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  A loud noise grabbed his attention, startling him. He leant back and stared at the intruder; it was a demon stood above him, to some relief, but he did notice the fact he was fully clad in armour, a blade sat on his hip. The demon's face was not one of content over Amnur's continued relaxation, but he just rolled his eyes.

  "The King demands your attention, within the Throne Room," he spoke, jostling his armour as he huffed. "I'd advise you to be punctual."

  Amnur righted himself but said nothing, noticing the messenger's harsh tone. It was hard to tell whether that was directed at him personally or just the fact he had been relegated to a simple messenger when he was clearly something more. The demon glared at him some more, before taking the hint that Amnur was not going to reply. As he left, he muttered something under his breath, but it was not audible to Amnur.

  "Great, just great," Amnur mumbled, standing up and cleaning his robe of stray grass. It was to come that he knew, but the later it came the better.

  The less he saw of Nathaniel, the better.

  As he took the short walk back to the keep and towards the Throne Room, he steadied himself. Nathaniel expected Amnur to have learnt his lesson, so he certainly had to give off that impression, or it was not going to end well for him. The chamber guards regarded him as he neared but remained silent, merely opening the door to let him in. So, they knew too, he wondered just how many Nathaniel blabbed his summons to.

  A thunderous slam behind him revealed that he was now alone with the King, ready to be subject to whatever twisted scheme he had in mind. Movement caught his eye ahead of him, the warm summer light highlighted the King's imposing form perched upon the throne. Nathaniel's eyes gleamed in the light, causing Amnur to be aware he was already being watched. Amnur kept his body up high, suppressing any hints of nervousness. With a calm mind and a neutral expression, he proceeded forwards. Already he could see the beginnings of a grin emerge on Nathaniel's face as he approached, amused by his outward display.

  "Punctual as always," the King teased, slowly righting himself from his slouched position on the throne. "I have a task perfect for a man of your talents."

  Amnur sneaked a breath, raising an eyebrow at the statement. "Such as?"

  An amused snort came from the King as a result of Amnur's supposed interest; hopefully, it meant that he believed him as opposed to the opposite. "Given our, ah, previous experience, I take it I need not hide exactly what you're doing," Nathaniel paused after that tidbit to gauge his reaction, but Amnur remained firm if his mind gagged at the thought of what was coming.

  "There is a particular settlement that needs to be taught a lesson, and I want you to teach them this. But note this, there should be no immediate witnesses."

  Kill them all, that was what he was being told. He remained silent for now however as he could tell Nathaniel still had more to say, whether he wanted to hear it was another question.

  "If you need to know why just know that the inhabitants there are seeking methods to usurp me. Treason is not a nice thing, you know," Nathaniel stated, stepping away from the throne and up to Amnur, placing a hand on his cheek. "Neither is insubordination, but that was your first time, so I trust that we've learnt our lesson, yes?"

  Amnur wanted nothing more than just to slap that hand away and tell Nathaniel to fuck off, but for now, he had to creep in a small smile.

  "Good boy, now be on your way." As he heard that line end, a map was thrust into his hands. He briefly glanced down at the object before changing his attention back to the King, presenting him with a bow and turning back to face the door. With a swift march, he exited the room, hearing a parting laugh from Nathaniel as he left.

  The mage returned to his chambers for a moment to compose himself, unravelling the map to see the location of the King's ire. It was a hamlet located on the east side, far enough away from the other major villages to make it vulnerable. He tapped on his stone desk a few times as he thought about what to do, grabbing a rough scrap of paper to detail his orders for Kyrith.

  With a sigh, he slipped out of his room and set a path that would lead him past the healing chamber. As he approached, Amnur noticed Dumon leaning in the doorway, but the aged healer did not acknowledge him; so he too had got word of the summons. He crudely brushed into Dumon as he passed, slipping the note into his waiting hand. Dumon clenched his hand to hide the scrap from sight, giving only a grunt as the mage left. The act had appeared convincing if any eyes were watching.

  The brisk walk to the village was mundane, and unlike the first time he had not obtained directions from anyone else, so Amnur had to use a mixture of guessing and logic to locate his target. As he went, he debated his options; he had to do something to please Nathaniel, but there must be a way to appease his own mind at the same time.

  Given his power over fire, he could burn the village to nothing more than smoke and ash, destroying the village and killing the inhabitants. That was the basic theory, yet he had an idea to do just that, without any of the deaths. If he could convince the villagers of Nathaniel's intentions, he could force them to leave on the understanding of silence. Even this plan still disgusted him; to attack his kind for no proved reason was intolerable.

  The smoky scent of burnt wood reached his nostrils; a settlement was near, likely the one he was after. Amnur approached an opening in the trees, listening out for life around the houses. Unlike before, the outside was silent aside from the natural sounds. He stopped still, gazing up at the wooden hut before him. The wood that formed the building was aged and twisted, kept to its natural form to blend it with nature. Lush green moss grew in clumps on the roof, along with fragments of leaves, twigs and other such debris from the previous winter. This house had stood for some time, and now he had to burn it down, reducing it to nothing more than cinders. A brief glance around revealed further houses, the majority appeared younger than the old hut in front of him; the village had grown up since its inception.

  Amnur took a moment to examine around him; as far as he could tell he had not been trailed. He paused for a moment to calm his nerves, taking deep breaths in and out. He crept up to the old house and gave the door a short, sharp knock. Behind the door, the scrape of a chair could be heard before he heard someone fiddling with the lock. The door began to open, and Amnur could see his recipient; a woman, who on realising she did not recognise him, stopped widening the gap. Sat at a table in the room was a male demon who observed the events, though he was difficult for Amnur to see.

  "Can I help you?" she enquired, keeping the door held stiff.

  "You need to listen to me; Nathaniel has condemned this place to death, and if you want to live, you have to go now and silently," Amnur spoke, his tone told of his desperation.

  "What proof do you have?" the guy spoke up from the back.

  "There's a village that exists near a tree of notable stature that was taken out by a supposed angel attack, but that was the work of Nathaniel; this I know because he murdered them in front of me, laughing at their blood covered the ground. He's sent me here now to do the exact same thing, but I won't kill innocents. I refuse."

  The female demon glanced at her partner before turning her attention back to Amnur. "If that is true, won't he kill you and us for disobeying his orders?"

  "My power is the domain of fire, I can create very intense flames, so intense that I could reduce a body to no more than ash," Amnur responded, cringing inwardly at the thought of such an action.

  "You'll create a scene of such devastation that the bastard will be content without question," the seated demon replied, sighing as he stood up. "Give us a few minutes to gather our essentials and tell the others; there are no supporters of the King here, your involvement will not be known."

  "Thank you, for believing me. I don't want more blood on my hands at the whim of Nathaniel." Amnur breathed a sigh of relief, glad that they had believed him. "I don't know this continent well yet, but I'd advise against staying within the Umbral Forest. Evidently, the King has eyes
all around."

  "I didn't plan to, I have friends in the West," the male spoke as he fussed around the house, selecting certain items and stuffing them into a well-worn leather pack. He handed the pack to his partner and began packing another; this time he placed clothing and other everyday items inside, pausing momentarily to sigh. Soon, the bag was full, and it was slung over his shoulder, jostling around as he marched towards the door where Amnur was stood. Amnur moved aside to let them through and watched as they spread out, approaching the other houses.

  The general response was shock, but he noticed they did not doubt the information. They disappeared back inside, naturally to pack up belongings while the initial two stood waiting for them to gather. Amnur, however, was becoming wary. The villagers were moving fast, but the longer they took, the larger the risk of Amnur's scheme being noticed.

  As the last of the villagers filed in, the one he had spoken to previously regarded him, giving him a solemn nod, directing the locals off in a northerly direction. Amnur waited until he could no longer see them before turning his attention to his task.

  A flick of the wrist engulfed the closest house in ravenous flames, sending smoke billowing up into the sky. One by one the houses were set alight with flames dancing in the gentle breeze, shooting embers off in all directions as the wood sizzled and snapped. The blazing embers loomed towards the grass below, only to be snuffed out before they could set the ground alight. Amnur was capable of both creating fire and smothering fire, a fact he was fully utilising to prevent the fire from spreading out of control.

  As the fire continued, Amnur patrolled the perimeter to keep an eye on the spread. The heat was stifling as he marched around, sending sweat rolling down his dark skin. His strength was doing exactly as he hoped, the houses were being rapidly gutted and reducing them to nothing but ash. Bodies too would've been burnt to dust, a fact he'd readily reveal to Nathaniel to sate his desire.

  The act still broke his heart though; watching the once loved village reduced to nothing, simply because Nathaniel had these strange thoughts that whole communities were planning to dispose of him. If he continued as he was doing, he would have no one to preside over.

  Soon, the remaining houses had disappeared, and the flare was nothing more than a smouldering mass. Amnur smothered any remaining embers, before slipping away between the smoke and heading back to Shadekeep.

  When he reached the keep, the guards ushered him towards the throne room with one guard notably trying to cover his nose; he stank of something, enough that it could be picked up on. They thrust open a door for him before shoving him inside and slamming it behind him. Nathaniel was here, but he was having a bitter argument with Sebastian, one Amnur seemed to have interrupted as he saw the flash of the King's eyes.

  "Enough! I will hear no more of this," Nathaniel growled, although Sebastian was unwilling to drop the subject, squaring up with his father. Amnur considered trying to excuse himself but the door was firmly shut, so he opted to wait awkwardly in the entrance.

  Sebastian went to reply, but something caught his eye, so he huffed, glaring at Nathaniel as he stepped around him before exiting into a side room. Once he had gone, Nathaniel took a deep breath before turning his attention to Amnur.

  "Welcome back, I assume everything went smoothly?"

  "It did," Amnur responded, watching as the King strolled up to him and paused after a sniff. A grin spread across Nathaniel's face as he took in the aroma of smoke and Amnur forced a small smile to look the part. "Everything alright with Sebastian? That appeared intense just now."

  Nathaniel made an irritated grunt, but the irritation did not look to stem from the question. "He's being stubborn, nothing else," he spoke with a sigh. Obviously, it was a topic he was unwilling to discuss, so Amnur wondered what Sebastian was supposedly stubborn about. Either way, slipping that question in had dampened his peppy mood. "Enough about him though, why don't we have a feast tonight to celebrate your efforts?"

  Amnur sputtered, dread spread through his mind but he needed to keep calm. "That's not necessary really, I was just following orders."

  "Nonsense, I reward hard work, and it sounds like you indeed performed. Meet me back here at sunset that should give you time to sort out that aroma and get ready." Nathaniel grinned; Amnur had to admit, that was the first time his grin appeared genuine and not hiding his amusement.

  He bowed to the King and disappeared out of the room, heading down the main corridor. A brief glance behind him revealed that no one was watching so he slipped into the healing chamber, being greeted by a worried Dumon. The healer whisked him away into his private room, locking the door behind him.

  "Well?" Dumon queried, picking up on the smoky smell.

  "I managed to do it in a way to convince Nathaniel that the deed is done, but the villagers are safe," Amnur replied, seeing Dumon sigh in relief.

  "I'm glad, I saw how much you hated that order by what you wrote in your note," the healer said, his gaze remaining on Amnur. "You're tense though, what's wrong?"

  "Nathaniel invited me to a feast later, to celebrate my deeds."

  "Just the two of you or what?"

  "He didn't say, though I'd expect Sebastian and his family to attend since they are related, even if they were having an intense argument when I got back," Amnur grumbled. It was the last person he wished to be there when Nathaniel could well boast about his deeds. Dumon was interested in the argument, but Amnur shook his head. "No idea what it was about, short of Sebastian being stubborn."

  "Shame, but an intense disagreement is interesting to note," Dumon replied, tugging at Amnur's robes. "Going to have to do something about that smell, you're welcome to use my shower while I sort out some way of freshening this up."

  The mage complied, slipping the garment off and letting Dumon take it. After the sweltering heat of the fire, the refreshing waters of the shower was a welcome relief. He purged his body of the accumulated grime but it did little to soothe his mind, nothing short of Nathaniel's reign ending would aid that. As he stood in the stream, he watched as Dumon fiddled with the robe, dusting it with an off-white powder before rubbing it in. The healer set the robe down to one side and let out a sigh, keeping his back turned to Amnur to offer him some measure of privacy. It was an appreciated gesture but an unnecessary one, Amnur wasn't fussed about his presence, regardless of his current state of dress.

  A towel sat just outside the cubicle drew his eye as he turned back to the wall, Dumon had already prepared that for him. He remained in the shower for a moment longer in some vain hope that staying there would deny the inevitable, but he just expected Nathaniel to forcefully collect him if he tried, with his mood firmly soured. Eventually, he conceded, twisting the dial that operated the shower and grabbing the towel.

  "I'd give your robe a while; the longer, the better," Dumon spoke up as the ambient noise of the shower faded, "it's still not going to be brilliant, but hopefully the main singed smell will have dissipated."

  "As long as Sebastian doesn't think it as anything more than perhaps just needing a wash, it's fine," Amnur replied with a smile, while it still wasn't the best impression it was certainly better than the alternative. "Gives me an excuse to take my time heading over though, that's a plus."

  "My best advice would be to just keep calm, if Sebastian has been arguing with his father over issues that may potentially be related to his rule, Nathaniel may be wary of announcing your deeds. If he does straight up say something, there's not a whole lot you can do, either stay silent or be ready to denounce Nathaniel for what he's done and hope Sebastian is willing to back you up."

  Amnur let out a sigh, Dumon was right. Keeping calm was going to be easier said than done, but so far, he had convinced Nathaniel. Considering this meal was supposed to honour his deeds, he just needed to carry a hint of satisfaction with him.

  Time passed swiftly as he spoke with the healer and soon Dumon was urging him to leave; the last thing Amnur needed was to be late to his own dinner.
Grudgingly, Amnur had slipped back on his robe which was now sweeter smelling than before. He bid farewell to him and proceeded down the corridor, arriving before the familiar door and chamber guards. Without a word, they allowed him access but not without one of them pulling a face after receiving a whiff of Amnur's robes.

  The chamber was awash with noise when he entered, enough that the guard that held the door paused for a moment to give Amnur time to decide if he wished to slip back out. Once again Nathaniel and Sebastian were arguing, but Amnur's presence had yet to be announced by the sound of the door.

  "I said enough! I will not hear any more of this useless prattle," Nathaniel growled, standing level with his son in an attempt at dominance.

  "You refuse to listen to these people's plight and why? Their concern is legitimate, we've had far too many angel attacks as of late right on our doorstep, and they're worried," Sebastian spat back, not flinching at his father's display. "Shae usually contends with the defence of the forest settlements, but I hear reports that she's being tasked with frivolous orders that one would say were way below her station."

  "Defence measures are handled within Shadekeep, not by some-"

  "A woman, that's your issue with her, isn't it? She's highly capable, more so than anyone we have in the army. Her technique is second to none, she's even managed to teach me a thing or two," Sebastian spoke, cutting his father's insult off early. The King was fuming, irked by the disrespectful words. Nathaniel brought his face close to Sebastian's, but once again, he was unfazed. His attitude alone was enough to prove he had guessed correctly and the extra about the training was about enough to finish him off.