ACT VI
THE AGE OF UNDEAD
Hans might have wiggled out of the situation, but there was a murder of a child from a high-ranking noble of Clandor in Grimgar. It was the Knight Association’s responsibility to resolve it. All speculations might have pointed at Hans, but the corpses told them otherwise.
The next day, Kansas had ordered the autopsy and even asked Parvians to aid in the process.“Why do you think, Xandor killed this poor guy?” He asked Arat, who finally found a way to steer this investigation as Hans intended, but with some twist of his own. “It's revenge but I don’t know for whom.” He declared, attracting everyone’s attention.
“Care to explain?” Samwell inserted himself in the conversation, but someone else interrupted. The high elf who was interrogating Hans was still selling the story of Hans’s ordering Xandor. But Arat had the answer prepared, and even from the mouth which elves had to believe. He pointed at Bernard, “Ask him,” he said, “He should be familiar with capital punishment.”
The words instantly jolted Bernard and giving an objective look at the body with the recalled term, he affirmed, “Yes, this is it.”
“Don’t talk in riddles.” The interrogated said, still affirming to his story. .
“Certainly” Bernard confirmed and continued, “Severing all limbs and inscribing the name whose revenge is carried out on the forehead. This is capital punishment which was banned ages ago.”
“I said don’t speak in riddles."
“Xandor killed him for avenging someone and wrote the name on his forehead but he might have changed his mind of exposing the name,” Bernard explained his reasoning.
“Now the question is, what this man knew.” Arat pointed at the corpse and everyone’s eyes led to the king of Clandor whom the young elf served. Suddenly the coroner, spoke, “It's confirmed, he was made undead. The Necromancer must have extracted some information from him.” Arat once again lay his questioning gaze at Clandorians, but Eleanor promptly responded, “He is too small in hierarchy to know something.”
“That is the very reason, one never suspected him, King.” Arat commented, adding a twist to the story that Hans never wanted, “I might have some clue,” He said, continuing, “What if Kerym Rotti was a spy from Council—”
“What does Xandor have to do with Council —”
“Please, for god sake, have some decency even if your race doesn’t allow it Elf king. Let this old man speak, can you do that?” Arat mocked, his face serious, continuing, “Xandor is the very man that killed all eight Elders of Council by himself. He has to know if the council is involved.” Arat weaved his web of lies by mixing some truth in it.
“So what does your crafty mind tell you?” Norwin who was silent for so long spoke.
“First let me summarise what we found when Xandor attacked Clandor.” He leered at Clandorians, stating, “He wasn’t the only one infiltrating your country, you know. Dijkstra was there too—”
“What?” Bernard interrupted, he defended Clandor when Xandor attacked them, but he never got a whiff of Dijkstra.
Sighing Arat mocked him, “Living with elves made you uncivilised too.”
“I don’t care, about your eloquent tongue, just tell me why Dijkstra was in Clandor. Were you trying to assassinate the princess?” Bernard infuriated.
“Have you seen Dijkstra ever missing his mark?” Arat questioned, but heard only silence in response. Everyone in that room knew - The sad death never fails. So, Arat continued, “The target was the Aide from the beginning.”
“So Xandor never killed the king’s aide” Bernard questioned.
“No,” Arat denied, “It was a request for young Winters. To find and kill the one sending assassins at her. We just followed orders.” Arat indirectly established Hans as the one commanding him, his status as the prince and his standing that he would go to any lengths to protect the boy. It was a warning to everyone to not mess with him.
“We are swaying away from the point here.” Arat continued his momentum, “Where was I.. han..yes, When Dijkstra infiltrated Clandor, he stumbled upon Xandor and followed him incognito. But, wherever that man went, only death followed. He was searching for remnants of the old council and fortunately for us, he left one alive to be found by Dijkstra.”
“So what did Xandor want to know from him?” Norwin entered the discussion once again.
“He was chasing the myth of Chalice of Memories.” Arat declared.
“That is absurd. The artefact to grant any wish doesn’t exist.” Eleanor jumped in, reasoning, “Your own king searched the whole Clandor but found nothing.”
But Arat has a certain gaze that makes others question their beliefs and Eleanor meets with it too. Arat questioned, hammering a new fact on the listeners, “Who says he never found? The very thing that Ring of Chaos was made of was a part of Chalice of memories.”
Arat had dropped a bomb on them. Many had tried replicating the ring of chaos, but none succeded.“So,” Norwin who himself was chasing that myth for his own reasons, quite different from Samson and Xandor spoke, “You mean to say—”
“Yes, that madman is forging another ring of chaos.”
“But the method known to us is incomplete." Norwin said refuting, "Your king never shared with anyone—”
“Yes, even Xandor was unaware, but,” Arat became serious, “What about the dwarf who helped him forge—”
“He is dead… fuck. Xandor made him an undead.” Norwin sat as he answered his own questions.
“Now you understand why I called the World Summit. An ownerless dog can only be tied down by a firm hand or put down. Xandor has become a cancer that needs to go away. And I certainly don’t wish for him to carry that power.” Arat lifted his head towards Reina, the mind behind Clandor’s every move. “You should thank Dijkstra, intended or not, he saved your daughter’s life that Xandor wanted to take along with the wind gem she carried. And Later, thank our prince who took that burden from her intentionally.”
Arat continued as the silence remained from the elven side, “So before you use him, think twice, Reina. You owe him your girl's life.”
Kansas commented, “She is a queen—”
“None of my fucking business.” Arat cut him off, and addressing everyone, he said, “You all know, Highest purity mana gems are not unique. So it is dead set in stone, that he will have them sooner or later. The best we can do is stall him by keep collecting them all first.”
“But that is not a permanent solution,” Reina commented.
“Finally, some sense” Arat sighed, continuing, “We now have two options, first, we need to find the ‘Memory of chalice’ first. So what do you know about that artefact, Alliance head, Norwin?” Arat pointed at Norwin.
“Why do you ask me?” Norwin asked.
“Because you are searching for it too. The only way you can kill that ancient is through that artefact or Princess Ira’s (Sierra’s Parvian name) one-time use spell. But at the rate, our prince is wreaking havoc, I hardly think you’ll get the chance to use her power.”
The silence remained, but Eleanor broke the stillness by addressing Norwin, “If that was your plan, it was foolish. I don’t know if it exists or not. But it is an object of night, using it will have dire consequences.”
“Exactly,” oddly enough, Arat supported Eleanor, “If that wasn’t the case, King Samson would have had with him. So we come down to the second option, Eradicate him before he completes the ring. He already has several gems, each robbed from you.” Arat paused, looking at Walter, who was silent in contrast to his nature. And he pointed at him, “He has the dark gem—”
“What the fuck? Who told you?” Walter was baffled. But Arat didn’t heed his disrespectful words and continued, “We have aqua and light gem, and Prince Hans has the wind gem—”
"SWEESH!"A Sound of something whistling down from skies pierced the air. The room trembled, and the tapestries on the walls swayed ominously. Startled, everyone in the chamber turned toward the massive windows that overlooked the sprawling royal city. Outside, a trail of blazing fire streaked across the sky, descending with a terrifying speed.“BOOM!” A shocking blast, far away from them, but strong enough to send them several shock waves happened. It was so strong that Arat who had been standing sat back to his chair.
They all came outside in a frenzy, only to see the moon slowly covering the sun. “It's an Eclipse.” Arat gaze turned towards the place of the Explosion, it was like something had struck the place like a meteor. Once serene but now chaotic, the eternal rest of the Grimgar Family suffered a massive blow.
ACT VI
THE AGE OF UNDEAD
Hans might have wiggled out of the situation, but there was a murder of a child from a high-ranking noble of Clandor in Grimgar. It was the Knight Association’s responsibility to resolve it. All speculations might have pointed at Hans, but the corpses told them otherwise.
The next day, Kansas had ordered the autopsy and even asked Parvians to aid in the process.“Why do you think, Xandor killed this poor guy?” He asked Arat, who finally found a way to steer this investigation as Hans intended, but with some twist of his own. “It's revenge but I don’t know for whom.” He declared, attracting everyone’s attention.
“Care to explain?” Samwell inserted himself in the conversation, but someone else interrupted. The high elf who was interrogating Hans was still selling the story of Hans’s ordering Xandor. But Arat had the answer prepared, and even from the mouth which elves had to believe. He pointed at Bernard, “Ask him,” he said, “He should be familiar with capital punishment.”
The words instantly jolted Bernard and giving an objective look at the body with the recalled term, he affirmed, “Yes, this is it.”
“Don’t talk in riddles.” The interrogated said, still affirming to his story. .
“Certainly” Bernard confirmed and continued, “Severing all limbs and inscribing the name whose revenge is carried out on the forehead. This is capital punishment which was banned ages ago.”
“I said don’t speak in riddles."
“Xandor killed him for avenging someone and wrote the name on his forehead but he might have changed his mind of exposing the name,” Bernard explained his reasoning.
“Now the question is, what this man knew.” Arat pointed at the corpse and everyone’s eyes led to the king of Clandor whom the young elf served. Suddenly the coroner, spoke, “It's confirmed, he was made undead. The Necromancer must have extracted some information from him.” Arat once again lay his questioning gaze at Clandorians, but Eleanor promptly responded, “He is too small in hierarchy to know something.”
“That is the very reason, one never suspected him, King.” Arat commented, adding a twist to the story that Hans never wanted, “I might have some clue,” He said, continuing, “What if Kerym Rotti was a spy from Council—”
“What does Xandor have to do with Council —”
“Please, for god sake, have some decency even if your race doesn’t allow it Elf king. Let this old man speak, can you do that?” Arat mocked, his face serious, continuing, “Xandor is the very man that killed all eight Elders of Council by himself. He has to know if the council is involved.” Arat weaved his web of lies by mixing some truth in it.
“So what does your crafty mind tell you?” Norwin who was silent for so long spoke.
“First let me summarise what we found when Xandor attacked Clandor.” He leered at Clandorians, stating, “He wasn’t the only one infiltrating your country, you know. Dijkstra was there too—”
“What?” Bernard interrupted, he defended Clandor when Xandor attacked them, but he never got a whiff of Dijkstra.
Sighing Arat mocked him, “Living with elves made you uncivilised too.”
“I don’t care, about your eloquent tongue, just tell me why Dijkstra was in Clandor. Were you trying to assassinate the princess?” Bernard infuriated.
“Have you seen Dijkstra ever missing his mark?” Arat questioned, but heard only silence in response. Everyone in that room knew - The sad death never fails. So, Arat continued, “The target was the Aide from the beginning.”
“So Xandor never killed the king’s aide” Bernard questioned.
“No,” Arat denied, “It was a request for young Winters. To find and kill the one sending assassins at her. We just followed orders.” Arat indirectly established Hans as the one commanding him, his status as the prince and his standing that he would go to any lengths to protect the boy. It was a warning to everyone to not mess with him.
“We are swaying away from the point here.” Arat continued his momentum, “Where was I.. han..yes, When Dijkstra infiltrated Clandor, he stumbled upon Xandor and followed him incognito. But, wherever that man went, only death followed. He was searching for remnants of the old council and fortunately for us, he left one alive to be found by Dijkstra.”
“So what did Xandor want to know from him?” Norwin entered the discussion once again.
“He was chasing the myth of Chalice of Memories.” Arat declared.
“That is absurd. The artefact to grant any wish doesn’t exist.” Eleanor jumped in, reasoning, “Your own king searched the whole Clandor but found nothing.”
But Arat has a certain gaze that makes others question their beliefs and Eleanor meets with it too. Arat questioned, hammering a new fact on the listeners, “Who says he never found? The very thing that Ring of Chaos was made of was a part of Chalice of memories.”
Arat had dropped a bomb on them. Many had tried replicating the ring of chaos, but none succeded.“So,” Norwin who himself was chasing that myth for his own reasons, quite different from Samson and Xandor spoke, “You mean to say—”
“Yes, that madman is forging another ring of chaos.”
“But the method known to us is incomplete." Norwin said refuting, "Your king never shared with anyone—”
“Yes, even Xandor was unaware, but,” Arat became serious, “What about the dwarf who helped him forge—”
“He is dead… fuck. Xandor made him an undead.” Norwin sat as he answered his own questions.
“Now you understand why I called the World Summit. An ownerless dog can only be tied down by a firm hand or put down. Xandor has become a cancer that needs to go away. And I certainly don’t wish for him to carry that power.” Arat lifted his head towards Reina, the mind behind Clandor’s every move. “You should thank Dijkstra, intended or not, he saved your daughter’s life that Xandor wanted to take along with the wind gem she carried. And Later, thank our prince who took that burden from her intentionally.”
Arat continued as the silence remained from the elven side, “So before you use him, think twice, Reina. You owe him your girl's life.”
Kansas commented, “She is a queen—”
“None of my fucking business.” Arat cut him off, and addressing everyone, he said, “You all know, Highest purity mana gems are not unique. So it is dead set in stone, that he will have them sooner or later. The best we can do is stall him by keep collecting them all first.”
“But that is not a permanent solution,” Reina commented.
“Finally, some sense” Arat sighed, continuing, “We now have two options, first, we need to find the ‘Memory of chalice’ first. So what do you know about that artefact, Alliance head, Norwin?” Arat pointed at Norwin.
“Why do you ask me?” Norwin asked.
“Because you are searching for it too. The only way you can kill that ancient is through that artefact or Princess Ira’s (Sierra’s Parvian name) one-time use spell. But at the rate, our prince is wreaking havoc, I hardly think you’ll get the chance to use her power.”
The silence remained, but Eleanor broke the stillness by addressing Norwin, “If that was your plan, it was foolish. I don’t know if it exists or not. But it is an object of night, using it will have dire consequences.”
“Exactly,” oddly enough, Arat supported Eleanor, “If that wasn’t the case, King Samson would have had with him. So we come down to the second option, Eradicate him before he completes the ring. He already has several gems, each robbed from you.” Arat paused, looking at Walter, who was silent in contrast to his nature. And he pointed at him, “He has the dark gem—”
“What the fuck? Who told you?” Walter was baffled. But Arat didn’t heed his disrespectful words and continued, “We have aqua and light gem, and Prince Hans has the wind gem—”
"SWEESH!"A Sound of something whistling down from skies pierced the air. The room trembled, and the tapestries on the walls swayed ominously. Startled, everyone in the chamber turned toward the massive windows that overlooked the sprawling royal city. Outside, a trail of blazing fire streaked across the sky, descending with a terrifying speed.“BOOM!” A shocking blast, far away from them, but strong enough to send them several shock waves happened. It was so strong that Arat who had been standing sat back to his chair.
They all came outside in a frenzy, only to see the moon slowly covering the sun. “It's an Eclipse.” Arat gaze turned towards the place of the Explosion, it was like something had struck the place like a meteor. Once serene but now chaotic, the eternal rest of the Grimgar Family suffered a massive blow.
