Blessed Veins

"Your control is fucking atrocious." Lord Wrath spoke honestly to his sibling, his words lacking the bite they usually did for the topic. His voice leaned towards more of a surprised tone at what he had just witnessed.

Little did the young Prince know that although his magic lacked the guidance needed to wield it, its power was unmatched by many of his generation. Wrath hated to say it but even some of his elders could not match the raw power emanating from the boy. At that moment he knew that if guided properly, Galliard would one day make a formidable foe to anyone that crossed his path.

"Thank you, Lord Brother, I had not noticed." His youngest brother responded dryly, annoyed that he had yet again managed to disappoint.

"It's like your magic is a damned geyser," He tilted his head looking at the small trench his brother had made with what should have been a simple water jet spell. Not giving off even the slightest hit at what had just crossed his mind. "You know the girls will cease to like you if you can not hold." He kicked at a small stone at the edge of the trench making it fly in.

Galliard blinked, stunned, shocked and quite frankly baffled."Was that a joke I just heard?"

"Yes, and?" The Lord said in a serious tone, turning his head to look at his younger brother.

"Since when do you joke, no since when could you joke?" He stared at the older man as if he had sprouted an extra head.

"I am no priest boy, I have a sense of humor." Wrath scoffed, offended that he thought that he was incapable of jest.

"Not a very good one." Galliard chuckled, his smile reaching his eyes for the first time when talking to his brother. "That was almost as bad as one of our father's jokes."

"He told me you would enjoy it when my time came to train you..." His Lord shrugged nonplussed, "He must have been mistaken."

"Oh for the love of Xrion, It was one of our father's jokes." He shivered in false disgust. "Even sent to the veil, he still finds a way to make his awful humor haunt me."

"As long as that is all that comes back from the veil," His brother grumbled to himself. "I do not need him coming back and telling me everything that I am doing wrong."

"He was always the hardest on you," Galliard sobers at the thought as he fidgets with a twig between his fingers. "You two never really did have much of a relationship beyond training or battle."

"He was preparing me to lead." Wrath stated idly, distracted by something in his distant memory. "For that, I am grateful, if he was as lax with me as he was with you then we would all be doomed."

His brother glared at his words, a scowl forming on his face. "Is that why you resent me so?"

"I have told you before I do not despise you, boy." The older Blessed's tone was flat as if the subject bored him."Else I would have beheaded you and been free of your inane babbling."

"You can at least act like my presence does not bother you as much," Galliard murmured glumly at his brother. "It bothers me thinking that my very own brother does not wish me present."

"By the one thousand, you are just like our blasted sister." Wrath sighed tiredly thinking of that particular headache was not what he wanted to be doing right now. "You two need to get it through your thick skulls, with the land we live in we do not have time to be worrying about such trivial things."

"Is that how you're going to raise your children?" Galliard questioned with a raised brow, "To be heartless murderers."

"'Heartless murderers' built the foundation for our clan to become as powerful and renowned as it has." Wrath scoffed at his brother's naivety, "Heartless murderers are the stepping stones that have shaped this world" Wrath waved his hand dismissively at his youngest sibling, "You need to stop living in a fantasy world boy, or you will find yourself being the next body burning upon the raft to the underworld."

Silence….

"Come with me." Wrath stood suddenly, waving his right hand.

"Where are we going exactly?" Galliard asked, flabbergasted.

"As we have seen training this way does not work for you," Wrath strode forward with long strides forcing the younger man to jog to keep up, "You need to fight against real opponents in the real world, the initiated in our castle are too scared to seriously injure you now due to your sister's meddling."

"I'm not ready to fight against a beast of any real power, you know that as well as I do." He began dragging his feet, frightened of what his brother was planning.

"And you will never be if you continue being coddled." Wrath turned around infuriated at the fear in his kin's voice. "Do you wish to become a real Prince of Wrath or do you want to keep being a hindrance to our clan?" He continued on his patch a moment later. "There is a war on the horizon, you have two choices: you can be remembered as Galliard the cockless that needed protection or Galliard the hero that helped to lead his people to victory."

"I...I want to be a hero." The little prince clenched his fist and naked rage bubbled to the surface. "They killed our father and brought war to our lands."

"Good, stop complaining and let us go." Wrath sounded pleased with the answer, or as pleased as he ever sounded in any case. "There is a lot to be done if we are to get you ready in time."

It took no more than a few minutes for them to reach their destination, they found themselves in the middle of a dense forest. The flow of a brook can be heard in the distance and the tinkling of tiny pixy voices carried on the wind. Terrified of the powerful essence they felt coming from the Lord of Wrath, they speed past the brothers like shooting stars trying to find a safe place to hide.

Wrath's hand suddenly shot out and he captured one in his giant hand. His palm warms as he directs his magic to his hand, momentarily sapping their ability to fly. The tiny pixy was shaking uncontrollably as he opened his hand slowly, its brothers and sisters watching from the distance too afraid to try and help.

"We are looking for something." Wrath started, looking down at the lesser being. "A beast with fur as red as blood and eyes the color of twilight."

"Brother you are scaring her." Galliard softly chided before speaking to the small woman shivering in his eldest sibling's palm, "He means you no harm."

"You do not know that." Wrath supplied darkly, "I could intend to crush it within my palm after I am done, do not assume to know someone's desires."

A mighty roar stopped the reply that was crawling its way out of his younger brother's throat. Galliard's head snapped in the direction of the noise, hoping that it was not that formidable-sounding beast his brother wished him to fight. Though he knew better.

"Looks like I will not need your assistance after all." Wrath returned the pixie's magic to her before dropping her like the trash he thought their kind to be.

The two flashed forward with all the speed their blessed status provided, dipping and dodging through trees at a speed that would make a dusk cat jealous.

"What is it that we are looking for exactly?" Galliard mentally questioned his sibling, the two of them moving far too swiftly for their voices to reach each other.

"The perfect opponent for your training." Wrath replied, sounding somewhat bored. "Prepare yourself, weakling."

"For what?" Galliard rose a single brow before he blanched at what was in front of him.

A massive red tail struck the boy flinging him into a tall tree. The bark cracked when the teen's back struck with bone-jarring force. Wrath had conveniently fazed through the blow, watching as his brother struggled to stand.

"Thanks for the warning." The youngest son of Wrath huffed sarcastically.

"I did indeed warn you." His brother responded with more than a little merriment.

"I can hear the mirth in your voice brother." The younger male grouched back.

"Pay attention to your fight and not me, child." The older male spoke as he found a place to sit and watch.

A giant beast stalked towards them, its fur standing on end and its sharp fangs barred in a hiss. Galliard's heart sank as he stood facing the monstrous beast. Quickly he drew the small blade that was in the straps of his boot and readied himself. The beast crouched low, getting ready to pounce. Galliard prepares for this but is shocked that instead of jumping at him its tail flips over its head and flings a ball of dark fluid at him. He attempts to dodge out of the way but not quickly enough it seems, it catches on his shoulder and immediately burns through his skin to the bone. He drops to the ground with a cry of pain.

"You're lucky this beast is not magical." Wrath scuffs the heel of his boot idly on the forest floor as he speaks unfazed by his brother's plight, "It gets its acidic concoction from eating poisonous flowers and drinking from the river of woe some ways from here."

Galliard and the beast circle each other as he waits for another attack glaring at the beast even as his flesh regrew on his bones.

"It digests the food and separates the acidic poison to store for later in its rectum." Wrath informed happily.

"In it's what!" Galliard cried horrified and slighted, taking his attention off the beast for a moment. "It's flinging its shit at me!"

"Focus boy," The Lord chided him softly, looking down from above. "Handle your shitty beast and complain later." Wrath burst out laughing, unable to keep his amusement any longer. Galliard was shocked, to say the least, this was the first time he has heard his brother laugh, truly laugh.

"Oh so now he has a sense of humor." The Prince griped to himself nonplussed.

The beast crouched again and got ready to fling its burning scat once more. Galliard, already knowing its secret now, endeavored to avoid a repeat of his earlier pain. The beast flung its pungent projectile but it misses him this time.

The young Prince runs towards the beast at top speed, not giving it time to reload from its rancid rectum. He jumps into the air, holding the knife with both hands he aims for right in between the beast's eyes. Descending towards it with a mighty battle cry he plunged it into its skull. To his horror and dismay, however, the knife snapped in half when it made contact.

So dumbstruck was the Prince that he forgot his whereabouts for a moment and looked down at his broken dagger. The beast growled low and headbutted him, sending him flying back into the tree that it threw him into previously.

"Did I forget to mention that its fur is impenetrable to anything less than a Warpick, well, at least at your level?" Wrath hummed to himself, before punching his palm with his hand. "My mistake."

"You never forget anything!" Galliard bellowed at him as he stood to face him, "This is just a show for you." He accused, furious at his older sibling. "How am I supposed to kill this thing?"

"We have been training your sorcery all day you blithering imbecile," He scoffed mockingly, "Did you think we were doing it so you could make trenches for a new set of latrine pits?" He burst out laughing when his brother's face twisted at the horrendous pun.

"I'm getting tired of your shit." He admitted openly, glaring in his direction.

"It's not my shit you need to be worried about." Wrath nodded towards the beast, "I told you to stay focused."

Another chunk of crap went flying towards him and landed in the middle of his back. He fell to his knees and cried out in agony as the flesh melted away, the magic boiling in his veins becoming more and more enraged.

"Let us see how you like a taste of what you have got." Galliard creates his own toxic concoction with his magic to throw at the beast. It hits it and…does absolutely nothing.

His brother, now in the trees directly above the two, laughed uproariously. "You decided to fight a beast that feasts on acid and poison with acid and poison." Wrath shook as he held his ribs with one hand. "I thought Gabriella had a few screws loose when she tried to drown a mermaid, at least that was actually possible!"

The beast sits on its backside and tilts its head to the side, the same way Lord Wrath does when he finds something amusing.

"Even the beast is laughing at you, fool." Wrath pointed at the sight holding his gut as he chortled at the scene.

Galliard's eyebrow twitched in annoyance, his magic began to dance erratically in his veins. He waited for an attack but the beast just sits there looking bored.

"It does not think you are even worth the fight." Wrath starts laughing again, the entire situation comical to him. "I was killing these with just my pinky at seven name years old"

The laughter of his brother and the cockiness of the beast was starting to get to the young Lord. His vision started to blur and his hands began to shake. His whole body soon felt covered in the warmth of a thousand suns. Sparks traveled from one finger to the next, the beast's hackles stood on end as it sensed the new danger. Now intrigued, Wrath sat up straighter to get a better look. Galliard fueled all the magic he felt and brought it to the tips of his fingers. Holding his hand up in the air he aimed and fired. A bolt of lightning fired out of his hand towards the beast seeking its target.

He missed by three feet, the power of the blast was so fierce it blasted him back into the forest. He went flying back a dozen paces before crashing into a boulder, cracking the stone in half. Wrath's laughter could once again be heard from where the fight was previously taking place.

Galliard was back there in an instant, completely pissed and ready to prove himself. Now that he knew the force that the blast had behind it he would be ready for the kickback. The beast was still there, it had not bothered to even run away. Instead, it prepared to attack him once again, such folly would be its downfall.

He harnessed his power, feeling it as he flung his hand to the side and in it appeared a whip of crackling lightning. Wrapping the end of it around his hand, he drew it back and cracked it at the beast. The beast squealed as the tip of the whip pierced its left eye. Black blood gushed out of the wound, scorching everything it touched. It crouched down again and let out a deadly growl, Galliard did the same.

'I will not back down,' he thought to himself, 'I will not submit.' The boy was tired of being the weakest link, he was determined to show everybody that he deserved to be a Prince of Wrath.

"Come and get me!" He roared as loud as he could as he went running towards the beast at full speed. His whip morphed into a sword, a wisp of lightning crackling from it and licking the air around him.

The beast flew forward, determined to kill the boy that took its eye. They finally came to striking distance and the beast swatted at the boy with its big paw. Galliard darted into the air and flipped over onto the beast's back. His opponent went to wrap its tail around him to capture him just as the young boy sent the electric energy to cover his body in a protective cocoon.

The beast hissed in pain, its tail scorched by the white-hot energy. Its long appendage spasmed in agony as his power caressed its massive tail. The crimson monster let out a loud pain-filled roar, bucking wildly in its attempts to get the boy off of its back. Galliard created two daggers in his hand with the lightning and plunged them into its back to hold on. The beast thrashed becoming frantic, trying to dismount the boy but all it accomplished was driving the daggers deeper into its thick hide. Clamping his legs around the creature's flanks, Galliard let the blades fade away. The Prince of Wrath brought his hands together and focused his magic into a long polearm, the pulsing energy taking the form of an ethereal blue glave. No longer being shocked his opponent took his momentary lapse in focus to bring its tail up to dislodge the young blessed once more. The heavy appendage swiped up to trap the boy, only for its owner to howl in pain and rage as the newly conjured blade severed the prehensile extension. Galliard smirked at the sound, delighted to hear its suffering after all it had put him through so far. Taking the opportunity, he shifted the glave above his head and brought it down into the beast's back.

The beast jerked a few times before finally slumping to the ground in a heap. Galliard smiled in victory before getting off of its corpse and running over to the tree that Wrath was sitting in.

"I can not believe I did it!" Galliard. "I actually did it."

"Do not celebrate too soon, that was less than a minor beast." Wrath drummed his fingers against his armored thigh in thought, "I expect more from you in the coming days."

"Can you not at least pretend to be proud of me?" Galliard muttered dejectedly, rolling his still-tingling shoulder.

"I would have been proud if you were able to fell the beast upon first encountering it." Wrath spoke bluntly. "I shan't baby you, I will be proud once you accomplish something to be proud of."

"I will train harder and surpass even the likes of you." Gilliard pledged to himself more than his brother.

"I would like to see that happen." Lord Wrath spoke in a sincere tone before his snark returned in earnest, "You would not even be able to beat me when I was six namesakes old."

The bushes rustled causing the young Prince to become alert, widening his senses for any danger. When he sees that his older brother does not seem bothered in the slightest he calms down. Two big floppy ears poke out of the bushes, far too high to belong to one of the ever-present horned rabbits common in this area. Soon the head attached to the ears peaked out to get a look at what caused all the commotion.

Galliard looked at the slim rabbit person in confusion, they were not native to this part of the world, being far more common to the frozen northlands. The human-like girl gazed at the poisonous animal in pure shock.

"D..d..did you do that?" Her small voice stuttered out.

"Yes, I did!" Galliard exclaimed proudly.

Her ears and nose twitched as she took a few steps closer. "You must be very strong." She whispers in excitement.

Wrath scoffed and Galliard narrowed his charcoal eyes at him in slight anger.

"What is someone from the northlands doing out here?" Galliard finally asked the question that has been bothering him.

"My people are being slaughtered for fun and chased out of our home." She shivers as she remembers the bloodshed she witnessed just a few moons ago. "We have been on the run for many nights."

"Slaughtered by who?" Galliard wondered, who would be so cruel to harm such friendly creatures.

"Who cares they are not worth the breath you are wasting to talk to them with." Wrath replies annoyed with his brother's idiocy.

"They are living people brother," Galliard spoke softly, glancing at him out of the corner of his eye. "All species should be treated with respect regardless of their rank."

"You disappoint me." The Lord rolled his shoulders and strode away to sit on a stump.

"Who are the ones that wish to bring you harm?" Galliard speaks softly to the rabbit girl.

"The wolf clans' are using my people to hone the skills of their young." Her voice trembles and the eldest Wrath scoffs. "So we came here to the forest of monsters for protection."

"They do not bother with us since we have little to no magical essence for them to absorb but would attack the wolves if they come anywhere near them." Tears streamed down her face, as thoughts of her fallen family consumed her mind. "However they are determined to kill us all and bring more and more of their people in hopes to end the rest of our race."

"Brother we must help them." Galliard pleads, turning to him. "We can not sit by and allow their whole race to go extinct."

"You might not be able to." Wrath spoke dryly. "I on the other hand have no problems with it."

"The war!" Galliard says excitedly as a plan forms. "We need all the people we can get in the upcoming battle."

"The servants we have now can be replaced with the rabbit people and we can have them train for the fight." Galliard continues before Wrath can make a smart remark about how useless they would be in battle. "They already trained as children before choosing to take their places within the clans so it will not be difficult to get them ready."

"We can create golems or other magical constructs for that if we so need," The young lord paused in his thoughts, looking from the young prince to the girl and back before nodding, "Take me to your leader." He suddenly requested standing. Making both of the younger beings stare dumbly at him for a moment.

"Well, what are we waiting for?"