2025-08-31 10:59:55
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BREAKING POINT
And the fractured circle screamed around them.The noise was too much. Voices clashed louder than blades. A storm of names - Kael! Ares! Kael! Ares! - slammed into the dawn.The brothers didn’t look at the crowd. Didn’t hear anything but each other.Steel met steel again. Ares’s blade heavy, Kael’s wild. Sparks flew, falling into the mud like dying stars.Kael’s leg dragged. His shoulder bled thick. But he kept grinning, blood running down his jaw. “Still think you’re stronger?”Ares’s chest heaved, ribs on fire. His shirt clung, soaked, sticky. He lifted his blade slow, steady. “I know I am.”Kael roared, swung hard. Too hard. His balance slipped. Ares caught it, shoved back.Kael stumbled. For the first time, he stumbled.The crowd gasped, half in shock, half in glee.Kael’s supporters shouted louder, desperate to drown it. But the sound was fractured. Broken.Ares pressed forward, every step pain. Every breath sharp. He swung, blade clipping Kael’s arm. Blood burst red.Kael stagge
THE FRACTUARED CIRCLE
And punishment wasn’t finished.Kael’s blade wavered, but he swung again, a desperate arc. It cut air, close enough to make Ares shift, ribs screaming.Ares answered, slow, heavy, steel grinding. His cut sliced Kael’s thigh. Blood splashed the mud.Kael hissed through teeth. “You’ll bleed out before I do.”Ares didn’t reply. Just lifted his blade again.The crowd stirred, louder now. Not whispers anymore. Shouts. Some yelled Kael’s name, voices raw, faces twisted with old loyalty. Others cried Ares’s, fists raised, clinging to the man who had become symbol, not deserter.The circle split. Lines drawn in dirt by blood and memory.Kael laughed bitter, coughing blood. “Hear them? Half yours, half mine. We break this city before we even finish.”Ares’s breath came rough, words jagged. “Maybe it needs breaking.”Their blades slammed together again. Sparks leapt. Both staggered back. Both dripping red.Mira’s stomach turned to ice. She felt Elijah shaking against her, small fists clutching
BROTHERS IN BLOOD
The duel had only begun.Steel slammed. Sparks leapt. The sound cracked through the dawn.Kael swung hard, too hard. He wanted to break bone, wanted to end this fast. His face was twisted, blood already streaked from an old scar torn open.Ares met every strike. His blade was steady, arms burning, breath even but heavy. He didn’t give Kael the satisfaction of faltering.“You’re slower,” Kael hissed.“You’re desperate,” Ares answered, low.The crowd pressed in. No one spoke loud. Just whispers. Just eyes wide. It wasn’t just a fight. It was history bleeding out in front of them.Kael struck again, wild. Ares blocked, pushed him back. Their boots dug trenches in the damp ground.“You should’ve stayed down in the dirt that day,” Kael growled. “Should’ve rotted with me.”Ares’s jaw locked tight. “I chose Elijah.”The boy’s name hit like a blade. Whispers rolled through the crowd -the son… the boy… his son.Kael’s laugh was broken, bitter. “Weakness. That’s all he gave you.”Ares shoved fo
DAWN OF BROTHERS
Only blood.The words echoed as Ares walked the empty streets, each step drawing him closer to the river. The night was breaking. A thin gray line split the horizon. Mist curled low across the stones, wrapping the city in silence.He walked alone. No army. No banners. Just a man, a blade, and the weight of everything he had carried for years.The alleys whispered. Faces peered from behind shutters, from rooftops, from shadows. The story had spread like wildfire. By the river. At dawn. The God of War against his brother.When Ares reached the bank, the crowd was already there. Hundreds. Maybe thousands. Soldiers. Traders. Old veterans who had once marched beneath his command. Children who had only heard the legends. Their breath hung in the cold air, their silence heavy.They parted as he stepped through. Not a cheer. Not a shout. Just silence. The kind that meant something greater than noise.The ground was damp beneath his boots. The river rolled slow, gray and swollen with spring. T
THE NIGHT BEFORE DAWN
Only blood.The words lingered like smoke in Ares’s chest as the crowd broke apart. Whispers trailed into the alleys, running ahead of him like fire through dry grass. By morning, the whole city would be waiting at the river.Mira stayed close, one hand always near her blade. Elijah’s small grip clung to his father’s coat.They walked the quiet streets, shadows long, torches guttering in the wind. Behind shuttered windows, eyes watched. No one dared speak. Not to him. Not tonight.When they reached the safehouse, Elijah was half-asleep. Ares lifted him gently, carried him inside, laid him down on the cot. The boy curled instantly, breathing deep. For him, the storm hadn’t fully arrived yet.Mira shut the door, leaning back against it. She studied Ares in silence. His face was stone, but his shoulders - broad as they were -looked heavier than ever.“You don’t have to do this,” she said.“Yes,” he answered, without looking up.“It’s a trap,” she pressed. “He wants to bleed you out in fr
BLOOD BETWEEN BROTHERS
“We decide which one I am.”The words struck harder than any fist. The crowd went still, air thick as stone. Mira’s fingers brushed the hilt of her knife. Elijah pressed against his father, small body tense though he didn’t understand why.Ares didn’t move. His eyes locked with the man’s.“You should’ve stayed gone,” Ares said. His voice was low, steady.The man - taller now, scarred - smiled faintly. “And let you carry the crown alone? No. You know me better.”A name hovered on Ares’s tongue, heavy as iron.The man stepped closer. Boots echoing against stone. “Do you remember the oath we swore?”Ares’s jaw flexed. He remembered. Too well. Nights of blood and dust. Brothers bound by fire.“I remember,” Ares said.“Then say it. Say my name.”Ares’s eyes narrowed. “Kael.”The name rippled through the square. Whispers rose. Old soldiers muttered. Others just stared.Mira frowned, blade ready. “Who is he?”Kael glanced at her. Sharp. Dismissive. “Not yours to ask.”Ares raised a hand, kee
