“That insolent little girl!” Brurock said as he was sharpening his claws. His red eyes fumed with hatred. Turock, the king of the Rhudons, was sitting there, annoyed by his son.
“You should really change your tone, my son. You have hated this deal ever since the beginning, but you shouldn’t; it will give us everything you ever dreamed of,” Turock said. Brurock got up and looked out the window. Rayush, this city was hot, always hot, and he hated it but loved it. Dead things were everywhere; this world was dying. Brurock thought it was meant to be that all things must die.
The throne room they were in was dark brown with red accents. There were heads of the defeated peoples they had conquered. Turock was proud of the room, showcasing his many victories. Brurock came to the table that his father was sitting at.
“I will go to the Porpura planet and do what needs to be done with the Piskals. They are strange creatures, don’t you think? With no more magic, they have been easy to pick off. We like to go hunting like the olden days, pure sport. Why don’t you come with us Father?” Brurock said. This time, Turock threw his cup at him. Brurock looked back in anger.
“You know full well I cannot. This treaty has made me bound to follow it, and you are the only one who can go against it. You are a fool. I feel sorry for our people when you take over. I’m surprised you can even command the men. I have been cursed with this half wit son, why did I only get one son?” Turock said. Brurock stormed out of the room, cursing his father. He went to the wall and punched it.
“You won’t need him much longer,” Shardoe said, peering out from the corner. This made Brurock jump.
“You should not do that, Shardoe! I could have killed you. Why do you always sly about? Is it your people’s custom?” Brurock said. Shardoe was a slender man with wrinkled skin; he looked like a little bit of butter spread over bread. His skin glowed in the right light, and he had black eyes. Shardoe smiled at him and beckoned him closer.
“Your time will come soon, my friend. I believe I can make your progression to kingship even faster,” Shardoe said. Even though Brurock was mad at his father, he would never wish death on him. This changed how he felt about Shardoe, he always admired his father. This was going too far.
“Enough of that talk, Shardoe! You know, maybe my father is right, and I shouldn’t listen to you…But I know my father is a weak man who makes bad decisions…No more talk like that, alright, or you’ll have to deal with me, and I’ll find a way to kill you, unlike my father,” Brurock said. Shardoe bowed and handed him something and smiled. Brurock didn’t look at it; he didn’t want to give Shardoe the satisfaction. He stood there awkwardly waiting for Shardoe to walk off.
“Don’t you find it interesting that the Master had a Piskal there hiding in the shadows? I wonder who that was and what the Master wants with him,” Shardoe said. This made Brurock uneasy; he did notice him but paid no attention. Now that Shardoe was speaking of him it made him think there was something more going on. He decided to dismiss it and waved his hand in the air. This made Shardoe bow and walk off.
Brurock went to the war room. The room was filled with weapons that were coveted, ones that changed the tides of battles, in honor of the Rhudonians who wielded them. The room had the same brown color with red accents; Turock loved those colors, and Brurock was getting annoyed with them. He went over to the table and opened the paper. It was the blueprints to the palace of the Porpuras in Erafla. He laughed and slammed his hand on the table.
“Druya!” Brurock yelled. Druya came into the room stoically. He was the second in command, and he was ruthless. There was a reason Brurock made him his second in command. He was as cruel as he was. Druya was tall and muscular, bigger than any other Rhudon; he had scars all over his body, a lifetime's worth of bloody battles. One of his teeth has a chip in it from biting into armor.
“What are we doing now?” Druya asked. Brurock smiled at him, teeth bared.
“We are going hunting!” Brurock said. Druya smiled. Brurock showed him the paper.
“We need a plan of strike, and when we get the signal from Shardoe, we will have almost everything we’ve ever wanted,” Brurock said. Druya looked over the paper and nodded his head.
“We can easily overtake this place…The Piskals are starting to fight our efforts,” Druya said. This made Brorock smile.
“Don’t worry, we’re going there to put an end to that line,” Brurock said. Druya had a concerned look on his face.
“What’s wrong with you now, Druya?” Brurock said. Druya looked around and was hesitant to speak, which was unusual for him.
“I don’t think we can trust Shardoe; he’s up to something, I can feel it in my bones,” Druya said. This made Brurock think; he always trusted Druya’s nose, and he had to admit there was something off with Shardoe.
“There may be some truth to your worry, we’ll watch him closely. If anything, we could just kill him when his use has run out,” Brurock said. Druya bared his teeth at that, purely excited by that idea.
“Now we should plan on leaving soon with a whole platoon, get the men ready,” Brurock said. Druya bowed his head and left the room. Brurock stood there for some time, reminiscing over the relationship he had with Shardoe. He had known him since he was a child; Shardoe never changed. His father tried to have him killed, but somehow, he couldn’t remember, Shardoe endeared himself to him. And as a result, Shardoe promised a lot to Brurock to be the leader of everything. To have power over the water, and to eradicate it. Now that he had gotten older, he started seeing Shardoe as a viper, slithering around, making promises. With him almost coming of age to become king, he realized that he needed to be more careful about who he kept in his inner circle, and Shardoe wasn’t battle tested. Brurock knew he could trust Druya; he had saved his skin more times than he could count. Brurock decided then to trust Druya’s gut. He’ll find a way to get out of Shardoe’s clutches.