Initially, Karam refused to use the Fire Halter.
In fact, he hid it away in a locked safe built into his closet.
Weeks passed.
Battles raged.
Creatures perished.
Day after day, Karam agonized over whether he should use the Fire Halter. On the one hoof, he knew that if he used it, he’d surely win the war, ending the suffering.
On the other hoof, he knew such a weapon would cause immense destruction--especially if combined with the Water Collar he was already using. Could he truly unleash such death? Then again, could he allow the killing to continue? Either way, citizens and soldiers would die. The question was really about how much longer the dying would continue. If he used the halter, the war would be over soon, but it’d be utterly brutal. If he didn’t use the collar, the war would last longer, and more people would suffer. Was there a wrong or right choice here?
He had no idea. It was hard for him to picture the future because it hadn’t happened yet, and all he knew about the Fire Halter were rumors. Was the Fire Halter really as powerful as the legends suggested?
Was he worrying too much?
He had no idea.
Would his advisors even know? They were so much better at picturing things like this, weren’t they? Or were they?
He didn’t know, and he dare not tell them he was suffering like this. After all, he couldn’t look weak, no, no, NO, he had to prove to them he was a leader, and leaders ALWAYS knew what they were doing… right?
Weeks passed.
Karam agonized.
Soldiers died.
Besides this problem, Karam had to find a way to keep his people and soldiers sane while the sun and moon were acting wild.
Day and night blurred into one strange cacophany, and even when it was nighttime the stars were incorrect, making it hard to navigate anywhere. Soldiers that were sent in one direction accidentally ended up hundreds of kilometers off-course, and had no idea how to get home.
Plants were having trouble growing due to not having stable sunlight, and farmers feared that a famine would ensue. If it wasn’t for the innate growing magic of Earth Horses and Earth Ponies, there surely would be famine already.
During these conditions, the nation was on the verge of panic, and Karam could practically taste it in the air. If the war didn’t end soon, surely the soldiers would all go insane and end up killing each other.
Karam had to do something.
He WOULD do something.
He took on the Fire Halter.
Through confusion and navigation troubles, Karam led his main army to a certain valley where he waited for Daud. It was a strategic point that Karam knew Daud would have to go through soon, and he patiently awaited his brother’s arrival. Within a few twenty-four hour time periods, Daud was there, leading his own main force.
The two armies stared each other down. In the sky, both day and night shared the heavens, painting a dramatic scene for the final battle to unfold. Karam braced himself, but found it hard to give the order to attack.
Could he really do this?
He felt how much power the two relics gave him, and it was overwhelming to his young, lean body.
Could he really do this?
He pictured Avram’s dying, peaceful face, and pondered what the old horse would say if he were still alive.
Could he really do this?
He remebered his father and mother, and questioned if they’d be on his side or Daud’s.
Thinking of all the lives that ended during this war, Karam knew he had no choice. It was either kill Daud now, and end this all, or keep fighting needlessly.
Through the conflicted feelings in his heart, Karam pushed through, and led the charge.
Swords clashed, armor shattered, and soldiers bashed against each other in one massive struggle.
Leading the fray was Karam, who flew high into the sky, searching for his brother. Karam knew that if he made a sandstorm now, it’d harm his own soldiers, and also obscure his own vision.
Today he had one goal: kill Daud.
Daud had his own goal, though.
Abruptly a lazer fired from the enemy ranks, and Karam narrowly dodged it.
His sharp eyes caught sight of a familiar set of armor gleaming in the light of the moon and sun. Gritting his teeth, Karam swooped down, charging his magic through both the collar and the halter, channeling his fury into the tip of his agate-covered horn. As the blue stone of the collar glowed, the agate surrounding his horn glowed with the magic too, and both were amplifying it into a bright, orange light. It took time to do this, though, and in the meantime Karam had to dodge more and more lazers from various enemies.
It was challenging to keep his concentration, but after decades of fighting in the middle of sandstorms, dodging some lightning-bolt-like lazers was easy for Karam to learn.
Five seconds passed
Karam spread his wings and angled to the right, feeling a lazer shoot off part of his tail. He used a bit of magic to infuse himself with the power of the wind, gaining speed and mobility.
Ten seconds passed
Karam ducked down between two more lazers, feeling the heat of the magic warm his face and sides as he dodged.
Fifteen seconds passed
Karam felt his heart pounding as he ducked and rolled and darted between dangers. A thin layer of fire burned on top of his tack; the Fire Haltar was ready.
At last, he felt his magic charged, and he turned and pinpointed where Daud was, in the center of the army.
For a brief moment, Daud’s eyes met his younger brother’s glowing ones, and The Rock knew what he must do.
Daud shot into the sky.
Seeing Daud clearly, Karam fired the cannon of magic at his target. Prepared for the shot, Daud fired back his own magic, and the two beams met in an atomic burst that sent shockwaves across the landscape, startling the soldiers below.
The two armies paused and watched as their leaders fired continuous beams at each other, trying to outpush each other. Though Daud was strong, he was no match for Karam’s intense boost from the artifacts, and within a few seconds the magic overwhelmed Daud.
In another burst, Karam overpowered his older brother, and the huge beam slammed into Daud, sending him flying across the land, pounding into the wilderness and forming a wide, deep trench that began filling in with loose sand and rocks.
Now for the final clash of the brothers.
Quickly, Karam flapped his wings and darted towards Daud, with his eyes on his target.
Thanks to his hardening, defensive magic, Daud survived, but his armor and his invisible, rocky layer was clearly cracked, and it gave off odd colors in the light, making Daud look like he was glowing. From the top of his horn to the base of his neck Daud was burnt, and his helmet fell off, smoking and charred as black as his singed mane was.
Looking to the sky, Daud spotted his enemy, who was glowing with a strange orange-teal magic layer that swirled and glowed all over Karam’s body.
Glaring at Karam, Daud called, “WHAT ILLEGAL THING HAVE YOU DONE NOW?”
Refusing to answer, Karam fired another mega-beam at Daud, who nimbly dodged to the side, allowing Karam to burn another trench into the landscape, sending shockwaves that made any soldiers nearby turn and gallop away in terror.
Daud spread his wings and zoomed up to Karam, and the two fired smaller lazers at each other repeatedly.
After decades of fighting, Karam was finally his equal, nay, superior, and Karam deflected the lazers with his own, firing back twice as fast and efficient as Daud.
Seeing that his lazers were innefective, Daud took out his weapons, using his teal-colored aura to fight Karam from a distance. In Daud’s aura, daggers shot forward, gleaming in the light from the sun and moon above them.
With his golden aura, Karam batted them away with a downward boomerang effect, and continued firing his lazer rounds.
Daud ducked and dodged, picking up the daggers from the air and throwing them back, distracting Karam while he gradually approached.
One dagger nicked Karam’s wing, and Karam gritted his teeth in pain, not seeing the other dagger that flew back, landing square in a place where his armor didn’t cover, in his shoulder joint.
Karam grunted and narrowed his eyes in pain.
Daud took his chance, darting forward, holding a sword in his aura.
ZAP
In that moment, Karam landed a lazer to Daud’s left wing.
Daud’s eyes widened as he felt himself falling down,
down…
down...
Karam wasn’t done yet, though.
With fury, Karam dove down and fired again and again at Daud, destroying The Rock’s armored layer of invisible magic, and destroying Daud’s combat armor as well. The magical beam slammed Daud deep into the ground, making a wide crater that flung many feet of sand into the air and away from Daud. Karam focused his magic into the wind, using the same whip-like burst he used ages ago while sparring, but this time it was like a firey wave crashing against Daud. With the combo magic, Daud was thrown across the crater, feeling as if intense water had scalded him from his horn to his hooves, making his armor and padding burning as if they were boiled. Desperately, Daud pulled off his armor with his magic, revealing how singed his dappled pelt was beneath. By this time, the two armies had gathered around the crater, watching their leaders duel. However, this was no duel: Karam was brutally lashing out at his brother, and Daud was unable to stop it. Karam fired lazers, summoned wind-lashes, and beat Daud with everything he had. In his wrath, Karam even set the edge of the sandy crater on fire, though there was nothing there to burn. At length, Daud was barely able to move, and Karam glared at his older brother, preparing to kill him.
...brother.
Karam paused.
Karam paused and stared at his brother.
Daud was burnt from his head to his foot, coughing quietly, and barely responding. Despite his closenesss to death, Daud glared at his brother in defiance.
“Well?...what… are you… waiting… for?... Go ahead… kill me,” Daud spat as he gritted his teeth and flared his nostrils in anger and pain.
Brother….
Karam paused.
In his mind, Karam recalled the days when they were both children, declaring that they’d always help each other. No… they were still children, really. Though they had been forced to grow up, Karam and Daud were both still no older looking than a teenaged horse, or perhaps a young adult.
They weren’t adults; they were children playing a game they were never meant to play. In his mind, Karam realized what he was doing:
He was killing his big brother.
How could he do this? How could he convince himself that this was all right? How could Karam convince himself this was the only choice?
He could do it.
Right here, right now, Karam could slay his brother, ending the war.
It was the logical solution.
If Daud died, the war would be over, and the suffering would stop.
It was the practical choice.
Daud was the enemy; Daud started this whole mess by refusing to believe Karam.
No, it was more than that--Daud’s mind had been beguiled and poisoned, but Karam didn’t know what Daud thought or what Daud knew.
Karam only knew what Karam knew, and Karam knew he was innocent; Karam didn’t kill their father, and he didn’t ask for any of this!
While he gazed into his older brother’s enraged eyes, Karam asked himself:
Am I really innocent?
What kind of beast fights his own brother?
What would Father do?
What would Mother say?
What would Avram say?...
He… he may be an enemy… but… he’s my big brother.
“WELL?... Shall you… kill me… or not?” Daud demanded between coughs as he lifted his head and rolled over so he could be laying on his stomach, tucking his legs beneath his aching body.
“...No. It would be wrong for me to kill the son of a king,” Karam announced in a loud, regal voice so everybeast could hear, “You shall be healed, and then put on trial, and the courts shall decide what to do with you.”
With that, Karam ceased the magic, and the colorful aura fizzled out around him. A second later, the fire around the edge of the crater snuffed itself out in submission.
At that, the armies were shocked. Murmuring echoed all around the crater while Karam watched his brother’s movements.
“...Coward,” Daud spat as he narrowed his eyes and staggered to his feet, letting his injured wings drag on the ground around himself, “you… coward.”
Medical beasts came and carefully helped Daud onto a stretcher while Karam watched in silence with a stoic look on his yellow features.
Karam searched and searched for any sign of gentle emotion from Daud, but all The Strong Wind found was hatred.
Daud didn’t care for him.
Daud wasn’t his brother.
Daud hated him.
As the realization sank deep into what was left of Karam’s heart, Karam grimaced internally. However, he also wrestled with himself.
Of course Daud doesn’t love me!
Why should he?
We are enemies.
He has accused me of murdering our father!
I shouted back at him and we declared war and have been fighting for about a century!
OF COURSE Daud despises me!...
why should I expect any different?
Why am I upset?...
why?...
Why?
...He’s my brother still.
Despite it all, I am his brother, and he was my hero… my inspiration… long, long ago… before all this mess. No, I do not hate him, not anymore.
If I have anger at anyone today, it is anger directly only at myself.
If I have hatred for anyone today… it is only for myself.
If anyone is guilty, it is myself, for I have killed my brother in my heart.
Daud lives, yet he is dead; his heart is gone forever…
And to him, I am dead as well. To Daud, I died the day this war began.
To myself, I have died today, for I don’t think I could ever forgive myself for all that’s happened under my rule.