Next Journey

The white noise of the mess hall resounded in Inian's ears. The soldiers had been celebrating their victory, while also honoring those who had fallen in battle with drinks and good food.

Inian was sitting by himself at one of the tables. Janae came and sat next to him, "you know, the prisoners we've captured have begun calling you the wolf devil. It seems you and your unique exosuit have made quite a name for yourself today." Inian shrugged, not really caring about the nickname he's been given.

Janae sighed, "what's got you so down Inian? You've been like this since the battle." She paused for a moment, "killing people is apart of war Inian. You may feel guilty for it, but that isn't your burden to bear."

Inian shook his head, "That's not it Janae, I saw Marc after towards the end of the battle. He was fighting for the Imperials..." Janae's forehead creased, "you mean your brother Marc? The one who you thought died? Why the hell would he fight for the Imperials?"

Inian said, "he wanted to fight for our family's safety, but he didn't know that they were already killed by the Empire." Inian took a swig of hard liquor. "I don't know what to do. He wants to fight the Empire on his own and I have no idea how he is going to kill the Emperor. He's a talented and strong man, but I don't think he can do it."

Janae grabbed a drink and took a few sips, "perhaps he means to do an ambush in a way? Perhaps he's going to climb the ranks and then back stab the Emperor when he has the chance? That's what I would do if I was already apart of the Empire."

Inian took another swig, "yeah...I guess." Janae patted his arm, "something you could do to help is continue fighting with us! We can unite a few different nations against the Empire and when the time is right, attack with everything we have! How does that sound?"

Inian smiled, "that sounds like a plan." He held his drink up, "to the fall of the Empire." He said and Janae mirror his actions.

Their drinks clanked together and the pair downed them.

A little while later, Inian was crashing in his private room. He had been given special accommodations in the keep for his actions on the battlefield. He saw the exosuit standing in the corner and he smiled, drifting more and more into a deep sleep.

.....................

Inian was suddenly standing on the edge of a desert. A endless span of desert and mountains were before him.

He heard an earth-shattering roar that forced him to cover up his ears. He looked for the source of the sound and that's when he saw one of those mountains moving. A massive black dragon rose up from the ground, covering several kilometers of land. Across from the dragon, a wolf equal in size came up from the desert sand. It had a span of wings that could've been a whole mountain range if they just laid on the ground.

The giant wolf flapped its wings, and Inian had to kneel down to keep from being blown away. The dragon roared and jumped at the huge wolf.

The wolf snarled, leaping for the dragon's scaly neck.

The two beasts clashed in mid-air, shock waves were ringing out with every swipe of their paw or hand. Inian's mind was slowly falling apart just watching this battle, as the immense size and power the monster's emitted were enough to destroy the entire world he lived in.

After an intense exchange between the wolf and dragon, the dragon roared into the sky once more then fell to the ground in defeat.

The wolf stepped on the Dragon's carcass and howled into the sky. Its howl caused the clouds to come rushing in, creating a vortex above the massive wolf.

Inian's heart raced when the huge wolf turned its head to look at him. It took a couple of steps, covering thousands of meters with each movement.

Without moving its mouth it spoke to Inian, "know yourself young king. You are the Lord now, as my time has long passed." It put its face very close to Inian, its eye eve bigger than Inian's whole body. "All that I had is yours. All my strength and power. Use it, or else you mock the Rulers before you."

The beast stood tall once more, "go to the free forest east of the current Trostan Kingdom. A loyal servant awaits you."

"Ahhh!"

Inian woke up drenched with sweat. He looked at his hands which were still shaking after seeing the monster. 'The free forest? But that's in the monster lands.'

His mind raced, 'can that be real? What if I leave and Janae needs me? What if my mind is just playing tricks on me?'

He got up and equipped his exosuit. He walked outside with the morning sun greeting him, along with the bustling of the Castle's activities such as repairing and getting ready for another assault.

Janae was already up and about helping to lead repairing activities. "Hey, Inian!" She called, "what are you doing in your exosuit?"

Inian spoke quickly, "I need to leave. I need to go to the free forest, by myself. I promise I won't take too long, but I need to go now."

Janae was extremely confused, "wait...slow down! Why do you need to go? What if another assault happens? We will need you here."

Inian rubbed his forehead, "I know, and I can't really explain why I need to go there, but I really just need to go there. I promise I'll be back in two weeks. Okay?"

Janae was unhappy, "fine, whatever reason you absolutely need to go for had better be worth it."

She stormed inside the keep. Inian sighed, but he couldn't exactly explain that he needed to go because of a dream.

He already had a small pack of food with him, and he needed to leave quickly, so he left Ebony behind and shot up into the air, flying in the direction of the free woods.