Marwin was feeling a bubble of nervousness walking down the hallways with his uncle.

Actually, scratch that. To say that he was feeling nervous was an understatement of itself. He could already feel the sweat gathering on his back.

“Relax your posture boy.” Ordered Aegnus as he lead the duo through the traffic of aides, servants, administrators, and officers all moving through the halls with their own tasks. “At this rate, you’ll end up collapsing from stress by the time we reach the office.”

‘Easy for you to say that old man’ Marwin internally snarked as he started using some breathing exercises to relax. As one of the general staff of the Sky Lord, his uncle was already well familiar with the man. Meanwhile, Marwin had never once seen the man in person, his only knowledge about the man was based on hearsay from other officers and the basic understanding that he was both his commanding officer and the nominal military leader of the entire western military administration of the kingdom.

Intellectually, Marwin knew that at some point he would end up meeting with the Western Sky Lord to get his support and permission for an expeditionary fleet. While he could have hoped that just having his uncle’s support would be enough for the expedition to be created, there was always the looming chance that he really would have to speak with the powerful man.

And he wasn’t even ready! Things were progressing too quickly for him to mentally prepare himself as he went from speaking with his uncle to now walking toward the office. He would have preferred more time to prepare himself to explain his proposal but the moment the aide had made it clear they had until two hours to reach the office, there was no disobeying an order from one of the four Sky Lords unless you wished to see your career suddenly end.

The two men silently continued their walk through the halls until a turn lead them to a pair of engraved double doors. Before those doors stood a pair of Cameron Highlanders armed with rifles and watched their approach.

“I am Sky Admiral Aengus Caellaigh alongside Air Commander Marwin Caellaigh, “Aengus announced to the guards as the two halted before them. “We are here with our meeting with the Sky Lord.”

One of the guards nodded and turned his head to the right, tilting his head as though he was listening to something. A minute passed before he turned to look at them. “You are expected, please enter.”

The other guard gripped the handle of one of the doors and opened it for the two. Both Aengus and Marwin gave the guards their thanks and entered the room.

Entering the room, Marwin's attention was immediately taken by the rich decor of the room. Everywhere he looked, he could see expensive decorations and ornaments that appeared at a glance to be made from rare materials that only someone with money and connections could receive.

“You may enter the office of the Western Sky Lord.” A female voice cut his sightseeing to his left. Looking left, he could see two secretaries working on their desks with one of them having already raised their head from their work and indicated to the door at the end of the room. “He is awaiting the two of you.”

Aengus gave a nod of thanks. “My thanks,” and proceeded to walk to the door. Marwin followed behind as his uncle opened the door and the two entered the room.

Entering, Marwin once again noted the rich decor of the room to be similar to the first one they left. He however noted the presence of expensive furniture and shelves lined with countless rare books, artifacts, and objects. He could see rare Sinelchis marble vases, Bescher glassworks, Árdghal metal plants, a Möradin obsidian statue of an unknown hero, and countless other works that he couldn’t hope to name or even recognize.

The Western Sky Lord seemed to have a very unique taste in decor.

And speaking of the man, Marwin could see him sitting behind a rich desk that stood before a large window covering the entire backside of the room, giving anyone an overview of the city of Lairg Unnich. The older man could be seen working on paperwork with floating screens compose of aether surrounding him, each displaying information he needed to be aware of to effectively run the military administration of his region.

The two of them walked to the desk before halting before two chairs and stood at attention, their hands clasped behind their backs as they waited.

The Sky Lord finished working with one of his papers and pushed it aside before setting aside his fountain pen and looking at the two. “Just the two men I wanted to see.” He indicated the two chairs. “You may relax and be seated.”

The two men relaxed and took their seats before the Sky Lord.

“I have listened to your argument Air Commander Marwin with the Sky Admiral and you have brought up many valid reasons for why such an expedition should be created.” The Sky Lord explained as he looked at Marwin. “To be frank, it is rather interesting considering I have been planning on creating an expedition to the former lands of the A'elserine Kingdom.”

A look of surprise flickered on both Marwin’s and Aengus’s faces from the Sky Lord’s words. This was something they could not have imagined before entering this office.

“I am honored that you would take notice of my proposal even when you have your projects.” Replied Marwin.

“I am also honored that you would accept my subordinate’s proposal,” Aengus replied also.

The Sky Lord waved him off. “Think nothing. While I may have been planning one, I was stuck with the unique conundrum of attempting to chart a course for the expedition through the White Mist Expanse waters.”

He clasped his hands together and rested his elbows on the desk, leaning forward. “I originally believed that any route through the Expanse would result in heavy casualties due to its uncharted and dangerous nature. As you would have realized once you started looking for ways to enter those water, only one group of people held a modest understanding of those waters and they have been dead for over nine hundred years and whatever descendants of theirs never carried the same knowledge.”

“Tell me, how certain you are of the pathways you may have found.” The Sky Lord asked in a serious tone.

Marwin stood a little straighter. “The pathway that I proposed is one that I drew from the testimonies of the smugglers I apprehended during my time with the 16th Scout Flotilla. I had tested them with eight explorer groups over the course of two years that had been willing to take the payment and brave the Expanse with the pathway.”

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He paused before continuing, “The first three groups I had sent never returned, whether they had died or simply fled after experiencing the Expanse, I cannot say.”

“No confirmation of death?” Inquired the Sky Lord.

“None that I could reasonably confirm,” Marwin answered with a shake of his head. “There was the word of the remains of an airsail that washed up far from the port where I hired them from but nothing that could be identified. I spoke with many of the locals and they say it is nothing unusual for the remains of anyone that enters or is caught by the Expanse to wash up on the coast, provided there is anything left. But it could have just as easily been a local one that ran afoul from fauna or pirates.”

The Sky Lord pondered over his words before shrugging. “That is fair. Continue, please.”

“The last groups I sent later had greater success. Of the five, only one had returned alive albeit having turned back barely a third of the way after nearly dying. Another was more than halfway through before being forced to return after suffering losses and damages. I went back to revise the pathway to take into account the troubles the two groups went through when they were forced to return. I then sent the last three based on the new changes.”

As Marwin finished, the Sky Lord had a hand stroking his beard as he listened to the information. “Were they far more successful?”

Marwin nodded. “The first two claimed they had successfully made it through the Expanse, with one of them providing to me the remains of a Belathor Core as proof of their action.”

“Did you ever verify the remains?” The Sky Lord inquired.

“Yes. I checked with an archeologist from the Broc Associate of Sciences, he confirmed the remains were indeed a Belathor core.”

“Nothing from the other group?”

Marwin snorted at the question. “They only proved their success with a sheet of metal with the images of an unknown coast engraved from aether manipulation. I had no way of identifying whether the coast was that of the A'elserine or it was one they randomly chose to placate me. I had no choice but to accept it, I believed if I tried to send them again to the Expanse, they would sooner flee than go back to it.”

“What of the last group?”

“Same as the first three groups I had sent, they had never returned,” Marwin replied with a frown. “I could not discern if they had died or simply fled, there was nothing.”

“A shame.” Remarked the Sky Lord as he stood up from his desk and walked to the window. “Given what I have learned, the expedition fleet will become a reality.”

Marwin perked up. “You mean?”

“Yes, you will become attached to the expedition fleet to help advance our nation to a new future.”

“I am honored, for this opportunity.”

“Indeed. You may be dismissed Air Commander. You will receive further orders within the coming months.” Spoke the Sky Lord. “Sky Admiral, you may stay, there are things that I must speak with you about.”

“Understood, by your leave Western Sky Admiral,” Marwin spoke as he clasped his hands behind him and gave a short nod before sharply turning around and walking to the door.

The two men watched as Marwin left the room, waiting until the door closed before Aengus broke the silence he had held for most of the meeting.

“There’s more to this than you wanting to advance our nation isn’t there?” He asked as he looked at his superior.

The Sky Lord sighed as he continued looking out the window, watching as a fleet of skyships flew steadily high in the sky. “Indeed there is more than what I’ve told your nephew.”

Silence rose in the room before the Sky Admiral broke it.

“The Realms of the Imidor has been found.”

“What!” Exclaimed Aengus as he shot up from his seat, knocking it back. “That's impossible! Those realms were considered lost for good when the Imidors sealed themselves from the outside world! They went as far as to destroy all of their wayfare pathways charts to make it impossible to remember where their realms were located!”

The Sky Lord snorted, “Seems like no one had bothered to inform them of such important details when they decided to find the realms. And lo, they found it despite the odds.”

Aengus looked at him with his eyes narrowed. “Who were the ones to find it?”

The Sky Lord took a moment to deliberate before turning to look away from the window and to the Sky Admiral. “A small nation by the name of the Sodekya Dynasty. I do not know the full details but they have found an entrance to the realms on one of their worlds. Despite their best attempts to limit the knowledge of the pathway, the word is already spreading. Many of their neighbors are already preparing for war including the Mechia Kingdom.”

“But all of that should mean nothing if the Imidors destroy any chance of an incursion.” Aengus protested. “They would not accept-”

“The Imidors are all dead.” The Sky Lord interrupted him. “That was one discovery of importance when the Dynasty sent men to explore the first realms. Somebody or something had slaughtered every Imidor within their realms.”

Aengus snapped his mouth shut at the revelation. The Imidors were an old and advance civilization, older than the A'elserine Kingdom within this side of the Eiryia. Such was their power and understanding of the realms that the Imidors had built their own artificial realms through unknown science. Those realms had quickly become the core of their territory and soon the only location of their population found within Eiryria.

In fact, one could say that the lands the Sodekya Dynasty and many other nations live on and claim as their territory was once Imidor territory before they abandoned it in favor of their artificial realms.

But the implication of a foe that could slaughter the Imidors within their most secured realms after the sealing was unsettling.

“Do we know who may have been responsible?”

“No.” The Sky Lord shook his head. “We have no idea who is responsible. If there are any, the Sodekyans are keeping a tight lid on who is responsible.”

Aengus looked down in thought for a moment before looking up. “What about the Inner Sea Nations?”

The Inner Sea Nations are said to be the oldest and strongest nations within Eiryia, at least by their words. Located within the heart of Eiryia, the name comes from an enormous inner sea stretching across numerous realms that surrounded their lands and separated them from the rest of the realms.

If there was a nation that could be responsible for slaughtering the Imidors, it was highly likely to be one of them. But of course, that was only if it was one of them.

The Sky Lord looked back to the window. “Possibly, but nothing is certain on the details and Inner Sea Nations are not the only ones who would have the power nor the ruthlessness to accomplish this. Yet there have been rumors of their ships spotted flying far from their borders but nothing concrete to support this. But I digress.” He finished, looking back to Aengus.

“The discovery of the realms has pushed many of the great powers and lessers within this entire side of the realms to push their institutions to discover new sciences and begin assembling expeditions to find ancient technologies.”

Aengus blinked at the information before narrowing his eyes. “The Cergia Commonwealth.”

“Indeed.” Spoke the Sky Lord. “They have been making inroads towards many of A'elserine’s former outer territories. The reveal of the Imidor realms has bolstered them to push further to reach the inner lands of the kingdom.”

Cergia Commonwealth, a northern nation that bordered closely with the former outer territories of the A'elserine Kingdom. For many centuries, ever since the fall of the kingdom, the nation had been making countless pushes and conquest of the various elven petty kingdoms that arose from the ashes of the larger nation. Seeking to push both their technological and military capabilities above all their rivals, of which the Kingdom of Broc Árdghal was one of them.

“Reports from many of our agents within the Commonwealth have all been stating that the military has been pushing out new technologies for their weapons and craft. Including rumors of a new dreadnought class.” The Sky Lord paused as he mulled his words. “That has greatly concerned the High King and the General Assembly.”

He turned to look at Aengus again. “It is for this reason for why they have recently given me the order to assemble an expedition force and breach the White Mist Expanse to reach the elven lands. The only other method to reach those lands is through the Commonwealth and they would sooner see any expedition of ours meets its death than find success. We can no longer allow ourselves to fall behind.”

The Sky Lord took a moment to pause before continuing. “I was in the midst of trying to figure out how to best way of ensuring that the expedition fleet survived the journey through those treacherous waters before your nephew found something.”

He chuckled. “Imagine it, here I was not too long ago stressing over making calculations and measures that would hopefully see a measly one-third of the expedition surviving the journey through the White Mist Expanse, and here comes your nephew with something concrete.” He shook his head with a smile. “Even if it's little, it's still far greater than anything I have devised.”

Silence once more dominated the room before the Sky Lord broke it again.

“Regardless, the expedition fleet will now become a reality.” He said as he took a seat back at his desk. “If you may excuse me, I have an expedition to plan and put together.”

“By your leave Western Sky Lord,” Aengus replied as he clasped his hands behind him and gave a short nod, and left for the door. Reaching the door, he paused for a moment as he slightly turned his head towards the Sky Lord.

“If I may be frank, Seòras?”

Western Sky Lord Seòras pursued in his work to look back at Aengus, an eyebrow raised at his name.

Aengus mulled over his next words before speaking, “Do you think we will find anything?”

Seòras frowned at the words as he leaned back into his chair with a sigh. “I will hope we find something to help in any method. There are too many variables going on that I am comfortable with. Our enemies are gathering strength augmented with ancient technology and the deaths of the Imidor have shown there are hidden enemies in the shadow we must be wary of. In the end, the expedition must succeed.”

Aengus thought over the words before nodding his head, quietly leaving the room and closing the door, leaving the sky Admiral alone in his office.