High on top of a humongous mountain located within the middle of Fjord, a gigantic castle stood majestically over the horizon. Overlooking through the entire land as if an overlord would to their subjects.
It had magnificent spires that pierced the frigid sky and a robust foundation that was as stable as the mountain it was rooted on. What was even more impressive was that it had daunting and incredible walls which covered the mountainside, towering any and all in comparison.
Such a fine piece of architecture was a place that was once called home by a powerful and wise ruler whose name had been long forgotten throughout the annals of history. It was such a place that utilized its surrounding environment so effectively that it was a genuine impenetrable fortress that many would assume to have numerous powerful soldiers guarding and patrolling the walls.
However, this was not the case.
It's once glorious halls were now empty and lifeless and the once fortified walls were barren and deserted. No longer did life exist within this architectural masterpiece and no longer was there anyone to maintain and take care of its basic necessities. Now, it was left to tragically rot away in silence for many years, showing signs of collapse in certain areas. However, despite the terrible state it was in, it still stood proudly upon the heavens as if the architect who designed the monstrosity was laughing at the face of time.
Today, however, was different.
All of a sudden, the air surrounding the fortress started to warp and twist, disrupting the peace and serenity that the castle had come to know intimately for many years. These distortions number by the thousands as they begin to get increasingly bigger as time goes on. Then, as if the sky was punctured like a needle to a cloth, flying ships of varying design, color and sizes started to appear one after the other. Filling the skies with a majestic and fear-inducing sight of an armada that silently hovered in place.
Although the ships were awe-inspiring and impressive by themselves, there were still four malformations in the air that was much more gigantic and eye catching than any other. Based on previous examples of the now hovering ships, it was clear that something massive was coming. Highlighted by the fact that multiple people on the deck of the ships were standing in silence, watching the scene with anticipation and excitement. Then, almost at the exact same time as the last ship flew out of a small warp, a massive dark rod appeared, tyrannically leading the charge out of the portal in order to reveal the rest of its body and majesty to the world.
It was humongous! A size second only to the castle ahead. It had a gigantic hull that was black and seemingly metallic, absorbing any light that shone on it. It had grey sails the size of castle walls, flapping in the air with a hammer, axe and a two-tusked skull sewed in the middle of it. And it had a daunting aura which would instill fear to any who dare gaze on its dominating presence.
It was such an awe inspiring sight that a fourth of the ships with similar designs start to rumble with cheers and pride.
However, that was only the beginning.
At the same time, within the east of the castle, a beautiful and pristine white ship elegantly flew out of its warp. Filling the air with a calm and peaceful atmosphere and definitely not any less imposing than the black ship. Vague figures that filled the decks of other white ships also started to cheer in pride, but in a much more refined manner. Almost as if they wouldn't stoop themselves too low. Then, within the south, an intricate red ship that was slightly smaller than the other two ships swiftly moved out of the distortion, once again making any other smaller ship which bore a resemblance to it resonate with roars and cheers.
The last ship which appeared from the west, however, did not receive such a reception. A blue ship, which was smaller than all the other colossal ship, slowly moved out of its warp. Floating in silence after getting into place. Larger than any of the smaller ships, but clearly... Lacking. After seeing such a huge display of impressive and imposing ships, many people were already numbed by the sight of it all. However, even though the blue ship was considered as a colossal-class ship, it was not nearly as impressive than the rest. In fact, it almost looked comical when compared to them.
"Pfft.... HAHAHAHAHA! You Humans sure really know how to make people laugh! What a... HAHAHA... What a joke of a ship! Imagine! THATS A COLOSSAL SHIP! HEHEHEHAHAHA!" A rough voice mockingly roared out of the black colossus, clearly amplified by a mechanism unknown to the average eye. Other smaller black ship also laughed with this hidden figure, filling the sky with voices of disdain and derision. Yet, it was only for a moment when a tyrannical pressure appeared, suffocating the people on the smaller ships.
"I would hold your tongue, 'Greyskin', else would you like to lose another finger?" The laughing had already stopped by the time a heroic and inspiring female voice rung from the blue ship, yet those that that resisted the pressure were still whispering and talking with one another. Still mocking them silently. However, they all froze with disbelief at her words.
"G-Greyskin?! How dare you?!" Unaffected by the aura of the female voice, this hidden master took great offence at her spiteful retort. Turning his original mocking tone into a murderous drive. "It's 'Ironskin' you Gods damned harlot!"
"And I was not ready at the time we fought! Let us fight again, right here and right now! Then we'll see which one of us will lose a finger...or a head!"
All of a sudden, tensions started to rise between the black and blue sides as the atmosphere turned dark and ominous. However, a young and cute voice suddenly spoke out from the majestic white ship, shattering the grim air like glass. "Enough! We're here to speak about the threat that is approaching the continent, not to battle with one another."
Both large ships turned silent at her scolding, reluctantly respecting the voice's wishes. Yet, to all who saw this scene, they could still imagine the black and blue sides gazing at each other murderously, wishing that the other side would just die by sight alone.
"I am an in agreement with the Snow Elf Queen, it would not do us good to destroy one another before the threat even appeared." A deep, calm and commanding voice that came from the red colossal ship resounded throughout the sky.
"Thank you, Beast King. Right now we need every single person within Fjord to unite against the inevitable threat which will throw the power balance of our continent off the scale. A threat that will take the entire continent by storm." Despite the terrible implications from her words, The Snow Elf Queen had a calm and calculative tone. As if everything was seemingly under her control.
"I get it! I get it! A threat is coming and it will ruin us all... But let me tell you something little girl, how do we know if its such a big threat when we don't even know what it is!" Once again, Ironskin spoke with a annoyed and rude tone, clearly thinking that this entire trip was a waste of time.
Yet, before the Snow Elf Queen could reply, an arrogant persona within one of the large ships beside the white colossus screamed out in anger. "How dare you speak to the Queen that way?! You filth-"
"Be quiet." Before the infuriated elf could finish, however, he was suddenly stopped by the sound of his Queen's stern command.
"Clearly, we all need to speak in a more silent space. Else we wont be able to control some of our subordinates once arguments get too heated. The Ruined Throne is something I deemed to be the perfect spot, so let us all discuss our future plans there."
"Aye."
"Alright."
"Fine..."
At the call of this cute yet commanding voice, all of the ships of leaders and influential figures of each race, Snow Elves, Beast Men, Frost Orcs and Humans, start steering close to the castle. The rest of the smaller ships, however, stood guard instead. Ready for any threat that might try and wipe their leaders in one fell swoop.
Even though they knew there was no such threat that existed.
Due to the size of the colossal ships, they couldn't actually move too close to the mountain or they might cause unforeseen accidents. However, this was not a problem as incredibly small ships, akin to rowboats, started to fly out of the sides and steer towards the grand castle at an incredible pace. All color coded according to the original ship which they had flown out from.
Once they had disembarked at the edges of the frigid field in front of the castle gates, the appearances of those leaders were finally revealed.
From the Frost Orcs side, an incredibly large grey figure stood, towering at a whopping 220 cm tall, surpassing all of the other races by a large margin. His face had numerous scars that told many stories, more notably a large scar which blinded his right eye. His features also included his menacing tusks that protruded from the ends of his mouth and his long braided black hair that flowed onto his robust chest similar to his impressive ornamented beard. He had very little clothing despite the cold air, yet that didn't bother him as his bulging muscles that were bigger than even a chubby Human boy seemingly kept him warm. This was the Frost Orcs Chieftain, Ghorbash Ironskin.
"I see you managed to heal that finger I sliced off you, I wonder how humiliated you were when you asked the healers to stick it back on?" Hearing the sarcasm in the air, Ghorbash turned his keen and murderous gaze furiously towards the source, grabbing a monstrous and intimidating axe from his back that was even bigger than himself.
He was ready to jump and chop whoever spoke those insolent words. After looking around for a bit, he locked his gaze in a particular location of the field where he found the brave woman staring at him with a mocking glint in her ruby eyes. She wore a red captain's coat and stood at 175 cm tall with a few soldiers in sleek blue uniform close-by. She had long curly red hair that flowed down to her waist and pearly white skin that resembled the snow in their surroundings. There was nary a speck on her beautiful face as she stared 'down' the Orc across her, ready to give the order for battle at any moment. This was the Flame-Kissed Captain and Admiral of the Human Fleet, Elaina Dragonfire.
While staring at the Orc, Elaina extended her slim arms out onto the frigid air where, suddenly, a giant vermillion great sword appeared on her hands, melting the snow in a two meter radius. It was a beautiful piece of work that was at least twice that size of its wielder, yet she broke all expectation as she effortlessly swung the weapon around like a feather before gracefully placing it on her shoulder. Taunting the increasingly impatient Orc from a distance. The other Orcs and Humans around also started to get a little nervous since if these 'giants' start to do battle here they might destroy their surroundings and injure others in the process.
Then, as if their prayers had been answered, two figures coming from the same direction of field start to clear their throats in hopes that the bickering duo would cease their aggression. Elaina and Ghorbash quickly put their weapons away and clicked their tongues in reluctance. Looking at the direction where the sounds came from.
Two figures were walking side by side, one large and small. On the left, an ethereal snow fairy stood 153 cm tall with her arms elegantly crossed behind her back. Seemingly blessed by ice and snow as flakes of snow danced around her frilly white dress. Her facial features was jaw-droppingly pretty with her diamond-like eyes, whilst her ears was long and sharp, poking out of her straight white her that cascaded onto her petite figure. She was so gorgeous that even Elaina felt a bit inferior once compared to her. Everything about the girl was just perfect and without blemishes, as if the word 'impure' was never in her dictionary. This was obviously the Snow Elf Queen, Anastasia Wintermoon. Escorted by an entourage of white-armored soldiers much taller than herself.
On the right, however, was a huge contrast to what was previously described. This figure's height and muscles was much larger that that of the small Queen next to him, being only slightly inferior to Ghorbash. He wore intimidating black armor that covered every single part of his chocolatey brown skin apart from his head, hiding all of his vitals effectively. He had a small grin plastered in the middle of his handsome face, revealing his sharp fangs that were akin to daggers whilst his handsome and dashing figure was further highlighted by his short and slick ebony hair that had been pushed back with a small clip. What was odd about this figure, however, was two black cat ears moving about on his head and a strange cat tail that could be seen behind his waist. This was the respected figure of the Beast Men, Beast King Amadeus Braveheart.
After Ghorbash and Elaina had calmed down to a certain extent, Queen Anastasia began walking towards the small opening of the castle gates under the gazes of everyone. She calmly marched on until she stopped just a few steps away from the entrance. There, she suddenly turned her body and stared at each and everyone one of lofty leaders with her expressionless face. Now, it needs to be said that all of these leaders were powerful warriors who had seen their fair share of battle and close calls with death. Yet, when they met with the gaze of this seemingly harmless little girl, goosebumps started to appear on their skin as a chill ran down through their spine. The 'girl' in front of them smiled slightly, drowning the colors around her with her beauty.
"It's starting to get cold here so lets head inside to warm up. A table had already been set up in the throne room in preparation for this day. Just follow me and you wont get lost in this maze of a fortress..." She suggested.
Seeing no reaction, a slightly irked expression briefly appeared on her face. What she said next completely shattered their impressions of this 'perfect' being.
"...Well? Why are you all standing there like a bunch idiots with shit for brains? Let's get moving and get this meeting finally started."