Kedral sat alone in his room, listening to the dark.
The room was expansive, big enough to host fifty people. He closed the bedroom door and sat on the four-poster bed, speaking to nothing.
The mana trembled a bit, and Kedral laughed wildly. "You should have seen their faces. Ah, I love jobs . Everyone is so confused. When will the Coldshades start moving... oh, I hope all things go according to plan then."
Kedral fell silent, nodding as he glanced out of the window. "Alger suspects something is happening, but he understands how little power he has over the situation. I have told him the empire won’t move to attack the Red Keep for six months."
Without the help of the empire, the Lightcloaks would never conquer the Red Keep. All the Keeps were situated to block the void off from the rest of the Elaris Empire, so they were armed with the greatest magical defenses.
The Veiled king’s imperial forces, the Sky castles, needed to move towards the Red Keep and help them break through.
The Sky castles held at least a thousand Grand Knights, and even figures of greater powers sometimes present. Their combined power was enough to wipe the Keep off the map.
And if they proved more troublesome. Then there was one man on the flying castle that even Kedral was afraid of.
Kedral listened to the shimmering mana. Alger still worried them; he and his long-dead father have been around for a great deal of time. They had knowledge and assets hidden across the land.
"I told him we have a situation being dealt with, I hinted that it could be the Silvar kingdom." Kedral explained.
The Silvar kingdom was one of the empire’s former vassals, now in not-so open rebellion.
Kedral laughed by himself. "We’ll have to treat them well. Oh, Lucen. He seems unaffected but he might have been forewarned of my arrival... I don’t know, but it could be the Reckoners."
There were many illegal seers hiding through out the empire, sowing chaos and distorting fate. Kedral had met a few of them and even paid for their services.
Terribly nice people. Some just liked creating a interesting stories, other sought money, others were looking for hidden secrets.
Killing them was always sad. The world made less vibrant. But interesting people always created unique problems.
The quiet dragged for a moment, the air held its breath. Kedral’s smile fell, a grim look marred his face. "Well, I’ve been watching him closely, and I’ll conclude he’s not involved with Cardinal Corswet’s death. But we’ll speak more"
Kedral flopped onto the bed, sighing. "We can only hope Lucen doesn’t serve ’him’, and we must keep a close eye on her tomb. The Ainsel castle will be here soon. I’ll give the Squires their gifts and insist they start their journey tomorrow."
Kedral stood and walked to the window. Over the misty horizon, a glorious ray of golden light illuminated the dark blue sky.
A mountain rose over the horizon, its dark and jagged peaks casting a shadow over the entirety of Castaway. Moments later, a castle was visible, its white spires and blue parapets shining.
The shadowed flying mountain hung over them, swallowing the sky and its light, drawing closer and closer.
Kedral’s smile returned a little. "Let heaven guide us—if it hasn’t forsaken us yet."
Lucen watched the dark mountain dominating the horizon, rising over the horizon was like a massive black cloud. His mind couldn’t wrap around the fact that something so gigantic was moving. Flying even.
The mountain held a resplendent white castle with blue accents, fields stretching over long plains, and three jagged peaks.
Lucen watched small shapes separate from the mountain and fly closer to them.
Skyseeker riders. They were headless mythical beasts that were midnight blue with four massive wings stretching from their backs. They glowed in the shadow of the Ainsel castle.
The glowing beasts landed in front of the Grey Keep. The towering mounts landed almost weightlessly. Their riders dismounted with practised ease, jumping down from their beasts.
The riders walked some distance, then turned and bowed to their Skyseekers. The Skeyseekers rumbled contently and settled on the ground.
The riders dorned armor made of white crystalline metal and blue capes with the simple symbol of a Halo surrounded by clouds.
The entire Lightcloak family lined up in front of the Keep, fully silent. The rattle of the riders’ heavy armor rattled the air.
Lucen’s face was impassive but inside his heart was pounding. The mountain hanging in the sky came with a terrible aura, one that parted the mana and tinted the colors of the world light blue.
Lucen wasn’t sure if it was the mountain or someone inside that set his nerves off.
The riders themselves were no joke; each of them was at least a Grand Knight. Lucen wasn’t sure; It was easier to tell how strong a monster was.
Kedral and Chester walked forward to shake the riders. They passed a Bluesilver crystal ring to Kedral.
Kedral turned to the Lightcloaks lined up silently. "You can feast with our guests, I want to speak to all our quest takers!"
The Lightcloaks marched back into the castle. Chester and the riders trailed them, speaking in urgent whispers.
The Squires and the young Knights followed Kedral to a meeting room.
"Form a line and come in one at a time," Kedral said before entering the room and closing the door.
The Knights moved first, taking the front spots, laughing and chatting excitedly. Duran walked straight to the front uncontested; he had a bitter look in his eyes that everyone avoided.
The Squires rushed to the back and let their friends in front of them. Callan stood at the front and let Set and Ymir in front of him. Hither kept a spot for Lucen, which he happily took.
Duran went in first, and the snap of the door closing was like a signal. They all began theorising on what they would each get and who the king had kept his eyes on.
For people who spent a lot of time insinuating that the Veiled King wasn’t a true king, they rather cared a lot about his opinion.
Lucen stared at the door though, impatiently tapping his foot.