The heavy, burning heat rolling off Emperor Meriel distorted the freezing northern air into a hazy, chaotic mirage.
Kai took another slow, deliberate step up the frosted brass staircase, his dark silk robes billowing in the harsh wind.
"You always loved looking down on people, Meriel," Kai spoke smoothly, his deep voice cutting right through the roaring solar winds.
"You left me bleeding in the southern dunes because you thought I was just a fragile, broken toy."
"You were a tragic mistake," Meriel rumbled, pointing his blazing star-spear directly at Kai's chest.
"My father spared your miserable life out of misplaced, pathetic pity."
"He should have drowned you in the palace baths the very day they caught you reading those forbidden void scrolls."
"Your father was a weak, dying old man who feared the dark," Kai smirked, twirling the purple glass dagger in his hand.
"And you are just a pampered, arrogant prince wearing his oversized golden hat."
