Over the past few weeks, the sweep up of the last remaining Demigods continued to roll on under the command of several officers and allies while Akira was forced to focus on work in the capital of the newly formed Kodria Kingdom.
One could say not much had changed for Akira with Kodria becoming a kingdom other than the fact that he was now a king instead of a duke... but they were wrong!
He was swamped with so much paperwork for the cost of paying guards, the castle city watch, funding city repairs, new roads, and building new housing and buildings for businesses just to name a few things.
He had been locked inside his office day after day not able to leave until the important matters were taken care of so that on the off chance he needed to leave the capital to take care of something it could function as usual with just the help of the Grand-elders and the clan chiefs.
During this time the Grand-elders were elevated to high ministers of the kingdom's new government while the chiefs of the tribes and different demon races were allowed one lower minister to represent them in the royal court.
Since the kingdom's formation there had only been a few meetings with the entire royal court in order to sort out a few details before Azura dragged Akira away and locked him back up in his office. Azura had been using this as a form of payback for having her do a lot of paperwork while he was gone.
Akira reached his hand out for the last piece of paper on his desk and pulled it toward him so that he could read it and decide what to do with it.
“Hmmm... the navy wants more gold allocated to these shipbuilders so that they can build more ships? Our navy is pretty bare bones right now using whatever we have to do all sorts of jobs... I'll just consider it a future investment,” said Akira as he started to go through the fine print and fill it out properly.
“Finally done!” said Akira as he placed his worn feather pen back into its metal cup holder.
Seeing that Akira was done working, Fluffball hopped up from his favorite napping spot in front of the fireplace and rushed over to Akira, his tail wagging so quickly it was almost a blur.
As he stood up and stretched, a knock was heard on the door.
“Klyn has arrived,” said the guard through the door.
“Let him in,” said Akira as he rubbed Fluffball's head while smiling and thinking of all the things he could do now that his torture was over... for now.
When Akira saw Klyn's grim face as he entered the room, his smile disappeared and he asked, “What is it? Did someone suffer a large defeat in the north against the demigods?”
Klyn shook his head, “No messages of such a thing have reached me. I'm here to inform you of an important guest who came all the way from the southern Earth Tribe and has just arrived.”
“...do you want me to meet them?” asked an uncertain Akira.
Klyn nodded his head, “She came all the way here with only her guards just to see you.”
“...and she is?”
“When I heard she was here I decided to come let you know personally since she's the oldest living shamen priestess of either of the earth tribes. She has lived long enough to have seen the rise and fall of many Demon races. That is why I'm a bit surprised that she managed to make the trip here. Her age is not why she is a revered guest, it's her rare skill of dream reading that has caused her to be a famous icon among the shamen. With her ability, she is able to predict the future from the dreams she has. She is adamant that she must see you as the kingdom's future safety is at stake right now.”
“Is there a large counter-offense in the north that we don't know about?” asked Akira while he exited his office with Klyn and Fluffball walking beside him down the stone hallways. The royal guards keep a good distance behind them allowing them to talk without interruption.
“None that I know of. Captain Pegleg has been patrolling the sea and coastline the past few weeks and has not encountered any enemy ships in great numbers yet.”
Akira stopped at the end of the stone hallway unsure which way to go.
“She is resting in one of the underground shaman research rooms,” said Klyn.
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Akira and Klyn rushed down the stairs two steps at a time and arrived at the dark underground room that the old dream reader was resting in.
“So... we finally meet,” came an old wizened voice from the open door. “When you made your trip to our home in the south I was unable to meet you due to being sick at that time.”
Akira cautiously entered the dark room, his vision quickly adjusting to the darkness and focusing on a faded gray hooded cloak that covered the frail body of the old Dream Reader. Beside her were over half a dozen burly guards that had escorted her all the way here.
Akira nodded to the guards around the old dream reader but they did not return his gesture and stayed alert ready to protect her.
“Do not pay them any attention, they are no fun. I am sure you are wondering why I have made such a long journey here at my age just to see you.”
“It is an honor to meet you and yes I am curious to know the reason why. The trip must have not been easy for you especially with the current cold months weather acting up.”
“Although my old bones ache, I have faced harsher years than right now so it was no problem. The reason I had to come here was because of the dreams I kept having. All of them were different dates and events where I ended up meeting with you in order to receive an important message.”
“Dreams? Of me?” asked Akira.
“Yes. My dreams are not something to ignore or dismiss. In the past those that have not listened to me or taken my words to heart have always regretted it later after everything was said and done... if they were even still alive.”
Akira looked to Klyn who was standing next to him. He still had some doubt about this but when he saw that Klyn nodded to him confirming what she was true, he turned back to the frail old dream reader.
“What do you need me to do?” asked Akira, not sure what she needed from him.
“You right hand,” said the old dream reader, stretching out both her withered hands palms up for Akira to place his hand on top.
Since it was such a simple thing he stretched out his hand and placed it gently on her small hands.
Her small dry hands moved to cover his hand with the right hand on top and the left underneath. With that completed, she closed her eyes and started to silently mutter to herself while rocking from side to side.
As Akira watched the old dream reader, his vision started to slowly dim as the room seemed to grow darker and darker. While his consciousness was fading, the sound of fierce crashing waves and the cries of seagulls rang through his ears...
***
Smack!
“Ow!” shouted a startled Akira as he was woken up by the slap to the face.
“You finally woke up!” said Klyn.
“Why'd you hit me?”
“You have been standing there sleeping for the last 2 hours. I thought you were still in a trance but no, you were just snoring and sleeping making us wait so long! Madam dream reader has been waiting this entire time for you to wake up so that she could tell us what she saw.”
Akira sheepishly rubbed his face and looked over to the old Dream reader who was still sitting where she had been before he lost consciousness.
“Sorry... I haven't slept much lately,” said Akira as he bowed in apology to the old crone.
She only nodded in understanding before motioning for him to sit in front of her.
Akira quickly sat cross-legged on the stone floor in front of her like a young student ready to learn from his elderly teacher.
Klyn let out a chuckle seeing Kodria's new king acting like this. With a sharp look from the old crone, he also joined Akira on the stone floor.
“What I saw in my past dreams came true. I was able to receive a message just from the contact with you. Again I would advise you to take this warning seriously,” said the old dream reader slowly as she tried to think over each word so as to not make a mistake.
Akira nodded letting her know that he understood.
“A new danger is about to rise up... from it, there is a possibility that the tools of destruction will be created or found... there is a great possibility that this new danger will be able to wipe out both the human and the demon race continents if it is not handled properly...”
She was silent for over a minute before jerking as if she had been shocked by lightning.
“The danger will come from the sea!”
With those words, her body slumped limply into the arms of one of her guards who slowly laid her down on a cot that had been prepared for her.
“The reading is over. We can leave,” said Klyn in a whisper.
Akira nodded and left the room with Klyn, Fluffball, and the royal guards.
The old dream reader's words continued to ring in his ears as he thought over them repeatedly trying to fully understand every word to make sure he did not miss any hidden meaning. He knew things like this sometimes came to people in incomprehensible riddles.
Luckily her words were rather concise and clear. While he mulled over her words in the back of his mind he was conscious of the fact that he had heard the sound of rough waves and sea birds before falling asleep. There was no doubt about that which led him to believe the old dreams reader's words far more than some random fortune teller who read palms or guessed the future by looking at the stars.
As he reached the front inner courtyard of the castle he stopped in his tracks, cocked his head to the side, and listened to a distant sound.
Fluffball also stopped and listened.
“AWWWOOOOOOOOO! Awoooo!”
Akira frowned after listening to the message coming from both of the river forts. He turned to Klyn and said, “I thought you said that Captain Pegleg was in the north patrolling the coast for demigod ships?”