The plan was simple, master Sigmar brought up a holographic display of the entire planet, detailing the continents, two in number that made up Altera. The blue display took the entirety of the table, Moyo skimmed his eyes around the entire map of the world, aware Sonya was staring at it but ignoring her, he wasn’t ready for her incessant questions at this moment. Master Sigmar pointed to the continent opposite theirs,
“That is the uncharted continent” he started,
“As some of you may as well know, altera has only two continents, one where all life resides on, the continent of the true blade and the other, this uncharted continent where all our dungeons spawn due to the array infused into the planet, ensuring the safety of every being on the planet”
Moyo inwardly groaned, this was Duhiri playing out all over again, still he kept quiet and listened,
“We recently intercepted an agent of the cult who had successfully possessed the body of a trader on this continent in an attempt to either corrupt or destroy the spire” he said,
“Why is the spire so important?” Moyo asked,
Master Sigmar turned to him,
“Usually, we wait till you all ascend to master and swear fealty to one ruler or the other, but dangerous times are coming and concessions have to be made” master Sigmar said,
“There are six spires in the archailect, each representing a vital part of the archailect, the template or foundation on which that particular part of the archailect functions seamlessly” master sigma explained,
“The spire here as you all can no doubt feel represents intent in the universe, should it fall, a gradual decay and depletion of intent would begin, until it reaches the point where all access to said intent vanishes with only the swordsmen or intent users producing from within them”
“So that means no more intent users?” Curtis asked,
Master Sigmar nodded,
“We become a dying breed with no way to create new intent users” he confirmed,
Moyo nodded as the master continued,
“This trader, and we have cause to believe many more possessed, had all gone to the uncharted continent on a resource expedition. All plants and exotic meats are gotten from the continent due to its high aether levels, we have cause to believe the cult has landed in that continent and are using it as a base of operations for their coming attacks” master Sigmar said,
Moyo rubbed his face, aware that if the clan knew then no doubt the brigade were aware, which brought up the question of why he wasn’t seeing the usual armadas of the brigade preparing to wash this world in flames, where was the brigade?. The question must had been obvious on his face as master Sigmar spoke up,
“No doubt you all are wondering where the brigade is, seeing as this is mostly their jurisdiction” master Sigmar said,
“Two factors, the first is that this is not the only place we believe the cult is about to hit, and most of their resources are tied up in that place. The second is the fact that this is the home to the true blade, we intend to handle this issue ourselves” he said,
“And yet you require the assistance of the scions of the other houses, perhaps this is above your capabilities?” Sonya asked,
“Are you calling us weak, bird brain?” Sierra spat,
“Sierra” Sigmar said, his daughter biting her words back,
Moyo glanced between the two ladies,
“What say you, titan blade?” Sonya said, glancing at him,
Moyo was beginning to dislike the ember lady, at first, he wasn’t allowed access to Ulsa, the house deeming it inappropriate for him to be with one of the ladies of the ember lady, something about his station and all explanations on the fact that he was merely a friend and not a suitor all fell on deaf ears. Now the ember lady was pushing him into the middle of things, he turned to her, cold eyes boring into her as she squirmed a little on her seat,
“Whatever reasons the true blade clan gathered us, I believe it has the blessings of the patriarch?” he asked, glancing at Arden who nodded,
“are you perhaps saying the patriarch can’t handle a few cult members?, not blights from what I’m hearing” he asked Sonya who sputtered,
“Besides, from the look of things, it seems this cult is resurfacing, what better way to learn about them than to face them in a controlled environment?” he finished as Sonya paused, clearly seeing the wisdom in Moyo’s words but feeling foolish at putting to put him out like that,
She nodded, lips sealed,
“Aptly put titan blade, it is the patriarch’s opinion that you all experience a personal view of how dangerous this cult can be” Sigmar said,
“Pardon me, honored master” Titus cut in,
“But why aren’t the other houses here, I understand we are rivals for the duration of the tournament, but wouldn’t they benefit from this as well?” he asked,
“a good observation Titus pure blade, but I believe we indeed asked, they in no better terms told us to mind our business, among other words too…. ah…vulgar to be used in this sort of setting” master Ida said, her voice soft but flowing through the air with power,
Moyo expected nothing less from the cronies of house Dracon, rather then put aside their differences and work together, they’d prefer to see each other brought low. Master Sigmar drew all attention back to himself as he continued,
“We have no idea how big their forces are, or who they sent seeing as most of their members are shrouded in mystery, but we have no doubt they sent one or more of the brothers” he said,
“For context, the brothers are the positions of power in the cult from what we know. There are always five brothers, never more, never less, and they are all masters” he explained,
Moyo paused, pretty sure what was going through his mind was the exact same thing that was going through the minds of every diamond here. He kept quiet though,
“You will recognize them on sight, the master aura, corrupted as it might be coming from them, but you are not to engage. You will go after the diamonds and golds of the cult” he said,
“Golds?” Kel fading blade asked,
“Make no mistakes, the golds hit way above their rankings, something about the abyssal energies they tap into gives them the extra power, do not under any circumstances underestimate them” master Ida warned,
“You all would be given a medallion, the moment you sight a master, send a pulse through it and one of the masters available would be there in seconds, you all have the blessings of the patriarch to execute whatever cult member you see without mercy” master Sigmar said,
“For your acts of servitude to the clan, the patriarch has decided to grant whatever you wish of him, based on your performances in these coming days” he continued with a smile,
While it sounded a little vague, Moyo had other questions he wanted to ask,
“What is our end goal here, complete eradication of the cult on altera?” he asked,
“If possible, yes, but the cult are masters of subterfuge and hiding, only the brigade has had experiences rooting them out in their entirety” he explained,
“However, you would be given a gem, carved by the true blade himself to recognize the auras of the cult members no matter how good they are at shrouding it, however it only works in short distances and you might had gotten as close to the cult member as possible before you even realize it” master Sigmar explained,
They all nodded,
“Good, now any questions?” he asked,
“Are we going in teams or individually?” Curtis asked,
“This is a covert mission, the clan will neither pay for your transportation to the continent, nor give you any privileges, this is to avoid detection or drawing attention to this mission, I hope you all can understand?” master Sigmar asked,
“Fine by me” Moyo responded,
The rest agreed also,
“Good, this mission will start immediately the final duel day arrives, the medallion will be sent through the masters who are aware of this mission in your respective houses to you. However, we would need your oaths to the archailect that you would in no way or form so much as try to inform anyone of what we discussed here” master Sigmar said,
They all swore the oaths as loud gongs reverberated around the room, even the wife and children of master Sigmar were not left out. With the meeting over, they all dispersed, Moyo waiting behind to meet with master Sigmar. He noticed Sierra true blade making a beeline for his position as he sighed, thinking of taking a step of Ogun and escaping, but he was the older one here, or at least he thought so.
Watching as she stood in his front, he raised an eyebrow,
“Something I can help you with lady Sierra?” he asked politely, weariness in his voice,
“I would wish to apologize for my unruly behavior, it is not the way someone of royalty like I am should treat my le….I mean my peers” she droned out,
Moyo glanced behind her to see Arden quickly averting his gaze and sighed, no doubt her twin put her up to this, and she was about to call him her lesser. He rose to his full height, watching her eyes stop at his chest before rolling up just to see his face,
“Apologies accepted lady Sierra, excuse my behavior also, I wasn’t in the best of moods” he replied,
She nodded,
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“Now if you’ll excuse me, I have need to talk with master Sigmar” he said and took that step of Ogun, appearing next to master Sigmar who turned to him,
“Titan blade, just the diamond I was hoping to see, I would like to invite you to a dinner with my house branch, after this issue with the cult has been dealt with of course” he said,
“It would be my honor; however, I have a different reason for seeking your time” Moyo replied,
Master Sigmar glanced around then snapped his fingers as his aura cocooned the both of them subtly, Moyo glanced around,
“Whatever we say here wouldn’t leave this space, you want to know more about the cult, don’t you?” the master said,
Moyo nodded, the master keen on figuring out his question,
“More specifically, a name I heard” Moyo replied,
Master Sigmar gestured for him to go on,
“Garda” Moyo simply said as master Sigmar’s face changed from calm to blazing,
Moyo took a step back, aware he could be evaporated on the spot, however master Sigmar managed to get a hold of his emotions and leaking aura as he spoke,
“Apologies for my reaction, but it has been a long time someone spoke that name, where did you hear of it?” he asked,
Moyo explained the politics of Duhiri and the manifestation of the blights and lord on the planet, master Sigmar stroking his beard as he nodded along,
“We had all heard about the calamity that was Duhiri, figures you were part of the members of house thousand blades present there” master Sigmar said thoughtfully,
“Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you titan blade, but I’ve been sworn to oath not to mention that name or anything related to that chaos incarnate, to be honest I’m surprised you even knew of it” the master said,
Moyo took his disappointment in stride, he’d never expected it to be that easy to find out, besides, he had other options. He nodded to master Sigmar and bowed,
“I thank you for your time-honored master, I will take my leave now” he said,
“Be safe titan blade, your path shattering is not the end of ascension, in time you will reforge a better path” the master said,
Moyo wondered what the master would think when he realized Moyo had a mythical path now, turning and making his way to the doors, he bowed to master Ida and Arden before leaving through the doors and stepping out into the large estate, a carriage waiting for him. The ride took all of five minutes to reach the portal doors where the gold guards opened it for him, passing through and reaching the base of the spire, he glanced at it and saw tens of people touching it and praying to the true blade as well as the supreme beings.
He shook his head and turned away, if that was what he would become when he reached ruler to those on earth, then he didn’t like it. Drawing his hood back up, he opened a pathway back to where he prepared to make his way back to the ship. With his plans of dungeon delving now summarily disposed, he had no choice than to go back to the ship, perhaps Ashira would be done with the training or whatever it was she wanted to do with the masters.
To open pathways to distances outside of the planet took an insane amount of strength and authority, something that although masters had in large quantities, depleted them significantly. Moyo felt it as he opened his pathway that he hadn’t even taken a significant chunk of his Ashe, ever since the titan aspect touched his sea of Ashe, he figuratively felt the ocean levels rising, producing more Ashe than he needed and had to expend.
Fairly certain he could take a transport ship through his pathway and only feel a slight use of his Ashe, he opened up his pathway and stepped through, the portal opening up in his room where Ashira sat with a book in hand, snapping the book shut at his appearance,
“You were gone a long time” she said,
“sightseeing” he replied, lying on his bed and staring skywards,
“Master Killian dropped a message for you, he says your world is doing fine, less then ten percent death rate and less then two percent from your clan and continent in total” she said,
Moyo sat up, glancing at her,
“Any significant deaths I should be aware of?” he asked quietly,
If he had lost any of his sect leaders, the earlier he knew the better. Ashira shook her head,
“There is no way he can know that, the calamity only drops specific information to those in power in statistical values and even at that favors must be called in” she explained,
Moyo nodded and glanced at her,
“Are you ready for the final duel?” he asked,
She tossed the book on the bed,
“I could tell you yes and be lying, I could also tell you no and be lying also” she replied,
He kept quiet, letting her pour her mind,
“However Kenuran must pay for what he did, the house of Dracon must pay, my rage is not yet sated” she said,
He nodded,
“Done with your training with the masters?” he asked,
She nodded,
“There is little they can teach me or I can learn at this point, the duel will be left to whoever has the superior weapon, skills and abilities, oh and bloodlines” she replied,
“How do bloodlines work?’ he asked curiously,
If they were that much of a power booster, why didn’t everyone have a bloodline ability?, Ashira shrugged,
“I don’t know the specifics, but only sacred or mythical creatures like house Kairos, Garuda, Dracon and Wolftide have bloodline abilities” she said,
“Has there been any instances of people trying to get these abilities for themselves?” he asked,
“numerous” she said nodding,
“Mostly mages who want a defensive bloodline ability to further strengthen their defensive powers seeing as they use mana” she explained,
“And what happened to them?” he asked,
“Always gory endings, disfigured bodies, bloody explosions, there was this one time I saw a mage try it out, master Eogan, wow, feels weird saying that, was sent with the plantsmen to wipe out the monster he became” she said,
“Monster?” he asked,
She nodded,
“Apparently his insides came out and chewed him up, then we had this large slimy intestinal monster rampaging an entire continent in a world close to us, absolutely disgusting scene if you ask me” she said,
Moyo shuddered at the thought of a large intestine monster with serrated teeth rampaging around. He cleared the thought from his head, focusing back on the issues at hand,
“Your weapon would be delivered tomorrow I’m guessing?” he asked,
She shook her head,
“Tonight, the duel is by dawn tomorrow” she replied,
That meant the expedition to the uncharted continent would begin by tomorrow, he nodded,
“Good, we can perhaps familiarize ourselves with the weapon before the duel” he said,
“To the training ring?” she asked,
“To the training ring” he replied,
The two of them made their way through the ship, passing by the usual ascenders and servants who bowed to them. He noticed the way they shot looks of pity at him and in some he saw devotion, their diamond, the one who stood up for the common ascender brought low by machinations of the greater houses. Ignoring most of the looks, he made his way with Ashira to the training ring, entering the chambers where the stasis pods were situated. Relaxing inside the pod and opening his eyes in a sandy area,
“Well, this is new” he said,
“Wanted to emulate the arena itself” she replied,
He nodded,
“So how are we doing this?” he asked,
“Firstly, I need to see what you’re capable of” she replied again,
He watched quietly as she invoked her bloodline ability, watching her grow taller and stronger, her monstrous shape coming into existence. Dominion appeared in his hand as he rolled his shoulder, loosening his joints, he could feel his heartbeat crashing in his chest, beating itself to the dance of Sango. Ashira paused in her monstrous form,
“Your aura, it’s taking a shape” she growled in her deeper voice,
He glanced at his body seeing his aura emanate from his body like wisps of smoke,
“I see nothing” he said with a shrug,
She nodded and blitzed towards him, Moyo raised an eyebrow, Ashira was usually a whirlwind of power when she came after him, his diamond ranked sight and perception just doing enough to catch up to her bloodline abilities. Now she seemed to move like an average human being, was she holding back on him or was he stronger?, he had only one way to find out. With barely a thought he brought Ashe crashing down on her, wincing and reducing the power as Ashira literally crumpled into the sands below, Ashe holding her down in a vice like grip.
He shut it down as she flipped to her feet, putting distance between them, eyes wide and terrified,
“What was that?” she said,
“My Ashe, why, what’s wrong?” he asked,
She stared at him incredulously,
“what’s wrong?” she repeated,
“Moyo that didn’t feel like authority, that felt like you shut off my connection to my entire being, it felt more than oppressive, like a deity was camping down on my existence, I couldn’t feel my diamond ascension at all, I felt like a fledgling again” she said horrified,
“I’m sorry, must had pushed too hard” he replied,
He guessed it wasn’t the right time to tell her he had been holding back a lot, that was just him opening the floodgates of his Ashe, just a crack in the aspect tainted authority of his. She shook her head,
“No, no that’s exactly what I want, I’m guessing that’s your full strength at once, as expected, just tamp down on it, okay?” she said,
Moyo blinked at her, Ashiras’ eyes widening,
“that’s not your full strength?” she whispered,
Moyo shrugged with a smile as Ashira stared at him,
“Okay, Moyo what happened to you?” she asked,
“Your vault feels super oppressive than the usual oppressiveness I feel from it, your aura looks like a giant warrior, and that’s scary enough cause it looks oddly like the power of masters and rulers revealing their spiritual forms, and your Ashe has grown insanely strong to the point that quality has surpassed quantity significantly, that’s no diamond Moyo” she said,
Moyo scratched his head,
“Look, there are…things at play, things I don’t want to drag you into, but I swear I’m not hiding things from you for stupid reasons” he replied,
“Let me be the judge of that” she answered,
Moyo groaned as he pinched his nose,
“Ashira, it’s a situation so monumental not even the masters can know” he said,
“Well good for them”
Moyo sighed and waved his hand as his vault door appeared, willing it open as the pure power in his vault buffeted Ashira, driving her backwards and to her knees. He closed the doors and willed the vault away, Ashira staring speechlessly,
“What was that?” she asked,
“Now you see what I mean” he replied,
She turned to him,
“How are you able to contain all that power?” she asked,
Moyo sighed as he shrugged,
“Barely holding on as it is, probably a combination of my evolved attributes and pure willpower, as it is I’m like a walking bomb” he replied,
She kept quiet, lost in thought for a few seconds before she chuckled, Moyo staring at her inquisitively,
“Just imagining you having such power against Kenuran, he’d be paste on the ground before he even knew it” she said,
Moyo chuckled at the thought,
“Wishes, however you can kick his ass for me” he replied,
She smiled and hopped to her feet,
“Help me then, with your monstrous power” she replied,
“You did not just say that” he said, laughing as he fell back on the sand,
Ashira scrunched up her face in confusion till it dawned on her,
“You are vile and disgusting!” she shouted playfully,
Moyo used his Ashe to blast her backwards playfully,
“you’re the one who wanted my monstrous power” he goaded, using pure Ashe to hold her back,
“I didn’t mean it that way!” she protested,
“Keep telling yourself that” he replied as he laughed,
On and on they continued this way, Moyo using his Ashe to hold her down and Ashira fighting it off. Slowly, Ashira began to manage to hold back bursts of his Ashe in her bloodline mode and after three hours, she could do it without the bloodline ability, although only with Moyo releasing short bursts of his Ashe, a rampage by him would bring her to her knees.
***************************
The next day arrived with Altera doing a rotation round the galaxy’s sun, Ashira standing in the transport ship to take her to the stasis station, in her hand was the clawed gauntlet ripper with an inscription on it from Moyo who had collected the claw, saying he wanted to see if he could tweak it a bit. Ashira doubted he could tweak the works of a ruler, one as powerful as Zane true blade, but master Sigmar had said the true blade was a master when he created the weapon, plus this was Moyo they were talking about.
She read it once more with a smile on her lips,
Wreak the damned lizard- T
She wore it on her right hand, clenching it into a fist to feel the pure power running through it, eyes blazing, she was ready.
****************************
Kenuran red jaw knelt before the image of Azar, all around him stood the lords and ladies of house Dracon, dragons of power and pure ego, eyes blazing as they stared down at him. The rhythmic stamps of the lesser Dracons, the Dragonoids, enlightened wyrms who had managed to gain a humanoid shape and the other lesser draconic species filled the air,
“You kneel before me, you kneel with a promise, an oath” Azar rumbled,
He could feel his mothers’ eyes from somewhere close to Azar, she could keep her judgmental stare, he was on the precipice of power here. Fists clenched, he spoke the words,
“Blood for blood, flesh for flesh, the dragon prevails, the dragon dominates, the dragon destroys” he recited,
The entire room became filled with the roars of dragons repeated for mantra,
“Blood for blood, you will spill the blood of our ancient foe Kairos” Azar snarled,
“BLOOD FOR BLOOD!” they chanted,
“Flesh for flesh, you will rip her sinews from bones, crush her like cinder”
“FLESH FOR FLESH!”
“The rage of a dragon, the rage of house Dracon is eternal!”
“THE DRAGON PREVAILS!”
“No quarter must be given, no mercy spared” Azar snarled, his voice raising in tempo,
“THE DRAGON DOMINATES!”
“Hear me Kenuran red jaw Dracon, you will win, our glory must burn as it has always burned!” Azar
“THE DRAGON DESTROYS!”
As one the dragons roared skywards, flames pouring out in a deluge of pure energy that bathed Kenuran in a baptism of power, his ruler and house were with him, he would not fail,
No, he could not afford to fail.
*****************
Moyo in his cloak stood before the tele hub to the uncharted continent, within his robes was the box containing the medallion and gem he’d use. It had been delivered by master Skatha, however no words were passed between them, no words needed to be said. With a determined step he tossed two diamond coins to the hub monitor and stepped through, appearing in a landing dock at the shores of the second continent. Eyes roaming around, he drew his hood and began his journey.