Champions of Serenity: Destiny Fulfilled

Chapter 33

“So, Dreybrenic, things aren’t going so well for you anymore. I did try to warn you about these people.” Chaos said carelessly behind Dreybrenic as the would be emperor was drawing plans for his defense.

Dreybrenic turned quickly, careful to not raise the dagger in his hand to the god’s throat. “Men can die for doing that to me.” He said and then turned his back on the god he had pledged to serve and obey. “Why have you come now? To gloat over how I have failed? I realize that, but I still have a few tricks up my sleeve for that Demon Elf bitch.”

“Wow, I am amazed that you can learn after all. Here I was worried that I had created a flawed servant who could never learn from his mistakes.” Chaos said and looked over Dreybrenic’s shoulders at the plans being worked on. “Interesting ideas.”

Anger flared in Dreybrenic’s heart at the casual manner in which Chaos spoke to and about him. He now understood he was never meant to win, just to amuse Chaos and the others gods for a time and then he would be discarded for a new, brighter, more fancy plaything. He still wasn’t sure if he counted himself lucky to only have to serve as a pawn of the gods for a short time or not. He also wasn’t sure if those seven surviving champions of Serenity were cursed to forever be the pawns and playthings of the gods without ever getting final peace or not.

“I’m glad you think so, Chaos.” Dreybrenic said without the heat he was feeling inside. If this was going to be his swan song, then he was going to do his best to take out as many of the surviving seven as he could. Let the gods scramble for a change and answer for their actions to those who worshipped them instead of always having the worshippers answer to the gods.

Of course, there was always the chance that he would win, especially as the Circle no longer had all eight points it needed to succeed. There was a hope and Dreybrenic wasn’t going to give up on it yet and he wasn’t going to let Chaos know of his hope just so the god could mess it up for him.

“Was there something you wanted, Chaos? Or are you just here to distract me from planning the reception party for the surviving seven of Serenity’s champions?” Dreybrenic said with a sigh and put down his quill and turned to face the god.

Chaos chuckled softly at the almost bored sound in his servant’s voice. He wondered just what it was that Dreybrenic was plotting now and he knew it was foolish to believe the plans in the open were the real thing.

“I just wanted to let you know that the missing champion has returned. Turns out Meckin wasn’t dead after all, just pulled from play for a while. I thought you might like to make a few adjustments to your plans with that information. But if I was mistaken, please don’t let me interrupt your scheming.” Chaos said and started to fade.

“WHAT?” Dreybrenic’s self-control broke at that moment. With a single movement, he threw his table over, scattering everything on it and sending lit candles to start small fires among the papers now on the floor. Dreybrenic waved his hand and the fires went out, but his eyes were black smoldering embers, deadly and hot. “All eight are coming to face me?”

Again, Chaos shrugged and walked around the office for a moment, looking at things. “Yes, I thought I told you that I discovered that Meckin wasn’t actually dead. Someone else just took him for a time, extra training or something like that. I don’t know all the details and honestly, I wasn’t going to tell you of his return and let you discover it on your own. But this is much more fun. Dashing all your hopes of a possible victory in the face of the prophecy makes up for the shock on your face as you realize you are staring down all eight of Serenity’s champions. Thank you, for one last erg of enjoyment from your existence, Dreybrenic. I can’t wait to see what you have to say for yourself when we meet in my halls again, this time with you waiting judgment in the halls of the damned. Have a nice life, whatever is left of it.” Chaos laughed as he vanished this time.

Dreybrenic felt all the fires in his soul flare once more and then burn out completely. What was the fun in life when you knew the outcome? Or was the outcome so written in stone?

Another thought came to Dreybrenic and then he started to laugh, just as Chaos had. No, there were still plenty of surprises that could be sprung on the Circle of the Star as some were now calling Serenity’s Champions.

Calling together his remaining loyal commanders and wizards, Dreybrenic spoke quietly about his ideas on how to handle the upcoming invasion.

In his palace, Chaos was still chuckling as he poured himself more wine. “That was a mistake, brother.” The voice was so soft it was hard to imagine it was also so very cold. He felt himself shiver in spite of willing himself not to be effected by her voice.

“I’m not going to apologize, Serenity, if that is what you are looking for. It’s my job to make sure there are kinks for the heroes and villains alike. It’s been going too smoothly for the heroes recently so it’s time to give a little help to the villain. In the end, it will all turn out right; Father saw to that when He aided Meckin.” Chaos said before turning, taking a little courage in his wine. When he was facing his sister, he smiled just enough to show he wasn’t scared of her anger but still respected it.

Serenity watched her brother closely and then nodded. “Very well, but no more interference until the next chapter begins.”

“There is just one more thing I have to do, Serenity, before this chapter closes.” Chaos said, staring into his sister’s eyes and not dropping his own under her equally steady, but extremely cold stare. “You know what it is, Father promised.”

“And this is when you want to play that card, Chaos? You don’t want to wait to use it later?” Serenity said softly, her voice and eyes warming just a little.

Chaos smiled then and set down his goblet and spread his hands in an “I win” gesture. “The beauty of that card, Serenity, is that it can be played more than once. Granted, it does have limits placed on it, but how often I use it isn’t one of them.”

Serenity sighed and walked over to the sideboard and poured herself some wine from her brother’s stock. She swirled it in the goblet a moment and then drank it. “Fine, play your card and remember playing it comes with consequences. Personally, I wouldn’t want to face those consequences, especially with everything else you are already facing from that corner. But as you said, it is your promise and choice. Good luck, Chaos.”

He shivered again when Serenity reminded him of the consequences. There were times when they were just plain inconvenient, especially to a god of chaos. He thought about it and decided he would take his chances with the consequences this time and he would play each hand as it came to see if he would play it again.

In her gazebo, Serenity watched her brother for a moment and smiled to herself. He was right, his job was to stir up trouble, and she needed to make sure he did it. The best way was to tell him it was a mistake or not to then he would do it just to prove he could. A sad smile touched her lips as she thought about the next adventure for her champions. “Take cheer where you may, my children, you will need it against the coming days.” She whispered as her champions slept, the first time since early summer as a complete Circle.