The king's throne room….
Damien and the king sat across from each other at a long table with wine and a feast on it, inside of king ganish's throne room. The king's throne was behind him although his current chair looked also to be made of fine wood and materials. The had the court mage to his right and his brother the duke and royal guardsman captain to his left.
Meanwhile, Damien just sat alone with his fingers crossed on the other side of the table. He glanced around the room once again admiring the architecture. He still couldn't fully believe he was attempting to batrter with a king on terms for kingdoms. Not that he really needed much from the king, but still, he did need something from him so here he was. He just had to make the king feel like he needed his kingdom, in return.
Damien wanted to meet the king on even terms. He wanted to gage the man that would be neighboring his kingdom. The tension and silence was thick enough to slice in the air. Damien was the first to speak.
"A lot less pointy sticks around this time around." Damien said with a smirk.
"Well, I don't think I need them for a friendly chat do I?" The king said with white knuckles gripping his chair. This man looked like those dreadful dramons with that crown. He needed to sign a treaty that would benefit his kingdom and not just this mans. Damien was thinking similar thoughts.
"No, I suppose not. I'm glad for the invitation, but surprised it was so soon. So, I'm here to review terms?"
The king sat back in his chair with an unreadable look on his face. After a few moments had passed king spoke.
"Patience young king patience. You have made yourself known, you obviously have untold riches and resources. You were correct that the goods from your caravan would be world renowned gifts for the High Royals of the major races. Yet, you make them available for the common man. Healing hundreds of people and supplying them unlimited water. Yet again, a renowned display of power.
So, I am supposed to believe after all of these displays of power that you are not a threat? That you are not planning an attempt on my throne? Yes, you have a bordering kingdom in the wilds, which is a feat in itself, but you want me to believe that you have an entire established kingdom built in such a short time? What a few years at most? I simply cannot believe such a thing. What do you want?"
The whole time that the king spoke, Damien listened calmly.
"I don't want your throne King Ganish, I want your slaves. Your injured and maimed. Any of your kingdom's poor. I want you to allow them to leave, freely. I want you to allow them to come live in my kingdom. I'd rather askYou are free to try to stop me if you'd like bu-"
Damien heard snickering then full blown laughter coming from the other side of the table. The king was laughing uncontrollably. The king laughed himself to tears but controlled himself after seeing the annoyed look on Damiens face.
"Out of all of the things that I imagined you would demand from me, it is this. My kingdoms beggars and whores? I suppose you want all of my kingdom prisoners too? Mmm?
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When Damien nodded, the king burst in another fit of laughter. When he regained his composure once again he spoke again.
"Well, you could only need people if you need your kingdom to grow. As much as I want to refuse, you have solved a problem that has been plaguing our cities. The growing number of hungry stomachs in the kingdom."
"In which of your cities?" Damien asked. Still looking annoyed at being the butt of the king's jokes.
"All of them. We have more bodies on the streets adding to mass graves. I simply do not have enough."
"But how? This kingdom is bursting with power and wealth. How could there be a shortage of anything?"
"Mind your place mage king. This is my kingdoms problem, not yours."
"Well, if we continue with this agreement then this will also be my problem. Now, what is the issue."
The king visibly deflated. All of his confidence and strength was gone in an instant. The king seemed older instantly somehow. It looked like a weight has been on his shoulders and he was on the verge of being consumed by it.
"Mage king, I will adhere to your wishes if you assist my kingdom from our enemies. I have around 500,000 slaves that I will personally March to your gate if you succeed in assisting my kingdom. That is my request."
Damien was shocked. He wasn't expecting to be asked for help. He would have raised this kingdom to the ground for what he wanted. He was expecting the prideful king to turn down his offer and declare war on his kingdom. Damien was prepared to portal into the throne room and burn the place down from the inside out. He needed people and this kingdom had millions. Damien was prepared for a battle. Not a counseling session. The king looked broken and tired.
"What armies are so powerful that they are too much Algarian army to handle? I've read the stories, the humans untied all the lands through war and conquest. There has been relative peace for centuries outside of a few border squabbles." Damien asked.
"You have done your homework on our lands. Yes that was the situation for many decades until recent years. A new enemy has risen from the shadows. Almost literally. One day, they were just there slaughtering innocent pilgrims. The lands on the other side of the west gate of the outer gates lead to mostly unexplored lands.
"We had sent caravan of mages, soldiers, and mercenaries to establish new villages and expand the kingdom. We had the answer to the food shortage problem. We established villages deep into the territory. It was miles and miles of open plains and perfect soil for crops. It was largely a success until….they came."
The king took a deep drink from his goblet to quench his suddenly dry tounge and continued.
"These monsters are like any we have ever encountered. They call themselves the Hellions. They look like men but in appearance only. They are twice as strong, and harder to kill. They can die but they take multiple men to keep them down and their archers and warriors commonly ride monstrosities into battle. Yet, it's their mages that are the most destructive. They wield powerful magics that our own mages struggle to contend with and have the numbers to threaten the entire world.
We have no idea where they came from and any spies or scout that we have sent into this land has never returned. We have never been able to get many answers out of any that we capture and interrogate. That's if they don't kill themselves first. One warrior will dive into a mass of hundreds of warriors without fear of death. My generals are at a loss and they are only months away from our gates. The last count was in the millions. That was a year ago. I don't have the heart to tell my people that all is already loss. Only the people in this room and the men and women dying in the plains know of this secret war. I don't have the heart to tell the men they are only delaying the inevitable."
At those words the king waved his hand and Jostin the court mage pulled out a stone and began chants. The aura around him crackled turning red, the power of his element. The stone melted away and landed on the table, burning a circle into the table. Heartless blue flames rose and dimmed in seconds. When the flames died, a picture began to form showing birds eye view.
A large battle was taking place. Not a battle, a massacre. Men and women in the Algarian kingdom colors were clashing with men and beast clad in all black with silver trimming in their armor. The men and women from Algeria were being driven back but not giving an inch. Damien could see what the king meant. The dead and wounds from the Algarian lines were obviously more numerous. Any commander could see that this was a losing battle but why not retreat? But then Damien kept watching the image, he was in shock even.
He saw tall a pale female with long blond hair. She cast a long ice spear impale a enemy warrior through his head after he slayed two of her comrades in half with two deft swings of his swords. The ice mages was about to assist another comrade when a blast of fire consumed her and the image faded.
"So, Mage king what say you?"
When the king looked away from the image, Damien was gone and a portal closing behind him.