- Alderaan, South - Coastal Kingdom of Ahkram -
"That's it; her three hours are just about up."
Sir. Philen stated, in preparation to leave the location lady Dorwynn had suggested for their meeting.
"Any longer, and your conversation would have been with the trees, lady Dorwynn... Lady Dorwynn?" Seeing the woman in question appear; coming from behind the trees is an injured lady Dorwynn, clutching her abdomen.
"Shit!"
The dark elf cursed, reappearing beside her as he stopped her from falling over.
"I was a little late requesting your protection. It would seem." She said, forcing a smile as she was visibly in pain.
"Save your breath, lady Dorwynn; Normal healing magic won't work on this wound, and I need you to stay awake." Sir. Philen sat her on the ground. "Damn it." He cursed, stepping back as he formed a hand symbol before speaking a foreign tongue.
"That sign-" Lady Dorwynn muttered as her eyes were wide in shock.
"ǔ chyall voeg' oego esˈsenchye ôtsshyúø gaìw θʊʛ, ofoǔmuth ṛɔîgethto ôk̮k̮h ˈbei kha ǔẓ ku aîẑh."
"That- that language, how do you know of it??" Her look held a million questions, but sadly, they would receive no answers.
'What type of wound is this that even lesser dragon tongue can't immediately heal it.' Philen thought, baffled. "If you will, Lady Dorwynn; focus on your healing for now."
The healing took place for another few minutes as she recovered sharply, her internal injuries healing as much as her organs could before natural healing would have to take her the rest of the way.
"Come on; up you go! We must be going before they begin looking for your body!" He assisted her to her feet.
"Can you walk?" Sir. Philen, posing as a crutch for her, began walking towards the south as he carried her along.
"I'll manage- no, not the south, we head north!" She responded as she let go of him, having regained her balance.
"North??"
"Yes, north."
"Whatever could you possibly hope to find in the north?"
The dark elf asked in confusion, not seeing why she would want to go north as that was King Rhemede's land, and his people were... difficult.
"Do not worry; my aim is not the lands of the infant king. We aim to reach the Eisenhower kingdom; should we make it there alive, I'll see you're rewarded beyond your imagination."
She said, groaning as she began walking on her own as Sir. Philen trailed after her. "Money is not necessarily a worry for someone like myself; you live for a few hundred years like those of my race have, and you become unbothered by the more material things of this world."
"So I've heard, but you still haven't told me where you gained knowledge of dragon tongue. The last dragons across the ten realms is said to have passed over 4000 years ago... during the war of the breach."
She asked, staring at him as she kept walking forward.
"Some things are better left to your curiosity, my lady; just because the dragons have been gone long since doesn't mean the gifts they brought had to have followed them... and just because they haven't been seen doesn't mean they're all dead.
If it were my own race, we'd go into seclusion to recover our numbers. In this case, the dragons lost a lot of their kin, as they were at the forefront of that cursed war."
Her face showed she had several questions, but Lady Dorwynn gave them a rest as she decided not to question the man further. "I'll let it be, for now, as one should have their secrets."
Sir. Philen gave a slight nod.
"Once we get to Verdigris, my uncle, the last living member of my family other than myself, will shelter us for as long as we need, until I am able to fend for myself."
Lady Dorwynn said as she kept moving forward, her face losing its curiosity and possessing a look of seriousness.
"I have no qualms with that, but you are yet to tell me why Lord Karstan aims for your life, my lady." Sir. Philen asked, still seeking her reasoning as to why he should risk his life for her safety.
"*Sigh* Nine months ago, I overheard my lord Karstan speaking with a person whose voice I could not identify.
My overhearing wasn't that important, at least not much so as the contents of their conversation.
Lord Karstan spoke to this unknown man about an item called the 'Sterazis'; now, while I know not what that is, they talked about using this 'Sterazis' to begin a war between Eisenhower and Verdigris, and Akhram.
The war itself is not the target, but the blood of the soldiers that would die in this war is what they're after. Lord Karstan intends to use the blood of hundreds of thousands of soldiers, if not millions, to perform a revival.
The being targeted in the revival is a being named 'Ankoneh.' While I do know not what these things mean, it seems enough for him to want me dead.
Meaning that which I do know is more than enough for him to be caught in a difficult situation, as when has a trivial matter ever cost one their life?"
Lady Dorwynn spoke in one go, summarizing her discovery, and as she looked at the elf, the look of horror on his face told her enough. "Sir. Philen?"
"Kartinon?"
"Is that supposed to mean something?" She asked, seeing as the dark elf knew something she didn't.
"Lady Dorwynn, have you ever heard of the mistress of suffering and agony?" She shook her head in response.
"As expected, your ancestors were still young during her existence. In history over 6000 years ago, exists the mistress of suffering and agony, the wife of 'Kartinon, the Precursor of Blood', she who was dubbed as the 'Emissary of war.'
The mistress of suffering and agony was a dark sylph who mainly drew her power from the aftermath of Kartinon. She was a powerful user of shadow magic. One who could summon beasts from the abyss to do her bidding.
Her husband, Kartinon, was a high-human walking the path of destruction. His weapon was a great axe that cleaved the lives of millions and destroyed an equal amount of families. These families were devastated from those they lost, and the several kingdoms that fought in the war were in pain.
The mistress of Kartinon at the time took her chance using the agony caused by Kartinon; to reap the souls of millions as she turned them into undead beings, and this, was when the 'true' war began as all the kingdoms of days past were forced into battle against her.
The various races called upon the strongest ten of their combined kingdoms, preparing them to bring Kartinon to his knees and end the pointless bloodshed. Kartinon's head unavoidably was brought to the blade.
But Kartinon wasn't their problem; his wife was! She was a walking army of death. She brought centuries worth of suffering and agony before the three remaining champions brought her to the blade.
The damage done by her alone causes history to dub her, Ankoneh 'The goddess of agony and suffering', killed after months of an endless battle against the six kingdoms of the time, but the damage done was long since rooted in history."
Sir. Philen paused briefly. Lady Dorwynn stared at him as she listened carefully.
"Now, if what you are saying is true and we face the revival of Ankoneh, then just the Priral kingdom alone is not enough to defeat her. We face a being who has caused death unfathomable, but now Ankoneh has seen 'death' herself.
The nine kingdoms need to find unity on a common cause and fight with their hearts, bodies and souls, or Ankoneh might ravage the continent to ruin.."
Sir. Philen said as he rubbed his temple.
"And even then, that still might not be enough!"