In an undisclosed location, shortly after the grand duke and his retinue had departed for the Icewind Bastion…
The room was shrouded in darkness, illuminated only by a dim flickering flame. A man sat upon a black slab, his legs crossed, and his eyes closed. A kneeling figure, shrouded in black, approached him.
"My lord," the figure said, "the barbarian king has agreed to our terms."
The man's eyes remained closed. "That's good news. Did he ask for anything troublesome in exchange?"
"Nothing particularly troublesome, my lord," the figure replied, "but he does wish to take over the entirety of the north of the empire without any outside interference."
The man on the slab hummed thoughtfully. "We can manage that. Instruct our spies to ensure that the northern and central lords don't receive any letters from the grand duke. His messenger is likely already on the way."
"As you command, my lord," the figure replied.
The man on the slab opened his eyes, fixing them on the figure. "Caelum, make sure you don't disappoint me this time as you did with the banquet."
Caelum banged his head on the floor, blood oozing from the wound. "Never, my lord, never again."
"See that you don't," the man said, nodding lightly. "Now leave, and send in Pollux. I have to speak with him."
"At once, my liege," Caelum said as he rose to his feet, his face still smeared with blood. He quickly left the room, his footsteps echoing ominously in the dim light.
As Pollux entered the room, he immediately fell to his knees, his head bowed in deference to the man sitting upon the black slab.
"You called for me, my lord," he said, his voice quivering with fear.
The meditating man slowly opened his eyes, revealing dark red irises that seemed to glow in the dim light. His expression was one of cold detachment, and his every movement seemed to drip with malice.
"Pollux," he said, his voice low and menacing. "How is the situation with the high king going? Is he still thinking, or has he accepted our proposal?"
"He said he will give us an answer by tomorrow night," Pollux replied, his eyes darting nervously around the room.
"Very well," the meditating man said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "You may leave. But before you go, tell me, where is Fornax? I have not heard anything from him in ages."
"My lord, Fornax has left the continent to train," Pollux replied, his voice barely above a whisper. "We are not sure of his location right now, but the last message we received from him said that he would be back when he is satisfied with his growth."
"I see," the meditating man said, his voice laced with a hint of disappointment. "Let it be, then. Just send him a message to not waste too much time. We still need to move forward with our plans."
"Of course, my lord," Pollux said as he scrambled to his feet and made his way towards the door. As he left, he could feel the weight of the meditating man's gaze upon him.
John screamed at the top of his lungs as he clung to Stormwing, who was flying at breakneck speed. "Tell him to slow down!" Oberon shouted to Dante.
"Stormwing, you're making me look bad. We've left everyone far behind, so slow down," Dante demanded as he approached the dragon's head after giving a nod to Oberon.
But Stormwing screeched out defiantly, refusing to slow down. "Shit!" John cursed as he realized the beast had no intention of slowing down.
Eventually, the trio arrived at the Icewind Bastion, a massive stone fortress shaped like a pentagon with large watchtowers at each edge, each mounted with a ballista. It was an impenetrable fortress, and even outside, crossing the layer of heavy water was necessary to enter.
John's body was still not used to the breakneck speeds he had been traveling at, and he puked out as soon as they landed. "You could have gone slower, you damned lizard!" Oberon managed to say before he too started to puke his guts out.
"Stormwing, are you kidding me right now? Look at what state they are in because of you," the grand duke reprimanded the dragon.
But Stormwing had no intention of apologizing and even snorted at Dante's words. "Did you just snort at me?" Dante said in shock.
Stormwing chirped out almost as if saying he didn't, and Dante had enough of the dragon's antics. "I don't have time to deal with you right now. Go out and hunt for yourself in the forest and make a nest wherever you want," he said, dismissing the dragon.
With a final scream, Stormwing flew out of the fortress into the forest right outside. "Your majesty, you're finally here. The field marshal is waiting for you," one of the guards said, finally speaking up.
"I'll be there in just a moment once these two here stop puking," Dante said, patting John and Oberon on their backs to stop them from throwing up.
After a while, John and Oberon finally regained their composure. "You two finished puking?" Dante asked, looking back at them.
"Yeah, let's go," Oberon said.
"By the way, where are we headed?" John inquired.
"To meet my most competent warrior," Dante answered, following the soldier who had relayed the field marshals' message earlier.
"Oh! I can't wait to meet him," John said, his excitement and anticipation evident. He wondered who could be considered the most competent warrior by someone as skilled as the grand duke.
"Don't worry; you'll be spending plenty of time with him. If I'm occupied, he'll take care of your training. He uses a spear, so he's perfect for you," Dante explained.
"I'm not sure if you're joking or serious right now," John said, puzzled.
"I'm serious. Now, hand your bags to one of the maids. They'll take them to your room. Oh, and Sir Oberon, will you join us for the meeting?" Dante stopped in front of a couple of maids who were waiting for them.
"No, I have no intention of doing so. I'm here solely as the prince's teacher," Oberon replied, shaking his head.
"I understand. One of these maids will show you to your room," Dante said, after which John gave his bag to a maid, and Oberon followed them to his accommodations.
As soon as the old man laid hands on Dante, John could tell there was history between them. The man's impressive build and the way he referred to Dante made it clear that he was not just any old acquaintance. "Dante ye fuck it's been ages, why do you never pay this old soul a visit sometimes eh? Forgot about yer teacher once ye got into a big position ey?" the man said, before pulling Dante into a tight hug.
Dante reciprocated the embrace before introducing the man to John. "Ah right, I forgot to mention, this old bastard was the one who took me in once I was sent to the north. This man right here is the previous Grand Duke of Valoria, Nicholas von Valoria," he said, grinning.
"Is that what you call your teacher?" Nicholas frowned, looking slightly offended.
Dante quickly changed the subject. "Anyway, it has certainly been a long time, Nicholas. I suppose we should talk about the situation before we catch up."
Nicholas' expression turned serious. "Right, about that, I think the situation is worse than we imagined. After interrogating some deserters from the barbarian's armies, we found out that their leader has quite recently advanced to a Violet Core warrior."
"How certain are you about this information?" Dante's expression soured as he asked.
Nicholas nodded lightly before responding, "I'm almost sure of it. I did the interrogation personally."
Dante cut him off before he could say more. "You don't need to say more. I get what you're saying. What are our chances to win this without external support?"
"Did you not call for support?" Nicholas asked, looking confused.
"I did, but I'm not sure how long they will take to get here," Dante replied.
"Well, if - and I stress the importance of the 'if' here - we are not to get further support, just with your Wyvern Knights, my heavy cavalry unit, and the rest of your army, I'd say we have about a 60% chance to win this. But our losses will be substantial. If this becomes a battle of attrition, we will lose. So we have to win this fast," Nicholas explained.
Dante's face turned white as he absorbed the information. "Only a 60% chance? What makes you say so?"
"Well, those fifty thousand beasts that are coming with the barbarians are coming as mounts. They seem to have figured out how to form contracts with beasts as we did," Nicholas said, folding his arms with a serious expression.