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The banquet hall was full of people, some sitting, some standing around the room. Krux recognized many of them as former or present Elemental Masters. It wasn't a stretch to assume the others were family or new descendants.

A large swath of the tables were empty and roped off, and there wasn't much hope to sit alone. He searched the room for someone he felt safe enough with and eventually spotted Sable and Shade.

"Ah," Sable said when he took a seat. "Chen got you too, huh?"

"In a sense," Krux said, pulling out the chair for Kai. "Though I'm not sure I'm comfortable with him declaring himself emperor."

"'Course not," Shade said. "He wants to unite humans and serpentine, right? I mean, considering we basically lost the war, it's not surprising, but—"

Sable elbowed him hard. "Keep your voice down," she hissed. Shade promptly shut his mouth.

Krux eyed the guards around them and decided it would be best to change the subject. "You already know why I fled the capital all those years ago," he said. "This is Kai, the Master of Fire. Kai, this is Sable and her son, Shade, the Master of Shadow."

Kai shrank down in his seat. "Hi," he said.

Sable cracked a smile. "Not the other one, huh?"

"It was a complex situation," Krux said. "I want to believe that twins are no longer as stigmatized as they once were, but it would have been dangerous to travel with both of them."

"I miss Nya," Kai mumbled.

Krux turned to him. "She'll be alright without you, okay? You'll see her again soon."

"Do you know what this ceremony is supposed to be?" Shade asked. "I talked to some of the others and they're all saying they were called here for a ceremony."

"I'd imagine it's for Chen to officially become emperor," Sable said. "Historically, that ceremony needs at least some elemental masters to be present, and considering the nature of Chen's rise to power, I wouldn't be surprised if he wanted as many elemental masters as possible here to legitimize his reign."

"Fat chance," Shade muttered. Sable glared at him.

"Huh," said Krux. "Why exclude some, then? He specifically wrote that the Master of Water was not required to come."

Shade frowned. "That is weird. What kind of ceremony would need only certain elemental masters?"

"It's best not to question it," said Sable. "Emperor Chen doesn't have a high bar to surpass. We've all seen how the previous emperor wielded his power—it's no wonder there was a plot to assassinate him."

Across the hall, a pair of double doors opened. The room fell quiet, and the people standing rushed to take their seats.

"Oh, goodness," Chen said, flanked by guards and holding a large staff. "No need for all these formalities, I'm not yet a full emperor!" He grinned and took the emperor's seat in the center of the room, resting the staff on the table in front of him. "Please, make yourselves comfortable! I am honored to see all these elemental masters back here in the capital, some of which haven't been here for many years."

He looked around at the room. No one spoke.

"So," he said, "we have some business to discuss. As some of you are aware, I have invited leaders from the five Serpentine clans here to discuss the matter of ending the war. The fighting may have halted, but we need to make sure it stays that way, don't we?"

He laughed. No one else did.

"The five leaders will be joining us momentarily," Chen continued. "Please, mind your manners around them. They may have been our enemy in the war, but a peaceful future requires us to cooperate. Treat them as you would any high-ranking official."

With a jolt, Krux remembered that Arcturus was one of those five leaders, representing the Anacondrai. And wasn't Tezrus representing the Constrictai? How many of these leaders did he already know? With his luck, Aspheera would reappear to represent the Hypnobrai.

He shook his head. "Is something wrong?" Sable asked.

"No," Krux said. "Just… lost in thought."

She snorted. "Better pay attention. I have a feeling what he says will be important later."

Krux tuned back into Chen's speech just in time for everyone to rise. Krux followed suit and pulled Kai up from his seat.

"Please welcome the leaders chosen to represent their clans," Chen said. "Slithraa of the Hypnobrai, Tezrus of the Constricai, Ryme of the Fangpyre, Dulsi of the Venomari, and Arcturus of the Anacondrai."

The serpentine entered the dining hall one by one, flanked by a handful of their own guards. Tezrus might have seen him as he ran his gaze over the elemental masters, but Krux couldn't tell. The constrictai's suspicion was understandable; Krux was fairly certain this was his first time in the capital since being imprisoned in it. He took his place at the table and whispered something to the considerably shorter constrictai with him.

Arcturus entered last. He had only a single anacondrai guard with him. He nodded at the other serpentine and went around them to take his place closest to Chen. Krux stared at him until Chen made a gesture and the elemental masters sat.

"Thank you, thank you," Chen said. "Now, before we get into the real business, let's get some food in our stomachs, hm?"

---

Kai ate the bread and only picked at the rest of the food. Krux couldn't judge him. He didn't have the stomach for much, either.

"When do we get to go home?" Kai asked.

"It might be a few days," Krux whispered back. "I'll ask Chen once I get a chance, alright?"

Kai pushed the piece of meat around on his plate. "I want to go home," he said. "I like Wu's cooking better."

Krux hastily looked around to see if anyone had caught the mention of Wu, but Sable was occupied with scolding Shade for something, and there was no one on Kai's other side. He took a slow breath. "I'll get you home as soon as I can," he said. "I promise, Kai."

The child nodded. "Okay."

While dessert was being served, Arcturus rose from his seat. The motion went unnoticed by most of the elemental masters until he spoke. "Emperor," he said, "I believe we have some business to discuss."

The chatter stopped. Chen tilted his head. "Where are your manners, General?" he said, his voice ringing out in the eerie silence. "Can't you wait just a little longer?"

"You have been testing my patience for a very long while," said Arcturus. "I did not support your rise to emperor for a mere meal, Chen."

"Arcturus is correct." The Hypnobrai general, Slithraa, hissed. "You made many promissses to us to ensure the war's end. I, for one, want to know if you intend to follow through on them."

"Looks like he overestimated his serpentine relations," Shade mumbled through a mouthful of food. Sable elbowed him and he nearly choked on it.

Krux gripped the edge of the table as the serpentine generals rose to their full heights. The elemental masters started to murmur to each other. "What's going on?" Kai asked.

Chen laughed. "Now, now! If you're that eager, we can begin our discussion, sure!"

The doors the serpentine had entered through slammed shut. Krux about near pissed himself at the sound. He looked back at the other doors and found them being closed as well.

"Arcturus," Chen said, "why don't you go first?"

Arcturus narrowed his eyes. "Very well," he said. "You promised you would allow my clan to build an outpost on human land to facilitate interaction between our cultures, but after days of discussion, we are no closer to deciding a location than before the war began."

Chen shrugged. "It's a complex situation, isn't it? I would much prefer we wait until humans are, ah, more acclimated to your kind."

Tezrus spoke. "You also said you would cede land from the human empire to the Constrictai," he said, "after your army killed my predecessor and imprisoned me."

"Oh, that wasn't my army, not at the time. We've had to replace most of the higher-ranking people, actually—"

"You have been evasive for days," said the Venomari general, her tail lashing. "We will not wait forever, Emperor Chen."

"That's right," said Chen. "I am the emperor. You are barely over a dozen serpentine in capital city of the humans, surrounded by my guards and the elemental masters."

For a moment, no one spoke.

A human woman broke the silence with a loud curse, and she nearly knocked her chair over in her haste to stand. "You are not emperor yet, Chen!" she said. "The elemental masters are not yours to command."

"Sit down, Lilly," Chen said, sounding almost bored. "I promised your father that no harm would come to you or your child."

The woman took a step back. "Is that a threat?"

"It could be!" Chen grinned. "Depends on how much you care for your husband."

"Oh, shit," Shade said in alarm. "Mom, should we—"

"Stay close," Sable said.

Kai grabbed Krux's arm. "I'm scared," the boy whimpered when Krux looked down at him. "Can we go home, please?"

Before he could figure out how to respond, Tezrus slammed his fists on the table. "You did not bring us here for a treaty," he hissed. "You've led us into a trap!"

Chen groaned. "Oh, enough with the accusations!" he said, raising his voice above the growing clamor of serpentine and elemental masters. "Everyone, please, settle down."

His heart in his stomach, Krux looked for Arcturus and saw him whispering to Ryme, the Fangpyre general. She had also worked for Chen, if he remembered correctly. Krux took a deep breath.

"I understand the elemental masters may be concerned about my style of leadership," Chen said. "That's okay! Change is hard to get used to. So, I have a deal for you! If you don't want to serve on my council, then you don't have to! Just go home! No need to worry about fighting in wars, continuing your lineage, or any of that.

"All you have to do is surrender your elemental powers."

Something nudged his side. Krux suppressed a yelp and looked in wide-eyed terror at Sable.

"Shade can get us out of here," Sable whispered. "You coming?"

Krux shook his head. "Take Kai," he said, grabbing the child's arm. "I have to help the serpentine."

Sable's eyes widened. "Are you insane?"

"They aren't the enemy," Krux said. "And—I know the Anacondrai general. I can't let him die."

"For the serpentine," Chen continued, "I will also let you go home peacefully."

"Liar," Dulsi snapped.

"No, really!" Chen sighed. "How little you trust me! All you have to do is agree to unite as one empire, under my rule. Isn't that what you wanted, Arcturus?"

Arcturus snarled. "I wanted my daughter to be happy."

Chen shrugged. "Ah, whatever. I was lying, anyway."

He clapped his hands once.

The first arrow buried itself in Tezrus' shoulder. The constrictai roared and charge through the human guards towards the door. The second arrow missed, and by then, Krux had shoved Kai at Sable and rushed forward to join the battle.

He located the archer and flung a timestop in their direction. He waited barely long enough to see it connect before moving again; the guards would soon notice a human fighting on the wrong side.

A serpentine's scream cut through the air. Krux glanced up in time to see the Venomari general clutching her bleeding side. The sword cut through her again, and she fell. Krux's breath caught.

He spotted Arcturus and Ryme holding their own against the human guards, accompanied by the surviving serpentine guards; the Anacondrai, two Fangpyre, and one surviving Venomari. Ryme was bleeding from a wound on her head, and the Venomari was barely standing, while Arcturus and the other Anacondrai appeared to be unharmed. Tezrus and Slithraa weren't with them; Krux told himself they had managed to escape.

He tried to plot a path to Arcturus, but there was most of the dining hall to cross through chaos to get there. The doors closest to him were blocked by a crowd of elemental masters, shouting at the guards to be released. Sable, Shade, and Kai were nowhere to be seen; had they found another way out?

Krux's eyes fell on the second set of doors across the hall, broken off their hinges. That must be where the serpentine had escaped, but Arcturus and Ryme had been left behind.

He ducked behind a pillar and took a few fast breaths.

He knew he had done it once before; paused time for a whole room. Krux forced himself to focus and summoned his powers.

The air hummed around him. Krux inhaled, held it, and told time: stop.

The room went silent.

He exhaled. Everyone around him was shrouded in a red haze, frozen in time. When he first tried to move, he staggered and nearly fell over. Krux caught himself and weaved through the crowd towards the serpentine.

He made it to Arcturus' side just as time resumed.

Arcturus hissed and recoiled back from the human guards. "Krux," he said, nodding at him. "You're here."

"He's an elemental master," Ryme said before Krux could speak. "Do you trust him?"

"With my life."

Krux nodded back, a swirling mix of emotions held back by adrenaline.

The fighting halted as the humans and serpentine pulled back and eyed each other for openings. Exhaustion weight in Krux's bones after pausing the room; he stood up straighter and met the guards with a glare.

In the silence, Chen's voice rang out.

"Hold it! Master of Time, what are you doing?"

Krux looked across the room at Chen's throne. "I," he said loudly, "am defending my family!"

Chen groaned. "Good grief, you barely even know your twin! I'm not sure you appreciate all I've done for you."

He clenched his jaw. "The previous emperor said something very similar," said Krux.

"Hey, I'm not that guy!" Chen grinned. "For one, I'm a lot harder to kill."

He clapped his hands twice.

The lights dimmed. Seemingly from thin air, Clouse walked into the room, a spellbook open in his hands. The serpentine clustered closer together, their weapons ready. Krux's hand sparked with red energy.

"Good to see you're still loyal," Chen commented, handing Clouse the staff off the table. "The Constrictai and Hypnobrai leaders got away. You'll have to track them down later."

"So be it," Clouse said. "What is the Master of Time doing?"

"Something stupid," Chen said. "Now go take care of the problem."

He clapped again, once, and the human guards moved.

Krux barely stopped time for the one approaching him, his heart pounding as he realized the guard was aiming to kill. He snatched the sword out of their hand and took a step back, eyes darting around the room. The elemental masters were still trying to escape, ignoring Krux and the Serpentine.

Anger flared in Krux's heart. He ran the sword through the paused guard.

As the guard fell, Krux realized his side had suffered their own losses. The Venomari was injured, and her reaction time slow. Ryme moved to defend her, but the guard cut a gash across her chest, and she collapsed. No chance to ease her passing; an arrow struck Ryme's shoulder, and the Fangpyre general snarled and backed into the corner of the room.

Arcturus looked at his solider and nodded. His soldier returned the gesture and repositioned himself to protect Ryme, leaving Krux and Arcturus side by side. Another arrow struck Arcturus' uncovered arm, but bounced off without breaking the skin.

Krux thought quickly. They had to get to the exit. Tezrus and Slithraa must have escaped, so if they followed—

The atmosphere grew cold. The guards pulled back and cleared a path for Clouse, holding his spellbook in one hand and Chen's staff in another.

"You don't know what you're doing," he said to Krux. "You don't know how to fight. You don't know where your loyalties should lie. The only thing keeping you alive is your elemental powers."

Krux glared at him and said nothing.

Clouse raised the staff. Arcturus tensed. Krux didn't wait to see what spell would be thrown at them. His hand glowed red and he flung a time-stop—

—and the elemental energy curved in midair and disappeared into the staff.

Krux had enough time to realize something was wrong because exhaustion brought him to his knees. He gasped and clutched his chest, but there was no wound, no pain—just an empty void that gnawed at his insides. He reached for the power to pause time and found nothing.

He saw the sword on the ground. He moved to pick it up.

The next moment, he was on his side, and Arcturus was standing above him. Krux looked up just as the guard pulled his sword back. For one horrifying moment, he feared the worst—but Arcturus raised himself on his tail, no wound visible.

"What did you do to him?" Arcturus hissed.

"Took his element," Clouse said. "Without that, we no longer have to him alive. Move aside."

It was as if his heart had stopped. Krux internally reached again for his element, and found only half; the ability to reverse. He desperately called on it, but the power was sputtering, as if damaged, and he felt it tugged towards the gravitational pull of the staff. He shoved it back down.

Arcturus bared his teeth. "Krux risked everything for my daughter," he said, "and I will repay that debt. Swords and arrows do nothing to an Anacondrai—how does Chen's favored pet plan on removing me?"

Clouse's expression darkened. He raised his spellbook and spoke in a language Krux had no knowledge of, but the sounds chilled him to the bone. Arcturus dropped into a defensive stance, his tail half-curled around Krux.

A purple glow raced past them both and hit the other Anacondrai.

Arcturus whirled around as his soldier dropped his weapon and clawed at his own throat. Ryme cried out, but the Anacondrai could not answer. He crumpled to the ground with his mouth gaping open, choking silently, his thrashing body rapidly losing strength.

Krux tried again to reverse time, but all he managed to do was repeat the last seconds of the dying serpentine. When time resumed, Clouse was staring down at him in alarm. "You shouldn't be able to do that," he snapped. "How—"

Arcturus charged forward with a roar. Clouse switched mid-sentence to the otherworldly language. "No!" Krux shouted. "Arcturus!"

His anguished cry was cut short. Arcturus staggered to the side. His sword missed. He didn't drop it—even as his chest heaved, unable to draw in air, he swung again. Clouse stepped out of reach.

Cold, cold horror gripped Krux's heart. He scrambled to his feet and was immediately yanked back by guards. Krux struggled against them, yelling Arcturus' name, over and over. There was no indication he was heard. Arcturus was still moving, forcing himself after Clouse, each swing of his sword weaker than the last.

The sword fell. Arcturus fell with it, grabbing his throat. Krux felt hot tears running down his cheeks. "Arcturus," he choked out. "Please, no, no."

Arcturus stilled. The room was silent.

"Well," Chen said loudly. "I believe I've made my point clear."

Krux's mouth moved wordlessly. His body trembled with sobs. He tried one last time to reverse time, but his power refused.

"There are rooms made up for the elemental masters," Chen continued, as if that mattered more than Arcturus. "You have one night to consider my offer, got it? Good!"

I trust him with my life, Arcturus had said. You will be a good brother to her, Arcturus had said.

I only wish I could have taken you both.

Krux wanted to fall to the ground, to scream and wail and curse Chen's name, but the guards slapped vengestone cuffs on him and dragged him in front of the new emperor.

"As for you," Chen said, "Krux, Krux, Krux… you really screwed it up, did you know?"

"Just do it," Krux spat through his tears. "Kill me."

"As convenient as that would be, I do admit you brought the Master of Fire to me."

He gestured to the side. Krux followed the motion and saw Kai and Sable, restrained by guards.

So they hadn't escaped, after all.

"So you get one more chance." Chen leaned forward with a grin. "Agree to my terms, and you get to live. What will it be, Master of Time?"

Krux met Kai's terrified eyes, and knew what he had to do.