A beautiful meeting

The people of the Merpose Empire had an expression.

'As pigeons return to their nest, gold returns to Tocia.'

Traveling by ship, one would get the impression that they were heading towards a great white mountain and it wouldn't be far from the truth.

Towers of white marble commanded over the coastline like giants guarding the gateway to the land of the gods.

Yet for all its grandeur, it was one of its most unremarkable buildings that was currently holding a meeting for those who truly understood the nature of gold.

"As planned, the Merpose Empire is on track to lose the war." Palashey Biliaros announced. She paused to look out the window. Her purple eyes pierced through the balls of smoke that had engulfed the streets of Tocia. Her pointy ears twitched with delight as she saw the statues of the kings and heroes of old torn down piece by piece by a raging mob.

She licked her lips as she watched the head of a statue of a man who had once been her lover be pulled free of his body. He had been a great man who had lived over a thousand years ago and had changed the course of history.

But his history was now finished.

She turned her head back to the meeting. She sat at a round table that was comically large. There were dozens seated around it and hundreds seated behind them. All present had been waiting for her to finish the report, but none dared prompt her while she was distracted.

She smiled in a way that would inflame the hearts of men, if not for the subtle lines in her face that betrayed something sinister.

"Oh, it is a simple matter. The seeds we planted have sprouted. You will find few men of the empire who will fight out of a sense of duty. "

Although the meeting was at the top floor, her ears could still detect the faint sounds of yelling as the riot continued to rage as men and women punched, kicked and clawed at seemingly anything that moved.

"They'd rather fight each other." She winked playfully.

A man behind her gave a more detailed explanation while she turned attention again to the show outside.

With that, the meeting was just about ready to end when a voice from one of the seats in the back echoed around the hall.

"Duke Moscro of Albia requests time." A fat man with messy straw-like hair said.

Seeing that he had been given the nod to speak, he continued.

"As you are all aware, The Breaker has chosen my region to settle and just a few minutes ago I was alerted that he… temporarily left his land."

The atmosphere of the room darkened.

"Describe temporarily." Palashey said, her smile replaced with an expression that could stab through steel.

"Not… not long." Duke Moscro stammered.

There was once a time where he was arrogant enough to think he could pursue her, but as he climbed the ranks he realized that it would be best if she never would never notice him.

"No more than a few minutes and only to the road next door. According to my tracers, he's just teleported back."

"A few minutes is fine." Palashey said firmly.

"It's true that after being there for a year, any intention to leave his land for any reason should be firmly crushed. But not completely. The longer he stays, the stronger the chains will become."

"However, there might be a reason that he left, and that may compel him to leave again. Keep your tracers monitoring the situation."

"This cycle has nearly finished, nothing must make him leave."

. . .

There are few things more difficult than teleportation as it requires the shattering and rebuilding of space itself. Which was why when I returned to my flock with a thunderous boom I was surprised to see Patwaris husband in a state of horror.

Surely for such an exceptional display of magic, an awed expression would be more appropriate.

Then I heard the revolting sounds of someone emptying their stomach.

It seemed teleportation didn't quite agree with Maguires system. To make matters worse, in between mouthfuls of sick, he was cursing me! Using so many expletives that even my poor sheep looked offended.

No wonder Patwaris... family member was was terrified.

Just like his… uhh, just like Patwari, he was short and had a general state of untidiness about him.

But he was much leaner and had a full set of hair.

After the initial shock, he slammed his head against the ground and began to apologize profusely to me.

If he treats his head like that, he could end up like his… Cousin?

"Ah yes that's right." I said, "You're Patwaris cousin. The one that ran out on me."

He was standing there with a bag of grain feeding the sheep, caught red handed.

"I-It wasn't like that sir. Honest!" He yelled.

He was hesitant at first but he soon spilled everything. How he had gone home yesterday only to be confronted by a group of men inquiring about my undying sheep.

Jelkin was his name. I knew that.

He told them what he knew, that they were sheep that could not be cut by any blade, or crushed by any force. Even throwing them into the lava of an evil volcano would do nothing but leave them with scorches. He diligently explained my genius in creating the flock of super sheep. As well as my unparalleled generosity as an employer.

But unfortunately this group of men decided to bully him into stealing a sheep for them to confirm his story.

At that moment, Maguire finally got over his teleportation illness and drew his sword. "I don't know who you are but I will not be toyed with!" He roared.

"Took the words right out of my mouth," I said. "You have a good eye there lad."

Puzzlement plastered his face, but he shook it off and approached me cautiously with his sword. He was about to say something else, until he saw what I was looking at.

A group of men were in the distance walking this way.

"Bahh!" Said one of my sheep, and I couldn't agree more.