The sun finally began to dip as it painted the darkening skies in a crimson shade of red above the Melting Mist Plains, as if trying to mimic the savage visage of the blood soaked earth. But this beautiful, yet eerie sight was left unappreciated by both armies, as they were preoccupied with other matters. Especially the Luminous high command, as they silently stood at the northern gate of their camp in nervous anticipation, as they awaited the arrival of the emissary of the emperor, that will not only begin the peace talks with the Eclipse Empire, but will also deliver their punishment for their disgraceful defeat!
And they didn't have to wait for very long, because as soon as the sun disappeared, and darkness covered the world, a solitary black carriage with it's windows removed; to prevent anyone from discovering them from the moon light reflecting off of it, and being driven by a black cloaked figure, and pulled by two black stallions quietly entered the camp.
As soon as the carriage stopped in front of the gathered officers, with Georgios at their head, the cloaked coachmen removed his black hood to reveal the young and expressionless face of a fourteen year old boy, with raven black hair and a pair of piercing deep blue eyes.
The boy said nothing as he swiftly headed to open the carriage door while respectfully saying "We've arrived, my lord."
"Excellent! My old bones were about to shatter from all the rocking, hahaha!" An aged, yet jovial voice sounded from inside the carriage, as a withered old man struggled to climb down the stairs of the carriage.
Seeing this the blue eyed boy quickly helped him, to which the old man sincerely said with a gentle smile "Thank you, Felix."
"Not at all, sir." Felix calmly replied, as a small smile appeared on his previously emotionless face.
The old man was all skin and bones, with a haggard looking face, and standing at an average height of 1.7 meters tall, with a hunched back, and a head full of snow white hair, and a clean shaven face, with deep brown eyes, which contradicted the gentle smile that adorned his lips. He was wearing expensive looking purple and white robes, that was adorned with images of a proud sun on the sleeves, and back. He was also wearing a simple gold ring with a circle ruby on his right index finger.
Although the old man looked weak and unimpressive, the officers who recognized him swore that if their jaws weren't attached to their skulls, it would've fallen to the ground in pure shock and awe, because this withered old man was non-other than Marius Nerva, the ex-prime minister of the Luminous Empire, and quiet possibly the greatest political genius of his generation, a man who not only gained the recognition and respect of many great men of wisdom, like Darius Khan, but also gained enough power and prestige to rival the emperor of the Luminous Empire in less than forty years!
The men's astonished expression returned to normal only when they saw Georgios, who had several small gashes covering his arms and legs, rushed up to Marius as he asked in confusion "Marius?! What are you doing here?"
Hearing his question Marius shows a hurt look on his wrinkled face as he dramatically said "Is that how you greet an old friend, Georgios? You're going to shatter this old one's heart."
Georgios released a frustrated sigh, as he rubbed the space between his eyebrows, as he thought 'If you're old, what does that make me?' But he held himself back as he said "I see that you still retained your sense of humor, but can you for once take this seriously."
Marius's pained expression vanished as if it never existed, as he heartly laughed and loudly said "And I see you still lack yours, old friend. You should really loosen up sometimes Georgy."
"Marius!" Georgios growled angerly at his friend of forty years, but Marius didn't show any fear or anger at this, as he simply lifted his arms in resignation while saying "Fine. Fine, I'll stop. I suppose that we do have a lot to talk about." Marius finished as he walked past Georgios, with Felix following closely behind.
Georgios once again sighed at Marius's actions before turning around to follow him, leaving all his officers stupefied in their positions, as their minds struggled to come to terms with the ridiculous scene they just witnessed.
A few minutes later, both Georgios and Marius were sitting comfortingly inside the command tent, as Felix served them tea, with practiced moves and a demeanor that far surpassed his age. Within a few seconds he finished his duties, and respectfully stood behind Marius, leaving the tent shackled in motionless silence.
Both men quietly sat in their seats, calmly staring at each other keeping the tent shrouded in a seemingly perpetual silence, until Marius finally broke it by joyfully saying "It's good to see you once again Georgy."
Hearing this Georgios showed a smile of his own and slouched comfortingly back on his seat as he happily said "Same to you old friend, though I only wish it was on better circumstances."
"Indeed." Marius replied with a hint of melancholy in his voice.
Silence once presided between the two men, before Georgios once again shattered it by seriously saying "Are you the emperor's emissary?"
"Yes." Marius replied honestly.
"WHY?" Georgios loudly asked, before continuing with concern evident in his voice "You retired more than a decade ago, and the last I heard is that you were still recovering in the countryside. Don't tell me that the emperor forced you out of retirement because of the war situation!" Georgios said the last sentence with a hint of guilt, believing that he had inconvenienced him by his failure.
Hearing this Marius loudly laughed before amusedly saying "Worry not old friend, no one forced me to do anything. I volunteered. Oh, and don't worry about receiving any punishment. Some foolish nobles tried to use this opportunity to smear your reputation, and demand that you lose your position, but the emperor has already silenced them."
"Volunteered?! Why?" Georgios asked, not bothering about the rest of the information, since he already knew that would happen, and he wouldn't be punished.
"Isn't it obvious? I've spent my entire life working to empower and strengthen this nation! Did you really expect me to see my life's work trampled before my eyes, and do nothing about it?!" Marius said with immense conviction in his voice. Georgios could only nod his head upon hearing this, since he knew how much this man worked for his country, even at the cost of his own health. That's why even though he is only sixty one years old, he looks like he's ninety.
"Besides, I can't wait to meet the kid that managed to defeat the famous Iron Wall Georgios. HAHAHA" Marius said trying to tease his old friend, but to his shock Georgios didn't react as usual, and simply looked at him seriously, with a cold, calculating gleam in his rust colored eyes.
"...Georgy?" Marius called out.
"Don't underestimate him Marius. That boy is a dragon in human clothes. A dragon whose shadow shall strangle our glorious empire, and whose fire shall flood our land and drown us in blood and chaos." Hearing Georgios's words caused the smile on Marius's face, that has remained virtually unchanged since he arrived, to vanish as he imagined a massive black dragon with claws like hooks, and blades for teeth, menacingly looming over the Luminous Empire, before suddenly spewing out a torrent of dark flame that turned into black armored men with gleaming blades, to engulf their great empire in death and ruin!
Marius's thoughts were cut as Georgios continued "We have been dancing in the palm of that young emperor, since the start of the war. Every action, every reaction, every possibility was accounted for! Never in my life have I seen such artistry in carnage before!"
Marius suddenly felt a chill crawl up his spine hearing this. But it did not frighten him as his iconic smile returned to his lips, as he excitedly said "That only makes me want to meet him even more. This will be very interesting."