The giant and the dwarfs

"We don't have time! We have to evacuate the Demon Realm now!"

After facing a shocking defeat, Sagitta returned to the guardian tower to see Tempus sitting around doing nothing. He watched the demon realm that was beneath him and looked as if he was bored with the situation.

"At some point, we will have to," Tempus said thinking about the politics of the situation. "It's not going to be easy. That Greed guy, you said he was a human?"

"Yeah, he just looked like some normal human who had gotten drunk and kicked out by his wife."

"How strange that we've been calling them the Jester Masks but only one seems to wear a mask. Perhaps we should reconsider the name."

"Forget about that!" Sagitta screamed at the seemingly relaxed Tempus. "What do we do now?"

Tempus look at Sagitta with a confident look. It was a look of false confidence. Tempus was aware of the possibility that the guardians would fail but had hoped it wouldn't happen. Living up to the selfish name that Sophia called him.

"Alright…" He said. "We need to evacuate… I haven't heard back from the others but we should assume the worst. We need to discuss with the orcs and the puppet guardians."

"Understood!" Sagitta said trying to be as helpful as possible to make up for her previous failures. "Once I'm done with the evacuations I'll come back and help you defend."

"That won't happen," Tempus said. "Should they attack I want to go all out… if there is even one person left here that isn't the enemy I won't be able to fight to the fullest…"

"What about Envy?" Sagitta said refuting Tempus' decision. "What if you face her? How will you win?"

"I've already thought about it…" Tempus said. "Should I face any of those people, I can promise you… I will not let any of them escape alive."

Sagitta attempted to question Tempus but started quivering from his presence. The guardians are mysterious even to each other. It was foolish to stop one another during an argument. If a fight occurred no one knows who would win.

"A-alright…" She said. "But if you die, I won't forgive you."

After Sagitta left, Tempus was left alone again. There was one thought that constantly crossed his mind that he didn't understand.

"Thorit," he called.

"Yes, master Tempus." The service imp appeared with a bow.

"These locations that we were given… do they seem strange to you?"

"How so, Master?"

"Hmmm… it just doesn't make sense how these stayed hidden for so long… maybe I'm overthinking it, but just in case, can you investigate something for me?"

# # #

Located in the highest hills, villages and cities were designed to float above the clouds and in the hottest parts of the earth scaled onto the side of the largest mountains. One of these villages housed a small nation of Dwarfs, located at the bottom of a long path up an almost vertical mountain climb. The village didn't even house 20 people, it was a mining village, a place for people to rest on their way up and down. It was filled with taverns and sustained itself with locally sourced food and drink. The dwarfs were known for being heavy drinkers and partying all night no matter who was with them. They'd invite anyone in with open arms, even a giant dragon-slaying demon who was bigger than 10 of them combined.

"What a wonderful little town!" Mane said as his voice echoed down the path.

"H-hello, sir…" A small dwarf said bowing his head to Mane.

"Please, no formalities. We are all friends here!"

"Y-yes…"

Looking around it was clear they were all scared of someone who could easily destroy their buildings. Mane's size worried the dwarfs who were used to living peacefully on the same routine.

"I need a drink!"

Mane, having forgotten about his initial goal, headed straight for the first tavern he saw. The entrance was a bit too small for him, so he made his own. Luckily the inside was far more spacious and he could just about stand without bending over. Upon entry, he was greeted by strange looks of worry about concern as anyone would. However, as soon as the dwarfs saw how quickly he drank an entire barrel of ale, the atmosphere changed.

"You're a great giant, Mr Mane!" One drunken dwarf said to him as they entered their 10th drinking contest. "What brings you to these areas?"

"I'm looking for something." He said as if there was no alcohol inside him. "My friend gave me a note on what it does… His handwriting is too neat for me…"

Mane pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket which looked like nothing more than a note.

"Gloves?" The dwarf said reading the note. "Turn emotion into power... does such power exist?"

"It sure does!" Mane said with a booming voice. "My friend says magic unlocks every possibility and is the key to whatever we want."

"Hahaha!" All the dwarfs broke out into laughter. "What a load of rubbish! You need to sober up if you are talking about fantasy!"

Mane drank ignoring the arrogance of the dwarfs, he looked around the room filled with only drunk people and was quickly approached by the oldest person in the room, a man who was just as drunk but held himself better than the rest.

"It exists you know…" They said. "Those gloves are real…"

Mane didn't say anything but pulled the man to the side. He smelled as if he was homeless but spoke as if he had the best education possible.

"What do you know?" Mane asked.

"I'll tell you of those gloves… It's a story I've heard a few too many times."