It had been three years since Athera conquered the sister nations of Seris and Zeris, peace just now being introduced to the enlarged Athera. Although Seris and Zeris were conquered two years ago, its people certainly didn’t think so and insurrections rose everywhere against the Atheran power. This was where Ieros, now an Archmage, stepped in, ordered to do so by the King who was now being called the Emperor. As he had proven himself against the Pirates of the East Sea, the Emperor had decided that he was more than qualified to take on the job. And Ieros did indeed bring in results, having an excellent spy network which bordered on omniscience along with his Dark Legion to defeat the insurgents. They were a group of four hundred shades, shadows of great warriors past although the humans did not know this. They merely thought of them as being another of Ieros’s creations.

These shades were, of course, the Teryo. Masters of their chosen weapon, these nigh immortal beings had entered the service of Ieros just three months after the conclusion of the Austerian Invasion. Ieros, who had by now sensed that they were not regular shadows, had accepted their oath of fealty. He put them to good use, thinning out the monster population in the East Coast so that the villagers would be safer when foraging. This was of course to increase social relations with them, it was preferable to be in good relations than bad.

But then a year later, the Emperor summoned Ieros to take care of the rebels. Ieros did as he commanded, sending forth his Dark Legion which split up into groups of ten. These elite squads targeted the leaders of the rebellion and captured/killed them. It took some time as Ieros purposely slowed down, he had to appear human after all. It took roughly a year and a half but peace was brought to Athera. The leaders of the rebellion had all been executed and the rebels were given a chance to live. Most succumbed to Atheran rule although a few chose execution.

Ieros studied these humans with great interest, noting that they believed in what they saw was right, no matter what logic said. He thought that they were foolish, rule under Athera was not so bad, the laws were still very similar to that of Seris and Zeris, the only difference was the head of the nation. Yet they believed that change, no matter how small was bad and they tried to retain their old ways. Change was needed, yes but too much could also prove to be detrimental. The rebels of Athera itself was one example.

Some time in the distant past, rebels tried to overthrow the royal family, preaching that they would bring great changes to Athera. They momentarily succeeded and the people believed in them. But the changes they brought were too great, too different. They sought to create a society where all were equal, where all resources were shared equally. Essentially it was communism, and for a brief span of five years, it worked. The newly established government made a new document stating that money was no longer needed, that everyone would share what they needed.

But this soon began to fall apart, people did not want to work as they could always share what they lacked from working with others. More and more people grew lazy and soon, so few farmed that selfishness arose once again. People hoarded their goods and the government had to punish them. Slowly, the people began to get angry and longed for the days of old. So those that supported the monarchy rose against the new government, gaining the support of the forever mercurial public and overthrew the government. A surviving member of the royal family was reinstated as King and with the advisors that survived, they recreated the Atheran Kingdom, order being restored.

Feudalism was reestablished as it was the only system that truly worked in this time, the threat of monsters being still very real as they reproduced nearly nonstop as well as strained relations with other nations, the threat of war always hanging over the minds of the people.

Ieros had long since studied the societal systems these humans ruled themselves by, some more perfect than others but none reaching the utopian ideal that all claimed to be. But he did not have time to ponder such issues as of now, the Court Crest—the object which allows the King to communicate with Ieros—lit up, indicating the King’s, well Emperor’s, summons. So he created a gate and stepped through, entering the Throne Room of the Emperor. As the door disappeared behind him, he bowed his head to the Emperor, saying,

“What is it that you desire, your majesty?”

The Emperor smiled as he looked on Ieros, “Always down to business, aren’t you Ieros.”

Ieros replied, “I wish to get this out of the way as soon as possible so I may return to my research.”

The Emperor nodded amicably, “Yes, I understand. But I am afraid you won’t be able to return for awhile, you see, I need you to escort two ambassadors to Amartia. ‘The Kingdom of Sin’ is its nickname and although I loathe to send two of my people to them, I have no choice. They lie directly west of us, and although we may not fear their military, they could allow for a greater military force from our enemies through and into Athera. I wish for you to escort our ambassadors to Amartia and if possible, help so that the negotiations are successful. This must succeed Ieros, for the future of Athera.”

Ieros bowed his head once more and said, “I understand. I shall protect the ambassadors and do my utmost so that the negotiations are a success, your majesty. When do I depart?”

The Emperor said, “You will depart tomorrow unless you can use your gate now to transport the ambassadors there.”

Ieros shook his head, “If you command it, then I shall do so.”

The Emperor chuckled, “I have no doubts that you can indeed do as you say but I merely asked in jest. You will have to travel by foot there, the amartians are a people that would not take kindly a sudden entrance. Besides, we must give them time to prepare for the celebration.”

Ieros nodded, “I understand. I shall return here tomorrow.”

So saying he bowed, leaving through a gate that he created.

The Emperor meanwhile leaned back in his throne, musing to himself, “What a mysterious boy…”

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Meanwhile, Ieros had returned to his tower, about to settle down when he felt a presence cross his barrier. It was one of the villagers, perhaps someone or one of the livestock were sick. Whatever it was, Ieros immediately went to the door, opening it a few moments after they knocked. It was a young woman, the eye-catcher of all the boys in the village with a reputation as the kindest and prettiest girl in all of the village. Ieros was not sure what she wanted as he could not sense an aura of worry around her as he did when a villager came with an urgent issue.

So he asked, “What is the problem?”

She cheerily replied, “Oh nothing, I just wanted to say that there is going to be a celebration two days from now for the excellent harvest we’ve had this year. I was wondering if you would like to attend.”

Ieros shook his head, “Unfortunately I have been given a task by the King just now. I have to leave tomorrow and the task will most likely last two to three weeks.”

Her face fell at his words and she apologized, “Ah, I see. Well, I’m sorry for asking you.”

Ieros answered, “There is no need for you to apologize. You had no knowledge of this, it is not your fault.”

She nodded but she still felt sorry. As the air grew awkward, she quickly said goodbye and hurried back down the path to the village, Ieros closing the door and promptly forgetting her. The data she would provide was of no importance as of yet, he did not need to focus on her. As the day turned into night, he summoned ten of the teryo, selecting Eversor and nine of his most trusted to accompany Ieros on the journey. Thus prepared and giving orders to the remaining Teryo to guard the East Coast in his absence, Ieros waited for the next day to come.

When dawn slowly painted the sky gold, he teleported to the Throne Room where a squire waited to escort him to the ambassadors and the Emperor. He followed the nervous boy through the halls of the palace, thanking him once the boy had finished his duty. The boy smiled and hurriedly bowed before scampering away, his anxiety getting the better of him. Ieros watched him go for a brief moment before returning his attention to the ambassadors. There weren’t any of royal blood because the Emperor did not want his children to be exposed to such sinful surroundings.

But that did not mean he was sending people without merit. The two that he would be escorting were Lord Saerus and Lady Elysant, both of noble descent. They possessed notable skills in magic although of course not as great as Ieros. But they were powerful nonetheless and they were chosen partly because of their powers and also because of their cunning minds. They had managed to gain and maintain the title of patriarch or matriarch of their respective households for a reason, strength, and guile. Masters of the political world, their expertise was an invaluable tool for the negotiations.

Ieros shooks hands with them both, not needing to bow because of his rank as Archmage. An archmage bowed to none except the King or Emperor they served and even then, it was just a nod of the head, more of acknowledgment than respect. Anyways, once platitudes had been exchanged, Ieros was invited to board the carriage but he declined. He had his own steed upon which to ride, a wingless dragon, the Wyrm. Despite the name’s similarity with worm, it was not anything like the worm, it looked like a dragon in every way, except for the fact it was missing wings. It was about twice the size of a horse with a massive chest with proportionate limbs as well as a long neck with a dragon’s head attached. It also possessed a long tail, capable of being used as a whip that had enough force behind it to tear through enchanted steel as if it wasn’t there.

Even if it couldn’t fly, it was still a mighty creature, possessing a breath attack that was poisonous and invisible to the eye. Of course, it wasn’t poisonous, rather there was just so much carbon dioxide that was exhaled that any person caught within suffocates. As they are usually panic-stricken, very few survive the attack. Creating a comfortable saddle upon which to ride upon, he then mounted it. In order to save time, the horses which were too frightened by the wyrm were untied from the carriage and the wyrm was harnessed instead. As the wyrm possessed nearly infinite stamina and also much faster, their journey to Amartia would be lessened by a few days.

Of course, the harness had to be slightly adjusted as it was larger than a horse but with Ieros’s magic, the problem was soon fixed. After the preparations were complete, the Emperor sent them off with a wave and the wyrm began to move, carrying the carriage behind it. Since it was being controlled by a part of the Surveyor’s mind, the journey was comfortable and smooth as it was able to perfectly control the movement of the wyrm, making it so that it didn’t move too fast, too slow or too erratically. Beside him were the Teryo, riding upon horses of shadows. There was no other escort as they were not needed, the Teryo had already proven that even one of them was a warrior capable of defeating an army of hundreds.

Meanwhile, Ieros relaxed, the majority of his mind wandering as a small bit focused on riding the wyrm. He began to simulate various scenarios as to how the negotiations would play out, relying upon the data he collected, making a solution to each and every one. After all, he had nothing to do on this journey and he might as well make some use of his time by preparing for the future. After all, it wouldn’t hurt to be prepared.

—END—

I was bored. Terribly bored, none of these worlds provided a challenge. It was amusing at first to see these mortals fight amongst one another but then it just got old. I even began giving the mortals time so that they could grow strong and fight back. I even left some alone, just because they were too amusing to destroy. I just pretended that they did defeat me as it was no longer amusing to just destroy them outright. But this also prevented me from gathering the strength that I needed to face the Surveyor, as he was named. I feed off of destruction, off of the energy that is released but the energy I have accumulated is only two-thirds of what I need. I couldn’t afford to rush things, even if I am so, so bored.

Really, it just was too easy. As I sat on a throne of bones, a flash of light appeared before me. It was a god, one of the children of Light, it seems. He began to spout off how I was evil and that he needed to defeat me but honestly I was so damn bored and irritated that I killed him five seconds after he spoke. As his corpse fell to the ground, I yawned, so boring. Then another flash of light appeared and this time, it was my brother, Creation. He glared at me silently, his arms crossed while I lazily looked at him. Finally, I stood and walked over to him, now face to face.

I asked, “What is it, brother?”

He said tersely, “You know very well why I’m here.”

I snorted and returned to the throne of bones, “You know I can’t stop destroying, it’s my nature.”

He growled, “I know that. But there is a time and place for you to bring an end to worlds but you are bringing them to an artificial end! You are breaking the laws of Nature, do you not understand!”

I looked at him once more and said, “You’ve grown selfish, brother. I had been suppressed by our father while you got to flaunt your power. I couldn’t express myself for countless eons while you happily created. It is my turn now, besides, you couldn’t stop me even if you wanted to.”

His eyes flared with anger but he breathed out, calming himself.

He said, “You will get what is coming to you.”

He then disappeared in a flash of light and I was once more alone upon the burning planet.