The Emperor

Emperor Arokarn knew he was dying. He had lived multiple millennia and ruled as Emperor for over a century. Even before his Emperorship he had ruled and lived countless other lives but this was his last life, his magic was fading. He had entered his twilight years and it was only a matter of time before Omitheos accepted him into his divine halls. He decided to regress into the depths of his palace, leaving his council to rule. He no longer carried about the lives of all the humanoid races. He had tried his best to be fair and just. When the new races were formed, long before he became Emperor he knew that one day someone would have to free them, it turned out to be him. Not everyone was happy but that was the sacrifice of ruling, you could never please everyone. He wanted to be happy one last time, he wanted to experience his true form, one last time, before he died, it's why he had the secret chamber in the mountain built. Only a handful knew his true form, no one else had needed to. The builders had thought him crazy but he wanted it as his tomb, the last resting place of Emperor Arokarn.

As he awaited in his mountainous crypt he sensed them coming. He knew death was upon him but he would not fight it. He had fought enough, now was the time for rest.

The bed stopped. The six of them crammed on the silk sheets starred into a dark tunnel. It was quiet. Slowly they all stepped off the bed and began to creep down the tunnel. It wasn't very long and they eventually got to the end within a couple minutes. The tunnel opened into a large chasm. The chasm was man made, carved out by tool. At the center of it shocked them all. A gargantuan golden dragon lay resting on a literal mountain of god, gems and whatever the imagination could think of. It seemed to be sleeping, taking in large slumber like breaths. It's golden wings creating a blanket over it's scaly body.

"What the f---" Zelfid was cut off by the leader's hand clasping over his mouth. None of them had ever seen a dragon let alone one of this magnitude. Rothox looked at his dagger, it felt pretty stupid guessing it was barely bigger than one of the teeth in beast mouth.

"Is that the Emperor?" the female asked.

"It would appear so," another one replied.

"How do we kill that thing? It's enormous." the female said.

"If it breathes, it bleeds." The leader lifted his sword up. "We continue with the plan." He crept closer. A small set of stairs led down to the bottom of the crypt. From the bottom of the stairs there was a few paces of empty space before the large pile of gold began.

"Fuck this," Zelfid turned to leave.

"Zelfid, don't." The one Rothox knew grabbed him by the arm.

"I'm not fighting a damn dragon, I'm out." He pulled his arm away and went to make his way back down the tunnel.

The leader looked back, "Vorthas." The demonblood that had laughed at the Hornless name grabbed Zelfid by the head and snapped his neck with ease. The body slumped to the floor. "Anyone else want to leave?" The leader asked calmly. No response. "Good."

Rothox watched Zelfid's body twitch slightly as the nerves sent one last signal. He made eye contact with his acquaintance. The look he received said it all.

With their weapons ready they moved towards the large being. Even though it was terrifying, Rothox felt that it looked peaceful. There was one more problem before they could reach the Emperor. His mound of coins. It would be impossible to be quiet, the gold would surely make noise, let alone trying to climb a moving surface.

"What now?" the female whispered.

"We dash. We all go for the head."

That's exactly what they did. From thirty or so feet away they all ran up the coin. It began to make a slight avalanche underneath them but they kept pushing forwards. Rothox got to the head first. The eyes themselves were as big as him. He hesitated.

"Kill it!" the leader yelled as he got beside Rothox and jabbed his sword into the head, just behind the eye. Rothox watched as the eye opened, as the dragon felt the pain of half a dozen weapons being stabbed into him. The golden eye focused on Rothox, who had yet to attack. In his mind he heard a familiar voice, the voice from his dreams. 'This is your destiny...I forgive you'. Rothox tried to reply but he couldn't as the large eye closed for the last time.

Rothox needed to show he had participated. After the dragon was gone he gently slid his daggers into the flesh. They came out coated in a thick ichor. The others were covered in the blood of the Emperor, he was clean, hopefully they wouldn't notice. A heavy hand clapped him on the back.

"Well done." Rothox turned to see the leader, grinning at him, blotches of blood on his face. "You have just changed the future of the world." He took a step back to marvel at their handy work. "Alright, take what you can, we only have a small window of time before the servants are back in the tunnels. You deserve it." The four of them began to fill their bags and pockets with as much coin as they could carry. Rothox looked around at the pile of treasure. The vast amount made it all seem useless. An object caught his attention. Half buried in the pile, a few feet from him, looked to be a leather belt with four ornate throwing daggers attached to it. He took the belt and was satisfied with that.

Just as they had arrived the five demonbloods left, with the one named Vorthas carrying the dead Zelfid. Rothox took one more glance at the golden dragon. Whatever his destiny was he would figure it out and honor this being's sacrifice. The same mechanism on the bed brought them back into the room. They made sure that it looked clean and untouched before heading into the servant's tunnels and out of the palace. They heard a few voices and had to duck into a few rooms as a couple servants were returning to work. They used the rope to get out of the palace window they had entered. Vorthas was the last through, He dropped Zelfid through and as they all caught him to minimize the noise. Vorthas retrieved the rope and jumped out of the window, falling fifteen feet. He landed on his feet with an impact that didn't phase him. The gondola was still on the other side of the volcano. They had to summon it which would definitely bring attention but it was the only way.

The leader and Vorthas waited for the gondola together while the others remained out of sight as best they could on top of a barren mountain. Two soldiers came up with the gondola, Rothox noticed the same one they had encountered coming the other way. The leader chatted with him for a brief second before he and Vorthas dispatched them with a sudden burst of speed. He waved them over. Once again as they travelled down and across the crater three more bodies fed the lava. As the gondola returned the guards at the bottom were shot with a volley of arrows. Another four more bodies were dragged to the edge and shoved into the volcano. The assassins removed the bloody armor and threw it in the volcano tumbling after the bodies.

The leader led the way back towards the original meeting point.

"It's done. You all have been a part of the future of Yulandi. Remember this day as the day of true freedom." He gave them all a nod before he and Vorthas disappeared into the night. The two others left and it was just Rothox and the first Inferno he had met.

"I can't believe it, a dragon!" Clearly his adrenaline was still flowing.

"Ya...a dragon," said Rothox.

"You were amazing, truly. Thank you."

Rothox gave him a sullen nod.

"May our paths cross again." He extended his arm. Rothox clasped his forearm. "Be seeing you." he said.

He still had never learnt his name and he never did. Rothox was left hiding in the shadows alone. Rothox began to make his way to the Gala. The pain of guilt and the thought of his destiny battled inside him. He knew what had occurred would help his people but what had been the cost. He turned his attention to the Gala as he neared the estate's outer wall. Alissa would know by now he never showed, but he had to try and keep his cover. Better late than never.