Nonexistent

NINETEEN- Zepher

I hate the smug look on his face.

Father merely watches with cold eyes as three students run in immense fear. The same three students the Groundshifter saved a few days earlier before.

The cockatrice lunges into the forest hungry for death. I try to keep my body still as I am once again watching the horror that is, the Death Race. 

A boy rushes the girl behind him and tells her to pick up the pace as he abandons his own safety and waits for her to scamper ahead. But a cowardly guy pushes them both aside and runs for his own life.

My hands are slightly trembling as I encourage them silently. They'll make it. They have to.

Run. Run. Run!

But the cockatrice has lured the girl's attention with its cry. Her head snaps back to face the beast's eyes--her biggest mistake. Her body turns stiff and cement-grey, starting from her toes, but she doesn't even mind. 

Her gaze is locked on the cockatrice; entranced.

My breath catches in my throat as I take in the image. The girl has been turned to stone. 

The boy turns and finds her new state, and he yells a cry of despair. His eyes can't help but follow her gaze onto the cockatrice as his toes start to turn to stone. The stone rises up his body in rapid speed, locking the position of his legs. He turns around as his arms reach out towards the last boy. 

'Run,' I see him mouth to the last guy, his eyes swelling with sad tears. It's the last thing he does before the stone runs up his abdomen to his neck and finally, reaching the tip of his outstretched fingertips. 

But the final survivor merely stares, frozen in fear. He's peering into the scared but lifeless eyes of the two students that now look like nothing but stone sculptures. 

The cockatrice lands on the ground with a big thud, as leaves fly around from the sudden impact. 

The last guy cowers in defeat, covering his head behind his hands, ducking down. The cockatrice finishes the job, and I see the young Deviant accept his fate and solidify before my very eyes through the motionless pool. 

I instinctively stand and kick my golden throne-like chair across the room. I didn't realize I was so enraged. But how could we all be here, in comfortable seats, simply watching? 

Everyone's eyes are on me, shocked.

I stare at my Father, my blood boiling inside.

"Is this the legacy you want to leave behind?" I angrily ask him, pointing a finger towards the three statues. 

The room is still. 

The Seers, clearly startled by my outburst, lose their concentration and image of the stone students disappears in the water. But it still burns in my mind.

"They had such a bright future. They all did!" I point towards the death toll, as three more blue dots on the big board turn bright red. Three more lives lost.

"If they can't survive this, what makes you think they'll do better in the Immortal War? They all knew the risks," my Father says calmly. 

An irritated nerve dares to pop from my head. "All those red dots, you led them to their deaths. In the Immortal War, they would've died for their country. Not for your sick entertainment."

"Silence, Zepher!" A booming roar echoes across the whole room. Father's gaze falls upon me-- on his imperfect, outlandish son.

"Leave us," he says, sternly. And just like that, people are filing out of the grand room, leaving the two of us. The empty room is so quiet, but Father's rage is so loud in my ears. 

"Let me remind you," he says as he walks towards me in long angry strides. "I am king. And as long as I'm alive, my methods will be practiced. And if you dare question them again--" he raises a cross finger at me. He doesn't finish his sentence. I stare at his pointed finger, shaking from frustration.

"What? You'll kill me too?" I say to him in a slightly mocking tone. 

We've never had an argument before. My whole life, I thought my Father was a perfect man. I wanted to be him when I came of age.

I can't believe how blind I've been. 

He closes his eyes in bitterness. 

My Father never used to be this man. What has power done to him? How can lust corrupt a man so much? What has it done to the man I once admired?

He's been so different these past few years. 

"A reign of death. We're all looking forward to it." I stare into his eyes but his hands are on his back and he's turning away, already heading out the room. "Long live the king."