Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

After several hours of conversing and laughing, things began to wind down. Wally eventually expressed his plan to his room at the base of the tower after enjoying tea and spending time conversing with Kalivas.

It had been some time since he had spoken with the old man in such a calm manner. The last few years, every instance of communication was related to something stressful or for the purposes of preventing disaster. A significant portion of their conversations related to the boy known as Lucius as well as his family.

Despite being in the dark regarding it, Kalivas and Wally worked together in the background to try and keep the boy's life as peaceful as possible.

There was enough stress in the world that Lucius had to deal with, so they moved what they could in the background. It was through Kalivas that Wally was able to get a pre-emptive acceptance of Rena's unborn child into House Kane that would keep her safe for the time being. Granted, such a deal cost Kalivas a lot of his personal time.

"Have you spoken to her lately?" Wally said while sipping on his last cup of tea. Once this cup was finished, he intended to leave for the evening.

"By her do you mean the hag?" Kalivas growled.

Wally chuckled lightly, "Sure, if that is what you wish to call her. Just remember that my master is not a forgiving woman. Though you may share a special connection with Master Tenia, she would still be more than willing to put a wild cub in its place."

Kalivas's face paled slightly at the thought of Tenia descending from her mountain home for the purposes of exacting revenge on him for his derogatory statement. Realizing his mistake he quickly stumbled to move the conversation along, hoping that Wally would look over his slip of the tongue.

"No, I have not. Unlike yourself, I do not speak regularly with Lady Tenia."

"Hmm, is that so?" Wally began to calmly stroke his white beard, "I speak with her on occasion and asked her for a favor. She has been watching over your son for me and letting me know how he is doing. Though she will not intervene with him, she was kind enough to keep me apprised of his actions.

"It seems he has been up to a fair amount of trouble lately. Destroying a slaver city, flooding a river, setting fire to an ancient forest… all manner of activities that the boy has gotten up to. It seems that she has taken a small liking to him."

Kalivas nodded. It was good that Lucius got into Tenia's good graces. It was better that he stayed on the woman's good side rather than be at odds with her. As the most powerful warrior on the continent, she was not an enemy that any sane person would want to have.

Unbeknownst to most, she also had the ear of the legendary beast Aetherous. Though the old creature would not do much to interfere, one could never be sure what Tenia could pull off. Lucius was a lot like her in a lot of ways, which was something that worried Kalivas in a way.

Wally continued to share with him the stories of Lucius's efforts in Aedrider. It seemed he had gotten himself absorbed into a succession dispute within the royal family. Kalivas could only shake his head at the situation. Not long ago, Raleron finally settled its long and heated dispute regarding succession and now there was such a situation occurring within Aedrider.

The timing of the elf queen's pending demise was unfortunate for the continent's politics, but there was not much that they could do. All they could do was hope that Lucius resolved the situation for Princess Letheya so that Aedrider maintains its open borders.

Since the ascension of Raleron's King Viper, it had restricted its trade with other kingdoms as well. The only nation that seemed to be exempt from these new rules seemed to be Alorek. This was a fact that concerned everyone since the two nations had never been friendly with each other in such a way.

Having such blatant favoritism was also concerning because it made it seem that they did not care who knew of their deepening relationship.

There were also concerns with the ever increasing rate of mining occurring within Alorek's borders. The Wisteria Concord had allegedly been trying to source information regarding what it was that was being mined, however, it seemed no one really knew. The only thing that had been found out was that a third party entity was the one who undertaking the endeavor.

Alorek's only involvement with the process was allowing it to occur. Even those residing locally to some of the mines were unsure what was even happening. The only information that had been gleaned so far was that the group undergoing the task was filled with an abnormal number of half-blooded races.

This was an odd discovery since Alorek was predominately a beastman nation, just like Raleron and Eroa. However, unlike Eroa, it was such a harsh locale that few members of humanity or elves would immigrate there. The result being a shockingly high amount of 'purity' of the beastman bloodlines within the country.

"I take it there is still no such luck in figuring out what it is that is happening there?"

"No," Wally sighed, "There is not. We have also heard word that Raleron is also initiating the mining of unknown resources within the mountains of their territories. It seems they are also retrieving resources dangerously close to the layer of the Basilisk…"

Kalivas nearly choked on his tea. It was hard to believe that the country would do something so foolish. Of all the legendary beasts, the Basilisk was the most dangerous one. While Leviathan was a wild-card due to his lack of interaction with the mortal races, the Basilisk was downright hostile to anyone that came near its territory.

Whatever it was that Raleron had allowed people to mine was important enough to them that they would gladly risk the wrath of one of the legendary beasts that guarded the continent.

"I do not foresee the war within Aedrider lasting much longer. Ayalla has only a few strongholds left. After Lucius's successes against her southern forces, Letheya's other armies have been able to push back and whittle away at Ayalla's main force protecting her own territories." Wally finished as he set down his tea. "Well, it was pleasant chatting with you, sir Kalivas."

When Wally closed the door behind him, Kalivas quietly stood up and walked towards the balcony. He had sat on the beautiful terrace outside of Adellia's tower many times in the past.

By this point, he had seen the wonderful sights many times in his life. Night had fallen and the full moon was high in the sky. Stars glistened and twinkled above the city, shining down upon its rooftops. Though there were far more beautiful places in the world and within nature, even Kalivas had to admit that the city nearly sparkled in the night.

Of course, the beauty below paled in comparison the brilliance of the woman leaning against the railing. Her light blue dress seemed to glow and wonderfully paired with her platinum blonde hair. Adellia slowly turned to face him as he stepped outside the tower to greet her.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Though the silver light of the moon was indeed gorgeous, nothing could compare to the brilliant shine of the oracle's brilliant silver eyes. Even facing away from the city and the stars, they still seemed to glow all on their own.

Kalivas struggled to make sense of the look on Adellia's face as she gazed back at him, however before they could stare at one another too long, she shyly gestured to the table just to the right of the door back inside.

Sitting in the center of it was a pot of tea with a gentle whisp of steam rising from its spout. Beside it were two elegant teacups and matching saucers. Mylene was nowhere to be found and it was clear the tea had been there for a while. Adellia also looked as if she had been waiting for him.

This meant that the teapot itself was likely an invention from Aedrider meant to stay warm for a prolonged period.

"Kalivas."

"Lady Oracle." He responded, though much colder than he intended.

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A painful smile appeared on her beautiful lips, making him feel as though someone had struck him in the gut. He immediately regretted his tone, but he could not hide his feelings of frustration and sadness.

In another life, they could have been much happier. They could have raised their children together, away from the pain and suffering they experienced. However, Adellia was too afraid of such a future. She never explained why, but when Kalivas offered to take her worries away and give her a life worth living… she turned it all away.

"I…" Kalivas began. Adellia shook her head and put up a hand. She quietly served tea to both of them. The aroma was one he had not smelled in years and reminded him of the past he often saw in his dreams.

"I think it is time we have a long-awaited discussion, Kalivas," Adellia finally answered, "You have a lot of questions that I never gave you answers to, and I think it is past time you have them."