User blog:DaWalkinWaffle/King of Steel: Part XXVll

6 ~ x

Chaos stopped at the top of the hill at the sight of Agni Reborn. Years after the God War, survivors of the Agni Empire had resettled in the ruins of their former empire and renamed it Agni Reborn. When Zevalhua cam to power, she chose to ignore them as they posed no threat to her. That, or she was too weak to deal with them. The first elected monarch was a leading knight against the gods when they attacked. He was believed to be the former emperor's brother but the rumors where never proven. His group of supporters became the most powerful noblemen. Their children inherited the positions. Unfortunately, unlike their ancestors, some of the noblemen today were corrupt. The emperor was, like most of his ancestors, was fairly just towards the people. Chaos remembered the task given to him at the end of the God War.

"Well, no sense in waiting while the grass grows under my feet." he mused. He started down the hill to the walls of the empire. Agni Reborn allowed immigrants, unlike the original. When he reached the wall, the guards inspected him. He had disguised himself for the trip. Instead of his usual black cloak and hood, he wore a simple woodsman's clothing. He carried a small hunting bow and a pack with some of his things. His hair was copper colored, reminiscent of Winter's hair.

"Hello there, my friend. What brings you to Agni Reborn?" the guard asked.

"Good day. I travelled here from Ryvern. The lands there are being ravaged by magic-wielding warriors. I thought it would be safer to come here." Chaos said. The guard nodded gravely.

"Yes, we got news of that. The Emperor's inner council is in debate of that issue. Some fear that they will come here and wish to get rid of them. Others believe they will not harm us. Your papers, please?" the guard added like an afterthought.

"Ah, yes. Here you are." Chaos said and handed the guard his identification papers. The guard riffled through them then nodded and handed them back.

"Have a good day, Mister Kade." the guard said and allowed him to pass.

"You too. Can you tell me where the inn is?" Chaos asked.

"Down the main street. Take a left at the third intersection and it should be the fourth building on the right." the guard said. Chaos waved his thanks. He walked over to the inn and opened the door. It was relatively empty, most people chose to eat at the tavern. He walked over to the innkeeper.

"I'd like a room please." he asked. The innkeeper nodded.

"We have some empty rooms. How long will you be stayin?" the innkeeper asked.

"I'm not sure. Would you mind if I just pay for three days for now? I'll pay more if I need to. Name's Kade by the way." he said.

"Agreed Mister Kade. Seven zel per day. I'm Arnold."

"Good day Arnold. So, twenty-one zel." Chaos said and gave the money.

"Thank you, Kade. I'll show you to your room." Arnold said. The room Arnold brought him to was clean and had a bed, a small table and chair, and some empty space. It wasn't large but that was to be expected for an inn.

"I'll take it. Do you, by any chance, know where I could find something to eat?" Chaos asked. Arnold handed him the key to his room.

"You could eat at the tavern, the Red Hawk. It's just down the street from here." Arnold said.

"Thank you Arnold." Chaos said. The innkeeper nodded and left the room. Chaos closed the door.

"One down. Three more to go." he said to himself.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

St. Lamia Palace sat atop a massive overhang, far above where they had made camp. Winter frowned as he looked up at it.

"If we advance up the path, she will have ample time to find us." Will said. Winter and his units with the sense of strategy stood around him, discussing plans. This group included Will, Rowgen, and Hadaron. They each added a different element of strategy to the plans. Will was able to find the safest paths. Rowgen found the quickest ways to do things. Hadaron noted the most efficient ways.

"We could scale the cliff from the side and get to the stalactites. They have many ridges that can offer handholds. I looked through my scope." Rowgen added as Will opened his mouth to ask a question.

"Your scope can see ridges on the stalactites?" Hadaron asked. Rowgen nodded. "search the cliff side."

"What am I looking for?" Rowgen asked as he zoomed in on the cliff.

"Tunnels. There is bound to be tunnels in an ancient cliff like this one." Hadaron said. Rowgen chuckled.

"Devious are we? Ah! Here we are." Rowgen said. Winter looked through the scope. Sure enough, there were tunnels in the cliff.

"The question is, how do we know where they end up? We don't have time to search them all." Winter said.

"Kajah has an excellent sense of right and wrong right? And he can sense power?" Rowgen asked. Winter nodded thoughtfully.

"We could do that. But how do we get to the tunnel?"

"Instead of taking the main path up, we follow it so we are close to the tunnel." Will said.

"Ok. We'll do that." Winter said. Winter's units wandered off to do their own things. Rowgen and Lario started arguing again. Will and Darvanshel compared equipment. Hadaron and Zellha conversed about how Rina was doing. Winter walked over to where Tia was talking to her animals.

"Hi Winter." she said.

"Hello. Now for the upcoming battle with Maxwell, I'm going to need your healing skills at their strongest." he said.

"Well, if I can evolve, my healing grows in strength." Tia said. Winter pursued his lips thoughtfully. Then he remembered something.

"My guide! It should tell me how you can evolve!" Winter dug through his small bag and found his guide. "Evolution requires the essence of either a spirit, nymph, pot, mimic, idol, or totem of the corresponding element. If the correct combination is used, the unit will evolve and grow in strength. Interesting."

"What's so interesting?" Tilith's cheerful voice cut into Winter's thoughts.

"Evolution. I'm thinking of evolving Tia," Winter said. He flipped through his guide and found Tia. It showed the needed essences needed to evolve her. "I need the essence of an earth totem, an earth pot, two earth idols, and a dragon mimic."

"You could enter the Vortex." Tilith said.

"What's the Vortex?" Winter asked.

"An alternate dimension where more powerful monsters roam. Mostly units needed for evolution." Tilith said.

"How do I enter the Vortex?" Winter asked.

"When you are more powerful, you can enter at will. I can open a gate for you though. It's dangerous, but I'm sure you'll be fine! You need to bring your units," Winter de-summoned his units. "ready? Ok. Good luck!" Around him, a light grew brighter and brighter. Then it faded away.

Winter was in the Vortex.