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Yang-Wo, Xeneth and Chessia stared in silence.

"Once Sennaven told us of the...relationship," she emphasized the word disgustedly, "the two of you have been sharing, it became childsplay to figure out that you'd make a move against the Queen, and when. And you've even enlisted another slave to help with your treachery, Your Highness!" Daliah laughed bitterly.

"You are speaking to the Crown Prince of Zanat-Ven, Daliah!" Xeneth chastised. "You would do well to show the proper respect!"

"Respect?" she countered, eyes gleaming. Everyone behind her had weapons raised or paws poised to call the Spirits, though they merely looked on in silence. Princess Glaysia had yet to say a word, which shocked Yang-Wo. He couldn't help but notice the hate in her eyes, and something came to him. He had always thought Glaysia to be a nasty girl, but he realized that that look wasn't always there. And despite their situation, despite the looming danger before them, something seemed off about this. "Anyone who goes against Her Majesty doesn't deserve to kiss my boot."

Xeneth glared at her and growled, but said nothing; he wasn't tensed for a fight, and Yang-Wo thought he might know why.

"I suppose you'll execute the three of us for our attempt at a coup," Yang-Wo chimed in confidently, looking the General right in the eyes.

"You impudent slave! You were foolish to sacrifice this rabbit in your pathetic plot! As if three vermin could disrupt the greatest empire on the Continent!" Daliah seethed, swinging her sword.

"How about thirty?" Yang-Wo replied with a grin. "NOW VELNURO!" he called at the top of his lungs, his breath control and powers over air amplifying the sound well past the loudest yell.

And at that moment, the secret passage entrance burst open, and all of the slaves came pouring into the room, shooting fire, firing stones from the walls, twisting the Royal Guard in miniature tornadoes, and otherwise shocking their opponents into a hasty battle.

Chessia disappeared into a self-made sandpit and burrowed through the floor, entering the fray. Glaysia had looked torn for a moment, unsure of whether to engage her brother in combat or to ward off the oncoming slaves, but she was quickly attacked by Melanie, and lost focus on Xeneth, fighting to stay alive while Melanie used some of the most beautiful and deadly water magic Yang-Wo had ever seen. She had brought a skin full of water and slung it around her body, and she was manipulating the water into long sheets and flinging them gracefully at Glaysia; they cut through the stone like butter as they rushed toward her, like giant, shimmering blades, and it was all the Princess could do to dodge them.

Velnuro took a huge, deep breath as he leapt upward, spreading his great wings, and roared a huge blast of fire, the flames transforming into fire beasts before their eyes and attacking the Guard.

"Find the Queen!" he yelled at Xeneth and Yang-Wo as he dodged a spear cast on a gust of wind, swooping down to grab the assailant by the shoulder with his fangs and fling him against a wall, where he moved no longer.

"Wind?" Yang-Wo asked, ready to shoot through the fighting crowd in the atrium and toward the Royal Chambers doors, which opened into the Queen's and Prince's private suites.

"After you!" Xeneth nearly shouted to be heard, a smile on his face, deflecting a wayward stone spear flying toward him. Overthrowing his own family was eating him alive, but he was happy that Yang-Wo was beside him, and his heart warmed as his smile was returned by the bright-eyed cougar.

With a powerful, elegant sweeping motion of his arms, Yang-Wo drew the wind around him and spiraled through the din, as if he were dancing through the crowd, completely unharmed, his abilities with air unrivaled. But, just as his foot had left the floor, just as he was swept up, he heard a shout, and turned his head just in time to see Xeneth barely block an attack from General Daliah, his leg giving out beneath him as the warrior swung her sword against the shield of earth he had created, the floor cracking beneath him with the sheer force of her power.

"XENETH!" the cougar screamed as his body shot away toward the doors, fire and water and earth missing him by inches.

"I'm right behind you Yang!" Xeneth shouted back, and Yang-Wo caught a tiny glimpse of him retaliating against his attacker, knocking her from her feet with a shift of earth, then bringing down two swords made of fire, their flashing blades sweeping toward the General, barely blocked by her own steel. And in an instant, the rest of the fighters blocked the cougar Prince's view, and he knew that he had just a moment to proceed, or risk being caught up in the fight himself.

He screamed as a fireball nearly beheaded him, ducking just in time. There was a burn on the great door behind him where his head had been, and as worried as he was about Xeneth, he knew he had to go.

He pulled open the heavy, burnt door and slipped inside, panting; when he arrived in the Royal Chambers proper, he was in awe. The walls practically glittered in gems, their precious light refracted by what felt like dozens of torches. The floors were sleek, dark stone, but to a polish unrivaled in the castle, and the opulent furniture and elegant trappings dripped with royalty. Most of all, what disoriented Yang-Wo was the quiet.

Once the cougar had entered the Royal Chambers, it was as if the fight in just the other room wasn't even happening at all. The silence was eerie and overwhelming, and while some might find it peaceful, the Prince found it harrowing. As he looked around, he saw incredible archways that led to what looked to be a shadowy bedchamber, as well as two other indistinguishable rooms, the torches only illuminating the main Chamber. To his left, huge windows from floor to ceiling would offer an incredible view and amazing sunlight from the east. Further worrying Yang-Wo was that he had time to think all of these things at all. Where was the Queen?

He padded quietly forward, looking around cautiously, and saw no one, which scared him most of all. Had the Queen and the Prince escaped?

"Your Highness..." came the hiss of a quiet voice from Yang-Wo's right; he turned, startled and already in stance. And there she was, as if he had materialized her by thinking of her: the Great Queen of Zanat-Ven.

As she emerged from the third room's shadowy depths, Yang-Wo realized that she was much less opulent than usual, only wearing a slip gown that would be one of her first layers normally. Her long, blonde hair, usually up in an elegant knot behind her crown, was loose. Her feet were bare. Yang-Wo could see the creamy fur of her neck plunged down her breast and further, and her aqua eyes shone in a ghostly way that didn't seem wholly natural to the Prince.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of this insurrection?" she asked, her tone dangerously calm. "Have you not been spoilt in my resplendent palace?"

"A spoiled slave? An oxymoron, Your Majesty," Yang-Wo snapped back, glaring.

She laughed lightly, and the sound was merciless and cold, like the steel of a blade. The Queen slowly stepped out into the Chamber, her movements fluid and slightly preternatural, her expression sinister. "Perhaps," she said, "but I think allowing you to fuck my son is quite the indulgence."

Yang-Wo was surprised at her coarse language, not only because she was royal, but it felt oddly uncharacteristic. "Why are you doing this? Why are you trying to take over the continent?" he asked her, gently stepping to his left. They circled one another very slowly, the tension palpable, and the Queen seemed thrilled, as if she were a spider having caught a fly in her web.

"Power," she replied vaguely. "I desire to rule all, and hardly just this continent, my dear." The Queen's head tilted in a disturbing way, and Yang-Wo cringed, wondering if she'd lost every last bit of her mind. "Zanat-Ven is the superior nation, and the Ulcouri the superior people. All will bow. It is that simple." Without warning, she flicked her wrist, and a sheet of wind shot toward Yang-Wo, nearly slicing him like a blade; he barely spun out of the way in time. However, the Queen didn't make any attempt at attacking further, as if this were just a tease.

"Why do you crave such power when you already rule your own nation?" Yang-Wo gasped, more on his guard than ever, still not attacking. He knew that if he were to stand a chance at all against her, he would need Xeneth with him, so he stalled.

"Well, that's silly...why not?" she responded, her other arm waving at him in a stiff way, fire whipping past his face as he rolled and dodged again.

She was toying with him, as a cat to a mouse, and he knew his only salvation was to stay light on his feet and to keep dodging until his love arrived. His heart was practically in his throat with its pounding, and his breathing was slightly labored. Yang-Wo was terrified.

"Because you're destroying the lives of thousands of people! How can you call that just, Your Majesty?" he asked her disdainfully, hating her. "How can you call yourself a ruler while you're so cavalier with the lives of others?"

"Their lives matter little," she answered, grinning. "Only the Ulcouri truly matter."

What scared Yang-Wo the most was not the Queen's disturbing demeanor, nor her complete lack of reasoning for her war-waging, but the fact that it felt like she wasn't even there, as if none of this mattered to her at all, Ulcouri lives or otherwise.

"And now," she continued, "let us end your little game, and put you and your fellow slaves back in your place."

Before Yang-Wo could blink, ice shards shot from the second room as the Queen swept her right arm, and while he was able to dodge some, two found their mark. The young Prince gasped and sputtered as a large shard of ice stuck from his shouder, the other having sliced his side as it passed. He hadn't felt a pain quite like it, and yet he still stood, panting, yanking the ice from his shoulder and throwing it to the floor. "You're evil," Yang-Wo gasped, entering his fighting stance once more. He was done dodging.

"I'm afraid that's relative," she responded with a sinister giggle, sending stones flying at him from the walls, her attacks coming faster and faster.

This time, Yang-Wo was ready, and he shielded himself with rock from the floor, then forced his palms against the wall he'd made, the stone shattering into hundreds of razor sharp shards and soaring at the Queen.

She seemed slightly surprised by the attack, but dodged and shielded, her wicked smile melting into a deadpan glower. "Little slave is putting up a fight? Fine then," she said, "go ahead and--"

Her words were cut off by the Royal Chambers doors being flung open, and both Yang-Wo and the Queen looked to see the hulking figure of Adam standing there. The Queen gave a low growl, while Adam smiled serenely, as if this were his usual routine for the day. "Yang-Wo, I've brought you something," he said.

And at that, Xeneth emerged from behind the horse, blood on his face, but otherwise looking ready for a fight. "Sorry I'm late," he said to Yang-Wo with a smile, whose heart lept.

Without saying a word, Adam sauntered back out into the fray in the next room, slamming the doors behind him as he went. And while Yang-Wo hadn't quite forgiven how the horse had been possessive, he figured he'd mildly redeemed himself.

"Mother," Xeneth greeted facetiously, giving a mocking bow.

"Traitor..." the Queen replied, her voice guttural and lilting. "Thank the Spirits your father isn't here to see the repulsive, loathsome--"

"Let's not discuss Father," he cut her off, "let's talk about you. Why have you taken this war so far? Why do you want the whole continent? You never cared for war or violence before. What changed in recent years?" While Xeneth's tone was conversational, his body language suggested he was ready for anything the Queen threw at him, and he glanced about the room, signaling to Yang-Wo with his eyes. It's as if his look said, follow my lead.

The floor trembled as the Queen stomped one foot, a show of her strength, a warning to the other two. "Do you not remember your grandfather, my dear Xeneth?" she asked. "How that Yunka-Shu scum came in the night and slit his throat?"

"I remember," Xeneth replied, and wondered how long he could keep his mother talking while he tried to develop a strategy. "You would punish the world for one assassin's deeds?"

The Queen laughed another of her humorless, icy laughs. "I would punish the world for being beneath me, and my father's death was just a great reason to start!" And with that, she was airborne, and swirling fire from the torches down at them like a flaming tempest, her patience with talk evaporated as quickly and unpredictably as her attacks came.

Yang-Wo barely dodged in time, using the wind to carry him to the opposite side of the room, while Xeneth blocked with his own fire, glaring up at his mother.

And the battle began.

Yang-Wo tried manipulating the ice shards that had been flung at him before back at the Queen, but she deflected, and Xeneth's whips of wind he'd created just barely missed her. The Queen didn't seem enraged, she seemed cold and calculating, and her attacks were vicious, each more deadly than the last. As Yang-Wo and Xeneth began to work in tandem, Xeneth grounded and powerful, Yang-Wo swift and stealthy, the balance of power began to shift.

At first, the Queen seemed completely in control, albeit her movements still had an eerie stiffness that disoriented the Princes. However, they soon realized that with both of them on the offensive--while they hadn't landed any attacks--she was so occupied that she couldn't mount an attack of her own, and was blocking and dodging.

"Speaking of Father," Xeneth shouted as if the conversation had never stopped, "he's gone, but where's your husband? Run off, has he?" And with that comment, he drew his arms back as if he were notching an arrow on a bow, and in an instant, sent a flurry of fire arrows at his mother.

The heat of the attack was immense, and Yang-Wo couldn't help but be in awe as it shot toward its target, the Queen's eyes opening wide in horror. She didn't have a counter.

But the fire dissipated just before hitting the Queen, giving her time to deflect.

Yang-Wo wasn't watching the Queen, for he'd heard the swish of projectiles, and turned just in time to see a spear of earth pierce through Xeneth, the wolf Prince crumpling to the floor.

"NO!" shouted Yang-Wo, running to his love, all thought of fighting forgotten. Xeneth was on his side, the spear projecting from his back and slick with his blood, and as the cougar knelt, panicking, crying, his paws wet with the blood of his first love, the wolf turned his head toward the cougar, smiling just a little.

"I've been here, impertinent whelp," came a deep voice, and out of the bedchamber stepped Prince Silhard.

Yang-Wo glanced up at the elder wolf, speechless, then back toward Xeneth, who he was trying to comfort, crying all the while, stroking his lover's hair.

"Shhhh..." Xeneth cooed, "Don't...cry...my love." His mismatched eyes met Yang-Wo's, and the cougar sobbed even more. Xeneth was trembling, his lifeblood pouring out on the floor, and Yang-Wo stared into his eyes as if to will him to stay alive, holding the wolf's handsome face in his paws.

"Xeneth..." he sobbed, "stay with me, Xeneth..." Yang-Wo had never pleaded for something so desperately in his life, and the wolf's eyes welled with tears at the sound.

"How touching," Silhard sneered. He made his way over to the Queen, who had landed lightly in the center of the room, her expression vacant. "Two Princes in love. United in death!" the wolf man chuckled cruelly.

"I love you," Yang-Wo cried, ignoring the elder Prince. He was staring into Xeneth's eyes, and it was as if he could see the light in them dimming.

"I...love you...Yang..." Xeneth gasped. "You...are...my light!" he repeated the phrase from earlier, a small smile on his lips, trembling beginning to quiet, his breathing slowing.

"No, no, no, no, no, no..." Yang-Wo repeated, his heart shattering in his chest, the sobs nearly choking him. He bent and kissed his wolf, his Prince, his love, and after just a second of embrace, the wolf's mouth slackened, and he was still.

Yang-Wo let out a piteous howl, screaming in agony as his love lay quiet on the floor.

"How tragic," Silhard crowed victoriously. "Don't fret, dear Prince, you'll be with your lover soon enough!" And with that, he swept his arm in a downward slash, stone arrows shooting down from the ceiling at the cougar.

You are my light.

The words reverberated in Yang-Wo's mind through his grief, and suddenly, he realized that those words weren't in his mind at all. They were echoing from his broken heart.

His arm shot up reflexively, creating a whirlwind that displaced the arrows, all of them missing their target. And when he turned from Xeneth's lifeless form, he realized the blood was reflecting the light of the dawn, which was streaming through the vast windows. Yang-Wo's mind entered a state of calm, and he turned to face Silhard and the Queen, the latter having yet to acknowledge her only son's death, or really anything at all since her husband appeared.

"How dare you," Yang-Wo mumbled at first, coming to his feet. "How could you?" he seethed, his anger and grief fueling his unnatural calm.

"Oh please, that loathsome boy was destined to die anyway," Silhard said dismissively with a wave of his paw. "But this little coup you've staged has pushed my plans into motion so much earlier than I anticipated, and I am forever grateful!" The remaining Prince of Zanat-Ven looked haughty and overjoyed, further inciting Yang-Wo's fury.

"You planned to kill Xeneth?" the cougar hissed, his body tingling with warmth. His back was toward the widows, the morning light giving him strength.

"Of course," Silhard replied simply, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Why would I tolerate these filthy half-breeds who call themselves my wife and son?" He spat on the floor, emphasizing his disgust, and Yang-Wo's eyes flared. "I was going to have them tragically lose their lives just after the continent was conquered, but you've made it so I can proceed without them!" Silhard, still until this point, raised his paws in stance, shards of earth collecting around him. "So thank you, young one! I can blame their deaths on your pathetic rebellion. You've sealed all of your fates!"

Yang-Wo had heard enough. The calm he'd been holding was breaking, and the rage he felt gave way to something much deeper than anger. As Prince Silhard stood poised to attack, finished relaying his schemes, all of the tumultuous feelings of sadness, of hurt, of pain, crumbled inside the cougar Prince, and the warmth from the sunlight on his back penetrated his body, as if the sun itself sought to empower him.

You are my light.

And suddenly, Xeneth's words made sense to Yang-Wo in a way he never expected.

And it was as if time started to slow. Yang-Wo could see Silhard flinging his rock shrapnel, each piece like a dagger, but the motion was so slow that he could easily dodge the shards as if they were floating bubbles. The cougar stepped forward, and realized that as Prince Silhard continued to attack, his face grew more panicked--and not just panicked, luminous.

The light being shone on Silhard and the motionless Queen was brightening intensely, much stronger than the sunlight coming in from the window. Yang-Wo knew that this was his light.

As he stepped closer, the frenetic attacks from Silhard merely glanced off him, as if his rays of light bent the attacks out of the way somehow. He realized he could feel the light emanating from him, from inside him, and he called on it, asking the Spirits of light to guide him.

There, in the brightness that was radiating from him, Yang-Wo saw dark threads from Silhard's paws to the Queen's heart, and with a wave of his paw, they shattered, the Queen slumping to the floor.

"NO!" shouted Silhard, confused and afraid, no longer attacking.

"Yes," Yang-Wo replied, his voice powerfully echoing. "You cannot use darkness to manipulate her anymore, or anyone. Because I am the light."

And with that final statement, he raised his arm, creating a giant sword of light. There was an instant where that sword seemed to collect all the light in the room, from the torches to the sun, glowing triumphantly, the luminescence reflected in Silhard's frightened eyes. But before the wolf could react at all, Yang-Wo's arm was swept to his other side, the sword had gone, and the canine's head fell to the floor.

Yang-Wo looked down at the headless corpse without pity or remorse, then at the Queen, whose body looked relaxed in sleep. Satisfied that she seemed to be breathing, the cougar paced back toward the body of his love, silent tears streaming down his cheeks.

He knelt beside Xeneth's form, breaking the stone spear and removing it. Yang-Wo then cradled the lifeless wolf in his arms and held him tightly, crying for the love he'd lost.

The doors opened, and the bloodied slaves walked in, the victors of their battle. He could hear as they wondered aloud what had happened, as they came toward his still radiant body, light pouring out of him.

"Yang-Wo," came Melanie's soft voice in his ear.

He looked up at her, tears still flowing, and she down at him, her own eyes wet as she realized what had happened. She put her paw on his shoulder and knelt next to him, though it seemed to cause her pain, her leg bandaged roughly, her arm burned. "I am so sorry," she said sincerely.

"I loved him," Yang-Wo replied quietly. "I never told you...but we were in love."

She didn't answer, just wrapped her arm around him, surprised at how the incredible light he emitted could warm and comfort her as much as she tried to warm and comfort him.

And they sat there together, the others starting to circle around them, entranced by Yang-Wo's light and saddened by his grief.

"Yang-Wo, look!" Melanie suddenly gasped.

The cougar looked down and realized just what she'd been so surprised by: tendrils of his light, like tiny luminous threads, were reaching out from his heart towards Xeneth's wound. Before their eyes, these light strings penetrated the wound, and it was as though they were stitching each vessel and bit of flesh back together.

The room was silent as everyone stared at this phenomenon in complete amazement, the light threads that streamed from Yang-Wo's heart weaving a tapestry of healing inside the body of Prince Xeneth. The threads flowed from the spear's exit wound on the wolf's back, collecting precious blood and pulling it back into his form, the blood and the wound glowing like the light of dawn.

Xeneth coughed and drew a ragged breath, and Yang-Wo cried out happily.

"Yang?" Xeneth said blearily, as if waking from a deep sleep. "What happened?" He smiled up at the glowing form of his love, reaching up a paw to wipe away the tears.

Yang-Wo didn't answer, he just bent down and kissed Xeneth with every bit of love he could muster. Their lips remained locked for what felt like forever and a moment, and the room was dazzling with the radiance of their light.