Originally uploaded Nov 13, 2023

Bairon POV

Cold musty air hung in the within the carriage as we made our way further and further into the cave. Our path illuminated by several light emitting artifacts the only sound we could hear were distant echoes of civilization and the constant dripping of water.

The royal carriage that was carry us continued on a steady pace. Made of a seamless blend of wood and stone, its various surfaces and edges were carved from gold and precious gemstone.

I looked back towards the dwarf that was driving, a stout but solid figure. His face was full of orange hair as he wore clean clothes, well clean clothes for a dwarf that sent his entire life underground.

It has been just a few days since the dwarven capital city reopened its borders to trade. Yet they didn't send any representative or word to the council. Despite our orders to explain their situation there were no words. And with Olfred's betrayal and death the council did not want to take any chances.

Most of the Dicathen council initially wanted to send a full invasion force to the doorstep of the underground city. Only being talked down by Virion, he was only one of the remaining court that had spent an extensive time in Darv and with dwarfs in general. He voted against it, saying any outside invading force without insider knowledge of the city's inner workings would only be a waste of time. And showing up at their doorstep with an army would only lead unnecessary bloodshed.

And rather quiet soon the decision was made to send a messenger to the city to assess the situation at hand. Hence why I was here. With one of the dwarven Lances being dead, and the other under careful eye I was the only able one available. With Varay healing from her wounds with dealing with the Retainer that took over Slore and only one elven Lance around.

I crossed my arms as I leaned backwards in my seat. I looked up at the ceiling of the carriage car. A small lighting artifact fashioned in the an appearance of a crystal hung from the center, casting a small warm light.

Flying in would have been indeed faster but this was a diplomatic matter, I didn't want to cause any misunderstandings. Although in my opinion we shouldn't be giving the Dwarfs a chance. They have already shown signs of treachery twice now. But it was wiser to not make an entirety of one of our three races completely oppose us. Even if the higher ups of the dwarfs do turn to Alacrya there were still pockets of loyal dwarfs we would be alienating.

I stared out the small window, watching as the city passed by us. Street lights and sounds of people going about their lives. Despite the many differences between all three races at the end of the day we were still all quiet similar. Our cultures and histories may differ but the small joys and goals in life were all the same.

As a Lance I was a tool of war and protection. I was groomed to be the guardian of my royal family. To wield my weapon against the enemies of the Glayders. To be the thorn in the side of the Greysunders and Eralith families. But the formation of the council came soon after my induction into the ranks. While it was strange at first it was a oddly comforting feeling. Having our entire continent united against a common enemy. It grew not only the common folk's sense of moral and pride but mine as well.

Soon the carriage stopped as the large lizard-like mana beast that was pulling it was pulled to a halt. The main castle of the city of Vildorial stood in front of me as I exited out of the carriage. The troops under me wanted me to take soon of them with me. At the very least one of the captains with combat experience. But I vetoed against that idea. Is visit was one to fully reopen Vildorial's borders and to have them reconvene with the council, it wasn't a threat.

Another Dwarf, this one wearing more elaborate garbs lined with gold and made of fine silk welcomed me with a bow.

"Welcome, Lance Bairon. Our majesty is awaiting you." He said with his head still bowed.

"Majesty?" I questioned, slightly caught off guard. The last king was executed by Lord Aldir for conspiring with the Vritras and produced no heir.

"Ah yes, he hasn't made any openly public appearances but he has greatly improved our standards of living in a very short time. He doesn't seem concerned with personal glory or riches. Inste-"

I interrupted the dwarf before he could continue to ramble.

"When did your people reinstate a new king?" I asked, trying to piece together things. Perhaps it was an agent of the Alacryans who was placed in charge in Darv. They had already had hands deep within Dicathen's political field, it didn't seem like a far-fetched thing to think about.

"A couple of months ago, general. He made sweeping reforms with our laws and work. At first many of the older folks were against it. Even a bunch of the higher nobles led full on rebellions. All of which his majesty quickly put down himself." It seemed he spoke very highly of his new king. Probably a way for the Alacryans to have a firm hold within Dicathen. Soldiers who believed in their leaders and cause were much more effective after all. It could lead to more instability within Dicathen's own forces as well.

"Take me to him." I firmly said. I needed to get to the bottom of all of this. While there was a chance that he would instantly kill me I knew that would draw unwanted attention onto Darv. And with him not making any open moves it seems he wants to lay low for the time being.

"Right this way sir." The dwarf began to led me into the castle. A standard building. Made of granite and other various stone I had little knowledge about. The dwarfs were a race that always prided itself on constructing things from the earth. And this building was a work of art. Sculptures carved from a single piece of green jade decorated one side as chandeliers of gold and other precious gemstones hung from the ceilings, refracting multi-colored light into the hallways and rooms.

I was so deep in thought that I didn't notice when we had finally reached the throne room. The large gate showed a depiction of a great forge. The flames were carved in a way that it almost seemed real and I could feel the heat radiating off of them. But the thing that caught my eye was the two guards standing on each side.

The stood motionless, so much so that on first glance you would have mistaken them for statues. But the mana signature that was exuding off of them told a different tale. It was suppressed, but you didn't need to be a white core mage to tell that they were powerful beings.

Each covered from head to toe in jet-black armor wielding spears that hummed with a strange alien energy. They didn't move but I could feel their eyes tracking me, giving me a sense of uneasiness and panic.

The dwarf that was guiding me seemed to have noticed my emotions when he reassured me.

"Oh, these are our king's own men. They don't talk much but they completely obey his will. You'll get used to them with time." He said trying to lighten the mood but it only soured mine.

These men he were using as guards. I couldn't completely tell their core level but they were powerful. If the man behind these gates control a couple hundred, hell even a handful of them I wondered if the Lances could survive such a battle.

The two guards moved in unison, making me jump back slightly. They reached for the large handles and pried open the gates. Seemingly without any trouble or struggle despite the doors being solid stone and probably weighing several thousand pounds.

My guide quickly escorted me in as I took in the sight of the throne room. It was barren compared to the rest of the castle. Places where it was apparent works of art and banners were once held were left empty. With only a lush red carpet that led to the throne itself.

And upon the throne that seemed to be carved from the ground itself sat him. Wearing a clean white dress shirt with a deep forest green long coat. Two piercing eyes the color of liquid gold stared back at me through the holes in his blank white mask. He sat casually, one of his arms propped up on the armrest of the throne as that arm in turn held up his face.

It now made sense why the dwarfs refused any directly communication and left the council of their own accord. Grey was always somewhere, pulling at the strings in the background. Only appearing when it best suited him. And him exposing himself to me made me question what his plans truly were.

My body acted on its own as I raised my hands. I could feel electricity building up within my fingertips as I readied to fire off a spell. When with a responding pop sound the mana within me fizzled into nothingness.

My escort quickly interjected between us. Placing his own body in front of my as he began introductions.

"Lance Bairon Wykes of the Dicathen council." He said as he placed his right hand on his chest and bowed respectfully.

"Thank you, Barradan for your services. You are dismissed." The man on the throne spoke, his deep baritone voice heavily altered by his mask.

The dwarf quickly exited the room, shutting the door gently as he did so. And I was left alone with this man. Grey, was his name. Or at least that was the alias he used. After the attack on Xyrus and the flying castle we had our people pour through all available records and documents but there was no man with that name.

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The only lead we found was a short file about him within the adventurer's guild. But even that trail went cold quickly. We only could grasp the dubious rumors of his previous actions working as an adventurer. He clearly was purposefully hiding his tracks.

Lord Aldir has indeed labeled him as a being with draconic blood. Most likely an experiment of the Vritras, but even that didn't quiet sit right with me. If he was truly an agent of the Vritra then why would did he act the way he did back at Xyrus. Is he trying to confuse us?

And here he was seating at the dwarven throne. Seemingly have won over the hearts of many of the dwarfs. Pointing an accusing finger at him I sneered in anger and frustration.

"What are you doing here." I spat, I wasn't here to instigate any conflict but he was no ordinary man. I was reminded of what he had done with my brother. How he left not even a body for me to recover, and my rage burned like a tempest of fire within me.

"As you can see I am the dwarf's new king." He said nonchalantly. He almost sounded bored and completely unworried of my presence.

"Did you and your Vritra masters already planted your claws within our society. What is your purpose? To spark civil war of some kind?" I said as my rage took on the visible form of fire on my skin.

In turn Grey only chuckled. In graceful movements he stood up from his throne. His dark green coat acted more like a cape than it did a coat as he made his way towards me. His long blonde hair was tied loosely back. He seemed thin, but physical appearance didn't matter much with mages his caliber.

He stood before me. Despite being near the small height as me and much leaner, he seemed to be looking down on me. I couldn't even feel any sort of mana signature from me, only a sense of dread and the feeling of a heavy weight that was dragged me down.

His gold eyes seemed to see right through me as he stopped for a second before answering.

"I have liberated the dwarfs from Alacryan rule and have taken leadership into my hands. While your precious council was busy dealing with business I have grown this city and improved the living standards of every single dwarf in a matter of months."

"If you ask me you guys should be thanking me. It was because of me you didn't have to constantly watch your own back." He continued as he began to pace around the room. I tracked him as he walked in a large circle around me.

"And make no mistake. I am no ally of the Vritra, or the asuras of Ephetous." He added as he turned his head to look back at me.

"Then what are you." I said, not buying any of his bullshit.

He pondered my question for a moment. As he made his way back to his throne, not caring if he was fully exposing his back to me and sat down. He was treating me as if I was no big deal, in fact it reminded me of how Lord Windsom treated lessers he didn't need to care about.

"A third party I suppose." He said as if he was speaking mere well accepted facts.

I raised my arms again. Withdrawing my greatspear from my dimensional storage it crackled with yellow tendrils of lightning.

"Then you are my enemy. Not to mention what you have done to my brother." I hissed as my core swelled with mana. My hair stood on end as lightning danced on my skin.

"Don't try to show sorrow for your brother now. Do you have any idea the kind of torment he has been through because of you? How his own father treated him like a second-rate son, comparing him to you at every turn. Do you even know what that feels like." Grey spat each word with vigor. As if he understood my own family better than me.

I moved to strike, but before I could I felt my instincts screaming at me to duck. I shifted my body, bending my spine backwards I could feel a gust of air as I caught a glimmer of something passing right by my head.

I kicked off the ground as I placed more distance between me and the monster on the throne. When a low grumble drew my attention to the shadows behind him. And from the darkness I could make out two topaz eyes that shinned with ferocity as much as it did wisdom.

A large head of a dragon slowly revealed itself from the dark shadows. It jet-black scales perfectly hiding the rest of its body in the darkness. It growled at me with its teeth bared. Daring me to attack its master.

"Return home Lance. I believe you were strictly given instructions to not start a war here. And you won't win this one." Grey said coldly as he rose from his throne a sword materialized in his hands. It was still in its scabbard but something was odd about it. Despite it being in his hands and me directly staring at it, it seemed to phase in and out of existence. Like it was something I was barely able to perceive. His dragon drew closer as it raised its wings in a threatening gesture. But compared to the man who was staring me own and the aura he gave off the dragon seemed quaint.

Grey tapped his sword on the ground once, its sound bounced off the walls as the great gates behind me opened.

"Barradan will guide you back. Tell your masters that-" Grey stopped his sentence for a second, as he seemed to think over his next words.

"No, I'll tell them myself soon enough." He waved off as the dwarf walked up next to me. Motioning me to follow him. Grey and I stared at each other for a couple seconds.

My rage had not yet subsided. Here was the man who had wrecked havoc to our continent. The man who killed my own brother. And I was supposed to leave after all of that? To let him go? I couldn't, I refused. But the more sensible part of my mind halted me from making any moves.

He was someone who had challenged Lord Aldir and lived to tell the tale. Even an asura like master Aldir seemed unsure of Grey's motive and power. And if a god like him can't deal with him than I had no hopes of living an exchange with him. The only sensible thing I could do now was return to the council and report my findings.

The dwarven capital had fallen into the hands of a rogue, and with his true nature and allegiance uncertain we may have just gained a new enemy within our own continent. Begrudgingly I turned back as I allowed the dwarf to guide me back and out of the castle.

Arthur POV

I approached the robed figure who was standing by the large window, overlooking the front entrance of the castle. He stood silent for a moment, not acknowledging my existence as he stared blankly to the outside world.

"You don't want to say hello." I finally spoke after a moment of silence.

"What for?" Lucas said back. Clearly still annoyed by my existence.

"He is your brother after all." I said casually. Which only seemed to tick off the young mage.

He gave me the side-eyes as he cursed under his breath.

"Just don't forget your promise to me." He said with a sigh as he turned to leave. Indeed, while Lucas no longer tried to actively kill me. He was under working under my orders in return for me training him to surpass not only his brother but his entire family. While I didn't know the full picture of his familial matters I would hazard to guess that it wasn't the most pleasant.

I stared out the window Lucas was look out of. A large artificial sun gave off warm light of a summer's day. The large city laid before me as I could see small figures of people going about their daily lives. With the use of Neoth's own forces I had greatly improved the means of production that was the center of dwarven culture. Able to practically automate most of the labor.

Of course there were still dwarfs who would rather die than give up on their craft. They were born builders and craftsmen after all. And I simply allowed them to make their own choices. And they seemed to be happy with the life I was able to provide for them.

If there was one thing I had learned as a king was that happy subjects usually meant a better kingdom overall. Along with better morale and sense of pride. People who enjoyed their lives were more likely to fight harder to defend it.

Turning on my heels I headed into the deeper levels of the castle I had sanctioned off from any outsiders. Only allowing the few subordinates I had to leave and enter at will. The long spiral staircase led me deep into the bowls of the castle as I entered Neoth's main laboratory.

Several large tables were organized into lines, each of them covered with relics and documents. And in the center of the room was the device I had commissioned him to begin construction of. Currently it was only a mess of wires and cables. All coiling around a central control system, but in time it will be the center piece of all that I was working towards.

"Oh, the great King Grey of the dwarfs kindly graces us with his presence." Neoth's words oozed with sarcasm. He was in the body of a young man, perhaps early thirties. Fair skin and well built, he wore large glasses that didn't quiet match his style and a lab coat, tinkering with some kind of device on a table he sat at.

Approaching him I peered over his shoulders to see what he was working on. Only to see some round white disk. Tiny runes that were too small to read from my position were etched onto the outer perimeter of the disk but other than that it was unremarkable.

"Is the device I commissioned you for-"

"Oh you mean the machine you forced me to build. No matter how much I told you that it was impossible to achieve? Yeah that one? Yeah I was working on it. Just don't blame me when it blows up in your face." He cut off my words as he went on a small rant.

"Good." I quietly said as I walked up the the machine in question. I knew what I was asking of Neoth was insane. I had drawn inspiration from my past conversation with my future self and the strange vision I had of the man on the throne. A device I could interface with and not only control my own powers but amplify it to scales that were never dreant of.

I ran my hands on the wires that were draped over the control device. From just touching it I could sense it trying to draw in my own aether and mana, in fact it felt as if it was trying to suck me into the device.

"Oi, dragon boy. Don't touch that." Neoth yelled as he threw a small dagger at my hand. Impaling it into my wrist and drawing blood. I yanked it out without a second thought as the wound nearly instantly healed, the aether washing over the hole with waves of dark purple.

"And Elijah?" I questioned.

"Did you just come down here to do a performance review? One thing at a time. Not everyone around here works like a demon like yourself." Neoth cursed as he got back to working on his relic.

"Has his soul stabilized?" I asked again.

"Stable enough that it won't completely rip his mind apart. But other than that it will take time. That damn Vritra sure does know some aether arts." Neoth commented from a point of view of a true scientist. Shocked but full of curiosity as to how an asura like him could do such a thing.

"There is nothing you can do?"

"Unless you want to take your chances in having him going completely batshit insane. Lesser minds and souls are still complicated you know!"

'Jeez, did this guy wake up at the wrong side of the bed?' Regis chimed in as he floated out of my body and took on the form of a wolf made of flame-like shadows.

'Tell me about it. He sound just like some cranky old grandpa who hates his own life.'

'You did make him your slave though.' Regis shot back as he chuckled lightly.

'Point taken.'

"Anyways, did you need me for something? Or did you just come down here to rush me." Neoth asked as he carried a storage crate of various strange devices and lab equipment.

"Actually I have been thinking." I said as I crossed my arms. With Bairon coming to visit today it had made my decisions quiet easy. He will no doubt report the state of the dwarven people and my rule over them. The council will no doubt see me as a possible threat and will only cause problems. If I wanted to make my move, now would be a better time than later.

And with the defeat of Jagrette Agrona will be sending more of his forces to Dicathen. He doesn't seem to be pulling his punched quiet like he did originally. Perhaps threatening him directly wasn't the best idea.

'Ya think?' Regis barged into my thoughts. But I just ignored him as I continued.

"Neoth are your forces avaliable?"

Neoth made a mock thinking gesture as he messaged his chin before answering.

"For what? Making you breakfast?"

I waved off his joke as I drew closer to him. Putting on the airs of a true king I spoke to him with a serious tone. This wasn't the time for jokes and he seemed to catch on quick.

"I believe it is time we deal with Dicathen."