“Upon the decree of lyron the second of his name. Rias Pendragon is hereby ordered to execution by beheading!” Malonis exclaimed as the gates of the inner coliseum opened. The blaring light of the midday sun splattered into my eyes, making me blind for a second. Malonis’s continued still his booming voice resounded through the coliseum as he addressed onlookers gathered for this ‘spectacle’. Men, women even children shouted their opinions. Malonis didn’t care for these and continued to sprout falsehoods that would no doubt make everyone quiet.
“Bring her to the block!” The king commanded raising a hand covered in armour. Two knights adjacent to me pushed at my back, there was a delicacy in that act among the frigid anger. Keeping my head low I walked towards the block upon a raised platform. Tripping on the bottom step of the platform I looked up and saw the blazing sun behind the king’s head making him seem like some sort of angelic figure destined for greatness. “Pick her up and drag those feet!” The king lyron commanded the knights once again. The knights once my comrades dragged me up the steps towards the block.
“In the old myths. You would have executed me isn’t that right artura?” The king whispered in my ear. ‘So, he does know?’ I asked myself still keeping my head towards the ground. After reaching the top step I shrugged off the knights, facing the king I spoke simply.
“Let’s hope this smile lasts onto my severed head. Bastard king of Riel.” Lyron didn’t care for my words and just proceeded to roll his eyes kicking me to the block onto my knees. As my neck crashed onto the wooden block, I turned to my family who were joined by Anne watching on with dissatisfaction, I spoke more to myself than anything giving myself some sort of false hope. ‘Do you see me now Father? No, the dead can’t see into this world. Brother look the sister you hate will now lose her head.’
“The old myths tell of an empress who beheaded her traitorous knights. Today we will reenact what Empress Artura Pendragon did to her people. All watch as the immortal knight dies by our hand!” Malonis shouted raising his voice above the shouts quieting everyone down.
This was the first time I had heard a nickname only Wolfgar’s knight and princess called me, it was satisfying for the moment I heard it. Knowing I didn’t have long I proceeded to act like someone who was cocky and ready to die.
“You coward. Harmon hiding in plain sight of the kid named after you… what a shocker I hope you feel better when I’m dead.” I grinned looking Malonis directly in the eyes with blood dripping all over my teeth. “So go on kill me it’s not like I’ve got everything left.” Laughing through a bloodied throat waiting for the king’s sword to come down separating my head from my shoulders.
“Upon the decree! The execution will begin!” Malonis shouted as snow began to fall. Not paying any mind to the sound of the silver swing I watched the snowflakes fall. In those same flakes, I watched the reflection of silver swing down just for it to only fall short a few inches. ‘Are we being blue-balled?’ Luna asked in my head. I didn’t respond turning my gaze slightly I saw the king lift up his sword again, this time it looked like he was definitely going to kill me with one swing. No words were exchanged as the blade came down towards my neck just as metal hit flesh I smiled and in the rapid falls of snow, I rift-stepped.
When the snow clouds finally settled all they saw was a mound of ash prepared earlier with Akron’s help. Everyone was in shock as they looked at the scene. To those same onlookers, I was now dead and gone, I couldn’t figure out what the royals were thinking but I couldn’t care as I’m now free. Turning my gaze to Corvus and Anne, she spoke in turn. ‘We’ll meet at the crossroads of ash. We’ll protect them at all costs even take our lives if we have to.’ I nodded to my companions. Taking a moment to take a second to breathe, I gripped a small paper object in my pocket.
As I was about to turn away, someone grabbed my hand. A familiar delicate hand, its smooth surface rubbed against my calloused, scarred right hand. The person in my gaze happened to be a heaving breathing low stamina Talia. Tears flowed from her eyes, each tear dropped the same at ever beat of my heart. I tried to speak but the quickness of Talia’s hand over my mouth forced me to stay my tongue. Looking at her intently I listened to every word she spoke. “Thank you, rias… for what you did. I really am grateful.” She stopped, pushing me into the dark shadow of the room, so we couldn’t be seen. “You know what I would like to ask something of you the only thing I’d ever ask for.” She paused as I slowly removed her hand from over my mouth to speak my own mind.
“Wherever you go from now on can I follow?” I was stunned, taken aback slightly unlike me Talia wasn’t pronounced dead before the near entire city of Amaranth. I thought for a second in complete bewilderment half figuring out that Talia just disappearing wasn’t a good idea. When I figured all my thoughts out, I replied to her question rather slower than I had intended.
“Shall we go then and come back when this has all blown away.” I smiled gripping Talia’s hand tightly. Not wanting to wait, Talia pulled me along as we ran. Though our actions would cost Riel time and resources to find Talia she couldn’t care, from the look on Talia’s face, she was happy to run away from her home. In these moments I felt the happiest, running with Talia and our bonds this felt like a family. A feeling which was common around hera and Nimue when I sparred with them.
…
Being safe from sight by anyone, Talia and I met up with Akron near a warp gate at the edge of Amaranth. Even when we were short on breath, she explained all that would happen from now on to both of us. Knowing a war would be coming in the next ten years or so we had to become prepared. The only solution she came up with was for herself and a few eldritch gods to train us to a point where I could regain the throne of Camelot and for Talia to become the queen of the wraiths.
Knowing this plan, I came up with my own plan to change our appearance, our new appearance would be detailed in a confidential letter sent through mana to Anne in Malphent’s script, a long-dead language.
Intending to be unrecognizable, we had to be certain of how we looked. I leaned more toward the elven side of looks, meaning I had pointed ears and fair pale skin. Gun metal grey hair braided to that of a Nordic style et cetera et cetera. However, the more drastic changes included my eyes and the scar that lined my face from the left of my jaw to the right eyebrow. My eyes once gold became an emerald green. ‘I must say I look fucking hot.’ I thought to myself looking in the mirror at myself.
Talia on the other hand went for a more different appearance from a wraith human to that of a more elegant figure perhaps pthulminthian or Norniran. Her appearance went from the usual wraith look-alike with white-pink faded hair and amethyst eyes to full shadow black hair and crimson eyes, a more toned body. She became taller along with becoming leaner yet kept a lot of the female aspects. Upon hearing the sudden commotion of children Akron hastened us to be resolute in our appearances.
“Right! Let’s be on our way… soon the king will catch wind. This ain’t no ordinary snow.” Clapping her hands together opened up the once desolate warp gate to a place that would soon become my home for however long needed. ‘Don’t look back’. Holding hands with Talia we jumped through the warp gate to the other side. The transition was fast if not mind-numbing, normally warp gates weren’t so bad yet the eldritch-like magic gave me a temporary migraine.
Using the desolate warp gate, we ended up in a lush green world full of Beauty that could only be compared to the heavens. A constant pink sky behind the blaring white sun shining down on us. Looking through my surroundings I felt the weight of the warm air of a fresh rose breeze. Cherry blossoms grew alongside apple trees, but they didn’t compare to the large tree in the centre of this world, its oak bark a sunken brown in colour with red leaves that felt like their own crimson moon.
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The thin white blanket of snow stretched for miles beyond my enhanced vision, I could tell that this world was something Akron deeply cared for. Still keeping hold of Talia’s hand, I walked beside her following after Akron, who took a small gold robin into her palm letting sit comfortably before placing it on her shoulder.
“Now then. Let’s go meet your new mentors, shall we?” Akron seemed pleased that we followed her willingly in this realm full of surprises and animals. I had never seen any of this before in any of my lives. I looked far and wide at birds larger than houses swooping high and low, dark mirages of eagles or hawks ever so distant. Phoenix’s roamed free along with dragons, that filled the entire spectrum of shape and sound. Red dragons complimented the Azure Phoenix’s and vice versa. Not just that, even beasts roamed free not disturbing the world around them. The world I was now in was far removed from onrath.
“What do you call this place?” Talia asked allowing an eagle to use her left shoulder as a perch.
“We call this place. Hallow medium. Others may call it Nynwon” Akron replied walking to a cliff’s edge. “In this place, beings are free to do what they like but choose to be apart. I can transform into a dragon regardless of my curse. Here, Rias you don’t need to keep it a secret.” Akron exclaimed jumping off the cliff. Looking at the edge of the cliff I felt a sudden pull in pressure, Akron had changed forms. Akron’s dragon form was more elegant than the myths would say in a way, it felt brutal looking with the crimson underbelly and white pearly scales. Yet in that brutality there was beauty.
Jumping onto Akron’s back, I could feel the sharp points of her scales along with its bone-hard structure that could shatter steel and defend her under flesh from explosive outbursts caused by time. ‘That’s just how tough dragons were’ luna spoke up inside my mind. Akron was by no means the strongest, but she also wasn’t the weakest one out there. Aethna my dragon bond from my past life was potentially the strongest ever recorded though I never got to see her full strength. Dragons just like the other primordial creatures had one thing above us humanoids the ability to control the very nature of something not like a concept but similar.
Dragons were able to control the skies, phoenixes were able to control fire, leviathans the water et cetera. Eventually, when these three primordial races tried to rebel against the mother of existence, they lost the ability to control said nature apart from the primordial lion who in the rebellion became a constellation being able to control the stars themselves. Whether this is true is yet to be seen. Though this was only named in myth never recorded by someone so speculative people always brought up theories and well, a concrete answer has never been given by anyone. Many call out bullshit on the story.
After a while of flying through this land, we reached a house on a large open plain. The house took the shape of a small thatched cottage, made of limestone. It seemed out of place beside the magic tower constructed with magical materials to take the shape of something steampunk-like. The bronze-rusted cogs didn’t move, probably there for decoration, other than that a large clock was crafted into the right side of the tower. This clock told the time of various realms such as Pthulminth, Ashrith and Tramon.
Landing on the ground only a single figure greeted us. A tall man, he seemed to look young yet the way he held himself was of someone much older than thirty either meant he was in hard labour or physically weak. Nevertheless, he did look young for how old he seemed after a moment he fixed his posture deciding to greet me and Talia who looked uncomfortable being near a man which was understandable.
“Oh, I see. Ah sorry… Akron never mentioned that. My name is Týr this is… well Riva or Riven and this sk- we call her Morrigan.” Týr spoke with calmness as he stood shaking my hand whilst introducing two other people. Riva seemed to give me the impression of a mad scientist mage who did illegal experiments in the name of progress, but it could’ve just been her plague doctor-like outfit. Next to her stood a shieldmaiden holding an axe and a Nordic sword called Ulfberht.
Morrigan wore a Nordic garb made of a fine fabric that was pressed underneath a large fur cloak and hood. ‘What do onrathians call them oh right fantasy Vikings.’ she was only wearing a tight-chested shirt protected by a wrapped corset. Like myself, I assumed Morrigan had northern markings tattooed onto her upper back and arms. This I could only tell by looking at her hands, despite that I assumed she also had nihonic runes marked into her spine and patterns tattooed into her sides just past her waist. When she turned to greet us, I got a good look at her face and hair hidden under the wolf head hood. Ice blue hair braided in the ritualistic manner akin to the northern dragon riders of Themis Narmora.
“Nice to meet you. Call me Morrigan or Skandri I’m fine with either, Riva change forms.” Morrigan reached out her hand to shake mine. I couldn’t help but look at the burn scar across her face going through the right eye. The right eye had no life to it, hollow and cracked. The scar itself has a cascading motion to its form is similar to a lightning bolt. Though she hid some areas with light blue makeup it was truly something hard to hide, especially thanks to her glowing lapis-coloured eye.
“Nice to meet you…” Talia’s voice trailed off as Morrigan shook Talia’s hand carefully. Though Talia wasn’t the shy type, it seemed she was careful when being faced with a literal eldritch god and a primordial dragon who slowly shifted from her draconian form. I happened to lock eyes with Riva who greeted us both with a smile and a wave, she was the eccentric type.
Now being able to see Riva’s face I had to complement its cleanliness and beauty. Her skin was the palest out of all these eldritch deities nevertheless it had a fair beauty to it like Týr’s tanned skin. Riva’s feint auburn eyes flashed with a bright yellow reflected by the mana around her. I wanted to mention it, but it seemed like I was the only one who had noticed it. As Riva shifted more out of her plague doctor form, I saw more of her skin which made her look like an eastern traveller from faraway lands that matched her black-toned bronze hair mixed with light auburn highlights.
Týr seemed the most out of place by his casual appearance of a normal common man who seemed beyond his years probably also thanks to his bald head which did suit him well, and the chest-length hair of his rough-shaped beard. Out of all of them when I shook týr’s hand it felt the most familiar like shaking the hand of a comrade after sparing bare-handed. Like Morrigan týr was covered in markings all over his upper body besides his face.
Tyr and Morrigan did share similar runes that were marked into the sides of their heads. Tyr on the other hand did have more runes marked into his neck.
“I’m the only one that has the least markings. The runes down my back are my only markings.” Akron said as she came to place her arms around myself and Talia. “Now we’re done with introductions we should probably get onto the part about us training you both and while you’re here, you should use that shape-shifting magic sparingly.” Akron said tapping me on the bridge of my nose. Not knowing what she meant Riva clicked her fingers involuntarily changing our appearance back to our actual looks.
“I’ll make more but for now keep these. They change your looks on how you made them to look, Pthulminthian and elf.” Riva said in a raspy sick voice that matched her monotone form of a plague doctor. Which was a far cry from Akron’s sexy voice or týr’s northern accent. Morrigan’s accent was probably the most distinct of a noble from Nihon who could speak perfect Latin or tramonic.
…
The training Akron mentioned started a few days after we arrived. Talia was mainly trained by Akron and Riva in the arts of controlling her wraith blood and unparalleled talent of magical swordsmanship whereas I was to be taught by Morrigan and týr who I found out was a great man to be around. Morrigan was the one picked to train me in swordsmanship and all things weapons along with using my curse. Týr nominated himself to teach me magical proficiency, using said magic in ways I can’t understand at a fundamental level and tapping into my raw power. I didn’t question anything about the crown as I expected I'd know in time.
“That crown helps you focus your shapeshifting and well makes it, so you don’t explode when using too much raw power. Other than limiting it doesn’t serve much of a purpose if I’ll be honest, but Riva would have a better sense than I.”
“You should ask her about it. You could spend a lot more time with Talia… reminds me of him.” Morrigan sighed watching me and týr swing at each other with a growing intensity far above that of a normal person, through my training so far, I had learned only that I found out I was born with a Valkyrie body which meant I could tank a spell of oryan the king of eldritch gods otherwise known as azathoth.
Morrigan also mentioned in passing that I could probably tank an attack from the king of Scarlet or his bond the written voice. ‘Well, she did say it was a stretch right now. I’d still die just not permanently.’ I shrugged the thought off as my odachi narrowly missed týr’s shield. Týr’s shield creaked as my odachi clashed with it sending us both back a few feet which was unexpected on both our parts.
“I’ll be damned I wasn’t expecting that. Though I have noticed your left eye doesn’t glow like your right as well… your left arm is fully black is there a reason as to why?” Týr asked me to pause so we could talk. I didn’t know how to start so, I began telling him about the beginning of how this all came to be from my strange dream to being killed by Ludwig when he activated my curse to me eventually killing the royals and then being nearly executed for a crime, I did commit but for the right reasons.
“I understand that, but I can’t wrap my head around why it doesn’t glow. The formless eir isn’t hostile but in that dream, you said you didn’t have a left eye or arm. I’m not entirely sure if my answer will be right but in your last life you did give something up right for a pact if I’m not mistaken.” Týr said taking a few steps towards me.
“My left eye. When I made my pact with the primordial spider of fear and love Arachni to become her einherjar and marionette.” I replied keeping my head to the right avoiding both Morrigan’s and Týr’s gaze. Both Morrigan and Týr sighed not out of exhaustion or embarrassment but out of surprise that made this entire situation slightly more uneasy than I thought it to be. “At the time I thought I was doing the right thing as regnimarin had mordid as her einherjar.”
“Yes you did the right thing and yet you second-guessed your decision did you not?” Týr asked lifting my head to look him directly in the eye. I nodded which in return received a satisfied nod from both Morrigan and týr. I didn’t admit it, but I could feel some familiarity between us like old friends.
“Alright let’s get back to tra— never mind it seems its evening. Smells good Akron!” Morrigan shouted as we all dropped what we were doing and ran right towards the thatched cottage. The smell of baked bread along with newly made pastries shot up our noses as we ran to where Akron waited by the door in a white apron holding a tray of glasses filled with red wine.
‘Luna let’s enjoy our new life as long as we can.’ I smiled at my bond who was beside me with a faint golden gleam in her eyes.