Ruinous Return

One of the guards chuckled, "Right. You think we just gonna let any \'ol person wander up to Princess Cecily\'s palace?"

Vinic sighed with exasperation, "No! I\'m not just any person!" Fucking idiots. Fine. The hard way then. He pulled himself up to his full height, "I, Vinic Lancet of the Duchy of Ishtok, demand an audience with Cecily, under the codices of the Shereldian Accords."

The guard laughed with his fellow guardsman, "You wot?"

A more ornately dressed guard pushed his way past the two guardsmen, "You\'re declaring your once-a-year visit of state?"

"Yes!" Vinic shouted. Finally! Someone who understands goddamn authority.

The guard nodded, "Follow me." He pushed his way back past the other two, "You boys need to read up on the codices again."

Vinic was led up to the massive palace and instructed to sit in a waiting room adjoining the throne room. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, pushing aside the phantom pain from his severed wrist. Just deliver the message, he thought. That\'s all you must do.

He had never met Princess Cecily in person, but her purges of non-Humans were a huge shift in the cultural norms of Valagonia. Within a few months, the peasantry and lower classes were riled up through propaganda and fervor against all other races, lauding Humans as superior. Vinic, being part of the nobility and upper class – despite being on the lower rungs of high society – was able to observe the changes throughout his youth.

"These are some deplorable times," his father had said around the dinner table in their small estate within the Duchy of Ishtok. "Deplorable times indeed." He had looked up at Vinic, who at the time was just fifteen. "We are going to do something about it."

Vinic vividly recalled his father and older brother concealing and smuggling various races out of the country. Down rafts on The Rill. Sloren who fled to the mountains across from Valagonia\'s border, and the Ari who went out to the sea to their island. The family had kept their actions secret, and only saved a few hundred of them.

Vinic hated his father for it. The Ari and Sloren were disgusting vermin. They didn\'t deserve to live on Ghomar. And here he had a chance to get everything he had ever wanted. His older brother was fully invested in his father\'s activities, and with him out of the picture…Vinic would inherit the estate, the seal, and the prestige of the Lancet family. He betrayed his father and older brother, reporting them to the Valagonian Investigation Bureau.

"Knight Lancet," a voice called out from a set of doors. Vinic stood up and straightened his dress jacket. "You are invited to the council chamber to speak."

He followed the person through the throne room and into a side-chamber which was just as richly appointed as the throne room. Princess Cecily sat in an ornate chair, surrounded by all manner of councilors and advisors. Vinic instantly dropped to his knee, "The Lancet family serves, always."

Cecily nodded and gestured for him to stand, "You invoked the Accords. Speak what you will."

Vinic stood up and tried to meet her gaze. But the eyes of his monarch turned his blood to ice in his veins, and he averted his gaze. "My Lady…I was a part of a group heading to the Arin Isle to collect the ears of our hated foes. And a Duskari woman stood upon the waves. I launched a powerful lightning elementalism spell at her, but it did nothing!" He felt his mouth go dry and he saw the vivid scene replay in his mind. "She shot arrows of flame that were like liquid, setting the sails alight. And then she got on board our ship, killed two of the crew with no effort, and took my hand."

Cecily tapped her fingers on her arm rest, "And?"

"She gave me a message to tell you, your grace." Vinic took a deep breath, "Tell her the Ari are off limits. Tell her Lady Rivers is protecting them now."

The Princess looked at him with a withering glare. "Come here," she ordered, gesturing for him to approach with her finger. Vinic did so. "Kneel once more." He did so. She placed her hand on his head. "En ethiel an le / thalion min / an thio nin i rem en hain / a leithio nin en-gwevin hain / sui i hain na nin."

He felt a cool rush against his face, and then a soothing, coaxing, warm rush of heat that flooded through his mind. A mind spell? He knew the principles behind it. He knew that such spells were generally off limits. And the mana required was extraordinary.

Princess Cecily pulled her hand away and gestured for Vinic to stand. He did so, and took a few steps back as protocol dictated. "It is troubling," she said. "Your words are true, and I have seen your fervor for my cause. It also appeared, as you fled on those lifeboats, that they were evacuating – up towards Trisk, no doubt. Seeking refuge with that bastard." She snapped her fingers, and a servant came over with parchment, quill, and ink. She wrote on the paper and handed it to Vinic, "Return to Ishtok with a contingent of a three-thousand men. Give this to Duchess Yeeza. You are to sail down The Rill, to the Arin Isle, and completely obliterate all memory of the Ari from history. If they left, find them, and hunt them down."

Vinic felt his heart flutter. This was a chance to elevate his standing immensely. He bowed deeply, "Of course, my Princess." He took the letter. One of the councilors – a man dressed in court attire but with a large estoc on his hip gestured for him to follow. Vinic did so, and the man walked him to an officer\'s quarters within the capital.

A few hours later, Vinic was heading North, heading the van of a thousand of Valagonia\'s finest. Time for me to finally get the prestige I deserve.

"Your Highness!" The Master of the Hunt shouted.

James stood up, all four kids still clinging to him from the play-wrestling. "One second," he replied. Turning to his boys and Zebed\'s kids, he turned his face to a pouting one, "Sorry boys. I\'ve got business to deal with." He set them down, and the four ran off to play in the courtyard. James turned to his man and dropped the façade of \'happy father\' as his stern disposition reasserted itself. "What have we found?"

"My Lord…you won\'t believe this. But we have had sightings of a dragon off the coast in The Teardrop Isles…it…caught our scouts and sent word that it wants to parlay with the Paragon hero."

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James nodded and stood up, "Right. Which island?"

The Master of the Hunt pulled out a folding map of Ghomar, and pointed to the farthest isle to the South, "Here, My Lord."

James nodded, "I\'ll go in a moment."

"My Lord?"

"I mean, I will get there instantaneously." He smirked as the man\'s eyes went wide. "I have my tricks and ways," he stated as he dismissed the man.

James walked to the adjoining suite, knocking gently on the door. "Come in," his wife\'s voice replied. He opened the door, and his beautiful love, Maria, was sitting near the window, looking down at the boys playing in the courtyard. "Look at them out there, making friends with Zebed\'s kids."

James walked over and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, giving her a kiss on the head. "Yeah, building alliances at this young age."

She shook her head, "No. I grew up with brothers. They really like each other." She looked up at him, "What\'s wrong?" She asked.

James frowned, "You know me so well." He pulled up a chair and sat next to his wife. "You remember what we talked about the past few nights, right?"

Maria also frowned, but nodded gently, "Yes. You have to gain more power to fight this Destroyer. And that you\'d have to leave for extended periods of time."

James put his hand on her thigh, gently squeezing her reassuringly. "I know when we married, I promised I would be home every night to be with you. But…that was before I became a king."

Maria put her hand on his and met his gaze, "I know. You have a whole different set of duties now." She smiled gently, "I have my hands full with the boys anyways. I\'ll miss you while you\'re gone, but I know you\'re doing what you must do to keep us all safe."

James smiled and kissed her, "Thank you for understanding." He stood up and drew Aelor\'An\'Alar, pointing it out the window. "I\'ll be back in a few days." He closed his eyes and drew upon his mana. The energy surged into his torso and down his arm, into the blade. "Adlego nin na aine an padad as ebennin."

His body shifted and turned into a beam of radiant, white light, and he surged out across the land, flying over Khrelardia in an instant, arriving at The Teardrop Isles within a few blinks of an eye. He rematerialized on a stone platform, in front of an enormous cave. He saw his scouts in front of the cave, held within the ribs of a giant creature that had been turned into a makeshift prison. They shouted with joy at his arrival. But a growling, deep voice emerged from the cave.

"So…Paragon. You arrive." It spoke in Khrelardian.

James held his blade to his side and peered into the darkness. Thanks to body enhancement, he could see into darkness normally…but this was an unnatural darkness. Shadow elementalism, he thought. "Yes. You asked for me. And I would see my men released."

The enormous, scaled head of a dragon emerged from the cave\'s entrance. It sent a shiver down James\' spine, as it looked eerily like the Demonic Dragon. The sight in front of him shook him to his center and brought back memories of fighting the dread beast in the fortress so many years ago. The fact it was talking meant it was either a regular dragon, which were rare enough, or a true dragon, which were supposedly extinct.

"Ahhh…you can travel at the speed of light." The dragon cackled and reached an enormous claw over to the caged men, lifting the ribcage off them. "Flee, little men. This is between me and your Paragon."

The scouts scattered and fled past James, giving him thanks as they ran to the ropes that were hanging from the cliff behind him. James looked at the creature, "You know my name, but I do not know yours."

The dragon\'s eyes glimmered, "Oh?" It lifted its claw and examined it before gently setting it down and laying its head atop them. "I don\'t feel like telling you my name." The dragon gestured North, past James, with its tail. "You heard the proclamation from the Demonic Dragon, yes?"

James sheathed his sword, as this did not seem like a hostile encounter. "Yes. I know the Destroyer."

The dragon nodded, "And? Do you have any more information? I rarely hear news out here being so isolated."

"What do I get in exchange for this information?"

The dragon looked at him with an eye as big as he was, "An ally, perhaps. Tell me…who is this Destroyer?"

"Lyn Rivers."

The dragon looked…surprised. "Really? That is interesting. I thought she had died killing the Demonic Dragon. Then you lot did that memory spell. Took the credit as well, if I recall that little tidbit of news that happened to reach me. Tsk. You lot fucked up."

Something\'s wrong, James thought. The mind spell to alter the memories of every person on Ghomar was supposed to apply to all except the heroes. The dragon in front of him warped and changed, shrinking down to human size. In a few seconds, the form shrunk to that of a human covered in scales. A familiar form. One that James had thought dead. A person from out of the past. "It can\'t be…I saw you die! You were eaten alive!"

Lawrence Powder, Shifter hero, stood in front of James. "Did you miss me?"

Zebed lounged on the top deck of his trade vessel. Inspired by the Ari longships, the Free City of Bashinol had adopted the design but elongated and widened it. Not as nimble, but it was more than capable of traveling up the Azure Divide. He had anticipated having to travel overland to the Valley\'s entrance before heading to the dread fortress.

Instead, he was quite shocked to discover that the river had somehow been elongated into the mountains. A large fortress stood upon the river, with an enormous, metal slotted gate. The head of a Duskari peered down at their trade vessel, as the sailors pulled oars to keep them in place. "Halt! Who seeks entry to The Valley of the Volcano?" The Duskari boomed out in Arinol.

Zebed stood up and bowed deeply, "I am Zebed Ba\'n Azir Shedai, of the Shedai merchant family, representing the interests of the Free City of Bashinol and the mercantile council. I seek an audience with your ruler, to seek trade."

The head vanished behind the walls, and then re-appeared. "Anchor your vessel, and you may come in a single lifeboat. You may bring up to six guards should you choose."

Zebed nodded and barked orders to his sailors, who rapidly went to work putting the anchors into the water, readying the boat, and lowering it with Zebed and four guards within. He also brought James\' hidden diplomat, and one of James\' guards. Two of his men also hefted an enormous chest onto the vessel. As the other two set to rowing, the enormous metal gates opened through some unseen mechanism.

It was then as they passed through the archway, and the metal gate closed behind them, that Zebed felt a chill go through him. The stone was not worked stone. There were no seams. It was a single, titanic construction. And the river which used to end here at the foot of the mountains had been extended. A large tunnel went deep under the enormous cliffs, with a trail along the side for foot traffic. Duskari watched them from atop the walls, and Zebed craned his head higher, finally seeing past the optical illusion, and understanding that the whole mountain was turned to a flat surface. What power did this?

They rowed up the river and arrived at a lake, with Ari setting to task around the shoreline, building ships along the quays. A small river extended further into the land, and a Duskari asked his business once more, and directed them down the river. From the short conversation, and a few questions, Zebed learned that there were five entrances to the Valley of the Volcano.

The Dragon\'s Maw to the South, a similar fortification to the one he passed through extending from all three major rivers – the Flontar River, the Azure Divide, and The Rill – and another entrance on the Northern side of the Valley. All the rivers had had their course diverted slightly, and inside the Valley of the Volcano, channels had been carved out so that all three met at a large lake in front of the fortress at the base of Shiverburn Summit.

And it was then that Zebed was truly gobsmacked. An enormous city stood there. It was not very heavily populated, and he saw many empty streets as they disembarked and were led by Duskari squadrons towards the fortress proper. And not just Duskari were present. Newen, Sloren, and Ari were intermingling and seemingly…getting along. Not necessarily an oddity, but they seemed to not just tolerate each other as they did in other countries. Rather…they truly seemed like they were integrated into a singular society. Or in the process of it, at least, as he spotted a few social faux paus that were quickly apologized for.

They could house a hundred thousand people here. Combine that with those lakeside cities at each entrance…the Valley could support a population of two-hundred fifty thousand if they had the means to feed them all.

And his mind immediately set to work on how he could propose a resettlement program for displaced peoples, for a fee, of course, to populate this new region. And with that would come the transit costs, the protection fees, importing of foodstuffs, and sale of luxury goods. He smiled broadly; this could be the most prosperous agreement in the history of the Shedai family. If he could negotiate a truly favorable deal, then he could propel his family to the top of the merchant republic\'s power system.

He took a deep breath as he descended into the darkness of the dread fortress.