《The Revenant's Tale: A Dungeon Lords Short Story》 Part 1: The First Dungeon Lord The charred remains of the late Emperor Cosimir lay still on the table. As I look down at them, I think what a shame it was what they had done to me. Betrayal. It was outright betrayal. Betrayal by that son-of-a-bitch Eldryn, my dark mage and right hand elf for over three centuries. I know now that he made deals behind my back and sold me out to the blacksmith Eli. Instead of dying like he should have, Eli and his disciples were able to best me and kill me. Eli took my place and betrayed them, and Eldryn burned me to complete his due diligence and make sure I couldn¡¯t be brought back. Such a spoiled brat. I always hated that elf. A noise behind me tells me the bumbling blacksmith is back. The fool that should be dead instead of me. Though my consciousness is outside his body, I somehow still have a connection to him and his thoughts. Virmorphia is a weird magic that I still haven¡¯t been able to entirely figure out, even after all these centuries toying with it. Eli walks up to the dais where my burnt body lays, and stares down at it. After a long pause he talks in his deep bass of a voice. ¡°I have a chance to make Evania right again,¡± he says out loud, a trembling in his voice uncharacteristic of the big burly man that he appears to be. ¡°You don¡¯t have a chance to do any such damn thing,¡± I say, and judging by the twitching of his eye I know that he hears me. His eyes narrow as he looks down at my body, as if the dead corpse before him is actually the thing talking to him. ¡°I will, you¡¯ll see.¡± I cackle a mad laugh. I can¡¯t help it. The boy is so naive. ¡°That damn elf is the one who¡¯s really in control here, boy. You have no say in the matter.¡± His face falls. He looks sad. ¡°Why are you in my head? Why won¡¯t you go away?¡¯ Good question. I don¡¯t really want to be here either, but I may as well at least continue my quest for power while I have the chance. ¡°Not in your head exactly, but yes, we have some sort of connection. I¡¯m more, to your right.¡± Eli turns to look right at the spot I perceive that I am. The poor soul looks confused. Not sure if I can manifest myself in any way he can see me. I think really hard about being physical again. Nothing happens. Okay, think about arms. Think about legs. Where would they be? How would they feel? This seems to work, his face contorts in shock, and I pick my imagined hand up to see. I have indeed manifested myself as a ghostly white apparition. Neat. Better manifest a face too. Think handsome. The blacksmith¡­ ugh, new emperor, I guess?... raises his hand in shock and tries to touch the space where he sees me floating above the dais. His hand just swipes air. ¡°Welcome to your new rule, Highness,¡± I say to him mockingly. ¡°How does it feel to betray those you¡¯ve promised to save?¡± Eli gives up trying to swipe at my apparition and a tear rolls down his cheek. Such a weak man. How did he beat me again? ¡°I hate this. I just wanted to live. The prophecy said I was to die, but I was a coward instead. You¡¯re dead like planned, but now I and my followers are beasts. I¡¯ve sent assassins after my best friend because Eldryn doesn¡¯t want loose ends. My life is basically forfeit.¡± I let this sink in a moment. ¡°So, you have ram horns and your best friend is a lion you¡¯re trying to kill. I¡¯ve been dead inside long before I was¡­ well¡­¡± I gesture down at the ashes where my body once laid. ¡°Yeah,¡± Eli says, ¡°I bet being the most powerful man in the country with all the Dungeon Lords under your thumb has been a terrible life.¡± ¡°Yeah, a lot of that was fucking awesome,¡± I say, remembering all the power I controlled for so long. ¡°I mostly mean before that. All the stuff that really killed my soul. I have stories that will make your blood boil and your heart weep.¡± Funnily enough, this makes a small smile creep over Eli¡¯s face. ¡°Really? I¡¯ve heard the old sea rogue saying that dead men tell no tales,¡± he said. ¡°Ah, sea rogues. They are dumb and don¡¯t really know anything except their crazy superstitions. Dead men tell the best tales because they¡¯ve experienced life and death, and at some point learned the ultimate lesson.¡± Eli looks at me and raises his eyebrow, intrigued. I¡¯ve got him hooked. Not really sure what else to do with my time at the moment since I¡¯m dead, I float down and sit on the ashes of my dead body. It¡¯s funny, because I don¡¯t really have energy now and really have no need to sit, but it just seems like the right thing to do when telling a story. The big burly man leans on the table where my burnt body still lays... you think someone would really clean it up at some point¡­ and stares at me intently. I smile and think back to days long ago, when my entire life went to hell. ¡°You probably won¡¯t believe this, but my journey to becoming the Emperor of Evania all began because once upon a time I was in love¡­ *** You see, back in the day I was a lord. There was no such thing as a Dungeon Lord then, so I was just any old normal lord of Incarta. Yes, I am from the same kingdom as you. Shocking, I know. Anyway, I had the most important job in the kingdom. In the good ol¡¯ mining kingdom of Incarta I was in charge of the mines. Yessir, the entirety of the biggest industry of the kingdom that supplied most of the raw iron in all of Evania. Being a man of such high esteem and sharp mind, I gained favor of King Vince Regalia to the point of not only being appointed the lordship, but he also offered me the hand of his only daughter, Kira, in marriage. I will tell you, she was a beauty. The prize of the kingdom. Maybe even the prize of all Evania. The way she smiled lit up my soul every single time she looked at me during our courtship. And quite the courtship it was! I courted Kira for two long years. I would show her around the facilities and show her what I was in charge of. We would go for long walks by the Ironflow River, looking at the stars and talking about life after we were married. We¡¯d often picnic in the orchards north of Incarta. She never seemed to care that I was often covered in soot and ash from the mines. She was the light of my life, and everything was going according to the plan her father and I had laid out. That was until a fire happened at the stables. I¡¯m not sure how much you¡¯ve read about Incarta¡¯s neighbor kingdom of Calum, but it was a set of floating islands and large, luxurious buildings. Really such a bastard thing to do. Think you¡¯re so high above everyone else in the land that you literally raise your kingdom to the sky. The pompous bastards blocked out the afternoon sun and cast Incarta in shadow for much of the day. They were the pinnacle of everything pomp. Well, they made all their money from prized horses, and they paid the kingdom of Incarta nills on the tread to take care of the horses on the ground for them. Too many horses falling off the islands at one point, they had no choice but to ground the whole operation. Put Incarta in charge of their prized stallions. Hundreds of horses died in the fire. Their entire herd. Their mage king, Aeolus, was pissed. While it was funny to see the rich bastard squirm, it lead to them raining fire down from the skies. It was quite a sight. All of Incarta had to hide down in the mines while our kingdom above ground burned. In order to stop the bombardment and save what was left of Incarta, our mighty coward king Regalia decided to offer Aeolus the only thing he would accept to stop the attack. He offered him his daughter. My Kira! I was told to deal with it as he had no other choice. I¡¯d never been so insulted in my life! Our wedding was only one month away. How could he give her to another man?Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Enraged to the point I was seeing red, I verbally lashed out at Regalia, but he told me to fuck off. So what did I do? No, I didn¡¯t attack him¡­ yet. Instead I went behind his back and evoked The Right to Trial that every Evanian had at the time. The High Kings of the family Evania would also allow any citizen to come to Mt. Floure and their grand throne room, the very room we float¡­ err¡­ stand in now, and present their issues before The High King. Sounds like such a bore listening to people¡¯s problems all day, so I never offered the people this opportunity, but back then the kings did. I left in the dead of night on King Regalia¡¯s personal horse. It was one of the only horses left in the entirety of Central Evania. Because the trial involved war, The High King Tylowthus agreed to see to the trial immediately. I rode up the mountains in a huff, and when I got to this very room, what do I see but Aeolus is already standing there by Tylowthus. I see him handing him something, though I still don¡¯t know what it was. Some form of bribe. It had to be. Either way, Aeolus took his place back down on the floor next to me. His ugly fucking face looked like he had powered makeup of some kind on. His stupid hat was puffy with three feathers sticking out of the top. He was such a rich, pretty boy. He was of middle age, but still too young to be a ruler. His father had died in an accident trying to glide down to land from his kingdom to show off his magic powers. Both being men of high standing, I suppose we may have struck some kind of friendship in a different life, but as it stood, he was stealing my Kira from me. That was not acceptable. I remember the resulting conversation word for word as it was the start of the worst few days of my life¡­ you know¡­ until you stabbed me with your damn spear that is¡­ I digress. So there we stood, two men before King Tylowthus. Being of higher rank, Aeolus was allowed to speak his case first. ¡°Your Grand Highness,¡± Aeolus started, ¡°Incarta has done me the worst disservice. My entire industry has gone up in flames. Millions of treads in value, gone. Not to mention the smell of cooked horse that rose up to Caelum.¡± At this the king had wrinkled his nose, and I had to cough to stifle a laugh. I hadn¡¯t thought about the smell. ¡°Clearly,¡± Aeolus continued, ¡°I am owed some sort of restitution for what Incarta has done. We have enough tread reserves to rebuild our stables, but it will take time. I don¡¯t want the iron from Incarta,¡± he gestured at the staff with a glowing crystal on top that he was holding, ¡°as I obviously don¡¯t have use for such primitive weapons materials. King Regalia has offered my his only daughter as a bride. Being unmarried and needing an heir, I wish to accept.¡± I looked up at Tylowthus to judge his reaction. The wrinkly old bastard sat up there on his throne, hunched over, fingers laced in front of his old wrinkly face, deep in thought. Without unlacing his fingers he raised his index finger and gestured at me, not saying a word, but indicating I should make a rebuttal. ¡°King Tylowthus, the daughter Kira is already set to marry me within the month. She cannot be promised to this man. The fire was an accident and I can¡¯t be held¡­¡± Aeolus let out a loud, booming laugh from beside me. It made me want to punch him in his powdered face. ¡°An accident, he says! I have word on good authority that your stable master was fucking the stable lord¡¯s wife and knocked a lanturn into a hay pile. Accident!¡± ¡°And as a result you sent fire raining down upon Incarta!¡± I snapped back at him. He was really getting under my skin at this point. Why was it my fault the stable master couldn¡¯t keep it in his trousers? I remember seeing Tylowthus look pointedly at Aeolus for an explanation. The Evania rulers were all about keeping peace in the land, and this was certainly not an act of peace. Aeolus had thrown his arms wide and smiled as if it were an honest mistake. ¡°This was directed at the quadrant where the stable master and his lord lived. I simply sought my targeted retribution on those who had destroyed the industry on Caelum.¡± Tylowthus still sat, silent as ever. It was starting to make me even angrier. ¡°This man broke the Treaty of Peace. He attacked us! He cannot take my wife, as she¡¯s promised to me! If you allow a targeted attack to be okay, then you are inviting hired assassins to kill any one of us leaders and it be okay!¡± The High King unfolded his hands and sat up straight. ¡°This man is right, Aeolus. We have a treaty in place that prohibits any kingdom to wage any war or attack on another kingdom without express written consent from myself and every member of the High Council.¡± Aeolus looked at Tylowthus, his mouth agape. He looked indignant, as if he thought he were about to lose the trial. ¡°With all due respect, Your Highness, I will not allow this¡­this¡­ DUNGEON LORD¡­ to exaggerate the attack and take away my compensation for my loss of millions. It¡¯s an outrage!¡± I had no idea what the hell he¡¯d just called me. I¡¯d never heard the term before. A lord, I was. But I wasn¡¯t the lord of the dungeons. That was Tiberious. Some sort of insult they were calling him behind his back because he managed the underground mines? It was unacceptable. It didn¡¯t seem to phase King Tylowthus though. In fact I swear I saw a small smile curl on the edge of his lips at the mention of it. Tylowthus leaned back in the throne and seemed to be sizing both of us up, looking back and forth between us. ¡°It is a major issue when one of my kingdoms attacks another without permission,¡± he said, glaring at Aeolus. Great! This looked like it was going my way. Kira was going to still be mine! ¡°On the other hand,¡± he continued, ¡°it is a much bigger deal when an entire industry goes down in flames. This affects not just the two kingdoms involved, but the entirety of Evania.¡± What? ¡°Aeolus, I presume you have a party of your women horse wranglers ready to venture to the northern wilds and procure more horses?¡± Tylowthus asked the king. Aeolus nodded. ¡°Of course, My Lord. I know how important our supply of ready and trained stallions is to Evania. We will have a new herd started within the month,¡± he paused and glared at me, ¡°though it will be much smaller than the stock we¡¯ve already lost.¡± Tylowthus sighed. ¡°And you accept this woman from King Regalia as compensation for having to start over?¡± ¡°I do,¡± said Aeolus. ¡°As I said, I need an heir. This woman is of fine beauty and will make fine looking children to continue my line.¡± My hands began to shake. There was no way I was losing this fight. There was no way this bastard was taking my Kira from me. I didn¡¯t even care about the high status she would bring me. She was the love of my life, and I¡¯d fallen for her hard during our courtship. ¡°Okay,¡± said Tylowthus after a long pause where he appeared to be thinking. ¡°I¡¯ve come to my decision. While I do not, and will not tolerate violence between kingdoms, Aeolus, I can see that your damages have been immense¡­¡± What the fuck is happening? ¡°Therefore, I must ask that you compensate Incarta for the damages you¡¯ve done to their buildings, Aeolus, and to make a complete ceasefire in your attacks,¡± Tylowthus said. Aeolus made a deep bow to the high king. ¡°When our herd is back to full strength we will raise our fee paid to Incarta for the services they provide. This will more than pay for the damages over time.¡± ¡°Excellent!¡± exclaimed Tylowthus. ¡°I will write a letter to Regalia explaining these terms¡­ and as for the matter of his daughter, her hand will go to you, Aeolus.¡± ¡°What!¡± I yelled, and it echoed throughout this very room. I couldn¡¯t stop myself. The rage was flowing through my veins. I wanted to attack the high king. I wanted to rip Aeolus¡¯ throat straight out of his neck. All Tylowthus could do was shrug at me. ¡°As it stands, and industry has had a major setback. Financial compensation is being made for the damages done, and to seal the peace, a marriage seems in order. I¡¯m sorry, Lord Cosimir, but it is my job to not only keep the peace, but keep our economy in check. All of this seems to be the fairest way for all.¡± All except me, you old pruny bastard. Looking back, I wish I¡¯d said that part out loud. I realized my mouth was open in shock and I closed it. I didn¡¯t even know what to say. I didn¡¯t even bow to the high king. I just turned and stormed out of the room in a rage. How could they do this to me? What about the work that I did for the iron industry? While I wasn¡¯t a king, what I did still mattered, but they didn¡¯t care. My mind kept going to that sick bastard Aeolus putting his overly-soft hands all over my Kira. Soft hands from living a privileged life that had never seen a real day''s work in their lives. It was repulsing. Once outside the mountain keep, I¡¯ll admit, I broke down into tears. It was hard to tell because it was raining, but I couldn¡¯t help it. They came flooding out. I couldn¡¯t take it. Maybe Kira and I could still run away together? Would I really give up all that I had built for her? At that point I think I would have. She was my world. Determined to get home quickly and tell her the terrible news, and my plan for us to leave Incarta together, I hopped up onto my stolen horse. But no sooner had I sunk down into the saddle than something burning hit me hard in the side. I couldn¡¯t hold on and I went flying off the horse and down into the mud. It scared my horse, which ran off in a panic. There, in the rain stood Tylowthus, his magic staff in hand, pure anger etched into his ugly features. ¡°You! You make me come all this way from my kingdom to answer this insolent trial request. You dare to try and take my promised bride from me. You cost me millions of more treads over time as I now have to raise my fees to your horny stable master!¡± I could see the rage in his eyes, and in that moment I feared for my life. I was used to being talked down to by royalty who thought they were better than me, untouchable, but never had I felt my life being threatened like that before. But instead of attacking, he simply pulled his staff back and got a pout on his face. ¡°I can¡¯t commit murder here in the High Kingdom. Go¡­ go back to your dungeon and mine your metals. I¡¯ll be sure to send you a letter describing the way Kira moans in great detail.¡± I knew he was baiting me, but my head was pounding, I was so filled with rage. I made to stand up, but Aeolus whipped his staff through the air and an invisible force struck me back down. I could feel a slash across my right eye, and felt hot blood dripping down my face. Aeolus spit in my direction, and headed off in the rain to find his own page and horse. I just lay there in the mud, wallowing in my loss. I didn¡¯t know where my horse had gone, and without it I would have a long journey ahead of me to get back to Incarta. I knew that I had to hurry, because Kira would be devastated by the news, and we needed to leave before Aeolus came to take her away. I pulled myself up and started walking in the direction the horse had run off, hoping I wasn¡¯t going to get back home too late. Part 2: Burnt Bridges Eli is staring at me with his eyebrows raised. It appears he doesn¡¯t seem to believe me. ¡°Every word of this story is true,¡± I tell him. ¡°I may have undersold how much of a bastard Aeolus was, I guess. But other than that, all true.¡± Eli nods. ¡°I¡¯m sure. So you go back to Incarta and elope with Kira?¡± ¡°Not exactly,¡± I say. ¡°That leads us into the next part of this tale. *** It had taken me an hour to find King Regalia¡¯s horse and get him to calm down. The rain had cleaned most of the blood off my face, but I knew I must look like a real mess. There was no time to clean up, though. I had to get back to Kira before that piece of shit Aeolus did. Going as fast as my horse would allow, I made what felt like record time. My sole thought the entire way was getting to Kira fast, and what our plan would be to escape Regalia. Where would we go? Where would we live? What else could I possibly do for a living? I would be hunted down, I was sure, but it was worth it for my love. When I made it across the river and back to Incarta, it was midday. That meant that Kara would be out in the gardens, tending to her sunflowers. She was royalty and didn¡¯t need to work for a living, but the sunflowers were a good hobby for her, and she loved the way they looked bright and happy, even on rainy days. ¡®Like little suns on land¡¯ she had always said. It was a beautiful thought, and she was such a kind soul. Just as I¡¯d hoped, she was there in the sunflower garden. I rode the horse right up to her as she sat there on the stone slab bench, admiring her hard work and the beauty of the flowers. She jumped a little as the horse ran up and snorted near her. ¡°Good, you¡¯re here,¡± I said, jumping down from her father¡¯s horse. She smiled at me weakly, but there was a sad look in her eyes. It looked like she was looking at a sick puppy dog that wasn¡¯t going to make it. ¡°I am,¡± she said simply, and then waited for me to speak again. It was hard to look at her when she looked at me like that. All of her beauty that was there before was still there, but it was a ghost of what I had seen before. Now she just looked distraught, as if she had something to say to me she couldn¡¯t quite bring herself to say. ¡°So¡­ the trial didn¡¯t go well,¡± I said to her, thinking this may cause her to break don¡¯t into tears. I sat down next to her and held her hand, bracing myself for what I had to say next. ¡°You are still to go to Aeolus. At least that¡¯s what Tylowthus has ordered¡­¡± ¡°Then we shouldn¡¯t fight it,¡± she cut me off. I was shocked that she would ever say such a thing. Was she afraid of living a life on the run? ¡°These are powerful men, Cosimir. We can¡¯t run from them forever.¡± She paused, unsure how to phrase her next words. ¡°We have to accept our fate.¡± I stood up from the bench ¡°You can¡¯t be serious!¡± I yelled at her. ¡°We have a chance to run away together. Right now. We have a chance to pack our things and leave. To be together.¡± The look she gave me at that seemed to be a moment of disgust, followed again by sadness. There was a thick silence in the air as I waited for her to say something. Anything. And then she nodded. ¡°Alright,¡± she said. ¡°Alright. We can leave in a few days¡­¡± ¡°Tomorrow,¡± I said perhaps a bit too abruptly. ¡°Sorry, but Aeolus can¡¯t be that far behind me. He will be here to collect you in the next day or so. We have to leave tomorrow, at daybreak.¡± A small smile crept onto her face, but I can still see the odd sadness that contradicted this in her eyes. ¡°Okay, love. Tomorrow at daybreak it is.¡±This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. ¡°Perfect! I¡¯ll head back to my quarters and start gathering my¡­¡± something hard connected with the side of my face, and I crumpled to the ground. My head was spinning, and I couldn¡¯t get my bearing fast enough to see what had hit me, before something hard connected with my stomach. ¡°Father don¡¯t!¡± I heard Kira yelling in my fog and confusion. ¡°Steal my horse, you son of a bitch!¡± came the haggard old voice of King Regalia. ¡°Steal my horse and make a damn embarrassment of all Incarta in front of the High King? I had this handled. You had no fucking right!¡± he screamed, aiming another kick, this time at my face. Yeah, that¡¯s how I got this beautiful, crooked nose you see right here. Bastard broke it with that kick. He wasn¡¯t done yet either. I was writhing on the ground trying to get up, when I heard a rustling sound, and felt something tighten around my ankles, pulling them together. ¡°No!¡± Kira screamed at the top of her lungs. There was real panic in her voice, and I was slowly beginning to piece together what was about to happen. ¡°Hiyah!¡± yelled Regalia, and I heard hooves a split second before the ground started moving underneath me. That old bastard had decided to drag me through the town behind his horse as punishment for going above him to the high king. He likely meant for it to kill me. Later he would wish that it had. I don¡¯t remember much from this punishment, other than sheer panic and the thought that I was going to die for sure. No matter how much I scrambled, I wasn¡¯t able to free myself of the rope. Regalia dragged me all the way back through the town and to the gate. I slammed hard into several things along the way, breaking an arm and several ribs. He reached his limit when we were at the gate I guess. He saw I was still alive and hopped off his horse. Spitting on my dust-covered, broken body, he reached for his dagger. I thought he was going to end me, but instead he cut the rope. He stood me up and kicked me right in the ass, sending me sprawling through the open gateway. I staggered back to my feet and turned to look at him, standing in the gateway. Behind him a crowd had gathered to stare at the spectacle that was my punishment. Regalia had a look of such hatred and malice in his eyes. I¡¯d never seen him so angry before. ¡°You are exiled, by penalty of death if you return. Never again will you interfere with the affairs of Incarta,¡± he shook his head at me. ¡°I expected you to know better how the world worked, my old friend. Now get the hell out of here. I never want to see you again.¡± He would see me again, of course, but he definitely didn¡¯t want to see me that time either. *** Can¡¯t get much worse from here you say? Sorry to say, but you¡¯re wrong. Kira had agreed to leave with me, so I couldn¡¯t just leave her to a life with that awful Aeolus. Even though I was threatened with death, I had to go back for her. Even with a broken arm and ribs, I still knew my way around Incarta better than anybody. I found my way back in without being spotted easy enough. My heart beat wildly in my broken chest, so hard that it hurt. As I approached the door of her bedchamber, my hand was shaking. The door was slightly ajar, so I feared the worst; that she was already gone, or that Aeolus was in there right now, sealing the truce, if you know what I mean. Before I could push the door open, I could hear her voice through the door. ¡°I¡¯m just glad he¡¯s alive,¡± I heard Kira say. There was genuine relief in her voice. ¡°I was so afraid that my father was going to kill him before the entire kingdom.¡± There was a pause, and then another voice sounded. I breathed a sigh of relief that it was a female voice, that of her chamber maid, Drilia. ¡°He looked pretty broken, but yes, it¡¯s good he¡¯ll live.¡± I moved to open the door, but then Kira spoke again. ¡°It¡¯s really for the best, anyways. Cosimir was great and all, but he¡¯s no king, you know?¡± My eyes grew wide in shock and horror. Could I have misinterpreted what she just said? ¡°Queen Kira!¡± Drilia giggled. ¡°Has a nice ring to it!¡± My heart sunk as I heard Kira laugh too. ¡°It does, doesn¡¯t it? Can you even imagine? We¡¯re going to the big city in the sky. I¡¯m going to be queen of the sky!¡± ¡°Better than a lady of the dungeon,¡± Drilia chimed in. ¡°Such a downgrade from princess.¡± I could hear Kira giggle again. ¡°Drilia stop! You¡¯re so bad!¡± Their laughter bored through the door and into my very being. I couldn¡¯t believe it. The whole time Kira had pretended to like me to appease her father. Tolerate me, sure. Like me, maybe. But there was definitely no love there. Only love for status. I felt like I¡¯d been hit harder than anything Regalia had thrown at me that day. Not only had I lost the love of my life, but I¡¯d also lost my status and career, for nothing. I wanted to confront her, but I knew at that point she would just call the guards and have them kill me for breaking my exile. Instead of giving her that pleasure, I just slunk off into the darkness, my soul and body completely and utterly ripped apart. Part 3: Baladans Plane ¡°So that was probably the second worst day of your life then,¡± said Eli, smiling. I purse my lips at him and narrow my eyes. What a cocky little fuck. ¡°No,¡± I say. ¡°While what¡¯s to come was bad, that day was much, much worse. Nothing can prepare you for being dragged through the streets. Nothing can prepare you for the embarrassment and degradation. Absolutely nothing can prepare you for losing the love of your life in such spectacular fashion. That day was definitely the worst of my entire life. The day you killed me, very close second.¡± Eli cracks a small smile, and I really wish I possessed the means to kill him right now. As it stands, I can barely keep a form that he can see, so I don¡¯t like my chances of that happening. ¡°Go,¡± I say. ¡°Go sit on your new throne, and I¡¯ll continue my story. You¡¯ll probably want to be sitting for this next part. It gets pretty grim.¡± Eli shrugs and walks over to the throne. It creaks a bit under his gigantic form as he sits. Hope his large form doesn¡¯t break it. It¡¯s an antique after all. ¡°Comfortable?¡± I ask him irritably. ¡°Enough,¡± he shoots back. ¡°Good. Let¡¯s talk about my exile.¡± *** I had spent my entire life in Incarta. I¡¯d grown up working in the mines. I worked hard and always had the kingdom¡¯s interests at heart. That¡¯s why I¡¯d gotten the promotion to Lord so young. That¡¯s also why I didn¡¯t really know anything else, so getting kicked out of my home was a major shock to my system. The vast world of Evania was really so new to me, I didn¡¯t know where to go, really. I decided that I would try and seek refuge in the closest kingdom to the east, Underoth. There was no way I was going to Caelum Rift where that pompous wife-stealer ruled, so Underoth was the next closest place that may be able to use my talents. Though they were a kingdom of fierce dwarves, they still had mining operations, so I thought I¡¯d fit right in. Upon arrival, they knew who I was, and I was not welcomed in. It was a nicer send off than King Regalia had given me, but it still wasn¡¯t the place to settle that I had hoped. Still alone and distraught, I found myself wandering the countryside. Deep hate burned within me for those who had wronged me, and I had no idea how to get my revenge as I couldn¡¯t even find a new home. In a tavern in a little town called Baltha, I had heard tale of a weird, dark force that had befallen The Academy of Solana. Apparently the elf king of Zelira had gone mad and destroyed the Academy, bringing his dark arts there instead. Intrigued at this power, and wondering what I could learn there, I stole a horse and made my way as fast as I could to the place they were now calling Umbra¡¯s Veil. The Veil was the weirdest place I¡¯d ever been, even to this day. It was a kingdom concealed within a wasteland. Not only that, but the elves there all behaved very odd. I was allowed inside, but no one there seemed very friendly. They all kept to themselves, like they were abused children trying to hide their father¡¯s secrets. The funny thing was, once I got in and talked to King Umbra, it was his son who took a liking to me and took me in. Yes, that son was Eldryn, the very elf who served me for three hundred years, and the same one that now serves you, Eli. I remember our first meeting well. We were all in the lavish throne room of Umbra¡¯s Veil, and Umbra was about to tell me to get lost when his son spoke up for me. He was such a tall, spindly elf. You would never think that he would go on to become the most powerful sorcerer in the land. ¡°Can we not give this man some quarters, Father?¡± Eldryn spoke up as Umbra glared at him. ¡°He has obviously been through much distress. His arm is broken for Solana¡¯s sake. It¡¯s not like he¡¯s a spy. I have a spare bed in my chambers. He can stay in my winter bed.¡± The thought of a winter bed was insane to me, extra lavish for no reason, but I guess it was because it was a smaller room that had hot air piped in from a boiler. Anyways, Umbra was still not happy about this, but allowed me to stay for a time. ¡°What exactly is this place?¡± I asked once we got to his chambers. ¡°What happened to the Academy of Solana¡¯s Light?¡± Eldryn looked like he knew he shouldn¡¯t tell me, but he did anyway. ¡°My father had to get away from my mother. He¡¯s working on some secret project to help save Evania from some dark evil he sees coming. Mother never approved.¡± I looked at him sideways, not sure how much I should pry. Wanting to get the power to seek revenge on my new enemies, I decided to pry as much as I could. ¡°Secret project?¡± I asked. ¡°Something dark, I assume? Has to be to make your mother so mad.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Eldryn admitted. ¡°I don¡¯t know all the details of what my father is cooking up. What I do know is that my entire life I¡¯ve been studying the way of Solana¡¯s Light under my father. And now we¡¯re looking for something else. Something dark. Something forbidden.¡± I sat down on the winter bed and waited for him to continue. Sometimes it¡¯s best to just let people talk and reveal all their secrets, you know? And that¡¯s exactly what he did. ¡°We¡¯re looking for the forbidden magic, Virmorphia,¡± he admitted. I just smiled politely, still waiting for him to tell me more. ¡°My father believes it¡¯s the only thing that¡¯s going to stop the evil that is going to befall the Evania family. He¡¯s seen dark visions of their demise. Tylowthus, the entire family, murdered. I don¡¯t know how the dark magic will help, but I¡¯ve been tasked in trying to help him unlock it.¡± Dark magic? That sounds perfect to me. Sounds exactly like what I¡¯m looking for in order to take my revenge. ¡°What do you know of this dark magic?¡± I ask, trying to sound like I¡¯m just trying to hold a conversation. ¡°Not a lot,¡± Eldryn says. ¡°I know that Solana¡¯s Light is something that takes decades to fully embrace, and dark magic is more taken by force. You get Solana¡¯s Light through a baptism in a holy river that clears your mind and spirit of any impurities. The unfortunate part is that it doesn¡¯t instill you with the magic that easy. It just cleans the slate. From there you have to perform studies, meditations, and prayers to learn the way of Solana¡¯s Light. It¡¯s a long process.¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°And this dark magic?¡± I ask, egging him on. ¡°Well¡­¡± he sounds hesitant, ¡°from what we¡¯ve uncovered it¡¯s a similar ritual to the baptism, but much more dark. Much more brutal. You have to go to the brink of drowning, the brink of death. You force the dark magic into your mind and soul when you are all but dead to this world. The power is absolute, and strong.¡± I stroke my chin, as if thinking. ¡°So it sounds like you know how this works. Why can¡¯t you just complete the ritual and take the magic for yourselves?¡± Eldryn shrugs. ¡°We¡¯re missing the key ingredient. Where you can get baptised and introduced to Solana¡¯s Light in either of the Twin Rivers here in Evania, we don¡¯t have the right elements to perform the baptism of darkness. There is no source of it in all of Evania. We suspect the Evania family has rid the world of it, the Virmorph liquid.¡± I give this some thought. ¡°So, the element isn¡¯t in this world any longer? Have you tried another plane?¡± Eldryn lets out a giant laugh. ¡°Sure, Friend. We¡¯ll just open up a portal to Baladan¡¯s plane and see if they have any Virmorph pools lying about.¡± I tilt my head and look at him, throwing my arms wide to suggest that it may be the only way. What followed this was six of the most intense months of study I¡¯d ever done in my life. I was driven by my rage to devour any text I could on the dark arts and what it would take to get this divine power of dark magic. Eldryn was with me every step of the way. Of course over time he learned of my motives, and he accepted that I wanted a taste of the power for myself. Eventually even his father Umbra welcomed my help in their studies, though I had little interaction with the king himself. Finally, in an old tome from Nimber, we found our answer. The arcane texts talked of a ritual that would open a portal to Baladan¡¯s Plane. The only problem was, they weren¡¯t willing to pay the price to make it happen. ¡°I¡¯ll do it,¡± I told Eldryn one rainy day. We were sitting in a side chamber of the library on the lower levels of the keep. It was where we¡¯d often go to study away from the prying eyes of his father. Whilst Umbra approved of our studies, he always seemed to try and hover over us, ready to steal any answers we found. It was all well and good that he wanted the power, but I wanted to be the one to get it first, to control the darkness and use it for my revenge. Eldryn looked at me, shocked. ¡°You want to do the ritual? I mean, you¡¯ve read this book. You see what you have to do¡­¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m perfectly aware. Who better to do this than someone who has nothing else to live for?¡± I say, meaning every word of it. I was ready. It was either going to work, or I was going to die. Either way, I¡¯d made peace with the outcome. In order to get more privacy for the ritual, we stowed away down to the dungeons. It was dank and dark, a musty smell in the air, but it was the perfect, private place to be able to perform the dark ritual. We¡¯d procured the sacrificial animal, a woodland fox, from the woods behind Umbra¡¯s Veil, and made sure we were alone in the dark dungeon. Everyone in the city was so afraid of Umbra and his wrath that there were no prisoners down in the dungeons. We were completely alone. The part of the ritual I regret the most was sacrificing the fox. To start the ritual, I had to kill it and draw a circle with its blood. This was to satisfy the animalistic sacrifice required of the beastly dark god that Baladan was. Next was the part that Eldryn was afraid to complete himself, but I was willing to do as long as it had a small chance to bring my revenge to fruition. I took the same knife that I¡¯d slain the fox with, and pulled it across my right wrist. Blood rushed forth, and with my left hand I took the blood and drew a set of specific runes set out by the book. As I did this, Eldryn held the book up for me to read from. It was a strange language. Tongues I¡¯d never heard before. The more of the runes I drew, and the more words I spoke the weaker I became. I wasn¡¯t sure if it was the loss of blood or the magic of the words, but my life force seemed to be leaving me quickly. Just when I thought I would surely pass out and die, the runes began to glow on the ground. A new energy filled me, seeing that the ritual was starting to work. I chanted louder and drew faster. I was a madman, driven by my need to make this ritual work. I chanted faster and faster, and the runes glowed brighter and brighter, lighting up the dark dungeons. Finally, when the red light was almost blinding, a hole opened up in thin air. A wind filled the room as the red circle that appeared before us in the air pulsed with red light, electric like lightning blazing across the sky during the darkest of storms. The hole morphed and stretched until it was a full oval in front of us. It was an odd site. We could see the dungeon around us, and yet within the oval we saw a completely different space. It was a dark, magnificent chamber. Within this new world were all kinds of odd gadgets, technology that neither Eldryn, I, nor anyone in all of Evania had ever seen the likes of. I looked at Eldryn, and I could see the dark smile spread across his face. We¡¯d done it. We¡¯d opened the portal to Baladan¡¯s Plane. And now there was only one thing we could do. We had to enter the portal. Of course I went first. I had been the leader in this entire endeavor, and Eldryn was acting like a scared little boy that followed me, though he was much older than I, as elves live much longer than humans. Going through the portal was weird. I was expecting some kind of jolt, or change in my body of some kind. Somehow it was just like walking into another room on this plane. It was easy to pass through. Looking back, I could see Eldryn on the other side, back in our world, hesitating to follow me. I shrugged at him and continued to walk through the strange new room. If he didn¡¯t want to follow, that was his problem. I was ready to accept my destiny and get my revenge. It wasn¡¯t long before we found the inhabitant of the dwelling we had entered. Sitting in a dark stone chair was a man. Though it was no man. It had the body of a man, but the face that very much reminded me of the fox I had just killed. It stared at me as I approached, utterly confused about the intrusion. ¡°How did you get here?¡± the fox-man hissed in a low, demonic whisper. ¡°No mortal has entered this plan in thousands of years. How is it possible that you are here?¡± I quickly bowed, hoping that the custom of being submissive was prevalent in this domain. It seemed to be, as the fox-man didn¡¯t strike me down, though he very well had the power to. ¡°I am Cosimir,¡± I said in my deep bow. It was at this time that I realized my clothes were soaked in my own blood, and I was a terrible mess, but given the ritual, this must have been expected. The fox just smiled his sly grin. ¡°Welcome to the underworld,¡± said the fox. ¡°Here they call me Glaryn. I¡¯ve heard tales of mortals from your plane of existence, but never have I seen one with my own eyes. You even speak our language. Remarkable.¡± I found it odd that we understood each other as well, and then I realized that our common tongue likely originated from these other planes. ¡°Yes, My Lord,¡± I say, not sure how to address the being. ¡°We come seeking your divine magic, so that we may help bring your will to the mortal realm.¡± At this point I¡¯m embellishing a bit, because I don¡¯t really know if the fox Glaryn has his own end game. I just know that people tend to give you what you want when it lines up to being of greater benefit to them. ¡°You seek Virmorphia,¡± said Glaryn, never losing his grin. ¡°Yes, My Lord. The magic of our land is The Light of Solana. It takes a long time to learn and we¡¯ve found it¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s just not up to snuff for what we need to accomplish.¡± ¡°Exactly,¡± said Glaryn, standing from his chair. He¡¯s an easy seven foot tall, towering over me. I¡¯d never felt so small in my life than at that point. ¡°I appreciate this sentiment as you address me,¡± he continued, gesturing at my bow, ¡°but you will kneel before me.¡± Without pause, I get down to my knees and bow my head. ¡°Good,¡± says Glaryn. ¡°Now, if you seek Virmorphia, you and your¡­¡± I glance up and see him gaze through the portal at Eldryn who is still hesitant to enter, ¡°colleague must venture to the dark recesses of the Toroglade. There, your next trial awaits.¡± I heard Eldryn give a small yelp behind me, but I was ready for whatever else they required to get the power I needed. ¡°Just show us the way,¡± I said confidently. Little did I know that the trials I had gone through to get this far were nothing compared to what lay ahead.