Fikre and the skeleton walk through another portal, this time into a barren landscape. Fikre swings his head around, this time seeing nothing around them.
"Where are we now?" He asks the skeleton.
"We are in a land known as the Bleak Reach," says the skeleton. Fikre recalls his geography classes. The Bleak Reach is a peninsula and the Northern-most landmass in Arcem, not counting the detached Ulstang Skerries. Once a prospering territory of the Bright Republic, it has become home to prisoners and exiles after its former government was obliterated by seemingly random waves of hostile magical miasmas.
"Why are we here?" Asks Fikre.
"This is where I have decided to establish my kingdom."
"Why here of all places? And I thought you were taking us to your castle. I don't see one around here."
"I am," replies the skeleton. "Wgah'nagl Ot R'luh Uh'eogoth!" As the skeleton utters unknown words of theurgic power, a colossal palace is raised out of the ground, seemingly out of nothing. Fikre is astonished. "Never seen a theurgy in action before?"
----------------------------------------
Inside the conjured palace, Fikre lays down at the head of a long table in a room the skeletal man told him to wait in. I guess this means I can never sit in a chair again... Fikre curiously taps his claw against his scales, testing their durability. After a few minutes of trying and failing to scratch himself, a woman he has never seen before enters the room.
"Hoooo shit!" She screams and backpedals. The skeleton emerges from the tall doorway behind her.
"No need to be afraid," says the skeleton. "I have invited him also. These are strange times indeed, no?" He exits once again. The woman nervously sits down in a chair as far away from Fikre as possible.
"So... how do you know this old creep?" She asks. Fikre chuckles, which blows the woman's hair back a bit.
"It was only yesterday that this happened. I assume it happened to you at a similar time? I was in my home city, Ancalia. They tried to... kill me... when they saw me. I'm honestly not sure why it was destroyed, but I just hope it was nothing to do with me. By the way, did that... guy... tell you his name?"
"Nope. Mine's Minah Mantara, by the way."
"Fikre Soro."
----------------------------------------
The skeleton enters the room once again. "Apologies for the wait. I didn't think it appropriate to do introductions when there were just two of you." He opens the door behind him. "All of our other guests got here almost at the exact same time, so I'll announce them all promptly. Introducing Inge Red Glissando, Howler of the Golden Wastes!" A young girl with red hair and ragged clothing confidently strides in, shrinking back a bit when she sees Fikre. Desiring to uphold her image, she swallows her fear and confidently takes a seat right next to the gargantuan laying dragon.
"And Oleg Krylov, usurper of the Iron Tsar and the new ruler of Nezdohva!" A man seemingly made of metal walks in, his red glowing eyes scanning over the room before he nonchalantly takes a seat at a seemingly random place at the long wooden table. Wait, he's the new ruler? But the Iron Tsar was the monarch of Nezdohva just yesterday!
"And Astrid Helgadottir, the newest Witch-Queen of the Ulstang Skerries and their soon-to-be conqueror!" A gorgeous young woman with pale-bluish skin nervously walks into the room, gasping when she sees Fikre and Oleg, but quickly covering her mouth and rushing to a seat next to nobody else. Her too!? How many of these new gods are already kings or queens!?
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
"Caterina Rossi, the so-called Wandering Fae Queen!" The skeletal man announces her with a slight hint of annoyance in his voice. A rugged-looking older woman in modest clothing walks into the room, and, seemingly not deterred by any of its inhabitants, takes a seat at the table.
"Nitocris Merchant, the leader of the newly-formed Oasis Rebellion!" A middle-aged, dark-skinned woman walks into the room, not even looking at anyone else. Instead of taking a seat, she puts her arms on top of her chair and stands. Scary.
"Barbatus Fonteia, the new Grand Commander of the mighty Patrian Empire" A young man walks into the room, eyeing Fikre and Oleg before taking a seat.
"Will this take long? The Emperor only gave me half a day for this little outing," Barbatus asks.
"I assure you, it will not," the skeleton replies. "I have not yet introduced myself. You may call me The Lich. There is no other important details about me that you need to know. And finally, my new servant, Beelzebub." A hideously grotesque half-insect half-human walks into the room. That guy has the head and limbs of a fly but stands upright and is as large as a human! If Fikre still had a gag reflex, he would puke.
"There was one other who could not make it today due to being grievously injured," says The Lich, "so we will continue without him. I have gathered you all here today for a proposal."
"What kind of proposal?" Asks Caterina.
"As you all know, last night, all of you were struck with strange objects, correct? As some of you have already discovered, this has awakened incredible new powers inside of you. We are all now... gods." Says The Lich. The room goes silent.
"...Gods?" Asks Astrid. "Gods don't exist, though. They're some made-up fantasy from children's stories."
"I assure you, they are very real," says The Lich. "I myself am a theurge. I have studied the ancient history of Arcem. Do you want more proof?" The Lich steps onto the center of the table. "Gift of Undeath: Bonefather!" As he says this, all around the room, too many skeletons for Fikre to count emerge from newly-created cracks in the floor. There are so many that they're pushing up against Fikre.
"What the hell!?" Shouts Barbatus. "Have you lured us here to kill us!?"
"Relax," says The Lich. "Gift of Undeath: Dread Lord!" He waves his hands and all the skeletons crumble into dust, erasing all traces that they were even there. "Theurgy, despite its immense power, cannot create undead servants out of nothing. My Word of Undeath, however, can. This is proof of our new divine power. My other two words are the Word of Knowledge and the Word of Sorcery. You all also have three words each."
"How do you know all this? And why are you telling us this? Would it not be more advantageous for you to keep this information to yourself?" Asks Astrid. She looks around and nervously shrinks back into her seat.
"Because," explains The Lich, "it relates to my proposal. I think it would be extremely helpful for all of us to join forces. Call it a pantheon of sorts."
"What do we get out of it?" Asks Nitocris Merchant. She looks up at The Lich. "What I'm saying is, what do you have to offer us?"
"I will teach you all the extent of your powers," responds The Lich, "and afterwards we will all support each others' endeavors. Let us reform the world as we see fit. We are now gods, after all." Fikre looks down at Inge, seeing her twiddle her thumbs disinterested in what's going on. A kid shouldn't be listening to a talk like this. She probably has no idea what's going on.
----------------------------------------
The Palkya Lama walks back into his temple at the Toban plains. The lamas and nuns gasp as he walks past them wearing the sacred armor.
"Master! You cannot wear the sacred armor! It is forbidden!" The Palkya Lama grabs the man by the throat.
"Do not speak to your master in such a tone. Give me my sword." The lama runs into the armory and retrives the Palkya Lama's sword, scared for his life.
The Palkya Lama walks into the room of Mengu Oronar, where its occupant is still sleeping. The dark entity emerges from the shadows once again.
"Strike him down... in his sleep... wipe his filth... from the world. Use his... corpse... to make a... passageway..." The Palkya Lama raises his sword to strike Mengu in the heart. He plunges it down, but it lands with a tink and bounces off of Mengu's skin as if it was as hard as steel. The Palkya Lama takes off the purple helm in shock, which gives the now-awake Mengu Oronar an opportunity to surprise attack him with a punch to the head, completely destroying the Palkya Lama's skull.
"What the hell happened?" Mengu asks himself.