“My Emperor,” croaked Voltair’s Personal Acolyte, Barreth, as he popped his wrinkled and ‘hooded’, bald head inside of his Private Chamber.

  “Yes, Barreth?” Emperor Voltair asked whilst standing in front of his lit fireplace whilst being adorned in his royal cloak and uniform. “What is the reasoning behind your UNREQUESTED intrusion?”

  “Forgive me for my intrusion, my Emperor… But I come to you bearing grand news.”

  “Grand news, you say? Well then, in that case, what be this ‘grand news’ that you speak of?”

  “The Galactic Deciders have returned from their latest mission, Your Grace.”

  “Really? And were they ‘successful’?”

  “Partly, my Lord.”

  “PARTLY???”

  “Yes, Your Grace. Partly. They ‘cleansed’ the galaxy of the ‘Kren-Aligned’ world of Taolea,

  but…”

  “They did NOT find the Oath-Breaker?”

  Regretfully shaking his withered head from side to side, Barreth replied, “No, my Lord…

  THEY DID NOT.”

  Upon hearing the failure of his personal soldiers’ most recent mission, Emperor Voltair’s brow lowered whilst the fire in the fireplace randomly spiked upwards for a brief moment

  “THRACK!!!!!!” Emperor Voltair suddenly raged, frightening his acolyte. “ONE CYCLE! For one thracking cycle I have ordered those KROONES to locate and apprehend the Oath-Breaker and yet… THEY HAVE NOT!!!”

  Turning around quickly to face Barreth, Emperor Voltair commanded, “BRING THEM TO ME! Bring them all to me NOW!!!”

  “Yes, my Emperor… AS YOU COMMAND,” Barreth nervously doubled as he quickly turned around and scurried out of his ‘gilded lord’s’ private chamber.

  Fifteen Minute-Cycles Later...

  Outside of Emperor Voltair’s Private Chamber

  “So, on a scale from one to ten, how upset do you think the Emperor is?” Draex asked whilst standing alongside the rest of his Galactic Deciding teammates/siblings.

  “About one thracking BILLION,” Kai cursed as he stood with his chest puffed out and back straightened. “Tis the thirteenth mission that we have all FAILED to capture Magnus.”

  Lowering his brow, Braako snapped, “Do not speak his name, you skogger!”

  Catching himself, Kai lowered his brow as he said, “Uh… Yes, Sir. My grandest apologies.”

  “When you speak of the Oath-Breaker you call him as such!” Braako seared.

  “OATH-BREAKER,” Apollox reiterated as he and Braako glanced at one another.

  “His name… IS MAGNUS,” Anora uttered, causing everyone to look to her in mixtures of shock,

  confusion, and anger.

  Eyes widened, Medo asked, “Anora, did you not hear what Brothers Braako and Apollox just said???”

  “I did, Sister,” Anora replied. “And I still choose to call Magnus by his true name.”

  Glancing down at Braako, who glared at her intensely, Anora smirked, “MAGNUS.”

  Braako’s eyes then widened as Rayven said in a shaky voice, “Best mind your words, Little Anora…. FOR THEY COULD BECOME YOUR UNDOING.”

  Anora then scrunched her brow at Rayven whilst Tristen sighed, “Ugh… Thrack. Will you all PLEASE quit your squabbling and STEADY your emotional levels? This senseless ‘raxx-talk’ is getting us NOWHERE.”

  “I agree with Truh-Tristen.” Xan stuttered. “Wuh-Wuh-We should all juh-just calm duh-duh--”

  KA-CHOOM!

  “ENTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Emperor Voltair raged immediately after the big, golden doors to his Private Chamber automatically burst open.

  With their eyes and heads all now facing forward, the nine Galactic Deciders of the Voltairan Empire gulped and steadied their emotional levels before they stepped foot inside of the Private Chamber.

  “GRAND GREETINGS, EMPEROR VOLTAIR,” the Galactic Deciders all thundered in unity as they gave their angered ruler ‘formal’ bows of respect.

  “How many worlds?” Emperor Voltair asked whilst still staring into his fireplace.

  “Hm?” Braako hummed. “What, my Emperor?”

  “HOW MANY WORLDS??? How many worlds have you nine BROKEN since I first ordered you to bring THE OATH-BREAKER to me? HOW MANY???”

  Scrunching his brow, Braako lifted up his chin and answered, “Thirteen, my Emp--”

  “THIRTEEN!!!!!!!” Emperor Voltair raged in a voice that hit the nine like a shockwave. “THIRTEEN WORLDS you nine WORTHLESS skoggers have broken in your search for the Oath-Breaker and yet… YOU STILL HAVE NOT THRACKING FOUND HIM!!!”

  The Galactic Deciders gave the Emperor widened stares of slight fear as he continued to rant, “How difficult is it? How THRACKING difficult is it to find ONE INDIVIDUAL?! HOW DIFFICULT?!?!”

  “Muh-My Emperor,” Braako stammered. “I PERSONALLY apologize for my team’s failure for not bringing you the Oath-Breaker… ALIVE, but…”

  “Silence your thracking gob, Braako!” Emperor Voltair snapped, causing the Commanding-Leader of the Galactic Deciders to seal his lips instantly. “The failure… The CONSTANT FAILURE does not linger on the shoulders of your teammates, Braako! Tis lingers on yours… YOURS!!!”

  The other Deciders kept their eyes facing forward and jaws clenched as Emperor Voltair stomped over towards Braako.

  “You are their ‘Commanding-Leader’, are you not??? ARE YOU NOT?! Speak, you raxx-eater!”

  “Yes, my Emperor… I AM.”

  “THEN WHY DO YOU NOT TAKE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR TEAM’S CONSTANT FAILURES?! Why have you not found the Oath-Breaker yet?! Thracking tell me RIGHT NOW, Braako, or else I shall have you PERMENANTLY REMOVED from your role as a ‘Commanding-Leader’ AND ‘Galactic Decider’!!!”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  “Grand Emperor,” Decider Medo surprisingly uttered, gaining Voltair’s intense gaze upon her now. “We… Are doing the best we possibly can. Every planet that we have come into contact with was either a ‘temporary’ place of refuge for the Oath-Breaker… OR A FALSITY. He has not used his abilities in over a cycle so tis VERY HARROWING for us to track down his true location… BUT we are near him. Every planet that we come across… AND BREAK we grow closer towards the wretched thrack. Soon enough, my Emperor, we WILL find the Oath-Breaker and I can MORE than promise you that he will be yours to do whatever you wish. This, my lord… I ASSURE YOU OF.”

  “Really??? ‘Assure me’, do you?” Voltair mocked. “Well… Tis grand, Medo. SO GRAND to hear what I have CONSTANTLY BEEN HEARING FOR THE PAST THRACKING SOLAR CYCLE!!!”

  Realizing that she angered the grand emperor even more so, Medo fell back in line and sealed her lips.

  “You… ALL OF YOU,” Voltair began to thunder again as he directed his attention towards the nine once more. “Have told me the same thracking tale so many times that I want to tear my own thracking ears off! IF you assure me that you will bring me the Oath-Breaker then WHY have none of you done it yet??? Thirteen worlds you have broken… ALL FOR NOTHING!!! What ‘grandness’ has resulted from the destruction of those WORTHLESS, WASTED planets?!”

  “Eradication of the Kren, Emperor,” Rayven snapped. “Tis what we were all originally intended to do before you ordered us to find the Oath-Breaker last cycle. We, as Galactic Deciders of the Voltairan Empire, are to ERADICATE the Kren race and ALL Kren Sympathizers from the galactic sector.”

  “Yes, Rayven. Tis true,” Emperor Voltair nodded. “But the Oath-Breaker is a much GRANDER threat than the thracking Kren!”

  Turning away from the Galactic Deciders now, Emperor Voltair scoffed as he faced his fireplace again, “If he wanted it so, the Oath-Breaker could come back here… TO VOLTAIRA and break it with a single thracking thought… DECIMATING our race entirely. Now, tell me, my childlings… ‘What’ shall stop him doing as such? WHAT???”

  “He would not do that,” Anora spoke out, causing the others to look at her in surprise.

  Braako, Apollox, Medo, and Ravyen all lowered their brows bitterly whilst Emperor Voltair turned to Anora and asked, “What?”

  “I said, HE WOULD NOT DO THAT, my lord,” Anora restated more sternly.

  “And HOW do you know this, Decider Anora???” would not do that,” Anora restated.

  Lowering his brow, Emperor Voltair asked, “And how do you know this?”

  Scrunching her brow as Voltair set his harsh eyes upon her now, Anora replied, “I… I do not. Not for certain.”

  “Then why did you say it with such conviction???”

  Anora did not reply.

  Narrowing his eyes sourly at the platinum-blonde hair intergalactic peacekeeper, Voltair demanded, “Are you working with the Oath-Breaker? Do you conspire against your teammates, your race, AND your world???”

  Anora continued to remain silent as the Grand Emperor pressed further, “DO YOU CONSPIRE AGAINST ME???”

  “My Emperor,” Decider Kai suddenly erupted, causing Voltair to divert his attention towards him for the moment. “I believe that Anora was only…”

  “WAS I SPEAKING TO YOU, RAXX-EATER?!” Emperor Voltair snapped, causing Kai to seal his lips and cower in fear.

  Now standing toe to toe with Anora, Emperor Voltair looked down upon her ‘goddess-like’ face and seared, “You were closest to him. Out of all the others… YOU, ANORA were always the closest to the Oath-Breaker. Now, answer me this, Girl. Are you still close to him? Do you know where the TRAITOROUS KROONE is???”

  “No… No, Emperor,” Anora firmly denied. “I do not.”

  “Are you certain of this?”

  “Yes, my Emperor.”

  Keeping her emotions stabilized, Anora looked up at the Emperor, right in his eyes, and said, “I would do anything to ensure the safety of our people and world… AS WELL AS YOUR SAFETY, Your Graciousness. Even if that meant…”

  “Killing the Oath-Breaker?” Voltair challenged.

  “Yes… YES, EMPEROR VOLTAIR,” Anora sternly replied whilst glaring right back at her overlord. “For the protection of our race, our world, other races, other worlds, my siblings… AND YOU and YOUR Empire, I would end the Oath-Breaker’s Life-Cycle… Without question or hesitation.”

  “REALLY???”

  “Yes, Emperor.”

  Keeping his eyes narrowed, Emperor Voltair nodded whilst saying, “Mm… We shall see, Anora... We shall see.”

  Turning his back on the Galactic Deciders once more, Emperor Voltair continued, “On the day-cycle when you and the others find the Oath-Breaker, Anora… I ORDER YOU to be the one who extinguishes his cursed thracking life-force… ONCE AND FOR THRACKING ALL.”

  Braako, Apollox, Medo, and Rayven all slightly smirked now as Anora twinged her brow in concern.

  “Now… CONFIRM COMMAND,” Voltair ordered as he looked back at the perplexed decider.

  “Command… CONFIRMED, Your Grace,” Anora fumbled back as she tried to keep her emotions from rising to the surface.

  “GRAND,” Emperor Voltair sneered as a sick and twisted grin now painted his chiseled face.

  Directing his attention back to the rest of the deciders for a final time that evening-cycle, Voltair said, “Tis all that I have for you… YOU ARE DISMISSED.”

  “GRAND THANKS, EMPEROR VOLTAIR,” the nine Galactic Deciders all said in unison whilst bowing to their ruler before exiting the Private Chamber.

  After the Galactic Deciders had departed, Emperor Voltair bitterly cursed, “Thracking skoggers…”

  While the Emperor seethed in his silent hatred and discontent, Barreth came creeping back inside of his Private Chamber.

  “My Emperor… Is there anything else that you wish to request before I turn in for the night-cycle?” Barreth asked as Voltair kept his back to him.

  “Yes, Barreth… TIS,” the Emperor nodded. “Contact Professor Zimeon in the Underlevels. Tell him that I wish to see… THE PRISONER.”

  Eyes widened, Barreth nodded, “Yes, my Emperor… As you command.”

  As Barreth went to exit the Private Chamber, Emperor Voltair beckoned, “And Barreth… One more thing.”

  “Yes, Your Highness?” Barreth asked whilst standing halfway out of the Private Chamber’s entry way.

  With a sick look in his eye, Voltair smirked, “Make sure that none of the Knights inform the Prisoner of my impending arrival… FOR I WISH TO ‘SURPRISE’ HIM.”