Chapter 3

Aiden and River each spent several hours completing their morning training routines. After showering off, they had dressed in their usual fighting leathers. Aiden turned to River. "Perhaps it would be best if we explore the improvements to the castle. I noticed several new hallways."

"Of course, where would you like to begin?" responded River. "I noticed one new stairwell at the end of this hallway. Perhaps we should begin there?" replied Aiden. They exited the training room and followed the hallway to the new stairs. River spoke first, "We have a pretty good idea of what's up. Let's try down first. Once we've finished exploring the new downstairs, we can use the same stairwell to go back upstairs." "Good plan. After you, partner," said Aiden, as he extended his arm in a mock gentlemanly gesture. River grunted a reply then descended the stairs with Aiden following closely behind.

At the base of the stairs, a hallway opened up in front of them. Both sides of the hallway were lined with cells. The presence of the bars on the doors made it clear this wing of the castle was to be used as a dungeon. At the end of the hall, stood a solid door. A heavy iron bar and lock sealed the door. Whatever was in that room, it was clear to them that the Empress did not want anyone accessing it that did not belong. Slowly and carefully, they moved towards the door, prepared for an attack at any time, as was their nature. Carefully they unlatched the lock, and slowly opened the heavy wooden door. Inside they found what appeared to be yet another cell. The room was filled with the weight of a heavy power. The power felt similar to the Jewel Empresses, yet it was somehow different; stronger, frightening. At the back of the room stood a portal. Unlike the bright, colorful, welcoming portals from the previous day, this portal swirled in shades of black and grey. It gave off a foreboding presence. Nearing the portal, they could feel the temperature in the room drop to a bone chilling cold. Above the portal was a sign on the wall that read, "Judgment of the Gods." The warriors looked at one another. As if by an unspoken mutual agreement, the two men left the room barring the door as they exited. This was not a room they wanted to be in often.

Without a word, they ascended the stairs. They noted that the courtyard in the center of the castle had been expanded significantly. It was now large enough to fit several dragons and still have room to spare. There were new types of plants, flowers, trees, and bushes they had seen in other realms but had not seen here in this realm before.

Bypassing the first floor that held the common rooms and training room, the men returned to the second floor. A thorough exploration of the floor revealed an expanded library, several sitting rooms, an extensive atrium, a few entertainment rooms, and several rooms lined with small desks as though meant for children. The third floor was all single bedroom units with attached bathrooms. The rooms were clean and functional but held no personal appeal. Their own bedrooms resided on this floor at opposite ends of the floor, each near a stairwell. This would be advantageous for guarding and quick exits.

The fourth and fifth floors of the castle appeared to be small suites. Each suite held two bedrooms, a common room, a bathroom and had a small balcony. These suites would serve families very well. Aiden and River expected the single rooms would be used by mostly warriors and champions while the larger rooms on these two floors would house families. Both men agreed this setup would make it easier to protect young ones. It was clear that the Empresses had plans for this clan to be very large.

The top floor of the castle revealed a large spacious suite. It had four bedrooms, a common room, a very luxurious bathroom suite, a private library, a kitchenette, and had a small balcony. Aiden and River explored this suite briefly. There was no point in becoming intimately familiar with a set of rooms clearly not meant for them. Whomever was to receive these rooms would be incredibly lucky indeed.

Exiting the balcony, was a set of stairs. The stairs lead to the rooftop. On the rooftop, Aiden found a very spacious and convenient landing spot which could be used in his dragon form. Descending from the other side of the rooftop was a set of stairs that bypassed the penthouse suite. Each floor below the penthouse floor had a small landing on the staircase with a door leading to that floor. Clearly, this rooftop was meant to be used by more than just his dragon, a fact he would do well to remember for future reference with his mate.

The men returned to the first floor for a more thorough exploration. They found the kitchen and dining hall had been expanded and updated to the most advanced technology available throughout the realms. There was now a large room with a stage that appeared to be a ballroom. The sound system for the room had a large control panel built into the wall at the back and resembled the technology seen in the feline and kitsune realms. It was as if only the best of each world would be brought into this new world with their inhabitants.

Further exploration revealed a large, indoor pool room. The pool room included several hot tubs, 3 children's pools of advancing depth and size and splash and play areas. It reminded the men of the indoor water parks they had seen in the human world. It made sense to the men to make humans feel more comfortable as every Shifter would have a human form.

Returning to the library, the men found a doorway leading off the library. Passing through the doorway revealed a set of rooms clearly designed for planning their missions. Every security measure available in all the realms could be found in these rooms. Monitors lined one full wall with a never-ending parade of images fed by hidden cameras throughout the castle. After watching the camera feeds for a short time, the men discovered there were rooms they had not yet explored. They set off in search of the rooms.

As they re-entered the library to exit the suite of rooms, they were stopped by the appearance of a tiny creature they knew to be a brownie. Brownies had long served the Empresses in many capacities, most commonly as messengers to the Champions. They men were familiar with this brownie and called her by name. "Welcome, Esmerelda. We weren't expecting you today. We just finished with the tour of the improvements made to the castle. I'm assuming you had a hand in those. We thank you and your family for your contributions. They are most impressive," said River.

Esmerelda shyly replied, "You are most welcome Champions. I bring orders from my mistress for you. Today, many of my relatives and friends will join you here at the castle. We will serve the Empresses by serving their Champions. It will be our honor to help you grow your clan. The head brownie of your household will be named Mara. When you need something, you need only call out her name. She will see to it you are provided what you need." With an edge to her voice, she continued, "I also bring a message from Empress Obsidian. She will be in charge of the efforts to bring to justice those tribe members who were complicit in the rebellion. On this scroll, you will find the name and location information for the traitors of the canine tribe. You are to eliminate the traitors, deliver the proclamation of the Empresses, and open the portals for the evacuations." It was clear from her tone that she still held deep anger for those who had betrayed the Empresses. Brownies were very loyal by nature and held great power on their own. Part of their strength was in their numbers and their ability to work together to achieve their goals. To anger one was to anger them all. Gods help the person who made that mistake.

"The portals will activate in three days. Your mission must be complete by the time the sun sets on the third day." She handed a scroll to Aiden. Without waiting for a reply, Esmerelda disappeared leaving behind only a puff of air.

Aiden opened the scroll. He angled it towards River allowing him to read it as well. It was a list of names along with the locations as promised. "We should set out quickly. If luck is on our side, Mara will be here already and can help us pack. This mission is limited to only a few days to accomplish a great deal. Gather your weapons. We will meet on the rooftop when you are finished. Mara, are you available?" The brownie in question appeared to his left. Mara, like all brownies, was approximately 3' tall with ears that ended in a point on top. She had green eyes, red hair, pale skin dotted with freckles. A human looking at her might have guessed she was around 50 years old. The men knew better. It was more likely she was 2,000 or more as brownies lived to be about 5,000 years old. She held three small bags and Aiden's sword and sheath.

"I am here, Master Aiden. I have your travel bags ready. Each of you have a bag with a spare set of leathers, food for three days, and medical supplies. I have your sword as well as a Master River's collection of explosives. Master River, this is a special bag spelled by Empress Emerald to shrink to fit around your waist when you secure it with the locks in front. It will shift with you to your sphinx form and back as well. Master Aiden, Empress Ruby has enhanced your weapons to shift with you as well." Mara passed the bags along to the men to check their contents.

"Goddess Aphrodite would like you both to know that the marks on your chest are in regard to your fate, as in Fated Mate. Since you are fated mates, your belongings will be moved to the Master Suite on the top floor where you will await your Omega's arrival. Until then, Aphrodite would like the two of you to stop fighting fate and build on your bond. She doesn't have time to wait for you two to get over yourselves. If you haven't done so on your own in the 950 years you have been together, she doesn't expect you to figure it out on your own now. As you build the bond, your powers will develop as well."

"Meeting your fated mate has given you both the power to teleport. Simply think about where you want to be, and you will be there. Anything you are touching will go with you as well. It must be to a place you have been before or there must be a person whom you have met before waiting there for you. Will there be anything else, Champions?"

River was shocked at hearing this stated so boldly. He would not have expected a Goddess to intervene on his behalf, nor did he expect such a bold statement from a brownie. He could only imagine what Aiden was thinking after hearing that. He doubted Aiden would be able to speak at all. As the Beta of their pair, River had always been the one to deal with others. Aiden had never been good with words. River placed his hand on Mara's shoulder. "Thank you, for your assistance. Please thank the Empresses for us as well for their forethought. We are blessed to have you join us in our home. We would feel more comfortable if you simply called us by our names and not Master if that is acceptable to you."

Mara patted River's hand as one would a child and smiled brightly. "As you wish. The brownies will have a wing of the castle, a floor below the dungeon, that will be ready by tonight when the rest arrive. I believe we are going to be very happy here with you and Aiden. I see a bright future for you both here." With a nod of her head, Mara popped out and was gone.

Aiden shook his head, "It never ceases to amaze me just how easily you can win people over with your silver tongue. We are fortunate that the brownies have joined us. The Empresses would not have sent them if there was not to be a need. With the size of the castle and the additional staff, I can only imagine we are to expect an influx of inhabitants very soon." Hesitantly he added, " We should focus on the mission first. When we return, we can address our … personal situation."

River nodded his agreement, glad to set it aside for now. He needed time to adjust to the new information. He had spent 950 years putting his feelings for Aiden aside, a few more days would not hurt. "The first world will be evacuated in the next few days as we complete our mission. It is most likely that other teams of champions have been dispatched to other worlds as well. I suspect the Empresses have designed the portals to deposit the inhabitants as close to their clan destination as possible. I suggest we practice teleporting here within the castle before we attempt to use it for our mission. Race you to the rooftop!" Startled, Aiden shouted, "That is not exactly a fair race, River!"

The men both closed their eyes, pictured the rooftop in their minds, and re-opened their eyes. River arrived first with Aiden close behind. Glancing around, they found themselves exactly where they intended. "That was easier than I thought it was going to be," River pondered out loud. "Very much so, but you still cheated," responded Aiden gruffly. "This will make our missions much faster. It would appear teleporting uses more of our energy than I anticipated. We will need to be careful how often we use it. I suggest we port to the Canine Realm, then use our wings to take us to the locations. I have been to the entrance to one of these dens. Let's begin with this one and work our way out from there." River nodded his agreement. "Wolves have good noses; we should be prepared." Reaching into their bags, they selected a small bottle of a liquid scent spray designed to mask their own scent. After spraying themselves with a generous amount, River reached out and took Aiden's hand in his. "Mara said we only needed to be touching to teleport together. You guide our jump. Take us to the edge of the woods just outside of the den. We can observe their security protocols from there and make our plans." Aiden nodded, closed his eyes, and made the jump.

The pair landed at the base of a rather large pine tree. The pair crouched down at the base of the tree. There were four wolf guards making rounds of the perimeter every twelve minutes. Noting the distance and line of sight, River determined they would have an opening of approximately thirty seconds to cross the expanse between the woods and the entrance. Using the hand signals they had perfected over the centuries, River relayed the information to Aiden who decided that he would go first. Waiting for the perfect opportunity, he crossed the distance and entered the mouth of the den. As the next guard stalked past the entrance to the den, Aiden reached out and snapped his neck. Aiden quickly pulled the body aside and concealed it. He gave River the all-clear signal. River joined Aiden and the two advanced into the den.

As the two approached the main room of the den, they heard loud voices coming from a room to their right. Three wolves were having a heated argument with two birds and a lion. "This was all your idea, you mangy mutts! I should never have listened to you! Every single manticore in all the realms has been exterminated by the Champions! An entire race, gone from existence! My own mate was killed in the wars. Now, we are on the personal hit list of every Empress, hunted by every Champion throughout the realms!" growled the lion. The birds chittered their agreement, "You promised us we would be safe! Now our whole family line has been killed! We are the last of our line," said the smaller bird. "There is not a place in our realm where we can be safe from our own bird-kin, much less the Champions, who search for us as we speak!" added the larger bird. The largest of the wolves calmly responded, "No one forced you. You were just as greedy as the four of us when we came to you. Larry died fighting for our freedom from the Empresses. With their power we could have ruled all the realms. Now only the three of us remain. How were we supposed to know that the manticores were lying? If we had known the Empresses' power could not be transferred, none of this would have happened!" he finished with a snarl. The smallest wolf added, "It was never our intention to destroy our own realm. No one wanted this to happen. What is important now is finding a way to evade the Champions. We have the magic used by the manticores to travel between realms. If we work together, we should be able to open a portal to escape now."

River quietly reached into his weapons bag and withdrew a small black ball. Aiden nodded his assent. The explosive was small enough not to bring the den roof down on their heads but large enough to take out all six occupants in the room. The pair slowly backed out of the room while keeping the entrance in their line of sight. When they were far enough away, River tossed the ball into the room. It exploded on impact. Aiden and River ran back to the entrance of the den just as the guards started pouring in. Aiden pulled his sword while River pulled a dagger from his belt. Together, they cleared the path to the exit, painting the walls of the den with the blood of the traitorous mongrels. They fought until there was none left standing. They returned to the edge of the woods. River selected several of his explosives and looked to Aidan. Once again, Aiden nodded his assent. River threw the balls through the entrance to the den. The resulting explosions collapsed the entire den. Aiden removed the scroll from his bag. The names of the three canine traitors were now crossed out. At the bottom of the list three more names appeared and were crossed out. There were no names left on their list. The first part of their mission was now complete.

"That went better than expected. Their own fear and cowardice made our jobs even easier. With no traitor's names left in the Canine Realm, it's time to prepare the portals and deliver the Empresses message. It is nearly nightfall now. We should find a place nearby and set up camp for the night," stated River calmly. "Agreed, we can start setting portals at first light. The first location is not far from here, approximately an hour flight to the east. Let's head that direction and find a good place to rest." responded Aiden.