The news of the failed assassination attempt on the Emperor spread throughout Aethelgard like a lethal sickness. While Arthur and Lysandra minimized the details, they issued a terrifying public decree: citizens were to take extreme caution on the streets, as a Thorenzian operative capable of controlling people like puppets was currently active. The enemy could be anyone.
The populace went about their day-to-day activities, but their alertness was palpable, their guards perpetually up. Suspicion lay heavy over the ash-laden and cold streets of Cinder.
In that chilling environment, a certain blind old man walked with measured pace, tapping the stone ground with a metal rod. His face was weathered, his robes simple, and he moved with a supernatural certainty that defied his lack of sight. He walked straight toward the Emperor's central castle.
Meanwhile, within the castle, Emperor Arthur and Queen Lysandra sat upon their thrones, a tense silence hanging between them.
"I still can't believe there is someone in the remnants of Thorenzia with the ability to control people," Lysandra said, rubbing her temples.
"Well, it goes without saying that they are powerful," Arthur replied with an unsettling calm. "They are the descendants of Thorenz, after all."
Lysandra sprang up from her throne, her rage finally boiling over. "This is no time to be impressed by their abilities, Arthur! We have to act fast!"
"Calm down," Arthur urged his wife, gesturing for her to sit.
"Don't tell me to calm down!" Lysandra snapped, taking a threatening step closer to him. "What if you were not immortal? What if that guard had been carrying a blade that could negate your Roogan?"
"What if I wasn't immortal?" Arthur repeated, a faint, self-satisfied smile touching his lips. "You just said it yourself. I am immortal. You are immortal. We both are immortal. Therefore, attacks like that can't ultimately hurt us."
"I'm talking about your attitude!" Lysandra complained, gesturing wildly. "You're so calm about it. You are not doing anything practical about this assassin!"
"Oh, I've already done something about it, my Queen," Arthur said, the smugness returning.
Lysandra's eyes narrowed with curiosity, and she sat back down. "What do you mean? What did you do?"
"Well, I got word from a spy," Arthur explained. "I positioned internal spies all over the country immediately after we lost the Oathkeeper's Shadows and the golden sword. I feared that there might be others in the other provinces, so the first thing I did was position five internal spies in each province, including Cinder."
He leaned forward, enjoying the reveal. "One of those spies reported from the province of Flux yesterday that he saw someone three days ago talking to a soldier like he was giving out orders. He didn't know the details of their discussion, so he didn't report it immediately. Interestingly, it was just two days ago that we were attacked here. So this spy decided to take the matter seriously and act immediately. He reported everything to me."
"I see. So, what did you do to that spy? Did you kill him?" Lysandra asked, her tone entirely clinical.
"My dear Lysandra. Merciless as ever," Arthur said with a satisfied smile. "Yes. I killed him."
"Good," Lysandra agreed instantly. "He knew this information and failed to report it sooner."
At that moment, a palace guard—different from the one who had attempted the assassination—barged into the throne room, his breathing ragged.
Lysandra shot up from her throne, drawing Arthur's sword from its nearby pedestal, her patience instantly depleted. She advanced on the guard, blade leveled. "What is this? Why can't you people give us some privacy for two minutes?"
"Forgive me, Lady Lysandra. But…" the guard began to explain, visibly shaking.
But the furious Queen was already beyond listening. She raised the sword high, ready to smite the guard for his intrusion.
As she was about to strike, a gentle, yet surprisingly strong, hand held her wrist in an unyielding grip.
"Queen Lysandra Delacronix. Always merciless," a new, male voice spoke up. It belonged to the blind old man who had entered the room without being announced. "Even without my sight, I can see clearly that this guard came with a message. Why can't you let him deliver his message? Is delivering a message a crime in Aethelgard now?"
Watching the scene unfold, Arthur's eyes narrowed with caution and respect. "The Seer."
The terrified guard quickly walked away, leaving the powerful trio—the two immortal monarchs and the blind man—alone in the throne room.
"What brings you here?" Lysandra questioned, lowering the sword but still fuming, pulling her arm out of the old man's grasp.
"Well," the Seer replied, his sightless eyes aimed directly at Lysandra. "I've come with an important message."
Just a few kilometers away from the freezing capital of Cinder, lay Flux, a province where the unknown and unexpected were the only certainties. In this land, thunder struck without warning, hurricanes and earthquakes took place unpredictably, and constant, volatile weather patterns made life a hazardous gamble.
On this particular day, rain hammered down, and thunder cracked across the sky. Caius, one of Chronohelix's seventeen spies and the unwilling bearer of the El Zaa curse, hurried through the downpour, his wet cloak clinging to him.
"I have to get to Cinder. I have to take down the Emperor," Caius thought, the urgency of his mission driving him forward despite the elements.
As he moved, he came across five figures. Four were armed soldiers wearing the distinctive livery of the imperial guard, while the fifth was a lone, defenseless young woman. Caius melted into the shadow of a rapidly shifting elementally charged rock formation and listened carefully.
"Hey, I don't have time for this. I'm busy right now," one of the four armed men, a figure radiating cold authority, told the young lady.
"Please, Lord Xevez," the woman pleaded, rain plastering her hair to her face. "You are the Tetrarch of Flux. You must know what it means for an entire province to starve. The province I came from is suffering. My people are starving. Please help us."
Xevez, the Tetrarch of Flux, sighed deeply, looking upon the young woman with utter disinterest. "What's your name?"
The young woman smiled, relief washing over her face, convinced her plea was about to be granted. "My name is Gwen. I'm from Blight."
The Tetrarch's expression did not change. "Guards, arrest her and lock her up in the dungeon."
"What?" Gwen stammered, her eyes widening in horror as the cruel reality hit her.
As three of the guards seized Gwen, forcing and bundling her away, Caius moved. He drew his two unique handguns and fired twice at the nearest guard. The guns did not release bullets, but specialized Ice Hera shards that pierced the guard's body, instantly freezing and immobilizing him.
The remaining two guards and Tetrarch Xevez whirled around, searching desperately for the invisible attacker.
"Hey! Show yourself!" Xevez ordered, drawing his sword, a look of paranoid fury on his face.
"You're the Tetrarch of Flux," Caius's voice echoed from the shadows, surprisingly calm amidst the raging storm. "Shouldn't the well-being of the people be your top priority?"
"How is that your business?" Xevez shot back.
Caius fired twice again at the second guard. This time, the guns unleashed concentrated Flame Hera. The blue fire consumed the guard instantly. He wailed in unbearable pain as the flames clung to his body, burning him alive. The last guard tried desperately to extinguish the fire, but it consumed him as well. Both men shrieked, pleading with Xevez to use his power to save them, but the Tetrarch ignored them, watching them burn to ash.
"Show yourself now!" Xevez ordered, his rage now boiling over into lethal intent.
Caius stepped out of the shadows, his soaking cape blowing around him. He stood before Xevez, holding his two specialized guns, the barrels smoking lightly. "Well, what are you going to do?"
"I'm going to kill you," Xevez declared.
Meanwhile, in the cold heart of Cinder, in Emperor Arthur's castle, the blind Seer stood before Arthur and Lysandra.
"A message, huh? Why don't you sit down so we can discuss the implications?" Arthur said, attempting to exert control over the conversation.
"I don't need to. This is very important, and whatever you do with it—whatever Aethelgard does with it—will determine the outcome of this empire," the Seer insisted, his voice unwavering.
"Alright. What is this message? Let's hear it," Arthur demanded, impatience overriding his caution.
The Seer's sightless eyes seemed to focus on a point far beyond the throne room, and his voice dropped to a rhythmic, chilling monotone.
"I saw an endless void shrouded in darkness. In that endless void shrouded in darkness appeared three little stars. The three stars suddenly clashed, and it became one bright light that overwhelmed the darkness of the void."
A heavy silence descended on the room. Arthur and Lysandra exchanged worried glances, the sheer weight of the Seer's words pressing down on them.
"What does this mean?" Arthur demanded, unable to tolerate the ambiguity. "Could you please interpret it for us?"
"I'm sorry, but that's all I came here to do," the Seer replied, his duty fulfilled.
The Seer turned around and walked away, his tapping rod echoing on the marble floor, leaving Arthur and Lysandra alone once more to wrestle with the terrifying, cryptic vision of their potential destruction.