Hollow returned to his office, and then Esmeray followed. Then she asked:
Amazing speech, Hollow, but what now? What will you do with Cinder?
Hollow: He is not a threat, at least him alone. But if Frost joins him, that would be undesirable.
Esmeray: So, you are still thinking about war.
Hollow: War will come, no matter what I do. The likes of Cinder will not stop. But what I truly don't understand is that in the books that my father left for me, it is said that the fire kingdom's king does not act on his own accord. He acts according to the Elders.
Esmeray: Do you think Cinder is a victim here?
Hollow: Well, if he is going to listen to reason and will not engage in any more aggressive acts, he might be innocent.
After a couple of days, while Hollow was talking to the chief doctor of the kingdom in her office, suddenly the doors got kicked open by one of the nurses.
Nurse: Miss Martha, we have six guards severely injured!
Martha and Hollow ran to follow the nurse. Once they reached them, the guards were dead.
Hollow took a closer look at them. There were clear burn marks.
Suddenly, thunder could be heard. The thunder was purple, and the sky turned purple too, as if the void was taking over the kingdom. Hollow could be seen with a strange purple aura.
Esmeray opened a portal and came out of it to calm Hollow. She put her hand on his shoulder and whispered:
Hollow, I know your anger is justified, but if you act in this mindset, many more will die.
Hollow calmed down, the sky returned to its blue color, and the thunder stopped.
Meanwhile, in the fire kingdom.
Cinder, to one of his helpers: Hahaha, look at that! That brat is really mad now! Hahaha.
The helper: But, my king, what you are doing could result in a war with the void kingdom.
Cinder pointed at the helper, then opened his hand and closed it. The helper burned, now only ash is left.
Cinder then looked away and said: Even if Hollow starts a war, Frost is too trusting for his own good.
In the ice kingdom.
Frost looked at the sky and then said: Oh, Hollow, what happened? You are usually a calm person.
Back in the void kingdom.
Hollow : Martha tell their family that the king is sorry. And Esmeray send them all of the money they need.
Hollow teleported to his bedroom and sat on his bed then started to think:
If I don't do something Cinder will not stop, "sigh" this is bad .
I got it ! , tomorrow I will sneak in Cinder's castle and look for the Elders.
Tomorrow came, and Hollow went to the castle. Hollow searched everywhere and found no one. However, Hollow found a document that had a bunch of steps to erase the void kingdom.:
Step 1 : send an assassin
Step 2 : kill a couple of guards
Step 3 : wait for war
Before Hollow could finish reading, he heard footsteps approaching him. Hollow teleported back to his kingdom, and he took the paper with him.
When Hollow entered his castle, he called Esmeray to him. Esmeray came through a portal in Hollow's office.
Esmeray: Where were you, Hollow?.
Hollow showed Esmeray the paper.
Esmeray: Then the Elders do truly exist.
Hollow: Yes, and they are corrupting Cinder. If I call that out, I will be in the wrong.
Esmeray: You could wait until a meeting is held again, and knowing Cinder, he will say that you took this paper.
Hollow: Then?.
Esmeray: See what comes next. If Cinder is aggressive, we call an emergency state in the three kingdoms. That way, if Cinder starts to attack us, Frost will help us. And if he is tame, well, I don't know.
Hollow: Then he is no longer a threat. If the void kingdom starts a war, Cinder wins. If Cinder starts a war, I win'
Esmeray: So, what now?
Hollow: We wait.
After a day of that...
Esmeray: Hollow, the kings of the fire and ice kingdoms want a meeting to be held.
Hollow: That was pretty quick, Cinder.
Hollow went to the meeting using his void portals; he was the first to come to the meeting table. After an hour, Frost and Cinder arrived.
Frost: Hollow, did you go to the fire kingdom recently?
Hollow: No. Why do you ask?
Cinder: You little thief, don't act like you don't know!
Frost: Calm down Cinder. Well, Hollow, there is an important paper in Cinder's office, but someone stole it. There is no evidence that anyone opened any doors, so the thief must be able to use a void portal. And as you know, to use a void portal to get anywhere, one must visit a place normally first, and to the extent of our knowledge, you, Hollow, are the only one who has visited Cinder's castle.
Hollow: That is a smart conclusion, but I will say that I, Hollow, king of the void kingdom, did not steal anything.
Cinder jumped from his seat towards Hollow. As Cinder was in the air, he pulled his sword out of its guard, Cinder stabbed Hollow.
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