Prologue

Ron Jeol Elkerson walked through the large prayer room of the cathedral. His steps resounded with a thud on the stone floor, and he could hear the faint murmurs of prayer coming all around him. He loved his job – the Head Guard of the Cathedral of Light. In the Slane Theocracy it was unthinkable that anything would happen in one of the six revered cathedrals, and in fact, nothing ever did. Which made it a perfect job for someone who didn’t want to be hassled, like him.

He made his way to the entrance of the cathedral, where two guards casually talked about recent news. The main topic was, predictably, the dark elf envoy of the Sorcerer Kingdom and the commotion her visit had created. They had seen a lot more of the other Cardinals and various Scriptures members compared to the usual, calm times.

“I am telling you, they must be under some kind of spell. How else could they possibly live in a city where undead are roaming the streets?” Ron heard one of the guards.

“You are probably right. I’ve snuck up to take a look at them before they left. Just looking at those undead monsters from afar made me want to run away,” the other guard replied, shivering in the daylight as he recalled his experience.

“Captain!” Both guards saluted Ron when he walked out of the entrance and stopped in front of them.

“At ease, I just want to take in this nice weather, before I go back inside,” he nodded to his men.

“Um, Captain, what do you think about the Sorcerer Kingdom?” One of the guards asked.

“I am just glad that the Slane Theocracy would never allow for such a thing to happen to one of our cities.”

“Thank the Gods.” The guard agreed.

“Rumors say that no humans have been killed though. Why wouldn’t the undead just slaughter them?”

“Maybe he plans to kill all the living in some grand ritual? Either way, it’s just a matter of time before they are killed,” Ron shrugged. Pretty much everyone he talked to had the come to such a conclusion.

He turned around and was about to walk back inside when something had caught his vision.

“That is?” he mumbled as he turned back to get a better look. A large shadow on the ground quickly moved toward them, before it disappeared. Ron tilted his head and looked up, but all he saw was a clear, blue sky.

“Did you see it?” He called out to the guards.

“Yes, I saw… “ A guard began. “There it is again!” He cried out, pointing at the shadow which appeared on the side of the square and then began to move along the perimeter.

Ron looked at the sky again – he couldn’t believe his eyes. He blinked a few times to make sure his vision was correct, and as he did, his jaw dropped. Mouth agape, he stared at a dragon which was circling above the Cathedral of Light as it descended.

“Guards! Sound the alarm! Sound the alarm!” He bellowed after a few seconds of trying to comprehend this unbelievable sight. He grabbed one of the guards by the shoulders and screamed in the man’s face. “Warn the Cardinal! Get him to safety now!”

The guard disappeared inside, while Ron and the other guard moved behind the cathedral’s doors, using them as covers. Almost immediately he heard screams of terror coming from the square – other people had noticed the dragon as well.

“Keep the worshipers inside,” He gave the order. The situation was nerve-wracking as it is, I don’t need to deal with frightened citizens too, he thought.

The dragon was still in the air when alarm bells of the Cathedral of Light began to toll. Soon, he could hear the bells from the other cathedrals too. He felt a little better, knowing they would be prepared to face whatever danger the dragon brought.

Still, how did it get here without being noticed? He couldn’t help but wonder. Of course, the Slane Theocracy did not have anyone watching the sky specifically. A dragon flying high in the air could conceivably fly overhead without being noticed. That’s a problem above my pay grade, he shrugged and focused on the dragon.

It was getting lower and lower, and he could now get a good look at it. It was huge, as big as a building, yellow scales covered its top while the scales on its stomach were more white. Two black, horn-like protrusions extended from its head. As he took in the creature’s appearance, he could feel his hair ruffled by the wind gust from the dragon’s flapping wings.

The dragon finally landed in the middle of the square, and then lower itself to the ground. In astonishment, Ron watched as two figures jumped to the ground from the dragon’s back. He squinted his eyes, trying to see them better.

“That’s the envoy from the Sorcerer Kingdom?” He thought. “Why did she come here on a dragon?”

His view then shifted to the second figure who stood beside the dragon. It was a dark elf boy with gold hair, he wore white pants and a white & gold vest, under which he could see red scale armor.

The two elves advanced toward the Cathedral while the dragon stayed behind.

“State your business!” Ron bellowed from behind the door.

“Umu, can you, ca.. call, ahem,” the envoy stuttered before coughing. “I am the envoy of the Sorcerer Kingdom, Mare Bello Fiore, call your Cardinals, there is something I need to discuss with them,” Mare continued.

Casting a quick look around Ron cursed. Why isn’t anyone here yet? What should I do now?

“You, go tell the Cardinal that Mare, the envoy of the Sorcerer Kingdom and another dark elf flew here on a dragon and wish to speak to the Cardinals,” he told one of the nearby guards.

“Please wait while we contact the Cardinals,” he yelled at the elves.

Seemingly satisfied with his response, the two elven boys returned to stand beside the dragon.

Ron could see from his position that guards were flooding towards the square from the surrounding areas, forming around the perimeter. The intruders didn’t seem concerned though, chatting casually as they glanced around.

Time moved slowly. Ron was hoping that the elves would continue to wait patiently and not do anything rash, like having the dragon breath fire at the cathedral door, behind which Ron was hiding. He continued to struggle with his fears until finally, he heard a large number of feet echoing against the stone floor. He turned around and was relieved to see Yvon Jasna Dracrowa, the Cardinal of Light, followed by a group of guards and Scriptures Members. Besides the Cardinal walked a girl with a scythe in her hands – Zesshi Zetsumei.

“Your Eminence, they haven’t moved after announcing their reason for coming here,” Ron delivered his report after saluting.

“Hmm, that’s definitely her,” Yvon said after peering behind the door. He scratched his head in thought. “No matter,” he shook his head. “Zesshi, come with me. You lot spread out behind us,” he ordered the other members of various Scriptures.

“Let’s go!” He said forcefully.

The door was pushed aside, and Yvon descended the stairs leading up to the Cathedral and walked toward the dragon. The elves saw him and began to approach as well. Both sides stopped at some thirty feet aside. The Cardinal was the one to speak first.

“What is the meaning of this, Mare-dono?”

“Greetings, Yvon-dono. I apologize for any issues our arrival has caused your people. There is something we need to discuss urgently. But first, allow me to introduce my sister, Aura Bella Fiora,” Mare said.

Sister? Why is she dressed like a boy then? Yvon thought. He coughed to break up the silence and introduce himself.

“I am Yvon Jasna Dracrowa, the Cardinal of Light, and she is Zesshi,” he replied.

Zesshi Zetsumei’s identity was a national secret, but since she had spent more than two weeks accompanying Mare during the envoy’s stay in the capital, hiding her identity from Aura was impossible. Yvon wanted to ask about their reason for coming, but before he could do so Aura spoke.

“Zesshi? Then, you must be the friend my brother made during his stay here.”

“Friend?” Yvon mouthed as he turned to look at Zesshi. However, all he saw was an astonished expression on the half-elf’s face.

“B-Brother?” Zesshi stuttered while looking at Mare. “Why, why didn’t you tell me?” She asked incredulously.

“I thought it was self-evident. I mean, you never said you were a girl either, right?” Mare replied with a confused look on his face.

“That, that… seriously, what the hell is wrong with you? Why would you wear a skirt if you are a boy?!” Zesshi screamed angrily.

“Calm down Zesshi, there are more important things I want to ask.” Yvon placed his hand on her shoulder, trying to keep her from escalating the situation. “You said there was something you needed to speak to me urgently about?” He addressed Mare.

“Not just you, all of the Cardinals. You see, the Elf King had, um, he…” Mare began to stutter again.

“The Elf Kingdom had recently experienced a change in rulership. We are its new rulers,” Aura casually announced.

“What?” Yvon exclaimed at the smiling dark elf. “How?”

“The Elf King had… well, let’s just say he is in no position to rule the Elf Kingdom,” Aura smiled. “Although that’s not why we came.”

“Then, why did you?” Yvon asked dumbfounded.

Yvon felt his head spin. It was less than a week ago that Mare got kidnapped by the Elf King. He knew that for certain – two members of the Windflower Scripture saw the kidnapping with their own eyes. And now, Mare was telling him that the Elf King had been removed and that he and his sister had taken over the Elf Kingdom?

“As an envoy of the Sorcerer Kingdom, I was sent here to establish friendly relations between our nations,” Mare said. “Given how we parted, I thought we had achieved quite a bit of progress in that regard.”

Yvon nodded cautiously, he wasn’t sure where the dark elf was leading him.

“Since the Elf Kingdom is now under our rulership, and is a part of the Sorcerer Kingdom, your war with the elves should also come to an end, don’t you agree?” Mare asked.

“It’s not my decision alone to make,” Yvon replied.

“Then, there is the matter with the elven slaves,” Aura said.

“What about them?”

“Elves are now citizens of the Sorcerer Kingdom, we cannot allow our citizens to be enslaved by a neighboring country.”

“So you want us to…”

“Free the slaves,” Aura smiled.

“No, you can’t possibly make such demands of us,” Yvon shook his head.

“Yvon-dono, could the Slane Theocracy have friendly relations with a nation that holds thousands of your people as slaves?” Mare asked. “Then, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that we feel the same way,” he continued after a pause.

“Still, this, this is just too much,” the Cardinal stammered.

“Can you consult the other Cardinals? We’d like to end the war immediately, you can spend more time trying to figure out how to best explain to your citizens the freeing of the elven slaves,” Aura said in a casual voice.

“I… fine. We will hold a meeting right now,” Yvon relented.

“I will stay here,” Zesshi said as the Cardinal of Light began to walk away. He gave her a long look but didn’t say anything, instead, he continued toward the Cathedral of Light.

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you are a boy,” Zesshi said as she punched Mare in a shoulder.

“Haha, you should’ve seen your face when you’ve learned that news, it was priceless,” Mare laughed.

“Hm, you are right, Mare, she is cute,” Aura said while staring at Zesshi.

The half-elf blushed and changed the topic.

“Is that dragon strong? I always wanted to fight a powerful dragon,” she said while motioning to the dragon which stood calmly in the middle of the square.

“See, I told you she is a battle maniac,” Mare rolled his eyes at Zesshi.

“What? You two are strong, don’t you want to fight strong opponents?” Zesshi asked.

“I just want to read a nice book,” Mare shrugged.

“I want Rororo,” Aura said regretfully.

“What’s rororo?” Zesshi said confused.

They continued to chat while the Cardinals held an impromptu meeting. As the three talked, Zesshi felt a whole new world begin to unfold in front of her.

 

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