A caravan of people were walking through the woods. All in rich attire riding mounts and some in carriages. The head of the caravan was a Big Cat warrior riding upon a big mount, the chief of the Pride. The chief was grizzled and an old looking lynx with one eye. He was clad in leather armor and fur collar with a necklace of fangs dangling from his neck. He was riding a giant boar with armor plate on it. Next to him was a lioness with pierced ears and leather armor, the same as the chief. She rode upon an armored boar. Behind them were twenty Big Cat warriors dawned in armor head to toe walking behind them. Behind them were carriages carrying the royals from the human empire. Around their carriages were armored cultivators riding large lizards clad in armor. Behind their group were the nobles of the Bird Folk. They also rode in carriages and they made up the majority of the caravan.
The Pride Chief looked behind and shook his head facing forward. "Humans are so lazy. Our men are walking and leading. While they sit on their asses in carriages? Nobles aren't any better" he said with annoyance. Lioness chuckled, "my love we just show we're better than them. We are not weak like they are. I'll be happier once we are done with the whole affair and back in our lands away from the Green Palace '' she said, rolling her eyes. "I hate that we even have to witness him gorge on his own people. Sadly the treaty must hold so all out war doesn't happen. We need the funds for our people to build an empire of our own. Not to mention the resource of chi stones given to our Pride. Wish there was a better way to do this, but here we are" He said, spitting at the ground. It was true that the Pride wasn't an empire like the other two races. But he hoped to change that by building temples for cultivation and building their power. Now they gorged on Mythical Beast cores and absorb chi in rich environments. He sighed thinking of the offer given to him on providing the pipeline of chi stones to that king in the Void Faction. The war has dragged on for a while and each realm incursion by the Dreaded Faction more of his own troops die while the king sits back keeping his forces close. He felt anger, 'my people bleed while he carries on playing war!' He thought. His claws gripped the reins of his mount. Even though they fight most of the war they are looked down on for being ignorant barbarians. Who follows instinct over logic? But the Chief was not like that. He was a planner and he saw the future he wanted to build. 'I'll show these people how powerful my Pride truly is! Just need to have patience' he thought.
Night fell and the caravan broke into three camps. At the human camp sat an old man sharpening a sword. He looked battle worn and experienced. Seated with him were two young men. They were huddled around a fire. Inside a circle of tents all around them. Each occupied by a cultivator under their banner of the "Purple Butterfly" symbol derives from an beautiful insect that is extremely poisonous if eaten. The symbolism being that even in the face of death one has great power. "My sons, I want you to be ready for anything on this expedition?" He commanded. "Yes lord we remember, '' one said respectfully. "Why are we traveling with these felines and birds father?" The other asked. "Is it so much easier to end our treaty here and eliminate the threat?" He continued now staring at the Big Cat camp. "Patience. A scorpion finds the right moment to strike. Anyway I have been given an offer to run this realm for a price of course?" He said running a cloth of oil over his blade. "Really? What's the price?" One asked. "Chi stones. Mining continues and we ship it to the armory forges that specialize in cosmic metal combined with chi stones for the Void Faction?" One son shook his head, "All for this pointless civil war. A mere pissing contest among kings. War king wants to be high king so bad?" He said with sarcasm. "War King is powerful enough. He is on a scorched earth campaign; all those serving with the Void Faction are not spared the rod. They will kill all life here if we dont keep the peace" one brother explained. "So you see we have no choice? With power comes strings and conditions to it. Sadly in this we must pick a side. And they don't want the Emerald King anymore" The old man explained. He set his sword down and pulled out two daggers sharpening them on an oiled whetstone.
"What will you do?" The Old Man remained silent thinking. "I have not decided. For now I keep up appearances playing along as a banner man keeping my enemies none the wiser. There is one thing I know about the king who brought me this deal. They are quite cunning and a strategist. They would make this offer to the Pride and nobles along with myself" he suggested, staring at the edge of the knife. "Who is this king who made the offer?" The old man cleaned the blade. "Sword King of the Chivalry Realm number two in the Void Faction. He is not a fool he plays the odds and I know he will find order here if things go south. If he's reaching out he has already made his move. So we must be ready" he picked up the next knife and began sharpening it. Old man sighed, "Still taking over the chi stone enterprise will be difficult. The one who holds it is one we must befriend. Not make an enemy of" one of his son's suggested. The lord nodded at this. "Yes my son you are correct on that. Nothing worthwhile is supposed to be easy" he wiped his last knife down with oil. They understood that the task set by the Sword King would not be a simple one.
At the Bird Folk noble's camp. A large group of them sat around a closed tent. "What do you believe this feast will be?" One noble asked. "Probably him wanting more tribute. This feast is a mere formality" another stated. "We can not carry on like this. We give him our people to be farmed along with humans and Big Cats. We are bound to be next on his list my nobles! I am suggesting further talk of new management over this realm?" Another suggested.
"We need the crown and the blessing of the World to achieve that!" Another stated. It was true that to be a king one must have the blessing of the World. But showing how worthy you are for that blessing is another way to do so. If you show your leadership and your cultivation level is escalating towards the Celestial Step then you can become worthy. Ascension is a slow process once one hits Rank Five and ones who persist show dedication to power. "We must do something? He is eating our people for his own gains. We can't allow this?" One said angrily. "We will come up with a better plan and get support during the festivities. We are going to be rubbing shoulders with the elites at this feast. Even the bigger villages under the rule of the Green Palace could help with support? Not to mention the mining town. The richest city in all the realm; Divine City. We must win over, Whistler Chirp" one suggested. All nobles nodded at this.
Divine City was the city where all chi stones were mined, cut, and even forged into weapons. Along with providing sects of cultivators chi stones connected to the Green Brigade where most are from. The leader of that city was Whistler Chirp. A prominent black smith rise to riches with his mining and master sword making. He was the man all would want on their side during this take over. If he supported the Nobles then he would give them more strength than they knew what to do with. They could even persuade the Green Brigade to switch sides even.
From the human camp two warriors were patrolling. Each cultivator warrior wore from head to toe a white outfit. Even a full mask to keep their enemies guessing. They had the butterfly seal of the Old Man's house upon their backs. They brandished katanas and spears. One was slightly taller than the other and walked side by side in silence. During the camp two strangers sat upon trees listening to all the chatter of the back stabbing and plans. They had been following the caravan for days. It was two demons looking down on the warriors. They then pounced to obtain their identities. They worked fast, careful not to shed blood. Red Demon grabbed the shorter one breaking his neck. The Smiling Demon picked up the big guy in a choke hold. They snuffed their lives out and began carrying their bodies out of sight. They stripped them and took their clothes. Smiling Demon shrank all his gear to pocket size. Red Demon placed all his in his belt and hid the belt under a sash wrapping it thick around it. They pulled on their masks and took the weapons. They then made it seem like they were patrolling. "So it seems the plot has thickened?" Smiling Demon whispered. "Yes. Void Faction is bold to make a move like killing a king. I should personally have a word with this…Whistler Chirp at this feast. If he's as powerful as they say then he should be persuaded to stay neutral" Red Demon was deep in thought when the two were shouted at by a superior walking up to them. "You two! Enough chit chat shifts over. Head to your tents!" Two more warriors came from behind him walking past the two demons. They both bowed to the superior and left him. "Which tents are ours?" Smiling Demon asked. "I would assume the ones that are empty?" Red Demon jokes.
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The camps broke early in the morning and took to the main road heading to the Green Palace that was now in sight upon the horizon. More caravan of people were on the roads converging on the main gate. The demons stayed with the other cultivators remaining in lines as they marched. 'My gods this is slow as hell!' Red Demon thought. 'Seems there's a checkpoint' he saw up ahead green armored warriors checking the caravan. The Nobles were able to be pushed in front of the Pride. They were treated with respect and let through without protest.
The Pride Chief argued with the guards as they checked their things violently looking through their food baskets. Pushing the warriors like they were challenging them. Each cat growled at the warriors giving off strong pressure of chi. Some guards then backed up fearfully. The Chief even gave off a strong aura. They were treated with such indignity. The soldiers corrected and then let the Pride be. They were then let through. Next came the humans.
The lord they served met the guards, they checked some papers and scanned the men. They then waved them on. Some kept staring at the warriors as they passed. Red Demon suppressed his chi. They looked like everyone else as they passed the gate. The caravan walked upon the long bridge. Red Demon looked over the edge. He could see clouds under them and below it was a large body of water. Flowing into it was a crystal clear waterfall flowing off the edge in the distance. Water vapers giving off a rainbow of colors. The sight was colossal and gave off a true natural beauty. The Red Demon then scanned the palace outside it. He could see turrets, a thick domed shell over it. They were layered in plates of metal that looked to move with gears underneath. Pillars lined underneath stabilizing the palace to the chunk of earth it sat upon. The troops were led to a hall that would house the lord and his sons. The remaining troops were split into two groups. Soldiers of each group were guards. While the other group was to remain in their guest barracks under the palace till they were to be summoned.
As they walked through the dark stone halls all Red and Smiling could think was 'yep perfect for a trap!' As they were crammed into large quarters with the other warriors. They could leave and come as they wanted. But Bird Folk guards were stationed everywhere. "Are we sneaking away soon?" Smiling Demon whispered. "We'll make our move during the shift change in four hours" he whispered back. "Till then we should rest and be ready" the two had finally achieved their goal to enter the palace.
Now they had the real challenge in front of them.