One Year Later

The wind no longer stung her eyes when she stood on the bow of the ship. The last few months onboard the skyship traveling the world had been a dream come true for Alissa. She leaned over the edge, it was a clear day and she could see a pod of whales migrating across the Endless Ocean. Sixx said it would be another day before they reached the continent of Helios. It would be her first time going there. Harim walked up to stand beside her, he didn't say anything as he placed his hand on her left shoulder. She smiled and squeezed his hand. Today marked one year since that fateful day. The three of them had somehow managed to fly Sixx's ship to Tilamonka. Luckily Til'ka was just north of the Udon Jungle. He healed their physical wounds but their bodies were spent emotionally and physically, which needed time to heal.

The political fallout of the newly instated Emperor suddenly vanishing along with his Champion shook the continent. Only a handful of people knew the truth behind Ottothal's rise to power and most of them were dead. Those that had been forced to agree to his demands to abolish the Kingdoms and unify under Sa'vour permanently came to gather to work on a solution. There was civil unrest the following months as those that had been oppressed the last year were angry at the gentry as they tried to decide the outcome of the continent. Eventually, it was decided that the abolishment of the Kingdoms would stand and each Kingdom would become a province with a united elected leader. An Emperor would be voted on by a council of representatives from each province. The council would be made up of all types of people so everyone would have a voice and each provincial council would appoint a leader that would represent them in the capital council. The Emperor would rule for the five years as before however they would vote on each succession. A year later Meldhammer was elected as the first Emperor of the new Yulandi.

Upon leaving Til'ka they traveled back to Blackthorne Castle. They weren't sure what they would find as it had been two weeks but they prepared to face Vorthas and his demons. However, the ruins were deserted. They searched through the rubble for the bodies of their friends so that they may give them a proper burial. It was slow going as the castle grounds were unstable, constantly collapsing and falling into the black hole. They found no bodies. Unfortunately, due to the pull of the sphere they had to assume their friends had been sucked in as it was too dangerous to go check for fear of them getting pulled in too. They had informed Tilamonka about the sphere of obliteration and he had told them it would likely never go away unless a team of the powerful mage's intervened. A forever reminder of the sacrifice they had endured.

Vorthas and his small horde of demons had vanished, initially only the three of them knew they were out in the world and now Ttilamonka knew and likely the Pingstatera too. If Vorthas were to resurface they would know. Harim wanted to return to the monastery before they set off on their journey across the world but he no longer sensed their directional pull. He knew they weren't gone, merely stepping back from the world, returning to a watchful position as balance had been restored, for the time being.

Sixx set the skyship down near the city of Bahir. It was midday and they could hear the noise of thousands of people going about their day. They had flown to the city for two reasons: Sixx had found a seller for the last piece she needed to finish building Atwo; Atow's successor and Harim had finally read the scroll from Master Tensang. His parents were in Bahir.

"Harim you coming?" Alissa looked up at him from the sandy outskirts of the city. Harim stared at the city, somewhere in there was his parents. He took a deep breath and jumped off the deck landing in the sand beside Alissa with a gentle thud. "You got this," she said.

"Alright, let's go find my parents."

"Vorthas…welcome. I was wondering when you would make your way here." Lord Cragxan sat on his throne in the dark halls of his keep. He had returned to his tether after his physical body had been mortally wounded. It had only been a couple of months since the magic that linked him to this plane had rebuilt him. That process had taken almost a year. During his absence, his lands were divided up by the Prince turned councilman. The young councilman sent men to seize his fortress but they never returned. Cragxan's golem and personal army made sure to protect his home while he mended. The boy didn't send another battalion, choosing to let the structure stand and wither away over time, or so he thought. This gave Cragxan time to build a plan and how he would eventually return to the world.

"Cragxan…you look well." Vorthas walked closer in his demonblood form.

Cragxan admired himself, "I feel great, nearly back to full strength."

"I see." Vorthas took another step forward.

Cragxan's guards grew nervous and gripped their weapons tighter. Vorthas wasn't alone, he had brought his demons with him, about fifty of them in total. The majority had stayed outside the keep, taking four inside with him. They let out a few deep growls at the guards which caused them to grow more nervous.

"Your guards are tense, Cragxan…" Vorthas was at the bottom of Cragxan's elevated throne.

"They haven't seen a demon before." Cragxan tapped his cane, it ringed off the smooth marble. Hsi guards did their best to shake their nerves. "Why are you here?"

Vorthas didn't like that he was looking up at Cragxan. He slowly changed into his demonic form, directly in front of Cragxan. His skin stretched and pulled into thicker muscle. His horns grew larger and his tail longer. The red wings sprouted from his back. At his full height he looked Cragxan eye to eye. His large wings curled at his back, his horns massive and daunting as he leaned in. "Are we not allies?"

Cragxan was a powerful vampire, this show of intimidation wouldn't work on him. "Our mutual ally is dead. That makes us nothing."

"Careful Cragxan, I came here as an ally…but if you don't see us as one I can just as easily become your enemy." Vorthas's eyes flared.

"Ottothal may have seen you as an equal but I know the truth. You demons are lowlifes." Cragxan growled. "You are nothing compared to us vampires or even the races of this world. You need us to survive, we don't need you."

Vorthas chuckled and without breaking eye contact with Cragxan the four demons with Vorthas dismembered all the guards in the Lord's hall. It happened so fast they had no time to react.

"What are you doing!" Cragxan went to stand but Vorthas with his demonic speed removed his large sword from his back and held it at the vampire's throat. Cragxan laughed. "I have an army,"

"So do I." The sounds of screams echoed around them as the demons outside began slaughtering Cragxan's men.

"You can't kill me, I'll just come back and keep coming back."

"Not this time." Vorthas swung his sword around decapitating the Lord's head. It sailed across the room hitting a suit of armor with a loud crash. The blood stained the tapestry hanging on the wall behind it. Vorthas grabbed the body with one hand and flung it to the other side of the hall and sat on the throne. "Find his tether, it's somewhere in this keep."

It didn't take them long to uncover the tether and destroy it. Cragxan would not be returning. Vorthas and his demons made the Cragxan Keep their home, waiting for the right time to emerge. They were used to waiting but this time they wouldn't have to wait long, they were already on the other side.

A week went by and a lone figure approached the keep. They kept their hood up after gaining entrance into the keep. The figure entered the hall, walking with purpose straight towards Vorthas who sat confidently on his pedestal. The stranger walked straight to the stairs and knelt before the demon.

"I have returned, master," a female voice said from beneath the cowl.

"Remove your hood so I may see who calls me master."

The figure reached up with two fingers on each side and slowly drew back the red cloth, revealing two pointy ears and long black hair. She looked up at him with black eyes.

"My dear Lauralith or should I say…Trixia." He grinned. It has been some time." He motioned for the slender elven lady to stand. "I do apologize for our last encounter…we had to make it look real."

THE END.