“Riakosend, also known as Dragonsteel in the West and Silsceptonar in the lands North of Samir, is the mineral that was found in the Raging Frontier shortly after the collapse of the Opal Kingdom of Tyrus. The mineral is the product of the bones of The Great Dragons infused with the steel deposits underneath the desert, and when melded by blacksmiths, becomes a scaly steel that is incredibly light, and carries various other properties not truly discovered or known to our scientists and warriors until recently. Following the usurpation and ultimate death of the Sun King, Samiran King Rhuladeen Khan III began the mining expeditions that the country would be most known for in the past half-millennia. The disappearance of Opal in the global market made way for Riakosend, which was sold at an incredibly expensive price. This gave Samir incredible wealth that would ultimately lead to its downfall, and inadvertently sparked the fall of the Tegonian Republic, the rise and fall of the Second Tegonian Empire, and the birth of the Golden Kingdom.”

– “Tomes of Tegonian History: Volume IV” The Year 15 of the Fifth Age

The dining room was lit ablaze by a sparkling webbed chandelier with over three dozen candles, and a blazing fireplace. The six occupants sat at a large round table that filled the room as maidservants filled their goblets with wine. Aerith sat directly across her uncle and awaited every maidservant to exit the room to prepare dinner before speaking. She noticed that Minny was standing behind her uncle, his back to the door, to pay attention to everything that occurred this evening.

Good, I’ll need your opinions from an outside perspective Minny.

The maidservants brought the group their supper, large dishes of roasted pork and potatoes, with a small bowl of stew for each, and a side dish of freshly baked bread. Aerith observed with a prideful glee in her cooks as she saw Osferth and Owin hungrily look at it. Her Uncle still had that smugly flat look on his face, as if everything going on in regard to his family and Balowardshore was so far beneath him that they were without any value at all. Aurora whispered a prayer inaudible to all but herself, before picking up her fork and knife and gently cutting into the pork.

“While our guests eat,” Uncle said as he watched Osferth and Owin dig into their meal, “Let us discuss business, brother.”

Her father slightly winced as he stiffened in his chair. Aerith, seated next to him, placed her hand on his to help calm him. He gripped her hand so tight that she started to feel a numbness in her fingers.

“Yes, Arshuc. You mentioned earlier that this news of yours is in regard to the war in the West. Care to go–”

“In detail? Yes, I intend to,” Uncle Arshuc interrupted as he cut into his own meal. Aerith could tell that the use of his name in front of the unknown company peeved her Uncle. Arshuc, in the ancient Ashmedai language, meant “The Hot Heart.” Aerith’s grandmother was a Seer who had spent time with the Northern Ashmedai tribe long before the Republic began its crusade and had birthed Arshuc up there. One of Aerith’s human ancestors had been a follower of the Sun God Atrium in the last age, and their grandmother was the first Seer from the family in half a millennium. Aerith remembers her father talking about how only his mother was allowed to call Arshuc by his name, and he would only go by the names of “son”, “brother”, and “sir” by others. He would claim that no one but him and her know the significance of his name, but Aerith understood. He had the strongest life spark since their house’s inception, and when emitted he became heat and flame incarnate.

“The war in the West is won. Enyalius and his host exterminated that rat Oremir and his little gang, and the city of Tyrus is in ruin again. He’ll return to that backwater of a city he calls home.”

“So, you blessed us with your presence over something so simple? An organized military destroyed a city of cutthroats and gangsters after a few years of skirmishes?” Aerith said as she sipped from her goblet, “Arshuc, don’t you think a raven would have sufficed?”

His eyes blazed with a wild ferocity, but he kept silent as his eyes darted to his guests. Watching them eat for a time, he knocked on the table to grab their attention. Osferth and Owin looked up from their dishes, and Aerith saw him turn his head to the door before mouthing, just for a moment.

Osferth turned to his son, then back to Arshuc, before rising in a sigh and grunting, “I’ve gotta take a piss anyway,” he grabbed his son by the shoulder and lifted him out of his seat, “come boy, help me find the lavatory.

Arshuc waited until he heard the door slam behind them, before twirling his goblet and eyeing the wine, “Ah my darling niece, I see you are still a naive child. Insurgency is a war that will always be difficult, no matter the organization and manpower. Slaughtering a family on the pretense that they might be the enemy takes its toll on the common soldier.”

“But not you, you would do it for sport.”

“Precisely, I am one of the good ones. Efficient, unperturbed by the ‘morals’ that the Sun King established in the armies that we still follow today.”

“So why are you truly here?” Aerith lifted her hands up to the table and clasped them over her dish. The food’s steam warming her now clammy hands.

“That fool Ashok in the South is organizing a real military. The Republic has kept it a secret even among the elite, but the city states of Uplad, Cubra, and Draeonia have all revolted. He is the true lord of the South now, not Oltung; that bastard became subservient to him. Subservient?!” Arshuc rasped as he banged his fist on the table, “We need a greater edge. A man under the employ of the Council has been selling citizens from Tyrus to Samir in exchange for this metal.”

Aerith thought for a moment, her eyes widened, “You want manpower and port access to transport and ship these people overseas.”

Arshuc lifted his goblet to her in confirmation. She looked to her father, color returning to his face as he flustered with rage, “Slavery is illegal on this continent! I will refuse to be involved in this corrupt business! I refuse to give men to enforce this! And I refuse to ruin the reputation our House has tried so hard to keep in spite of YOU!”

Arshuc's eyes narrowed, and he spat on the mosaic tiled floor as he looked toward his younger brother, “You fool, the Republic is backing this. Your men are soft, Rainmere, incessantly pampered due to living well in a peaceful backwater city. And anyway, they won’t be going solely for transport and shipping, they’ll be rounding up the whole damned city. Not only will you gain a hardened force of true soldiers, but the wealth and influence our House will gain from this will shatter this broken wheel of a Republic we live in. We will hold a monopoly on dragonsteel here in the West.”

“And what will you do when I decline your offer,” Aerith asked with a defiant look on her face, “It sounds to me like you plan on going against the Republic’s wishes. If you go through with this, you will be the common enemy of all the elites, and if word of this leaks out, you’re as good as dead.”

“You forget, your father may be your father and governor, but I am the head of this House. If you decline my offer, I’ll have you married to that boy tonight, and I’ll force you two to consummate the marriage.”

Her father jumped out of his seat, a loud groin from the chair as it scraped across the floor. A murderous intent in his eyes, Aerith snapped her right hand out to clutch at her father’s wrist to keep him from racing toward Arshuc.

“And what do I get if I agree to your demands?”

Her uncle was silent for ten heartbeats, eyes not leaving his brother’s until Rainmere ultimately sat back into his seat.

“I’ll make it so that you are betrothed to Owin, not married. You know the rules to betrothal in this nation, when I acquire the dragonsteel I will free you from that pact and find you someone more… Suitable to your promoted status.”

Aerith found this deal rather enticing. Her uncle had no heirs, only the children of his brother, so she knew he wasn’t lying. He wouldn’t openly accept one of his family marrying into Midland. The wealth that would come with acquiring dragonsteel was very real, and when used in combat, would provide the Republic with a sizable edge over Ashok and the South. However, she knew to never accept a deal immediately, at least not without consultation.

“I’ll need to think about it, Uncle,” she said, resting a finger on her chin as she proceeded to think.

“What’s there to think about?” Her father shouted in frustration. She grimaced at the anguished cry in his voice as he asked her that and understood all the more of how much he hated his brother’s torment.

“Father,” she said softly, “I’ve got to think about how our family can make the most of what we’re given. Mom would have said the same thing, right?”

At that, her father stood up and went for the exit. Opening the door, Aerith saw Osferth and Owin standing in the hall, awaiting to return to their meals.

“Enter, Horse Lords,” Arshuc called, “The business is done, and you are welcome to complete your meal. However, I don’t think any of us will stay here to humor you. The Great Lady Aurora must discuss her premonitions with Lady Aerith in private, and I have business of my own to attend to.”

“Aye, I understand, sir,” Osferth said as he and Owin walked back to their seats. Owin was staring at Aerith with an incredibly lustful look in eyes, as if he was undressing her as she stood up and started to walk out the room with her sister.

“Oh and niece,” Arshuc called out, his back to her now as she spun around to his direction, “You have until first light to make your decision.”

Ashur felt his chest stick to his tunic in sweat from their rush to the city. From where they were, he could see the dim lights of the ruined city further down the hill blinking through the light night haze. They had started on a walk, but once Ashur had noticed the lights, he had broken out in a sprint in a desperate attempt to cover as much distance as possible before requiring a rest. In all their time together, Alysander very rarely invaded his dreams, and his messages were never so urgent and fearful as the one he had received that night. Each passing heartbeat brought a new wave of unease for the young man.

“Ashur!” he heard Drake gasp from far behind him, “Stop for a moment, please!”

Ashur braced his right foot in front of himself to slow down, and he had skidded across the dirt for twenty paces before finally coming to a stop. He turned around to see them about sixty paces behind him, all of them dragging their feet and incessantly huffing. By the time they had reached him, Dyserich and the rest of the men were on their knees gasping for air.

“We need a moment sir,” Drake huffed as he patted on Moreling’s back. The stocky lad was on his hands and knees dry heaving, the vomit on his shirt led Ashur to believe that he was doing so as they ran.

“I’m sorry,” Ashur apologized as he rested his hands on the top of his head and focused on his breathing, “I had no idea I was running that much faster than you all. We’ll rest here a bit.”

“Fucking hell, Ashur,” Drake raised lazy eyes at him, “It’s like you were running with the wind.”

Ashur chose to ignore him for now, choosing to observe the city and try his best to gauge the distance between them. Tyrus was much closer to sea level than they were, as it was at the bottom of a mini valley of its own. North of the valley, where he and his men were, led a slow incline up to the Thundering Hills, the peak of the Northwest. While south of the valley led to a flat landed forest that was the only barrier between Tyrus and Midland, one of the longest lands on the continent. Looking down the hill, the city’s massive size was deceptive, for as large as it was, it was still far enough away that it would take them until morning to get there.

“At the rate that we were going, we should be able to arrive at first light,” Ashur said, trying to squint through the fog. Tyrus always had a haze surrounding it in the morning and evenings. He took a seat, feeling the mildew of the grass dampen the bottom of his tunic. They all remained seated for ten minutes before they heard a light rumble, Dyserich rose and peered down the hill.

“Sir, it sounds like–”

Ashur heard a hiss in the air before an arrow struck Dyserich in the right shoulder. He fell to the ground with a shriek, groaning as he tried to crawl back to Ashur, who instantly shot up and raced to him.

“Raiders! Ten of them, sir!” Dyserich croaked, trying to rip the arrow out.

“No you fool!” Ashur screamed as he examined the wound, “The arrow is barbed! We’re too far from the city, you’ll bleed out if you remove it!”

Dyserich screamed in pain and anger, the thundering rumble of hoofs getting louder. Ashur had his hands on his opal blade, Nirvana, his hands shook with unease as he prepared to unsheathe it. Nirvana, ‘The Shrieking Blade’, was a cursed sword his mother had said she brought from her tribe. A relic of an Elder Goddess, the one that controlled the wind, it was a devourer of emitted life-spark. To wield it with absolute control, would be to risk his life, he would need to choose the right time to strike.

Come then, if I cannot save the lives of these men against the likes of you, right here and now, then I have no right to pursue my dream.

“Circle up in a small perimeter, men! Behind me!” Ashur shouted. He flexed his muscles to brace the pressure as emitted his life-spark, an explosion of silvery white flame exploding out from his body. The raiders were fast approaching them, and he saw their bowman notch another arrow. Ashur gritted his teeth and flexed even harder as a vein appeared on his forehead, his bones groaning and his muscles aching as his aura surrounded his men. The arrow went straight towards him, but when making contact with his life-spark, shot upward and away. Ashur could see the look of disbelief on the bowman, now twenty paces close and counting, went to notch another one.

Ashur now had a decision to make. One that he knew could risk the lives of all his men. The decision was that he could charge the bowman and take him out first, for he would not be able to hold this seemingly impenetrable wall forever, and an unchecked bowman could cause serious damage to even him. However, he would leave the rest of his men vulnerable to be slaughtered by the other raiders. The Dreadbird did not give his men permission to leave his camp with weapons, so only Ashur was armed. There was no viable second option, if he stayed to protect his men, it would be only a matter of time before his defenses crumbled and they would all be mincemeat. So Ashur, despite having more to lose than usual, did what he normally did, whether the situation was dire or not.

He unleashed his sword and charged.

Aerith sat in her chambers, thinking of what Arshuc had told her earlier that evening. He wasn’t much of a gambler when he had resided in Balowardshore, so it perplexed her that he would risk so much on this gambit. He was risking not just his name, but the name of Goodhall that dated as far back as the second age. What he wanted to do would topple the very Republic he had worked so hard throughout the years to defend. Her uncle was one that loved to rule from the shadows, but to become a Tegonian King meant forfeiting all of his secrecy, and to step onto a global stage as a premier ruler in the world. He risked starting another civil war, while his government was already facing one.

It makes sense if he wants to move now, but on the other hand, the South won’t bend to a man like him. They never will.

And she hadn’t forgotten that he had threatened her with an immediate marriage to that seemingly demented boy Owin. Even that started to make more sense to her however, for he was going to use her as a pawn to secure that alliance, only to throw them away once he got what he seeks. He wants safe passage for his men through Midland if he were to cut through them to Tyrus, and he wants their calvary for when a civil war does break out. However, he was making one mistake: He views her as a pawn, when he should be viewing her as a queen. Aerith wasn’t stupid, and she realized how powerful her position was. If she were to say no to his deal, and run off, that alliance no matter how hard he tried would never bear fruit, and his plan for power dies right there.

That’s it, that’s how I win. By crippling all of his plans in one fell swoop.

She chuckled at the thought that such a childish decision could ruin everything for the man who tried to ruin everything for her and her father. Scattering her brothers across the continent into different armies was bad, and she might not ever see them again, but she was too young to do anything about it. Dragging her sister off to the covenant and breaking her spirit was also despicable, and she was again too young to do anything about that either. But she was old enough now to break his plan to marry her off, destroy her father, and enslave her countrymen. She started to rummage through her dressers, throwing an assortment of slacks, shirts, dresses, jackets, and the like onto her bed. She crawled underneath the bed to drag out her bags, and she started to stuff her belongings in there. She was so focused on this, she failed to hear Aurora enter her room, her sigh startling Aerith.

“Running away won’t do you any good, you know?”

“You would say something like that, wouldn’t you?” Aerith muttered, turning back to pack her bags, “I’m sure you wish for me to get married off to that brat too, you probably want me to suffer more than you did when you went off to that damned Covenant.”

“You’ll break our father even more than if you were to be married off,” Aurora said, raising her voice. Aerith flinched at that, remembering back to their days together as children when Aurora would scold her for acting the same type of way she is now.

“Do you actually believe him, Aurora? Who is to say that he won’t keep me betrothed to Owin until I actually get married to him?” Aerith asked as she spun back to her sister, “How many times has he fucked all of us over, and not just us, but everyone he has come into contact with? This Owin has good parents, and I can tell just by looking at him that he is venomous. He is no man that I wish to marry! And here you are, backing their claim with some forsaken premonition!”

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Aurora grabbed her little sister’s shoulders, her cherry red hair glowing like cold fire in the dark room only lit by the moonlight, “I have seen it. You will be betrothed to him, but your journey begins there. Ever since you were little, you told me you wanted to be a Queen. Well, you can be!”

Aerith stood there, mouth agape. She felt as if her heart had come to a cold hard stop, and it took another shake from Aurora to get it to start beating again, “What do you mean?”

“Premonition among the Wemnoth Oracles has gone cold, sister, they’ve been blind to the larger picture since before I had gotten there. But, I have seen glimpses, patches in the fog that is the future. That is why they have anointed me as the Seer. I gave them a prophecy that foretells the end of our age, and I have seen you in pieces of it.”

“And it includes those horse lords as well?”

“Aye. You will marry the youngest son, I have seen that, but I have not yet seen any that Uncle described this evening come to pass. Whether it does or not, I am not sure, but I am sure of one thing: you will become a Queen, yet the one you marry will not be him. You will become a mother to a King, and the mother to an Emperor, for I have seen an older version of you holding two babes, one holding a black crown, and the other a white scepter,” Aurora’s eyes than narrowed onto her sister’s, those glowing blue eyes appearing almost silverlike in the glitter, “but none of that will come to pass if you choose to run, and I know you. Insecure, but powerful in will, and stubborn in nature.”

All of this was too much for Aerith to take in at once. Just a moment ago, she had feared that the future she had dreamed about for so long would simply only be that. A dream that she would have been making so much more distant by running. Beads of sweat rolled down her forehead in the cool room as she gazed into her sister’s eyes. The mother of a king and emperor, a Queen, and even better: her ‘husband’ would not sully her virginity and make her valueless. She would now take this offer her uncle gave her and make the most out of it. She will find her King out there, outside of Balowardshore. But she wanted more, she had to see what her sister had seen, she had wanted to plan accordingly.

“Show me,” She whispered, “Show me the prophecy that had you anointed.”

Aurora grimaced as she released her grip from Aerith’s shoulders, “I have tapped into the primordial essence of this world, the first in decades. It has… changed me, sister. I feel the disinterest the Elder Gods must have felt in the Age of Gods and Men, the ability to do nothing, and the ability to perceive the world from an immortal’s eyes, are most prevalent in me. But I still have love for you and our family. I do not want you to experience what I have.”

“But I won’t be tapping into the primordial, won’t I? I’ll just be tapping into you, Aurora,” Aerith pleaded, “Please sister, let me see.”

Aerith saw Aurora roll her eyes and turn away from her. The same mannerisms she would do when Aerith begged and pleaded for her to do something for her when they were children. Aerith saw that the old Aurora was still in there, a fragment in what seemed like a cold shell on the outside. Aerith felt her heart break, her sister had changed so much in the time they had spent apart.

Aurora turned back toward Aerith, blinking away tears, “Alright, but don’t say I didn’t warn you if you feel otherwise. You will be tapping into the primordial through me as a proxy, so you still risk gaining this apathy that I suffer from.”

She placed her left hand over her heart and placed her right over Aerith’s. With Aurora’s emitting her life spark, a faint dark blue flame emitted over the two of them, and Aerith felt her own spark growing in both size and heat. With each heartbeat, her life-spark would burn larger and hotter, and her eyesight would darken.

After ten heartbeats, her sight had gone dark. She was in a void of what felt like a darkness that would be eternal, and her sister was gone.

Just before the raiders started to fan out, Ashur relaxed his body before racing after the archer. Startled by this, the archer fumbled his arrow as he tried to aim at the glowing warrior. Before the arrow could even reach the ground, Ashur found the opal blade out of its sheath and in his hands as he slashed diagonally across the horse’s front legs. He heard an anguished neigh from the animal as it lost both limbs and plummeted face first into the dirt next to him, the archer flying ten paces in front of his horse. Ashur saw the man’s neck snap as he landed awkwardly on his face as well, and he went limp and soiled himself. Nirvana, awakened by his emitted life-spark, screamed as a shockwave exploded from Ashur and the blade.

Ashur felt his limbs weaken as the blade began to drink his aura, but he had no time to worry about that. In his fight against Enyalius, he had been blessed to have another emitter of life-spark there for the blade to feed. Even if he didn’t know it, the blade was drinking his aura after it had drunk Ashur’s, saving his life in the process since the blade will go so far as to kill its wielder if he is the only mortal emitter. Nirvana was a God’s weapon, not meant for mortals.

The shockwave dropped his men to their knees and sent the raiders’ horses into a frenzy. Two of the horses were hit by it on their sides and fell, leaving their riders pinned to the ground shrieking. The other seven men fell off their horses, but groggily got up and charged at the unarmed group of men. Using the emitted aura, he had left, Ashur kicked off the ground to launch himself twenty paces to the closest raider. Ashur saw surprise and fear in his eyes before splitting his head open with Nirvana, cutting through his skull with a downward cleave like a hot knife cutting through butter. A shockwave was unleashed with the swing, knocking three of the closest men to the ground again.

Drake, now leading the circle of green lads, let out a bellow as the first of the raiders came to meet him with a wide slash. Drake dashed in close to the man, grabbing his neck with his right hand, and the raider’s swinging arm with his left, before lifting the man up and slamming him to the dirt. Drake lifted his knee and placed it on the raider’s neck, crushing his windpipe with a crunch, before grabbing the corpse’s sword and meeting another raider’s blade with a snarl. Swords clashed, he hopped to his feet and using his superior brawn pushed the man off his feet so his back hit the ground. Less than a heartbeat later, and Drake had jammed his sword point down through the man’s sternum. The raider died choking on his own blood as Drake wrestled the sword out of his hand and tossed it to Moreling.

With Drake handling two of the five remaining raiders, and more than one of his men now armed, Ashur pushed off the ground with his left foot to leap high into the air, before pushing off the air with his right foot to gain an even higher altitude with a shout. The three raiders who approached Drake and Moreling in a triangle formation turned in Ashur’s direction and formed a defensive position against the skyward warrior. Seeing this, he used the last bit of his emitted aura as he slashed the air in front of the trio. The air from Nirvana’s slash formed a white wedge in the air as it missiled down at the men, cutting through the swords and throats of two of the men. Ashur immediately followed up with another slash, feeling his light-spark dim with that final attack. The raider roughly dodged it, the cut grazing and severing the armor and skin off of his left shoulder. As Ashur fell to the ground, gasping for breath, he saw the raider standing over him reading to deliver a final one-handed blow before hearing the sticky sound of a sword piercing the man’s gut. When he crashed to the dirt beside Ashur, Ashur saw Moreling standing there, panting, and staring at Ashur in disbelief.

He saw Drake run up to him, followed by the other men, who were helping Dyserich walk, before wheezing into unconsciousness.

Aerith floated in a vast, unending darkness. In it, she felt as if time froze in the black void, as if everything was frozen and devoured. She tried to run, but she didn’t know whether or not she was running in place or making progress. Aerith screamed her sister’s name, screaming shrilly until her voice went coarse. A ball of golden light the size of a finger floated down from the unknown heights of this realm before stopping within a few paces in front of Aerith. She reached her hand out in an attempt to grab it, but at that moment the ball sparked before producing a massive eruption of energy, blasting her off her feet. Aerith landed on her backside with a silent thump, and in the blink of an eye, the black void had become a world she had never seen before.

She was in front of a small stone house she had never before been to, resting on a cliff with the sea to the West. Beside her were six children followed by the background view of a majestic city built out of opal stone. The city glittered in the bleakness of the sky as it was sprawled across the base of the valley. In front of her, a tall man with a crown made of jade was on one knee, the opal hilt of a sword could be seen on his waist, and using another sword, a silver, smaller one that was stabbed into the ground as he rested some of his weight on it. She turned to the kids in confusion to see them with tears in their eyes,

Aerith knew without even really knowing that this man was her husband, and her children. The man emitted a power and rough regalness in her eyes when she watched him tremble as he looked to the west. She was speaking out loud, trying to get his attention, but he would not turn around, and her children acted as if she did not exist.

They cannot hear you, Aerith. You are merely gazing into a fragment of one of my premonitions.

The man and her children collapsed into funnels of black smoke. Aerith turned in a start, to see the city combust into black smoke as well. One more blink of an eye, and Aerith found herself in the darkness once more. Rage swelled in her as she screamed out in frustration.

“Why did you stop there?! There had to be more! Let me see the rest!”

If you see any more, you could jeopardize this future. I’ve only seen pieces, but those pieces in the mind of one willing to act can be catastrophic. The wars to come, sister, are indeed truly fearful.

The void around Aerith changed back to her room, with her sister pressing her hand on her chest. Aerith breathed a large gasp before jumping in a start, clutching her sister’s hand with a fierce intensity. Her sister released her left hand from her heart as she caressed Aerith’s cheek with a gentle stroke. Aerith felt Aurora’s warm hand cool as the fire from both of their hearts began to fade back to sparks.

“You now see why you must agree to uncle’s proposal.”

“Aye, I do.”

Aurora released her hands from Aerith as she took a deep breath and sighed. She smiled the toothy grin she was most known for in her youth, and Aerith gaped for a moment in awe of how beautiful her sister looked in the moonlight.

So beautiful and powerful. You would have been a more worthy queen than I, yet you resigned yourself to the coven. I am undeserving of a sister as great as you.

“Go now, Aerith. Give him your verdict, I’m sure it’ll catch that bastard by surprise.”

Oremir and his men stalked through the cave, their torchlights being the only dim lights in the pitch-black void. The temperature within the mountain chilled with each step they took, and one hundred paces deep was cold enough for Oremir to see his own breath under his torch. The only sounds that he could hear in this void were the faint shrieking deeper within the cave, and the chattering of the teeth of his men. Valan shivered as he got closer to Oremir.

“Oremir, if I have my doubts,” he whispered.

“Of course, you do, I’m sure you all do,” Oremir hissed at him, “But we have no choice. This is our one and only chance.”

He heard Valan grunt as they pushed farther. A few heartbeats later, shrieks started to pierce their ears as the cave began to light up a glowing emerald color. Crystals that were lined up among the top of the cave lit the blackness as Oremir, Valan, and their fifty men stared down scores of black skinned humanoid creatures. They were all naked barred from a few clothes covering their nether regions and chests. They were holding glowing green blades that hissed in a sinister tone. Oremir noticed that their long hair and beards were lined with the emerald gemstones that glowed as well. Their eyes were pure black with green irises.

Black Ashmedai… We’ve found them.

One of the Ashmedai, an old but fairly muscular man who Oremir took as their chieftain from the length of his hair and beard, made his way to the front of the pack. As he put a hand on the shoulder of every man in front of him, they bowed in reverence to him as they let him pass. When he made it to the front, Oremir bowed in reverence as well, and his men after looking at one another in confusion, did the same.

“Why have you come here,” the old man rasped as he beared his teeth, revealing blackened gums and teeth.

“Hello, chieftain. My name is Oremir, this is my second in command, Valan, and these are my Opal Dragons. I have hailed from the Opal City of Tyrus, although that is my home no longer. I seek to negotiate an alliance between my men and your people,” Oremir said, head still bowed.

“What could you possibly offer us? The Sun King himself had tried the same and failed. We do not serve in any army, and we will not be disturbed by you or any others! We have enough to worry about as it is, with a God entering our mountains and slaughtering our kin.”

At the conclusion of his response, the Black Ashmedai grimaced and cringed. The God that dwelled in the Thundering Hills was spoken of like an unstoppable plague onto their people, slaughtering them with no mercy or questions to be answered. Oremir, noticing this as he stared at them with his bowed head, realized how he could take advantage of this. The secret catacombs in a dilapidated part of one of the old mines in Tyrus explained to him what truly resided down in the Hills, as well as who was tormenting these Ashmedai.

“The God Alysander, yes, I understand. The secrets of Tyrus have taught me much, elder, of the Gods and your people.”

He heard gasps among the Ashmedai as he raised his head to stare at the chieftain’s black pupils that resided in his green irises. He smiled slightly, knowing that he had them where he wanted them.

“We know how to rid your people of the God that blindly kills your children,” Valan said, “And we know how to get your vengeance on humanity. Your people did not want to stay here, you had once pushed for land in the light for some time now. But, the Sun King, the human rulers of old, and Alysander have kept you confined, rather cruelly and foolishly on their part. With our help, you will be able to reconquer the lands of your ancestors. With your numbers, it will be of little consequence to your people, and it will start with Tyrus.”

Oremir saw the chieftain mull on this for a few moments, before giving his answer, “Aye, we could have a use for your knowledge. Our battle tactics and leadership is antiquated and has been waning for hundreds of years. Alysander’s culling of my children has forced us to focus primarily on repopulation, and while our fertility is stronger than ever, we are admittedly weak. We have our own plans, but we still have use for you.”

The chieftain spun back to his people and raised a hand, “Come, Oremir and his Opal Dragons. Deeper in the mountain, we will have work to do.”

Arshuc stood on the balcony of his room, gazing at his wyvern Grandryt as it danced over the Eastern Sea in the moonlight. He was not one to love anything, save for his grandmother due to her importance in the bloodline, and Grandryt for the power it had given him. Traveling the world, he had found the beast in Valkyria, and had become the first human in ages to tame one. They were smaller than their ancestors, but they were just as ferocious. Similar to him, who was a descendant from the Sun King’s house, he did not have the power that his House’s ancestor possessed, but he shared his ferocity. Flying into Lunenmouth after torching Agossross was a power move that he frequently reminisced on. He was already a part of the Council, the highest level of the Republic that proved the status of his house, but he was also in command of the most armies and was the first recorded wyvern-rider in Tegon’s history. The fear that his legend produced brought a smile to his face as he heard Grandryt's gleeful roar.

A knock on the door dragged his attention from this moment of leisure, “Come!” he shouted, and turned his head to see Minny open the door for Aerith to walk in. Arshuc despised his brother and nephews, but his nieces held a special place in his cold heart. While the men in his family posed threats, he was able to dispose of them rather easily. He had no use for nephews despite him not having an heir of his own. His brother’s sons were arrogant, stupid, and had grandiose delusions that they would be his heir. Arshuc did not send them to different battles in the South to toughen them up, but to kill them. To his surprise, they have not died yet, but in time they would fall. Ashok was too talented and powerful a military mind for them to last long, so Arshuc knew he just had to wait and watch for their caskets to arrive either to Lunenmouth or Balowardshore.

He had uses for his nieces however, for they had actual value in his eyes. He could do as he did with Aurora if they have a power that could rival his. Arshuc felt further validated by that for her accomplishments at the Coven. Within two years of residing there, she had become a Seer in a sect full of lifelong Oracles. If he were to have married her off, she would have used her powers of premonition and life-spark to produce his rival. And, if he had let her stay, she would have killed herself before being of any use to him. She hated him just as much as her father and would rather drink boiling oil than to help him. While this frustrated Arshuc, he was pleased that he could use her, and her success granted him a higher standing with Wemnoth.

Even Aerith had her own uses. She was not blessed at all with the talents of their ancestry, paling in comparison to himself and her sister, but she had grown to be far more politically savvy than her sister. There was no hiding it, she was responsible for most of Balowardshore’s success as of late, and she had done a good job of vetting and refusing his other marriage offers. He would not have had those marriages come to pass in reality, so he was pleased to see her ace his tests. She had ambition Aurora did not have, and a ferocity to her that told him she would be one to reckon with. If she accepts this offer of his without negotiation, he will be displeased at that, but he will be pleased that she had finally made herself useful. This was not a test; he needed that alliance with Midland. Not an alliance based on trade, but one based on familial ties. His every intent is to steal her back once he acquires the dragonsteel.

Ah yes, Riakosend, the most valuable material in the world since the Sun King’s downfall. He has a full armor set of his own for when he enters the fray of battle. It has certain powers and properties that negate the use of life-spark, but something in it heightens the powers of the one wielding it. Even those not blessed with good blood like him will have their speed, strength, and battle lust enhanced. When he wears it, his power is endless. Arshuc loved the feel of the scales, and the limitless life-spark it gives him. It was as if he was tapping into his own well of the primordial, and it was truly intoxicating. He always carried a riakosend blade, the first gift he had received from Samir upon delivery of the first shipment of slaves. He did not need coin, for he had enough of that, Goodhall’s possession of the eastern shore and the Alacroft Beck meant they would generate good money until the end of time. What he did need was riakosend for his military. A small host of dragonsteel knights with the Sun King’s descendant, as well as Grandryt, ensured that an entire continent could crumble.

And Aerith, you my dear are the key to it all. For that, I will be most pleased. You will have earned more than just being a minor Lady of Midland. The name of Goodhall would be forever yours, as I move to greater things.

She walked across the room to the door that led to the balcony, still in her dress that absorbed the light from both his fireplace and the moonlight, which had one side of her sparkling in a deep blue and the other in a fiery red. Arshuc had found it mildly stunning, as he felt it had perfectly described her as a person: Cool on the outside, but a volcano on the inside. For all of the life-spark that she did not possess, she possessed a hot attitude that was prone to bursting when subdued for too long. Not dissimilar to her parents, her father a weak hothead, and her mother silently strong. The thought of her mother landed a bitter taste in Arshuc’s mouth as he stood up to spit off the edge before sitting back down. That woman was always able to read him like a book and knew how to get under his skin to the point where he’d be red with rage. He felt like she was an equal to himself intellectually, and he damned himself for loving her for that. The fact that she was his brother’s wife angered him even more. To see her well up with a child that should have been his disgusted Arshuc. The man he had always been above, had always tormented him, tormented Arshuc the most without him even knowing it, by finding the one woman he had ever truly loved. Maybe that was the reason why I have tolerated my nieces like I have, thought Arshuc, because they are a spitting image of her in different ways. Aurora in her elegance and beauty, and Aerith in her personality. Damn, that child sure knows how to get under my skin sometimes.

Aerith sat down next to him, eyes following the dragon as it swirled only slightly above the bay. They were silent for a time, simply watching the beast play in its flight. Arshuc turned and studied her for a moment, thinking that he would see her face trying to hide the anguish that she had been feeling from the moment he made his offer, but was surprised to see her face relaxed.

Have you come to terms with it, niece?

“I have made my decision, uncle,” she whispered softly.

“And?”

“I will accept your terms, on the condition that it be made clear in the marriage contract that I am to be wed when it is agreed upon by you, me, and my father,” she said.

“Ah, so you don’t trust me, do you? Making assurances so that you can be okay should I lie,” Arshuc mused.

Aerith shook her head, “For when you fail, uncle. This plan of yours, I do not see it coming to pass, and should I agree to your deal without negotiation, I will be trapped with Owin and ultimately sullied.”

He hid his bubbling rage behind a chuckle, my plan, fail? My plan has been working for years, but now it will fail when I plan to act. Foolish brat, just you wait and see.

A part of him wanted to string her up to his wall and lash her until she lost consciousness, he even fantasized about feeding her to Grandryt before feelings of pride and ambition overwhelmed him. She angered him with her words, but her actions would get him what he wanted.

And she negotiated. She has come a long way from the brat that muled about her sister and only played at being royalty. She would be more than enough to both encapsulate the common folk of Midland and defend herself until he returns for her.

Arshuc nodded, “Very well, you have my word. You will leave with Owin, Osferth, and Aurora tomorrow at midday, the marriage contract will be sent via raven once I receive word that you have made it to Midland safely.”

“Good, I await the day I leave your clutches and finally make a name for myself.”

Arshuc scowled at that before whistling. The high-pitched call stirred Grandryt out of his leisure, and the wyvern flew to the sky before jettisoning straight toward the balcony. Arshuc’s scowl transformed into a small smirk as he watched his niece flatly stare at the beast flying toward them. Any other person, familiar with Grandryt or not, tends to flinch even the slightest, but like her sister Aurora was solid as stone against the storm that was that beast. Grandryt floated slightly below the balcony’s edge, flapping its wings just enough to keep it in place.

“What did you mean by the plan will fail, niece?”

“Those Tyrus bastards are hard to cut down, uncle. The Dreadbird himself took years to oust the enemy.”

Arshuc shrugged as he leapt off the balcony and onto Grandryt’s back, “Enyalius was a fool for bringing a green host to a tested land like that. I might be doing something similar, but they have already been destroyed, and I’m bringing much more than just a green army.”

With a few pats on Grandryt’s back, reinforcing his point, the wyvern let out a loud roar as it flew off into the night.