Deep within an unknown mountain range lay the ruins of an ancient city, one that has lain untouched since the Fall of Premen. This was one of their cities, one of the greatest but not even it could stand against the chaos that erupted because of the conflict between Light and Night. The combination of the demons, monsters, and the civil war caused the fall of this great city, although there was still life among its ancient ruins. For the enemy had not taken this city without a price, the great Teryo defended it until its inhabitants were able to escape. Ever since then, they’ve waited, awaiting the return of their people. But Time passed and they never did, but they continued to wait.

The Teryo were once warriors of flesh and blood, however, their intense loyalty to their nation denied them the right to die. So even when their flesh withered away and their bones eroded into dust, they remained, empty husks of armor with bodies of shadow. The shadow was merely a representation of their will, their soul. But recently, they’ve begun to stir from their eternal watch, for there was a presence that they’ve felt only once before, the presence of a preman. And so, with final looks upon their ancient home, they decided to leave in search for their master.

But they were not the only ones who noticed the presence of an ancient, the elves that resided deep within forests and high in the mountains sensed it, their seers foretelling of a being whose power would change the very fate of the world. The dwarves as well noticed such a change, although the signs they saw were portrayed within the earth. The very heart of Agleon, which had remained dormant since the Fall of Premen, began to pulse once more. The ancient dwarven capital, Vilrahm, lay upon a volcano, harnessing the energy of the magma to power its great furnaces. But, since the Fall of Premen, the magma flows had begun to dwindle as the pulse of Agleon slowed to a stop. But now, it beat once more and fresh magma flowed into the dwarven city, its magma rich with pure ores.

But there was also more awakenings, of beings that were so ancient that their names were forgotten and the books which tell of them have turned to dust. Beings of crystalline nature, as dangerous as they were beautiful and they were one of the most exquisite things to exist. And they weren’t your typical golem, asymmetrical and looking like a bunch of shards slapped together, no. They were geometrical in shape and were perfectly symmetrical, giving them an unnatural look. Their very body a treasure that could rival a dragon’s hoard. Unlike golems, they were sentient, soon dubbed the Earthkin by dwarves and were to be avoided at all costs. Any attempt to fight them ended with the death of the foolish mortal, for the bodies of these creatures rivaled diamond in strength. And also, their limbs were veritable swords, sharper than even dwarven steel and undoubtedly more durable.

But they remained deep within the earth, although, with the whispers of shadows, they had begun to rise, but not overly hostile. They did not attack any who did not attack them, dwarves adopting a peaceful attitude around them, ignoring them until they left. Besides, the minds of the dwarves admired these creatures, the creations of Agleon, they were often called. These and more were stirring, such as dryads and nymphs which had hidden themselves from the mortals since the Fall. And ancient dragons, having slept for eons began to wake from their slumber, ruling their territories once more.

But it wasn’t only the influence of the fragment, no, the Song of End had already taken effect, awakening ancient evils. The original demons, the fiends, the direct progeny of Night herself. Imprisoned since the war between Light and Night, fiends that had been sealed deep within the earth broke free from their chains as the heartbeat of Agleon broke their prisons, weakening the bindings upon the fiends and allowing them to escape. They began to claw their way towards the surface, although, since they were buried to deep, it would take six years for them to erupt from the surface.

Then of course there were the monsters, children of fiends, gods, demons and premen, spread out all over the continent in which Athera was located but also had an entire continent to their name as well, the continent of Ortus, across the ocean to the East. Although Athera didn’t have any human threats on their eastern coast, monster pirates were something to be feared but they haven’t been a prevalent problem as they never ventured on land. But now, they grow bolder and also more desperate, in need of new prey for merchant ships stopped going in and out of Athera.

Soon they would make a move and Athera, too busy preparing an invasion force, would not be able to respond. This would be a devastating blow to Athera, for half of the food came from the East Coast with its fertile lands and its booming fishing industry. But as there hasn’t been a threat in years so the garrison had been moved to places where they were more needed. But unaware of this threat, Athera prepared a new invasion force with Ieros as a part of it, supplying nine thousand troops of stone which he used to retake both Iredale and Greenhill Fort while the atheran invasion force was amassed.

But of course, to keep with the act that he was human, he told the King that although there were nine thousand troops, they would only last for a month, which was more than enough to retake the lost territories but not enough to aid in the war effort. His reasoning was simple, although their bodies would remain even if he had run out of mana, the energy that allowed them to move was continually draining his strength at such a rate that even his monstrous mana wouldn’t be able to keep up. He couldn’t afford to create each artificial soul for each golem, at least, as a human. He was already capable of such a thing and has already done so but he had to act as if he had limitations, otherwise he wouldn’t be human.

The King understood and put forth the task conquering Seris to nine court mages, each at the head of an army of five thousand. In total, an army of forty-five thousand would be amassed in the coming months as Athera would recall many of its armies from the South as well as conscript more soldiers.But many gladly accepted the conscriptions, the atheran people were angry at the serisians and were, for now, ready to lay their lives down for their country. So, instead of the projected seven months that it would have taken to gather the army, it took six months and an additional five for Athera to train up its army. Ieros’s army of shadow creations held the North with ease, although the King just thought that Seris was not attacking.

But the shadows did so much more, they warded off the stirring ancients but at the same time alerting all to the presence of the being. But they left him alone, for the time being, the ancients moving to make a giant coalition with the humans to defeat this being whose power was a challenge to the gods. And, the gods were making a move too, ignorant to the fact that this being was the proxy of the very one which had wrought so much destruction upon them. They whispered to their servants, angels and demons alike, to find the source of this disturbance and to try and persuade it to their side. If not possible, destroy it with extreme prejudice.

Of course, the fragment was knowledgeable of at least some of these things, although it lacked the power to spy upon the gods. But it knew of the movements of ancient beings, especially of the fiends, their arrival to the surface timed almost perfectly with the arrival of End. This was no coincidence, End’s song had called them and they were answering. The fragment was unworried however, it would not matter how many would stand against it, it would prevail, after all, it could not fail. It must not fail, for the disappointment of Darkness was a greater threat than its own destruction.

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But as it was learning, it was being watched by one of the other fragments of Darkness, this one’s name being Subjugator. It was created alongside Ieros, although Ieros had no idea of it. Darkness realized that watching was not the way, but since its other fragments did not possess the power that it did, it created the Subjugator. It would serve as his military strength, crushing the enemies of Darkness before it. It had been commanded by Darkness, before it entered its sleep, to keep watch over Ieros, to help him if necessary but otherwise to keep out of his business. If it truly required, it would also merge with the fragment, the powers of each becoming one and creating an even more powerful fragment.

Of course, this was only if necessary, for Darkness wanted the information that the Surveyor would learn to be as pure as possible, untainted by the knowledge that the Subjugator already possesses. But the Subjugator also had an additional mission, to destroy Ieros should he seem… defective and from then on, take the name of Surveyor and learn. It thought that it would have to step in several times but the Surveyor had proven its ingenuity, getting rid of its weaknesses. So, therefore, the Subjugator remained, aware of the movements of the gods but doing nothing to stop them. The Surveyor should have enough power to deal with them with ease, but if not, then it would help the Surveyor. But for now, it had no reason to act so it remained still.

Back on Agleon, Ieros was deep within the forest, mostly empty now as his shadow creations had moved to the Northern Border. Because of it, people began to explore the forest, hoping to meet Ieros but Ieros’s home was the floating garden, he merely had to teleport there and as it was invisible, none were able to find it just by exploring the forest floor. He merely wanted to rest, for the party had drained much of his nearly infinite patience. For a being of logic, to endure something that it perceives as useless is like a person who takes their work very seriously being forced to waste time. It just doesn’t feel right and they want to get to work immediately but due to certain circumstances, they are unable to.

But that hell was over, he could rest now, at least until he was needed again. But once again he sent observers, to watch the battle for him. He had realized that he was just too powerful, that there was nothing meaningful to be gleaned from such average opponents. He would have to wait until there was one whose intelligence in battle far exceeded that of normal humans, like Azemar but he wouldn’t have the chance to fight him unless he betrayed Athera or vice versa. Of course, he could limit himself but then he wouldn’t be learning as much as he could, this was rather frustrating but it would be better, for now, to simply observe instead of participating.

But as he rested, the unique light came once again, the one from that girl before. Slightly curious, he paid attention to her, wondering why one blessed by Light would be here. But it seems that she learned from last time, trying to conceal the Light that she was blessed with and instead using a lantern, seeming to search for something. But still Ieros did not show himself to her, he understood it to be rather rude to suddenly appear out of nowhere. So he watched as she stumbled through the forest, watching her finally stop out of frustration and sit on the ground. She began to mutter various profanities and finally shouted,

“Where are you!?”

Ieros then asked through the shadows, “Me?”

She jumped out of surprise but after regaining her composure, she nodded, “Yes you, I need to talk with you.”

She added a few moments later, “Face to face.”

Ieros sighed and then stood, opening a gate in front of her and stepping through. She was rather wary when he stepped through, a hand prepared to blast him with light should he try anything. But he didn’t, instead creating a table with two chairs, opposite from one another. He took a seat and gestured she do the same, a silver light filling area, allowing her to put out her lantern.

After creating some tea, Ieros finally asked, “What brings you here?”

She had yet to touch the tea, looking at it suspiciously before turning her attention to him.

She then bluntly said, “I want your help.”

Ieros took another sip and then asked, “Why?”

She said, “Because I need it.”

Ieros then glanced at her, his eyes glowing silver for a brief moment.

He repeated, “Why.”

This time it wasn’t a question, rather a command.

She held his gaze for a few more moments before turning away, saying, “I want you to create something for me, don’t worry, I’ll pay whatever price you want but this absolutely must be made!”

When Ieros looked at her again, her eyes were filled with fiery determination and Ieros decided that it at least wouldn’t be harmful to help her.

So he asked, “What do you want me to create?”

She held his gaze this time and said clearly, “I want you to make a statue.”

Ieros’s eyes stared deep into hers before turning away and taking a sip, “A statue of what?”

She replied, “A statue of the Goddess Light.”

Ieros smirked emotionlessly, “As if a being like her could be called a goddess. No, she is far more powerful than a mere goddess, she is a primordial. But anyways, why?”

She said, “I aim to be a part of the Luxian Church and in order to enter, one must provide an item that is of either great value or would be very valuable to the Church. I have nothing of value to give so I have decided to acquire an item that is valuable to the Church. But the Church lacks any proper representation of Light so I decided that a perfect statue would be the best offering.”

Ieros then asked, “What will be my payment?”

She said, “Anything, money, information and…”

She hesitated, finally whispering, “Myself.”

Ieros then finished his tea and chuckled mirthlessly, “I have no interest in money or the pleasures of the flesh. But what information could you give me? What do you know that I don’t?”

She looked at him with piercing eyes and said, “I know a secret of Luxian Church.”