“Where do you think you are going?” I asked, arriving to the pogrom just as it ended. But I was too late, King Mellach was gone in an instant.

Walking forward, I stepped over a dozen bodies. What had been Serian soldiers were liquefied and turned into a black tar.

I remember a valley that was bathed in the stuff. An odd flash of a memory.

###

Joshua stumbled, limped back out onto the pathway reaching around the great stone temple. He needed to get to the second floor, had to make sure that his family was fine. But if he did not make a break for it now, he would be cut off by the encroaching magma and inevitably die.

“Trust,” he whispered to himself. “Trust.” Kael dealt with the problem up there. He got Avonly out on his own, Joshua thought. Obviously I didn’t need any help, he didn’t have to worry about me. As Joshua hobbled at his best pace along the cliff’s edge, he came up with all the things he would say when he saw Kael again. Insults, taunts, self-congratulatory I told you so’s. “Soon,” Joshua huffed.

He went through the cave and came out of the bend at the bridge they had first seen the obsidian structure from. The world was glowing red. The volcano heated and churned, and as Joshua looked right to see where he had come from, he watched in awe as the temple sunk down into the depths below in a flow of lava. As he sprinted across the bridge, his heart quickened. Glancing over his shoulder, he could see magma pouring from the cave, burning him from behind. And as he reached the apex of the bridge, he dropped to his knees from the heat. It was overpowering, all-consuming. His lungs burned from the air. Was there even air?

Hazy, he tried to pull himself up and stagger forward. In the process he almost toppled sideways into the boiling pit stories below. Was he sweating? He couldn’t be sure anymore. It was too hot. His fingernails raked the floor of the bridge, some of the only magma that was still frozen under the mountain. As a dark film built up on the fringe of his vision, he saw magma engulfing the other side of the bridge as well. He wanted to laugh, but he couldn’t find the strength. Rolling over on his back, his lips mouthed “Where the hell is Kael?”

The bridge shuttered at both ends and toppled sideways.

Joshua fell and he understood. He understood that haunting smile Gianna wore. The peace that came with the end.

###

How do you describe nothing? The complete sensation of being. Joshua had considered it once but couldn’t understand it like he did right now. Darkness, true darkness wasn’t just the lights turned off, it was everything and everyone ceasing to exist, the stripping down of everything real. As Joshua floated in this unfathomable nothingness, he giggled. How novel, he thought.

Coming back from being on the verge of passing out, he wasn’t quite lucid and hadn’t even considered death as a possibility. As his brain re-geared and he remembered falling into the inferno, he ratcheted his body up violently against its own protests, the burn in his side howling in searing agony.

“What the. . . .” he murmured looking around. He was high up on the side of the mountain, overlooking the palace. “I’m so out of it.”

“It’s a bit disconcerting. Even I’m not used to it,” a voice cackled unexpectedly next to Joshua, scaring him into falling over.

Looming over him, floated a giant nothingness that was his father, King-Emporer of Taerose, Mellach. He had a face and all else that you would expect from the neck up, but the rest of his body was like smoke. He existed like a gas hovering with no distinct shape, billowing and growing, shrinking and becoming more form-full. His hair was stringy and falling out, his face ashen and a sullen reminder of death. Combined with his craterous, blotchy skin, he looked to be far past one hundred years in age, ready to die at any moment, but at the same time, Joshua knew him to be in his fifties at most

“You look confused,” his voice scratched. “My men told me you grew up to be quite fast on your feet.”

Joshua looked around the vista again and back to his father looking for answers. “You saved me?”

“Of course,” Mellach said incredulously. “What kind of parent can’t keep their children safe?”

“Dick. That’s a thing to say with all the crap you’ve caused. With Kael and Avonly gone–” as Joshua said their names, Mellach had the faintest resemblance of his arm appear in the black fog and pull back its curtain. Lying on the ground unconscious were his two siblings, a little worse than they started the day but seemingly fine– the gash in Avonly’s side apparently self-cauterized. He didn’t flinch. Rather, Joshua continued to stare at his father with sunken eyes.

“I would argue that I did what I could. I kept alive who I could. The big one might not make it through, but would you care?”

Joshua was stone. He hadn’t moved, averted his gaze, or even blinked.

Mellach laughed, as much of a hearty, full-bellied laugh as he was capable. “I’ve only ever killed when it’s necessary.” His floating head lowered, and the formless shape appeared to be sitting on a stone now. “You aren’t quite at the age where necessity means a lot, so I won’t bother defending myself there. But I've left the Dark Element mostly in Mal's hands and I know that decision has caused its own share of heartache."

“Um yeah?” Joshua said. He didn’t like how this conversation was going. He had always imagined that if he did confront his father, he would have the moral high ground. He would sling his accusations and be vindicated in every word he said, but there was no attacking someone who laughed at their own atrocities, accepted it like a slight inconvenience. Instead, Joshua remained silent.

Mellach squinted and looked around for something to say. “So. . . no, not that.” He hummed, once again looking around. “Is this how you imagined we’d meet again? Not how I did. Even though I sent Mal off to prod you into coming back, I hardly figured you’d show up with the Lithurian and try to assassinate me."

Curling on the cold stone, Joshua's fingers could feel the mountain rumble.

“I was also told you had become an incessant talker; it surprised me to hear how much the quiet boy I knew had changed.” Mellach’s slender fingers whispered into existence and rose to his head for a scratch. “Tell me: was I wrong to send for you? I had good reason. The world will get more dangerous before it gets safer. The change I'm bringing will do that."

Joshua paid little heed to his father’s words and instead craned his neck, as all alongside the mountain, plumes of lava surged forth and began cascading down onto the castle grounds. “I don’t think so,” Joshua murmured, dimly transfixed as buildings on either side of the case were moments away from the fiery sluice. “I think. . . .”

“What was that?” Mellach asked, now looking over the patch of darkness that could only be considered his shoulder to his kingdom’s oncoming doom. He gritted his teeth but seemed not to mind. He ‘stood’ once again, towering above Joshua as a dark pillar.

“I think you lied. I think more people died than needed to.”

“Yes. I'm sure you're right. It's just hard to face. When you let other people make the choices you were meant for, it's always worse." Mellach stopped and spate a wheezing, hacking cough. “I needed to be more in control. I needed to be hands-on. Instead, I left us with this mess.” Mellach ran his craggy hands through his stringy hair and seemed to sit down in the air. He was one black blob and Joshua couldn't described it, but he looked more restful. “You don't even know how this began do you? A decade ago the Element were my project to gather information, all to make the world better. But things are never so simple.”

“The more information we needed, the more people we had to recruit, the more pushback there was– more double dealing. My organization could approach countries, rulers, and businesses in a way my country couldn't, if you could believe that. But here's the thing, there's always a cost. The I.S.T want weapons, the Serians want a dissident assassinated, Lyon wants in on the ground floor. Over and over again, demand after demand. Every hope and aspiration you can ever have gets whittled away.”

He didn't– Joshua didn't know where to start. “Was it worth it?”

Mellach clenched his jaw and slipped a minuscule smile. “It will be, when I win. When the last Syche is gone, we'll have some form of normalcy in this world.”

“And you'll be handling all this. . . personally?”

“Of course. That era is over. When the woman who you used to call your mother died, I was directionless and lost. I let Mal, some boy without an ounce of empathy or decency, run the show because he had the raw talent and he could. Goddess abound I needed someone to take that burden from me.”

This was, well, this was too good to be true. But he could hope. For one shining moment, Joshua could hope the nightmare was coming to an end. “No more death. No more murder. No more child soldiers? It's over?”

Mellach slowly nodded. “It's almost over. We're so close. There is only one Elemental left to find, and the only roadblock is that pasty little man you came here with. But make no mistake, he comes from low places long forgotten; he could bring the strength of the old world back with just one word; he could plunge our entire planet into pandemonium all for the sake of the few.”

And there it was. That one unmistakable fact. “And you'll do whatever it takes to stop him. You'll fight that war?”

A grumbling sigh wracked Mellach's body, the black quivering. “I will do what I must, but only that. I have prepared a war machine to match his, perhaps in ways he couldn't fathom, but it won't come to that. Think of me what you will, but I am capable of diplomacy, of peace. While I knew of the attack on my life today from multiple sources, the Prime Minister of Seriah was principle among them. We have an accord, we have a path forward, and if we can find the fourth Elemental soon enough, we will have an absolute peace before there is ever a chance for war.”

“Just like that?”

“Theoretically, just like that.”

“And then the only topic we haven't covered it the Book of Light. You have it right?”

The wisps around Mellach's side coalesced into a hand, and with it, a void-black tome. “Yes. I had the same look of disappointment when I found it, I’m sure. Book of Death. Book of the Dark Element. It was in that very temple though. Right place, just a few years too slow. The Book of Light however. . . . I have it on good authority it was destroyed when this one was made. So we'll both have to give up on that dream unless my friend proves a liar.”

The rocks trembled with sudden force and an acrid cloud of black cracked their way through the mountain and vaulted high into the air above Taerose. Following the smoke's lead, lava creaked through cracks and clawed its way free from the caverns all along the mountains surrounding the palace.

"Well there goes my childhood home," Joshua grunted.

"Don't be foolish. I'll deal with it. It just means our conversation has ended early. We had much more to talk about, and I hope you will give me the chance soon. We were both born without powers and I had hoped you'd be on my side. Even if it gets bloody, severing the last sources of Sychkanetic power is needed. Disparity always brings tyranny. And make no mistake, your pale friend wants tyranny."

The dark veil that surrounded him expanded, scooping up the unconscious bodies littered about. Joshua opened his mouth to talk but the void embraced him as well. He finally had things to say! So many things. Questions. Clarifications. What had any of that meant? What had been going on while Kael and he were off treasure hunting?

All alone. He took a deep breath to see if he could, and was unsure if it was successful or not. He was tired, ready to fade away into the nothingness, and he wasn’t sure that it was the effect of Mellach’s power.

Like a violent birth, he was immediately surrounded by light again as he was spat out into the world. His face felt concrete and his head lay prone before the doors to the palace. Beside him, Kael and Avonly appeared again, just as unconscious and disheveled as before.

“Get someone inside to bring them in, get them care. I'll be right back,” Mellach said, any hint of his true self lost to the darkness. “Let the cooks know what you want for dinner. I can't wait to catch up.”

Joshua watched as a giant black tear flew to the mounds of lava streaming into the palace grounds and threatening to wipe out the entire city of Taerose as well. His hands slowly moved, almost against his will, and pushed his body up. He looked over to Kael and Avonly with a blank stare. His malaise was shaken to its core as the winds picked up and a giant shimmer filled the air.

In absolute stupor, Joshua squinted as the fuzzy distortion faded away to a full-blown airplane hovering above the parking loop and slowly descending. At the open ramp in the ship's back, Ell stood free, holding on to no bearing. Joshua almost reeled back in shock. What was going on?

“I was watching from higher up,” Ell said, not quite as monotone as he normally spoke. “When I saw that King drop something off at the steps, I figured I'd come peek.”

“You asshole!”

“Yes, yes. I'm the worst for using you as a diversion. You can berate me on the way if you care so much. Now is the only chance you have to get away. There's little else in this world that could distract your father like an active volcano it seems. It's doing better than my attempt at regicide.”

“Really some crap choices huh?” Joshua spat, looking between the palace and Ell's ship touching down in the grass.

“Completely fair. Of course.”

“Taerose or Seriah jerking us around.”

“Inaccurate on that point. I'm here because I felt responsible for dangling you out as bait. I'll take you wherever you need to go, but time is of the essence, for very obvious reasons.”

The offer was more tempting than it had a right to be, but the words of his father still rang in his mind. Once upon a time, he would have been prepared to reject everything out of that man's mouth outright, but he wasn't sure he could do that anymore. “Tell me one thing first: my dad says you aim to start a war. He says he's trying to prevent it.”

“Did he?” Ell pursed his lips. “Yes and no, as all things go really. We both want to avoid a war. What I did here today was an attempt to end things before they start just as I'm sure he'll do the same. It's really just a matter of what kind of world you want and what you're willing to do to get there.”

“And I'm supposed to decide?” Joshua asked dumbly, the world dribbling out his mouth.

“Everyone should decide what the world should be, regardless of if they try to change it.” Ell cleared his throat and looked up wearily to the mountains covered in blackness. “I'll be straight with you from here on out though. I have no work for you and I have no other reason to screw you over. I'm paying my debt. If you want to sit in this prison and figure out your world view, do it. If not, I'll take you anywhere you want and you can do it there. You've got thirty seconds and I'm gone regardless.”

It was two different types of honesty, but Joshua believed both Ell and his father in their own way. The one thing he didn't know is where he sat in all of this. “Get us out of here. I need time to think.”

Joshua turned to his downed siblings ready to ask for help, but Niles was already there, hoisting Kael up. “You grab the small one, yes?” he said with a smile.

As Joshua slogged forward into the cargo hold with Avonly over his shoulder, Ell gave them a sideways glance as the ship began to lift off. “Gianna will not be coming. . . correct?”

Tears built up in Joshua’s eyes and snot clogged the back of his throat. In a hoarse, half laugh-half choke he said, “She isn’t coming. I killed her.”