"Beware the one who rises from the fire with a crown in hand and vengeance in heart." From the Lost Chronicles of Oremi
The once-quiet town of Stonebridge, nestled between the borders of Dakira and Oremi, now bore new flags; red and silver, stitched with a roaring lion devouring a serpent.
Zuberi stood atop the broken parapet of the eastern wall, watching smoke rise from the last house to fall. His black leather armor bore no royal crest, only a crimson sash tied tightly around his wrist.
A general approached, blood still drying on his blade.
"We've secured the fortress. The people surrendered, but some elders are calling for trial."
Zuberi's gaze remained on the road. "Trial?" He scoffed. "For surviving what the others ignored?"
"They were peaceful."
"No such thing in a war born of lies."
Behind them, drums began to pound, a steady, deep rhythm meant to summon both soldiers and fear.
"Send word to Dakira," Zuberi said. "Tell them their crown now has a third claimant. And I do not come to share."
The joint council chamber buzzed with alarm.
"Stonebridge has fallen!" shouted Elder Malan, slamming his staff against the floor. "The border is breached. This Zuberi has declared himself heir!"
"And the people are following him," added Lady Jilani grimly. "Even some of our own guards have defected."
Adiro stood tall, voice calm but stern. "We must not retaliate with force. Not yet. Let us send envoys to parley. If we move rashly, we give him what he wants; a civil war."
Niko stood beside him but said nothing.
After the meeting, the brothers walked through the royal garden. The tension between them was thick.
"You disagree," Adiro said.
Niko didn't answer at first. Then: "Zuberi won't parley. He wants a throne, not a peace pact."
"Then what? You want war?"
"I want to protect our people before he brings fire to our gates."
Adiro turned to face him. "And what if we become what our fathers died to stop?"
Niko's jaw clenched. "Sometimes, peace demands a sword."
That evening, a hooded figure crept through the servant's corridor of Dakira's palace. The moonlight caught the edge of a silver dagger hidden beneath their cloak.
Inside the royal study, Adiro sat alone, poring over the last pages of their mother's journal. The scent of old parchment and oil lamps filled the room.
A soft creak.
He turned sharply. "Who's there?"
The figure lunged.
Adiro rolled backward, toppling his chair. The dagger grazed his shoulder before he kicked the assailant away.
Guards burst through the door, followed closely by Niko.
The attacker was seized and unmasked.
Kwame.
Adiro's closest friend. His protector since childhood.
Bloodied, Kwame spat on the floor. "Zuberi's crown is the only one that fits."
Niko stared in disbelief. "You were with us since the beginning…"
"I saw the truth," Kwame growled. "You speak of peace, but you walk like princes who've already claimed it. Zuberi fights for those who lost everything to this lie of unity."
Adiro stepped forward, pain flashing in his eyes. "So you betray the one who called you brother?"
"I was never your brother," Kwame said. "Just a shadow in your light."
The guards dragged him away.
The silence that followed was heavier than stone.
Adiro sat in the temple sanctuary, blood seeping slowly through the cloth tied around his shoulder. The wound wasn't deep but it stung more than just his skin.
Niko entered quietly. "You should rest."
"I should have listened," Adiro whispered.
Niko sat beside him. "No one could've known."
Adiro turned toward him. "Maybe you were right. Maybe I've been too focused on saving what's broken."
Niko looked away. "And maybe I've been too eager to burn it down."
The brothers sat in silence for a while, their shadows cast by the flickering oil lamps dancing together on the walls.
Adiro finally said, "We need to decide."
"Decide what?"
"Which of us should wear the crown."
Niko flinched. "We've always said"
"The people won't accept two kings. And now there are three."
Niko shook his head. "I didn't fight to be king. I fought because it was right."
"And yet," Adiro said quietly, "someone must lead."
Just before dawn, a messenger arrived from Stonebridge barefoot, bruised, and half-dead from running.
He dropped a sealed scroll at the brothers' feet.
Adiro broke the seal. The parchment was torn, smudged with soot.
"The flames will spread. Let the brothers kneel together, or die divided. I await you in the Field of Crows, one week hence. Come crowned, or come broken. Zuberi."
Niko read it aloud again, slower the second time.
"The Field of Crows…" Adiro whispered. "Where the first battle between Dakira and Oremi took place."
"A symbolic battlefield," Niko said. "He wants to make it the last."
They both knew the choice ahead was no longer whether to fight but whether they'd stand together or against each other.
Later that night, Baba Ekun summoned both brothers to a hidden chamber beneath the temple.
He placed a ceremonial box between them; black wood inlaid with gold.
"This," he said, "was kept hidden since the days of the First Kings. It is a symbol… and a choice."
He opened it.
Inside lay a single crown unlike either of their royal lines. Twin lions carved in obsidian and ivory, locked in eternal struggle.
"It belonged to the one who ruled both lands, before the schism."
Adiro touched it gently. "The Crown of Unity."
Baba Ekun nodded. "But to wear it, one must be chosen by the people, by the gods… and by his brother."
Niko's eyes flickered. "You mean only one of us may wear it."
"Yes," Baba Ekun said. "But if you choose wrongly… the land may never heal."
The next day, the city gathered at the stone steps of Dakira's ancient shrine.
Adiro and Niko emerged together.
The people held their breath.
Adiro raised his hand. "Our fathers died for peace. Our mother believed in it. We have fought not as enemies, but as brothers. But now, to save our land, a crown must be placed on one head."
Niko looked out at the crowd some loyal to Dakira, some to Oremi, some torn by fear and blood.
He stepped forward.
"I will not fight my brother for a throne."
Gasps rippled through the square.
"But I will fight beside him for our people."
Then he turned and took the Crown of Unity from Baba Ekun's hands.
With solemn grace, he placed it on Adiro's head.
Cheers. Tears. Silence. All at once.
Adiro, overcome with emotion, whispered, "I don't deserve this alone."
Niko smiled. "Then wear it for both of us."
But in Stonebridge, Zuberi stood before his followers, watching a blacksmith hammer a new sword.
The flames rose behind him, casting his face in shadow.
"Let them choose peace," he said, voice calm. "So we can show them how quickly peace burns."
He turned to his captains.
"Prepare the army. We march for the Field of Crows."