Empyrean Iris Story Collection Vol. 3

Throne

The room was strewn with bodies.

Beams of light filtered down from above as great glowing pillars of white. Dust motes spun through them like infant whirlwinds. Once reaching the ground, the light spilled across the floor, pooling around the bodies which lay thick and heavy. Fur stuck up in matted tufts from the backs of the corpses glittering white in the illumination and dripping with alien icor.

At the front of the room, a grand throne sat, made of white stone, with a back so tall it nearly scraped the ceiling. One of those beams of light filtered in directly from above illuminating the throne in blazing white, and the figure which sat upon it.

Lord Celex of the Celzex sat trembling on his throne, but not in fear.

His body hummed and trembled with the power of the drug as it courses through his body, the adrenaline urning him to act, to fight or to run or to leap high into the air. The feeling was exhilarating, but frustrating as there was nothing to take out his energy upon. He stared at the bodies where they moldered on the floor below his throne.

A fitting end to his rivals.

He had been aware of descension from his people for some time. Not the sort of dissenters one might assume. You would never find a Celzex complaining about a powerful warlord, or an aggressive dictator, for it was the only kind of rule that they accepted. No these dissenters were those who spread rumors of his weakening power. They used his friendship with the humans and his acceptance of the GA as proof that he was growing soft, and behind his back they amassed followers to back them in preparation for a duel.

In the Celzex court, it was common, if not expected that powerful members of Celxex society vie for power by way of duel and open combat to the death. These had slowly worked up their ranks until they reached his throne room.

Their resistance had been laughable.

And he had let them know it.

He had laughed in their faces as they lined up before his throne demanding that he give himself over, or fight them to the death. They had been willing to fight him one at a time, but with the adrenaline running through his body he had a better idea.

He would fight them all at once and whoever survived would get to be king.

They had not stood a chance, and now their bodies lay strewn abut his throne room as so much refuse awaiting the cleaners who would take the bodies and dispose of them. Hopefully they would be left out for the carrioncrawlers to deal with as a ignominious end to his woe begotten enemies.

"My lord."

"WHAT!"

His royal advisor cringed away from his throne, huddled near it's base and partially behind it as if to use it as a shield. It wouldn't have worked, Lord Celzex mused, if he wanted to kill his advisor, than nothing would stop him, certainly not cowering behind his throne. he even thought about Killing him, for the fun of it, but held off.

It wouldn't do to kill members of his own court.

Amexx may have been a coward, but he had his uses.

"SPEAK!" He directed, and determining that his lord would not kill him, the celzex came around the front of the throne, golden light glittering off his mostly pink fur. He lowered his eyes before his kin ears flopping forward over his eyes as he did before looking up, "My Lord, the tests have returned."

"And?"

"I..... well.... You're dying."

Lord Celex sat back in his seat. This news was..... displeasing, though he did not let his shock show, and any feelings of anger, sadness or fear were dulled markedly by the adrenaline.