Ascension

Ottothal walked out into the center of the arena in front of the remaining spectators. He wore an elegant gown, fit for an Emperor. It was a dark red, with black and gold trim. He wore no crown. Following him out into the center was Queen Amalia, King Meldhammer, The King of Xecatan, and Lord Cragxan. Lord Cragxan, representing Orlan, as the Prince was still too young to become King following his father's assassination. Cragxan being a powerful political figure and the prince's godfather was by default given command of the Kingdom until the prince became of age. One by one they bowed and kissed the hand of Ottothal signifying their acceptance of the outcome of the Trial and their loyalty to him as the new Emperor.

The new Emperor slowly took in all the people watching from their seats. "People of Yulandi…today, I, Ottothal Blackthorne swear to make our continent whole!" The crowd cheered. "As of this moment, all the Kingdoms are abolished. This will be the last Ascension Trial, there are no more Kingdoms, just one united Empire, The Empire of Sa'vour." Half the crowd cheered, the other half was confused and unsure if it what he was saying was real.

"You can't do this!" Queen Amalia lifted her head upon hearing his words.

"Actually I can…" Ottothal had finished his speech.

"You need unanimous support from the current rulers and I will never agree to this."

"Then you will die, and I will make the next ruler, or the next until one agrees."

"The others will never agree, right?" She looked at her fellow leaders. They all looked at her with faces of fear except Cragxan who simply smiled.

'You see Amalia, they had the same option as you and they all chose to live…See, it was I who had the previous Kings assassinated, yes your husband, such a travesty he didn't want to play along. It was who orchestrated the assassination of Emperor Erokan." He leaned in. "I win."

"I'd rather die than live in a world ruled by you."

Ottothal got very close to her. She could smell iron on his breath. "Disappointing." He flicked his hand towards Cragxan who grabbed her beautiful hair, pulled her head back, and sliced her exposed neck with a curved dagger.

The pain was quick. Amalia closed her eyes, "Alissa, my love you must stop him." With her last bit of magic, she extended a message spell towards her adopted daughter before the warm embrace of her husband carried her away.

Panic began to set in for people from the spectators especially those from the other Kingdoms, seeing the Queen of Viviar killed in cold blood right in front of them. Ottothal turned to them.

"This is what can happen if you think you are better than your fellow Yulandians. We are all united, we are equals. Queen Amalia would rather have a world filled with a hierarchy, a place where you are constantly looked down on by your neighbor for having less or being different. No more. I will bring an end to injustices, judgment, and any prejudice." He pointed to the body of Amalia. "Let this be a lesson to you all. Anyone that does not comply will face a swift death. Let us create a fair and equal land, together we can create the perfect world." With that Ottothal turned and walked away, the ex-rulers followed; sheep being led by the wolf.

"Mother!" Alissa yelled. They were a few miles from the island but a voice reached her mind. It was Queen Amalia. Alissa looked for Erigos but remembered, she was alone. She grabbed her legs and curled up into a ball, sobbing into her knees below deck.

"Lis?" Rothox came down the steps. "What's going on, you yelled out." He came and sat beside her.

"I..think Ottothal killed her." She said through her tears.

"Killed who?"

"Amalia..."

"What makes you say that?" He put an arm around her and pulled her close.

"She spoke to me saying, 'We have to stop him.' Then I felt her presence fade."

"Isn't that just the spell ending?"

"Maybe…but it felt different. I've always just had that feeling that she was there, you know." He didn't but he nodded in agreement. He had no parents left. "Now it feels…well like my real parents, like there is a hole."

"Oh…Lis." He wasn't good at this but he tried, giving her a hug. After a moment he tried to pull back but she held him, grasping his sleeve. She pulled him close. He squeezed her, not too hard that it would hurt but enough that she felt safe and secure in his arms.

"Thank you, Rothox." She looked at him, fresh tears in her eyes. He used his sleeve to wipe them away.

"Hey, we need to stick together, we are family. You, me, and Harim."

"And Julius," she said.

"Yes and Julius." He smiled, squeezed her one last time. I have something to show you." He held out his hand. She took it, he led her back to the top deck, where the sun was just beginning to set.

"The sunset?" she asked.

"No, something else." Although the sunset was beautiful on this clear evening. Yellows and reds filled the horizon with hints of pink and blue. It would have been enjoyable on any other night. Rather he was focused on something else in the sky. "See that single cloud ahead of us."

"Ya." She sniffled.

"Do you see any other clouds?"

She looked around scanning the sky. "No, I don't see any others, just that one."

"That's because it's the Monastery."

She cheered up for a brief second. Alissa had liked being at the Cloud Monastery the first time. "Are we going there?"

"We are. Harim noticed it earlier, told Captain Sixx to make a course for it."

"What does it mean?"

"I don't know but Harim thinks it means they are here to help."

With the sun fully set the skyship landed on the cobblestone path of the floating monastery. There was a weird feeling in the air. Master Tensang approached alone. Harim eagerly jumped off the skyship to greet his old mentor. They both bowed and neither said anything for a moment. It was a monk thing.

Finally, Master Tensang spoke, "Follow me."

"My friends too?" Harim asked.

"Yes, the four of you."

Alissa, Rothox, and Julius made their way off the skyship and silently followed the two monks into the monastery. Master Tensang took them through the winding halls, down a familiar path. They ended up in the Columns. There were no other monks around.

"Where are the others?" Harim asked.

Without saying anything, Master Tensang walked towards the large tome chained to the desk. He flipped it to a certain page, the heavy book slamming onto the table, echoing through the empty library. After a second of him reading he closed the tome and he approached the left Column, the one for history before the Rebirth. He reached for the lever but did something with his foot at the same time. It rotated all the way so that the top of the Column was visible until it rotated to be flush with the stone floor. Harim wasn't aware they could do that. Master Tensang stood on the marble platform, making enough room for them all to get on. The Columns are easily eight feet in diameter, massive pillars. Once they were all on Master Tensang who had positioned himself near the levers that activate the pillar pushed it, sending them twisting into the ceiling.

Garrok watched from his balcony as Ottothal took command of Yulandi. He wanted to be by his side when he did but the energy required to awaken the artifacts and turn him into the red dragon had left him exhausted, hardly able to walk. He only managed to get off the sand with the last bit of adrenaline before collapsing to the ground in the tunnel. The healers had thought the arrow wound had somehow withstood their magic but it was the magic of the artifacts that had sapped his energy. He only needed rest now.

He watched as Cragxan killed Queen Amalia and when her body hit the sand Garrok felt something he had suppressed trying to come out, a similar feeling he had when he saw the aftermath of his battle with Erigos. Seeing his old friend charred and burnt to ash. There was more to the magic of the artifacts than he had known than Ottothal had known. He felt that it was influencing him that the power of wielding them all had altered his mind. He growled, stumbled to the seating area, and collapsed on the couch. His body was fighting him, an internal struggle of an older Garrok and the new one. He faded off to sleep with a thought racing through his mind, something his mother had always said, "Your blood doesn't define you."