The grand matriarch silently floated in the air, her glowing eyes looking down at the state of utter chaos the throne room had been thrown I, her black robes pooling down onto the distraught white stone floors into a contained cloud of smoke that hugged her ethereal like form as though it were a living shadow, she looked down at her descendants, slowly moving down towards them.
"who invited this ancient bag of bones to the party ?", Ea said, chuckling dryly, a small spurt of blood escaping from his shoulder, Polaris' sword creaked as Ea's body adjusted in the throne.
"so none of you will bow before your elder", the grand matriarch said, her raspy voice sounded as old and as ancient as she looked, she lifted her hand pointing her bony old claws at the prince turned king, Slowly the scroll he had presented to Amon earlier lifted itself from out of his belt and flung itself into the old woman's hands.
"I hearby call forth, Aluric Braxor, Ea ju'wren Dract, Barak Dider Kadar, Polaris xiro Kadar, Levant kor'en Kadar and Aster Tera Kadar, as the six kings candidates to participate with the others in the banquet of kings, in my hand is the first part of the prophecy, if you wish for the other half you may venture out and find it on your own", she said, unfurling the floating scroll,
"The first act
the forgotten dragon shall form,
a primordial child for each arm,
the innocent must die for the banquet to begin,
the wicked gods shall come to bargain,
the hand of earth will fall,
the hand of fire and the hand of ice shall consume all,
a storm will rage in mourn of the innocent,
the undying shall direct their blades of fury,
the day of wrath shall be foretold
A sacred war looms overhead
The end shall begin with a severed shadow's head"
Aster turned around from facing Levant and the barely conscious Aluric, walking up to the old woman who floated in the air, she fixed her gaze onto the young man who approached her. Aster stood a few feet away from the grand matriarch, sweat dripping from his chin, his body bruised and aching, but, his curiosity had gotten the better of him, he wanted to know why the oldest living person in their clan suddenly appeared in front of them. His eyes darted everywhere, he tried to but couldn't bring himself to look her directly in her eyes.
"speak what is on your mind child", She said, her voice sounded raspy but it commanded a certain level of fear and power, Aster throat began to run dry, his sweat ran now not from exhaustion but anxiety, he willed his question out under the weight of her oppressive gaze,
"why have you called on us ?, what is this banquet of kings you want us to participate in now", Aster asked, as soon as the words left his mouth aster almost regretted them, he could feel her divine energy intensify after he asked the question,
"I have called on you six now, because it is the right time, this is the catalyst for change, it isn't I who wish for you to partake in the banquet, it is the will of the gods", She answered, the look in her eyes only growing colder,
"Ast I don't think now is the time to be playing a game of questions with someone who is as ancient as her", Levant said, holstering his guns, he stepped forward towards Aster.
"this child has always had a curious mind, even now I can see the questions formulating in his head", she said, lowering herself closer to the ground as she saw levant approach, ", you however, only believe through seeing with your own eyes", she said, locking eyes with levant, who promptly held his eyes crying out in pain, the words she read on from the scroll echoed repeatedly in his head,
"what did you do", Barak said, giving his undivided attention to what was happening, lightning crackled around his body, his hand tightening around the handle of his sword,
"it does not surprise me, child of the sky, that you would turn you blade towards me, I commend you on being so fiercely loyal to your family, however, you four are connected by a means even deeper than the blood that runs through your veins", the grand matriarch said, reaching her hand out towards Asters chest, upon contact with Aster, he, barak and Polaris cried out in pain, all three afflicted with the same problem as Levant. With a flick of a finger from the grand matriarch a golden sword etched it's way onto the chest of all six of them. Ea reeled back his head in a manic fit of laughter.
"you really are a damn monster aren't you, you ancient old bitch", Ea said, the grand matriarch gave Ea a twisted wrinkly smile in return, before refocusing on the members of her clan.
"to the five winds the rest of you shall scatter, carried off to wherever fate intends for you", sh said, raising up both of her hands to the ceiling, washing the entirety of the throne room in a bright light. After it faded, ea found himself with only Amon in his presence, even Polaris' sword which had been pinning him to the throne vanished without a trace.
A Week Later
Yumi walked through the doors of the lower throne room, the one made for public audiences, Ea meant for this to be a spectacle of sorts, yumi looked behind and the mountain of a man also wrapped in chains,
Yumi walked through the doors of the Lower Dracian throne room, the one used for public appearances by the king, she looked down at her hands wrapped in a thick grey heavy metal chain, the sharp jingle of the chain rubbing against it self and against the floor rang out with even the slightest bit of movement, she raised her head up to see that a crowd had been gathered for today's event, her eyes glanced over the nameless faces, some looked confused or disappointed, some cheered, though she didn't know whether they cheered for her or for her captors. She came to a stop at the end of the red carpet that ran covered the floor, before her sat king Ea, his arm resting in a sling, his coat was not buttoned so yumi could see the layer of bandages wrapped around Ea's abdomen, a small smile formed on her face.
"well that smile gives me some hope", Bard said, coming to a halt next to yumi, as expected he easily dwarfed everyone in the throne room,
"leave some of that hope for me, it's in short supply these day", yumi said, glaring at Ea.
"kneel before your king, insufferable curs", Kosh said, kicking bard in the back of his knee, yumi looked on at the new found king with a smile on her face, the common people of the dracht kingdom looked on puzzled at her expression, and became even more puzzled when from out behind the throne walked Amon. The smile quickly dropped from her face,
"what not smiling anymore Yumi", Ea said, rising from his seat, and walking down towards his two prisoners,
"ladies and gentlemen, nobility and common folk, I have called you all here today to bare witness to the punishment I have decided to bequeath onto these traitors", Ea said gesturing towards the crowd, hushed whispers traveled in between everyone present. Though he seemed to be focused on the crowd, Ea watched for Yumi's reaction from the corner of his eye,
"but first, before I deliver justice onto these traitors, I must make an example out of their accomplices, four young men who I have now branded as terrorists throughout the entirety of this continent", Ea said, walking to a different section of the crowd, he was now gauging their response to him, "charged with the crime of regicide, they entered our country unprovoked at the behest of these two turncoats", Ea said making his way in front of yumi and bard, to point his accusatory finger at the, "and took the life of your beloved king, I saw it with my own two eyes, powerless to stop them from beheading my father, and if that wasn't enough when my dear little sister ran to console my fathers lifeless body one of these monsters bathed her in fire leaving her body beyond recognizable", Ea continued, his dramatics began to sway the crowd, he could now see the look of malice in their eyes as they glared at yumi and bard. Yumi grit her teeth,
"you're the one that killed your own father you sick bastard, tell them Amon", yumi pleaded, struggling against the chains that held her in place.
"you see, even now she turns her traitorous tongue against me, the eldest son who still grieves the loss of his father and sister, claiming I killed them", Ea said, turning his now teary eyed face towards the crowd again, "it is with my absolute authority that I, King Ea ju'wren Dracht, place a bounty of fifty thousand gold Dranor on each one of these terrorists head, dead or alive they are to be brought before me", ea said returning to his seat on the throne, the crowd erupted into cheers, jeers, hooting and hollering at the new kings announcement. Both yumi and Bard exchanged a concerned look with each other.
"SILENCE", Kosh's voice boomed throughout the room, "the king is not finished with his announcement", he said,
"As for the two traitors that stand before us", Ea said, taking a moment to pause, he looked down at yumi and bard, a devilish smile peeled it's way onto his face, "in my efforts to be a just and benevolent king to you all, I understand why these two turned their backs on me, on us, they saw the war as unjust, as a way for the guild master Aluric Braxor to gain power and war monger, but my good friend was just being a patriotic citizen and defending his home's borders from those who wished to invade us out of jealousy and spite, and they turned on him for that", Ea said,
"Ea you lying bastard, you and Aluric started this whole thing out of greed", yumi shouted, pulling violently against her chains, "one day I swear, on my life and to Atros herself I will rip your lying tongue from you filthy mouth", yumi continued, Kosh walked up behind her, taking her by the back of her head and slamming it into the stone floor, her screams and shouts soon fell silent,
"as I was saying", ea resumed, "in my efforts to be benevolent, I hear by degree with my absolute authority, that from this day until the end of time itself Yumi and bard you two are forever exiled from this land, and as per my agreement with argon and Bolterra you are also exiled from those kingdoms also and shall be stripped bare and set adrift with nothing to your names", Ea said,
Bard looked down at the floor quietly accepting his and yumi's fate
Somewhere else in the world
The moon bathed the opening in the forest in it's silvery light, she looked down at the unconscious person, half of his body littered in scars.