Arthur saw the signs of Leo's presence long before he actually saw him. Trees around him had been slashed by what seemed like an enormous tiger. He found broken branches and fallen leaves where he had made his forced landing. Finally, he heard grunts, roars and gasps for air.
Leo was truly a pathetic image. He was dropped to his knees, holding his head as if it threatened to explode. Leo didn't see or hear Arthur arrive, at first, so he just leaned against a tree to enjoy the spectacle. He saw Leo get up, shout, then attack a rowan with violence such that it seemed the tree was guilty of all of Leo's misfortunes.
Tired of watching, Arthur cleared his throat. Leo turned around and, as soon as he saw him, charged towards him, his talons aimed directly at his throat. Arthur might not have escaped unscathed if not for Hama, who used her magic to conjure up a rope which tied itself around Leo's neck and the trunk of the unfortunate rowan.
Restrained like a dog on a leash, Leo fought against the cord. He pulled the lasso around his neck, clawed at its length to tear it, but the enchanted rope did not give in. Once he realized his attempts were futile, his arms dropped and hung limp from his body. His breaths became less frequent and intense, and when Leo looked up at Arthur, there was little of the animalistic fury from before, though his body still shook from the subdued rage.
"You," Leo growled. "What did you to me?"
"What do you mean?" Arthur smiled. "Is there something wrong with you?"
"You know damn well there is! I hurt Lucy. I attacked a guy. I know you have something to do with it. You brainwashed me, admit it!"
Arthur chuckled, amused at how almost correct, yet completely wrong, Leo was. He sat on his ankles, so he could be face to face with him.
"Do you know what a warbug is, Leo?"
"Never heard of it!"
"It's this amazing little creature. It latches onto your mind, not your brain, your mind, and it feeds off your rage. I don't know if it's a magic thing, or if it literally feeds off the chemicals your brain gives off when you're angry. And because it feeds on the stuff, it can also stimulate you to make more, become even more enraged. So the angrier you get, the stronger the bug becomes, and the stronger it becomes, the angrier you get."
"So I was right, you did brainwash me! You put that thing in my head!"
"No, no, Leo. You're using the wrong term, once again. I'm not controlling you, I didn't make you do anything. Everything you did, is because you wanted to do it."
"Liar! I would never hurt Lucy!"
"But it's true," Arthur stood back up, to look at Leo from above. "We've all been in a situation like this. Imagine you're at the theatre, seeing an incredible movie. Then, right at the best part, a baby starts crying its lungs out. Then you get pissed. You think 'God, I could just kill this baby'. You don't, of course, because you're not a maniac, and that murderous instant gets drowned out by the filter of your conscience. But what if you didn't have that filter? Better yet, what if you were paused right at that baby killing instant, and left with it? This is what the bug does, it takes your angriest moment and just holds you in it, drowning out other things, like sense. It's still not control, though. I'm less of a puppeteer and more of a record producer. I take a song, and I remix it. I raise the volume on some elements, muffle some others, distort another one. In the end, it's still the same song, it's just my version of it."
"I'm guessing I'm not the only one you did this with," Leo said, between gasps. "The queen of Anwun, she's been acting pretty impulsively, hasn't she?"
"Ooh, right on the money, Leo."
"So I was right," Leo grunted and bent over himself.
He roared and screamed. His trembling hands gripped and ran through his body, fumbled in and out of his pockets, as if they had a mind of their own. When he stopped, he seemed completely drained. His breathing was faint, and he dripped sweat, but he was able to stand straight and look Arthur in the eye.
"So I was right," he repeated. "You were the one who caused the war."
"Yes, I was. With two dead sons and a warbug, all I really needed to do was give her a push in the right direction, and bam, war is declared."
"I assume you're behind the Insurgents too. 'Falcons eat Hawks', sounds like your idea. Did you bug the entire town too?"
"Oh, no. They were much easier. All I really needed to do was just make up a bunch of stuff about you."
"What kind of stuff?"
"Basic stuff. That you beat me up in prison, that you don't care about them, that you have a hidden pile of gold. Really, any sort of conspiracy or defamation I could pull out of my ass. It doesn't matter how outrageous, they eat it up. It's so easy to manipulate them when you're the only one who can think clearly. They're like stupid children throwing a tantrum, give them a target and they will want to smash it. And the angrier they get, the stronger I become. I played them, I played Anwun, and I played you. And because of this, in two days, I will be king. 'King Arthur'. Has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"
Leo put his hands in his pockets and looked away from him. For the first time, he looked at Hama who, like usual, quietly watched the scene from the back.
"You're crazy if you think this will work. I will fight you until I die, and even after I die, you still won't make it. I believe in the people of Asaelia. Even my enemies are too smart to buy your nonsense for long."
"We'll have to see about that," Arthur turned to Hama. "I think Leo needs a visit from your friend."
Hama extended her hand and turned her palm upwards. Despite there not being any change in lighting, despite the fact that nothing besides the three of them moved, the shadows around them wavered and shook. Little bits and pieces broke off from them, and they slithered on the ground like worms to the exact spot under Hama's hand. The bits fused and piled together, forming a large shadow, which grew wider before growing upwards and out of the ground. Soon, a creature dragged itself into existence, and crawled obediently under Hama's arm. As expected, Leo dropped down and screamed as soon as he saw it.
"What is that?" he screamed. "What is that?"
"Hama is a summoner, Leo, you know what that means?" Arthur asked. "It means that her magic specialty is conjuring up creatures from the darkest corners of the world to her aid. This fellow here is a rage demon. As you can guess by the name, it can make you angry just by its presence. Hama trained it well to target only you. You can guess what effects it would have on you. If we keep this up here for long enough, you're going to be nothing but a wild animal, irrational and rabid."
Arthur looked at Leo, defying him to beg for mercy. He didn't. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, but he did not beg, he did not yield. Arthur's smile began to fade.
"Hama," he said. "I've heard soldiers coming from over there," he pointed at a random direction. "Go take care of them."
"I didn't hear anything," she said.
"Well, I did. My hearing is much better than yours. Go take care of them."
Hama went off in the chosen direction, but the rage demon stayed in its place, performing its duty of quietly destroying Leo's mind. Arthur grabbed Leo's chin and pulled it so he would look away from the creature. The effect was instantaneous, Leo stopped thrashing and regained his composure, though his body and mind had clearly been completely exhausted.
