Under the cover of darkness, Chairman Hosik found himself on the shore. That location had become his second favorite place, where he liked to come and think in peace. Constantly sitting in his office in the cave made him claustrophobic over time. Besides, not many of his subjects knew about this place, which gave him some privacy.

Quiet footsteps of two people could be heard, so Hosik sighed and turned to his visitors. Not even for 10 minutes could he have his peace. Since the failed attack on the capital of Exarion, Hosik was losing influence every day and many of the residents thought it was too dangerous to attack the people. But Hosik had not been working on a solution for over 50 years to let one failure keep him down like this. He would not give up that quickly.

"Chairman", Leader Quell announced himself and went down on his knees, which was matched by his companion. It was the warrior who kept him informed about the events in Sylve. For a few moments, Hosik deliberately left the two men in this position without making a sound. Only when he rested his hand on Mirajokama did he allow the men to rise and speak. "There are bad news."

"I'm listening", Hosik replied sternly. He had already guessed that something was wrong.

"Leader Nodiavi has not shown up for the weekly meeting. Currently, we have no information about her whereabouts, but we assume that she has been exposed. Also, there is a rumor among the people that a dragon has been sighted over Bellator."

"So the dragons have started to show themselves."

"That is so. Since our failed attack, the dragons seem to be much more active than before", the experienced leader explained, who had accompanied that very attack. It had been his mistake that Adamchak had broken the rules and joined the attack on Exarion without permission. Her primary goal had been to eliminate the High-Magicians without being noticed, but the massive barrier prevented them from gaining access to the city. According to Quell, when he gave the order to search for and kill the High-Magicians on the battlefield, all the people retreated back into the barrier as well. Almost as if there was a traitor among them. "Can you explain the reason for this?"

"Ezzedin", Hosik answered dryly. "After all, I always said not to mess with the dragons directly. Ever since he stole the dragon's mana, there have been dragons living in the mountains of Sylve. I'm sure they've been looking for Ezzedin all these years."

"Do you think that the humans have joined forces with the dragons, Chairman?", the warrior inquired cautiously.

"I wouldn't rule out the possibility. The High-Magicians hunted Adamchak just before the dragons discovered and killed Ezzedin. That seems too much of a coincidence."

"You're probably right", the warrior muttered.

"Chairman", Leader Quell raised his voice a moment later. "There is word in the villages near our border that a dragon rider has appeared. The Magistrat seems to have this information as well."

"A dragon rider?", Hosik repeated in surprise. "If that is true, then it is official that the dragons are working with the humans."

All three went silent for a moment after the statement. One of the worst scenarios they could think of occurred. The dragons interfered in the war and sided with the humans. A huge problem that Chairman Hosik had always considered, but had never thought was realistic.

"How is Viron?", the chairman finally inquired.

"He seems to be recovering slowly from the burns", Leader Quell explained. "Do you want to put him back to work?"

"We have no other choice. He is the only one who can break through the barriers of High-Magician Caleb Leuen. Let me know when he is ready to be used again. Also, send Leader Ofeden and Leader Naustra to my office."

"Very well, Chairman", Leader Quell replied, bowing to his superior. He was aware of what this order meant to him. Chairman Hosik would dare another attack on the capital, but this time he would deliberately bring the warrior Viron to the front so that he could block the abilities of the High-Magicians. If they had not been caught by the vast sea of flames that had rained down on them like burning stars, Viron would have been able to break through the barrier single-handedly.

At least, that's how the chairman suspected it. Quell personally did not trust that Viron would have been able to do that. Just because Viron was able to block Mirajokama didn't mean he could manage to stop all the gods' mana. But he kept his thoughts to himself and then took his leave of the chairman, leaving only the warrior and the chairman himself.

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"Cistel", Chairman Hosik spoke up. "What status had Leader Nodiavi communicated last week? Was there any indication that her identity had been discovered?"

"Not at all", the warrior answered. "According to Leader Nodiavi, her situation was unchanged. She was invited to Gueladann as a representative of the royal house for the funeral service of the Duke's son Jarle of Mornet, which is why she was not in the capital for several days. According to our information, the 3rd Prince of Sylve returned to Bellator at the same time, accompanied by the Duke's son Benjamin of Freigoud. But what had happened after their return to Bellator, we are currently still trying to find out."

"I understand. Inform me as soon as you have any new information for me", Chairman Hosik ordered, to which Cistel nodded. If Nodiavi had indeed been discovered, then Hosik now had a whole new problem. He had no one to monitor events in the royal house, nor anyone to inquire about the whereabouts of his wife Resneme. Basically, therefore, he was blind and ran the risk of Sylve doing things he did not think he could approve of. Since the big meeting that the leaders of the countries had called a few months ago, his plans seemed to be going astray. But the entire drama had begun when he approved and failed to approve Nodiavi's attack on Kutam. Not only was there a High-Magician around at the time, no, Nodiavi had let Resneme escape. "Should you be unable to find out anything about leader Nodiavi next week, then declare her dead and withdraw."

"Very well, Chairman", Cistel replied politely, bowing. "There is one more thing I wish to inform you of, Chairman."

"I'm listening?"

"It is about Dihal", the warrior slowly raised his voice, whereupon Hosik's expression darkened abruptly. Dihel, like Cistel, was one of the better warriors, but his personality and relationships had been a problem for Hosik for years. He was the father of Adamchak, and the uncle of Ezzedin to boot, both of whom had recently passed on. "He opposes you, as you expected."

"That is not surprising. I was already told that he had started a rebellion."

"He was arrested yesterday...", Cistel confirmed. "... and along with him, a number of other residents, some of them students and warriors. They had tried to leave Phaseen."

"I didn't expect it any other way", Hosik muttered, annoyed by the situation. He already had enough problems with the Dragons and the High-Magicians, but that his own people could stab him in the back like this was something he hadn't expected. The warrior Dihal had always been the one to speak out against attacking the humans, but for the last two decades he had remained quiet and inconspicuous. In all likelihood, he had been unable to cope with the deaths of his son and grandson, so by now he didn't care that he was openly opposing the chairman. "I will take care of it. You can step away."

"Chairman", Cistel replied gently and then disappeared again.

By now, Hosik had reached a point where he was really wondering what had happened. For several decades now, he had been planning to conquer the continent for the Thormods. Ever since the day, he had realized that he had the ability to influence other living beings to his will, just like his older sister. He had focused on getting information about the countries, their leaders, and their fighting power. If he had had the influence back then that he had today, he would have attacked much earlier. But one could not exterminate all of humanity from one day to the next, Hosik himself was aware of that much.

Therefore, he had been very cautious from the beginning. He had always concentrated on remaining unnoticed and going through all possible scenarios that could mean defeat for him. But time and again, things happened that he had not expected.

The warrior Ezzedin was one of those incidents. Ever since the cocky young man had tangled with the dragons, Hosik had feared that he might gain a powerful opponent. Exactly what now seemed to be occurring.

Another problem was the rapid rise of mages who could use nature's mana. Within two years, their numbers had doubled, and Hosik was forced to focus most of his attention on Exarion.

His third mistake was probably underestimating Nodiavi's personality. He had always been aware of the hatred she felt for the Saint Neyla, but that she would indirectly cause Neyla's death was something he would not have thought. To Hosik, Nodiavi had always been loyal, even though she constantly reproached him for being much more aggressive.

But things went rapidly downhill when Hosik learned about the High-Magician Caleb Leuen. It was him who had protected Kutam during the attack, which is why Resneme was able to escape. Since that day, it seemed almost as if the High-Magician were everywhere. For the first time, he learned that the High-Magician was a survivor of the attack on Groka and had been a member of the Magistrat for quite a few years. He had also learned that this kid, who was barely over 20 years old, had almost single-handedly prevented his second attack. On top of that, the man began teaching from a book Hosik had never heard of.

The Chronicles of the Creature lore of Zod Adenia.

It was as if Hosik had never realized for years that there were people who were very much a threat to his plan. High-Magician Caleb Leuen was one of those people, but Zod Adenia and the recently revealed Dragon Rider were also risk factors. They were all people Hosik had rarely if ever heard of, and had accordingly acted wrongly.

However, he only recently realized how wrong he had acted. After he learned about the fight between the sword masters of Zurakekama and Karekama. He had always been aware that Zurakekama was in the possession of Jonat Paseru and had been given to Miguel Heriog. But Karekama? Ever since Nakken Paseru had killed his sister and taken a new name, the sword had been considered lost. How in the world had it ended up in the hands of a boy who had been lucky to survive the attack on Groka?

Who was Caleb Leuen and why did he seem to have a hand in so many events?

Something was eluding Hosik, but he couldn't tell what it was. Not yet.