The two sovereigns hugged each other in a friendly embrace.
"Welcome to Aedor, my friend."
"Thank you, my friend. I have been looking forward to this moment."
"And you made a spectacular entrance." Remarked the ruler of Aedor, teasing and admiring.
"Thank you, but not as spectacular as what we are doing now." Replied the Yzvalthian in the same tone, before adding with overwhelming solemnity. "One of my brother's absolute dreams."
"I feel that he is here among us."
"I know he is. He really only lived his life for the realization of this kind of thing as well as unforgettable anyway." Jiide confirmed forcefully.
"Then let's not wait any longer and finalize what we've been struggling so hard to get done. This way, my friend," Erian said, leading the way.
"I follow you, brother."
The two rulers, side by side, walked down a wide path lined on both sides with Aedorians and winged beings to the esplanade erected at the very center of the entire city.
In the middle of the esplanade was set up a stone table engraved with symbols of peace and spells of happiness, on which were placed two large white papers. Erian and Jiide, having reached the plaza, stood behind the sacred table.
"Before we sign the deed of peace, dear friend," said King Koroth, turning to Jiide Jeugolk, "I would like you to turn around."
And he pointed his host to a place to the north.
Jiide followed the direction indicated and exclaimed with surprise and delight.
"Wow, I've never seen anything like this, what is it?"
"It's the great march." replied Erian proudly, "One of the great splendors that sets Aedor apart from all other nations."
"I see. You are right to think so."
What Emperor Jeugolk saw was a countless number of creatures, who in an orderly and solemn march, were heading towards a vast enchanted forest.
"At a particular time of the year, all creatures of Aedor, regardless of race or size, go to the great mother forest of Idine to revitalize themselves. During this time, no creature attacks another, even in a state of great hunger and anger. It is a time of absolute peace in the animal kingdom. That is why I chose this period for the signing of our act as a perfect reflection of the beauty and greatness of this achievement."
Then, in a movement in perfect agreement, Erian and Jiide turned to solemnly face the people.
"Dear people of all the Nations of Eyel, as you all know, our galaxy, while beautiful and prosperous, has long been torn apart by the endless conflict between two great nations: the Aedor and the Yzvalthes. And no matter how we look at it, it was unforgivable.
They left a short silence before continuing.
"But today, we finally had the courage and wisdom to realize our faults and to make sure that we make amends for a better future, for the peace of future generations, to turn the legacy of our two Nations into a deserved greatness."
The King of Aedor fell silent to let the Emperor of Yzvatlthes take his turn to speak.
"It is for this reason that we stand before you, beautifully adorned and aware..."
The people laughed.
"...so that you, the willing and happy witnesses of this change, may see and approve the end of one time to allow a new one, better in everything, to take flight. And we wish with all our heart to celebrate this moment of light with you.
So, dear friends, see the door of peace open before you. And have no fear or hesitation in stepping through it, for we had realized it for you."
A General of Aedor offered a cup lavishly engraved with the royal symbol of the Nation to Jiide, and a winged general did the same to Erian. The two rulers drank and toasted.
Then the two visionaries finally put their first signature on the two historical documents, then changed position and were about to sign a second time when the inevitable misfortune occurred.
Drops of blood fell on the papers, a symbol of destruction. Drops of blood that intensified and then spread across the table, first lightly and then as a reddish spray. The two leaders immediately looked at each other with a stunned and haggard look, already sensing a dreadful catastrophe, before looking up to see the source of the cursed blood. Then they saw, like all the others, the sky darken and become covered with black clouds. The atmosphere darkened and cooled, blood-soaked feathers fell like a red rain and the corpse of a huge winged creature crashed into the table and destroyed it with a terrible crash.
"What's that? What's going on?" Erian muttered, tense, not knowing what to think.
"Where did this creature come from?" asked Jiide, staring at the blood-soaked body of the beast.
But this grave incident was only the prelude to a terrible tragedy. And soon, to confirm this premonition, the bodies of countless creatures of all kinds fell everywhere, causing infernal chaos. People began to scream, shouting like mad, running in all directions. Their generals formed a great circle around their rulers to defend them, standing up, ready to give their best and worst, for they felt in their flesh the imminent arrival of the real enemies. And this did not take long. Winged rebel armies in black armor appeared in space, arriving like a cloud of doom, mounted on dark, monstrous, voracious creatures, and attacked the city of Aedor without delay, with unspeakable savagery and atrocity. The bombs exploded, cries of suffering echoed everywhere, tearing at the hearts of the two rulers, for a moment powerless to react. Magical shots lit up the space.
Then, with an overwhelming force of black breath, the leader of the rebel winged armies appeared, proudly mounted on a black winged creature in armor, flying over the two sovereigns.
"I salute you, Your Majesties," he declared in a sardonic, vicious tone.
Two generals from each clan stayed by Erian and Jiide's side, while the others left to fight the invading winged ones. First, Erian turned to make sure his beloved daughter was safe. When he saw that Roune was protecting what was most precious to him in this life, along with his body and everything he had, Erian felt a slight relief as he was overwhelmed by the dire situation his nation was in.
"Father!" Aidine shouted as she looked at the king with her eyes glowing with fear and pain.
Erian could only return his gaze in heartbreaking silence. Then he addressed the beast with the striped fur.
"Roune, I trust you. Stay close to my daughter at all times."
"Yes, Your Majesty." The faithful creature gravely nodded, tightening his embrace around the slender body of the young princess.
The Aedorian generals had moved into position to combine their fire and direct it at the rebel leader, but Erian stopped them.
"Wait." He ordered, turning his angry, sovereign gaze on his enemy. His soldiers obeyed without hesitation and lowered their weapons at the same time. "Who are you?" he asked as he continued to stare at the leader of the invaders who did not seem to fear the gigantic fire of the powerful Aedorian warriors. In fact, he even sketched a careless gesture as he answered.
"You should ask your new friend," he said, mockingly.
King Erian frowned and turned to the emperor.
"Jiide? You know these invaders who dared to attack my kingdom?"
The latter, without answering, continued to stare at the leader, who stood out from the others with his aura of power and his black armor with glittering signs. He looked at the lean face, wearing a cruel and merciless mask. His eyes burned with a cold, maddening glow. Finally, the emperor decided to speak, and asked.
"Are you one of the sons of Brahal?"
"Oh, anything can really be said of you majesty," exclaimed the rebel leader, feigning surprise, "especially your incompetence, but one really can't blame you for a bad memory."
Then he nodded his head.
"Yes, you've guessed it all. My name is Vogou, the third son, since the names apparently escaped you."
"Nothing secret about that, simply because you and your family are of no importance."
Jiide, who spoke these words with the most insulting indifference stung the young Vogou, then finally turned to Erian.
"They are but traitors among many of the Yzvalthian nation. They were exiled to a distant planet south of Eyel, whose name I have also forgotten. Mereo or something like that."
"You mean you left us for dead." Vogou clarified, dropping his scoffing mask to reveal a resentful and unstable nature. "Without food, without water, without magic, without anything."
"That's what your kind deserves. And for the record with its laughable lack of justice, we had left you your wings anyway. I thought you'd finally be satisfied with the opportunity to live your pathetic, worthless life but in freedom, away from everyone else. But I see that infamy does not change with time." Raised Jiide Jeugolk with cold contempt. "Always selling yourself to the highest bidder to cause chaos."
"And who are the highest bidders?" inquired King Koroth, addressing the winged rebel with the same look of disgust.
"Oh what a stupid question, even for you King of Aedor!" sneered Vogou as he sustained the rulers' heavy looks of disdain. "Who else do you think can offer us all that we ask? Wealth and vengeance."
"VARDOG." Pronounced Erian with unequivocal certainty...
"But with your help, of course!" Clarified the young Vogou, however, as he mocked the king fiercely. "After all, nothing would have been possible if some of your countrymen were not bad enough to stoop to being traitors and consequently give us access to your kingdom."
"I forbid you to make accusations against my people!"
"I see," scoffed the traitor, dumbfounded. "So even a king as wise and just as you sometimes prefers blindness so as not to see and acknowledge the darkness of his own people."
"Shut up, scum!"
Erian, mad with rage, blazed and fired magical blows at Vogou without delay. The latter moved quickly to dodge the shots or created a spherical shield to protect himself. Jiide, in turn, burst into flames, then spread his wings and flew with phenomenal speed to attack the rebel leader. He hit Vogou's shield with his powerful and furious fist and it shattered into a thousand pieces. The warrior hastened to retreat in the face of this power. But persistent and dominated by anger, Jiide pursued him mercilessly.
"Your Majesty," Vogou asked cautiously, "why do you still claim to be fighting alongside Aedor? Isn't it time to put an end to this whole grotesque charade?"
"Shut the fuck up!" Jiide shouted as he caught up with him, grabbed the fur of the black beast who howled in pain, and swung his fist to deliver another blow to his enemy, who, also endowed with uncommon stubbornness and the power of Vardog, did not let it go so easily.
The two winged men fought with devastating ferocity, throwing magical blows at each other and hitting each other so hard that they caused tremors all around them.
"Shouldn't you be grateful that I stopped the greatest stupidity of the century just in time!". Vogou shouted tauntingly, stopping a powerful punch from the emperor with one hand and sending a magical shot into his stomach with the other.
This attack might have worked if King Erian, riding a motorized jet, who was heading straight for them, hadn't reached out and deflected the magical shot that nearly wounded the Jeugolk ruler. Then, without any transaction, sent a myriad of fierce and powerful magical shots at Vogou.
"As we just told you, you stooge, you should shut up!"
Jiide added his magic to Erian's shots, causing a gigantic wave to crash down on Vogou with invincible force, sending him and his beast crashing violently to the ground. The two rulers descended to the ground and stood before their enemy like implacable judges.
"Your attack stops here, Vogou."
The latter, who got up with difficulty, brought his hand to his bloody mouth and looked at his blood-stained fingers.
"You go really hard, your highnesses". He complained with a falsely martyred air. "I'm afraid all my bones have been broken. "
"Surely you don't think we're going to feel sorry for a piece of trash like you." snapped Jiide mercilessly.
"And I'd even advise you to enjoy it, Vogou," added Erian with terrible calm. "For soon I will make sure that you feel nothing but failure and despair."
The rebel leader looked at his two tormentors enigmatically for a few moments before smiling at them in a sly way that immediately put them on notice. Moreover, the total absence of fear and frustration in the so-called Vogou, while he was already totally cornered by his enemies, intrigued the two rulers and alerted them to the utmost.
"Oh, how funny! "I was just about to advise you the same thing, it's almost as if we share the same vision of things after all, don't you think?
The two leaders immediately exchanged eloquent glances, before a gigantic explosion occurred where the great march of the creatures was taking place, and unbearable high-pitched sounds rose up, tearing at the ears and heart of the king of Aedor. With the exception of Vogou and his rebellious winged armies, all fell to their knees, hands pressed to their ears, screaming in excruciating pain. Erian, concerned above all for his child, looked for her to find her crying in pain and incomprehension. Then, without further ado, he moved but with great difficulty towards her.
"Aidine!" he shouted with all the love he could muster.
$Chapter