A Brother’s True Colors

This story is by Nalla OrLong and was part of our 2025 Fall Writing Contest. You can find all the writing contest stories here.

“He manipulated us into joining his cause Vek, but it’s not too late for us to fight for the right side,” Shalryn pleaded, pacing around the room. “Come with me and together we can end Kow’s reign of terror.”

“He didn’t manipulate me into anything,” Veknos sighed in exasperation as he watched Shalryn from where he sat at the foot of what was now his bed.

“The night before he found us those weren’t King Evrat’s men; they were HIS men. They dressed like Evrat’s so that we would blame him and would sympathize with his cause. He is the reason we thought we lost Mazuka but-”

“DON’T! Don’t say what I think you’re going to say,” Veknos snapped, his bloodred wings ruffing.

“Vek I’ve seen her. I’ve talked to her. Mazuka is alive,” she shot back with conviction.

“That’s not possible,” Veknos said, his voice barely a whisper.

“You would know that better than anyone, wouldn’t you Vek?” Shalryn and Veknos spun to face the new voice. They hadn’t noticed Mazuka watching from balcony. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that you would choose this room to be yours Veknos, you did always like my things,” she said stepping into the room that used to be hers. Mazuka could feel sorrow threatening to overwhelm her as she thought of all the things she had lost since she last stayed in this room.

Veknos looked stunned as he asked, “How are you alive?”

“You see at first, I was angry at you both, but Shalryn was so genuine about how she ‘missed me so much!’ that it finally clicked. She wasn’t a part of it, she didn’t even know what really happened that night,” Mazuka said her resolve hardening as she stopped her wandering around the room and came to stand between them.

Confusion flashed across Shalryn’s face as she asked, “What are you talking about?”

Mazuka’s resulting smile was sharp, poised to harm, “What a story that is! Would you like to tell it? Or should I?” Veknos opened his mouth to answer but Mazuka cut him off, plucking one of his bloodred feathers, before he could say anything, “Or how about I tell her what happened, and you can try to explain why you did it. So, let’s get started.”

Mazuka continued surveying the room as she began recounting the events of that night, “It all started about a month before that fateful night. We were doing our best to make up for my crazy brother-in-law, which I hear wasn’t as crazy as we all thought. Anyhow, there we were, trying to do good, when Vek here approached me about, how did you phrase it again… ‘taking care of the king’. Of course, I reminded him that we were all family, and family doesn’t betray or kill each other as he insinuated, we do.”

Shalryn looked startled, “What?”

“Don’t looked so offended Shalryn remember, you were also a part of the rebellion that ended his rule mere months ago.” Mazuka snapped before continuing, “As I was saying, I told him we don’t do that sort of thing, but for some reason he wouldn’t let it go, and every time I turned him down, we seemed to butt heads more often. My only question for you Vek is when you met Kow, was it before you came to me or after?”

“I met him two days before that night,” Veknos ground out, as he stood.

“Interesting,” Mazuka scoffed, annoyed at the hurt she felt to know that Vek would have suggested killing Evrat without the influence of Kow. “Then, and correct me if I get it wrong, you two took the next two days to set up the performance you put on that night. As I remember it you were in charge of setting our course that trip, you took us to the exact point you two planned,” Mazuka paused coming to look out over the balcony to the cliffs below and the ocean beyond.

Taking a breath to settle her nerves before continuing, “As our crew contended with Kow’s ship and you, Shalryn, were hard at work providing support with your magic, Vek set off to complete his job. He knocked me over the head, disorienting me, and dragged me up into the storm with his aptly colored wings,” Mazuka made a show of flourishing his bloodred feather as she spun to face them.

“Of course, there was a reason that I was the captain and not him, I got free from his grip and was about to use my magic to make him regret betraying me, but it seems nature had different plans for me. Was the lightning storm just good luck on your part or did Kow have something to do with that? You know what, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that I’m here now, giving you a chance to explain.”

Shalryn turned to Veknos expectantly, “Vek, is this true?”

Veknos sneered as he pushed past Shalryn, “You’re being soft Shalryn, maybe I made the wrong choice in keeping you around for all these years. Mazuka would never have turned against her brother-in-law, but your magic was still useful to us, you just needed the right motivation, and nothing motivates someone better revenge. I told you earlier, Kow never manipulated me.”

“See that’s where your wrong Vek. My brother-in-law wasn’t crazy; your dear friend Kow, poisoned his mind. So, yes, he did manipulate you, just not in the same way he manipulated Shalryn.” Mazuka said leaning against the railing, “You lost the only family who cared about you, for nothing. Tell me, how does that make you feel?”

Veknos roared, launching himself forward, shoving Mazuka over the railing. Mazuka let herself take in the weightless feeling of her body as she plummeted toward the ocean below. She wondered what it must feel like for Veknos to have wings granted through his Nephelium heritage, to never fear falling.

When Mazuka hit the water, everything went blurry for a moment before coming back into focus. She didn’t even bother surfacing before her irises rimmed in glowing gold and with a blink she was back in her old room. When she reappeared, Veknos and Shalryn were too busy yelling at each other to notice her. Mazuka watched in interest as she had been before confronting Vek.

“How could you?” Shalryn yelled, shoving Veknos.

“Stop being so naive” he shouted back. “We did plenty of illegal things when it was the three of us.”

“Those things were harmless we never killed anyone,” Shalryn threw back at him before once again noticing Mazuka.

Veknos stumbled back as he saw her, “How-how did you…”

“You’d think you would’ve learned that dropping me into the ocean doesn’t really have the intended effect,” she said sweeping up to the pair, stopping when she was toe-to-toe with Vek. “I should kill you for what you’ve done, but I live by a code… I don’t kill family,” she looked him up and down, a look of disgust on her face, “and unfortunately, I still consider you that. But just because I won’t kill you doesn’t, I’ll forgive you.”

“I never asked to be a part of your stupid family; you were just a means to an end. A key to the kingdom’s treasury. I don’t need you anymore since that key belongs to me now, and I don’t need you anymore either,” he seethed looking to Shalryn. “Kow is powerful enough on the throne to keep himself there, so we don’t need you anymore, though I suppose we never needed you, just your magi-”

A slap rang out through the room as Mazuka struck Veknos, “You don’t get to talk to her that way. And don’t kid yourself, you know you stayed with us for more than just the money. You considered us more like family than you ever did your awful siblings, but I guess some of us can’t leave the relationships we’re used to. Come on Shalryn we have a throne to reclaim.”

As Mazuka made her way into the hall Shalryn turned to give Veknos one last look and said, “He manipulated us into joining his cause Vek, but it’s not too late for me to fight for the right side… Good luck, because as I’m sure you remember, we don’t like to lose.”