Author's Note:

Finished what I needed to do, finished up some theorizing about how the story should go next. Hoping to finish writing 8 more chapters by the end of this year.

Takes me around 3 hours non-stop writing and correcting to finish one chapter so I would very much appreciate hearing what you think of what I wrote so please leave comments below.

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Chapter 22

'Well even if you did mess up by declaring war on Jin I surely didn't mess up.' I replied in an attempt to make a joke. I failed horribly as I saw tears forming in Isabella's eyes. I was not good with people which is why I generally avoided talking to them. But she was still my sister so I had to keep trying.

'I was joking, I messed up too.'

She then simply hugged me as tears started to dirty my clothes. Not that it mattered since it was cluttered with the remains of bugs. After a while Isabella calmed down and stepped back only to notice that some of the bug remains were now on her dress too.

'EEEW!' she tried to brush it off but instead smudged it over her dress all the more.

Due to the sound there were some people coming down the stairs to see who the new arivals were.

'Hello, come on upstairs.'

We were invited up by a man in royal clothing. He looked to be a duke or something as he had an important looking family crest on his shirt. He also wore a pretty long cape that went all the way to knee-height. After confirming that we were taking up his offer though we didn't reply. Isabella couldn't because she was still somewhat sobbing after being rejected by father and I just couldn't say anything because the crying of my sister made me blank out completely.

The last time I had seen her cry was at my mothers funeral which isn't a recollection I am very fond of.

We walked up the stairs that went along the wall. The tower was circular and the stairs were steep and not very wide. There was also no safety railing so I went ahead up the stairs. I did not know what or who would welcome us once we got upstairs so if it had been something dangerous my manashield would protect us. Luckily that was not the case. Instead when we reached the 1st floor I saw more royalty. Including someone whom I had not expected to see. The king and queen of Joren.

They were supposed to have hidden somewhere where they wouldn't be noticed, far away from the palace yet here they were.

I had never met him in person before but due to him resembling our father alot we were able to recognize him instantly. We weren't sure what to do since we were never told what to do when we would meet other royalty. Our etiquette only included how we ought to behave in front of dukes, counts and their female counter parts. So we improvise; I performed a small bow and Isabella a curtsy.

Obviously everybody was eyeing me suspiciously due to my appearances but after I performed the awkward bow their cold looks seemed to have warmed up a tiny bit. Then the king raised his hadn signaling everyone to be silent. Within seconds it was deadly silent in the circular room.

'Who art thou man of the forest?'

'I am Frank Kirkwall. My appearance was bestowed upon me by the selfish Ancients who used me to keep the people of the forest out of human affairs. I seem to have failed.'

'How do I know that you are Frank?'

I thought for a bit and then activated my mana shields. The regular mana shield not the one used for activating the stealth because that would've only made them more on edge.

Having seen the mana shield and the amazingly small dimensions of the device the believed me. The only mana shields that they knew of were the size of a cart. Seeing a mana shield that would fit in my palm could only be developed by one person and that was me.

'It is good to see that you are well Frank. We thought you were lost like your father.'

'Father isn't lost' Isabella replied.

'But he is; he defected therefore the brother and your father whom we knew is no more.' the king replied with a stern voice. Even though he said it strongly I could hear his voice waver somewhat. It was his own brother after all whom betrayed him. I can't imagine how I would feel if Isabella betrayed me. It would be unimaginable to say the least.

'So how did you two end up here?' Joren asked

'Father sent us here after I revealed myself.' I said.

'Where were you Frank Kirkwall. All we know is that you went after your father but never returned.'

I then told them the whole story; I had nothing to hide form them after all.

Then when I was talking about how we flew on birds to reach Joren the queen interrupted me.

'Were the two Ancients you helped perhaps Boren and Mys Tara?' she asked.

'Yes; how did you know?' I asked.

'They trained me when I was just a child. It was thanks to their training that I became the grand sage.”

My mouth fell open; the grand sage, he who I have idolized since I was a child. He who surpassed my father who meant the world to me. He turns out to be a she.

I was not the only one suprised. The majority of the nobles had similar facial expressions at this new revelation despite most of them not having shown any emotions at hearing my story.

She then continued before anybody would cause an uproar: 'This ofcourse is highly confidential and you are not to share it with anyone. But I have long lost my powers. My golems Annie and Kannie through whom I channeled my power were taken from me by the opposing faction of the Ancients. Frank and Mys Tara tried to get it back but due to the opposing party coming up with valid points they were unable to retrieve the golems. Without them I am just an ordinary woman.'

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People calmed down a bit. A few had wanted to accuse her for not doing anything about their current situation but seeing as she had lost her powers there was nothing she could've done thus she regained the trust of the nobles that she would still do what she could to improve their situation.

'I see that you are wearing a communication bracelet. Have you tried asking the Ancients for help?' she asked.

'This is a communication bracelet?' I asked holding up my hand with the bracelet as I looked at it.

'Yes; what else did you think it was?' Iphiaeneira asked.

'I use it to change races, like so.' I then inserted some mana and changed into a Dragoon Rider which better fit my armor plus the people here would be able to recognize the race.

'So how do I communicate with them?' I asked.

'Just say communicate. It should voice-activate upon hearing the users commands.' she replied.

'communicate' and sure enough the bracelet reacted but pulling up a holographic screen. The screen said:

Who do you wish to communicate with?

_

With a blinking line under it, I guess this is also voice activated.

'Mys Tara'

Connecting to Mys Tara.

Connecting....

Connection found....

Connection made.....

Call intercepted:

'Who are you!?'; an unknown metal face was projected into space.

'This line is only to be used by those in the alliance; who are you to have access to this line?'

'I am Frank Kirkwall; I wish to speak to Mys Tara.' I replied. In the distance I saw Iphiaeneira perform a face-palm at my response. I looked at her questioning. The metal face seemed to have noticed and turned his gaze to her. Seeing her he immediately recognized her. 'Ah, the grand sage.' he said sarcastically with emphasize on the 'grand'

'I see what is going on here. So they were working on interrupting our work behind our backs. Good to know. I must thank you Frank. But we will be coming to retrieve that bracelet so you better stay put. We don't want to exert excessive force.' Then the hologram dissapeared.

It was quiet in the room again.

Iphiaeneira then broke the silence. 'Frank, you have just done the worst possible thing you could've done.'

'What do you mean?' I asked.

'Do you have any idea who that was?' Iphiaeneira asked.

'None.' I said

'That man is the leader of the oppossing faction. Basically the arch-rivals and something like enemies to Mys Tara and Boren. They will restrict them even more and take away even more of their authority. They will then hunt you down to the ends of the earth. Or attleast nearly the ends of the earth. The only place that they can't reach no matter what; the only place that you must reach to remain out of their grasps is Lunar Isle. To there you must go without fail.'

'But we are stuck in this tower, how can we possibly get to Lunar Isle?' I interjected.

'Just change into a giant and bash down the wall here. With a Giants strength this wall should be easy. Then you ought to change into some race that can fly. Are there any flying races you can change into?' she asked hopefully. She had gotten closer to us together with the king as the nobles around us started whispering to one another about the recent developements.

I then inserted more mana into my bracelet and pulled out the list of races I could turn into.

Peoples of the Forest

Dragoon Riders

Elves

Waterpeoples

Giants

Each divided in their subspecies and all the way at the bottom was a species I had not thought to be sentient. A species that I used to see as food but would do so no more. It was Guava.

Guava was a bird that could fit in your stumache if you ate it minus the bones and organs. That was all that I knew about it.

'Well I guess this might just work.' I said looking up to the king and queen again.

'Well go on then, we do not know how close their servants are and if they have already contacted them. It is best to hurry. Lunar Isle is hard to get to by flight due to the turbulent weather so once you reach the cliffs in the north you should change into one of the waterpeoples and swim across along the islands to Lunar Isle.'

I then looked back to the list and selected the giant race after which I grew.

'But what do I do once I get there?' I asked

The king then once again spoke; 'Show them this' he said as he handed me his signet ring as you could hear the people around gasping for air for all knew that the kings signet ring was the most valuable belonging in the kingdom of Joren for it held the power to rule the lands.

'Take this and you should be able to procure the castle that our royal family owns there. Be prudent not to show yourself to others or else they will send people for you. The Ancients might not be able to reach you but their servants most certainly will.'

I then took the signet ring looked at Isabella one last time as she looked up to me with new tears forming in her eyes once again.

'I will come looking for you as soon as possible.' she said.

Seeing as this wouldn't be a goodbye but a see you later I pushed on without wasting any more time. With my hand ready to select Guava as my next race I rushed into the wall breaking through. I immediately changed into a Guava and flew off heading north away from the palace, my family and the Ancients who were already plotting their pursuit.