The Reaper

by Blade Trail

Chapter 18: Kings

At Spokes’ declaration, the room went quiet. Mouths went dry. Hands gripped weapons. Eyes shifted as guards determined where their loyalties lied. Through all this, the two princes stood stock still, their gazes locked.

“Hey!” Rainbow yelled, breaking the silence and causing Rarity to wince. “Are we gonna go do something about this Sara-guy or not?”

Both brothers broke eye contact. Axe let out a long sigh, and his shoulders slumped. Dagger closed his eyes and shook his head.

“Spokes,” Dagger said, his voice unusually soft. “Who knows?”

“You are the first I’ve told” Spokes replied. “And no one else could know. I am the only one allowed to see him, and I came straight here once I discovered...” He paused. “The king was unwell. Every minotaur knows that. But what I saw when I entered that room. The...thing that was left lying on the bed... Your highnesses, no illness could leave a body in that state.”

Dagger looked to his brother. “The timing is too perfect.”

“Aye,” Axe agreed, still downcast. He sighed again and rubbed at his eyes. “Aye...even I can tell.”

“Do you...” Rarity ventured. She paused as both brothers looked at her. “Do you think Sarangay may have… What I mean is, that this could somehow be related to -”

“I do not know,” Dagger said flatly.

Axe let out a single humorless laugh. “Not something one hears from you often, brother.”

“Not something that is often true,” Dagger replied. “As for this? Yes, perhaps Sarangay is indeed behind it all. It would make sense. Corrupting the ambassador would cause enough chaos for him to kill the king, which, in turn, would cause enough chaos for him to take the throne. As an added bonus, it sets up Equestria as an enemy of Minos, giving him a way to both redirect the hatred and - through a successful invasion - earn the approval of the people. Thus with a single action would he gain control of two nations. Were I not already so disgusted, I would no doubt be impressed. Perhaps even jealous. The logic of this insidious plan is so simple that it cannot help but be obvious, and yet here we are - here I am - falling for it anyway.”

“Wait, so you’re saying we’re all just being played?!” Rainbow exclaimed.

“That would appear to be the case,” Dagger said.

“But you’re not sure,” Rarity observed.

“No,” Dagger admitted.

“Why not?” Rainbow asked. “It all makes sense!”

Rarity’s eyes widened as she connected the dots. “Because of who’s doing it.”

“Precisely,” Dagger confirmed. He began to pace, his words coming out faster as he did so. “Sarangay is an ancient creature of legend. Ancient. If he has been around for as long as the legends say, then why hasn’t he acted before? Why now? As golden as this specific opportunity may be, he could not possibly have known it was coming. And it most certainly is not his first chance to take over. Off the top of my head I can think of thirteen different times in recent history when -”

“Dagger, enough,” Axe interrupted. His voice was firm, but gentle. “Our father is dead. You are allowed to grieve.”

“No,” Dagger said. He seemed to choke on the word. He cleared his throat before continuing. “No, I am not. The king is dead, and so I am king. As are you. By the law of the mountain, our mutual ascension to the throne is both unavoidable and unacceptable. As soon as we are finished speaking of our father’s passing, one of us must join him in death, and every minotaur here knows it.”

Axe looked around and saw that the line had already been drawn. The guards loyal to him had moved to stand on his side of the room. Those loyal to his brother stood on the opposite side. The injured were left to lie where they were. As always with minotaurs, combat took precedence over care.

Axe let out one last sigh, then set his jaw and nodded. “Aye, that is true.”

The guards drew their weapons.

“But!” Axe shouted, causing the guards to freeze. “The law allows us one last right as siblings, as sons, is that not so, Spokes?”

All eyes turned to Spokes, who stood rooted in place between the two brothers. He nodded.

Emboldened, Axe continued. “Had our father died of disease or in his sleep, that would have been the end of it. We would grieve his passing with singing steel and spilt blood until only one king ruled the mountain. But he did not. And so, brother, we need not. At least, not yet.”

“The King of Minos has been killed,” Spokes began. “By extension, the Kingdom of Minos has been attacked. As the sons the king, it is your right to demand justice. As sons of Minos, it is your duty to seek revenge.”

“Only if we both agree that the other is innocent,” Dagger added, locking gazes with Axe once more. “Only if we work together to seek the truth.”

“Sarangay must pay for what he’s done,” Axe said.

“I don’t know what he’s done,” Dagger countered.

Axe moved towards Dagger. Everyone else tensed.

“Then let’s go ask him,” Axe said, extending his hand.

Dagger looked down at the offered hand, then back up to his brother’s face. There was no humor there now, only grim determination.

“I have not yet agreed,” Dagger said.

“Not yet, no,” Axe replied.

“I could kill you right now, and no one would be able to stop me.”

“You could, aye.”

“I will rule Minos, brother.”

“Over my dead body.”

Dagger narrowed his eyes, then his arm shot forward. Axe’s guards were in motion immediately, but Axe raised a hand to stop them.

“Nothing has changed,” Dagger warned as he shook Axe’s hand.

“Aye,” Axe agreed, a wide smile spreading across his features. “We’re still brothers! RAHAHAHAHA!”

~~~

A short while later, Axe, Dagger, and Rarity walked down the stairs Sarangay had created. The minotaurs carried torches while Rarity further illuminated the way with her horn. Rainbow hovered along beside the group. No one had spoken since they entered the stairway.

Rarity cleared her throat, breaking the silence. “I’m thankful you two are working together with us to bring Sarangay to justice.”

“At times, such cooperation is necessary,” Dagger said.

“And fun!” Axe added.

“That is debatable,” Dagger countered. “In any event, despite...recent developments, my brother and I will see this through to the end. Rest assured that until then, we remain on the same side.”

“If you ask me, it oughta stay that way permanently,” Rainbow said.

Dagger shook his head. “The audacity of you Equestrians continues to amaze me.”

“Thanks!” Rainbow said, beaming. “I am pretty amazing.”

“RAHAHAHAHA!”

Rarity found the princes’ behavior suspicious. They were behaving as they had before, but given the mission they were on and the events that had just transpired, they surely should not be. Despite the dim light, she set about examining them and almost immediately noticed the subtle differences in each brother’s expression and stance.

Axe walked with a slight slump and his head tilted forward. His shoulders were tensed and he constantly adjusted his grip on his axe.. Although he smiled as he laughed, the smile no longer reached his eyes. There was no mirth to be found in his cold gaze.

Dagger’s face displayed the same neutral expression she had seen him wear before, but his quivering hands gave away the emotions he felt inside. His gaze seemed distant, unfocused, and he did not notice her examinations as he had in the past.

These two are a hair’s breadth away from violence, Rarity thought to herself. If we want to avoid a war, Rainbow and I need to do something and soon. But what?

“Is there really nothing more you can tell us about Reaper?” Dagger asked without turning his head.

Rarity pulled herself from her thoughts. “No, I’m afraid not. We are friends, yes, but we only met fairly recently. So much about him is still a mystery to us.”

Rainbow Dash chimed in. “Maybe Twilight could tell you more about him, since he lives with her and all, but I doubt it.”

“He does tend to prefer solitude,” Rarity agreed. “And he’s always come off as a bit dangerous.”

“But I’m sure he wouldn’t do that stuff up there by choice!” Rainbow added quickly. “Sarangay must’ve done something to him!”

Axe grunted. “I can believe it. Betrayal is that demon’s domain.”

“And what exactly does that mean?” Rarity asked.

“Yeah, what’s the deal with this guy anyway?” Rainbow followed up. “You still haven’t told us.”

“Ah, what a tale that is!” Axe said with as much enthusiasm as he could muster. “It all began in the age of myth, long, long ago…”

Dagger cut in. “Let us stick to the facts, shall we? If nothing else, we don’t have the time for your usual embellishments.”

“Oh, aye, sure!” Axe snapped. “Just take all the fun out of it. Like always.”

Dagger frowned, but did not respond to Axe’s comment. Instead, he said, “Historically, the first king of the minotaurs was a powerful sorcerer.”

Axe added, “So powerful was he, that some say he was a god.”

“An exaggeration, I’m sure,” Dagger commented dryly. “Although I concede that it is an understandable one. Everything he made - the country he founded, the mountain he raised, the city he built, and so on - he made using only his own magical might. In addition to being an impressive show of strength to the primitive tribes, it is theorized that he did this to satisfy his own strange obsession with mazes. Each and every structure he built had some form of labyrinth within it; a labyrinth that only he knew all the secrets of. Our ancestors spent so much time wandering through the labyrinths he made that the absurd obsession unfortunately became a part of Minotaur culture and tradition.”

“That certainly explains quite a bit,” Rarity said.

“Other races refined their arts and their songs,” Dagger said, irritation seeping into his voice. “We built mazes. Pointless, boring mazes.”

“It’s only boring until you wake up in the middle of the night and forget the right sequence of turns to the nearest bathroom,” Axe commented. “RAHAHAHAHA!”

Rainbow grew impatient and pressed, “So what happened to him? And what’s this got to do with the guy we’re after?”

“Patience, I am getting to that,” Dagger replied. “Records show that the first king ruled for 738 years before passing on -”

“Or ascending!” Axe interjected.

“- without leaving any heir to the throne,” Dagger continued. “Instead, he left yet one more creation: a grand labyrinth beneath Minos Mountain.”

“The First Labyrinth,” Axe said, attempting to sound ominous.

“Wait a second,” Rainbow said. “If he built a ton of these things all the time, why is the last one called the first?”

Axe answered, “They say that answering that very question is a part of the challenge.”

Rainbow was even more confused. “Challenge? What challenge? And who is ‘they’?”

Dagger clarified. “My brother’s dubious sources aside, the challenge was simple: the one to conquer the labyrinth would be rewarded with the power of the king along with the right to rule.”

Axe continued where his brother left off. “From the renowned to the unknown, the noble and righteous to the selfish and greedy, countless minotaurs from all walks of life attempted the challenge of The First Labyrinth. All failed. All...but one. His name has been lost to time, but in the legends, he was described as -”

“As having all the exaggerated features a legendary figure should,” Dagger interrupted. “Whether any of that rubbish is true or not is irrelevant. The fact of the matter is that shortly after reaching the end, the hero dies.”

“What?! How?” Rainbow exclaimed. She was taken in by the story now, and had to know the ending.

“Stabbed in the back by the coward that had shadowed him as he passed every challenge,” Axe growled.

“By his brother, whose name we do remember,” Dagger added, unconsciously going along with his brothers vague storytelling.

“Sarangay,” Rarity stated.

“Correct,” Dagger confirmed.

Axe picked up the story again. “But Sarangay was not worthy of the power of Minos, so when he took in hand the orb that held it, a horrible curse was laid upon him.”

Dagger cut in during Axe’s dramatic pause. “The details of which vary per account. It is generally agreed, however, that Sarangay was transformed into a hideous creature. When he emerged and not his brother, he confessed to his fratricide and attempted to take the throne by right of conquest.”

“But none would have it!” Axe boomed. “And a great battle was waged! They say that the very earth -”

“Sarangay’s right to rule was universally denied,” Dagger interrupted. “An attempt was made to kill him, but, despite the curse, he was still bestowed with magic. He used his magic to force his way free, and vowed revenge before disappearing completely.”

“And how long ago did you say this was?” Rarity asked.

“2155 years ago,” Dagger replied. “Despite his vow, Sarangay never revealed himself again, and Minos fell into a great civil war that fractured the kingdom for hundreds of years. This is around the time we closed our borders and separated ourselves from the concerns of other nations. Even after the war ended -”

“With our family’s victory!” Axe added with pride.

“Minos never truly returned to the way it was. We keep to ourselves now,” Dagger finished.

“Truly a shame,” Sarangay commented. “Minos was so much more back then, and it still could be. I know you both agree.”

Without noticing, the party had come within sight of the bottom of the steps. Sarangay stood there, waiting for them with a smile on his face.

Rainbow Dash was the first to act. She shot towards Sarangay as the princes readied their weapons and before Rarity could say a word to stop her. Before she could reach him, the orb in Sarangay’s ear glowed and the steps the rest of the party stood on collapsed. Rarity and the princes fell only a short distance, but their shouts of surprise distracted Rainbow. As she looked back to see them fall, a column of stone rose up from the ground beneath her and knocked her out of the air.

“Now, now. Whatever happened to resolving our differences peacefully?” Sarangay scolded. “Not even an hour without a king, and already barbarians.”

“So it was you,” Dagger said as he rose, his voice dripping with venom.

“I WILL THROTTLE YOU, YOU MURDEROUS SCUM!” Axe bellowed as he charged at Sarangay. Another column of stone rose up at an angle to hit him. He broke through it, screaming.

Sarangay arched an eyebrow. His orb glowed again and the ground underneath Axe’s hooves collapsed into a pit. The prince lodged his axe into the side of the pit as he fell and used it as leverage to leap back up onto solid ground to continue his berserk charge. Sarangay had both eyebrows raised in surprise now. Just before Axe reached him, he raised a column of stone beneath his own hooves and launched himself into the air. Axe crashed through the new column and looked up to see Sarangay looking down at him from a new stone platform protruding from the wall. Axe screamed at him in rage and hate.

“I’m impressed,” Sarangay said in reply. “I wasn’t expecting such loyalty -”

“You called?” Rainbow quipped just before her flying kick knocked him off the platform.

Sarangay hit the ground rolling and ended on his hooves. He raised a small rock barrier in front of him as soon as he stopped, blocking a thrown dagger. “I can see you’re not interested in talking!” he called out in a hoarse voice from behind his barrier. Blue magic gripped his body and lifted him up into the air. “Ah, forgot about the unicorn,” he said with a wry smile as he noticed Rarity off to his left. “Such a rookie mistake.”

“The last you’ll ever make,” Dagger said, throwing another of his namesake at Sarangay.

The dagger stopped in midair just before it hit Sarangay, its hilt encased in the same blue magic holding him up. Sarangay chuckled “Seems you forgot about the unicorn too.”

“What is the meaning of this?!” Dagger shouted at Rarity.

Rarity ignored him and focused on Sarangay. “Where is Reaper?”

With another bloodthirsty shout, Axe tackled Sarangay out of the air. There was an audible crunch as Axe landed on top of Sarangay. The smaller creature groaned in pain. Axe pulled back a fist for the finishing blow.

“NO!” Rarity and Rainbow shouted at once.

Before either pony could make a move, the ground below Axe and Sarangay opened up and swallowed both, closing above them as they fell. There was a moment of stunned silence before another pillar of stone rose from the same spot. Sarangay stood hunched over atop the pillar. Axe was encased within it, only his head sticking out. He screamed in frustration.

Sarangay coughed blood. He was propping himself up by his arms, his legs having been crushed by Axe’s last assault, and so couldn’t wipe away the blood. It dripped down his jaw as he spoke. “Reaper...is...within.”

“Why?!” Rarity asked.

Sarangay’s orb glowed once more and the door to the First Labyrinth slowly began sliding open. Nothing could be seen within, only a wall of pure darkness.

“I’d...love to chat, but...can’t,” Sarangay said, trying and failing to sound casual. He coughed up more blood. “You’ll...just have to...follow.”

With that, the stone pillar shattered and Sarangay was thrown by the topmost piece into the darkness of the First Labyrinth. Axe, freed from his prison, slammed his fist into the ground, let out a furious scream, and charged in after. Dagger didn’t hesitate to follow his brother. Rarity and Rainbow looked at each other with determined expressions. They nodded, then charged in after the others.

The labyrinth doors slammed shut behind them.

Comments

[Magnus_Flare]

Huh that took a while, anyway great chapter and i'm very curious what awaits them in the labirynth :)

[Late_Night]

9301394
when's the next update
i love what's here so far, but the distance between this most recent update and the one prior is... concerning

[Blade Trail]

9840599
Thank you for your patience

9840612
I can't say exactly when, but it definitely won't take as long.

Life kept getting in the way, and I also had some health issues, but I'm more or less back now. My goal is to finish this story by the end of the year. No promises, but that's the goal!

[Late_Night]

9840743
nice
though i'd like it if this story either went for a while, or had a good sequel too
i'm big on reading, and i can only say that your world you've built here is quite entrancing

[Blade Trail]

9840758
Thank you very much!
There's still quite a bit left for you to look forward to. After that, well... Let's cross that bridge when we get there.

[GamerDroid23]

Your probably gonna hate me for saying this, but everytime I read Sarangay's lines, I kept reading with Ripto's voice from Spyro 2, Ripto's Rage. Don't know why, just did.

[Blade Trail]

9844189
Hey, whatever works for you hahaha
He's a tiny deformed ancient bad guy, you can make him sound as silly or serious as you want.

Also, I'm glad you're still reading! Sorry for the wait.

[Autumn breeze24]

9840493
First of all I am not edgy I have Asperger’s syndrome you prepubescent shit stain on the face of this planet. Secondly I don’t even PLAY Overwatch and would not main Reaper as whole he might seem badass as a CHARACTER as a play style it is not my thing to run and gun I prefer hanging back and sneaking and taking out targets at range..... so before you go spouting off on how people need to get their shit slapped maybe take a big long look at all the shit YOU are spewing out at others.

[Miskr]

I just need more, it's shame that it is canceled