Chapter 5: Villainous Schemes And Mysterious Plots

Yuri sits on his throne in Brightshine Castle, the place where the emperors of Solaris have ruled from for generations. He picks up a device from a table next to his throne, holds down a button on it, and brings it up to his face.

"Lonril, Lorelei, and Grelnar, come to the throne room. I must speak with you." The magic in the device sends Yuri's words straight to the rooms that the three generals are currently in.

After a few minutes, Lonril walks in, followed by a woman with long blond hair wearing white and gold armor, and a middle-aged dark-skinned man with short black hair wearing cloth armor and a sleeveless brown leather vest that shows his strong arms.

"Lonril, have your shadows brought you news on where Brutus is going next?" Lonril nods. "Yes. I was coming here to tell you, actually. He is heading to the village of Virkom." Lorelei stands stiffly, not saying a word.

"Perfect." Yuri looks over at Grelnar. "Grelnar, you are to go to Kantiron to find and train new recruits for the army. If Lonril didn't have Brutus's whereabouts, I would've sent Lorelei with you, but..."

Yuri grins evilly at Lorelei. "Lorelei has other business. She is going to Virkom to collect Brutus for me." "I-" Lorelei stops talking and nods. "I will bring him to you alive." "Good. The three of you are excused." The three generals bow and leave the throne room.

As they leave, Grelnar nudges Lorelei with his shoulder. "It's such a shame that we're not going to be working together again, dragon lady." Lorelei immediately grabs her spear device, taps the button on it to extend it into a spear, and points it at Grelnar's throat.

"I thought I told you not to call me that." Grelnar laughs. "So what? I'm just trying to be friendly." Lorelei glares at him. "I don't want anything to do with you after you tried to throw my friend in the dungeon. She was your daughter, damn it!"

Grelnar growls. "She wanted me to commit treason! I did what I had to do! Besides, that was four years ago! Haven't you gotten over it by now?" Lorelei starts to say something else, but Lonril chants a phrase and summons rapiers that point at the two generals.

"The two of you are acting like children. You both need to stop this nonsense and get started on your assignments." Lorelei silently collapses her spear and storms off towards her room. Grelnar grumbles. "Go to hell, elf boy." He walks off towards the kitchens. Lonril sighs, then he de-summons the rapiers and goes off towards his study.

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Grelnar enters the kitchens and he stuffs raw meat and other provisions into a sack. He then goes to his room and grabs his trusty battleaxe, Goliath. He walks out of the castle and he walks through the city around the castle.

When Grelnar gets outside the city to the large plains, he loudly whistles. A large gray behemoth charges towards him but stops right in front of him. "Ha ha ha! There you are, Skullcrusher! Let's get the hell out of here!"

Grelnar reaches into his bag and tosses Skullcrusher a gigantic chunk of raw meat. After Skullcrusher finishes eating, Grelnar jumps on his back and they ride southeast over the plains towards the town of Kantiron.

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Lorelei enters her room and shuts the door. She grabs her enchanted backpack and starts to put all of her belongings inside of it. When she gets to a specific book, she looks around to make sure she's alone.

Lorelei opens the book at a specific part to reveal a portrait of Brutus she drew and hid inside the book. She takes it out and sadly stares at it. "I knew this would happen eventually, but..." She puts the portrait back in the book and shoves it into her bag.

After Lorelei's put all of her things away, she puts on the backpack and leaves her room. She walks through the castle until she gets to a room containing a ladder to the roof of the castle.

Lorelei climbs up to the top and walks over to the large white dragon waiting for her. "Let's go, Seraph. We have a job to do..."

Lorelei takes off her backpack and attaches it to the saddle on Seraph, then she climbs onto the saddle and they fly off.

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Lonril enters his study and he closes the door. He locks it so he cannot be followed and he opens a portal. Lonril walks through it and he ends up in front of a shrine in a world of red skies.

"May the way be opened by the servant of Delveros, the old god of chaos!" A previously invisible barrier shimmers and disappears. Lonril walks inside and approaches a pedestal with a twisted black crown on top of it.

Lonril stops in front of the crown and places his hands on it, then he closes his eyes and he whispers. "O crown of my master, show me your next wearer, so that I may guide them to this holy place!"

Lonril grunts as the crown's power surges through him. Eventually, the crown places an image in his mind. For the very first time in Lonril's long existence, he sees a clear image instead of a blurry silhouette.

"Hmm hmm hmm. Ha ha ha! So, it is you after all. This is good. For the first time, I know exactly what I must do. For the time being, though, I will continue working with Yuri. He has not outlived his usefulness just yet."

Lonril leaves the shrine and closes the barrier. He walks back through his portal to his study. Lonril closes the portal and unlocks his door. He sits at his desk and thinks. "The next time we meet, I will test you one more time, to see if you are truly worthy of taking my master's crown."

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Yuri gets up from his throne and he walks through the castle. He walks down a set of stairs to the dungeon. A guard salutes him. "Greetings, my lord. Whatever are you down here for?"

Yuri turns to the guard and shoots a deadly glare at him. "What I am doing here is not the business of a lowly prison guard like you. If you dare to ask me something like that again, you will be lucky if all I do is throw you into one of these cells. Is that clear?"

The guard nods vigorously. Yuri strolls past him and goes into the darkest corner of the dungeons. He pushes a hidden button and the wall opens, revealing stairs leading down into darkness.

Yuri goes down the stairs, heading deep under the castle. He eventually reaches a locked chamber that's filled with dark magic. Yuri places a hand on the door and whispers words of darkness. The door disappears, revealing an altar.

Yuri goes up to the altar and kneels in front of it. He places his hands on the altar and prays. "Brutus Crescent has grown incredibly strong over the years. I believe that if he continues on his path, he may eventually grow strong enough to defeat me. I cannot let that happen, so I beg of you, please grant me more power, my lady!"

Yuri hears an intimidating female voice come from the altar. "You have been a good champion to me, Yuri Solaris. I shall grant your wish. Use this power to destroy Brutus Crescent. But I must warn you, if you are defeated in this form I am granting you, you will change back and be incredibly vulnerable. You must only use it once, when you are sure you will not lose against him."

Yuri laughs as dark power flows into him through the altar. "Oh, yes! This is magnificent! No one will ever be able to stand against me ever again! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

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Xerkhon is meditating on his throne when a familiar gray-skinned man bursts into the room. "My lord, forgive me for interrupting you, but I have urgent news!"

Xerkhon opens his eyes and he scowls. "What is it now, Karnak?" Karnak runs up to Xerkhon and hastily bows. "My lord, the guardian of your altar in the Lorgel Mountains has went haywire and is rampaging throughout the mountain caves."

"WHAT?! What in the realms happened?!" "I believe another deity of some kind may have tampered with the shrine. Normally this would be impossible, but..."

"My altars are no longer protected as well as they used to be because I have been focusing on rebuilding my power to what it once was, before..."

Xerkhon shakes his head. "If I am to be at my full power when the fated day has arrived, the old guardian must be eliminated so I can replace it with a better one. But who can do it? I cannot enter the human realm, and your powers are the same as the beast's, so you would be unable to harm it."

Karnak smirks. "The answer is in front of us. Your champion needs a new mission, correct? Send him to eliminate it." "Hmm... He should be able to defeat it, but what if he stumbles upon the altar?"

Karnak frowns. "It is a risky thing to do, but we must take the chance. Even if he finds the altar, it is a better outcome than the beast finding its way to a town and laying waste to it. If that happens, it will not go unnoticed by the other gods and everything we have done will have all been for nothing."

Xerkhon growls. "Fine. I will send him. But he must not find the altar. If he finds it, he will become suspicious of me. Brutus Crescent must not find out what I truly am until it is too late for him!"