"My lord, all of the guards have reported back, there is no sign of any intruders, what are your orders?" The guard captain reported, bowing to the emperor as he walked into the room. “It seems they successfully got in and out, yet nothing has been reported as taken, most curious indeed, inform your soldiers to lift the lockdown on movements,” Emperor Rector said, stroking his beard, pacing the room deep in thought, “Send Rex to me, we have something to discuss.” “As you command,” the guard captain said, bowing once more before turning and walking out to issue the orders to his men. Rector was about to sit down and begin his usual meditation with Mhurl when a familiar sound he had been hearing for a few months now reached his ears again, “It’s that same strange sound, odd I have not been able to pinpoint the source in the palace, it is becoming quite an irritation.” At that same moment a letter with a small pouch had arrived to someone through a black messenger bird that appeared f
Once Rex put the chain around his neck, he instinctively closed his eyes, like something bad was about to happen that instant, and after the chain was hung around his neck and the pendant touched his chest, it went deathly quiet for a few seconds, even Rector seemed to expect something to happen the moment it was around Rex’s neck, and when nothing happened, they both let out a deep sigh in relief. Rector lowered his hands and asked, “How do you feel Rex?” “I feel fine like nothing is different, are you sure this thing will work?” Rex replied, a little disappointed in not seeing or feeling any results. “It was created following the designs set by Fafnir, it may take a while” Rector answered, starting to stroke his chin in thought, he was about to turn away when he became suddenly on edge and alert. “What’s wrong?” Rex asked, slightly panicked by his father’s sudden change. “Look! The talisman is lightening up…” Rector started to say, when a huge shockwave burst out from Rex. Rect
“The games are not scheduled for another few months Deacon,” Rector said, frowning slightly. “I know my lord, just seems like the people need a little morale booster is all” Deacon answered, still keeping his smug expression on his face, “After word got out about the intrusion into the palace, it seemed like a good idea to help give people something to set their minds at ease.” “Now how on earth did this information leave this palace?” Rector said, his voice changing to become very low and menacing, when his voice changed, everyone lowered their heads, Rex even felt the need to do so, even though he had nothing to do with it. “I do not know my emperor, but I will find out who is responsible, I swear, do I have your permission to go ahead?” Deacon said, bowing slightly, Rex could still see him smiling. “Yes, if you think it will help, I approve moving the date for our annual battle games forward, arrange for invitations to be sent to the clan leaders of the other regions,” Rector sa
“I’m not sure, what are your suggestions?” Rex asked, since finding out Deacon had what he needed to unlock information about Madame Al’ik he was stumped, he knew Deacon always sought one thing, more power, but he was not willing to give him anymore, “You said the other piece is impossible, like how impossible are we talking?” “The other branch I was talking about was held by a necromancer called Telagus, he lived almost 1000 years ago, and all stories point to him possessing a weapon that made his creations unbelievably powerful, that points to two explanations, Killcross branch or demonic assistance, the impossible part to the story is, he was buried with his weapon by his followers, no one knows where he was buried though” Rowina explained. “Or both explanations to his power” Rector said, which made Rowina shrug and nod. “So how did Deacon’s family get this other branch then?” Rex asked, seeing as the buried branch was no longer an option. “His great grandfather sacrificed his l
They turned off down a path Rex was not familiar with, to put his discomfort with being here aside, he said to Duncan. “I thought that cottage was your home.” “Oh no, I set that up temporarily for the purpose of facilitating your conversation with Fafnir, and then creating your talisman” Duncan replied. “So where is your real home?” Rex inquired, he was incredibly curious now after hearing Duncan’s statement. “I live in a place between places” Duncan replied with a broad smile, seeing Rex’s face contort with confusion. “A place between places? What sort of place is that?” Rex asked, his brain just was not able to comprehend what place could be between places. “I live in a realm I created that is between this realm and the spirit realm, I will take you there to show you in good time” Duncan replied casually. “You created your own realm?” Rex asked, he could not hide the excitement and awe in his voice when he spoke, Duncan was powerful enough to create a plane of existence. “Wel
“I see, so it sounds like, I can make it as big as I want” Rex replied, looking out into the distance, deep in thought. “As large as you NEED my son, there is a difference” Rector corrected in a stern tone, standing up next to Duncan. “Alright, as big as I need, well I am going to need a very large one, I have big plans” Rex announced with a nod and a smile, also standing, brushing the dirt from his half damp clothes, this statement causing Duncan and Rector and look at each other and grin widely. “Now who does that sound like?” Duncan asked, a slight chuckle when he spoke. “Me” Rector replied, patting Rex on the shoulder, “Now that you are on your way to opening your own magical space, the rest is practice, I fear there is somewhere I must be,” Rector said in a serious tone, looking towards the palace. “I have fulfilled my part as well my lords, I must also depart, I need plenty of rest, I have not consumed this much energy with spells in many years” Duncan also added, sighing he
“I find a little hard to believe!” Marcia called out, taking a step forward, causing Deacon to take a step back. “My lord, I would never lie to you, I have been present for their confessions, and have brought the offenders with me to confess their sins to you in person” Priest Deacon replied, bowing to Rector, who shifted uncomfortably in his seat, if Deacon had proven true in finding who had infiltrated the palace, it implied that his three best generals would seem incompetent. “A most curious timing I might add Deacon” Markus said, eyeing him suspiciously, it was a little too perfectly timed, even pooling their resources, they did not find any way of proving the intruder’s identity or intentions, but Deacon announced he had, depending on what these people declared, it had the possibility of putting the three generals in a precarious position. “I know you all have doubts, but I would like for you all to see for yourself what I say is true” Deacon declared. “Very well, send for the
“This bloody water is freezing” Rex said once the water was waist-high. “Don’t be such a girl” Lacey replied, splashing water at Rex, covering him in water. “Hey!” Rex exclaimed as the water engulfed him, then he got an idea, adding a trickle of magic into his hand, he slapped water towards Lacey, which caused a large wave of water to fly towards her, dumping water on her. “What the!? Using magic is cheating!” Lacey retorted once the wave had passed over her, “Do I smell bad or something?” she asked. “Huh? That’s a strange question” Rex answered, slightly confused. “Well, you’re all the way over there, so obviously I must smell or something” Lacey replied with a cheeky smile. With a shrug, Rex started to wade over to where Lacey was, noticing as he approached her, she was in a patch of water where he could feel rocks under his feet, allowing him to stand in the water and it only reached the top of his shoulders, once Rex was within arm’s reach, Lacey reached out and grabbed onto
As the enemy soldiers charged, they quickly spread out evenly across each squad commanded by Rector’s defence, ‘They are testing our weak spots” Rex heard Rector say to Markus, who nodded in agreement as the small number of soldiers were killed quickly by Rex’s and Ley’s squads, Markus’s and Gwayne’s a few moments later, the barrage of fireballs from the walls reached the enemies’ position almost simultaneously, hitting the barrier created by their warlocks, most being stopped, the more powerful fireballs made it through and scorched the soldiers they hit, dying a few seconds after impact. “Are you going to try a counterattack?” Markus asked quietly, leaning over to Rector. “Not directly, no” he replied, stroking his beard, the enemy had not made a move since their test of his defensive line and it worried him, “Something is going to happen, I can feel it.” “What are you thinking?” Markus said, “I think they are scheming since their test proved our defences are solid.” “No defence
Everyone got dressed in silence, they were all thinking about what was coming their way with the battle. After a half-hour, everyone was suited up and ready to go, they all headed out of the room, down the stairs and out through the gate, stopping outside. Saying their goodbyes to Marcia, she hugged everyone before calling out and departing on Ulna. “Time to go and see your troops I guess” Lacey shrugged with a sigh, the closer it got to the battle, the more she started to worry. “That would be wise, seeing as they are formed up and waiting for you by the gate,” Ley said with a smile. As they all made their way to the southern gate, the entire group was silent, they were all apprehensive about how close to battle they all were, Ley seemed to notice this, “I think if anyone will survive this, it will be you all, I sense something different, something strong has formed between you, use that and you will be a force to be reckoned with, that rumoured scorpion pet of yours would be of
The sun was an hour from even touching the horizon, Rex was laying in the middle of Minet, Marcia and Lacey, all sleeping soundly, Rex snoring quietly, “Rex, wake up please, but do not wake the others, I must show you something.’ Even while inside of his dream, he knew the voice belonged to Rector, his father, it was loud enough to wake him, but not too loud to startle him, as his eyes blinked and focused, he saw Rector sitting in a chair watching and smiling, looking at the women, they were all dressed, which he did not remember them doing. ‘I would not intrude on a view that is not for me, I made sure clothes found them before I came in’ Rector said with a wink. Carefully moving Marcia’s hand off his chest, he slowly sat up, standing at the same speed, stepping over the women carefully, not wanting to wake them, ‘Is everything ok?’ Rex asked. ‘Let us go, then we can speak more freely’ Rector said, holding his hand out to Rex, who took it. Once his vision cleared Rex was in a dar
“Did you end up killing it? Surely not even you could kill something THAT big” Lacey added in. “Hang on…so you like for real saw and fought a tentaculum? A fabled flesh-eating tentacled monster from the books of legend?” Marcia asked, still visibly skeptical. “No word of a lie,” Minet said, “Rex and Raz stayed behind to let us escape, next we saw them, Rex was covered in shit and Raz’s head was split open.” “Well yes, I didn’t end up killing it, but we injured it enough it must have thought us too painful to continue fighting, it ended up losing 3 tentacles and 1 eye, Raz was hurt after it ejected some black shit that shot us into the trees, Raz hit some rocks, I patched him up best I could and carried him to the shack,” Rex said, recounting the events, leaving out some in-depth gruesome parts he wished he could forget, “So why was that muscle-bound axe man chasing you into the shack?” “Wow this is so much drama in a short time, how you even got anything done, I’ll never know,” Mar
“Well, my place is the closest to everywhere we need to be tomorrow and is away from prying eyes, and I have half a bottle of yarak spirits, we can share that, you can tell me all about your trip in a shortened version and we can have some fun, get a little sleep and then head out to our posts in the morning,” Marcia said with a smile. “I’m sold,” Marcia said, clapping her hands together. “I just had a thought” Lacey started to say. “Yes or no?” Minet interjected. “Yes, sounds good” Lacey nodded, walking with the women, “We weren’t told who we are serving with tomorrow.” “I don’t know about you, but I’m sticking with Rex” Minet shrugged. “That was what I was hoping to do, what do you think? Where is Rex?” Lacey asked, looking around for him. “Odd he would sneak out on us, this was supposed to be our night together” Minet scowled, putting her hands on her hips. “Sorry, I’m here, was just trying out a bit of magic I was shown earlier, good to know it still works, it gave me an id
Rex, Minet, and Lacey followed Rector into the palace, turning away from the throne room and traveling down a hallway Rex had never been before, “I don’t remember seeing this here” he stated, looking back, then back toward a large wooden door at the end. “That is because I do not allow this area to be accessed unless necessary, the war room has not been used since the Blood War, it saddens me to even have to use it again,” Rector sighed, walking toward the door, it opening as he approached. As they all entered the room, there was already a handful of older men present in the room who were pointing to places on a table that was in the center of the room, it showed the walls of the city and the fields beyond, many black figures stood in the southern fields showing the invading troops and their positioning, the old men were all yelling at each other for what plan they thought would be best, Marcia, Ley, and Markus were all at one end, Marcia was scowling at the men yelling, Ley was smil
“So whoever has brought this army has one hell of a grudge against Dracones, or father” Rex guessed, seeing how much dust over such a large area was being kicked up, “What was the scout's estimate?” “In excess of 30 thousand strong” Marcia replied, “That’s three times as many as Ean’s last army.” “Holy shit, how many defend Hale?” Rex asked. “About 10 thousand,” Marcia said, doing some quick math in her head, “Would be 18 thousand if we could rely on general Chris’s forces, but word is, he is currently under assault as well, it is almost like this attack has been co-ordinated from both sides of the realm at the same time.” “Three to one odds, battles have been won with a lot worse before” Rex replied. “Yes, but human battles did not have magic and monsters in their ranks either,” Raz said with a grin. “Holy shit!” Looking over to Lizz, who had cursed, which was rare for her, she was now pointing out toward the field outside of Dracone’s southern gate, to where a massive force, a
“So, you’re saying we can be released from the deal to suicide, to serve under you instead?” one of the soldiers asked. “Correct” Rex replied, “Instead of your life being a waste, why not use it for something better?” “We cannot accept that” the soldier replied, saddened, “When we swore our oath to serve, we were branded, if we break our deal, the brand kills us, so either way, we are doomed.” “Who would make you do such a thing?” Lacey asked, she was not the only one who was shocked, the entire group was as well. “Our new leader ensured our allegiance with spells” the soldier replied, lining up his sword, ready to pierce the heart, the rest of the group following suit, “We thank you for the offer, you are not like they say you are,” he took one last deep breath to ready himself, closed his eyes and slid the sword into his chest with a groan, after a few gasps he fell lifeless to the ground, followed shortly after by the remainder of the soldiers. “I did not think they would have
The sound of screams and metal hitting metal echoed out soon after the soldiers reached Rex and his companion’s position as they cut through their first wave. Lacey and Minet had teamed up on Rex’s right side and were diving, dashing, stabbing and blocking each other’s weak spots, many dead and dying fae laying around them. Raz and Lizz were on the left front, Lizz was throwing fireballs at their enemies furiously, scorching two, sometimes three at a time, Raz was standing fast between her and the front line, cutting down any that made it through to ensure Lizz could focus on what she was doing. “Looks like we underestimated a group of children,” Douve said with a sigh and smile, “Looks like it is up to us to settle this.” “Seems like it” Rex replied with a shrug, he was a little curious, everyone knew the royal family had power stemming from dragons, yet Douve did not seem phased. Bowing to Rex, Douve took a ready stance, so out of courtesy, Rex nodded his head, not a second afte