CHAPTER 97: SUN OF THE SUN?

Because Kaedros opened his eyes sometime around midnight and found Gold staring down at him.

Kaedros went very still as red eyes pinned him in the darkness. He visualized a formation but didn’t materialize it. Instead, he watched Gold carefully.

How had he gotten so close without Kaedros noticing? Not only that, Rauk and Taria were still asleep.

Even the shadows couldn’t sneak up on them anymore.

Gold was as still as Kaedros, like a statue. The only thing moving were his eyes, as they took Kaedros in.

Then he spoke, his voice low.

"Is it true you’re the son of the sun?"

Kaedros frowned. No one had ever asked him that before.

Son of the Sun? What the hell is that?

"What is the son of the Sun?"

Gold snorted. "So you don’t know." He shook his head. "And it’s not what. It’s who."

He turned to leave, but Kaedros wasn’t having that. not after a question that made his heart beat faster.

"Who is the Sun?"

Gold’s teeth flashed silver in the dark. "I can’t blame you for not knowing, but maybe it’s all a mistake. You are a Dragon, after all." His voice turned cold. "It’s almost impossible, but I’ll leave you with a question. Who’s your father?"

And then, as silently as he had appeared, he was gone.

"Who is my father? I’m a Dragon?" Kaedros cursed softly. "He just made everything more confusing."

He didn’t know his father, but he was sure of one thing, he was a Dragon. And his mother... his mother was as Dragon as they came. He saw that himself.

His father died when he was little. Kaedros was seven when it happened, his father had fallen during a war with another Dragon clan.

Not that his father’s death affected him in any way.

His father had been one of his worst bullies. Always keeping his distance, always making sure his mother could hear him say, "That’s why I didn’t want children. He turned out defective. He’s a cursed child."

And his father never had another child.

Now that he thought about it, Kaedros knew next to nothing about the man. Only that he was loyal to the Queen, and that he was powerful.

And that he hated Kaedros with a passion that defied logic.

Even his mother didn’t hate him. She was just indifferent.

"Ah... yes." Kaedros just remembered a memory that had been buried.

Late one night, his father had come into his room and stared at him for a long time. It must have been the longest he had ever looked at his son.

But what he said had sent a chill down Kaedros’s spine for years.

"I should have killed you. You remind my people of the stigma I carried for years. You are a problem that shouldn’t be."

Then he left the room.

Kaedros hadn’t understood then. He didn’t understand now.

He never understood his father until the day he died.

At least his father hated him.

That was a form of acknowledgment, right?

Kaedros sighed, closed his eyes, and let himself sleep.

Around him, Taria and Rauk breathed softly in slumber.

The next day, they woke up hungry, stomachs growling.

It was the first time they had felt hunger like this since their encounter with the Shadows. Back then, they had always defeated Chef’s earth golems and gotten fruits to eat.

"Even the water from the lake would be good to have now," Taria said, stretching to ease the stiffness of sleep. The last time she’d slept on the floor was during their journey to the castle on the raid. It felt like a long time ago now.

A lot had happened since then, and Taria was grateful for it, because she wasn’t dragging Kael back anymore. She could carry her weight now. She could call herself his warrior.

Her spear jutted from the ground beside her, and she looked at Kael, who was sitting in the Flow position, though not currently gathering mana.

"What do you think is happening outside now?"

Kaedros didn’t open his eyes, but he could practically feel Rauk’s expression darken at the question.

"There would’ve been missing posters by now," Kaedros said with a tight smile. "I imagine the Celestial Order and the bounty hunter’s Association are pleased."

"But confused about their people. The Refiner was supposed to return, after all," Taria pointed out. It had been one of the most helpless times of her life, facing Eldric. "And the white steel team."

"We don’t know how much time has passed," Kaedros added. "Could be one month. Could be two. Maybe the town hasn’t heard the news of our disappearance yet. But they’ll be watching for it."

"And the Capital?" Rauk asked, his voice carefully stripped of emotion. His hand tightened on his sword.

Kaedros finally opened his eyes and looked at him. The bastard prince. The man he had promised he would make a king.

"A lot. You guessed your father was poisoned by the second prince, right? Then he’ll probably take his time preparing. He seems like the type to me."

"He even prepared in advance for your ’rebellion.’ So he won’t kill the king until he absolutely needs to," Kaedros added.

"Until he needs to?" Rauk’s voice cracked like a whip.

"Yes. Until he’s sure he can take the throne, either by buying the Great Lords to his side or making plans to eliminate those who don’t sway."

Kaedros stood up and dusted himself off. He walked to Rauk and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You should prepare yourself. For your father’s death... or not. Either way, you’ll fight a war. The second prince won’t let you live."

It might’ve sounded cruel. But it was the truth.

Rauk clenched his hand around the hilt of his blade but said nothing. He knew Kaedros was right.

They didn’t speak for a while after that. Instead, they quietly focused on getting themselves ready for the day.

"So what’s the plan now?" Taria asked, spinning her spear. "We have to beat this room today."

"We will," Kaedros said. He had thought about it throughout the night. The only solution he had come up with was surprisingly simple: they just had to defeat the golems fast and overwhelmingly.

They got to work.

"So, you’re ready?" Gold asked from his throne. His red eyes were as hot and bright as ever against his silver body.

"We are," Kaedros said. He remembered what had happened during the night, the question Gold had asked him, but that was a dull whisper in his mind now. The only thing roaring was the desire to finish this challenge today.

Gold’s answer was to activate the first seven golems, which jerked upright at a gesture from him.

Kaedros didn’t wait for them to come to him. He shot forward with explosive speed, blue fire clenched in his fist. He struck the first golem in the chest, sending it crashing into the rest in a clatter of metal.

He materialized his sun sword and parried a longsword meant for his head, but didn’t strike back, not immediately. Instead, he dashed behind the golem and brought his fire sword down twice.

Left. Right.

The golem crashed to the ground in a metallic rumble, its legs severed at the knees.

Kaedros looked up just in time to dodge as another golem came flying toward him, blasted by Taria’s essence. It crashed to the floor, and Kaedros was on it in a flash, his sun sword flashing.

They had immobilized two golems within seconds but five remained.

"Rauk?" Kaedros called. They each had their role to play in this.

"On it," Rauk said.

He entered the Flow and got his mana circulating, then materialized a formation and opened his mouth. A thick, grey spatial smoke billowed out in waves, quickly filling the room.

But it wasn’t disorganized. The smoke formed a barrier around them, leaving only the throne outside.

Then Rauk hardened the smoke and shrank the dome, bringing golems and warriors together into a controlled clash of fire and steel.

In the end, what was left standing were seven broken golems, each one with its legs severed.

"Well?" Taria twirled her spear and slammed it down on a golem that was still trying to crawl and swing. "What’s the next step?"

Kaedros nodded and snapped his fingers at Rauk. The spatial barrier peeled back, and Taria stepped out.

Kaedros turned his gaze to Gold on the throne and smiled.

He’d guessed correctly, then, there was a time window during which Gold could summon more golems. And judging by Gold’s glare, he had been right.

Kaedros caused an explosion at his feet, launching himself into the air—higher than the barrier. Midair, he materialized a formation and unleashed waves of intense fire on the heap of golems below.

The room lit up in response, and the temperature soared. Rauk and Taria shielded themselves from the heat. Even Gold, sitting on his throne, was warmed by it.

When the flames died down, all that remained of the golems was a pool of melted metal.