25 March 1638 Central Calendar Years
The Dragon Kingdom of Eimor
Hall of Fortune
Thirty-five of the most powerful Dragonids gathered, as they do every year, according to their traditional calendar, on the first day of the new year, which is every two human years, to begin divination to show the future that the Gods had shown them so that they would know what to prepare for to protect their people from destruction.
They had been doing so for over ten human millennia when the Ancient Warlock Empire both challenged the Gods and nearly exterminated their entire race drawing divine wrath upon themselves.
The Free Peoples were just a hair's breadth away from defeat, fortunately the Gods, breaking the powerful spells that held them in check, unleashed their wrath in a swarm of shooting stars. Just when everyone thought that the Warlocks were about to fall, they once again displayed their prowess and, using their mastery of the same techniques that brought them here, they fled, leaving behind their slaves and the malicious tablet that proclaimed they would return, for they had gone into the future.
The slaves of the Warlocks made their lives miserable for years, but thanks to the Hiromarians, special emissaries of the Sun God, they destroyed them. In this way, the world could rebuild itself for the next ten thousand years.
According to the diviners of earlier years, the time for the return of the Ancient Evil was approaching, hence preparations for the next Great War began in the Dragon Kingdom. And each annual divination ceremony was eagerly awaited and all divinations meticulously recorded in books.
When the thirty-five lined up in the designated circles in five circles of seven each, the intoning of the incantation began. To ordinary people it sounded like an inhuman howl that sent shivers down their spines and was meaningless. For the Eimorians, who were composed entirely of Dragonids, it was wonderful music, for their ears heard those sounds which are inaudible to human hearing and which formed the bulk of their words in their language. Thus no man has ever mastered their speech, but the Dragonids have mastered human speech, though with considerable difficulty.
Eimorian, on the other hand, is the last living language of the Dragonids, the others having died out centuries ago either as a result of ancient warfare or due to human expansion into their territories.
As the intonation ended, suddenly a quasi-mirror appeared above them. They looked up, and then began the next part of the divination. And the Chief Diviner began to watch.
He saw another world. Great and beautiful, suspended in an infinite space of stars. Then the image approached the earth, accelerating rapidly to hover high in the eastern part of the world above a chain of islands. He saw it from above, a country plunged into night and its surface lit up in many places as if it were daytime.
Then the image changed to that of the surface level. He saw ships in the harbor, great glass buildings reaching for the sky, and many vehicles that moved on roads without horses to pull them.
The chief diviner stared as if captivated by this strange place for a moment before the sun rose over the country, lighting up the city with its rays. One of its rays made him follow it with his eyes until he came upon a flag with a red circle on a white background.
The diviner's eyes widened in astonishment as he recognized this flag. The ancient flag of the Hiromarians, emissaries of the Sun God! Then he saw ships setting off with the more familiar Hiromarian banner, then the sky was pierced by planes and on the ground he saw armies marching against something that looked like it was pulled from ancient myths and legends of the Ancient War.
The diviner was concerned. The gods had warned them and given them hope. The warlocks would return but the Hiromarians would come to their rescue. And just as he was about to let the thirty-five end their repeated invocations he suddenly felt his vision crack and he was swept into the middle of it, barely hearing the groans of pain among those gathered to cast the spell.
But he was too concerned with what he was seeing. And he was suddenly in the middle of a Himorian city, standing in the middle of the road and staring at a building with a large Gate. A quick look around to the side showed that the Hiromarians were looking at it as well, and looking from the looks on their faces, this building was not likely part of the city.
Suddenly there was a great crash and the Gate opened. And from its black depths came the roar of a war trumpet. Then armed soldiers of an unknown country came out, although he knew that according to current military trends no one used shields and swords on a mass scale anymore.
Well, maybe except the barbarians from the far east, but they remain outside the civilized part of the world. The soldiers were standing in formation, someone on horseback apparently their commander started shouting in their language. He did not know it, but his speech sounded similar to Parpaldian.
The people around him apparently did not know what he was saying either, and some of them took out strange flat boxes and aimed at the soldiers. Suddenly something which people call a shiver went through him, and after a while he heard the strings of bows being tightened. Then the one on horseback, as he understood, was a little angry with the lack of reaction to him, so he gave the order to attack.
In turn next moments remained in his memory until the day of his death. He saw unknown soldiers charging forward and starting to massacre inhabitants. The first skirmishes between the local defense forces and the invaders.
Then more clashes throughout the city, rapes, robberies and kidnappings. All in a matter of seconds. Then he saw strange flying machines with propellers at the top. They looked nothing like Milishiant's or Mu's planes, but it was impossible for him to see their effectiveness because his vision broke again.
This time he saw two images as if overlapping. For a moment or so he heard a crackling sound and saw a black and white flicker before the image came into focus after a strong shot. On both he could see a flag with a coat of arms on it.
On the left a White double-headed eagle with a golden crown on its head and a more ornate one above it. It looked predatory as if it had claws in its blood and the eyes of a dangerous predator. In his talons he held a sword and a shield with a golden vertical stripe crossed by two horizontal ones.
In turn the one on the right looked much less disturbing. It also consisted of a white but single-headed eagle with its own crown on its head, while next to it, in the adjacent grid, there was a knight on horseback with a sword and a shield identical to the one in claws on the first coat of arms. This coat of arms, in contrast to the first one, consisted of four fields in the order from left: Eagle-Knight-Knight-Eagle. It was surrounded by a golden rim and above the checkerboard was a visible crown. The eagle looked proud but not sinister.
The flags on which both coats of arms were displayed were quite similar. Both had three rows, the one with the two-headed eagle was white-red-gold, while the other was red-white-red.
Then when he looked at the two symbols, the image changed and instead of flags there were fiery words. The diviner was amazed. The gods rarely gave their divination in text form, they usually showed quite obvious pictures. Whenever they showed sentences instead, it meant that a catastrophe would befall the world.
The last time this happened was over 10 dragon years ago. Warning Eimor of the outbreak of the Fourth Civilization War and demanding his neutrality towards the warring parties though with favor towards Mu.
The fortune teller paused for a moment to read the ancient and, worse, no longer used Dragonid alphabet which had been supplanted by the much simpler human alphabet. He was one of the few using it.
In turn the text read as follows.
THERE GO TWO WHITE EAGLES
ONE DROWNED IN BLOOD, ETERNAL INVADER, SUPPRESSOR OF PEOPLES
ONE OF HIS OWN BLOOD BLED, THE ULTIMATE DEFENDER, THE PEOPLES PROTECTING
THEY ARE UNITED BY LANGUAGE AND BEGINNING, DIVIDED BY END AND MIDDLE
AND BETWEEN THEM A SAKURA IMPRISONED ON HER SUNNY THRONE
HAVE NEVER MET, AND NOW THEY WILL HAVE TO MEET
TO FIGHT THE ANCIENT EVIL TOGETHER
SAKURA MUST USE ITS DARKNESS AND LIGHT
SHE WILL BE HELPED BY ANOTHER THROUGH THE LOCKED GATE
BUT FIRST HE MUST OVERTHROW THE FALSE GODS
AND THE EMPIRE THEY HELPED TO CREATE TOPPLED
THEN THE FALSE BARRIER IS CURSED
AND THE ANNIHILATION WILL BE UNDONE
BUT BE AWARE
FOR PRIDE SPREADS ITS TENTACLES AND THE LAST WISH OF THE FALSE
CAN DIVIDE THE EAGLES INTO TWO CAMPS
AND WITH THEM THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE VAST
As he read and carved the words into his head, the vision was undone and he could see what damage had been done. He could see mages scattered about, and the building too looked as if a tornado had passed through it. Candles, benches, parchments, and other items had been knocked over and scattered.
But still he did not watch longer than necessary, and instead of helping to raise the fallen, he quickly rushed to the Dragon King, who was watching the whole ceremony from his throne.
"Your Highness" He called out in a loud voice "I have news from the Gods and it is very important!"
"What are they diniver?" The Dragon King asked in his deep tone.
In turn, the fortune teller recounted what he had seen to his ruler. Each sentence slowly lowered the King's satisfaction. And when the diviner had recited to the end the text which the gods had given him the King closed his eyes for a moment to reflect on what he had heard. In the meantime, the battered mages arose, the more injured were sent for medical attention, and the hall returned to the order it had been before the ceremony began.
As the last benches were set up the King opened his blinders and replied to his subject. "Diviner, you are to begin preparations to meet these White Eagles and returning Himorians. Something tells me we don't have much time until we meet them. And since they are returning that means the Warlocks are returning as well, we must be ready for their arrival."
The diviner bowed, "As you command, Your Highness," and then called some of his assistants to spread the word to the appropriate people in the country and abroad.
And when the diviner had left the room. The King rose from his throne and went to his chambers, for the whole ceremony was to take place in the King's palace. Quickly he made his way along the corridors which separated him from his goal, and then ordered the guards to remain at the door, while he himself went inside.
There was no one in the room, and this was not surprising as it was the ruler's personal room and office in one, which served as a kind of solitude. He quickly made his way to the bar and pulled out a glass bottle and a glass. In the bottle was the best wine from faraway Louria, which produced very good spirits. And as much as he hated those damned arrogant assholes and racists, he had to admit that they knew how to make wine.
He poured enough wine into the glass to fill it up, and then took and drank it in one gulp. With that he calmed his nerves, which were quite active when he heard what the diviner had seen. As he set the glass down he muttered under his breath. "I hope at least these guys make good wine."