The great dragon Golifvid raised his massive head and looked into the sky. After a moment of considering who approached, he bellowed a mighty roar of greeting from his position atop the battlements of Santeem castle. The roar could be heard for miles and as it rolled away into the distance another roar replied.

Though not as loud, the roar of Karthane replying to his father was filled with every bit of the same enthusiasm and exuberance. Riding on Karthane's back, Lord Tromel Rudane could feel the battle dragon's joy at coming home. He was happy as well. The war with the Pastarians in the north had been a long one, made worse by brutal winter conditions.

Karthane landed on the battlements and paused just long enough for Lord Rudane to dismount before running over to butt heads with the great Golifvid. Tromel stood smiling at the reunion of father and son for a moment, his traveling robes flapping lightly in the breeze atop the battlements. A tall wiry man, Tromel had sharp features, his body was all lines and angles, his face had a hook nose and his eyes were sharp. His short blond hair waved in the wind, a stark contrast to his normal upright rigid posture.

Turning from the dragons he walked towards a shadowed alcove. Set into the wall of the alcove were several small crystals of uniform size protruding in a vertical line. He touched the second crystal from the bottom and vanished, the magic transporting him to an identical panel on the second floor of the castle.

Standing from the panel he turned around to the sight of two kneeling servants with heads bowed.

"Welcome home Lord" they said in unison

"Thank you. Karthane will need his harness removed and the provisions unloaded. I am weary from my travels and will take refreshment and food in my chambers."

"Yes lord" they both said and stood to carry out the assigned tasks.

"Father!!!" A child's voice shrieked down the hall and a small child that didn't even reach the Lord's waist dashed forward and flung tiny arms around his legs. "Father, I've missed you."

Tromel bent double, picked up the child and held her out at arms length for a cursory evaluation. With a straight face he said "My my my. Relena, how you have grown. I've been gone less than seven months, but I do say, if you keep growing at this rate the mighty Golifvid himself may not be large enough to carry you." His face finally cracked into a smile.

The girl giggled and he pulled her into a tight hug. After a long moment he set the girl back on her feet and resumed his walk to his chambers. A small hand wound it's way into his. "Tell me Relena, how have you been staying busy?"

"Well" the girlish voice began, "Mother and Old Ben have been teaching me my letters and numbers. It's really boring and I hate it. Can you tell them to stop?"

"No Relena, letters and numbers are very important. I wouldn't be a good General if I couldn't count the number of troops I have, or if I couldn't read missives from the king now could I?"

"I guess not."

"They may seem boring now, but they will be very important throughout your life," he abruptly stopped, bent down and spoke out of the side of his mouth while looking around. "And I'll let you in on a little secret." He locked eyes with the child. "Once you can read, reading isn't boring anymore. Some of the stories you can find to read are amazing and fantastic. But keep that between you and me." He gave her a big wink before standing and resuming his walk. "What else have you been doing?"

"She's been raiding the kitchen chocolate stores." The voice came from a tall woman with long blond hair. She wore an elegant white dress that stopped just above the floor and the corset pushed her breasts high creating substantial amounts of cleavage. Her smile was wide as she approached Tromel. They clasped hands, closed eyes and allowed their foreheads to touch. "How I've missed you husband."

"Talana'' He said her name in a soft whisper. After a long moment they seperated and kissed briefly. Tromel turned his attention back to his young daughter. "Is this true Relena? Have you been stealing chocolate from the kitchen supplies?" Relena's face turned bright red before she buried it in his leg. "We're going to be having a talk about this. Do you understand?" Her face bobbed up and down without removing itself from his leg. His hand fell to the top of the girl's head and pet her hair gently before he continued walking. His left arm linked with his wife and his right hand holding the child's.

After several minutes the marble walls eventually opened into a sitting room. As the three rounded the corner into the room a woman dressed in red quickly stood up. She was short, coming only half way up Tromel's chest and the low corset of her dress presented quite a lot of skin. "My Lord. I heard the dragons. I thought I would wait for you here." She trailed off and looked at the ground.

"Ilihann" Tromel untangled himself from his escorts and approached the young woman. He layed both hands on her shoulders while considering what to say. Then moved his hands to cup both of her cheeks and tilted her head to look up into his eyes. "Ilihann, though the king's emergency robbed us of our wedding night, we are still married. You are still my wife and a lady of this castle."

Her eyes flicked over to Talana who's face held only sympathy, then returned to his before tears began to well up. She clung to him and buried her face in his chest as she cried. "I'm so happy you're home lord."

Tromel Embraced her and said "I want to rest, the flight here has been a long one. This evening I must speak to the war council. But I promise you Ilihann, tonight, I will give you what we were denied those many months ago."

Once in his chambers Tromel excused himself for a moment and changed into more comfortable clothing. He returned as servants were delivering food, water and wine. Joining his wives and daughter on the comfortable couches in the antechamber. "I will need my uniform and traveling equipment laundered and ready soon," he told one of the servants pouring a glass of water for him. The girl nodded and retrieved the clothing as the servants left the four alone.

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"Father, are you not staying?" Relena asked.

"Unfortunately no dear heart. The King has generously given me two days to come home before I must be off again. As it is the troops won't be able to enjoy such a luxury." Tromel frowned.

"Is the war with the Pastarians going so poorly, husband?" Talana asked.

Tromel scooted to the edge of his seat and began to cut into the meat on his plate. "Pastaria? No, I am happy to say that war was won. We hardly lost any forces, I believe our total losses to be under three percent. It was an easy war, just time consuming because Pastaria is so far into the cold north."

"No my loves, that war is behind us. Unfortunately there is something new threatening the kingdom. We've received reports of some kind of portal opening out on Bhacklavern's western region. According to the reports some kind of monsters emerged and attacked the peasants working the fields there. Many were killed and the local guards needed help repelling the attack. Lord Jantly apparently lost over sixty men dealing with whatever it was that came out of the portal."

Tromel took a sip of water and continued." The monsters were defeated but the portal is still open. The king has asked me to contain the area and attempt to close the portal. The kingdom cannot afford to lose those croplands. The troops are marching straight there from Pastaria."

"Monsters?" Relena asked, looking scared.

"I believe the king only called them that because he doesn't know what else to call them. They look unlike anything we've ever seen before. They had the corpse of one brought before the king and I was there to see it. It seemed to be a cross between a bird and a lizard. But it was over eight feet tall with sharp claws and teeth."

"Husband, You're going to give her nightmares." Talana gasped

"Relena, can you picture that in your head? Imagine a little lizard with feathers but no wings. Flapping its arms but not able to fly. It's almost cute right?" Tromel winked at his daughter and shoved food in his mouth.

The little girl smiled and giggled at him.

***********

Tromel entered the small dark room and closed the door behind him. He raised one hand and a small flame appeared above his palm. He looked at it a moment and the flame split into several smaller flickering embers. He pushed the hand out and sent the embers out into several braziers that lined the walls of the room.

Now brightly illuminated, the ornate carvings in the marble of the wall were very easy to make out. Turning back to the door, he traced a complicated star into the heavy oak wood around the door handle. A flash of soft white-blue light radiated out from the spot crossing the walls, ceiling and floor in moments.

Confident that the room was secure and that no one could eavesdrop, Tromel turned back around. In the center of the room was a table made from heavy maple, stained to a dark burnish. Around the table was a single highbacked wooden chair with a teal colored seating cushion, and seven round mirrors, each three feet in diameter, suspended at head and chest height and positioned facing the center of the table. Together they greatly amplified the light in the room.

In the center of the table was a red crystal. Tromel sat and took a deep breath. He reached out towards the crystal and hesitated. His hand hovered for a moment before he grit his teeth and brought his palm down. The moment he touched it electrical energy surged up his arm. The pain vanished as quickly as it had come. The electrical scan of his identity confirmed the mapping of his nervous system and the crystal turned blue.

"-and I think we will have eight crates of terridion ore ready for dragon transport tomorrow." The voice paused. Five of the eight mirrors were now occupied by other individuals. "Ah, Lord Rudane, welcome my friend."

Tromel nodded his head to the figures in the mirrors. "Thank you Lord Basintair. I bring greetings to you all from Santeem. Lord Garnszend, how is your new child?"

The burly man in the mirror immediately to Tromel's right looked surprised for a moment then excitedly spoke up "She is adorable and shares my blue eyes. We've named her Jenazane. Thank you for inquiring."

"Another child, how scandalous. How many does that make for you Lord Garnszend, fourteen?" The jab came from the mirror immediately opposite of Tromel. Lord Leraid winked at the man. And all six laughed.

"Lord Leraid, I'll have you know that I keep every one of my wives satisfied. And if that means my keep is filled with children, well, then, I'll just be away at war." All six laughed again. Garnszend was about to say more when the remaining two mirrors flickered to life.

"Your majesty." Tromel said and seven of the eight figures bent at the waist into a seated bow. Heads so low they almost touched the identical wooden tables at their respective homes.

The king was a large man, his body seemed energetic and youthful but his face showed the wisdom and power of experience. Grey flecks could be seen in his long dark hair and full beard.

"Rise" The king's deep baritone rumbled through the chamber. All heads came up as he continued. "It grieves me to have such a calamity on the heels of the war with the Pastarians. The people of Wren Cyl deserve better. They deserve peace and prosperity. Unfortunately it seems as matters are worsening. Lord Janty, give your report to the council." The king commanded with a wave.

"Yes your majesty." Lord Jantry said before glancing at everyone else. " I will start at the beginning for the benefit of those of you that weren't at Whiteholm yesterday. Six days ago in one of my most western farming parishes, some kind of rift or portal opened up. We don't know the exact time it happened because shortly after, creatures began to pour out of it. They killed and ate most of the farmers in those fields. We're still unsure how many came through. Every time we think we got them all we find new partly eaten bodies."

"There are multiple types of creatures that come through. The first wave that caused the bulk of the damage were short and squat, two-legged lizards with feathers. They had a large hook shaped claw on their feet and a full mouth of razor sharp teeth. They run faster than a horse and when we set up a shield wall we discovered the hard way just how high they could jump. They leapt completely over a line three men deep." Gasps around the room interrupted him.

"We killed most of them, but like I said, we keep finding bodies further and further away. I currently have every dragon in Blacklavern doing passes in search of the bastards. Between the farmers, local militia and my homeguard I sent to deal with it I have lost over three hundred men; and that's just for the first wave."

"Three days ago a four-legged creature, again like a lizard but with feathers, came through. Its body was almost the size of a full grown dragon. It's head had horns like a bull, only there were three of them each pointing forward and a boney crest lined with spikes protected its neck. It charged my men spearing or trampling over forty fully trained warriors before we could kill it."

"Then last night, a monster came through that still haunts my thoughts. It was over thirty feet tall, two-legged and, and if it weren't for the dragons I wouldn't be here now to report to all of you. The beast killed two fully grown adult dragons and wounded another three before they could kill it. I lost over nearly sixty men to it, including one of my sons."

Murmurs of sympathy sounded around the room. "The rift is showing no signs of closing. In fact Aristonu, one of the mages in my employ, believes the rift is slowly expanding. He says he has never encountered magic of this nature before and is at a loss. He asked me to request your expertise, Lord Rudane."

Tromel leaned forward and said "I had planned on leaving in two days, but with things as dire as you say, I will leave at first light tomorrow."

"Thank you Lord Rudane. We could also use more men. The bulk of my forces and those of Lord Rudane and Lord Leraid are still marching back from Pastaria."

"Fear not Lord Jantry, I will send you a thousand warriors. I will issue the orders tonight and they will be to the portal before noon." Lord Garnszend said.

"You said the beasts were faster than horses?" Lord Basintair asked. "I was considering sending you some horsemen."

"Calvary would be a huge boon. We need to get ahead of that first wave and hunt them down. Even fifty horsemen would be a significant aid in that." Jantry said

"I will send one hundred."

"Thank you Lord Basintair."

"Lord Jantry, i am sorry but my forces are necessary on the eastern border with Grissik, if i were to pull even two hundred men away it may embolden them into attack." Lord geiz apologized

"Lord Gheer." Tromel addressed the man. "I would like to request you to send some of your Shadowguard as well." The quiet following the question was so deep everyone could hear the fires cracking in the braziers.

Every man in the room knew about the revelry between Jantry and Gheer. Gheer looked between Tromel and lord Jantry then nodded.

"It is settled then. We must not let this get any worse." The king proclaimed. "Good luck on the morrow Lord Rudane."