The king's throne room….
Damien and the king sat across from each other at a long table with wine and a feast on it, inside of king ganish's chambers. His current chair looked also to be made of fine wood and materials not far from his throne. The room was decorated in expensive tapestries that showed past exploits of the kingdoms past. The walls next the to king was lined with books and their were maps and scrolls that littered the table in front of the king. The had the court mage to his right and his brother the duke and royal guardsman captain to his left.
Meanwhile, Damien just sat alone with his fingers crossed on the other side of the large heavy wooden table. He glanced around the room once again admiring the architecture. He still couldn't fully believe he was attempting to barter with a king on terms for kingdoms. Never in Damiens wildest dreams would he be here. He was nervous beyond belief and had trouble controlling his breathing. He did everything in his willpower to not let it show. It must have been working seeing as how the faces of the men hadn't changed yet.
Damien would have sent Allen if the king wasn't adamant for him to be here. Damien knew that he really needed much from the king, but still, he did need something from him so here he was. He just had to make the king feel like he needed his kingdom, in return. Allen gave Damien a great idea but Damien still had to use the power of his words and not his fist to accomplish his goal.
Damien wanted to meet the king on even terms. He wanted to gage the man that would be neighboring his kingdom. The tension and silence was thick enough to slice in the air. Damien was the first to speak.
"A lot less pointy sticks around this time around." Damien said with a smirk and gesturing around the king." Facepalm, Damien thought to himself.
The King gave a slightly annoyed look. He still was bothered by being made to feel weak in his own throne room, but he suppressed those feelings. "Well, I don't think I need them for a friendly chat do I?" The king said with white knuckles gripping his chair. This man looked like those dreadful Hellions with that crown. Dispite his great reservations, needed to sign a treaty that would benefit his kingdom and not just this mans. Damien was thinking similar thoughts.
"No, I suppose not. I'm glad for the invitation, but surprised it was so soon. So, I'm here to review terms?" Damien got straight to the point and didn't want to make a mistake in his ignorance of the situation.
The king sat back in his chair with an unreadable look on his face. After a few moments had passed king spoke.
"Patience young king patience. You have made yourself known, you obviously have untold riches and resources. You were correct that the goods from your caravan would be world renowned gifts for any of the High Royals of major factions in the surrounding kingdoms. Yet, you make them available for the common man as if they are simple trinkets. Storys of your healing of hundreds of people and supplying their village with unlimited water. Yet again, a renowned display of power."
"So, I am supposed to believe after all of these displays of power that you are not a threat? That you are not planning an attempt on my throne? Yes, you have a bordering kingdom in the wilds, which is a feat in itself, but you want me to believe that you have an entire established kingdom built in such a short time? What a few years at most? That is simply impossible. I simply cannot believe such a thing. What do you want?"
The whole time that the king spoke, Damien listened calmly.
"I don't want your throne King Ganish, I want your slaves. Your injured and maimed. Any of your kingdom's poor that you no longer want or need. I want you to allow them to leave, freely and migrate to my kingdom. I want you to make a safe passage for them. I noticed bandit groups in your kingdom. Many have began the move and you are free to try to stop them if you'd like bu-"
Damien heard snickering then full blown laughter coming from the other side of the table. The king was laughing uncontrollably. The king laughed himself to tears but controlled himself after seeing the annoyed look on Damiens face. He realized Damien was serious and laughed himself sore.
"Out of all of the things that I imagined you would demand of me, it is this? My kingdoms beggars and whores? I suppose you want all of my kingdom prisoners too? Mmm?
When Damien nodded, the king burst in another fit of laughter. The king shook his head in disbelief. When he regained his composure once again he spoke again.
"Well, you could only need people if you need your kingdom to grow. As much as I want to refuse, you have solved a problem that has been plaguing my cities. The growing number of hungry stomachs in the kingdom. The increased number of homelessness."
"In which of your cities?" Damien asked. Still looking annoyed at being the butt of the king's jokes.
"All of them. We have more bodies on the streets adding to mass graves. I simply do not have enough."
"But how? This kingdom is bursting with power and wealth. How could there be a shortage of anything?"
"Mind your place mage king. This is my kingdoms problem, not yours."
"Well, if we continue with this agreement then this will also be my problem. Now, what is the issue."
The king visibly deflated. All of his confidence and strength was gone in an instant. The king seemed older instantly somehow. It looked like a weight has been on his shoulders and he was on the verge of being consumed by it.
"Mage king, I will adhere to your wishes if you assist my kingdom from our enemies. I have around 500,000 slaves that I will personally March to your gate if you succeed in assisting my kingdom in the war plaguing my lands. For the kingdom of Numera to assist with my war against this seemingly invincible threat. That is my request. Yet, to discuss with you the intricacies of my kingdom is overstepping. I will not."
Damien was shocked. He wasn't expecting to be asked for help. He would have threated raised this kingdom to the ground for what he wanted. Or at least made them think he would. He was expecting the prideful king to turn down his offer and declare war on his kingdom. Damien was prepared to portal into the throne room and burn the place down from the inside out. He needed people and this kingdom had millions. Damien was prepared for a battle. Not a counseling session. The king looked broken and tired.
"What armies is there that's too powerful that they are too much Algarian army to handle? I've read the stories, the humans untied all the lands through war and conquest. There has been relative peace for centuries outside of a few border squabbles." Damien asked. Even though he still had no real knowledge of kingdom level powers, he had to feign some of his knowledge in this exchange.
"You have done your homework on our lands. Yes that was the situation for many decades until recent years. A new enemy has risen from the shadows. Almost literally. One day, they were just there slaughtering innocent pilgrims. The lands on the other side of the west gate of the outer gates lead to mostly unexplored lands.
"We had sent caravan of mages, soldiers, and mercenaries to establish new villages and expand the kingdom boarders. We had the answer to the food shortage problem with the rich fertile lands that were discovered. We established villages deep into the territory. It was miles and miles of open plains for the beasts and perfect soil for crops. It was largely a success until….they came."
The king took a deep drink from his goblet to quench his suddenly dry tounge and continued.
"These monsters are like any we have ever encountered. They call themselves the Hellions. They look like men but in appearance only. They are twice as strong, and harder to kill. They can die but they take multiple men to keep them down and their archers and warriors commonly ride monstrosities into battle. Yet, it's their mages that are the most destructive. They wield powerful magics that our own mages struggle to contend with and have the numbers to threaten the entire world.
We have no idea where they came from and any spies or scout that we have sent into this land has never returned. We have never been able to get many answers out of any that we capture and interrogate. That's if they don't kill themselves first. One warrior will dive into a mass of hundreds of warriors without fear of death. My generals are at a loss and they are only months away from our gates. The last count was in the millions. That was a year ago. I don't have the heart to tell my people that all is already loss. Only the people in this room and the men and women dying in the plains know of this secret war. I don't have the heart to tell the men they are only delaying the inevitable. They had quickly slaughtered their way deep into our claimed territories. We had finally got a force large enough to sto their advance. Almost all of the kingdoms strongest warriors have met the enemy horde. "
At those words the king waved his hand and Jostin the court mage pulled out a stone and began chants. The aura around him crackled turning red, the power of his element. The stone melted away and landed on the table, burning a circle into the table. Heartless blue flames rose and dimmed in seconds. When the flames died, a picture began to form showing birds eye view.
A large battle was taking place. Not a battle, a massacre. Blood painted the ground like a river of red. Men and women in the Algarian kingdom colors were clashing with men and beast clad in all black with silver trimming in their armor. The men and women from Algeria were being driven back but not giving an inch. Damien could see what the king meant. The dead and wounded from the Algarian lines were obviously more numerous. Any commander could see that this was a losing battle but why not retreat? Limbs, brain matter, arms being literally ripped off of bodies. Their were even young boys fighting and dying. Damien was in shock and seeing the level of carnage first had. It was just mind numbing for someone from earth. Damien kept watching the image, he was in shock and noticed a beautiful woman mage fighting for her life and saving comrades at the same time. She was an angel of death surrounded by hell and didn't flinch.
He saw tall a pale female with long blond hair. She cast a long ice spear impale a enemy warrior through his head after he slayed two of her comrades in half with two deft swings of his swords. The ice mages was about to assist another comrade when a blast of fire consumed her and the image faded.
"So, Mage king what say you?"
When the king looked away from the image, Damien was gone and a portal closing behind him. Damien had already seen enough and made up his mind.