Leo was probably the first male-slave ever that was carried and cared for by elite imperial guards. If at the beginning they considered taking care of him a complete disgrace, then after the first day everyone suddenly gained a newfound respect for the boy.
As it turned out, carrying the Cleaver while battling through snow was extremely hard, even if it was done by two well trained warriors. But this guy somehow managed to do it alone even though a couple of months ago he could barely lift the thing! Everyone unanimously agreed that it clearly was due to a ‘gift from the God’ and that the enviable male-slave was chosen for a ‘divine mission’.
The empress didn’t take part in discussions and mostly spent her time in deep contemplation, apart from constantly rushing the group back home. Everyone including her was exhausted and hungry, but no one dared to raise any objections – the war was approaching after all.
Because of the rush at some point ‘the divine weapon’ almost got lost when one of the tired guards tripped in the snow and weapon fell, and under the thick layer of snow slid down a mountain slope. The whole expedition, apart form the empress and the unconscious male-slave, of course, kept digging in the valley below for several days until they finally found it. Fortunately this was the only incident that held them back and approximately a month later the group returned to Vidantia.
Upon return the empress didn’t rest or even eat. She immediately gathered the Council of Devotees in their usual meeting hall and even before anyone sat down, without holding back stated, “We are complete idiots!”
Obviously it has been on her mind for quite some time and only looking at the confused faces of her family members she realized she needed to give a more detailed explanation.
“Our beliefs, our goals and ideas, our plans … everything was wrong! We … and our ancestors … we have all been wrong!” Empress said and seeing some of the elderly faces turn ugly, continued, “Long, long time ago during the dark times when Vidas family received the divine gift, the two artifacts, we also received a mission from the God – to conquer the world. You all remember the legend, right? But what did we do? Yes, we conquered the continent and established an empire, but in our complacency we stopped. And with time going by we regressed and the empire fell apart leaving us with a pitiful remnants of what we once had!”
The more empress spoke, the more emotional she became. Even madam Vesta couldn’t remember when was the last time the imperial majesty acted like this.
“Not only we didn’t follow the orders the God gave us, we even dared to look for her as if we were worthy! How laughable is that?!” The empress angrily said, “Alright, I see you’re confused and I must say, I would be too, but let me explain … what I realized during the dragon-hunt. Four of the present saw how the male-slave with one slash killed the water dragon and yes, it’s quite a feat and yes, he did it with the Divine weapon. But at that exact moment I had a revelation we have been wrong … for centuries. Back then Vidas family was tasked by the God to conquer the world. But we failed. Even though we were gifted two Divine artifacts, we failed. And now, when the God gifted us three more, we refused to follow their orders, but decided to take a stroll!”
“Three?” Madam Vesta asked what everyone present had in mind.
“Indeed. That is why I’m saying we’re complete idiots!” The empress nodded with a sad sigh, “The weapon is the obvious one and so is the lost cookbook. But who can guess what’s the third? Dalina, tell us in detail how we killed the second dragon.”
“We?” Dalina furrowed brows in confusion, “When the dragon emerged from the frozen lake, we retreated while the male-slave chanted the Divine spell and … your majesty! You mean …”
“Indeed! The male slave is the third Divine gift.” Empress nodded, “The only one who is capable of reading the Divine cookbook and the only one who is actually capable of wielding the Divine weapon … alright! To not waste any more of our time, let me give you the results of my month long contemplations.”
She took a pause, looked around the table at her trusted family members and sighed again, “The God gave us another chance to complete the mission given to our family all those centuries ago – to conquer the world. From the experience of the last millennia she knew we were incapable, thus in order for us to succeed she gifted us three more divine artifacts – the Divine cookbook, the Divine weapon and its wielder, the Divine warrior. The cookbook was lost, the weapon was broken and we almost executed the warrior. What are we if not complete idiots?”
Depressing silence filled the hall and after a long while madam Vesta suddenly said with a smile catching everyone off guard, “So it’s not bad after all! What’s with the faces? What Angele, sorry, what her imperial majesty implied – not everything is lost! Exactly the opposite! While we did break the two divine barriers the weapon had, the male-slave managed to grow in strength enough to wield it and we already planned to go after the Divine cookbook. Am I wrong?”
“Not at all!” The empress shook her head, “In addition, the whole endeavor we went through turned out to not be a complete waste of time … Dalina – read the Divine chant!”
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Dalina stood up and took out a piece of parchment, and then with a serious face read something only Leo could understand and what she had methodically memorized long ago, “You asked for it, bitch! Fire claw!”
“Thank you!” Empress nodded and beckoned her to sit, “We reconstructed this Divine chant by putting all our heads together and although we are not certain what it means or how it works, we all witnessed how it filled the male-slave with an incredible power. I suggest the following …”
Upon returning Leo was already prepared to go back to the his regular routine of practice, cooking and eating. But on the second morning he was met with a pleasant surprise – once again, just like during those days before the expedition, Dalina stood at his door with a stern expression, but this time behind her were the three remaining trusted guards.
“Follow me!” She said and without waiting for an answer brought Leo back to the small, white marble house he had once been to, albeit back then somewhat wasted.
One of the two elite guards immediately opened the door and the four proceeded inside, down the narrow stairs. The hall downstairs was just as Leo remembered – filled with the slight bluish light from the myriad of stones at the walls, but this time there were several people busying themselves around the two tables.
The stone tablet still stood at the same place and Leo had to hold back in order to not rush over and directly break it. In addition, after spending months of traveling together, he immediately recognized one of the present people, the empress, and knew it would be foolish to try anything ‘funny’ when the strongest person of the empire was around.
The empress also noticed the group, came over and said, “From this day forward you’ll be able to finally fulfill your destiny! Practice hard to lead our forces in battle!”
Then she stepped aside and murmured loud enough for the male-slave to hear, “You asked for it, bitch! Fire claw!”
Leo almost tripped in surprise, but somehow managed to maintain a straight face and was led towards the altar where lie the Cleaver and the iron crown.
There Dalina and her guards deeply bowed and also murmured, “You asked for it, bitch! Fire claw!”
Then she sternly looked at Leo and said, “From now on you’ll practice how to fight with the Divine weapon. Of course, for the safety reasons you’ll be bringing it back every afternoon. Now, take it and let’s go! I don’t have all day!”
When he woke up after killing the big snake, to his big surprise Leo learned it hasn’t been a dream and for the first time in life he actually did something ‘cool’. He also thought that was the reason for the change in the attitude towards him.
Now he learned they probably intended to use him during the upcoming war and while those were bad news, not only he’ll be able to train – he’ll be allowed to frequent this place which meant that sooner or later he’ll break the tablet and get out of here.
Starting that day Leo felt almost like all his dreams had come true, at least all he could allow himself to dream of in Dreadlands, apart from being able to wash Anna, of course. Every morning he went over to the marble house, the guards for some reason called ‘the Mausoleum’, picked up the Cleaver, then went over to the training grounds, practiced myriad of exercises – both physical and combat arts. At noon he cooked for himself and sometimes for her imperial majesty and later practiced again. In the evening he was escorted to the Mausoleum and had to put the Cleaver back on the altar.
To his own amusement he soon followed the suit of the imperial forces and began to chant the sacred line ‘You asked for it, bitch! Fire claw!’ every time he picked up and put down the weapon and it was particularly hilarious to watch the serious expressions on Dalina’s and her guards faces during the process.
For now it was impossible to get to the stone slate alone, but with days passing by Leo realized he was living a happy and careless life. He actually was intensely training without cultivating Qi and basically closely following master Shaw’s advise. Obviously he was not clear for how long he had to practice this way, but as long as there was a progress, there was no reason to refuse the imperial hospitality.
Unfortunately the Heavens are always just and if the things are too good to be true, they can’t last that way for ever. The clueless and training-frenzied male-slave didn’t know the preparations for the war were coming to an end. He kept swinging the ‘Divine weapon’ at large wooden poles on the training grounds and sparring with Dalina’s guards, eating and sleeping while both the empire and the Southern kingdom with its allies gathered the armies in south-east.
It all abruptly ended when one night Leo got an unexpected visitor. Not that he had forgotten about her, but after all this time waking up to see Anna sitting on top of him with one hand on his mouth and the other holding a dagger on his neck was ‘somewhat’ disheartening.
“I’ll only say it once, so listen carefully!” She whispered, but instead of her sweet fragrance, a slightly sour odor assaulted Leo’s senses.
Truth to be said it was hard to recognize the girl. Not only because her hair that was cut short – the palm that was covering his mouth felt rough as a sandpaper and in the moonlight shining from the narrow window Leo could discern multiple scars criss-crossing her once angel-like face. Sadly this was not the goddess he once knew, but a commando the conflict between the empire and the Southern kingdom had groomed.
Of course, Anna didn’t know what thoughts ran though the male-slave’s head and honestly didn’t care much.
She leaned close to his ear and in barely audible voice whispered, “I know the empire is going to strike in five days. And I know you cook for the empress almost daily. On your night stand I’ve left few dried leaves – you’ll mix those in her food or … the day after tomorrow you won’t wake up.”
For a few moments she fell silent and then said, “I know you’re not to blame for Lana’s death so I’ll give you a chance – when you’re done, rush towards the southern entrance of the imperial grounds and I’ll help you to escape, although with how capable you are now you might not need much help anyway. Afterwards you can join the Southern forces and fight the evil empire with me …”