As Mourtas returned to his castle in Annura, his soldiers stationed there went to work imprisoning captured dragons. Dagon's attack had killed everyone and thing other than the captured dragons, but that still cut down Mourtas's forces by quite a lot. His power had ultimately been weakened… but it was of no concern to him. After all, his biggest concern was taken care of.
As Mourtas sat on his throne, he grinned, looking down at the two scales resting in his palm. Within his hands, they had turned almost completely black, only with a faint bit of normal color left.
'How amusing.' He thought, 'If the light of these scales signifies my soul, then I guess I'm not completely evil. And here I thought I was the villain.' He couldn't help but chuckle.
"Lord Mourtas." Came the voice of a soldier who walked into the room.
"Kavias." Mourtas spoke. "What is it? Have the dragons been imprisoned? And Dagon?"
"Yes. It's all been taken care of… it's just…"
Kavias was one of Mourtas's generals. He wore a heavy set of black armor and, over his back, was a massive sword of black steel and Drakeagen. He had long black hair tied up in a pony tail.
"It's just… what?"
"The Black Rose. They are here."
"What?" Mourtas's expression turned cold. "Is this some kind of joke? All of the Black Rose members are dead, killed. I saw them die myself. What is this?"
"I assure you, Mourtas Maddris. This is no joke." Came another voice.
Kavias looked back, stepping aside, as a tall figure wearing a black cloak with silver lining stepped down the stairs and into the throne hall. The man's face was covered by his hood. Two other figures in similar attire came after him.
"Who the hell are you?" Mourtas asked, his eyes narrowing.
"We are the Black Rose, of course. The real Black Rose. The people you worked with were only a small division. Our group is stretched out across every continent." The man spoke, "And we see everything."
"Everything, huh? I have a hard time believing your group reaches all the continents." Mourtas spoke. "I have a feeling you are no more than frauds coming to seek my strength."
In that moment, embers began to rise from the tall man and he lifted his head slightly. He had dark skin and red hair, and his eyes had a glow that resembled flickering flames.
An immense pressure shot out from the man as he looked up, and Mourtas froze as he felt a heatwave rise over his body.
Mourtas's eyes narrowed and he exerted his own essence, pushing back against the man, but it felt as though he were being choked, and, for once in his life, he felt weak.
The man gave a scoff, lowering his head. The pressure suddenly vanished and the room returned to normal.
"What.. the hell are you?" Mourtas growled.
"I am an Ash Kin. But that doesn't matter. I'm here to discuss something with you." The man spoke.
'Ash Kin..? Does he mean..? No… that isn't possible. They were all wiped out… so I thought. What the hell is this?' Mourtas thought.
"What is it you wish to discuss?" Mourtas asked coldly.
The man pulled his cloak tighter over him, the symbol of a black and silver rose wavering over his fabric.
"Our god is dying." The man spoke.
"Your god?"
"Yes. At least, he is one of our gods. He intends to end his own existence, although, this is not in the current time… yet it is."
"Enough riddles, what do you mean by all this?"
"The Dragon of Chaos, hatched of the Egg of Chaos, intends to end itself." The man spoke.
"End itself? Are you screwing with me? The demon hasn't even been born yet."
"And yet it has. Do not assume time matters when we speak of Chaos Gods."
"Chaos Gods? There are multiple?"
"There is one for each race. The Dragon of Chaos shall be the first to awaken. The others shall follow. We need you to be the one to retrieve all the scales and hatch the egg… or else… everything we've worked towards will crumble to ruin."
"I already planned on taking the egg for myself. And what is it exactly that you have been working towards?" Mourtas asked.
The man was quiet for a long moment, then spoke, saying, "To open the Gates of Adehyu."
~~~~
Gänhir woke to a stinging pain in his head and ringing in his ears. He slowly rose, sitting up, as the warm light of a fire graced his skin. His hand rose to his head as he leaned forward. He opened his eyes, looking about. Shiratt lay asleep beside him, and he had cloth wrapped about his body, covering his wounds. On the other side of the fire was a man he hardly recognized at first, as well as a large dragon with scales that resembled stone.
"Where… am I?" Gänhir groaned.
"You've woken up. About time. It's been a while, Gänhir." Came the voice of the other man.
Gänhir looked up. "Elmond?" He asked.
"Yes." Elmond answered, placing his hand on the sword by his side.
"What are you doing here?"
"I'll answer that only when you answer my questions. What happened here? And why did Mourtas send a dragon to take my life?" Elmond's eyes narrowed, "And… where is my wife?"