Chapter 349: _Too Late, Rogue King

Kyren’s POV

*****

The second he stepped through the portal leading to the Dark Lands he sensed it.

A familiar feeling in his gut he’s only ever gotten when he was around a particular old wench who refused to leave his life.

Then he crossed the threshold, his boots crunching against the sharp red desert sands. He was standing at the excavation site.

Or at least, what was left of it.

“Gods…” his nostrils flared as soot, smoke and death entered them.

The bodies of the soldiers he kept in charge of looking after the zone were littered around him—charred, mangled, squashed to a bloody pulp.

There was no end to the uniquely cruel ways his rogues were slaughtered.

His eyes darted to the centre of the excavation zone, where the divine stone’s crater was.

The flora life that had been growing around the spot had all shrivelled into lifeless husks of their former selves. Death and decay seemed to cling to the very air—which was saying a lot for a place as desolate as the Dark Lands.

Slowly, his senses went far and wide, covering thousands of meters of land.

The capital city behind him was burning.

Literally.

The screams of his people as they fled for their lives bled into his very soul. It shook something he’s tried so hard to bury.

“No.” He turned away from the crystal’s crater, already pulling out his communication bracelet again. “Farrell?! For the love of everything wicked, answer me.”

“He’s a little preoccupied at the moment.” A silvery feminine voice cracked through the chaos just then.

Kyren froze.

Then he glanced over his shoulder, staring directly at the crater.

And there she was.

Hovering over it with her black cloak flapping around her was none other than his mother. Even in the middle of destruction, Amara managed to look elegant.

Like a goddess who came down to stroll among mortals. Except this ‘goddess’ was a fraud who dared to touch one of the things he valued in this world.

His people.

“You absolute—” he rose into the air, his eyes already flaring with a bloodthirsty light.

Before he could make any other moves, however, Amara stretched a hand forward.

The Rogue king’s face twisted at what appeared between her fingers. Or rather… who.

“M–My lord.” Farrell struggled to speak, dangling helplessly under Amara’s grip. “I–I’m okay. Please, don’t let her—”

Amara’s fingers tightened into the commander’s neck, drawing blood and making his eyes bulge with pure agony.

Kyren’s heart hammered until the sound echoed in his ears. He locked his eyes on his mother, his fists twitching as her mouth curled with a grin.

“Your father was right,” She mocked. “You’ve let that Omega change you so much. The great Kyren Nochthane… showing concern for one, flimsy life.”

“He’s not the one you want.” Kyren raised a hand. “And neither are my people.”

“Your people?” Amara echoed those words back at him like they were a foreign language. “While I commend your ability to build a kingdom that would’ve taken most millennia—it’s about time you woke up, boy.”

“You are the son of Garrick Ironclaw. Son of Amara Redthorn. True hybrid royalty. The best of both bloodlines. You don’t get to waste your potential with these… rejects.”

“And you don’t get to dictate anything about my life,” it took every bit of restraint he had to not charge at her. “You lost that privilege when you chose to abandon me here.”

“How many times do I have to tell you? We did it to protect you.”

“No,” Kyren snorted. “You did it because you were cowards. Afraid of how committing to raising a child full term would only distract you from your plans. Make you vulnerable.”

For the first time since he reunited with her—he saw it flash across her face.

Hesitation.

Almost appeared to be regretful too.

But he knew her well enough to know she would never feel remorse.

“You want to know something though?” He found himself chuckling dryly. “Discarding your ‘problem’ and pretending it doesn’t exist for three hundred years didn’t make you strong, focused or calculated. It made you weaker than ever. You’re so detached from emotions that you fail to realise how much of a weapon they can be.”

Amara suddenly laughed.

A genuinely amused sound that made Kyren’s chest tighten.

Farrell was still held by the neck, his armour cracked beyond recognition and his face marred with ash. His eyes met with Kyren’s.

Although he didn’t say anything, that look alone made Kyren remember the little lad he took under his wing decades ago. The promising young Rogue who ended up being his greatest commander.

“Even now you still term emotions a weapon,” Amara remarked once she was done laughing. “When will you see it? No matter how much you try blending in you’ll NEVER be one of them.”

“And I’ll never be you either.” Kyren’s fingers sparked with crimson magic. “Release him.”

The High Matron’s expression shifted into something completely cold. “… Very well.”

Time seemingly halted for a beat.

Within a couple of seconds, the commander of the Rogue King jerked. His body straightened unnaturally before exploding, blood, organs and flesh splattering every which way.

Kyren didn’t even get the chance to think. To react.

He just blinked—and then Farrell was reduced to crimson droplets painting the red sand.

“There,” Amara got rid of the blood on her hands with a shake. “I let him rest. Weak fools like him would’ve died regardless once I begin reshaping this continent.”

Something feral snapped in Kyren’s stomach.

His magic and Alpha Aura exploded out of him like hellfire. The ground beneath his feet shattered as he lunged at his mother with every ounce of power he could muster.

“You’ve chosen to be a fool as well.” Amara vanished just when he swiped his claws at her face.

The attack razed down machinery left behind from the excavation in her place.

Before he could move again an invisible, pressuring force coiled around him. Silver chains shot out of the ground, wrapping around his limbs and waist.

Runes glowed across these chains, ancient and absolute.

“One more thing,” Amara thundered from above him. “I was never here for you, your capital or the insects you call your people.”

“My only purpose here is to make sure one of the Stormborn’s most stubborn allies is… unavailable. While their legacy crumbles upon them.”

Kyren’s blood ran cold.

She was never after the Divine crystal. Not yet.

Amara’s grin widened. “Oh, don’t look so worried.” She tilted her head. “You’re already too late.”