SWNOVELS Chapter 37: A Trophy Denied
Meanwhile, the Emperor waited in the royal box for his trophy, watching the guards search the Arena for Hanna’s skull. After a half hour of waiting, he became impatient and irritated by the wait, so he jumped down to the Arena, walking over to where they were searching. “What’s taking so long?” the Emperor asked impatiently.
One of the guards abruptly called out, saying, “I think you’d better see this, your highness.” He shook with fear as the Emperor and the rest of the guards gathered around his find.
What the Emperor saw caused his demeanor to sour dramatically as his anger flared like a bomb going off. Before him, he saw a bloody body print in the sand and Magnus’ footprints in the sand, coming in and going away from the body print. The Emperor knew this could mean only one thing: Hanna had escaped with the assistance of someone important within his very domain right from under his very nose. He squatted down with a scowl on his face and examined the footprints closely. He even leaned down and sniffed the footprints.
A stream of curses and profanity against the Ancient of Days spewed forth from the Emperor as he rose up, clobbering the man who had pointed out the bad news. “Find Magnus now!” he thundered. “I’ll not tolerate this kind of betrayal! Find him and bring me his head and the head of Beowulf!” He looked furiously at the guards, who were cowering at his fury. “Why are you still here? Go and bring me their heads now!” he raged. The guards fled from his presence. His arm shot out and restrained a guard, saying with great anger and hate, “You...find Kronos and tell him to chain the Lynxian back up. Then tell him to sweep the fortress and the city. I want to know who these traitors are that defy me in my own house! Now go!” The Emperor roughly released the guard, who immediately fled the Arena leaving the Emperor alone in his rage. He picked up the sword of Bolthor Sai Keleb and hacked to bits every carcass in the Arena while a stream of profanity spewed from his lips.
When he broke the sword of Bolthor Sai Keleb on the skull of his pet tarok, he threw the broken blade across the Arena and bellowed in utter wrath, “I’ll eat their souls myself! These pathetic human fleas have held me back for the last time! I’ll kill every last one of them! There will be none fit to survive my coming! I will unleash a holocaust that will burn this pathetic mud ball of a planet to ashes! None will survive my wrath! I will purge the human contagion infesting the multiverse, along with anyone else who dares to stand in my way! I am the end of all that is!” The Emperor stormed out of the Arena with the only thought being to kill anyone who dared cross his path.