Ashes of Verdenheld

by Jack Wright

  “You’re offering us a home?” Caesia gasped.

  “Indeed, free of charge! After all, what is a daring hero without her trusty landlord?” Albert chuckled. “I’ve been considering renting it out for a while, but I’ve simply never seen a need for the extra money.”

  “Do we need a place to stay?” Eris asked Caesia. “I thought we’d be straight off to Abenfurt.”

  “Actually, we could probably do with a place. My arms are bit… out of action and if we’re going to be investigating this Valkyr thing, I’d like to be ready for a fight.”

  “Fine…” Eris muttered, coming down a bit from her high of excitement. “I’m just worried we’ll be too late, you know?”

  “I know, but arriving on time will mean nothing if I can’t fight.”

  “Point taken.”

  “Capital!” Albert boomed. “You can move in right away!”

  Caesia decided it was best not to resist, Albert certainly wasn’t going to relent. “Thanks, Albert.” She smiled warmly.

  “No, thank you! It’s the least I can do.” Albert gushed. “You’ll find the stairs over there and if you ever need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.”

  “Well, that was quite the stroke of luck.” Caesia remarked, as Albert returned to organising his displays. She smirked at the foul, impatient look on Eris’ face. “Don’t worry, we won’t be here long. I just need a few days to recuperate, so my arms aren’t constantly on fire. Plus, it’ll give me a bit of time to look into this power of mine!”

  “Fine - a few days.” Eris groaned begrudgingly. “And then we’ll save the world.”

  Epilogue

  “L-Lord Valkyr?” Stuttered the Novekhiri soldier, his knees shaky in fear and his quivering voice muffled by his ragged face wrap. “General Kharmenia regrets to inform you that the… the dragon is dead, sir.”

  Ulfric remained for a moment in silence, his ragged black cloak fluttering in the gentle breeze as he glared irritatedly into the dense jungle. “I see.”

  “I-I’m sorry, sir.” The soldier stammered.

  “Why?” Ulfric smirked, turning to the soldier, his battered suit of tricinium armour clattering as he moved. His displeasure was masked almost completely by his antlered helmet, apart from the slim, T-shaped slit that displayed his tired, murky brown eyes.

  “You’ve done nothing wrong.” He muttered, waving the soldier away. “You’re dismissed, soldier.”

  The soldier breathed a heavy sigh of relief and quickly fled back to his camp. Ulfric hated that his men feared him so, how he wished that they could look upon him as their equal. Such was the downside in playing the part of a genocidal warlord.

  Ulfric stood for a time in contemplation, looking out upon the vibrant jungle surrounding his camp. He considered how Xeracrir’s defeat would hinder his plans. It was a hindrance to be sure, but nothing that would ruin his schemes. Xeracrir had done enough already.

  “I trust my messenger found you well?”

  Ulfric turned at the familiar voice of Hera. Her black robes, worn arkansteel plate and featureless black mask were slick with melting snow and illuminated by the throbbing green crystal in her ancient staff.

  “Why didn’t you come yourself?” Ulfric questioned impatiently.

  “I was busy. Orchestrating the toppling of a Kingdom is busy work, you know.” Hera muttered sarcastically.

  “I see.” Ulfric sighed. “How go preparations for the Palindoscian operation?”

  “Swimmingly.” Hera chuckled.

  “Good…” Ulfric trailed off, back to his usual brooding state.

  “You should know, there are details of Xeracrir’s death that would… well, either interest or annoy you.”

  “You know the details?” Ulfric snapped. “You were there and did nothing?”

  “I was watching…” Hera sighed, remembering fondly the hilarity of watching a pair of girls sail off a cliff. “After all, you did stress the importance of not revealing ourselves, did you not?”

  “Hmph, well remembered. Go on then, tell me these details.”

  “Well, there’s no way of saying this without it sounding ridiculous, but Xeracrir was slain by a pair of young girls.”

  “Girls?” Ulfric hissed. “You mean to tell me that an elder dragon was killed by two girls?”

  “Strange, no? I would put it down mostly to the dragon’s overconfidence. He toyed with them, showboated on several occasions. He underestimated them, badly.”

  “Fool!” Ulfric barked, kicking an outcropping of rock and shattering it with his tricinium boot. “No matter. Xeracrir served his purpose.”

  “That he did, I’d estimate at least a third of Verdenheld’s armies were destroyed in his attack.”

  “Good, that should make for a far more even fight.” Ulfric smiled darkly.

  Hera sighed regretfully. “Doesn’t it bother you how many hundreds of thousands of innocents we condemned to death by letting that dragon loose?”

  “Of course it does… but change like this is built upon sacrifice. I must have the will to make that sacrifice, else nobody will.”

  Hera nodded in uncertain agreement. What happened at Jordenholm had shaken her, but she had to accept it and move on. They had to do this, no matter the cost.

  “There’s something else you should know. Something of… unknown importance.”

  Valkyr sighed, knowing that this couldn’t be good. “So long as you don’t tell me one of these girls is some kind of holy chosen one, do tell.”

  “One of them has green essence and… and I don’t really know what to make of it.”

  “Green essence? Is that even possible?”

  “Historically, no. Theoretically, yes. I intend to investigate further, if you’d allow it”

  “No.” Ulfric demanded bluntly. “You have far more important things to focus on. If these girls are a threat, they’ll no doubt rear their heads again in opposition. If that happens, we’ll act. Otherwise, we pay it no mind.”

  Alright, I’ll return to my work with the cult.” Hera sighed. “Good luck convincing the tribes, I here they have quite the historical hatred of civilised people.”

  “Oh, I’m counting on it.” Ulfric chuckled. “And Hera?”

  “Yes?”

  “Verdenheld’ll be scrambling to respond to Jordenholm’s destruction. We should use the chaos to our advantage.”

  Hera nodded thoughtfully. “That we should… I’ll give the Sect the go-ahead. There’ll be no better time for them to strike.”

  “Good…” Ulfric smiled, gazing back into the distance with pleasure. “Everything is falling into place. Soon, Verdenheld will know what it is to be afraid. They’ll know what it’s like to lose it all.”

  As Hera went up an explosion of vibrant green light, Ulfric watched eagerly as the Novekhiri and Nordic soldiers drilled side by side, united by the oppression of the Kingdoms. He smiled with a dark glee, knowing that the time of tyranny was at its ending.

  “Soon, the world will be free.”