"Wake up Erik…" a faint voice was calling out to him, slowly pulling him out of his deep slumber of the night. "Five more minutes…" was all he replied before his consciousness once more descended into the sweet land of dreams.
"WAKE UP ERIK!" the voice continued as the fog of his slumber started to seep away, before fading rapidly as he was tossed into the air and his body forced him to enter the land of the living. "Thyra!" Erik shouted as he turned his body in the air to look at his assailant, before recognizing that all too familiar smirk as she looked at his aerobatics in the air.
"That agility of yours never ceases to amaze me, Erik, you might be the most agile non-awakened person I've ever met," Thyra said as she looked in amazement at his subsequent smooth landing, something she would never have been able to do as her non-awakened self.
"Well, all that stupid agility training you, Ase, and Gunhilf made me do should at least count for something," Erik replied as his face turned sour at the memories of hours and hours of agility courses that Bodin created and all the times he had to dodge the magic and weapon attacks that Thyra, Ase, and Gunhilf threw at him.
"And the results show. Now, you need to get ready for your history lesson with Adira, all the children of the nobles and other important and influential figures are attending. I am sure even the "common children" are joining the lesson." Thyra answered as she mimicked a certain rich merchant both of them had frequent contact within the royal castle.
"Thank fuck it isn't another language, math, or etiquette lesson, I am so fucking over them" Erik answered as he started to dress in the clothes the maids laid out for him while he was still asleep.
"I think you're done with those if I remember the lesson plan that Adira created for you. You have history left with her and then Ase will slowly teach you the basics of what it means to be a lord child. Though she might save it for a single lesson when you're 18 since there isn't much to cover anyway." Thyra answered as she took leave of Erik's chambers and started to walk towards the exit of the tent.
"When am I getting my fighting lesson with weapons from any of you? All that I've been trained in is agility and stamina, you've never given me any weapon training." Erik asked in a downtrodden voice as he sprinted after Thyra, who was quickly exiting his tent and making her way to an amphitheater created by some earth mages in the middle of the camp.
"Because it will be pointless. When you're 18 you will be sent to the academy of war, where they will teach you how to fight. The academy of war is a far better place for instruction than we can ever hope to provide, because not only will you be training with and against people from all over the world, but you will also be exposed to hundreds of different fighting styles and weapons. That is why we haven't trained you because we will limit your potential by fighting against us and a smaller range of fighting styles that we have in the Gunnulf Kingdom" Thyra answered as they kept walking at a brisk pace towards the amphitheater.
"The academy of war… why do I have to go there? Why can't I stay with you, Ase, and the rest of the family?" Erik answered as he ran next to Thyra and looked up at her while trying to maintain a brisk pace with her.
"Because the world, our country, is quickly approaching change, change that we cannot stop. I won't tell you the details of it, but in a few years, we need to send you somewhere safe. Somewhere where you can grow and be safe.. or at least safer than the Gunnulf Kingdom." Thyra spoke in a hushed voice as she tried to keep what she said from being overheard.
After a few minutes of walking, they finally arrived at the amphitheater, and what a sight it was.
"Look, we're at the amphitheater. It seems you're the last to arrive, like always" Thyra smiled as she threw a soft jab at Erik's shoulder.
"Erik.. listen to me, please. Currently, all the children of noteworthy people in the kingdom are gathered here. From nobles and powerful military people to rich merchants, all their children are currently here to listen to Adira's history lesson." Thyra continued while Erik was trying to ease the pain of her jab to his shoulder.
"..What I am trying to say is that you need to communicate with some of the children. I know we've been kind of locking you up inside the castle and its nearby grounds, but that was for your protection. Now that you're 12 years old, you will get more freedom, but also more duties to attend to. One of these duties is communicating with influential people of the kingdom" she followed up as she grabbed him and squatted down to be face-to-face with him.
"That is something I never expected to be said by you, mother Thyra. I've heard you curse them plenty often throughout the years" he teased as he went to look inside the amphitheater and he saw that almost everyone was separated into different smaller groups.
"...Yes, but that is because I have power. Our family is practically invincible within this kingdom and as long as we live… our position will not be questioned or challenged. But we don't live forever Erik, at some point, you will need to stand on your own. With your own family, and this is where you can make your first connections, so do pay attention and talk to at least some people." Thyra admonished quietly as she hugged Erik, his small figure dwarfed by Thyra's giant frame.
"Best of luck Erik" Thyra whispered as she kissed Erik on the cheek and made her way out of the amphitheater.
—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Somewhere in the far north of the Gunnulf Kingdom
"....."
"Greetings Lord Frode, I see you're in amazing health and your children are doing amazing for themselves as well," Ase said as she kneeled in a clearing of the forest, surrounded by roughly a hundred 5th step animals, but they all paled in comparison to the one in front of her.
Despite the passage of years, Frode had not aged in the slightest and she could feel he had grown even stronger recently...
"....You are terrifying Ase…." Frode said as she gazed up into his black eyes that were surrounded by the yellow sclera, and it threw her off immensely despite this not being their first meeting, for normally those areas of the eye would be white for humans.
"How can I ever be a threat to you oh mighty Frode? You're a god, you stand far above anyone you will ever face." Ase replied as she stood up and dusted the snow off her armor
"I am far from the strongest… as I was recently proven." He snarled as he cracked his shoulders and glared in a southwestern direction.
'... I guess it was Aguna? It would make sense, for not many could just project their magic power across such a distance and suppress Frode's magic power. Another possibility would be Nocturne…. the hateful black dragon that ruined our family..'
While Ase was thinking about who the massive magic power belonged to, Frode decided to walk around Ase, his eyes scanning her with a wary look.
"You've grown far stronger than you were the last time we met… If you ever ascend to the 6th step, you might very well become one of the most fearsome beings on this planet very quickly Ase, to the point where even Aguna might pale compared to you. Potentially at least, as long as you make the correct choice" Frode said as she could feel its magic power rising and gathering inside his fist, a strike she would not be able to defend against…
"You know as well as I do that I will never ascend to the 6th step. My path is blocked by Nocturne, his night will forever darken the future of everyone in my family." Ase replied as she kneeled again, her chest armor dropping on the ground with a heavy thud as she activated her magic to remove the straps.
"I will not kill you, even If I want to, I would anger not only the sadistic freak that is Nocturne, but I would also anger something very terrifying," Frode said as it moved in front of Ase and released his magic, causing it to explode outward and blowing away several of the weaker 5th step snow owls that were behind Ase.
"Who?" Ase inquired as the magic force Frode expelled was too weak to do anything to Ase.
"I do not know, but I can feel two very terrifying presences that are paying attention to us at the moment and they scare me far more than Aguna and Nocturne can ever do. If I were to guess.. these beings are similar to you Ase…" Frode spoke as its gaze turned to the eternal night above them, as the lovers were now on their nightly cycle.
'Guess I'll keep quiet and let it continue since it seems to be in the mood to talk, there are still things about me that I still don't understand..' she thought as she kept her gaze downwards to the snowy land.
"Concepts….How I wish I was one" Frode continued as it cast a jealous gaze on Ase.
"Concepts?" Ase inquired as she had seen this word before, in a long-forgotten tome in a temple on the Mountain of Sannindi before the dragon of the night, Nocturne, attacked her and her family.
With a heavy sigh, Frode stood up and walked in front of Ase. Its human feet mixed with snow-white feathers completely silencing its movements, once Frode reached Ase, he squatted down and forced her to look up at him as he cupped her chin in his right hand.
"I will honor the agreement between us. Your people are free to hunt these lands for the next 10 days, but you're not allowed to kill any snow owls. Make sure you tell that to your people." It said as it waved its hand and sent Ase flying miles and miles to the south, outside of its territory and close to the camp of the Gunnulf Kingdom.
"Concepts… such terrifying beings. I wonder how many are walking around this world at this very moment, since Aguna is only active during periods of significant change, and concepts are driving factors of change... but not all the factors.." Frode spoke as he cast his gaze southwards to the camp of the Gunnulf Kingdom, focusing on a young boy that was attentively listening to a lesson in some kind of open sky human building. Buildings it had seen before, but it never bothered to learn the name of them or the reason why they were even built. "His connection is very weird…"
—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The royal palace of the Wu Dynasty
"Imperial prince"
"Imperial prince"
"Imperial prince"
"Imperial prince"
The servants greeted him as he made his way to discuss the imperial ceremony in the imperial court; the passing of the title of Emperor was almost always both a sad and festive occurrence within their empire. Normally the previous emperor would be dead and the 14 days of mourning across the empire would begin, during the 7th day of mourning, a new emperor would be crowned; and the new emperor would lead the last days of mourning to symbolize the empire moving from the past to a bright future. So it had been for thousands and thousands of years, but now the previous emperor had abdicated, the second of their long line of emperors to do that.
His wives had been dying one by one throughout the last few years and his health was rapidly declining, so rapidly that many imperial healers have given him max 5 years left to live, with his death likely occurring far sooner.
Suddenly he felt a wet tongue interrupting his thoughts as he felt the tongue licking his right cheek followed by a familiar maw nuzzling up and down said cheek.
"yes yes, Heiyan. We will go out to train after this meeting, I know that we haven't trained and fought much together lately." Shoi-Ming spoke affectionately as he rubbed the head of his partner for life, an azure dragon's whelp that has been with him since birth, but he knew that today he would meet a few more lifelong partners.
"Your highness! We have to hurry up, both the emperor and heir presumptive are waiting on you, along with your future wives." His other close friend spoke, stress and sweat evident on his face. His name was Lan Qiren and he was chosen out of thousands of potential excellencies to serve under him for his entire life.
Just like Shoi-Ming, he was 12 years of age and came from one of the many imperial orphanages throughout the empire. These orphanages operate for and are funded by the imperial clan to find potential ministers, governors, and soldiers and are extremely popular among the commoner families that cannot support the addition of another child to their family or the women who walk the night.
Out of the thousands of children that are given to the orphanages throughout the empire each year, Lan Qiren was one of the representatives to the national excellency exam from an orphanage close to the village of Hemu, a village located in the Northeastern portion of the empire. At the age of 12, he was to date the youngest excellency ever chosen and he would serve for his entire life under Shoi-Ming.
The imperial palace of Wu was separated from their capital of Luoyang by a mountain range that surrounded their imperial palace and they were making their way to the area that housed the imperial court and the servant quarters. This area was situated on the western side of the castle area and was the only area of the castle that had a connection to their capital through a road and river that was often traversed by the members of the imperial court.
As they neared the western area of the imperial palace, they boarded a kakam and Lan Qiren made his way over to the rudder at the back of the small boat and started pushing the boat forward.
"No matter how many times I board these small boats and traverse to the different islands and palaces on my family's grounds, I am always amazed by the tranquil sounds and sights of nature," Shoi-Ming spoke as he watched the surrounding cherry blossoms glide through the air while the many cherry blossom trees surrounded the different islands and blocked any vision of the center of the islands from those who were traversing the waters on boat.
"Indeed so my lord. The waters filled with lotus plants, carp and so many other types of fish and plant life are a true testimony to the skill of the people that built your imperial family's ground. The occasional sounds of the bamboo pumps scattered throughout the islands and small wooden platforms provide a nice rhythm for those who are pushing the boats forward." Lan Qiren answered as he got himself into a nice rhythm to push the boat and peacefully watched the surroundings.
"Indeed, the first emperor did an amazing job creating this all himself. From what has been passed down in the history books it seems that once he united the Empire of Wu and ruled its lands for 100 years, he passed down the title of emperor to his firstborn son of his first wife and spent over 600 years building the imperial palace grounds." Shoi-Ming replied as he sat down on the bed in the center of the boat and peacefully watched the surroundings pass by as he prepared for the meeting he would have. A meeting that would change his life.
As the minutes passed by, they gradually got closer and closer to the most western island that housed the imperial court and it was there that he would meet with his father and grandfather.
"Your majesty, it seems his imperial majesty is also arriving now" Lan Qiren spoke as he pointed at the boat solely reserved for the emperor that was preparing to dock on one of the islands arriving points for the imperial family.
"Grandpa!" Shoi-Ming shouted excitedly as he motioned for Lan Qiren to speed up the boat and they arrived at the docks shortly after. "Grandpa!" He shouted once again as he made his way to the part of the dock that was solely reserved for the emperor, though being the heir of the man who will become emperor in just a few weeks allowed him some leeway into entering this area. Once he arrived, he waved to his grandfather's excellency that was pushing the rudder of the emperor's boat, and made a small bow to his grandfather as the curtains of the emperor's pavilion were parted.
"Glad to see you're doing well, Shoi-Ming" his grandfather smiled as he waved Shoi-Ming over. "It has been three years since I last saw you, how about you tell me how your life has been?" His grandfather asked as Shoi-Ming boarded the emperor's boat and went inside the pavilion.
"But grandpa, don't we have a meeting to attend?" he asked as his grandfather sat down on the single large wooden sofa that was inside the pavilion on the boat. "He is still discussing matters of the empire with the heads of the three departments and six ministries, so we can take an hour to have a nice chat." his grandfather answered as his grandfather patted a spot right next to him on the sofa, quite clearly indicating that Shoi-Ming should sit there.
"Zhuge Liang, how about you get the three of us some cups of tea?" His grandfather asked his excellency behind him who firmly bowed and gave the traditional greeting someone would give the emperor of the Wu Empire.
"Always a formal one, I have not once seen him informally speak to me during the 900 and something years we've been together." His grandfather smiled as he looked at Shoi-ming with warmth in his eyes. "How about you tell your grandpa how the last three years have been for you? And then after that, we will meet your 7 wives."
—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The surroundings feel weird, something is off here and the 3rd is still slumbering. He should be awake already and be on his growth to adulthood." a mysterious man spoke in a heavy voice as he gazed down at the world below.
"Relax 2nd, I feel like this time we will succeed with our goal. The goal we have worked so many years for…. finally in reach" a mysterious woman spoke in an ethereal voice as she stood next to the figure she addressed as 2nd.
"1st… I think we should just kill all the 6th-step animals, and all the 5th-step beings and force the 3rd awake. Even your little pet Aguna might need to be killed." the man spoke as his magic power started to slowly rumble in his surroundings.
"Relax…. There is nothing wrong with waiting a few more centuries to see what the plan is. After all…..we can always start over." the woman answered as she gazed down upon the meeting of a 6th-step snow animal and a woman at the height of the 5th step.
"See those two? The woman is quite interesting.." she continued as she drew the attention of the man to the meeting.
"Indeed… she seems to be a concept, but she also has two innate abilities….perhaps it has something to do with her race, cause those two abilities are very interesting. Alongside her somewhat disjointed connection to the source." the man answered as he watched the 6th-step animal and 5th-step woman speak about something he did not care about.
"Hmm, let's just leave things be and observe how things play out. For we have all of eternity and all of its laments."