"Kaizer Schulz! Put that down right now !"

First thing River saw upon opening his eyes was Kaizer 's blanched face . His jaw was hanging open in a silent scream , gray eyes widened to the size of saucers . His hands trembled until  the blade slipped out of their grip and fell on the floor with an earsplitting clang.

Sir , Im the one who is dying ,why do you look more scared than me ?

River propped himself up on the altar to see who had barged in to see none other than Einar Ashford storming towards the West King .

And boy, he looked mad .

Two gaurds jumped in , blocking his way. They drew their swords on the unarmed man ,ready to attack at the first sign of hostility .

"Scram " Einar glared at them ,his sunken brown eyes gleaming murderously. There was not a hint of fear in them .

The soldiers did not budge. They clearly felt no threat from this frail man who weighed less than a sack of potatoes .

One of them dashed in , sword first at Einar.

River's heart dropped to the marble floor .He jumped off the altar , ready to rush in to help his master. But before he could take one step forward , Einar jabbed the gaurd square on the throat with his walking stick .

River sent a silent prayer ,feeling the blow in the jut of his own throat. 

The second soldier fell as quickly,  even before the first could finish coughing up blood . River missed where he was hit ,but judging by how his eyes were rolled back ..probably head trauma .

Einar panted , tired  from the exersion. River shuddered a little at the sight of him. It was not hard to imagine how formidable he could have been , if he was in good health.

Einar stomped towards the petrified king , faster than his exhausted body allowed him to. It was obvious the only thing that fuelled him right now was his uncontrollable anger.

He lurched forward and slapped the West King across the face. Oh , the sound filled the shrine ,that noise of skin, a cleaver working on meat . Kaizer's head snapped to the side , red blossoming on his pale skin .

If I get a coin everytime you got slapped ,I could  finally buy you a personality .

Silence rang in the hall ,only broken by Einar panting frantically .

"Kaizer ,what the fuck are you doing ?!" He growled and grabbed him by the collar .

"Lord Ashford " High Priestress interfered , trying to de- esclate the situation . "The ritual must n-"

"Did you think ," he grasped " that if you lock me up I won't know what you're up to ? "  Einar shook him "that I'll stay in my room like a sitting duck?!"

"Who let you out ?" Kaizer croaked .

"That would be me "

River turned to see Wolfram Schulz  casually strolling in to the shrine ,fanning himself in the face.  He was wearing a very disturbing smile , like he was holding back the urge to commit arson .

Kaizer dragged a palm down his face, looking exasperated "of course it was you"

"I dont like it when people go back on their words , brother" Wolfram closed his fan with a snap  " You know this "

River stood to the side , feeling rather awkward. Why did he always have to get dragged in to this family's drama ?

"This has to be done " Kaizer held Einar 's wrist and gently yanked his hands off his shirt .

"Over my dead body " Einar hissed .

"I know he is your deciple " Kaizer picked the sword from where it was discarded on the floor . "But I cant go against the heavens "

"This is not just about him !" Einar yelled " What about you ? I spent my whole life , bending over backwards to make sure you won't end up like your father! Making sure that you don't have innocent blood on your hands ! All for what ? For you to go kill my deciple in cold blood ?!"

"I cant run away from what I am , Einar " Kaizer whispered "I can't defy god "

"So you act like a slave with no will of his own ?"  Einar spat "Is that what you are saying ?!"

"What do you know ?!"

Einar flinched away from Kaizer,surprised by his harsh tone .

"This has to be done !" Kaizer grabbed River by his forearm and pushed him on to the altar ,pinning him down. River was caught completely off gaurd ,and banged the back of his head on the stone surface with a sharp thud.

"Kai! Stop tha-"

The West King's  agonized howl echoed through the chamber, his body convulsing before collapsing in a tumultuous descent to the floor. His visage was contorted in excruciating torment, tears escaping his eyes and streaming down his face .

Einar rushed to his side, in panic, his previous anger completely forgotten.

"Kai! What happened ?  Are -Are you ok?! "

Kaizer dug his nails in to Einar's arm , grinding his teeth  to splinters in an effort to hold another scream in . He stared at his brother , eyes abalze in both  agony and fury.

"Arent you being a little too dramatic , brother ?"  Wolfram tapped his chest with the folded fan , lowering at his sibling writhing on the floor. "It cant hurt that bad "

Kaizer tried saying something but could only manage a whimper .Einar turned to Wolfram with his eyes wide with worry.

"Wolfy , that's enough "

"You gave me your word " he said , voice seething with disgust.
"that you would not lay a finger on a single strand of his hair "

"Please ..." Kaizer gasped "make it s-stop"

"Then you  turned around and went for the whole head !"

Kaizer screamed again , the pure agony in his voice sending River's teeth on edge .

"Tsk -tsk !" Wolfram clicked his tongue  in feigned pity "It seems you really do  have a back bone ! Color me surprised!"

"Wolfy ,stop it! "

"Last time I checked little liars dont deserve one "

"Wolfy!" Einar snapped at him "That's enough ! !

"It -" Kaizer coughed ,choking on his own spit "It has to be done ..He must die today .."

"Are you tired of being tall?" Wolfram scowled "Do you want me to take few inches off your spine ?"

Within the  belly of darkness in the  shrine a ,low growl reverberated .

"He has to die " Kaizer panted , his usually silver eyes glowing eerily in gold "HE MUST DIE ! "

A deafening, otherworldly shriek pierced the air, echoing with unearthly resonance in the hollow shrine. The sound was a blend of torment and malice, leaving River's ears ringing in the silence that  followed.

A pair of eyes was staring at him from the dark corner of the hall .They glowed yellow. They were on him . Another pair appeared right next to the first, followed by another.

Wolfram yanked his frozen body  away from the altar  and pushed him towards the entance .

"Run !"

Author has many things to say

Author is facing a severe burn out and a writting block .

Author read this chapter and felt the need to snack on desiccant silica gel.  Or rat poison .

Author wants to cry.

Author found some memes to cheer herself up.

Author felt this in her soul.

An accurate pie chart on how Author spends her day.

Author is not doing the plot , the plot is doing Author.

Author acsended . This was too relatable .

Author laughed for a long while at 3 a.m upon seeing this . Then she spend the rest of the day crying .

This...this....

Plot outline has gone out the window. My intrusive thoughts are incharge  now.

Author has never been so offended by something she 100% agrees  with.

There is no middle ground .

Authors pretend that reality is a social construct . Peak escapism .

Author needs to start writting the actual bl part of her bl story.

Author will now stop yapping .

Author will take a short break until tomorrow .

Author has something very interesting to show !! Author is waiting for a specific chapter to show it !!

Comment and drop a vote.

Kaizer Schulz

Lemme just put this here .

And this ..

In about 2 more chapters we will be cruising in to a very fun arc .

Thats the only thing that keeps Author writting.

Shout out to Arkhane_Remirez

Author these days about a particular character