Phase three.

Elf commander raised her hand, gesturing and commanding her fleet to take positions.

“How stupid does one have to be to yell out their battle plans?” Ric questions the army.

Step & Foo sh…

Ric zooms out and into the Elf commander. With a ‘thud,’ he headbutts her, cracking her skull open. “Elf… stupid.” He bursts into laughter, grabs the elf, and flings her onto an incoming attack.

The Elf becomes the barrier Between Ric and a massive fireball.

“Och!” Winced Ric. “Elf do-be doing no good against fire. Not dragon fire anyway… Friendly fire alert!” Ric shouts and points at a dragon hovering far above reach.

“Everyone saw that, you lizard for brains. Stop hiding in the clouds and get your ass here already.”

The elite fleet of sky warriors flared their wings in anger but stopped once their wing commander, Commander Dracian Dred, hummed with power.

Diving to confront Ric, might or might not kill them, but disobey Dracian and he shall rip you apart.

The fleet warriors comically drift back, not wanting the commander to spot their wings out of line.

Below, a crisp black corpse tickles Ric’s nose. “Such a waste of food.” He glances at the unrecognizable Elf commander’s corpse, breaking down to ash as it falls.

Ric’s eyes flickered from left to right, up to down, back to front, analyzing, judging, predicting, and just a bit, condoning the situation.

He maybe shouldn’t have planned for his own demise.

A decade ago, Ric stared deep into the never-ending abyss of beauty and saw its ending.

It sucked.

Everyone had everything they wanted.

The demon stuffed underground enjoyed their chaos, the dragons ruling the sky enjoyed their freedom, the dwarf hidden within the crevices of the earth enjoyed their gold, and the oblivious humans enjoyed their myths.

Everything was fine and dandy… and bland.

Ric was bored out of his mind.

No one wanted more.

No one wanted it all.

He wanted it all, and now that he had it, he pondered if it was worth the time. The effort was minuscule at best, so much so that it could be the reason why he never appreciated the reward. For everything is but a flicker in the mighty tides of time.

“Maintain your composure, men. He’s a tricky opponent.” The wing commander, Dracian, flaps his wings once, drawing attention to him like a magnet.

“You fight with your mind when it comes to him.”

He never had to flap again as he stood amidst the clouds with a stoic presence, projecting courage.

“Do not let go of your life. It might be less for you, but for me, it’s my world. I repeat and shall never repeat myself. HOLD YOUR FIRE.”

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

—————》●《————

“Hunt him down, you midget.” Sir Toe yells into the ears of Sir Ironbeard.

Ironbeard was a little man in every sense of the word. Born and raised until three feet, he remained there for the rest of his life. With exceptional listening powers, such as any normal dwarf possesses, Sir Ironbeard took his hearing to the next level.

He trained and honed his hearing for years until he heard the fish swimming in the sewers. When his friends spread rumors about his latent abilities, Sir Toe snatched him away from the filth and gave him a new identity.

An identity to make himself rich.

Dwarfs are in tune with the earth to such an extent that they can pick up the whispers of hidden treasures buried within. Some even go as far as commanding the earth to mold its form, strengthen their bodies, or even consume their enemies.

Sir Toe cared little about the rest. His ears, or rather eyes were fixated on Sir Ironbeard’s ears.

Toe went above and beyond for Sir Ironbeard, making him a ‘Sir,’ in charge of the treasury. Dwarfs do love their gold, and Sir Toe wanted to keep his gold safe.

At first, Sir Ironbeard hid the gold so well that the thieves and nobles alike never saw a piece of gold. Impressed, they handed every piece of gold they acquired legally or otherwise. But when the time came to withdraw funds to run their kingdoms, Sir Ironbeard still kept the gold, their gold, hidden.

On second thought, it was stupid of Toe to keep a dwarf in charge of gold! Sure, they keep it safe from any prying eyes, but that also includes your own.

Years pass by as the dwarf finds, hides, and gets yelled at by Sir Toe and the world.

Last year, the Dwarf’s treasured hearing veined. Every worker in the castle knew it, but no one dared point at Sir Toe.

In anger, Toe strips him of his responsibilities but gets puzzled when it comes to the title.

How does one remove a bestowed title?

Yet Toe kept the dwarf around, for he was the only one who knew the location of the fortune collected by all of humankind.

Toe always kept the dwarf at his side, not that he trusted his sense of hearing any more. Toe only hoped to catch him sneaking into the true treasury someday.

Unluckily, this wasn’t that day.

For the first time in a decade, Sir Toe ordered the dwarf to leave his side and follow a command. Too bad his hearing was so far gone that Toe had to scream the instruction for an hour before he made a slight groan, asking Toe to repeat it one last time.

—————》●《————

Ric marks the strongest enchanters in the army then turns his gaze toward Dracian. “Do you know when I started liking Dragon meat?” His smile spreads to a mad grin.

“Veil of deceit.” Ric murmurs a silent spell and all hell breaks loose.

—————》●《————

Toe did not want to get up, nor did the chair let him get up.

Stuck in an awkward position and having no choice, Toe patiently explained the situation to Ironberad and sent him to convey the news to Anzel.

Sir Ironbeard forgot half of the instruction on the way and the other half staring at Anzel.

After sharing a few moments of awkwardness, Anzel headed back to their employer to get the details and escorted the lost dwarf with him, who kept wandering the corridors like a stranger.

“They did what?” Exclaimed Anzel, in shock.

“The next question mark I hear in anyone’s voice won’t have a voice,” Warned Toe.

“Yes.” Anzel straightened and gave Toe a quick, light bow.

“Sir?” Ironbeard held onto his puzzled face for the entire conversation.

“Why… I mean, the Chamber family must have lost their minds.” Anzel slipped, then caught himself and calculated the idiocrasy of the situation out loud.

“Going against the ruler. For this dump, nonetheless.” He looks around the grand hall filled with golden portraits of Sir Toe and lowers his gaze over Toe.

“I mean, why… now is the best time. They planned this long ago.” He declared.

Anzel already perceived the situation, yet he listened to Toe’s rant about the Chamber household, trying to act surprised at the last revelation.

Turns out, Sir Toe received a quarter of the information, following the Chamber’s betrayal, and his oblivious citizens knew more than him.

The Chamber family is right to strike at his seat. Someone should have already stolen the imbecile's seat long ago.

Anzel only pitied the Chambers for being clumsy and having a competition like himself.

He recognized their plan.

He was the one who made the plan for the Chamber household in the first place. They didn’t even need or want such an outrageous thought. Yet Anzel made one and manipulated them to follow through anyway.

After all, they were just a pawn in his grand scheme.

—————》●《————