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Chapter 52:

Arthur\'s Point of View

Lestrania Thousands of Years Ago

"Wake up!" Aydan shouted in my face suddenly, and he looked at me in concern. "Are you alright?!" He had taken my hood off and was examining me.

I had broken out into a cold sweat as I felt as if I had run a marathon. Sliding down the wall, my head rested on the stone as I tried to get my breathing under control. Aydan watched me carefully as he stood above me. After a moment, I had finally recovered enough to answer him.

"I should\'ve been a middle-aged man, but I have the feeling I am far older than I realize..."

Aydan seemed confused at that and asked, "Should\'ve? How can you not know your own age?"

"The being that transported me here wasn\'t exactly graceful... My mind, spirit, and the remains of my body were stuck in some infinite void. Who knows how long I was in there for before I popped out in this world..." Wiping my face in an exhausted manner, I continued. "I\'ve tried not to think about it, but my memories are in a haze."

"So, how old do you think you are?" The Great Sage inquired as he watched me closely.

"My age likely no longer exists in such a number that I could actually tell you. For it feels like I\'ve lived through an eternity... Twice." Was all I said in response.

The Sage\'s face fell at that, and he was about to respond when there was a knock on the door. Immediately, I put my hood back on and looked to see Aydan offering me a helping hand. With a smirk, I accepted and got to my feet. While I brushed myself off, he opened the door with his magic and smiled.

"Hello, Mara. Is something wrong?" Aydan asked the oldest Princess.

To my surprise, Mara merely looked over to me. "It has been some time since you two left to talk. I thought it might be best to come check in on both of you and perhaps offer my insight into Lestrania and the people who live here."

Much to my annoyance, Aydan looked at me with a grin and chuckled. "I\'m sure Sir Mordred would be delighted to talk to you, my dear." He then gestured to the area. "Feel free to use the room to talk. I must get a few things ready if Sir Mordred is to aid us in the coming days."

Mara nodded with such grace that you\'d think she had practiced the simple movement for dozens of years. "I shall do my best to aid him as well, Sir Aydan. If you need help with informing the citizens, I will be available."

Aydan leaned down and whispered something to her, which made her eyes flicker to me. He had to have used magic because his hands lit up, and I couldn\'t hear what was being said. Obviously, it was about me, and they wanted it private.

"I understand." Mara replied as his magic dispersed, and she looked to me as Aydan left. "Sir Mordred, it will be a pleasure to help you and serve by your side." The Princess then looked up at me with vibrant, hope-filled eyes. "Sir Aydan says you can be trusted, so trust me when I say, I am here to help you in any manner I can. You need only ask."

The eagerness she had shown unnerved me slightly. "Thank you." I replied slowly. "I will look to you in the coming days for any questions I might have."

Her smile widened. "And I will answer to the best of my abilities." Moving closer to me, she grabbed my hand. "Would you be willing to help me in return?"

Not that she could see my expressions, but I narrowed my eyes at that. "That certainly depends, but I plan to help everyone I can." It\'s like a bad gag that just keeps being repeated. "After all, I don\'t expect many to follow my lead if I don\'t actually help them."

Mara\'s eye seemed to twitch slightly, but she ignored it as she replied. "Then, I look forward to your help in the future." Offering her hand to me, the Princess spoke once more. "Shall I show you around your new home?"

While I wasn\'t sure what to do, I did accept her offer. "It\'d be a huge help. Thank you, Princess."

"Mara is enough." Moving next to me, she wrapped her arm around mine as she led me out of the room. "We shall start with the council chambers. Most of our talks and meetings are held there."

"Are there old scrolls there, of past battles or maps of any kind?" I inquired as we walked slowly through the halls once more.

"Naturally." Mara answered. "Tell me, Sir Mordred, how did you become so skilled in the art of combat?"

My eyes mostly looked at the passing torches on the wall, but Mara\'s question piqued my interest, and I looked to her. "Would you believe me if I told you it was an accident?" I asked her playfully.

The Princess giggled at that. "No. Such a tale would be hard to believe, but it certainly sounds amusing. Perhaps one day, I could hear the story behind it."

Chuckling at that, I replied. "It is very hard to believe and completely true, but I doubt I\'ll ever share." She looked at me more curiously, and I continued. "Then again, who knows. It\'s possible. Maybe at a later date if I\'m ever in an impeccably good mood." I told her.

I had no plans to share any of this with anyone. People didn\'t need to know that there was life beyond their world. My hand was forced with Davost because magic absolutely terrifies me, and I told Aydan because I was hoping he\'d be able to send me back to my own time. Magic only seems to fail me and fuck me. Both of which are not amusing.

"Another thing to look forward to," Mara stated. "May I ask another question?"

"Of course."

"What are your thoughts on this war? Why are the Demons moving against us now?"

I had no clue what the fuck was going on and needed to talk to Aydan before trying to answer that seriously. "I am not one to speculate. However, there was a powerful Demon made of flames at your sister\'s encampment. I get the feeling we haven\'t seen the last of it. Whether it was targeting your sister or defending its own territory, we\'ll find out eventually."

Mara seemed lost in thought but wasn\'t as distracted as I thought because as my finger twitched, magic gathered in her hands. Not against me, but to defend me against my attacker who was hiding. Walking through the hall, they fell from above and were caught in her magic as she quickly moved her hands up. It was an Elf that I didn\'t recognize as Mara kept it suspended in midair before he could even reach me.

The Princess wasn\'t impressed. "While I know you would not be so foolish to target me, it is amusing to think you thought you could hurt Sir Mordred, who bested Sir Aydan in combat." Mara moved him closer and sighed. "No doubt, my brother sent you. If you do not wish to die, leave this land and make a living elsewhere. You failed in your task, and my brother is not one for mercy. I give you this boon since I know you were likely coerced into this."

Another generic male Elf, fell to the floor as she let go of her magic. "Princess..." He spoke from under his mask. "Why do you defend this man?" The would-be assassin inquired.

Obviously, he was cloaked and covered most of his face, but his ears, hair, and eyes were showing. Giving away several keen details. You think an assassin would hide those types of details, but it is possible he never expected to fail. Either way, Mara was far more lenient than I expected her to be.

"You are assuming that it was him I was defending. Had I not intervened; you would be dead. Sir Mordred was well aware of your presence and was ready to act before I even knew where you were." The Princess explained, and I was surprised she realized it so quickly. "I have stopped you from meeting your doom and am letting you leave if Sir Mordred will allow it but know you cannot best him."

He glared at me. "She\'s right, you know. I was going to kill you. It\'s not that I don\'t have mercy, despite what you may believe, but I cannot let an attempt on my life go so easily. However, since the Princess has interfered, I will let her handle the situation as she sees fit."

"Thank you, Sir Mordred. I will remember this kindness you have shown me." Mara said with a small bow towards me and then turned back to the Elf. "Have you come to a decision?" She inquired.

"I will leave..." The Elf replied begrudgingly and stood slowly. "Forgive me, Princess."

"Go now and never show yourself in front of me again." Was her reply, and the generic Elf left with his tail between his legs before she looked back to me. "Were you really going to kill him?"

Looking at her, I saw her eyes flicker about as she tried to find mine inside my enchanted cloak. "Had it just been a threat, I would\'ve let it go, but he was sent to kill me. That is not something I would overlook."

The Princess nodded in understanding. "I am sorry this happened, Sir Mordred.??

"Unless it was you who orchestrated this, don\'t be. You can\'t control everything that happens, so you don\'t need to apologize." Holding out my arm for her, I spoke. "Shall we continue?"

"We shall." Mara took my arm, and we were off once more. "We\'re not too far now." She said after a few more minutes of walking.

Opening a set of double wooden doors, we entered a decent sized room with a large stone table that had many different things scattered about. Tomes, scrolls, maps, plans, and more. Banners lined the room with a pair of wings surrounding a golden crown. Ignoring that for now, my eyes started to look around the table.

Mara removed her arm and pulled a map towards us with her magic. "This is the current map of Lestrania. Our kingdom is quite vast, given that the Elves and Humans have united. With their union, all the land in-between their territories have also been claimed." The Princess explained as she pointed things out. "Unfortunately, most of the Elves\' home have been burned down, and now it is overrun with Demons."

"That poses a bit of a problem. Was there anything of importance left behind that the Demons might want?" I inquired.

Shaking her head, the Princess answered. "Not that I am aware of, and Aydan, nor the former Elven Queen, have stated otherwise." Pointing at different spots on the maps, she continued. "We have many different towns and villages all throughout the lands, but we have been cut off. Demons invade towns, take prisoners, and kill the rest. Providing any kind of support has been difficult."

"Why? With magic and Zugal at the ready, I think sending messages would be easy or at least have solid scouting parties out and about looking for Demon movement." I asked her.

"We\'re spread thin as it is. That Fire Demon you spoke of has been popping up everywhere, and the only one capable of driving it off would be Sir Aydan. Had it appeared here, and he was gone, things would not end well." Mara explained.

"So, you\'ve been using Aydan as more of a defensive unit than helping your people?"

Mara gritted her teeth at my remark. "My brother thought it best that the Capital be defended more than anything else."

Frowning at that, I moved my hand over the map. There was another location that looked like a bunch of large rocks just drawn on the map that confused me, but there were bigger issues at the moment. Mara and her siblings can get stronger. Arceana and Elincia are proof of that. Both are stronger than Ghouls in the future. If training is what they need, I can use that as an excuse to train myself as well.

A smirk came to my lips as I touched the map. "Mara, tell Aydan I request his presence in the council chambers."

"May I ask why?" She inquired with a hopeful look.

"No longer will we only hold the capital and now that I\'m here, we can tip the scales in our favor. Lestrania will be nothing without it\'s people, and there will be none left if this continues." Tapping on the map, I continued. "That leaves us with only one choice." Part of me wanted to be overly dramatic and stab the map with a dagger, but I didn\'t have a dagger on hand, and I figured these took quite a long time to make. "We go on the attack."

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New Cover Art is out! Hope you all like it! I am going to try to change the Cover Art for every Arc, but we\'ll have to wait and see if that is possible! Enjoy the chapter!