

He had known that Alanah had been the one to kill the crown prince, but he didn’t know the exact details. Damn…Derek thought. This old guy really doesn’t give a damn. Derek wasn’t the only person stunned speechless by Marrick’s declaration, then the attempted attack. Even Osian and Ryven were looking at the old man in shock—not to mention the former king, and the crown prince’s mother, along with all the other nobles on the other side.

In such a serious situation, the elven elder had made such a joke that caused the entire area to go silent and the former king to instantly send out an attack. When Osian first told Derek about Merrick, he’d expected the old man to be a sullen elf in the last stage of his life, hell bent on getting revenge for whatever happened before. To a certain extent, he may still be that. Except for the sullen part, Derek thought.

From Derek’s viewpoint, he saw Edward, with his wide eyes, turn and stare directly at the old man, then at the fuming king who’d failed a surprise attack. The old man looked back and squinted his eyes before rolling them.

“You want to try for a peaceful resolution with these Astrus bastards? The man is much too impulsive. You just saw it with your own eyes,” the old man spat out. “Don’t tell me you’re up here because Edwin’s already unofficially made you king, because that is the second stupidest idea I’ve ever heard come out of the mouth of a king.”

I wonder what the stupidest idea he’s ever heard of is, Derek thought. In that instant, he almost went ahead and brought his chair out to sit on. The old man and the former king had already thrown away any decorum, so it probably wouldn’t be too rude to do so.

However, he decided against it. When things go bad, I don’t want to risk some of my good furniture getting destroyed. And he was sure that things were eventually going to go sideways. Hell, the old king guy already attacked once, he thought. Soon, though, the elven elder continued speaking and Derek tuned back in.

“It’s second only to a young and dumb king deciding it was a good idea to form a partnership with a kingdom like Astrus,” he pointedly looked at Osian. “Your father and grandfather wouldn’t have been angry with you for allying with Cydaria like you have to survive, but allying with Astrus… when you know the history between our kingdoms…” he shook his head. “Your grandfather would have stripped your ass bare and bent you over his knee. I’ve half the mind to do it for him when we get back to Eloria.”

Even Derek couldn’t help but enjoy the show that the old man was putting on. With every word the man spoke, he scored more and more points in Derek’s books. I’d pay to see that. He inwardly chuckled at the thought of Osian being reprimanded like a toddler. I have to pick this guy’s brain when we get back. I’ve never wanted to listen to an old man tell me ‘back in my day’ stories than I do right now.

“Wanting to make a peaceful resolution while this family is still in charge of Astrus…” Marrick lightly muttered just loud enough for everyone to still be able to hear him. “What a load of rubbish.”

“Be that as it may!” Edward spoke up and projected his voice loudly, for everyone, even the army, to hear him. “I would still like to do this with as little bloodshed as possible.”

Derek did have to nod along with that. He’d already taken out more soldiers than he would have liked, and he didn’t really want more blood on his hands if he could help it—at least not the blood of soldiers who were just following orders and wouldn’t even be able to defend themselves against him. If they wanted him to fight against a few of the high-level nobles… they could point him in their direction and he wouldn’t have a problem with that.

The former king had all but already signed his death warrant with his last move. Derek knew that there wasn’t going to be a way to peacefully resolve the issue—at least not one that would go as peaceful as the talks with Indria. No, while they would hopefully get by without any deaths from the weaker soldiers, he was certain that some of those standing in front of them were going to have to die.

Marrick snorted one last time, then took a step back to stand behind Osian and Edward. From there, he hunch back over and placed his cane on the ground. The cane shook as his hand trembled, and the old man looked worse off than Derek had ever seen him—like everything that he just did took everything out of him. The man’s hood had fallen off his head in the verbal exchange, and Derek finally saw more than just the man’s crinkled old face.

His hair was almost completely white, with just a few patches of brown here and there. It was also thinning quite badly with a bald spot threatening his crown, but he had still chosen to keep it long—shoulder length—and in a ponytail. Derek could also see the man’s eyes from this tilted head, which were the same brown color as the few patches of colored hair he had left on his head.

At that time, Marrick turned his head ever so slowly, and his own eyes met Derek’s gaze. The old man grinned devilishly, then winked before changing his expression back to stone and facing forward. What an interesting geezer, Derek thought.

“The old bastard is correct!” a different voice finally spoke up. Derek saw that it was coming from the woman who was standing by his side—Tevarian’s widow—Cassandra. “We didn’t gather here to negotiate. You murdered my husband—the king of this entire country. For that, you’re all going to have to pay. You may think you’re stronger than us and that we’d cower in fear of some wyverns and winged serpents, but you’re wrong.

“Everyone here is the strongest in Astrus, and you’re outnumbered three to one—including your dragons. If they were so weak that you—a crippled prince—could force one into a contract, then there is nothing for us to worry about. We have the support of an army behind us—even if you’re stronger individually, the numbers don’t lie.”

Well… I mean… they do, really, Derek thought. He couldn’t help but wonder how strong the ‘best’ in Astrus were, though.

‘Derek,’ Edward’s voice interrupted his thought, and he turned to meet the crown prince’s eyes. ‘Could you and Silvi… he sighed, then continued. I hate constantly relying on you, but could you and Silvi unleash your auras and direct them at the group in front of us, then at the army? I don’t believe that every one of them is willing to throw their lives away for this.’

‘I really didn’t want to get involved this early, but I guess it can’t be helped,’ he sent back to Edward. He had wanted to wait until they actually needed him in a battle, but it seemed from the fact that Astrus hadn’t outright attacked yet—other than what Traven did to Marrick, but that seemed personal—that not everyone was firmly behind the former king and current queen. If using his aura early on would be enough to scare some of them and keep those weaker soldiers from dying for no reason, who was he to say no?

Derek looked over at Alanah, but she shrugged. It didn’t seem like she planned on getting involved yet, either, and it looked like Edward hadn’t asked her to do anything—which was probably smart considering she was the one to kill the former king’s grandson, and the queen’s son. With a half snort, Derek began walking and moved between the small group of people who were in front of him.

When he took a step beside Marrick, he slapped the old man on his hunched back. It was like hitting steel. “You’re much more sturdy than you look,” he commented quietly as he took another step and soon found himself standing beside Edward and Osian.

“And who the hell are you?” former king Traven shouted at Derek as soon as he made it to the front. “Wait… that bunny. It’s the pet that killed your son, isn’t it, Osian?” Traven’s scowl turned into a toothy grin. “And you’re working with the pet and its owner? Truly a traitorous bastard—even to your own kin.”

Osian kept his face set in stone and didn’t respond to the other man’s jabs. Silvi, on the other hand, didn’t seem to enjoy being called a pet over and over. Derek could feel her shaking with excitement on his shoulder.

“And what was your name? Derek something or other? What do you want?” Traven shouted again.

“I’m just here to let everyone know exactly what they’re up against and why you’re going to die,” Derek said, then, he and Silvi unleashed their auras.