She was a bit taken back by the question before a look of sorrow flashed through her eyes, “Do you need to know this?”

“Yes.” Rowan looked her deep in her eyes, his hands shaking a bit, “Yes, I need to know.”

Placing her hand over his right arm, she squeezed it and she began talking, “The shards are pieces of my body… He keeps me alive, chained inside his awful Red Domain, and he harvests my flesh every now and then, and uses it as a currency. With the assistance of my flesh, he has been able to infiltrate nearly every power structure in the known universe. Nevertheless, do not despair, for he is bound by ancient agreements and his battle with me and the seals over his body stripped him of ninety-nine percent of his powers and he can only manipulate the universe in small, often meaningless ways, unless he is given permission, and the foolish gods have given him a lot of permission, don’t make the same mistake. Killing me now would not only deprive him of a page from your Singularity, it would also stop the flow of the shards to the Universe, although he has stockpiled a lot of it, it would become a stream without roots that would soon dry up.”

Rowan’s voice cracked, “How long has he been doing this to you.”

She smiled, “Too long, but for creatures like us, time is meaningless, there is only the now, remember that child.”

Rowan’s face went white as he recollected the torments of Erohim in the hands of Boreas, and realized his mother had been going through worse over a far longer period of time.

Reality began to tremble, and color began leaking into it, the voice of the Third Prince neared his ears and he almost felt as if a corpse with a tongue that was too warm was licking his ears, “What do you think you are doing boy? Do you think killing that whore would solve anything, except carrying you to your death a little more quicker. Sealing her inside this shell is holding back a tremendous portion of my strength. How are you going to survive my wrath when I have no more shackles?”

“Do not listen to his words, Rowan.” Elura eyes flashed with anger, “Yes, he has to divert a greater part of his powers to keep me sealed inside of him, but what he fails to mention is that my death would hurt him badly for time has linked our essence far more deeper than even he had expected, and his strength would fall for a period of time, perhaps enough for you to grow strong enough to stand against him.”

The voice of the Third Prince suddenly went louder and the void quaked, “Shut up! The question you should be asking him is this: Rowan, are you willing to slaughter your own mother, just to give you time to keep running away from me? If you think in a million years you can still be a match for me, then my dear boy, you would be sorely mistaken. But, I’m not all cruel, stop your actions, and return to my side. I promise to give you a life of bliss beside your mother for billions of years. Go against me and I guarantee you a fate worse than death itself, and your soul would be my plaything for all eternity.”

“Don’t listen to him, Rowan, the Devil doesn’t bargain! Do it… kill me!”

Rowan swallowed a lump in his throat, “I can’t.” The blade in his hand collapsed to dust and he grabbed his mother and placed her behind him.

She began to cry, “Rowan it is not stated anywhere, but any mother would more than happily give up their life for her child, not to talk about me, I have failed you in so many ways, and doing this would make me happy as I can finally do one thing to atone for the lifetime of torture you have suffered. This is the wisest choice, you must do this.”

No! You have nothing to apologize for, do you hear me.” Rowan shook her, hoping she would see his convictions, and he continued, “I will not kill you. I can never do that.”

Reality shuddered and the gray tone faded away to bring light and color to everything, the joyous laughter of the Third Prince echoed.

“Oh, my dear, it is too late.” Elura whispered

He saw the confused expression on both Boreas and Kohron at the presence of his mother, but he ignored them all and turned to face his mother, “Since the moment I woke up, my fate and the decisions I make have been directed by everyone and everything around me, even my fu*king bloodline would turn against me, if I don’t enter this endless rat race to stay ahead. I have killed a lot, so much death in so little time…. It began with hundreds, then thousands, now I kill millions.”

“My son, I never wanted this path for you.” Elura whispered with sorrow.

Rowan smiled at her, “The reason I chose to kill was not because of just the pressure from my environment. No, I made that choice because I wanted to be able to finally make the decision by myself… to have the power to be able to decide by myself what I want, so if I can choose to kill, then I can also choose not to kill.”

“Great speech.” the Third Prince guffawed, “Now, give yourself up to me without struggle, choose this path, and I will keep my word. This is not a bargain, but a promise I will keep, my patience is running out, and you will not see such a favorable side from me for long.”

Rowan ignored him, looking directly into his mother’s eyes, those two perfect orbs that he wondered how it was possible he had ever forgotten them. He began to see the beginning of understanding from his mother’s eye, and he nodded to her, “I can choose not to kill, only when I’m powerful enough to be able to make that decision and allow my will to become supreme.”

He lowered the tone of his voice until it seemed like a whisper, and he asked her, “Tell me, mother, how strong do I have to become to break him.”