Vir arrived at the audience chamber to find a room on the brink of all-out war. Though Annas sat leisurely on his throne, smirking down at the room, the death glares Vir’s forces were throwing him spoke volumes.

  “Oh, our Akh Nara is here. How good of you to join us,” Annas said theatrically. “Come, kneel before me and I will hear your terms.”

  Ignoring the kothi, Vir pulled Maiya aside. “What’s going on?”

  “He’s threatening to explode the wrist tattoos he put on those children,” Maiya replied, looking ashamed. “The children he recruited. As well as Greesha, Janani, and a few others.”

  Vir’s thoughts leaped to Hiya and Ekta, and even with the aid of his Foundation Chakra, he just barely stopped himself from attacking the vile scum. “Where are they now?” he asked, fighting to keep his tone even.

  “We’ve secured the adults, but the children… I don’t know,” Maiya said quietly, slipping him a note that he checked just as discreetly.

  Iksana found them. Mounting rescue operation now. Nearly there, stall for time.

  That was the Maiya he knew. Relief flooded through Vir, and he’d never been so glad to have this amazing person in his life. Even still, turned away from Annas as he was, he dared not to betray those emotions.

  He’d seen the thin tendrils of prana extending from the kothi’s body, away into the walls. Though Vir was unfamiliar with the art that made this possible, his threats were likely quite real.

  “Thank you for the update, Maiya,” Vir said loudly as he turned back to his foe. “You’re surrounded, Annas. Your forces have been destroyed. Samar Patag and the fires have been quenched. The city is firmly back in Guardian hands. Will you surrender, or do I have to kill you?”

  To everyone’s surprise, Annas laughed heartily.

  “There will be no killing me today. Did you not hear what she told you? If I die, the children die.”

  He looked entirely confident—even alone and surrounded by enemies who’d like nothing more than to chop off his head—certain in his conviction that Vir would never sacrifice the children.

  It made Vir’s blood boil, though Annas had made a terrible mistake. He’d failed to account for the Iksana’s intelligence network.

  “Fifty lives, Annas… for an entire country,” Vir said coldly. “I don’t think that’s a bargain any real leader would hesitate to make if they had to.”

  For the first time, Annas flinched.

  “That’s a bluff,” he said. “You won’t kill them. You wouldn’t risk hurting them.”

  Vir nodded. “I wouldn’t if you gave me another option. We both know I’d do nearly anything to avoid killing them. Giving up this war, however, is not one of them.”

  Vir received a mix of looks—judgment from some and approval from others. Vir ignored them all.

  Maiya’s team was actively extracting the children as they spoke. All Vir had to do was buy them a little more time.

  “No,” Annas, the smirk returning to his face. “I don’t think you’ll kill them so easily. So, my demands are as follows. First, the safety of my people. The Chitran require a place to call their own, and only Samar Patag will do. It must be returned to its rightful owners, as well as all villages and garrisons you have seized.”

  The Asura—who had remained professionally silent until now—bristled at the Kothi’s words.

  Vir spoke first, heading off any potential crisis.

  “It was never my intention to annihilate the Chitran, Annas,” Vir said. “My goal has always been peaceful coexistence. Samar Patag, however, is a Gargan city and will remain a Guardian Gargan City. That is non-negotiable. We will work together with the other clans to find a suitable home for the Chitran. Garga will even help with construction and related costs. I’m sure we can agree upon something equitable for all our clans.”

  Annas stroked his chin, considering Vir’s words before giving a slow nod. “Acceptable.”

  Vir pursed his lips. That Annas hadn’t bargained harder meant there was something else—something more important—Annas was holding out for.

  “I have but one other condition,” Annas said. “Guarantee my safety, and we have a deal. I order my forces to withdraw immediately.”

  “What forces?” Vir asked incredulously. “We have driven off your allied army. We have doused the fires you set to this city, and we have killed the raiding party you used to take this castle. You have no one left, Annas. It’s just you.”

  Vir doubted Annas had more than a handful of soldiers left within the city, and it wasn’t like anyone was exactly rushing to his aid.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “It’s just you, Annas,” Vir repeated, hammering home his dominant position in this negotiation. “As the leader who perpetrated this conflict, who caused so much death and destruction… and as someone who aided the assault that led to my parents’ death and the downfall of Garga, you must pay with your life or there will be no agreement between us.”

  “Well, you can imagine how that might be a problem for me,” Annas said with a strained smile.

  “I wonder if you asked all those you killed whether it was a problem for them,” Vir replied coldly.

  “You decided to take the mantle of the Chitran Raja, Annas,” Cirayus said in a tone devoid of sympathy. “You are not some young boy. You knew exactly what that meant. Accept your death with grace, so that at least your final act in this life might be a positive one.”

  “Then you leave me no choice,” Annas said, almost reveling in his words. “I’ll be forced to kill those children. Perhaps a handful, to send a message.”

  Maiya suddenly stepped forward. “Actually, you may have some trouble with that. We just rescued the children. I’m pleased to report they’re no longer within the castle.”

  Annas’ eyes flicked to Maiya, frowning.

  “So it would seem,” Annas said. “Though, I’m afraid this changes nothing. I can activate those bombs whenever I please.”

  “I doubt that,” Vir replied. “You forget that I have the Iksana’s Sight. I see prana as you see color, and the threads linking you to the children were as plain as day. Those threads have now been broken. Judging from their strength, I suspect your range of your art is no more than half the width of this castle? Quite the terrifying art, I must admit.”

  It could only have been a manifestation of one of Annas’ Aspect arts, though which one and how, Vir could only guess.

  “You’re right,” Annas said with a sigh. “My art has limited range. However, if I’m not mistaken, you’ve only managed to rescue around fifteen or so, yes?”

  Vir looked to Maiya, who nodded.

  “There were fifty in all,” Annas continued. “Do you think I would have been so foolish as to bring them all here?”

  “What do you mean?” Vir asked, the relief he’d felt vanishing as quickly as it had come.

  “No need to fear. They are quite safe,” Annas said. “They’re in a secure location, guarded by my elite troops, and I assure you, I do not need collars to kill them.”

  He raised a tablet.

  “This tablet is keyed to my life. To my Prana. Should I die, or should it be damaged for any reason, it will activate, sending word to my forces.”

  Vir had seen this form of rudimentary communications tablet in the past. While incomparable to the human counterpart, they sufficed for messages such as these. One of Saunak’s many projects was to devise an improved version.

  So Annas had a contingency. No wonder he was still so calm.

  Ash dammit. Why? Why did Annas have to cause so much pain wherever he went? Couldn’t he have coexisted in peace?

  It was far too late for that.

  Annas waved the tablet in the air, as if daring anyone to try for it. “The method might be different, but the end result will be the same. So you see, we are once again at an impasse. I will not leave this throne, nor can you kill me without killing those children. I guarantee you, it will be a bloody battle. How many more are you willing to sacrifice for your misguided cause?”

  Vir wanted to throw those words right back at him. He was the one wronged here, not Annas. But Vir tapped his Foundation Chakra, calming his mind. Losing his cool here served no one, and he was once again forced to confront the same dilemma as moments earlier.

  Except this time, there were no Iksana to secretly save the kids. They could be anywhere in the city, and with only a dozen Iksana, it’d take days to find them.

  The thing was, Annas had badly misjudged Vir.

  A year ago, his plan might very well have worked, catching Vir in a quagmire he’d be entirely unable to break out of.

  But Vir had come to understand that there was no victory without sacrifice. Though the nightmares would plague him for the rest of his life, though he would weep for those he lost—something he already did—there was no other option. To give into Annas’ demands would be to undermine the sacrifice of all who had come before. To return to this cycle of oppression.

  As the clan’s Raja, Vir had to prioritize his people's wellbeing above all else. Including his own life. Including the lives of children, as much as it would gut him.

  “I have nothing left to say,” Vir said sullenly. “Other than to wonder how someone who has lived as long as you—who has accomplished this much—could let things come to this. You never stood a chance, Annas. Surely you knew that. Yet even if you did win, what sort of society would someone who killed children with such ease create? I for one, do not want to see it.”

  “They’re not Chitran children! Are they!” Annas spat, displaying unbridled anger for the first time since their conversation began. “Why should I care for the wellbeing of anyone who has caused my clan so much misery?”

  So that’s how it is, Vir thought sadly. Annas was so caught up in this cycle of hatred that he no longer considered Gargans people. To him, they were enemies—obstacles in his path.

  It was, sadly, an attitude common to demonkind. One that Vir swore to change.

  Cycling his prana, Vir readied his katar. “This has gone on long enough. There can be no compromise here. All forces, att—”

  “Coming through! Coming through! Yes, yes, make way!” a familiar, slightly deranged voice shouted from a nearby hall.

  All eyes in the room looked to the demon with wild white hair… and the gray demon who followed.

  “Raoul? Saunak?” Vir asked. “What are you two doing here?”

  And when did you two link up? They shouldn’t have been anywhere near each other, with Raoul overseeing forces within the city, and Saunak piloting his Automaton.

  “What needs to be done,” Raoul replied solemnly, staring at Annas.

  “Ah, our local traitor,” Annas said. “I was wondering if you’d show your duplicitous face.”

  “Well, you see, Raoul predicted Annas might pull something like this,” Saunak said, beaming without a care in the world as he took position between the two sides. “So we prepared a contingency, of a sort. If you’ll all please look at the projection…”

  Saunak tossed a palm-sized black metal sphere into the air, which bounced and rolled to a stop, sitting there for a moment before suddenly bursting into a blaze of light.

  A projected moving image popped into the air above. It was similar to what the Bairans had used at their tournament, albeit on a much smaller scale.

  The projection showed a field dominated by his Automaton—the very same Automaton he’d used to turn the tide in the battle against Jagath.

  “I had guessed our esteemed leader would hesitate to perform the dirty deeds necessary to win this war. Not all of us, however, share in that nobility. Some of us are more than willing to do whatever it takes.”

  Annas’ smug look faded into a frown as the image zoomed in on what had to be at least two thousand soldiers, all bound, gagged, and blindfolded, that lay strewn about in front of the Automaton.

  Raoul gave Annas a look of such pure loathing it sent a shiver down Vir’s spine.

  “For you see, Annas, you are not the only one capable of taking hostages.”