“Hey Norn, what are you doing after your shift?” a fellow soldier asked. Norn, a man torn between younger and middle-aged, stood at his position with a spear in one hand. He yawned.

  “Probably go to sleep,” he admitted.

  “What?! On a beautiful night like this? Come on, you have to go out sometime, man, live a little! Come to the pub with me and the boys.”

  Norn gave a sly smile but shook his head. “Now’s not a good time,” he said. “They’ve been working us extra hard lately, and I’d like to get some sleep before the dawn when I’d most likely be awakened and put to work again.”

  Norn was exhausted. He felt drained from working almost fourteen hours to sixteen hours the past several days.

  “I barely have time for my family anymore, man. My wife’s expecting and I haven’t been able to see her as of late.”

  His guard mate gave a shrug. “We’ve all been working extra hard. Doesn’t mean we shouldn’t devote our whole lives to this. Just one night.”

  Norn gave a smile but shook his head. “Perhaps another time.”

  “I wonder why they’re working us so hard anyways.”

  “I heard it was some rebels somewhere to the south. Damn scoundrels. I wish they would just go back to whatever hole they came from.”

  “Yeah, then we wouldn’t have to be working this much.” Norn’s guardmate gave a yawn. He didn’t want to admit it, but he didn’t know this man’s name. They’d talked before and he knew for certain they exchanged names, but he just couldn’t recall.

  “Hey, what’s that?” the other guard asked, pointing towards a sky. Norn traced his finger to see nothing but stars and the moon. Or, was it stars? He couldn’t really tell as his vision became blurry from sleepiness and exhaustion.

  Norn shrugged. “I don’t see anything, man. I think you’re just imagining things.”

  “No, there’s something up there. It’s coming right for us!”

  Norn blinked and rubbed his eyes. “Oh, you’re right. Something is coming for us.”

  A cloaked figure landed right in front of them. An intruder? They wouldn’t have time to determine that. Norn was the first to strike, maneuvering his spear towards the assailant. But he was slow. He could feel his movements much more sluggish than they should be.

  What would have been a quick decimating strike felt like it moved in slow motion, and this stranger stepped to the side easily.

  Norn looked up into the man’s eyes. He wore a hood with a mask covering his nose and mouth, and it was painted to look like a demon.

  He knew that mask. Had its image drilled into him. The mask the rebels wore.

  Norn’s eyes widened. “You guys are supposed to be out south!” he exclaimed. There was something else in the stranger’s face that he could see: hate. Unfiltered rage, his eyes staring daggers through him.

  His guard mate backed him up. He unsheathed a sword and charged at the stranger and swung frantically.

  The rebel moved with grace and easily disarmed him, throwing him back. Norn dropped his spear, his mouth wide open.

  The movement of this guy… he wasn’t just any regular rebel. He had extraordinary powers of men that Norn could only dream of.

  “I’m not here for you,” the stranger spoke, hatred and anger burning in his voice. “Get out of the way, and you will have no harm done to you.”

  Norn picked up his spear. A tricky position he’s been placed in. This was his shift to guard the front entrance, and if this person has managed to get past him, then not only would he be punished, but his wife, child, and unborn child would be punished as well.

  He couldn’t risk it.

  Norn charged, not knowing that the last thing he ever saw on this earth would be the hateful look in this man’s eyes and the tint of red then total blackness.

  Galvin hated it when lives were wasted like this. He stood over two lifeless bodies, his blade stained with red. All they had to do was surrender themselves, and the killings didn’t have to happen. It wouldn’t take long before their corpses were discovered and soldiers moved to his position. He had to be fast.

  Galvin charged through the doors. Lord De’Shai’s palace formed a protective shield around the king’s palace, but he just flew over that. Now he was in the actual home of the king, and it was even grander than De’Shai’s.

  The richness of the king’s palace never ceased to amaze him, considering how much poverty existed in the kingdoms. The archers he had Jules train, they were taken off the streets, people who had to beg the more fortunate to get by, and more often than not, those richer would roll their eyes and look the other way.

  Seeing the fancy palace with its decorative walls and posh flooring protected by many soldiers angered him. It reminded him of the reason why he fought, why he could never give in to the tyrannical system of King Rai’Shal.

  Galvin drew his blade once again and took in a deep breath, Absorbing the little diamond he’d carried with him. He focused on Speed. The power of Speed didn’t make everything around him slow, it just enhanced his own speed. His mind moved at the same pace, but his body could move faster.

  The grand doors at the end of the palace opened and guards marched on through. The bodies had been found relatively quickly, and the alarm had been raised, but that was just what he was counting on.

  Men started to pile in, weapons at the ready.

  And in two breaths, he felled all of them. He dashed straight through the middle, and before they realized what was happening, Galvin became a whirlwind of blade and death, slicing through the men forced to fight the king’s fight.

  The diamond essence within him wore off and he could feel his body starting to become sluggish. The lifeless bodies of the soldiers dropped to the ground simultaneously in a magnificent display of death.

  One remained. A singular man, his eyes full of fear and his body shaking all over.

  “Please,” the man begged, raising up his weapon. “Please spare me.”

  He was begging for his life, but still holding ground? Galvin showed no mercy. A part of him knew these men had no choice but to raise their weapons against him. At the same time, if that man fought for the king, then he’s an enemy.

  A flash of steel struck out and crimson sprayed out into the air. Galvin stared at the lifeless form of the man as he crumpled backwards onto the ground, staining the marble flooring with his red.

  More diamond essence flowed into him. He could feel his veins come alive with the power as he took it in. This time, he focused on Space and tried to envision the room the king was in.

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  He’d only been in that room once to personally attend the king. And once was all he needed for the power of what little diamond he had left.

  Galvin shot one last sad look at all the bodies lying on the floor, thinking if they had families and if word would get out of what happened to the husbands and fathers that lay before him.

  No war is won without bloodshed. He’d learned that the hard way, and here he was, carrying that legacy onwards.

  The entire space in front of him vanished in a bright flash of light. The marble flooring and intricate velvet walls and grand pillars disappeared before him and he was met with only darkness. The only source of light came from the moonlight from outside the window.

  He Absorbed in some ruby and a flame came alight at the tip of his index finger. He held it up to illuminate the room further.

  The room was as grand as he remembered, everything from the doors to the drawers and cabinets to the bed frame adorned in beautiful gold. The floor a silky velvet carpet which seemed to absorb your weight as you moved about. There were drapes of silk hanging around the bed, veiling a single person who lay asleep, snoring peacefully. In the corner of the room, an oaken pedestal stood with a glass casing on top. Within its shell, a silver gemstone sat, Galvin has never seen before. He felt no essence from it.

  Where was the queen? Did she sleep in a separate room from the king?

  Anger and hatred coursed through him. His men were dying on the battlefield and within his own palace, and he had the nerve to sleep the night away peacefully.

  He didn’t care what become of the people who serves him so diligently. He raised his bloodied sword, the steel reflecting moonlight while his other hand held the light.

  Galvin slowly walked up to the bed. A griping feeling struck him, a strange sensation of doom and despair.

  Sweat rolled down his face. His knees trembled and his breathing suddenly became ragged.

  He’d waited so long for this moment. As he walked up to the bed, flashed and specks of memory came to him. Memories of that day on the battlefield when he faced the king for the first time. And then in Jovin City when Jules shot that arrow at the king. He’d felt the same fear then and will always feel that fear in the presence of the king.

  But he needed to overcome it. For the people he was protecting, the people he was fighting for.

  He was in front of the bed now and removed the drapes, revealing a body that was not the king’s.

  A lifeless body.

  He recognized the body. Kell, one of the team leads responsible for recruiting. Lacerated and tortured beyond recognition. What was he doing here?

  Galvin fell to his knees, a lump holed up in his throat.

  “You thought you had something on me, didn’t you?” a voice called out in the darkness.

  Galvin stood up and spun, moving his tiny light around but not finding anyone in the darkness.

  He could feel his heartbeat drumming away in his chest, the anticipation shaking his sword hand.

  Galvin extinguished the fire.

  It was better to use the darkness to his favor.

  He Absorbed in some opal and focused on Illusion. An auditory illusion. In his mind, he imagined the sound of his footsteps ringing out in front of him, moving towards the source of the voice. A distraction.

  More footsteps to the left and to the right, moving away from him. The strain of maintaining such illusions made sweat rolled down his face. He held his breath, steadying his heartbeat.

  The ten years of training had come to this moment. He couldn’t lose, couldn’t even consider it a possibility.

  He leaped back and pressed his back against the wall. He couldn’t see King Rai’Shal, but the king also couldn’t see him.

  A fist appeared out of the darkness. His reaction was too slow to process it, and the next thing he knew, the room was spinning around and he was on the floor, a numbing feeling at the side of his mouth.

  Feet appeared in front of him. “Get up,” the king demanded.

  Galvin stared up to see the terrifying man’s shadow casted by the soft glow of the moon. He couldn’t help but obey.

  Galvin retaliated by swinging his sword, which the king caught. Then his grip tightened, squeezing Galvin’s arm, nails digging into flesh.

  The grip was too strong. Galvin reached out to brush against the gem that the king was Absorbing from, but no essence existed.

  He had to be using the power of amethyst to amplify his strength, right? No, he couldn’t sense it.

  He was most likely using opals to conceal it then. But why go through the trouble if Galvin knew about Gemming and all its quirks? Was there some technique in which he could steal all the essence the king used? If he dug further, reached out harder, maybe his mind would brush against the gemstone.

  Nothing.

  No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t sense the gemstones the king was using. This man’s skill transcended all possible imagination.

  His back slammed against the wall in one smooth movement, and the shock of it caused him to drop his sword. Galvin had the wind knocked out of him, and flashes of black danced along his vision.

  Galvin moved along the side of the room, reaching the corner, where the strange gemstone sat.

  The king let out a primal cry, the first of which he’s heard from him. “Don’t you dare touch that!”

  Then something smashed against him, followed by a blinding pain. His head his the floor.

  King Rai’Shal was upon him in an instant.

  “You are pathetic,” the king spoke. “An assassin sent in the dead of night to kill me? Is that your best attempt to liberate the kingdom?” Another swift movement and Galvin found himself on the ground, an armed pinned behind his back. “Foolish boy, have you no idea of how many people before you have tried to murder me in my sleep? I could build a whole city with their bones!”

  Another movement and Galvin found himself slamming against the ceiling before dropping, straight into the king’s knee.

  The blow to his face let out a loud crack and he fell backwards. He landed on his feet but stumbled backwards, his face catching the moonlight.

  The king’s eyes widened. “I know you,” he said. “You’re one of the servants who used to work for De’Shai. Before you were outed. One of the most wanted in the entire kingdom!” The king let out a hearty laugh before an evil smile crept onto his face. “I thought my night was going to be another boring night, but Agnius has been kind to me.”