A week had passed and so Luno, Caligo and I sat once again in the dining room of the royal palace.

We each reported what we had achieved and how much more we hoped to achieve in the future.

Luno had done a substantial amount of book keeping in Agna and although the state was doing far better that Medelona and Aurenia, he didn’t plan on making its people suffer just for the sake of the other two.

I explained everything that happened on my end and Caligo detailed everything that happened in Aurenia.

Apparently the entire state was a cesspool of crime and corruption.

Knights violated, tortured and extorted the very people they were supposed to protect and the High Lord couldn’t really do anything about it since he was human. He stood little chance against the demigods that were the knights of Lanceberg.

Caligo had a lot of work to do.

He needed to handle all of the corrupt knights while restoring hope to the people and restoring what was broken.

One thing Luno and I noticed was just how thoroughly the state was corrupted.

Surely someone was at the helm of it all.

A hand that led the knights astray.

“I share thine suspicions but every thread we follow leads back to the High Lord and from what we have seen, he is many things, just not evil.” Caligo reported.

Luno nodded before leaning back into his chair.

A knock then came from the door and a servant entered shortly after.

“Grandmaster Ferrum has arrived and awaits to be granted audience.”

We all stood up and made our way to the Lunar Hall where I stood to Luno’s left and Caligo stood to his right.

Kneeling before us was Grandmaster Ferrum only he wasn’t wearing his uniform. He instead wore simple brown clothes.

“So, old friend, what was it that led to all this? Who forced thine hand?” Luno asked.

“I never told you, but… Gulanimphen was actually my son. I begged that the Hawks spare his life at the end of the war but in exchange, I was to watch the kingdom burn.”

“I assume it was Heurikhan who brought up such a cruel ultimatum?”

“Yes, my liege.”

Luno nodded before chuckling lightly.

His chuckle then turned into full laughter.

“But of course! Who else other than the incarnation of chaos and destruction would force that onto someone?” Luno asked and just as quickly as his smile came, it disappeared.

“But thou had the Helma, the Ravens and so many other legions… why didst thee not simply hunt and kill Hawks? Thou could have even lied and said that they were traitorous and malicious knights who conspired with the Yilon.” Luno asked but Ferrum looked up at him with a pained expression.

“Do you think that would have spared my son from Heurikhan’s wrath?”

Luno opened his mouth to speak, but no words came.

“I know very well what I did was unforgivable. I have already called for Ferraya, captain of the Black Scribes, to take my place as Grandmaster. She and her Legion will handle things from here on.”

“I see.” Luno said before loudly sighing.

“Alright. Ferrum, for the plethora of crimes thee committed against the kingdom, I sentence thee to public execution. All shall know the price for such selfish actions. Gregar, take him away and gather every captain in the capital by tomorrow morning.”

Gregar, who stood behind us, walked up and accompanied Ferrum out of the hall and we were left in silence.

“I…” Luno tried saying but he stopped himself before wistfully gazing at the spot where Ferrum previously knelt.

“I suppose truth is the key…” He muttered before loudly clapping his hands.

“Err… Zuri. I recall thee saying thou had a son. Couldst thee bring him here?” Luno asked prompting me to face Caligo who nodded before raising his right hand.

Astír then appeared next to me and she teleported us to Caligo’s palace where we made our way into the boys’ room.

We found them all reading rather intently and so I quietly approached them.

The boys all noticed me as I walked past their neatly done beds and they all swarmed around me.

“Zuri, you’re back!”

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They all cheered.

“Yes, but I can’t stay for long. Adia, I’m sorry to disturb you, but the Moon King wants to see you.”

The boys all gasped before glaring at Adia, who was equally shocked.

“Why only him?”

“Yeah! We wanna see the king too!”

They said, but I let out a soft shush, silencing the boys in the process.

“Good things come to those who?”

“Good things come to those who are patient.”

The boys all sang although they didn’t look very happy while doing it.

“I can’t promise anything, but I’ll ask his highness if you can all come along next time, ok?”

“OK.”

They all said before dragging their feet back to where their books were.

I gently smiled before offering a wide eyed Adia my hand.

He accepted it and we made our way to Astír who stood by the door and like that we returned to the Lunar Seat.

Adia had already been taught the proper etiquette and so he quickly bowed after seeing Luno.

“Greetings, boy. Please, raise thine head.” Luno said and Adia complied.

We all then giggle upon seeing his nervous expression.

The poor thing looked like he was going to wet himself.

“Adia, son of earth. How hast thee enjoyed thine time in mine kingdom so far?”

“I-It has been a most pleasant time, your grace.” Adia said as tears welled up in his eyes.

This hurt me to see.

Of course he was nervous.

Standing in front of him were the Helma, Yilon and the royal family.

“Umm… Luno-?”

“Go ahead! Comfort the boy, haha!” Luno chuckled as I rushed to Adia’s side.

I then wiped his tears and held him in my arms just as Gregar returned.

“Dost thou know the reason behind my name, Adia? Why I am called the Moon King?” Luno asked and Adia shook his head.

“Hoh! Then allow me to show thee- well, I will skip over the gruesome details. Gregar, take us to his place of resting!” Luno yelled and I almost spat out my mouths contents as we were taken to a place where I felt lighter.

My eyes popped open upon seeing that Edenton was far above us in the distance.

I looked around and saw that we were surrounded by pale grey sand and beyond the horizon was an ink black void.

“Welcome to the Moon. This is the very spot where I battled and defeated a being known only as a Caelasti. The physical Manifestation of the soul of the Moon… well, something like that. Go on. Take a walk. Keeping us alive and warm are our loyal knights. The Yilon have erected several barriers keeping all that would harm us at bay and keeping us from freezing are the Helma.” Luno said as I let Adia go.

He then took a step only for him to launch himself forward.

He tumbled in the rather cold sand and I rushed to his side, but just as I reached out to help him, he sprung onto his feet.

“I’m fine!” He said with sand in his mouth.

We all giggled once more as he jumped around.

“Woo- oh, apologies.” He said but Luno, who was now seated on the ground, shook his head.

“Go ahead. Jump and cry to thine hearts content.”

Adia nodded before jumped all over the place.

I walked up to Luno and sat by his side along with Caligo.

I then noticed that Luno was staring at his son rather intently, but Caligo was focused on Adia.

Luno sighed before leaning back.

“I often wish I spent more time with thee in thine younger years.”

“But father, thou had so much to do. I never once blamed thee for not being by my side- by her side.” Caligo said without facing his father.

“Her?” I unthinkingly repeated.

“Yes. Thou art Caligo’s chosen consort, so I suppose telling thee the real history of this world would be for the best. Boy! Come here!” Luno yelled.

“Yes, Sir!” Adia cried before launching himself towards us.

Unfortunately, he lost his footing yet again and much to my horror, he crashed into Luno.

My Heart fell but before I could even react, Both Luno and Adia burst out into laughter.

I exchanged worried glances with Caligo as Luno say up with Adia in hand. Well, they were about the same size, but Luno still held the boy tightly.

“This world was originally inhabited by a race known as the Haneem. They were tall, faceless beings made entirely from Cavumium. To say that the collision that brought mankind here was the first would be a lie. This world has been the epicenter of countless collisions. Cataclysmic convulsions in the fabric of space that pull together things from the farthest reaches of the cosmos. My story and the story of Lanceberg begins on earth, one thousand or so years ago, if I’m correct. I was the third son of a humble farmer named Neskato in a region called Aquitania. To say that my earlier years were painful would be gross understatement. Born a dwarf in an age of medicinal ignorance and cruelty, I spent most of my time writhing in pain while being tended to by my mother and equally sickly sister, Arai and Luna. My brothers, Adin and Arixo were older than me but not old enough to tend to the fields leaving our father to do most of the work. My time on earth may have been short, but it was peaceful. Then… the collision occurred. We, along with several other farmers were teleported to where the Lunar Seat now rests and not only that, our bodies were imbued with strange powers. Father, after getting really sick for a bit, went straight to work in making sure everyone was safe. He gathered nearby farmers but was shocked when he found other humans, Rendaro and the Haneem. With hard work and cooperation, all groups worked together to build a city that would be a home for any in need. A city in the center of the continent… Middlen. Well, the Haneem helped out of the kindness of their hearts. They already had cities and towns all over the world. Anyway, father was appointed king of Middlen and things went well for some time. The time eventually came for conflict to arise and it came in the form of people who wanted to assassinate father and take the throne. They failed time and time again because not only was father a cautious being, he had the support of the Haneem. My siblings and I would grow into adolescents in an age of relative peace. These were known as the Formative Years. An age where mankind grew accustomed to the magics and various other machinations of this world. This all changed fifteen years later when father sent out my brothers to create their own lands. It’s also around this time that Luna and I-“ Luno suddenly stopped. His eyes sat frozen in their sockets and I winced as a cruel frown formed on his face.

He must have realized that his demeanor had changed because he rapidly blinked before shaking his head.

“Ahem! That will have to be all for now. Let us return home.” Luno said as he stood up alongside Adia.

We all joined him in readying ourselves for teleportation and like that, we were back on Edenton, in the warmth of the royal palace.

“Allow me a moment, please.” Luno said before leading the Yilon towards his quarters but even they stopped at the threshold between the hallway and his room as he quietly entered it.

I then turned to Caligo who stared at the door with narrowed eyes.

“We have a lot of work to do tomorrow. Let’s return Adia and get some rest.” I said and after giving me a quick nod, Caligo gestured that Astír take us to his palace where we dropped Adia off.

It's here that I realized that Luno had told us some world changing things and so I grabbed a sleepy Adia by his shoulders.

“Don’t tell anyone anything about what his majesty said, ok?”

“Yeah, yeah. I know.” He yawned sweetly.

He then entered the room where the other boys could be seen preparing to sleep, but they all swarmed around Adia as he entered.

I quickly closed the door before any of them spotted me and turned to Caligo who was staring out of the window. Out into the cloudy evening sky.

I held his hand and smiled as he looked down at me.

“Come on. Let’s get some rest.”