I couldn’t help but gasp as I gazed out into Middlen, the royal capital from atop the Golden Spire and much to my surprise, it was the only Golden building.

Everything else was dark grey or dark brown.

Countless buildings, temples and towers that went on for as far as I could see.

This scenery was enhanced by the setting sun.

“Father told me that the goal of life is to last as long as possible. To go as far as possible. I will bring all of Edenton under father’s flag because that is what he surely wanted in his pursuit for knowledge.” Caligo said while standing next to me on the balcony.

I couldn’t help but nod as his fiery eyes peered out towards the horizon.

It’s almost as if the setting sun and his eyes were equals in both brightness and grandeur.

Caligo sighed before facing me.

“Is there anything thou wouldst like? Food, water, anything?” He asked.

“N-no! I’m fine.”

Caligo nodded before leading me back into the spire.

We were on one of its upper floors where we awaited the arrival of the high Priestess, Kulea. She who governed over Medelona.

Caligo and I sat one of the room’s many comfortable couches.

I looked around the room and saw a lot of portraits depicting Caligo in many flattering ways. Some of him showed him wearing his armour and others showed him seated while wearing his uniform.

It was nice to see that the Priestess revered Caligo.

The door to our left eventually opened, revealing a beautifully dressed Kulea, although her face looked a bit red.

She wore a beautiful dark green dress and like when I first saw her, she wore a strange headpiece that looked like two upward facing golden horns.

Standing next to her were two tall blond men who were dressed in dark uniforms.

They accompanied her to the couch opposite hers where she sat before bowing alongside the two men who left the room shortly after.

I saw that the way people travelled between floors was via a smooth stone platform.

“Is there anything I can help you with, your majesty?” Kulea asked, her head still low.

“Raise your head.” Caligo said with a tone I hadn’t heard before.

It was… cold.

Kulea raised her head and looked at Caligo with trembling eyes.

“I want to meet the one called Katsíki.”

I silently gasped alongside Kulea who clasped her hands.

“H-have you ordered that he be brought here or…?” She asked.

“No. I want to meet him on the soil which he so vehemently defends.” Caligo said prompting Kulea to nod.

“I see… when do you want to meet him?”

“Immediately, if possible. I have already called for uncle Ferrum who will bring the Stormhawks for obvious security reasons.”

The room fell silent as both Kulea and I digested Caligo’s words.

I knew that the kingdom was at war with a bunch of Rendaro far south and I knew that they were causing Caligo’s armies a bit of trouble, but I didn’t know the situation was so bad that it warranted Caligo's personal intervention.

“W-what should I do, while you’re gone?” Kulea asked.

“I want thee to call in one of the Five Stars.”

Kulea’s shoulders fell.

“All for… all for a bunch of mud crawlers?” Kulea asked with a panicked expression.

“Our enemy is small, yes, but they are proving rather dangerous and resilient. My visit south today has a few aims apart from sating my curiosity. I want to see just how strong our enemy really is. If the Helma and Hawks can wipe them out instantly, then we will do just that. If they are strong to the point that fighting them head on will cost me the Hawks and maybe a Helma, then we will have to pull back and resort to other, less risky means of attack. If our enemy is stronger than us, then… I will find some other way to eliminate them.” Caligo said.

Kulea nodded prompting Caligo to sigh.

“That aside, how hast thou been? Four hundred years is a lot of time. Surely thou accomplished something apart from standing by while father’s kingdom fell.” Caligo asked while crossing his legs.

“Umm… I… kept the… I made sure-“

“Speak clearly. Or hast thou lost the ability to coherently speak?” Caligo asked softly prompting Kulea’s eyes to lower.

“I made sure that the people’s belief in you and Summus never wavered.”

“Oh? But that is the bare minimum a Priestess, such as thineself, should do.” Caligo said as he stood up.

“Mmm… I should not have to scold thee for thou art a woman who surely knows better.” Caligo said as he walked up to Kulea, who’s head was still lowered.

“Look at me.”

She raised her head upon hearing his words.

“I forgive you.” Caligo said prompting Kulea’s eyes to widen even more.

“To err is human and it would be a lie to say that even I have not failed before.”

“Your majesty-“

Caligo’s eyes narrowed and Kulea’s mouth closed instantly after.

“But forgiveness and mistakes only work if an incident only occurs once. But four hundred years have passed. Four hundred chances thou had and four hundred times thee failed.” Caligo said before reaching out to touch the now trembling Kulea.

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He then gently held her chin.

“For that you will be punished. Astír.” Caligo called and Astír appeared by his side.

“Have her taken to the Sunless Gulch and take that which the moon gave. Thou willst tend to thine duties after thine return.”

Astír nodded before walking up to a horrified Kulea. She then gently placed her hand on the Priestess's shoulder before suddenly disappearing.

Caligo stood upright and sighed.

His eyes then widened as he looked at me.

“Oh dear! Allow me to apologize for showing thee such unsightly business.” He said while walking back to me.

“N-no, it’s fine. You had to do it, right?” I asked prompting Caligo to sigh again.

“Indeed, but what I did was cruel and Kulea will resent me for it.” He said before looking out of the large windows.

“Mmm… I am sure uncle has prepared everything. Come.” Caligo said while offering me his hand.

I accepted it and we made our way to the balcony where we were suddenly teleported to the front of one of the many temples in Medelona.

It’s courtyard was brightly lit by many floating orbs of light above.

Standing in the courtyard were also the Helma and Stormhawks.

I hadn’t met the Stormhawks before, but for some reason, they looked more intimidating than the Helma. Their bird of pray-esque helmets didn’t help.

One of the four Hawks walked up to Caligo before deeply bowing.

He had his helmet in his hands, revealing his rather handsome face.

“It truly has been a long time, your majesty.”

“Ah, it indeed has, Heurikhan. Are thou well?” Caligo asked.

“Meh, there isn’t much for us to do. Our hands are far too rough and heavy go deal with the more political side of things, but we are also far too strong for the rare few who dare threaten the kingdom. Well… that was the case until recently.” Heurikhan while looking straight into Caligo’s eyes.

“Ah yes. We will leave as soon as Astír returns.” Caligo said as a certain aged man dressed in pure white uniform, similar to that worn by Caligo, approached.

“Good evening.” The man known as Grandmaster Ferrum greeted.

“Ah, hello, old man.” Heurikhan said with scarily narrowed eyes, but Ferrum ignored him and faced only Caligo who crossed his arms.

“Hello, uncle.” Caligo said while making a pained expression.

“Did you ask Kulea to send out the call?” Ferrum asked and he too noticed that Caligo looked a bit uncomfortable.

“DON’T IGNORE ME!” Heurikhan cried.

“Yes. Although she may not be able to do that as quickly as I’d like.” Caligo said while pulling at various parts of his uniform.

“Oh? Why not- also, stand still!” Ferrum yelled, but Caligo wouldn’t settle.

“I cannot. It has been centuries since I last wore this and it is pinching at various places.” Caligo said while continuing to fidget.

“Ugh! Sidus-“

Ferrum stopped as Astír suddenly appeared next to Caligo with a certain white gown in hand.

“Oh, thank you!” Caligo cried while unbuttoning his blazer.

“You can’t just undress out in the open! Astír, take him somewhere private!” Ferrum yelled while Caligo continued undressing.

“Fine! Astír!” He yelled while reaching out to grab my hand.

I then noticed that were back at the balcony of the Golden Spire and Caligo promptly kicked away his clothes allowing Astír and I to see his absolute perfect body.

Apart from the feint burn marks here and there, it looked like his pale body was meticulously carved by loving, yet forceful hands.

One could almost see the individual strands of his muscles when he flexed.

The only part about him that didn’t look godly was his pair of silky grey boxers.

I noticed that Astír was staring at him just as intently as I was and so I turned away as Caligo threw on his gown.

“Ah…. Freedom.” He sighed.

“Anyway, shall we?” He asked prompting Astír to take us back to the courtyard.

My vision then flashed several times and before I knew it, we were standing above an invisible platform that floated about two meters above the ground.

I looked around and saw that we were in the middle of a pretty vast muddy plane and for in the distance stood a forest of tall trees.

I stood next to Caligo while the Helma lined up behind us.

The Hawks stood to the side while Ferrum stood in front of them.

Nothing was said and no one moved as we stood out in the open.

I was far too afraid to even think of anything as the minutes crawled by with the only source of ambience being the whistling wind.

A group of people eventually emerged from the distant forest.

I counted about six of them and one of them was a… little goat… boy thing.

Three of them were tall beings clad in dark, jagged armour while the last two were clad in dark armour that looked strangely Draconic.

They all stopped about ten meters in front of us and the goat boy stood in front of them.

Was he their leader?

Just what in the world was he?

He keenly eyed us with brows that were far too heavy for a child’s.

Just how heavy was the weight that caused him to have such wrathful eyes?

Caligo walked up to the edge of the platform.

“K-Kenos?” He whimpered.

“Yes, kinda.” The one Caligo called Kenos said.

“Thou hast changed much since we last met.” Caligo said before jumped off the platform.

His feet dug deep into the mud as he walked towards Kenos.

He walked up to him and the two stared at each other for a moment as the night hung deeply above.

“Wait… thou really aren’t he who I met on that fateful day. Although…” Caligo said with a tilted head.

Kenos sighed before explained his circumstances.

Apparently, his real name was Riley and he too was from earth. He had come across a Rendaro named Kenos and the two fused their life forces in a desperate attempt to survive.

“Oh my!” Caligo gasped.

“Thou hast led quite the life since thine arrival.” He said.

“Yes and I plan on protecting everything me and my people have worked so hard to build.” Katsíki said through clearly gnashed teeth.

The air then trembled as the world was baked by waves of heat that didn’t affect me.

A never ending storm of darkness covered the sky all while plumes of black smoke rose the three dark warriors behind Katsíki.

Caligo looked up into the now ink black sky as the flares of light began rising from the amours of the Helma and Hawks.

“Thou… art willing to sacrifice even yourself… for the people of another world-“

“I don’t care. This is my home and I won’t let you do as you please.” Katsíki snapped.

The air then sizzle further, but the little boy stood in front of Caligo regardless.

“One of two things are going to happen, Caligo. Either you return to Lanceberg and we both try our hardest to build two prosperous counties or you condemn us all to a senseless war.” The boy snapped.

“INSOLENT WORM!”

Someone behind me yelled and before I could even blink, Astír was standing behind Caligo while holding her Lance in such a manner that its tip was mere inches from Katsíki’s face.

Two of his dark warriors stood by his sides and for some reason, their once black armours burnt a dim red.

I then noticed that Caligo was holding Astír’s Lance by the blade and his blood was quickly coating the weapon as he bled.

Astír let out a wild screech before letting go of the spear.

She then fell to her knees and pressed her head into the mud all while letting out bright flares of light.

Caligo and Katsíki continued staring at each other as Caligo dropped the spear.

He then knelt down to face to face the little goat boy.

“Rendaya will be conquered. That is the will of the Moon King. Doest thou understand what this means?” Caligo asked.

“I don’t know and I don’t care. Go north and conquer Araena. A lot of lives could be saved if you just-“

“If I disobeyed my father?” Caligo asked.

“Mmm… sometimes you need to think for yourself, no?”

Caligo looked up at the sky which twisted and turned as countless bolts of blue lightning shot across they sky alongside burst of lights which created hellish bubbles in the sky, like augurs of the apocalypse.

“Mmm…” Caligo droned as he stood up.

He then raised his hand and a certain dark sword appeared above it.

He grabbed it before coating its edge in his blood.

“The son must never go against his fathers wishes. Especially if he owes his father his life twice over.” Caligo said before offering Katsíki the dark great sword. The strong winds caused by the maelstrom above blew dry grass across the muddy plane.

“We… must never be allowed to clash in battle for the sake of this world. That being said, neither of us can back down. So I swear to not participate in this coming war.” Caligo said.

The dark sword then floated towards Katsíki and its tip slid across his palm, drawing blood as it did.

“Our people will be the one’s who decide how this ends.” Katsíki said before the sword floated back to Caligo who nodded.

“When shall it begin?” He asked.

“As soon as your armies arrive.”

Caligo nodded before raising his hand.

A low, deep rumble then filled the air.

I turned around and silently gasped upon seeing a massive army seated just north of the valley behind us.

I then returned my gaze to Caligo, who no longer had the dark sword in hand.

“Seven days. My men will attack in seven days. I wish thee luck- oh and if thou’st should change thine mind about accompanying me to the capital, the offer stand’s still.” He said before turning to leave.

“And if you ever want to stop the war, come talk.” Katsíki said as the storm above slowly died, allowing the pale grey morning light to pierce through.

“Understood. Come, Astír.” Caligo said prompting the captain of the Helma to pick up her weapon and follow him with her head lowered.

The two returned to the platform and after a series of flashes, we were back in the capital in front of a certain temple.