The room was dark but for the candle light emitting from a lone stand in the middle. A bearded old man, dressed in ragged robes paced back and forth across the room, his hands shaking, mumbling all along the way. The king was frustrated. ‘Merlin… haven’t you walked enough already? I see that you’re worried. But now is not the time for fear…. I want to know what is going on out there.’ King Verulious IV sat atop the throne in the middle circle. Before him was a table with five edges, the Pentagon, Knights of the Five. Four others clad in armor sat on each of the chairs positioned to that table, a weapon before each one. The first sat on the Table of Fire – the Lord of the North, Gnjir the Mighty, ruler of Rachel and keeper of the gates of Thor. A mighty hammer was placed in front of him, the legendary Mjolnier. The man was huge, had a beard that looked more like a goatie on his chin. His masculine body flexed once in a while from the tension in the room. ‘Ye’ has to tell us the concern, Merlin of Ligthhazen… We need to know.’ Merlin seemed to ignore him, and continued to pace.
On the right of Gnjir, the table of Wind, sat a figure of the total opposite physique. She was much much smaller, almost too dwarflike. She wore a brass plate across her chest, but the fittings were all too perfect a fit, judging from the eyes of the Lords in the room. She was the most beautiful of maidens in Rune Midgrad – Princess Kalla, Keeper of the Light, the leader of the Paladins of the East Castle of Yuno, and the daughter to the King. ‘I understand your concerns, gentlemen, and Father, but Merlin has his reasons.’
The third person beside her stood up. ‘Are you saying you already know the reason for this meeting, Princess?’ his voice was more of a hiss, a mellow, dark, stony voice, yet loud and demanding. The man wore a cloth mask over his head. He had a scarf as well, brown, yet it smelled of dust and dirt. On his left shoulder, which was bore and sleeveless, was the symbol of a serpent and a scarab fighting over a golden Tiara. He was Nazgul of the Sand, the Lord of the West, Champion of the Dessert and Keeper of the Piramids. The legendary Katar were placed in front of him. They were made of a rare stone called the Soul Stone, one of the seven Sacred Stones that existed in the Kingdom of Rune Midgrad. His weapon was distinguishable from others, given its blood red handle. The Bloody Roar, as they call it, strong enough to cut through any armor, yet delicate enough to wound just the surface of the skin, allowing the poison on the tip of the katar to seep in. He makes his own concoctions of potions, as they say, potent enough to kill a vicious Leib Omal upon contact. The man the King himself fears, as they put it. He was a tremendously feared foe, a true champion at the times of the Great War of the Six Nations, which makes the Kingdom of Rune Midgrad ever more fearsome to be able to convince him to become their ally. Kalla glared at Nazgul. ‘No, but I put my trust in people who serve this great dynasty. Maybe you should learn to trust others as well.’
Nazgul and Kalla looked at each other for a few seconds. Suddenly, the fourth person on the table grabbed hold of Nazgul’s shoulder, as if Nazgul was about to eat the Princess whole. ‘Don’t.’ Under the hood covering his face, no one else saw Nazgul’s icy blue eyes return back to normal. The man that held Nazgul’s shoulder let go, and stood up. ‘My Lord, I believe there must be a reason to all of this. Yet we can’t just sit here and wait for answers, my Lord. We need to know what’s going on.’ He was shorther than Gnjir, but still well built. Argon of the South. The Protector, the Commander of the King’s army. Argon was given the lands of Payon, Geffen and Glast Heim to rule, for his servie and trust in the King and his Country. The lands were more Forest than civilization, yet rumours have it that they possess drastic spiritual and magical energy. He was a champion, the leader of the Payon temples. He was the man who invented the Spirit Spheres technique. The Master of Zen. The King’s right hand man. Merlin finally stopped pacing, and glanced at Argon. ‘You don’t understand the complexity of the problem... do you my friend?’ He started to walk back towards the table, and sat down. The Lighthazen Scholar, and leader of the Pillars of Knowledge, Dictation and Discipline. The Wise Old Man, Merlin the Sorcerer. He pull out his infamous wand, the Wand of Light, said to be made from the branches of Yggdrasil itself, and laid it on the table. Immediately, the entire Pentagon Table lit up. The King stood up and walked towards the table. He nodded to Merlin, and Merlin continued. The image before you was captured by my agent in the North lands. A small village outside the High Citadel, called Brasilis.’
He waved the wand, and a blurry image of what seemed like a first person view of a village on fire, came into light. There were screams and people running away from something. The voice in the image kept yelling ‘Keep running! Don’t look back. Oh God! What the hell is that thing!’ The King looked at Gnjir. ‘Why was I not told about this?’ Gjnir held his head up. “Sire, I prefer to handle the issues of my country myself. There was no need to report such a minor…’ Merlin interrupted him ‘Keep watching’. The King and Gjnir returned their focus on the image on the table. The person in the image was now running towards a riverbank. He was shouting out something like a spell. ‘Tunnel Drive!’ The sand by the river bank gave way, and a hole large enough to fit a person through came into place. He turned around, and two other were with him, a woman and a boy. ‘Jerr, take you mother. The tunnel will lead you to somewhere safe. Now go! GO!’ The image began to get blurry. The person turned back towards the village, and the image paused. What he saw last left everyone in the room in awe. Tears began to form in Kalla’s eyes. Gjnir had his head down the whole time, like he knew what had happened. Nazgul and Argon remained silent. The King spoke first. “My God… is that….?’ He looked at Merlin, who nodded. The image stopped right there, as the person’s final moments came into clear view. The village was burnt to bits, rain of fire pouring from the sky. The ground was broken and shaken, almost like an earthquake. And there, right before the eyes of the man, was a red, firey demon-like creature. It was hovering across the ground, but it was huge. Mountainous. It was engulfed in bright red flames. Merlin said at last. ‘The Ifirt, my lord. It has been awaken.’
The King walked back to his throne, and slumped right down on it. ‘But how… ‘ Nazgul spoke first. “There must be some misunderstanding, Merlin of the Light. I personally sealed that Firey-bitch of a demon up myself. My country gave half of our best men to lure it down to its demise, but now you say all that was for nothing??’ Merlin gazed at Nazgul, his hands still shaking. ‘I just say it as it is, my boy. Believe me, the magic of Memorize does not fail me.’ Nazgul looked at the King, at the rest of the people at the table, and finally at Gnjir. ‘You knew about this, didn’t you?’ Gnjir remained silent. In a flash, Nazgul already grabbed the Katars off the table and dashed at Gnjir, pointing it to his throat in godlike speed. ‘ANSWER ME!’ As he was about to attack, his blow was met my Argon’s bare hands, who held the edge of the katar. They stopped in mid stride. ‘That’s enough, Nazgul. Control yourself. This is the King’s court!’ Nazgul looked up at Argon ‘Out of my way, old friend, or I will kill you too!’ Princess Kalla stood up, unable tom take this any longer, ‘Enough! Sit down! All of you!’ Nazgul took his weapon down, but not his gaze at Gjnir, who continued to remain silent. Merlin stood up once more as they sat down. ‘My Lord, I fear there is more to report.’ The King looked at Merlin. ‘Yes, we need to find a way to stop this thing, right now.’ Merlin continues ‘I’m afraid that is not all, my Lord.’ The King sat at the edge of his throne. ‘Sire, a Baphomet is set lose at the gates of Prontera as we speak, my Lord.’ The King and everyone in the room looked at Merlin as though he just uttered the most ridiculous thing in the world. ‘What.. did you say?’ Merlin’s hands were trembling even more now.
‘The King of the Beasts, my Lord… is at the gates of Prontera. And that is not all, my dear Lords of Ragnarok.’; He turned his attention to everyone in the room. ‘If my magic is right, and by all that is good and pure, I hope I am wrong! There are more senses of major amounts of mana eruptions all across Rune Midgrad. All cross the land. I have only once sensed such powerful energy in my entire life, my Lords, and that was during the times of the Great War!’ His voice was crackling now, as though he was about to burst to tears. ‘Hear me out… I fear... That by all that is good I am wrong! But the only logical explanation for all this energy... Such strong energy…’ Princess Kalla sat down… and slumped to her chair. ‘… the Titans… they rise again.’ Merlin nodded in sorrow. Nazgul stood up. “Preposterous! The titans were sealed! Stop giving me this nonsense you... .’
The doors of the counsel room burst open, and a lone guard barged in. Nazgul turned to look at the man. ‘What in heaven’s name do you think you’re doing! This is a sacred meeting.. .’ The guard ignored him. “My king… the mountains… the mountains of Valeria… They are moving!’ The King stood up. ‘What??!’ The guard continued. ‘The Valkeryies, my King, they are coming here as we speak! Rangris… Rangris is moving the Army of Angels and is coming here right now!’ Everyone was shocked and looked at each other. Argon spat out ‘The King of the Titans? What is this, a revolt?!’ The guard continued ‘Not only that, my Lord, I have reports from every other continent in the Kingdom, my Lord. The MVPs have moved towards the major cities. Lady Bascojin of the Moon, Moonlight the Golden Fox, The Lord of the Death, the Dark Lord, the Evil Snake Lord… They... They are attacking us!’ Kalla looked at the guard. ‘But we made a treaty with them centuries ago! What are they thinking?’ The guard continued, ‘My princess... I fear... that it’s because…’ his voice began to crackle, and then, suddenly, he began to transform. The Lords reached for their weapons. The guard shifted in shape, his face and body began to contort, until finally, a final form cam into view. Nazgul looked at the man in shock. ‘You….’
Tritum drew his katar and fixed them on his hands, and grinned at the Princess. ‘…it’s because we’re behind it.’ ‘Guards!! Protect the King!’ Every soldier in the room ran towards the King, covering him and drawing their weapons. The five Lords drew their weapons at Tritium too. ‘Your guards are not coming, Nazgul… They met with a… accident.’ Kalla spoke, ‘You’re a fool, Tritium. You think you can enter and leave this place? You are no match for the five of us!’ Tritium smiled again. ‘Indeed… but with this.’ He pulled out the blood red liquid. Nazgul looked at him. “Impossible…’ Tritium smiled back, ‘Oh yes, brother… I’ve finished that technique.’ Nazgul drew his weapon. ‘Protect the KING!!!!’
Tritium and Nazgul roared at the same time ‘Enchant Deadly Poison!’ and the whole room went silent.
A few moments past, that seemed like an eternity. The King’s breathing was slow and painful, and his vision was a blurred. His hearing was partially impaired, but he could still make out the voices around him. He looked at his arm. A deep cut was sliced across it, blood oozing out the sides. He could make out the dead bodies of Gjnir and Nazgul on the ground before him, alongside several other guards. A strong arm pulled him up, limping him to one side as the face of Tritium came face to face with his. Tritium stared at him with an eerie smile on his face. ‘Come now, My King. Your son wants to talk to you.’
_________________________________________________________________________
In an open plain, under the moonlight, three lone figures appeared out of the sky and fell onto the ground. A cloud of dust rose from where they landed. As they did, the cries and curses of Pricness Kalla echoed all around the forest. Merlin stood up first. ‘My bones... cough.. cough…’ Kalla screamed ‘Let me go! I want to go back and save my father!’ Argon held her tightly. ‘Princess! Listen to me! The King is alive. Tritium will do nothing to harm him. Not just yet.’ Kalla broke down in tears, and knelt on the ground. Argon looked at Merlin. ‘The warp portal worked, but I was only able to pull Kalla and you into it. I don’t know about the others.’ Merlin nodded. ‘It had to be done. Tritium is far too strong to take on like this. We had to take Kalla to safety. It’s what the King would have wanted.’ Kalla screamed at Merlin ‘But Why!! Why would Tritium do this?’ Merlin looked at her. ‘I don’t know, dear child. But I know one thing. We are at war.’
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