Power

For thousands of years the Phoenix Clan has ruled the kingdom. All of the other clans that have ever opposed them have been easily defeated. For the past 200 years the Phoenix Clan had been led by King Allistar. He was said to be a fair ruler but he was also known not to be crossed. He was indeed the most powerful man in the Kingdom. He also led the most powerful army in the kingdom. He was set to rule forever. That was until he met Selenthis.

Selenthis was from the Rising Sun Clan. She was also the most beautiful woman in the kingdom. Being such King Allistar couldn't resist wanting her for himself. He desired her so bad that he did everything in his power to have her.

First, he had his wife and mother of his three children cursed by the Serpent Clan witch Delilah. Then once she died he could take on a new bride.

Then he used his power and fortune to make the Rising Sun Clan the second most powerful clan in the kingdom. In exchange for that power King Auron of the Rising Sun Clan overlooked the mixing of clans and allowed for Selenthis to enter the Phoenix Clan and become their Queen.

It was at first believed that Selenthis was honored to become queen of the Phoenix Clan. That she willingly married King Allistar. That she sat proudly beside him. That she loved his children. That she loved him.

It all turned out to be a lie. Selenthis did not want to be his wife. She did not love him. She did not love his children. She was not honored to be his bride. Matter of fact she hated him. She hated him so much that she had dedicated her entire life to killing him.

She had felt that he had destroyed her life. Before Auron had become King of the Rising Sun it was her father who ruled the clan. Her father was killed, and her mother was exiled which she believed was the work of King Allistar.

See her father always told her that one day he would be King of the entire Kingdom. She believes that King Auron, who was the general of her father's army betrayed him to King Allistar. That's how he became King and how her family was destroyed. Auron did adopt her to keep her place as heir to the throne but she cared nothing about that.

All she ever cared about was extracting her revenge on Auron and Allistar. So, once she discovered that Allistar had desired her, she put her plan into action.

Selenthis went to Delilah and had her women parts cursed. So not only could she never bear children, but she also poisoned Allistar every time he laid with her. Once the poison had made him deathly ill Selenthis revealed her evil plan.

"I made it feel so good. I made you desire it more and more everyday. I made it readily available to you. I also made it deadly. I loved laying with you knowing that with every moan you were getting closer and closer to death. With every joyful climax was one less beat of your heart. Every morning, afternoon, and as many times at night you were literally losing breath. Now my father can rest knowing I've conquered your throne."

After that speech she knew she would be killed. She also knew that King Auron's death would be ordered as well. So she was more than happy to die. She would die having accomplished everything she wanted to in life. She was able to claim her rightful place as queen. She was actually queen of a throne bigger than her birthright. She was also able to avenge the wrongful death of her father and honor her exiled mother.

Sure enough Selenthis was found guilty of the murder of King Allistar. King Auron was also found guilty of conspiracy to kill the king. Delilah the witch was never seen again rumored to have used witchcraft to change her identity. King Auron and Selenthis were both killed in a public beheading.

In a short time after the death of Selenthis King Allistar had died. Not only did he leave behind a vast fortune, but he also left behind the throne of the kingdom. His three children were all grown. As the firstborn, LeClaur was the rightful heir to the throne and thus assumed the throne as king.

His other siblings did not fully agree with that. Braylento, the youngest of the three didn't think that he'd get his fair share of the fortune. Braylento was young irresponsible and irrational. He'd party very often and used his power as a prince to take advantage of women amongst all of the different clans of the kingdom. Often times his father had to end conflicts caused by his actions. He also orchestrated quite a few of the wars within the kingdom.

He was also a very powerful warrior. Born with the powers of the moon he was virtually unstoppable. Moon powers provided him with the ability to turn anything that he touches into moon rock with is almost indestructible. At night when the three moons of the kingdom were all in the sky, he could use the power to completely become made of moon rock himself. He'd use those powers on the battlefield for his father's army and was one of the main reasons that the Phoenix Clan stayed in power.

He didn't care about the throne. He didn't want the responsibility of running the kingdom. He still just wanted to party and abuse his power. What he did want was the money and his brother's support and he knew he wouldn't get either. His brother never supported any of his antics and often times told his father to cut him off. At one-point LeClaur even attempted to have Braylento exiled. So, although he was still allowed to stay at the castle he did not want his brother in power. He knew that if he started another conflict that he would be exiled. He also knew that his brother would not financially support his parties or elaborate lifestyle.

Alania also did not approve of her older brother ruling the kingdom. LeClaur had always been greedy with power. He thrived on times when their father was out of the castle and he was in charge. He was so excited to be in charge and exercised his power. He was born with star power. Which gave him power to electrify anything that he touched. He would use that power to shock his siblings when they got what he called out of hand. He would often times energize Alania's dolls enough that they would keep a small charge for a while after he'd let them go. That way he could surprisingly shock her.

He did not use his powers on the battlefield. He was more on the strategic side of war. He would study the enemy and sit with his father and help him come up with strategies to defeat them. He sat next to his father and was groomed to take over the throne.

Alania knew that her brother would rule with an iron fist. She knew that he was a straightforward no nonsense kind of ruler. That wasn't the reason why she didn't want him running the kingdom. She didn't even have a desire to rule the kingdom herself. She didn't want her brother to rule the kingdom because she knew what happened to her mother. She also knew that as her father's right-hand man her brother had a hand in it.

Alania had overheard her father speaking of his desire to have Selenthis as his wife. So, when her mother died, she knew her death was unnatural. She knew that her father had killed her, and she was going to make him pay. She strongly felt that her brother, being the ultimate strategist that he is, had a part in their father's plan.

Alania was thrilled with what has happened in the kingdom. Her father has died. Poisoned by the very woman he'd killed her mother for. That same woman was publicly beheaded as was King Auron. Everyone that was directly involved with her mother's death has paid for their sins. All except for LeClaur.

LeClaur was on the throne enjoying everything that he ever wanted. He had all of the fortune and fame but most of all he had the power. Whatever he said was law. He was the ruler over the entire kingdom and all of the clans and there wasn't anything anyone could do. He sat on that throne just like Alania knew he would. Strong and Proud. That fills Alania's heart with vengeance. That vengeance grows more and more with each passing day until she decides to do something about it.

She knows that any movement against her brother was going to require an army. So she went recruiting. She had willing soldiers from each clan agreeing that if a war occurred, they would help her. She knew that the regular clan soldiers wouldn't be enough though. She knew that her families rise to power and their ruling for thousands of years was due to their vast powers. Her ancestors harvesting the powers of the heavens. Thus, leading to her and her siblings having the powers of the stars, sun, and moons. She knew that her brothers would be too powerful. So, she decided to go to the kingdom of the mountains.

The kingdom of the mountains was not ruled by the clans. They lived up there on their own and were often left out of the affairs of the clans. Alania was simply hoping that she would be able to recruit a few of them because they had the powers of the wilderness. They could summon the traits of all of the animals of the wild. So she asked King Laurenitus for help.

"Your highness. I come in peace as princess of the Phoenix Clan from the clan kingdom. I'm here to request your permission to recruit some of your soldiers to fight with me in a war against my brother the King and ruler over all of the clans."

"I'm sorry my dear but I do not have soldiers. My people are just my people. Free to live their lives without fear of war. There is no need of an army here."

Alania was crushed and with a last dish effort tries to convince him that a war may be coming.

"Well, I fear that if my brother is not defeated, he may decide to expand the clan kingdom thus waging a war against your kingdom."

"Something your father nor his father before him has ever attempted. I think your brother in inheriting the kingdom would have also inherited the knowledge of how foolish that would be."

"I think you underestimate the power that my family possesses."

"I think I'll take my chances."

King Laurenitis' nonchalant attitude enrages Alania and her hands start to glow. She has the power of the sun. That means that everything she touches she can burst into flames. She can also in the middle of the day during the height of the sun's rays completely engulf her entire body in flames. King Laurenitis notices her hands glowing and quickly advises her against an attack.

"My dear you can't possibly win. I can use the speed of the Peregrine Falcon to avoid your attacks. I can also use the strength of a man sized rhinoceros beetle to snap your neck like a twig."

Alania was never one to back down from a challenge, but that wasn't the war that she wanted to fight. So, she calmed down and left the Kingdom of the mountains with grace.

She then decides to recruit Braylento. She knew of the problems between Braylento and LeClaur and was sure he would help her. She also knew that many of their powerful cousins have partied with Braylento and may be willing to help. Braylento on the other hand had his own ideas.

Alania returned to the castle to find Braylento and a few of their cousins in the family vault.

"Braylento! What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I'm getting out of here. I'm taking enough jewels and with our powers and riches we can go start another kingdom somewhere else."

"And you think that I'm just going to let you get away with that?"

"Why would you stop me. You know that I have right to at least a third of this fortune and I know you hate LeClaur just as much as I do!"

"What about our kingdom? Our family? We can take down LeClaur and rule together."

"I don't care about any of that. You can have the kingdom and everything that comes with it. I just want my fair share of the fortune. What do you want the money or the power? Forget LeClaur, come with me. With both of our shares of the fortune we'd be good for quite a while. We also will have the power to take over another land and then you can rule alone as Queen."

"I don't want neither! I don't want the money or the power. I want LeClaur to get what's coming to him!"

Braylento then instructs one his cousins to grab more jewels stating that Alania doesn't want hers. Alania goes to grab one of the bags from the cousin and he turns it into moon rock and attempts to strike her with it. She stops the bag with her hand and it gets red hot and explodes. She then gets in her fighting stance and lights up her hand preparing to attack. Braylento then stops the fight.

"Alania stop it! You wanna stay here that's fine. But please just let us go. We don't have a problem with you!"

"So that's it? Your'e just going to let him get away with killing our mother!?"

"You know about that?"

Alania became enraged. She hadn't known that Braylento knew what had happened. She once again was ready to fight. She grabbed a chunk of the wall inflamed it and threw it at Braylento. He quickly turned his crown into moonrock and blocked the blow. He then began pleading with his sister.

"Alania I was a kid. I didn't fully understand what was happening nor did I have a means of stopping it!"

"I didn't stop it either but I'm saying that we can avenge it now!"

"For what! Nothing will bring her back! I don't want to kill my brother. I just want to leave."

Alania feels sympathy for her brother and allows him to leave. She then decides that she's going to take down LeClaur by herself. So she immediately goes up to the throne room to confront him.

"Alania just the girl that I wanted to see. I think that maybe it's time for me to find a bride. It doesn't feel right ruling without a queen don't you think?"

"Yeah, like father like son right!"

"Well father picked the wrong one. I won't make that mistake."

"Are you sure about that?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Our mother was the right one. Beautiful, smart, loyal and loving. You allowed our father to throw that all away for beauty alone."

"What do you mean. Mother became ill and passed away."

"Cut the act. I know that mother was killed, and I know that you knew about it!"

"So what! Mom was holding him back! She didn't want to expand our kingdom. Father thought that an alliance with King Auron was going to make the Phoenix Clan even more powerful. We were going to take over the mountain kingdom as well. We were going to eventually have all of the power the world has to offer. Mother didn't see his vision. Father marrying Selenthis was about more than her beauty it was about becoming more powerful!"

"So power was more important than our mother's life?"

"Power is more important than everything!"

"Well if it was worth my mother's life to you it was certainly worth your father's life to me!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Alania then went on to describe her relationship with Selenthis.

"Selenthis and I were friends before she married father. I had known that she did not have a desire to be with father. She didn't have a desire for men at all. When her mother was exiled, and her father was killed I knew exactly why, and I told her. I also told her about Delilah and what I knew had happened to our mother. I knew it pained her to lay with father and that soon it would pain him too. That's right I knew all along about her plan to kill dad. I knew because I orchestrated it!"

LeClaur became enraged. He charged his Septer and threw it at Alania striking her in the abdomen. She went down to one knee in severe pain. LeClaur then slowly walks towards her. Taunting her with every step.

"You were always such a spoiled brat. You always were mother's favorite and had always gotten your way. Well looks like you hitched your horse to the wrong wagon and now you'll pay for it just like your stupid bitch mother."

He then reaches out and grabs his sword and begins fully charging it up. He continues to walk slowly towards her with an evil grin on his face. What he doesn't realize is that Alania has both of her hands firmly planted on the floor. The floor of the castle becomes inflamed and before LeClaur could react his body bursts into flames followed by the entire castle. The entire Phoenix Clan was outside watching as their castle became completely engulfed in the fire. Then they watched as a fiery figure emerged from the castle door. The figure slowly walked towards them and as the flames on the figure began to disperse it was revealed to be Alania.

She then holds up the completely burned crown of her brother LeClaur and shouts "Long live the King!"

The End.