Chapter 23

Valkron strode through the village, causing residents to scatter left and right out of his way. They did so with good reason - determination and purposefulness was pouring off him with such a force that overwhelmed everyone in its path. Behind him, keeping their distance but just as purposeful as their leader, the Raulus party hurried onwards towards the gates of Payon.

At the gates Devar, who had been trying his hardest to catch up with Valkron, finally managed to match the knight commander's pace.

'Sir, where are you going?' he panted, trying to keep in step with the white-haired knight. 'We have duties to carry out here! You can't leave now sir, we need you!'

'If I recall correctly, Devar, it's you who has to carry out duties and not me. I don't seem to remember getting assigned to anything.'

'But you're under obligation to the Prontera Chivalry, sir!' said Devar, who seemed to be having difficulty with Valkron's rebellion. 'You're a knight commander of the Mercenary Division!'

Valkron turned on his heel so suddenly that Devar nearly tripped over the commander's plated foot. 'Exactly, Devar,' he said, in the cool voice that indicated a storm was about to break out over the other knight's head soon enough. 'I am a mercenary, therefore I am not bound to the service of the Chivalry. You, on the other hand, are and therefore you are obligated to obey the rules of the Prontera Chivalry. How clear can it get, Devar? Now leave us. We have something to do.'

Devar gaped at him as Valkron mounted his peco and gave its sides a gentle squeeze with his heels. It half-turned, but Devar lunged forward and grabbed its reins, nearly yanking them out of Valkron's hands. 'Please sir,' he pleaded. 'Stay, please! I beg you!'

Valkron looked down into Devar's eyes and saw the fear. He softened. The new spell that was now threatening their world was causing people to lose their minds was already beginning to affect the younger knight. This was not a good sign. Devar was the leader of the Payon dispatch and the others looked to him for instructions and orders. He shuddered to think what would happen if Devar lost his mind completely.

'Look, Devar,' he said gently, 'this mission of ours is vital to our survival. If we don't seek the source of that wretched spell and end it once and for all you can say goodbye to the existence of not only our civilisation, but the entire human race. You stay here and defend Payon. We must go on this journey now, Devar.'

The other knight sighed. To Valkron's surprise he seemed much calmer now. 'I'll remember that, sir,' he said, nodding. 'I'll keep to my word.'

Valkron smiled. 'That's good to hear. May Odin's spear spell victory for you, and may Tyr be on your side. I wish you luck.'

Devar stood to attention and ripped off a salute. Valkron returned it and looked at Iruna, who had lifted a corner of her blindfold to watch the conversation. She nodded at him, and, with one last look at Devar, Valkron rode off. Emeth ran alongside the peco and heaved himself over its back just as it picked up speed, while Eni got on behind Iruna.

Devar watched the party and its extension run out of the gates at full tilt and stood back. He had a determined expression on his face.

'I'll remember your words,' he said to himself. 'I swear that on my honour as a knight. Yes, I'll remember them...even when I'm drawing my last breath.'

'What's your plans now, Valkron?' asked Emeth as Payon disappeared into the forest. 'You do know we can't just wander around. We don't have time.'

'I know,' said Valkron.

'That thing behind us is giving me the creeps,' said Eni from behind. 'How are we going to get rid of it? It seems so evil to me.'

'It is evil,' said Samaroh, flipping through his book. If it hadn't been for Nocturne he would have walked straight into a tree. 'Pure evil drained off the caster's malicious intentions. Valkron, we're up against a tough enemy.'

'I know,' said Valkron.

'Then what can we do?' said Khan. Amaru was tailing him closely, his grey cart surprisingly silent as it bounced over tufts of grass and small tussocks. 'We don't even know what we're up against. Or who, for that matter. I'm assuming we're up against a person.'

'I know this is totally irrelevant to the current topic,' said Aldev somewhat timidly, 'but are there any villages around that haven't been affected by monster raids or behavioural changes? I'm sure we need provisions.'

Valkron stopped his peco and looked over his shoulder. 'Aldev, I'm sure you'd be very much delighted to contribute to this expedition which no doubt you're thinking of as a picnic on a sunny day, and if you have any great ideas I suggest you take on the front. How's that sound to you?'

Aldev muttered something about not taking the matter as a picnic.

'Well, then you're thinking of something else then I'm sure of it,' said Valkron, winking to Emeth. The wizard was already trying not to laugh. 'I just don't know your mindset, haha--'

'Oh for the love of Saga, will you just stop bragging?' the monk abruptly snarled, startling Nocturne. 'You're just trying to establish yourself as the leader, aren't you? You're trying to make yourself sound great, so that people will look up to you as a hero, am I right? Even though you tell us you're not interested in fame you're secretly trying to get people to hero-worship you! Whoever thought you'd make a great knight, you two-faced, crazy hypocrite!'

It seemed that everyone was holding their breath for quite some time after he had finished speaking. They were gazing at Valkron's back. He had brought his peco to a stop a few minutes into Aldev's outburst.

Emeth hastily hopped off the peco and backed off without taking his eyes off Valkron's white-grey cloak - all that could be seen of his back. Even Amaru, whose indifference was extremely obvious at first sight, looked quite shocked. He was not aware that his cigarette was in danger of falling out of his mouth.

Valkron looked back after a few minutes and gave Aldev a sunny smile. It was yet another shock to the party, who was used to Valkron erupting into another of his bad moods.

'Very nice, Aldev,' he said brightly, 'but it's clear you truly don't know me yet. You were wonderful in pointing out common flaws in an individual's mind from a general point of view but unfortunately,' he adjusted his visor coolly, 'I'm not an individual you can observe from a general point of view. Therefore everything you said, while being completely true for most people, was wrong for me. Continue walking, Aldev. If you have anything you wish to discuss you are welcome to. Emeth, how did you get over there so fast?'

'Uh...teleportation,' supplied the wizard. Samaroh elbowed him in the ribs in annoyance.

'Well, get on if you don't want to get tired. We've got a long way to go,' said Valkron.

'Where are we going, seriously?' queried Eni tentatively.

Valkron gave them a thumbs up. 'I feel quite alive today,' he said. 'How about a trip back to Prontera?'

'Okay, I know this is getting annoying,' said Eni, 'but I want to go over what Valkron said. Did he say we were going to Prontera?'

'Yes,' said Samaroh, who was sitting sidesaddle behind Iruna and looking extremely bored.

'And did he say why we were going to Prontera?'

'To look for clues,' answered the priest.

'And of what nature are these clues?'

'He didn't say.'

'Did he hint at the clues being extremely difficult to figure out?'

'He specified fiendishly.'

'But he said that you and Emeth could probably figure them out?'

'Yes.'

Eni walked for a moment in silence, her lunatic sleeping in her cart. Then she said, 'I'm still not too clear about why we're going to Prontera.'

'Of all things, will you just keep quiet and let us walk in peace?' said Samaroh irritably. 'I'm trying to sleep, if you hadn't noticed, and I'd like it very much if you keep that in mind, even if the idea of silence isn't entirely familiar with you.'

'Will you both shut up?' said Emeth, looking over his shoulder. 'I think both of you aren't entirely familiar with the idea of having a leader, am I right? Valkron will tell us whatever's on his mind when he wants to, and you're not about to change that. Now keep it down or we'll leave you to the wolves, how's that?'

'You seem really protective of him, aren't you?' said Eni suspiciously, while Iruna sighed in exasperation astride her peco. 'Why are you always defending him? Maybe Aldev's right. Maybe Valkron is a two-faced, crazy hypocrite.'

Emeth swung around. Eni, Nocturne and Khan ducked as his staff, which had been supported on his shoulder, swung with him.

'One more word out of you guys,' he said dangerously, 'and it's fire for you till you're all nice and crispy, hey? Don't say I didn't warn you.'

'For once I'll have to agree with him,' said Iruna tiredly.

There was a cough from behind. Everyone looked at Amaru.

'Wolves drawing in,' he said curtly, jerking a thumb over his shoulder.

After that the journey was much faster.

They reached Prontera before nightfall, much to the relief of most of the party. Aldev was the only one who did not look like he was relieved - in fact he was extremely grouchy and snapped at anyone who talked to him. This did not improve the atmosphere one bit.

Valkron watched them from his peco and shook his head. They would learn to get to know each other eventually. The 'eventually' bit was giving him problems, though. It was deeply troubling him.

He surveyed the squabbling rabble and frowned. It was certainly a hurdle they had to jump over in a few days' time, and it was a very large hurdle. It could only be cleared if they worked together, he was sure of that.

He started to turn around, his peco chewing impatiently on its bit, but he caught sight of Samaroh. He raised an eyebrow. The priest was gazing at the ground very intently and, as Valkron watched, lifted his eyes to focus on Aldev. Although Samaroh was not partial to staring at people he was certainly doing it quite intensely at the monk. Valkron knew then that the priest had realised something was not right.

The knight shrugged vaguely to himself. He would ask Samaroh later on. For now they had to get through the sealed gates of the capital city.

'Come on, all of you,' he said, raising his voice over theirs, 'let's get a move on. We need the western gates unsealed before nightfall. I'm not too keen on staying out here too long and I 'm sure you're not either.'

Emeth walked past him, waving his staff. 'I'll do it. Besides I'm not interested in arguing anymore, whatever they say.'

'That would most probably be the wisest thing to do int he current situation,' said Valkron carefully, watching Emeth point his staff head at the seals pasted across the gates.

The wizard concentrated. The jewel atop his staff glowed green, and so did the seals. The light intensified, and then green lightning from the staff struck the seals squarely in the centre, before there was a brief flash of violet light and the seals were reduced to charred rectangular marks on the gates. Emeth lowered his staff and nodded at Valkron, who rode straight at them. His peco lowered its head. The full weight of both knight and peco crashed into the gates at full tilt.

Valkron turned his peco around. The great bird shook its head as he nodded at the others waiting at a safe distance before turning back and riding briskly into the city. The rest of the party followed.

Prontera was a ghost city. The evacuation of civilians from the city had left the place in a mess. The city was suddenly a lot greyer and even though cold winds had blown through the city before the wind that was now chilling the party to their bones made the city feel desolate and empty. Windows hung open and black, doors banged against walls hollowly, litter lay scattered all over the cobbles. What was once a proud city now was a silent, deserted ground.

Valkron shuddered slightly. Maybe this was what whoever wanted to destroy their world intended. Empty cities that only contained nothing more than memory. This was not what Valkron wanted to have happening.

'Excuse me, Valkron,' said Samaroh's voice. The knight looked to his left, where Iruna had stopped. The priest was standing in between the pecos.

'What is it?' said Valkron, surprised. He knew Samaroh had made it a point not to talk much to him.

'I'd like permission to visit the Prontera Library. I might find what we need there,' said the priest stiffly.

Valkron nodded. 'Permission granted, but won't you want to have someone accompany you? There might be things lurking in here.'

'I'll go,' piped up Nocturne. Samaroh gave it some thought and agreed to it. Valkron watched both of them head off north and then turned to the others.

'All right. We're only going to spend a night here, so find some shelter and then we're going to see if Emeth can tell anything from here.' Valkron raised his eyebrows. 'Any questions?'

Eni raised a hand. 'Why are we doing this?'

'To look for clues as to the location of the portal.'

'I know that. I mean, why are we looking for clues? Why can't we just search every city we come to?'

Valkron rolled his eyes. 'One, we're wasting time. Look at the skies. Do you think our world's going to take more battering for a long time? I don't think so. Two, I'm sure you don't want to visit places like Niflheim so we'll miss it and if it's there it's again wasting time to go back and search there. If you want to search there, that is.'

'Oh.' Eni settled back.

'Any more questions?' said Valkron, looking around.

'Yeah, I've got one,' said Aldev, from the back. 'Why don't we just let whoever it is do it their way? After all, you don't like doing things for other people.'

Amaru, who had his hammer hooked over his shoulder, abruptly turned slightly. Consequently the monk received a faceful of hammer.

'I like Amaru's answer,' said Valkron, nodding at the blacksmith who waved it off nonchalantly. 'Keep that in mind. Okay, let's get going.'

An abandoned inn ended up the Raulus' temporary shelter. After securing rooms on the first floor for easy escape when occasion called for it, they spilled out onto the chilly streets to Prontera Plaza.

Emeth stood in the middle and closed his eyes. The others sans Nocturne and Samaroh arranged themselves into a circle to watch whatever he was going to do. Aldev did not gather with them - he chose to stand a little way away and watch the proceedings sulkily.

Everyone watched as the wizard started muttering under his breath. He turned his face up to the dark clouds overhead and closed his eyes. The cold wind making them shiver was suddenly nullified by a stronger, warmer wind that sprang to life and whirled around Emeth, causing his cloak to spread out and flap. He was holding his staff, and as he began to lift his arms the gem atop it began to glow white.

Halfway through whatever he was doing the spectators had to step away from him, most of them shielding their faces from the sand and grit that had begun to circulate around him. As they backed off a magic circle winked into life on the ground, with Emeth in its centre. The light from it gave the illusion that the circle was rising upwards.

Valkron watched, his face illuminated by the light from both Emeth's staff and the circle around his feet. If he had been less concentrated on the wizard's spellcasting he would have noticed Aldev staring with a hungry look on his face. The knight, however, was interested in what Emeth was doing and so did not see anything around him.

The muttering became what it really was - a full incantation. They heard the terrible words of the wizard's language, derived from the old words of the world. Above Emeth energy gathered into a concentrated ball of light that shimmered, glimmered and flowed. Sometimes the light was beautiful and simple, sometimes it was mysterious and dark, and sometimes it was terrifying. But no matter what they felt they could not take their eyes off it. Its power seemed to attract them to it.

Just as they felt they could take it no longer Emeth, whose arms were raised to the sky, clapped his hands together. Much to the shock of the watchers the ball of light shot into him and vanished from sight as if he had absorbed it. They watched him in apprehension.

Emeth bowed his head. Apart from his breathing, which had grown heavy, there seemed to be no change to him. But the state was short-lived, for he suddenly opened his eyes and Valkron stepped back in horror.

They were glowing.

Because they were used to it the members of the Raulus party threw themselves aside as he raised his staff, but none of them were prepared for the massive spell he cast thirty seconds later. A mixture of fire and ice erupted from his staff and shot into the air. The ground shook under their feet and the windows of the houses around them shattered. The unseen force of the spell blew tiles off roofs, caused abandoned stalls to crumble as if they were made of paper and sent everyone stumbling back.

As glass shards showered around everyone Valkron pulled his visor over his eyes and looked up to see the hybrid spell travel into the skies, trailing sizzling sparks and glittering shards of ice. The two streams of fire and frost intertwined and gave the spell the thrust it needed. The light from it was so bright it illuminated the entire city as it flew upwards.

There was an explosion far above. Sparks and shards flew across the city. However the trail went off in a completely different direction, towards the northwest. It stayed for a long time.

Emeth dropped to his knees, clutching his chest. Valkron ran over to his side and knelt down beside him. 'Are you all right, Emeth?' he asked urgently.

The wizard seemed to have difficulty breathing, but it calmed down one minute later. His shoulders relaxed. 'I'm fine now, nothing to worry about,' he said, looking up at Valkron. He clapped the knight on the shoulder. 'Thanks for caring, though.'

Valkron was taken aback. He had never been told this before, and had absolutely no idea how to return it. 'Uh...really?'

'Yeah, really.' Emeth got to his feet unsteadily. Valkron helped him to stand upright. Then they looked up.

'Looks like we've got to look for a city northwest of here,' said Emeth, eventually. 'I can't seem to recall what lies northwest of here though. DO you remember?'

Valkron shrugged. 'Don't know either. I haven't been on any mission for a couple of years, so count me out for any city-locating.' He spotted two figures gazing up at the sky. 'Hey, Samaroh, Nocturne!'

The two of them turned to look at Valkron. He saw Samaroh say something to Nocturne before walking towards them. Emeth stepped respectfully out of the way as the priest reached where they were standing.

Valkron raised his eyebrows at the priest. Samaroh responded by hooking his arm around Valkron's and promptly dragging him away from Emeth. The wizard was gracious enough to stay where he was and not protest although he looked slightly annoyed by this secretive behaviour.

Only when Samaroh and Valkron were standing quite far from the others did the priest speak. 'I looked up quite a bit on portals and such, and I think we hit on something.'

'Does it play a major role in whatever's happening now?' said Valkron. When Samaroh nodded he said, 'Then we should share this with the others.'

'Wait! Sorry, I meant just...hang on. I can't exactly divulge these secrets to all and sundry. Do you get what I mean?'

'Does this have anything to with magic again?' said Valkron.

'Uh...well, somewhat. But magic doesn't really play much of a part here,' Samaroh added hurriedly, seeing Valkron's expression. 'It's more like...history.'

'History?'

'Mm.' The priest drew a small, thin book from his robes. It had a rather faded grey cover and the letters on it were mostly gone.

'This book,' he said in a low voice, 'was banned by the St Abbey Monastery because they claimed it was blasphemy against the gods. The Prontera Royal Court joined in, saying that it also had thunderous denunciations against the city.'

'So then how did you get it?' said Valkron.

Samaroh gave him a look. 'I may be a priest but I ain't all angelic and do-gooder. Get the point?'

'Ah.'

'I got this book from a friend and placed it in between the pages of a much thicker book in the Restricted section of the Prontera Library for safekeeping. Thankfully no one's realised it was there all along.'

'What's it called?'

'I've forgotten the name, but it's about the origins of this world. It doesn't speak about what Odin and his brothers did and all the other stories that came with that--'

'Which explains why the monastery banned it,' said Valkron, nodding.

'--but it does offer something more logical for those atheists out there. Somewhere in it - hang on, let me find the page - is about the Old Empire.'

'Hang on,' said the knight, causing Samaroh to pause in his flipping. 'This isn't all about the Blood Ages again, is it?'

'It is.'

'Oh, great. Does it also involve the last emperor?'

'Y-- How did you guess?'

'To be frank I've had a feeling all along that we're dealing with something not human,' said the knight, rolling his eyes.

'Just - just wait a bit...ah yes, here we are.' Samaroh opened the book. 'The words are in the old language so I'll translate it for you. This chapter relates about the reign of the last emperor, Ilham Vedlavin, and how the Blood Ages came to an end with him getting overthrown and executed for his crimes. It's pretty much that, but a little note at the end of the chapter hints that Emperor Vedlavin attempted to open a portal to prevent the Fair Wardens from overthrowing him.'

'If I'm right, the portal is similar to the one happening now.'

'Exactly. What it lets in, actually, is unclear, but that particular portal also allowed old magic to enter the world and distort everything in it. Fortunately the Fair Wardens stopped it before it could cause the world to collapse on itself and consequently dethroned Emperor Vedlavin.'

'Did it say how?'

'No clues there, sorry. However the book also says that Emperor Vedlavin's courtiers were not too happy with the Fair Wardens declaring the empire's fall and I think some of them tried to resurrect the emperor.'

'Oh, no.' Valkron covered his eyes. 'How far did they succeed?'

'Did you read this bit before?' asked Samaroh suspiciously.

'I've never read about it before, only heard it. But there are some things which get pretty predictable.'

'Hm. Well, they succeeded partially. Someone tipped off the Fair Wardens and they ambushed the courtiers. You can imagine the anger of the Warden Commander. They executed them on the spot.'

'Ouch.'

'We're not too sure if the courtiers were summoning Vedlavin or some lesser entity, perhaps his right-hand man. In those days the emperor's right-hand man was known as the Blood Judge, because he had the right to execute people as well as consider major matters. No one liked him, to tell you the truth.'

'The last one?' said Valkron.

'Yes. His name was Argath Iruvedla.'

'Was he related to Vedlavin in any way?'

'Er...no. Why?'

'Because their names sound somewhat similar, that's all.' Valkron rubbed his chin thoughtfully. 'So we're up against a really tough opponent, aren't we? Hm...it looks like we best work together on this. Especially you.'

Samaroh looked taken aback. 'What? What's wrong with me?'

Valkron looked him in the eye. 'Because you are a pompous, argumentative priest. I'm thankful you aren't some bible-thumping religious wannabe saint, but whatever you are now isn't exactly too comforting either. Did you find that helpful?'

The priest stared at him for a few minutes. Valkron was impressed that he could hold the gaze for so long. Then Samaroh's eyes narrowed and his jaw hardened.

'Well, I certainly know that whatever Aldev said wasn't true, but I think you should get to know us before you shoot your mouth off. How's that sound?'

Valkron closed his eyes and snorted. 'Sounds like you need to do the same, Samaroh.'

The two men stayed that way for a few more minutes before the knight looked up at him. 'So, why were you watching Aldev really closely then? I'm sure you saw something.'

Samaroh shrugged. 'Can't be too sure, really. I thought he was leaving strange footsteps behind him. But then again maybe I was just seeing things. I usually do when I'm not really stable.'

'Right. Stable.' Valkron looked at the rest. Aldev was standing to the side and watching the trail of light above him. 'We'll see soon enough, I guess.'

'Okay then, I'll be off,' said the priest, ramming his cap back onto his head. 'See you.'

Valkron watched him walk off with a distinct feeling that he had failed in trying to get to know others. It was one of his social failings.

'How was it?' said Emeth from behind. Valkron jumped and turned to tell him off, but then he suddenly he didn't feel like getting angry with the wizard. He sighed. 'Nothing much, just a lot of history.'

Emeth rubbed the tip of his nose thoughtfully. 'So are we heading for whatever lies northwest of here?'

'No. We sleep first. I have a feeling we're not going to get much sleep after today. Let's go into the inn.'

'But we don't even know if it's night or day.'

'Who cares if you're a nocturnal or diurnal creature when the world gets destroyed? Come on, let's go.'

The wizard nodded and half-turned. 'Hey, everyone! Let's get into the inn!'

'Aw, must we?' said Eni.

'Yes you must! Get in!'

And that, thought Valkron, was pretty much what he couldn't do without threatening first.

The night in the inn was uncomfortable. He wasn't too sure about the others, but Valkron found it far too cold to sleep. The wind rattled his armour, hung up near the door, and swirled throughout the entire room. Wherever he picked for a sleeping spot the wind would get into it.

Finally he put his armour back on and stepped out of the inn. He didn't feel so tired but he knew soon enough the others would. Therefore he'd choose to let them sleep while he kept on watch.

He stood outside the door for a long time, beside his peco. The great bird could sleep even though it was highly exposed to the wind, and after it had sleepily registered its master's presence it had, literally, taken him under its small wing. Valkron made himself comfortable and listened to the bird's deep breathing as he watched the city.

The feathered, battle-trained body was much warmer than he had expected. Valkron felt his eyelids drop and tried to keep them open, but it had been a long time since he had rested in something soft and warm.

Sometime later he woke with a jerk. He hadn't realised he had dropped off to sleep. With some difficulty for he felt stiff, he wriggled into a better position and leaned back, ready to fall asleep again when he realised that the wind was howling.

There was something black approaching Prontera.

Valkron sat up straight, staring at the black mass. His peco grunted in protest and shifted a little, but he placed a hand on its colourful beak and made a hushing sound. It would not do good to attract the attention of whatever was heading their way.

The black mass grew bigger as it approached Prontera. Valkron stayed perfectly still, his eyes unmoving as he watched. Whatever was coming was descending upon the city like a swarm of black bees.

In a few minutes the black cloud was all over Prontera. Whatever that comprised it settled on rooftops, buildings, stalls, statues, benches, everywhere. Valkron could see fluttering wings but that was all he knew. He still wasn't too sure what they were so he kept still and gently squeezed his peco's beak to make sure that it stayed silent.

As the wings whirled around him some of them came together and began to cluster around. Valkron never took his eyes off them as they formed the shape of a man. Slowly but surely they solidified and became a hooded, cloaked man. He stepped forward and raised his hidden face to the sky. The wings whirled around him with their soft fluttering sounds.

'At last,' he said. 'At last.'

Valkron kept still. His bird was shivering in fear. One of his hands slid under its wing and stroked its side to calm it down. They were both not far from the man but the reason why he had not seen them was because both were right behind an abandoned stall. If anyone had seen them from under it they would have assumed that the two were just bodies, given the position of both of them.

The man took a few steps forward, his boots clunking heavily on the cobbles. He lifted a gloved hand and looked at it. Then he pointed at a nearby bench.

The bench flew apart. Valkron's peco twitched. The knight continued to stroke the bird. His breathing seemed very loud in the silence of the city, and his heart was thundering in his ears with every beat. Fear was keeping him frozen to where he was, for the man that stood blackly even against the grey sky had maliciousness pouring off him.

The black wings had settled all over the place now, except for Valkron and his peco. The man looked around at the city.

'Well now,' he said. Valkron loathed the voice. It grated against his eardrums and awakened deep rage within him. 'Well now. This city is as empty as Geffen and Al de Baran. Oh, how I love the sound of silence and death. Too bad we did not prevent the people leaving this city, but they cannot escape forever.

'So now we have achieved part of our plan. We have taken over the north of this wretched world. Soon our prisoners will become our slaves, sent to ravage the world into barren lands and uninhabitable places. I cannot wait to see emptiness once again. Do you?'

The wings made horrible chirping sounds in agreement. Valkron winced but he did not move.

'The southern lands will soon be ours, my pets, but first we must achieve one of our plans. For this world needs a new master. Our emperor wants to make sure there is a successor with as much darkness as he had deep in his heart. And there are potential candidates for such a position, indeed.'

The wings chirped again. Valkron found himself frowning. A successor? But wouldn't Vedlavin desire to return to the world he once ruled, to grip it in his iron fist once again?

And who would that successor be?

'But before we begin discussing our plans, I'm sure everyone would like to know the name of the guest who has kindly decided to attend tonight's meeting. A guest who shares as much darkness as our beloved emperor himself.'

It happened all too fast. The man lifted his hand again. The stall in front of Valkron and his peco vapourised into dust and then the knight found himself looking up into the hood of the person he suddenly knew it to be.

Argath Iruvedla, Blood Judge of the Old Empire.