Author's Note: As of June 27th, 2016, the entire fanfic has been rewritten. That means this chapter, all that came before it, and all that follow it now contain different content that they did previously. You are strongly encouraged to go back and reread the entire fanfic from the beginning, as the revised continuity may confuse you if you jump in part of the way through.
"And then, after the room collapsed, we high-tailed it back to the dropship as fast as we could and flew over here to warn you. Glaian is coming, and you probably have two days at most before he gets here." Phoney had finished telling the tale of the last week of his life to everyone inside the dropship as it sped towards Deren guard. Jigafta and X'lish were in the cockpit while Phoney, Fone, Thorn, Caydmar, Rankyne, Taneal, and Gran'ma Ben were seated in the seats lining the walls of the plane. The humans had taken the dropships' existence in stride, and barely commented on the fact that it could fly. Bartleby was curled up on the floor. They had sent the Great Red Dragon and Ted ahead of them to tell the Council of their arrival.
Neither Fone nor Thorn had said much to anyone since Phoney had arrived. It was Gran'ma Ben who asked Phoney to recount to everyone the tale of Glaian's uprising and Smiley's death. A heavy shroud hung over the cabin as they screamed over the valley terrain. No one spoke, they just sat and tried to absorb the news they had been told. Smiley was dead. That hit all of them hard, but Fone most of all. His only real family for twenty-five years had been Phoney and Smiley, and now he was gone. It was like part of his soul had been ripped out of his chest and crushed on the ground.
And one of the worst parts was that Phoney blamed a part of his death on Fone. He could see it in Phoney's eyes, every contempt filled stare he shot in Fone's direction told of a thousand screaming, piercing words hidden just behind those cold orbs. Fone couldn't take it anymore. He broke the building tension like a hammer through glass.
"Do you have something you want to say to me?" He said to Phoney. Phoney shot him a look that was ice cold with contempt and flaming with anger at the same time.
"Yes, I have something I want to say to you. I spend the last week fighting for my life, watching my friends die in front of my eyes, running from a force I can't hope to contest with, and you're here, in this paradise, fleeing responsibility and duty, gallivanting off to God knows where doing God knows what with her," He put particular emphasis on that last word, jabbing his finger in Thorn's direction, "instead of being there to do something, anything, when Smiley died! Hell, had you have been there, Smiley might not be dead at all!"
"That's hardly fair. We said our goodbyes and I departed on good terms. I had nothing more to do with that place, what could I have done to help you? If I had been there, I might be dead too! If you want to blame someone, blame the people responsible, not the first person you can get your hands on."
"Like you know something about responsibility! That's rich!" Phoney stood up and started laughing cynically. "I've been taking care of you since you were two! You're twenty seven years old and haven't ever had a real job! All you've ever done is mooch off of my vision and my success! And the first chance you got, you abandoned everything I've tried to build for us and for our family for some weird fantasy life you lived inside your head the last few years! Grow up!"
"You? Taking care of me?" Fone rose to meet Phoney's gaze. "Ever since I could read I've been getting you two out of situations you shouldn't have been in in the first place! I've saved your ass more times than I can count, and all you've ever done is put it and Smiley's back on the line again for some Godforsaken scheme! You always considered yourself above us, more responsible, smarter, and richer! And I thought you had changed when we got back, but you still kept tooting your own horn, still kept striving for that impossible dream of yours and leaving me and Smiley behind without a second thought! I left because you made it very clear that you didn't need me or Smiley anymore."
"I was trying to make this world a better place for us to live in! To give us a normal life and a secured future! To let Smiley be himself without ridicule! To let you live untethered to me and to me selfish lifestyle! But to do that I needed your support, and you refused to work with me!"
"You have been so blinded by your goals these past few years that you're more selfish than you've ever been, and you've been so greedy for peace that you forgot about who you were making that peace for! You're more obsessed over this dream now that you ever were over money, and look where it got you! Antagonizing Glaian, providing him with the boost he needed to launch an attack, you practically resigned Smiley to his fate when you took office!"
"At least I was with him when he died! At least I had the fucking courtesy to hear his last words before he passed! At least I didn't abandon him like you!" Phoney spit out the last few words before slouching back into his seat. Everyone was silent for a long time. Bartleby had woken up and lowly mewled to himself over the weight of the past few days. Finally Phoney spoke again.
"I will be civil, and I will work with you until this crisis has passed, if it ever passes, but don't think for a second that I'm putting this behind me. After this, you and I are through. From here on out, we are no longer family." Fone began to muster a response, but the words died before he could speak them. He didn't have it in him to keep shouting.
"Ok, that was… a bit terrifying." Said X'lish as she entered the cabin from the cockpit, "But we landed about a minute ago, so, we might want to get moving."
The ship sat at the mouth of Deren Guard, and everyone swiftly exited it to meet the Great Red Dragon and Ted standing at the entrance to the Dragon's Keep. As they walked along, Thorn pulled Fone aside.
"What do you need?" He asked her as they existed earshot of the others.
"What were you going to say to me back at the palace, before Phoney arrived? Sorry, I know this probably isn't the most appropriate time to be talking about this, but I really need to know what you were going to say." Fone sighed. He had gotten out of telling her when Phoney arrived, and now that the moment was gone, he didn't think he had the courage to try to tell her again.
"I… I really don't think this is the best time to be bearing my soul to someone right now, least of all you. I know that sounds weird, but once this is all done, I promise what I'm going to say then will, in hindsight, make a lot of things make a lot of sense. But I can't do that just yet. There's a lot weighing on my mind."
"No, I understand. When you're ready, just say what you have to say." The two of them walked back over to where the others were, and descended into the mouth of Deren Guard.
"Ah, Fone Bone and company I presume?" Said Lorimar as the group entered the innermost chamber of Deren Guard. "What a pleasure to meet you. I'm Lorimar, emissary of the first folk." She stretched out her wooden hand and Fone grabbed it.
"Ouch!" He shouted, and drew his hand back. He had cut himself on one of the sharper parts of Lorimar's wooden skin.
"My apologies, I must have forgotten to trim that this morning. Having a body that can grow strange appendages overnight is so tedious to maintain, I hope you'll forgive the inconvenience."
"It's quite alright, Lorimar. Let me introduce myself. I am Fone Bone, and this is my… associate Phoncible P. Bone, former president of the Republic of Bone Territories." He gestured to Phoney who was standing just to his right.
"Ah yes. My sincerest sympathies for what happened to you over the last week. Losing so much in so little time can be very taxing on the soul." She turned to the rest of the group. "I've met on my occasional visits to the human settlement everyone else here, but who are the two bones and the rat creature in the back."
"I am Jigafta Utenki, and this is X'lish Trenya. We're the President's personal bodyguards for the moment." Said Jigafta rather coldly. Lorimar was somehow set on edge by how Jigafta looked at her. It was almost as if he held her in some contempt.
"I'm Bartleby." Said Bartleby.
"Oh how could I forget the exiled rat creature?" Lorimar said with a hint of jubilation in her voice, putting Jigafta's scowl out of her mind. She paused to regain her composure. "I apologize, but I'm somewhat a fan of the stories the people of this valley have been telling about you all. I was there the day Mim was taken, and have seen many friends die at the hands of the Locust and his forces, so when I heard you had destroyed him, I was infinitely grateful."
"You called us here for a reason?" Thorn asked, slightly annoyed.
"Oh yeah. That. The council requested your presence. I guess Phoncible can come along as well, but the bodyguards and the rat creature will have to remain outside."
"Fine by us." Said X'lish. 'We'll head back to the plane and prep for takeoff while you guys do… stuff." The three of them walked back outside.
"That was… abrupt." Said the Great Red Dragon.
"It's been a long week for the four of us." Said Phoney as Lorimar stood aside allowing the group into the chamber of the council. Inside the innermost cave were five pedestals. Three were filled with dragons of various build. One was green and large with a flat face and a piggish snout. The second was black and had a long neck and a flat, serpentine head. The third was blue and coiled up like a snake with a thin head and a beard.
"These are the present members of the dragon council. Korin the Green, Vokelle the Black, and Quimrath the Blue. I believe you've already met Stillman the Red.
"You know I gave that name up when I left my post as forest guardian. Another dragon holds it now. Address him with it, not me."
"Ah yes, the "Great Red Dragon" is now what you go by." Said Vokelle. "You failed to save Mim so you left your post and gave your name to another red clan member. Ever the rabble-rouser. Though I suppose that's why the dragons wanted you in the council in the first place."
"I would play nice if I were you, Vokelle. I've been on this council since before you were an egg. You'd do well to respect your elders."
"And what would the son of Mim know of respect, Red One?" Asked Quimrath.
"Enough from all of you!" bellowed Korin.
"I believe I've met you before, Korin, though I can't remember where." Thorn remarked. She had had a puzzled look on her face since she first saw him.
"Ah princess, no, excuse me, Queen Thorn. I took care of you during your three years stay here. But that isn't really important right now. The subject of this meeting is. We've gathered you here today to warn you. We've sensed a great ripple in the dreaming. Armies march on our borders from across the desert, made up of what we can only assume are M… more of these Bone creatures."
"We're already aware of that, thank you very much. Those armies took over my country. My cous… Fone came here a week ago with warning about them. And this is the conclusion you come up with? That they exist?" Said Phoney.
"No, tiny ruler. We have called you here to tell you that conquest is not their goal. They seek something more."
"In the desert is the prison of an ancient enemy of the dragons, and of this entire valley: The Crystal Councilman. A first folk traitor, and ally of the Locust, who hated mankind and who tried to destroy the crown in the first war. We stopped him at great cost, and imprisoned him in secret in a temple outside of the Valley. They found him, and are trying to break his seals. If they do, he will destroy the crown and everyone in this valley will die. And the key to his prison cell lies in this very fortress." Said Lorimar.
"We've called you here today to inform you that we cannot offer much help against the coming invasion, though we can prevent them from employing him as a weapon." Said Quimrath.
"So that's it then? Before you even think of a plan, you're just going to abandon us to our fate like last time? From what Mr. Phoncible told us, this man Glaian leading them hates humans more than anything. Everyone in this valley is already dead if you don't give us your support!" Shouted Rankyne.
"We cannot, I'm sorry. It's not our place to meddle in human affairs."
"Korin, Vokelle, Quimrath, I implore you. We require aid against this foe. There isn't enough time in the world to prepare to fight something this far out of our reach." Taneal got on her knees and began begging. Vokelle gave an almost inaudible laugh. "I have been a faithful servant and leader of your followers for years, is there no help you can spare for such loyalty?"
"That aside," Gran'ma Ben interjected, "I'm willing to bet that if he's after what's in this complex, this isn't just a human problem. If he destroys the Crown every living thing in this valley, possible the world, will die. Is there no aid you can offer to prevent that?"
"There is." Said the Great Red Dragon. "The council can spare me. And several other Red Clan warriors under my niece's command. They're not great in small spaces, but they can't be beat at lightning fast offence. And the council can function a man down, if I'm not mistaken."
"Of course we can spare those Red Clan freaks. They'd just get in the way anyhow." Remarked Quimrath.
"A few dragons? Against the giants of steel and fire and death Phoncible described? We'll need more than that if we want to fight them off." Scoffed Caydmar.
"We don't need to fight them off, we need to stall them. Prod at their defenses. Use the terrain to our advantage. They don't know this valley like you all do, so we stay out of reach until we can kill their top commanders and send them into chaos. My navy and the remains of my army can easily mop up the mess on both sides of this desert once they have no morale." Phoney boasted, rather proud his stratagems would actually come in handy.
"It's a sound plan, though I do hope you aren't forgetting the enemies' technological advantages." Said Gran'ma Ben. "You're the only one here who's seen them firsthand in battle. Do you think the terrain would give us any advantage?"
"Yes, some of it will. Atheia will fall, it sits right in their line of sight on a flat plain. But the Pawan hills are rocky enough to prevent them from deploying at full strength, and the mountains would make it impossible for them to fight with anything but foot soldiers."
"Are you suggesting that we evacuate the Royal City? Abandon it?" Asked Taneal.
"Yes, it's the only chance we have. Move all of the civilians into the mountains in the East and move the guard to the Dragon's Stair and set up an ambush. With any luck we can capture their scouts' equipment and use it against them. Then we wage a long gruella war and wait for an opportunity."
"Do we have a plan to kill Glaian?" Asked Caydmar. "I'd like to know if your entire plan is based on more than just a wing and a prayer."
"I do in fact. He'll want to flaunt this victory, set up shop in Atheia and turn the most sacred places into a testament to "human folly". That's what he did in Argus city anyway. We can use that to our advantage now though, because this situation forces him to use that position as his command center as well. But no one knows the palace and the streets like the royal guard. If we can sneak back in, killing him should be child's play."
"Sounds good enough. Do we know how long it will be before the enemy arrives?" Asked Thorn.
"We think sometime within the week, but the rate at which the dreaming is rippling is hard to get a grasp on, so it could be as early as tomorrow." Said Lorimar.
"Then we have to get back to Atheia and evacuate everyone as soon as possible. If this man hates humans as much as Phoney says, then anyone standing in his way will be dead before they can blink, so the first priority is to get out of his way and make ourselves invisible. Caydmar and Rankyne can organize an evacuation effort for the valley citizens from Atheia while Gran'ma and I head to Old Man's cave to organize the guard for the ambush. I'm sorry to cut this meeting short, but time is of the essence. We really should be going back to make preparations."
"I completely understand. Meanwhile we'll do our part to keep the Councilman locked away." Said Korin.
"I'd like to stay here and coordinate our efforts with the Council, if they don't mind my presence." Said Taneal.
"We would be honored if such a devoted servant of the council were to remain. Allies are in short supply among the court these days, but perhaps as this drags on we can find some to assist the humans if they choose to maintain a presence here." Vokelle remarked with a slight smirk.
"Then we take our leave. Make sure that you don't let this place fall. We'll be back in a day or two with an ambush party." Said Gran'ma Ben. The group, save for Taneal, left the chamber and retreated back out of the complex to the plane, which X'lish and Jigafta had already prepared for takeoff. Thorn and Fone were the first to load, but right as they did something large and metallic crested the horizon of the desert.
"Shit, they're here!" Thorn shouted. "Everybody on. Forget the ambush, we need to get out of here and evacuate Atheia! Move!" Everyone scrambled onto the plane. She stopped Gran'ma Ben before she got on. "Gran'ma I need you and the Great Red Dragon to bring the news to Old Man's Cave. The council can stall the forces, so be quick. We haven't the time to evacuate the guard, but if you retreat far enough in, they might pass you by. If they do, get yourselves to the old rat creature temple in the mountains."
"Sounds like a solid plan. I'll go get Red's attention." She turned to the entrance and shouted, "Red! We need to get to Old Man's Cave and get the guard underground!" Without a word he swooped Gran'ma Ben onto his back and headed off towards the cave. Thorn turned to Ted.
"Ted, I need you to gather up all of the villagers in the north and get them to the old rat creature temple as soon as possible. Avoid anything that moves. It's the only chance they have. Hopefully someone will be waiting for you there."
"Understood." Ted bounded off in that direction. The rest of the group boarded the plane and it took off for Atheia.
"They're here earlier than expected." Remarked Caydmar.
"What did you think would happen, they'd stick to a timetable? They're itching to kill everyone here. They wouldn't arrive when expected if their lives depended on it." Shouted Jigafta from the cockpit. The plane screamed across the valley as the mechs inched ever closer to the Dragon's Stair. Just at the entrance to Deren Guard was leaving view, a mech reached it, and was instantly greeted with an intense blast of fire. A dragon swooped out from the archway and pierced the cockpit with his claws, pulling the pilot out and chomping him down. More mechs took his place, and the dragon retreated back into the entrance with several behind him.
"Hopefully they can hold out." Remarked Rankyne. Fone meanwhile surveyed the damage. Glaian had arrived. And Archibald worked for him. And Fone had arrived. In a car built by Archibald. Suddenly more and more about the situation made sense. He had told them of the Valley's existence and then led them right to it.
"All my fault." He muttered under his breath as the dropship tore through the sky. "All my fault."
"So what if the black eyes are here earlier than expected? This will not delay our plans much. All we need to do is keep the key safe until the Spark activates and makes its way to Mon'Yaran. With any luck it will reach him before the turmoil weakens the chains enough for him to break them himself. And then every piece will be in place." Said Lorimar.
"You made promises, First Folk. You promised the expansion would take down the Morudagni forces. You promised that this nightmare entity would be a key player in the game. You promised we would live to see the everlasting dream. But their forces batter our doors, and the entity is flying to its death taking the Spark with it. You have failed to make due on these promises you have made." Retorted Vokelle.
"Have faith, Vokelle. And need I remind you again not to use the old names?"
"Our agreement means nothing unless you can deliver to us the everlasting dream like you promised." Remarked Quimrath. "And what is this you mentioned about the nightmare entity now being an essential component. I thought the plan was to use the power from this place to force the change? Why risk everything by tainting it with the Falsely Oneiric…"
"It still is the plan, Quimrath, though we need to expand faster and entrap the black eyes within the Dreaming before it is too late. To that end I have graced the nightmare entity with the Spark that he might wield it. As you all know, no one here is capable of wielding the Spark at its full power, because we all lack essential components from one side or another. But a night mare entity doesn't share that limitation. I thought making the Successor do it was a win-win."
"Very clever thinking, Lorimar. It's almost hard to believe the Nacht got the best of you two years ago. But then again you were a bit… should I say, taken aback at the mass genocide of First Folk he committed." said Korin.
"Yes, to put it mildly. But the past is the past, and now that the expansion continues uninterrupted and we've gathered all the pieces to where it all began those many years ago, we can finally go about ending it all. All of this wretched noise and chaos. And my brethren and your brethren will not have died for nothing all those thousands of years ago putting down the Councilman and his accomplices. Mon'Yaran will finally bring us peace. Look alive, gentlemen." She said as she left the room, "Your vision of a united world will finally be realized. And all shall dream under the watchful gaze of our King."