Chapter Fifteen
“Welcome, lovely ladies,” a male’s cheerful voice boomed as he strolled out of the shadows. “The portal was only supposed to bring Kami to me, but I got two for the price of one. What a bonus!”
Kami recognized him from a specific memory Zander had shared with her. Fear made it difficult to think, but she tried to recall everything her mate had told her about the Horseman known as Famine.
Rider of the black horse, he was a figure who evoked dread and despair.
Famine represented scarcity, hunger, and the devastating consequences of imbalance and greed.
He was known for his cunning and relentless pursuit of power, always seeking ways to manipulate the seals that held the realms together.
While he preferred not to use brute force, Famine’s methods were far more insidious.
He used deprivation, starvation, and the slow erosion of hope.
And without hope, all was lost.
Famine didn’t limit his cruelty to abstract manipulation, though. He was responsible for the devastation of entire kingdoms and cities, leaving behind countless victims. Apart from his magic, his real power came from his ability to sow discord and suffering.
A striking male with black void eyes, artfully styled short black hair, and a charming smile, Famine’s pleasant features hid the monster that lived beneath.
Dressed in a white dress shirt, blue pants with a matching vest, and a black tie, he looked like a young executive rather than a psychopathic god with a superiority complex.
He made a tsking sound as he strolled closer. “Now, now, little beauty. There is no need for name-calling.”
Damn it, Kami forgot all four of the Horsemen could read minds at will. She was really going to have to watch what she was thinking around Famine.
“You’re right. You probably should.” He grinned at her. “But call me Silva. Famine is such a sinister name, don’t you think?”
She agreed but didn’t bother saying so out loud.
With the wave of his hand, a pair of magical shackles appeared on Kami and Lia’s wrists. Then, he created two black lounge chairs that were facing each other. “Go ahead and take a seat. We might as well be comfortable while we chat.”
As he settled in his chair, she slowly stood up and walked over to take a seat.
“I don’t normally get a chance to speak with good company, so this is a treat for me. Obviously, Death isn’t much of a conversationalist.” He pointed to the chained male on the floor and chuckled.
“You said the portal was meant for me. So, why did you bring her here?” Kami asked.
“Since I knew you were mated to War, the spell I cast on the portal was meant to bring anyone with Horsemen magic to me. But I didn’t expect for your friend to be wearing an amulet created by Death. It’s her fault for getting involved in this.”
He waved his hand, and Lia let out a yelp of surprise as she was dragged across the floor until the shackles on her wrists secured themselves to a thick chain attached to the wall of the cavern.
As Kami watched her friend, she did her best to keep her mind completely blank.
She didn’t want to draw any further attention to Lia, for obvious reasons.
“It might sound strange, but I’m glad that War got to meet you. It makes me happy that he didn’t die all those years ago. All things considered, I really do consider him and Death brothers.”
“Then, why are you trying to kill them?” Kami blurted out, trying to sound more curious than angry.
He sighed. “Death caught me experimenting, so I’ve had to keep him with me all these years.
He has been very useful in testing the limits of our magic.
And War had a tendency to get in the way of my plans.
He has always taken our task of maintaining the balance very seriously.
Too seriously. Now, we have what can only be described as unresolvable ideological differences.
The Four Horsemen have always been meant to rule, not serve. ”
“But you know what will happen if the seal is opened.”
Leaning back in his seat, he spread his arms out expansively, as if embracing the entire room, or perhaps the entire world.
“But what if supernaturals were meant to outlive everyone else? People will die if the seal is opened, but so what? People die every day for less worthy causes. Who is to say that this is not part of the grand design? Magic is meant to be released out into the world. You know what a joy having magic is. There is nothing else like it. Why deprive people their chance to experience the wonder and exhilaration of magic just because it might not be fair to someone else who isn’t as lucky?
It wouldn’t even be an option if it wasn’t one of the fated possible outcomes. ”
He leaned forward, voice low and persuasive, as if sharing a secret.
“Think about it, Kami. The realms have always been in flux, always evolving. What if this is the evolution we need? What if it is what is destined to happen? The suffering, the losses, they’re tragic, but sometimes necessary.
Without risk, there’s no reward. What is a little chaos if it means the possibility of something greater emerging? ”
She studied him with a mixture of awe and horror.
He was a master manipulator. She was aware of that.
But there was a faint allure to his argument that could sway someone who didn’t know better.
Furthermore, he spoke with conviction and a veneer of reason, making it disturbingly easy to see things from his perspective, if only for a moment.
Even she was shocked by how reasonable he sounded when, in reality, his vision was anything but.
If a seal was broken and magic flooded out into the world, it would cause utter chaos. People, good and bad, would start killing one another. Individuals consumed by greed and fear would become violent, fighting for more magic to ensure their survival and dominance.
Friends would turn on friends. Family would cease to mean anything. Lifelong bonds would be shattered. Suspicion and betrayal would replace loyalty. The fabric of society would unravel as trust dissolved in the wake of newfound power.
Magic wouldn’t just be a rare and wondrous gift. It would become a deadly curse.
Breaking one of the magical seals would cause the freaking apocalypse, and that could never be allowed to happen.
“Why?” she asked with genuine curiosity. “Why would you want to rule the six realms if most of it is destroyed?”
His smile sharpened into a maniacal grin. “Why not?”
Kami had been hoping for a real answer. For some sort of rationale that could help her understand why someone would do something so insane. But it seemed like sanity had officially left the building.
“I deserve it!”
He slammed his fist down on the armrest of his chair, and his outburst made her flinch back in surprise.
“From the moment we were created, we have been used by the magical source,” he hissed as he got up to pace across the floor.
“And for what? We do all the work, but do we get any thanks? No, we are scorned. Hated. We have been nothing more than tools, finely honed and sharpened. But no more. Releasing the source magic frees us. Don’t you see that?
Don’t you want your mate to finally be free? ”
He was like a child lashing out at his parents.
However, since he had been born straight from the magical source, the target of his wrath was his creator.
“Throughout the ages, I have spent countless years trying to figure out the mystery of the seals. And now that I have, I deserve to be rewarded.”
“What mystery?”
“People might think being chosen as a Keeper of the Seal is an honor, but the truth is it is just the opposite. Being chosen by the magical source to keep the seal safe is a curse. The keepers have been deceived. After conducting countless experiments, I have discovered the ironic truth. Using other powerful supernaturals to attempt to break a seal won’t work.
Their deaths, no matter how many fall, don’t matter.
Their deaths are meaningless. It is all tied to the keepers.
The magical source didn’t just grant the keepers more magic to reward them, it also condemns them to a horrible fate. ”
“I don’t understand,” she said, genuinely confused.
“The seals are nothing more than locks, and the keepers are actually the keys.”
It took her a moment, but Kami finally understood. A Keeper of the Seal protected the seal, but they were also the key itself.
“Only a keeper is able to unlock their own seal,” Famine explained. “This brings me to why I brought you here. You are about to make the greatest contribution to my cause.”
He glanced around as if confused for a moment, then waved his hand in the air. He swept Raziel’s broken form off the mosaic, his body crashing to the ground next to Lia as he was discarded without a care.
“You really are a gift to me,” Famine said gleefully.
“Did War tell you that he is the keeper to two seals? He managed to hide the one in the Hell Realm from me, but I discovered he also became the temporary keeper of this one in the Fae Realm. Not only do you have his magic in you now that you are mated to him, your death will allow me to kill him. And once I have, I should finally be able to get rid of Death. No matter how many times I’ve killed him, that asshole just won’t stay dead. ”
Kami didn’t even know what to think about that.
Before she could say anything, her body was jerked forward by the shackles on her wrist. She was flung onto the center of the mosaic, and her arms were secured above her head by an invisible force.
She tried to cringe away from him when he walked over and crouched down next to her.
“Since we are below Aegis Academy right now, once your death opens the seal, I can funnel it up through the dark tower and out to the rest of the realm.”
“You’re crazy,” she accused. “Absolutely fucking crazy.”