//------------------------------// // Confrontation // Story: Changing Flows // by ChaoticHarmony //------------------------------// This chapter will be a little shorter than I want it to be because of real life AND brony stuff that take priority of said chapter. This being said, enjoy the update! Chapter 10: Confrontation The guards outside the door made no attempt to stop him as he kicked open the door to the throne room and marched in. Their eyes were filled with something bordering on the edge of pity, but they were trained well not to show it, which was all to the better as his rage wouldn’t handle any pity at the moment. The murmurings of the changelings who had followed him out of the training room rose quickly before getting shut off as the doors swung closed with a loud booming sound that filled the vast chamber. “Ah, Saber.” The low rumbling speech of the changeling who stood next to the throne was filled with a false fatherly tone. “I was wondering when my greatest fighter would show up.” His anger ebbed as a small amount of shock coursed through his nerves. Greatest fighter? “You’ve been having me watched.” The accusation had no effect on the larger changeling that slowly stepped down the stairs that lead up to his throne. Each hoof that touched the ground brought him closer to his prize. “Well of course, how else do you expect for me to gauge who should be my next champion?” There was an undertone in his voice that suggested Saber was to be the champion. “So you send a child to do your work?” Anger burned with a renewed fire as the changeling approached, each step sending another flare of it through his mind. “A mere child who you knew was to die at my hooves?” He stomped one of his mentioned hooves, still green with the blood of the juvenile that he had slain, into the black tiles. “My child?!” Silence followed the clattering that was produced from his anger, pressing down on the space like the air over a funeral. A hint of cruel laughter burned in the larger changeling’s eyes before fading into the same false sympathy. “A necessary sacrifice, as a child whose father left him to be trained to be a Shadow Hoof would harbor a certain… animosity towards him.” A hoof was lain on his shoulder, pressing down with a less-than-friendly force. “And now we both know who the best fighter is.” The hoof steered him to look out of the window and onto the harsh landscape that was the kingdom of the changelings. “Think of it, being the second-most powerful being in the land, with no other ling to answer to but me.” None of the wondering emotions that the words were meant to inspire surfaced, replaced by the boiling fury that ached to be released. He angrily threw off the hoof that was pressing down on his shoulders, whipping around to look into the eyes of the changeling next to him. He had a smile on his face, but the depths of his eyes were like chips of ice. There is no choice. You accept or die they said to him. A smirk formed on his face and a light of confusion entered the king’s eyes. “I want no part of your ‘game of champions’. I’m just a normal grunt, meant for nothing more than grunt fighting.” Anger of the changeling’s own flashed in the cruel eyes that looked into Saber’s eyes before being smothered with the cruel ice that could freeze oceans. “Are you sure about your choice?” Saber snorted and turned away, slowly walking to the large set of doors that served as the only exit. As his hoof touched one of them, the king’s voice beseeching voice filled the hall once more. “You won’t get this opportunity again.” The frigid implications of the words washed over him, but he cared nothing for what was to come. He turned back to look at the wintery eyes again, his anger filling him with strength. “Good.” The doors boomed as the shut behind him, a hint of finality finding a way into the rumbling. 000 Blade Wings looked out of the window, taking in the black landscape that was in so many ways similar to his race. Anger sparked in his heart as he recalled the last words of Saber. And that smirk! That little larvae will regret the day he hatched. He smiled as a rustling came from the back corner of the room, as if whatever hid in the shadows meant to be quiet. He turned to look at the golden eyes that shined from a non-existent light. “Catch him, and throw him in the dungeons. I’ll wish to see to him personally.” The eyes bobbed slightly, indicating that the creature had received and understood his orders. “Yes, my lord.” A flash of black fire followed the rasping of the voice, roaring and whispering at the same time. He turned away from the now-vacant corner, looking out over his kingdom once again. He sent out a tongue of fire to bring the goblet of clear liquid to him, taking a brief sip and allowing himself a smile. “It seems that Saber will require more… incentive." His words hung in the empty chamber, coupled with the occasional ring of his teeth on metal. 000 The hallways in front of him seemed to blur out of existence as the hurtled past them with wild abandon. Flashes of black-silver fire heated the air around him as he galloped away. Damn them. Bucking Shadow Wings. He leapt into the air as another bolt of flames cut the ground that was under his hooves. He spun in midair, casting a bolt of his own magic into the darkness that pursued him. The black air seemed to spread open and consume the green fire. A feeling of helplessness settled on his heart as he turned around to continue his flight, glancing over his shoulder to watch the ever-approaching black. Pain slashed across his back as the darkness touched his body, black spots eating away at the corners of his vision as he crashed to the ground, his wings shredded from the touch of the shadow. It took all his effort to keep his hooves balanced as he hit the ground. He gritted his teeth as he turned a corner, his ruined wings sending spikes of pain into his back as the pulled in the wind. The howling wall of death stopped, the individual changelings behind its creation becoming visible as their cloaks of shadow dissipated. “Spread out. He’s here somewhere.” In an instant, they were gone, melding into the shadows like they would walk in normal light. His building sigh was stopped in his throat as a rushing of wind signaled an arrival. He turned to look into the angry eyes of a female, her wings still encased in shadow as they flared outward. “I found you.” Her hoof punched into his throat, cutting off his shout of rage and his breathing. He gasped and sputtered for air as she circled him slowly. “You know, the boy you killed didn’t deserve to die.” She kicked a hoof into his side, sending more flames of pain licking along his body. “He had a future as one of us.” She flashed a bolt of magic into his hoof, burning another hole through its already pock-marked surface. “A Shadow Wing.” She pulled away a part of the shadow that enveloped her wings and touched to the remains of his own. Pain like no other filled his mind, driving him to the edge of near-insanity with its intensity. “Why… is… he so… special… to you?” He forced the words out through his gritted teeth. She lifted away her hoof, bringing his face with her other one to look into her eyes. “Because he was my student.” The pain in her eyes was that of a grieving parent, a feeling of hopelessness and hatred mixing in her twin golden irises that were watery with unshed tears. She lifted the entirety of her magic away from her wings, bringing it to rest in front of his face. “Pity I cannot kill you yet, but my chance will come.” Bitterness filled her tone as she shoved the suffocating cloud forward, the hate-filled words of the changeling following him into the darkness. “And then I will kill you." 000 He had been staring at the green bars of flame for so long that the image of their crossing flares would probably never fade from his memory. He rubbed his hoof against his chest, attempting once more to drive out the heavy feeling that filled his chest and dragged his heart down further. He only felt the colder-than-normal coat of black hair that covered his body, though it was still burnt away in places. The room he was sitting in was freezing, his breath misting in front of his eyes despite the flames that surrounded him. His tears had long since stopped flowing, his aching sadness replaced with a numb feeling of dread and hopelessness. A ringing filled his ears as a door was opened, soon followed by the sound of a body connecting with the ground. The green flames that surrounded him soon extended themselves to encompass the unmoving form. His hooves scrapped on the floor as he pulled himself over to whatever it was, swiftly recoiling away after he got close enough. The thing on the ground groaned painfully, twitching slightly as it moved to a sitting position with its eyes still closed. “S-s-sir, are you… okay?” His voice sounded dead and hollow, barely projecting past his mouth. The creature turned to face him, scars crossing different parts of his body. Eyes that were as green as emerald soon opened to look him in the eye, confusion and hunger lighting in their depths.