text: (IP) Family Ties He’d gotten up at dawn and could already see the swarm coming, their pinchers clacking ominously. They were like a mass of moving smoke, deadly and lethal. He should have known that the King would have followed him even all the way out here, in the rocky desert that served as the border between the two kingdoms of Asteria and Brisbain. Even knowing what was coming, Bastian could not--would not--regret his decision. He had no desire to use the dead for his own ends, much less for political gain. Denouncing his father had made him a prince without a kingdom, but he didn’t care. As of his sixteenth birthday, he could no longer turn a blind eye to the fact that his own father was hellbent on conquering everything, including lands that were not his. He’d barely escaped the kingdom with his life, and his father had vowed to follow him to the ends of the realms. But Bastian wasn’t alone; no, he had gathered powerful allies and he had stolen one of his father’s secrets. He had taken a shapeshifter and befriended her, and she’d agreed to help him fight. “They’re coming,” Bastian said, and his father’s former advisor smirked, her violet eyes aglow. “It seems that your father finally made good on his promise,” Dinah said at last, and he could hear the laughter in her voice. “It would appear so,” Bastian agreed, smirking grimly. Dinah had helped him amass a resistance, though he loathed asking the people for help they could not give. He knew how much of the peoples’ money was in the royal coffers. “Wake everyone up and prepare them, please. If you don’t, it will be a bloodbath.” \*\* By the time the sun was high in the sky, the monsters had reached their base, and Dinah was in front, her hands glowing with magic. Her face was pale and tense, and she roared, transforming into a lion and charging into the fray. She led the soldiers, and Bastian was in the front of the crowd, sawing off appendages. The air was tainted with the sick, metallic odor of blood, and Bastian ran ahead with his halberd. Killing off his father’s grotesque creations was certainly entertaining, but he wanted their leader. Mounted upon a giant beetle, a man with a glowing halberd bellowed, giving his soldiers orders. Bastian hated killing, even when it was necessary, but he had no choice. The sand was watered with the blood of his comrades and enemies, and he had to end this before he lost anyone else. “Hurry!” Dinah called, and in a flash, she was in front of him. She transformed into a horse and together they charged. Bastian leapt from Dinah’s back and landed on the hard, thick shell of the beast. He put his blade to the man’s throat and smirked. “Surrender peacefully, and we’ll let you live. In exchange for some information, of course.” Upon closer inspection, Bastian realized that this was his father’s closest advisor. “Foolish prince,” The man hissed, his teeth stained red with his own blood. “You of all people should know that your father would never allow any of his men to be captured alive.” Bastian punched the man, and though he cried out in pain, he spat in the prince’s face. “I’ll be sure to send your dear old father regards.