My choice for the future

“You … you defiant little imbecile! You don’t get a say in the matter!”

Cecilia banged her knuckles into the ground as she pushed herself back up, breathing heavily as she felt every fibre in her being boil with anger, straining her throat as she screamed at Reyna’s insolence.

“It doesn’t matter what you want, it matters what I want! And I want you to shut up, stay still, and stop resisting!”

Cecilia’s chest swirled violently with light energy, throwing her hands into the air as it began to whirl through her body like a storm, tossing around her hair and cloak as she gritted her teeth and dug her eyes into Reyna’s soul. She threw down her hands with as much force as she could, crashing the full might of her magic not just into Reyna, but Layla and Zayden simultaneously.

All three of them grabbed their heads in pain as the sheer force of her magic caused their minds to feel like they were tearing themselves apart. That’s when Reyna’s chest started to glow, swirling with pure elemental energy, and she shouted back with just as much authority.

“I’m the one who decides what I do!”

As she yelled, the sheer force of will that pulled the trio down began to lift, as if it was literally being torn off of them. In an instant, Cecilia’s expression turned to terror as she grabbed her head, screaming out almost as if what she’d unleashed had just been thrown straight back onto her.

“What- what is this; you can’t use my own magic against me!”

She continued to struggle and scream, her face twisting itself with more and more agony, before finally, it stopped. She let go of her head, stopped screaming, her eyes went blank, and she fell flat on the floor, entering an almost catatonic state; her own will had been completely overpowered.

The Hidreuze that were once under her control scattered, and the remaining three people all stood around in shock as to what just happened. Out of them all, Layla was the first to call out in amazement, dashing towards Reyna.

“Wow! Did- did you just copy her magic!?”

As she looked on with sparkling eyes, Reyna had no idea how to respond. Luckily, Zayden chimed in.

“Not exactly, I think it’s more than that.”

The man stumbled over to them, absolutely exhausted from the ordeal, but seemed just as fascinated by his new companion’s power.

“Your wish, it manifested as the power to protect others. In other words … the ability to deflect magic back towards the sender; I’ve never seen anything like that before!”

“That’s the ‘rule’ of pure elemental energy. Dark magic affects yourself, Light magic affects other people, and pure magic reflects other forms of magic and elemental energy itself.”

The three of them froze solid as another voice sounded out from behind them; a female one. Turning around, they noticed a woman wearing black armour, riding the same kind of giant lizard Zayden had, along with another one running alongside hers.

“Advisor? Oh, I get it, the king sent you here to retrieve me, didn’t he?”

“Yes. Although, more accurately, I volunteered. Apologies that I couldn’t get here sooner, I had to wrangle up the beast that you stole; he was roaming around without control.”

‘Advisor’ patted the grey lizard next to her on the head, then turned her gaze back, glancing at Cecilia, then to Reyna; even though the woman still wore her helmet, Reyna could feel as if she was being stared straight into.

“So, you’ve awakened your magic. Congratulations on defeating one of the rays of light; that’s quite an accomplishment, especially for a first battle.”

Reyna looked suspiciously at this woman she knew absolutely nothing about, unsure of whether to take her at her word or not.

“Uh, thank you? Are you here to capture us or help us?”

“Both, I suppose. I’ll ensure your safety back to the capital, but once you’re there, king Xander will be the sole dictator of your fate.”

Reyna looked straight towards Layla and Zayden, wondering what they should do, to which the latter shook his head gently.

“It’s alright, I need to answer for what I’ve done; I’m not going to survive out here much longer … anyway …”

As he said that, the last bit of stamina the man had mustered gave out, and his depletion of elemental energy got to him as he fell unconscious, being caught by Layla before hitting the ground. Advisor clapped her hands together, finalising the only option they had left.

“Alright, now that that’s been settled, let us return to Kurenia; we can take Cecilia back too and use her mount as extra transport.”

Without any reason to disagree, the two girls cooperated, and soon, the group were on their way back to the kingdom of darkness.

Reyna now stood back in the throne room that she had woken up in before. Layla and Zayden stood either side of her, the latter now having fully recovered due to the natural dark energy flowing through the land. In front of them stood Xander, the imposing figure that towered over them, with bright red eyes glowing out of his helmet. Although his tone wasn’t trying to be harsh, the way his voice boomed throughout the room still made Reyna’s hair stand on end.

“I am glad you’re safe, chosen one. You too, Layla; I apologise for having to abandon you to the enemy, but I made the best decision for the sake of the majority.”

Layla bowed immediately, though Reyna couldn't tell if it was out of respect or fear.

“I understand, my lord; thank you for accepting me back.”

“Of course; you didn’t actually do anything wrong. Unfortunately, that cannot be said for all of you.”

His eyes turned straight towards Zayden, causing the man to go stiff.

“You got results; that much cannot be denied. You saved Leah, and brought the chosen one back to us, with her magic unlocked, no less. I will commend you for that, but you still disobeyed orders and put her in danger to begin with, therefore punishment must be delivered.”

Zayden bowed silently; Reyna would have believed him to be entirely composed if not for how tightly he shut his eyes. She looked towards Layla, who comparatively couldn’t hide the nervousness on her face whatsoever; it seemed both of them knew what was coming as Xander let out his decree.

“‘Dark sun’ Zayden, as is customary for treason, you now have one week remaining before you are to be executed as an example!”