If anyone hasn't checked my profile yet, I have made a schedule for updating my stories. Now that I have actually, 5 stories that I REALLY need to get a move on with (Zombie Regime and Hunter Pride Marching Band) I need to organize my updates. I realize that a lot of my readers for the stories mentioned above have not received a chapter in over 2 weeks. So, I will be updating them. Sunday is considered a makeup day for anything I missed over the week because I was too busy and etc.

And here is some extra news: I am looking for a Beta. Yes, someone who gets early access to my stories (which doesn't sound that exciting) and looks for grammatical, plot or spelling errors. If you know anyone or are willing yourself, please PM me.

Also, Circle of War will be ending soon. With the story split into 2 parts, I believe that it is time to be wrapping this story up. So, look for the ending of this story! Enjoy the chapter.

The Throne Room

Cyrus sat on the throne, looking at the 4 people who knelt before him. One of them was General Ortega, an ambitious general who nobody trusted. The other 2 were Crack and Tate, members of his family. The other was Livia, his daughter. The recent events had led Cyrus to think hard about the future. The middle piece, gone. His sons, near death. The prisoner riot had proven some cracks existed within the Garlan Empire and that was not something Cyrus allowed. EVER.

He sat on the throne now, evaluating each person's ability to lead. Cyrus was not stepping down from the throne. No, he could never do that. He was merely passing a part of leadership to one of the 4 who knelt before him. The title that was given was "Commondorus Supremus" or "Supreme Commander". They would wield nearly unlimited power among the armed forces besides the king himself and would lead the armies in battle. Cyrus eyed Ortega who seemed to be shifting uneasily.

Cyrus allowed a silent snicker within him. Ortega was a man of great influence. He was the 3rd consul and was a skilled general. However, Cyrus had suspicions that Ortega was plotting against him. Giving him nearly unlimited control of the army would be a high risk, one that would not be in Cyrus's favor.

"Ortega, dismissed." Cyrus said calmly.

Ortega stood, knowing that he had been eliminated from the pool of possible chosen ones. He left the throne room quickly, his green cape flowing behind him and his silvery armor flashing in the torchlight. Cyrus shifted his gaze to Crack.

Cyrus did not know Crack very well. He was a general and head scientist. However, his dry and sarcastic attitude displeased Cyrus and he knew of Crack's interactions with his grandmother.

"Crack, dismissed." Cyrus said smoothly.

Crack seemed to sigh with relief and he stood and bowed.

"Of course your royal majesty." He said sarcastically as he turned and walked away, his white lab coat swishing.

'Down to 2 already. Did my great grandfather have this easy of a choice?' Cyrus thought, thinking of Darius and the man he had appointed the Supreme Commander.

Cyrus only had 2 to choose from. Tate and his own daughter. Originally, his son Otto had been the unofficial Supreme Commander. However this would be the real deal. Tate was a good choice, a very good choice. She was level headed and thought straight unlike Crack. She was an incredible marksman and had led troops to victory time and time again. Also, she was the warden of nearly every prison in the empire. She was not cruel, kind hearted but knew how to enforce discipline. His daughter on the other hand…

Livia was a strange child. She did not show the likings of war and Cyrus worried that he had sheltered her too much. Perhaps it was time to show her the true world. One of darkness and destruction… Cyrus considered letting the King's Guard accompany her and made his choice. He stood from the throne and he went behind the golden throne to press a button in the stone wall behind the throne. A compartment opened up and there stood 2 weapons. They looked identical and were the ceremonial weapons that the Supreme Commander carried at all times. One was a curved scimitar with a handle made of emeralds and the blade was a dull grey color. The other was a spear. It had a large blade in the shape of a crescent moon and it was wickedly sharp and killed the strongest warriors in the past. The handle was made of solid oak with several rivets driven into the brown wood to reinforce it.

Cyrus came from behind the throne with the weapons and spoke.

"Tate, Livia stand. I am bestowing a rare honor to you. You will SHARE the powers of the Supreme Commander."Cyrus said as Tate and Livia stood and looked surprised.

Cyrus handed the sword to Livia and the spear to Tate. He had a plan, a very good plan. Recently the only son that could stay conscious long enough, Bartholomew, had told him of a book that could do things. He would have to investigate after the ceremony was done…

"Livia, lead your soldiers and the King's Guard to find the vagrant named Hyde. You will have everything you need. As a child of the royal family, you have a duty to the empire! Do not fail me!" Cyrus said as Livia trembled and bowed.

Cyrus reached into his royal cloak to hand another device to Livia. It was a chaser, the exact replica of the one Bartholomew used to hunt down targets. Livia's hands shook as she took it and attached it to her arm. Cyrus nodded and turned to Tate.

"You will remain in the capitol and guard this city. As a member of the armed forces, you have a duty to the city and the royal family. Do not fail us!" Cyrus said as Tate bowed.

Tate and Livia turned and walked out of the throne room, side by side. One felt happy about the promotion. The other felt dread.

Dasmacus

Lidia took the map in her hands and inspected it. Her fierce eyes passed over the map and examined every single town on the map. She still couldn't understand what the glowing light on Delray meant.

"Glowing light…Delray…" she said as she tapped Delray of the map.

Lucia was thinking with Hitoshi and Tadaaki. This was something that must lead to a clue… Hyde gave out some information about Delray.

"Well, all I know about that town is that it is considered the sacred ground of Goliath. The deputy commander's family lived there and I think that is where he is buried now. There is also a huge meteor in the center of the town…" Hyde said to everyone.

Norman had joined the group thinking circle and everyone was sending out ideas.

"Something to do with gold?"

"Nah. Must be something else."

"Who would even make a map of this place when there are so many?"

"This is getting confusing."

Lidia kept examining the map. This was their 3rd day in Dasmacus and they still had not figured out what the map pointed to. Lidia had recovered from the wound and she was feeling a lot better. Suddenly an image flashed in her head. It had been when Gastinfer had showed them that ancient recording… The huge man, bent over the forge…pulling out the silver circle. Wait, wasn't there a center piece? There was! And it was made of gold!

Lidia bolted straight up from the bed she was laying down in. Everyone looked at her in surprise.

"Whats up Lidia? You sure you are supposed to be moving that fast?" Tadaaki asked worriedly.

Lidia ignored him and showed everyone the map. Delray was glowing golden still.

"That, is where the middle piece is located! This map shows us the positions of the pieces!" Lidia shouted excitedly.

"What?" everyone shouted as they all stared at the map.

Hyde took the map and looked at it. He looked up at Lidia who was smiling triumphantly.

"Are you sure that this is what the map is pointing to?" Hyde asked, excitement rising in everyone's veins.

Lidia nodded. She was dead sure.

"I guarantee it." She said with full confidence.

Lucia and Tadaaki nodded.

"Then lets head to Delray." They both said in unison.

The hospital in the fortress

"…."

Bartholomew sat in the bed next to his brother, a bandage covering his eyes. Not much could be said about what Bartholomew felt right now. He felt empty. This was his 3rd day of inactivity. Otto faired even worse. The doctors had predicted that there was a 70% chance he would die of his injuries. Apparently, many bones were broken. His brother was most likely still not moving in the bed beside him. Suddenly he heard the door to the hospital room open and he looked towards the sound.

"Son, how are you." He heard Cyrus's voice say.

"Good. I think im ready to take the bandages off. How does Otto look?" Bartholomew asked weakly.

"Color is returning to his face. He seems to be twitching." Cyrus answered.

Bartholomew nodded. Suddenly something heavy was put on his legs. It was cold like iron.

"I found this in your room. What is it? A spell book?" Cyrus suddenly asked.

Bartholomew reached out to touch it and he moved his hands across the worn iron letters. Felt like it.

"Balviron. Otto was practicing magic with that. I don't really know what it does though." He said as he leaned back into his bed.

There was a sound like pages being turned. Cyrus let out a breath.

"Incredible…" Cyrus breathed out.

Bartholomew was itching to see what his father had found. Sadly he couldn't see anything.

"What is it?" he asked, wanting to know.

"A map. This book, it must be only 300 years old but it records activity to thousands of years ago…I believe, that our luck is changing. Hopefully, you will recover soon and Otto as well." Cyrus said as he stood from the bed.

"Good bye father." Bartholomew said as the hospital room door closed.

Suddenly Otto sputtered from besides Bartholomew's bed, blood splattering on the white sheets of the bed.

"AHHHH!" Otto growled in frustration.

Livia

Livia had always dreaded this day. The day that her brothers did something stupid and get Livia promoted to some rank in which she was expected to kill and enforce discipline. She wore the heavy armor of the Supreme Commander, surrounded on all sides by men wearing grooved black armor and golden helmets that looked like a diver's helmet. They each held a pike made of solid gold and they carried 3 pistols and an autobow along with a broadsword. They were the King's Guard, the force that Cyrus himself handpicked to guard him day and night.

They stood waiting orders from her along with the entire Black Army. Livia wove her hand through her long curly brown hair. Suddenly a messenger came running, a piece of paper flying from his hands. He adjusted his helmet and bowed to Livia as he handed the paper to her.

It was a note from her father. It was a military plan which involved surrounding Delray completely with the Black Army and sweeping all the wreckage. Livia folded the note and the messenger ran to his post. Looks like it was time for her to move out…

"Soldiers! Move to Delray! Surround the city and let no one enter alive!" she shouted fiercely as she drew the sword of the Supreme Commander and all the soldiers let out a shout of approval.

Hope you guys liked that chapter! Don't forget to check the schedule on my profile! Thanks! FF