Hello readers, we meet again today for a new chapter and as promised, we will turn to our antagonists, or protagonists, or anti-heroes? All three at the same time ? Only I know, and it will remain so until the end. Another clarification, I use the third person throughout the chapter, so don't be surprised if there is no 'I' and no personal introspection.

A little hello for the new DINGIR, H3LLF1R3IIOS, nicolasnmmmarcondes, W4ND3R1N6 R34D3R who are following this story (we're at 40 people who are following while I'm only at the beginning of this story). So, a big and powerful, Thank You! Thank you for all your support. Concerning the first act of this story, I think that there will be still (and at least) about fifteen chapters.

My thanks to Echoes

Good reading.

Torches crackled on the intricately carved stone walls, a red cape slid swiftly under their lights, and the sound of metallic footsteps echoed through the air. The black panther moved purposefully down a large hallway, regularly passing a few guards who stood at attention, chanting each time the panther passed them.

"Kɑːrdɪnæl!" The panther ignored them completely. He was too focused on his goal, after a few long minutes of walking. The panther stopped in front of a huge door richly decorated, it is made of exotic wood giving the wood shades of red, orange. Inlays of gold and silver ran through its entirety. The inlays represented nothing concrete, only circular geometric shapes, forming an abstract and logical work. He exhaled deeply, straightened his torso and moved his paw to the golden handle. Pushing the door open, the panther slowly stepped inside, he took a few steps before stopping in the center of the room. His gaze moved as usual to the ceiling. Which was almost twelve meters high, expressing a sense of smallness for anyone entering here. The ceiling was a huge painting that represented a starry sky. Hundreds of tiny sparkling dots, made of fine gold leaf, contrasted with the midnight blue of the ceiling. In the center of the ceiling hung a monumental chandelier made of thousands of small crystal pieces, reflecting the light of hundreds of candles throughout the room. The strength of the light created by the chandelier was such that it gave the impression of observing the star of the day itself. Lowering her gaze to her height, the panther observed the whole room, large and numerous columns ran throughout the room. They were all of a red wood color and a large dragon also made of gold, entwined the structure from bottom to top. The whole room had been studied and designed to impress, to show the power and strength of its owner. Even after all these years of walking in and out of this room, he was still in awe, admiration and wonder. They had been through so much, worked so hard, and almost made it. All of their sweat, blood and tears had one goal that would forever change things. Turning his gaze to the left, he took in the view of the capital through one of the many openings in the room. Night had fallen on the country for many hours and only a few buildings were still lit. The panther left in his thoughts, he thought intensely about the report that he was going to provide and most importantly how he was going to inform the others of the existence of this... human. But he could not believe the discovery he had just made. Should he warn them? Or simply say nothing? He knew the risks of leaving a human alone and lost. But after all he was not alone anymore, the five of them were with him.

A noise unsettled the panther, his ears went back.

"Kɑːrdɪnæl, Kʌ es kæn!" The panther turned to the right, only to see darkness there. He straightened his torso, restoring the poise he possessed.

"Magistrate, no need to speak Redarn between us, and I thought you were overseeing the supply?" A shadow moved in the darkness, before a huge gray paw finally revealed, the rest of the body followed, revealing the author of the remark. A huge rhino was covered with scars on his face, a heavy black armor covered his torso. On his chest plate was a drawing of red paint or blood? Only the Magistrate knew. The symbol represented a scale of justice whose central beam was replaced by a sword. On his left arm, the rest of his armor consisted of a shoulder pad, a rerebrace, a counter and a vambrace. A thin band of red paint ran down the length of the armor to his forearm. As for his right arm, it was devoid of armor, scars more or less deep and marks ran all over his arm. The result of many battles and brutal fights, which the Magistrate had always survived. A tattoo was engraved on his upper arm. It represented the same symbol as the one on the cape of the panther, except that the bottom hexagon was colored white. His lower body had bangs of red triangular fabric, covering much of his legs, which had armor plates on the shin and upper thighs, his legs were bare giving him a better stability and feel on the ground.

"Indeed Cardinal, but I had to use justice, in a prisoner's revolt." He showed his double-handed hammer, strapped behind his back, a broad smile adorned his thick face. The panther recoiled slightly at his statement.

"I see..." Then, turning his gaze to the back of the room, he continued, "Let's hope that next time you don't waste our useful resources." A loud gasp came from the rhino's nostrils.

"These ungodly people were judged, and I only enforced their punishments!" He crossed his arms over his chest, growing even larger than he already was. A female voice took them both by surprise.

"You always preferred brutality to finesse, Magistrate." A vixen stood in the doorway. She was equipped with a full suit of armor, her helmet had a unique design, it did not cover the entirety of her face it only protected the top of her head and the front to the bridge of her nose, a drawing of red color was present on the sides forming lines like the coat of a tiger. On each of his arms was a shoulder pad of red color, the rerebrace it was black, all as the rest of his armor. On his chest, a breastplate with red edges and in its center was still the same logo, except that it is the right hexagon that is painted white. Concerning her legs, they were protected until her knees and shin by black armor plates with red edges. After a brief moment, she finally entered, and joining the other two. The panther gave him a warm look, his teeth were visible. The Rhino merely nodded.

"Inquisitor! Nice to see you too. How long have you been here?" Asked the panther.

"Long enough to see that you still like to bicker." She replied playfully. The three occupants watched each other for an indeterminate amount of time, before the rhino ended the silence.

"It's been a long time since the four of us were all together here at the same time! " The other two smiled back at her, the vixen was about to reply when another voice echoed through the room.

"Indeed! Just like the old days..." A sound of a metal cane tinkled through the room before a figure moved to the back of the throne room. A feline face presented itself to the other three. His features were clearly those of a tiger, but there was something unique about him. His coat was not orange but white. Pure white like the eternal snows, with thin bands of gray coloring around his face. His ocean blue eyes looked at the group, a wide smile formed gently on his lips. Unlike the others, he wore only a simple breastplate as protection, it was of golden color accentuating his sign of prestige and nobility. His red tails jacket carefully embroidered with flowers and tree branches contrasted with the shine and luxury of his breastplate. A small 'W' shaped cape was placed on his shoulders with a dark-colored top and dark red interior, the same symbol as the other three was embroidered on his cape. However, all the hexagons were tinted white. Three small silver epaulets were present on each shoulder. Concerning the rest of his armor, he only wore gold vambraces on his arms and red gloves covered his paws, only his claws came out. In his left paw was a cane whose golden pommel, richly decorated by forms of flower and tree, showed a work of goldsmith and high quality. As for the rest of his cane, it was essentially made of silver. Boots of black color and inlaid with gold, went up to his knees. A thin white tabby tail was swinging between his legs. He stood in the center of the room, right in front of a majestic throne. The three of them began to move towards it, they passed the remains of a huge cannon hanging on the left wall. It looked like a dragon, or rather looked like a dragon. Indeed, the whole cannon was completely exploded, the metal alloys were turned outwards to sign that the cannon had literally exploded from the inside.

"I am delighted to see you Cardinal, Magistrate..." his head turned to the vixen, "and you too Inquisitor." The rhino knelt on the floor.

"Grand Vidame!" The other three looked at him surprised. Before the Vidame came over to him, helping him to his feet.

"There's no need to be so... formal when we're only among ourselves." The rhino rose from his position, the Vidame turned and headed for the throne. He climbed the small stone staircase, then placed his cane on the left side of his throne and finally sat on it. He positioned his arms comfortably on the armrests and observed the three others positioned in front of him.

"Good! What's the news? Have we made any progress?" The rhino took a few steps forward.

"We are making rapid progress, our mines are working at full capacity, we will soon have caught up on our various projects." The Vidame nodded slowly in satisfaction. The Magistrate continued his report, "Nevertheless, a revolt occurred recently where force had to be applied. The casualties amounted to a hundred workers and almost thirty-three soldiers. "The claws of the Vidame suddenly came out and sank into the wood of the throne. A loud creaking sound was heard.

"Do you know how hard it is ! How difficult is it to get workers? We can't afford to continue our little attacks on the imperial border! They'd eventually figure out that we're in charge!" He huffed in frustration, before turning his gaze to the vixen, "What about the attack on the bandit camp? Did it go well?" She stepped forward and removed her helmet to tuck it under her elbow. Her face had a large scar over her left eye that had rendered it completely useless. She had lost it years ago from a serious accident.

"I got to the meeting place, but..." She fell silent and added nothing, her eyes dropped downward, "The commander and his army never showed up, the attack on the 'bandit' camp never happened." The Vidame's eyes darkened

"Strange... The emperor had guaranteed me that Commander Zhao would come, yet I received no message of apology or postponement." The Cardinal stepped forward, drawing his attention.

"Yes Cardinal, do you want to say something?" The Cardinal scratched his throat slightly.

"Yes, I'm afraid I do..." The Magistrate and the Inquisitor now focused their attention on the Cardinal. The Vidame crossed his paws between them.

"Continue..."

"To begin with, we attacked the mountain village of Yingzou, according to your orders. But unfortunately, we ran into the imperial army of Commander Zhao. We were forced to attack and defend ourselves." He paused for a moment, looking straight into the Vidame's eyes, fear began to overwhelm him, "I... I had to make use of the explosive stockpile to ensure us victory." At his words, the Vidame abruptly rose from his throne. Grabbed his cane and pointed it a few inches from the panther's head.

"Have you lost your mind, Cardinal? Do you know that if we make the slightest mistake, it could well cost us our objective?" The panther lowered his head in shame.

"I know that, sir. I made that decision, to make sure I wouldn't lose any men unnecessarily." The cane slowly descended. The Cardinal looked up to see that the Vidame had now rested his cane on the ground.

"I understand... But don't forget our real goal, Cardinal. Perhaps one day we will have to sacrifice the lives of our men for our success." He turned to his throne and returned to sit on it. "Is there no witness?" Panther swallowed slightly.

"The imperial army was totally annihilated, Commander Zhao was killed, and as for the villagers they were all captured. And we have, of course, erased all traces of our passage." The Vidame tilted his head slightly to the right and turned his head from left to right, a slight snicker could be heard. The other three looked at each other in amazement until the Vidame suddenly stopped laughing. And looked angrily at the Cardinal.

"Are you laughing at me, Cardinal?" He took a step back, surprised by the Vidame's aggressive words.

"No, I..." Fear continued to invade him in a stronger and more intense way.

"You declared that the enemy army is no more. That all the villagers have been captured! But you have not answered me!" The Vidame leaned forward, "I will repeat my question, are there any witnesses?" The Vidame's voice became more and more irritated. The Cardinal's shoulders slumped, his ears went back. The panther gave a slight nod in response. The Vidame put his right paw over his face and huffed in frustration.

"I should have known this was going to happen one day, I did ask you to be discreet!" The Magistrate crossed his arms between her, flapping his head from side to side.

"Poor incompetent, the Vidame has nevertheless given you the immense honor of serving his interests!"

"Me! I respect the lives of my men!" Retorted the panther. The Magistrate began to laugh.

"They are mere instruments, mere pawns too stupid to understand the scope of our work." The panther approached and challenged him with his eyes. His paws twitched, ready to strike.

"Enough!" The Vidame's voice echoed with authority throughout the room, the Magistrate and the Cardinal immediately calmed down. "Magistrate, the massacre you perpetrated against the port village of Fuxin was anything but discreet! I await your explanation on that matter!" He then turned his gaze to the Cardinal, "And you! By your lack of foresight, we risk an open war with the Chinese Empire! A war we cannot afford! Not now, it's... much too soon." He breathed out in sadness, "What can you tell me about the witness? And he was captured? Did he die? Was he able to tell what happened? "The Cardinal resumed his upright position.

"No, nothing like that, sir. He doesn't belong to the village, he... there's something special about him." The Magistrate suddenly spoke up.

"What could possibly make a mere vagrant special?" The Cardinal looked away, now observing the rhino.

"He is not a 'mere vagrant' Magistrate! It is..." Falling silent for a moment, exhaling slightly through his nostrils, he refocused his vision towards the Vidame "It's a human, sir" Silence fell throughout the room, no one dared to speak. The revelation that the Cardinal had just made had stunned everyone, even the Magistrate who was hardly impressionable was speechless. After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence where only the sound of the burning fires of some braziers echoed in the room, the Vidame spoke.

"A human? But... How?" The Magistrate rushed forward, he began to gesticulate his arms in all directions.

"Impossible! Quite simply, impossible! You know that, sir. The Cardinal is surely mistaken!" The interested party presented himself to the Magistrate.

"I know what I saw, and I saw it as I see you now."

"If he is a human, then where did he come from? Would he have escaped from the Sultan?" The vixen who had been silent throughout the discussion had suddenly spoken up. The gaze of the Cardinal and the Magistrate turned to her.

"I doubt it, my men undercover there didn't tell me of any such escape, and I don't think he's part of the advent sect, I didn't see any corruption in him." the Cardinal replied.

"Then he would have hidden from our surveillance, from that of the Sultan and even from the advent? For almost twenty-eight years? No, but listen to you! "The Magistrate replied vehemently. The Vidame observed the whole scene, he had not intervened, too busy thinking about the revelation he had just had. He had his paws crossed between them, deeply concentrated on what he had to do. The voice of the vixen made him suddenly leave his state of torpor, refocusing his consciousness on the present moment.

"What? You don't think he could have stayed hidden, Magistrate? Look at us, we are living proof that it is possible." Shaking his head sharply from left to right, the Magistrate retorted.

"That no longer applies to us Inquisitor. We..."

"Enough!" The Vidame rose from his throne then, grasping his cane. He approached the Cardinal and stood before him. After a moment of silence, the Vidame spoke.

"If what you say is true! Then we must know who he is, and where he came from! Or has he gone?" The Cardinal crossed his hands behind his back.

"From the little information I have in my possession, the human would have been captured by the five and on his way to the Jade Palace in the Valley of Peace." The Vidame nodded slightly.

"Perfect... Perfect, at least he's safe there. I want one of our agents to be on site as soon as possible and report back to me daily on the situation!" The rhino watched suspiciously as the Vidame's gaze turned away to focus on him. "A problem Magistrate?"

"I was wondering what you really have in mind, sir."

"What are you implying!" A clearly audible aggressiveness reasoned, the Magistrate was thrown off balance.

"I... I think you wish to try something careless with this human Grand Vidame." The Vidame placed his cane straight in front of him and put both paws on it.

"And, what could I possibly do, 'careless' Magistrate?"

"I think... No, I'm sure you want to make contact with this human" The Vidame shrugged his shoulders.

"And what is the problem? Have you forgotten where I took you from, Magistrate?" The rhino dismissed the question with a wave of his hand.

"That's not the point! We've worked so hard to get where we are! To risk losing everything by wanting to host this human who knows nothing about our goals is a stupid idea and I would strongly oppose it!" The Vidame's cane suddenly pressed against the rhino's torso.

"I do not tolerate insubordination, Magistrate! If you're going to talk such nonsense, please keep it to yourself and don't waste our time! "The cane left the Magistrate's chest, wiping his slightly stained chest with his left arm. He raised his head and breathed out in defiance. The Vidame's body stopped dead in its tracks, his paws clenched on the handle of his cane, he stood still for a moment. The piercing blue eyes watched the Magistrate's with great attention. The rhino's body began to tremble with fear, he bitterly regretted having provoked the Vidame. The Vidame was about to strike, but before he could do anything, the Magistrate collapsed on himself.

"I... Forgive me for my insolence and insult to you, sir." Folding his paw, he laid it on the rhino's shoulder.

"Excuse accepted, Magistrate. We are all under great strain, you should take a break. How long has it been since you've had a day off?" The rhino pondered the question intensely, had he only once taken a day off?

"I don't know... But I don't need to rest, we don't have..." The Vidame cut him off abruptly

"Stupid! I am forcing you to have four days of enforced rest!" He moved to his throne, but just before he sat down on it, he turned back to the Magistrate who had straightened up, "Take it as your punishment for disrespecting me!" Sitting down on his throne, he closed his eyes and exhaled all the air in his lungs. Opening his eyes again, his vision turned to the group.

"According to recent reports, the advent is up to something. I don't know what it is, but many merchant caravan disappearances and mysterious disappearances of villagers have been increasing in our territory. What's most disturbing is that it seems they are now leading excursions into the sultanate and even into the empire of China."

"They are coming out of the shadows after all these years? This is very worrying. What if they go to war with us and the rest of the world?" Questioned the Cardinal

"They want to take revenge on us, there is no doubt about it! They are crazy and extremely dangerous, but they can't go to war, they are only a few individuals. Although I have no information available regarding this detail." Clarified the Vidame, while positioning himself more comfortably on his throne.

"What should we do then! Attack them? We don't know where their 'sanctuary' is, and even if we did, the fight might be extremely brutal and violent!"

"What does it matter! At least they will no longer be a threat to us!" the Magistrate harangued forcefully. The Vidame frowned and turned his gaze to him.

"No! We cannot rush in without knowing our opponent's strengths and weaknesses," he clarified with authority. He turned his eyes to the Inquisitor, "I'm putting you in charge of this case, go investigate, flush out their 'sanctuary'! But whatever happens, do not interfere in any way. "The Inquisitor bowed in respect.

She put her helmet back on her head and started to leave the room.

"Inquisitor!" She stopped short and turned to look at the white tiger. His eyes were filled with a feeling, one that the vixen never thought she would see in the one she respected so much, "Be careful out there, you know what they do to the non-human." She nodded and went on her way, leaving the room through the large door. The Vidame then turned to the Magistrate, he closed his eyes for a moment before a slight smile had come to grace his face.

"Magistrate, as I told you. I'm putting you on forced rest. Use your time to prepare your report for Fuxin." The Magistrate bowed and also began to leave the throne room, but just before he left the room the Vidame called out to him, "And expect to suffer severe punishment, if ever your reason does not satisfy me, or you hide the truth. "The Magistrate looked at him sideways before finally withdrawing from the room, leaving the Cardinal and the Vidame alone. The panther turned to the white tiger.

"Where do you want to send me, sir?" The Vidame leaned back.

"I'm going to ask you to send one of your best men, to infiltrate the Valley of Peace so that he can give me a daily report on this human. On the other hand, I want you to accompany me on a diplomatic trip to the Emperor of China. I want to act quickly before possible rumors destroy all our credibility. We will leave in five days while we get everything in place." The Cardinal bowed and left the room, leaving the Vidame alone. One of his claws began to run along the crevices of the wood, he muttered softly.

"A human? Is it possible? Who is he? And is he..." He placed both paws over his face, and began to let out a slight sob, which he quickly suppressed. A voice broke the silence.

"Do you think it's worth it?" The Vidame raised his head and looked around. He saw no one, his pupils suddenly narrowed, he finally realized who he was really dealing with.

"I thought you were dead? How?"

"We both know that death is merely an illusion, one step among many." The Vidame looked around the room for the origin of the voice.

"Certainly... But what do you want from me! I thought that since our last conversation, you didn't want to talk to me anymore!"

"Since you tried to kill me, you mean." The Vidame chuckled at the remark.

"I could return the compliment. I thought you would understand the nobility of my goals." The mysterious voice exhaled with melancholy.

"Can't you see that you risk losing everything?" His claws penetrated deep into the wood of his throne, the Vidame gritted his teeth in anger.

"How dare you say such things to me? You think you're so superior? I have heard enough! Be gone! "

The screams gave way to silence, the Vidame retracted his claws and realized that the wood of his throne now had large cracks all along its armrest. He quickly got up from his seat and walked to the door. He slammed it violently, the sound echoing through the room and beyond.

Already ten chapters in (time flies) and it wasn't easy for me to get the right Four, but I think I got it right. Let me know in the comments if you find anything to revise. And before I forget, I created some new concept art, check out my deviantart to see them but as always, beware of spoilers (my deviantart nickname: n0xymilien). See you next week for new adventures, always further, always higher and always stronger. This was Noxymilien at the end of the transmission.