Three days passed since the scryers confirmed the total annihilation of the Coalition Army. King Leopold chose to delay the enemy rather than retreat in the face of innumerable foes. The indomitable courage of a million and two hundred thousand souls will forever be remembered.

Their sacrifice gave the champions of the kingdoms of the Coalition enough time to answer the call of the Dragon’s Blood Drinker Emperor KrsytFallen to garrison the city of Krysperium.

After much deliberation with other leaders of the Coalition, the Emperor chose to bring the fight to the enemy and kill their master. The Emperor will lead a strike force consisting six of the twelve Dragon’s Chosen and six others renowned for their assassination skills.

The Venerable Void Arch Magus Clement Tiberius, one of the Dragon’s Chosen, took over the task of controlling the crux rune of the garrisoned city.

As head of the Palace Guards, Emperor Krystfallen called for me. He had two final orders: “The enemy must never reach the throne hall” and “If I die, the world should not forget how awesome I am”.

The Emperor often jests even in dire times. Still, I took both of his orders to heart.

The scryers reported that the Blighted Multitude is coming. The miasma is so great that they can’t confirm the numbers of the enemies. It is the biggest army that has walked upon the Forkspear continent. We have a week until the enemy arrives at the city gates.

Diary of Alluverius Fahllyr

(Sealed Imperial Records on Accounts of the Siege of Krysperium)

Unmindful of the sweltering heat, thousands of pilgrims jostled their way towards the Temple of Krystfallen. Once the castle of the great Emperor, it was converted into a temple since the royal family moved into a bigger palace constructed at the topmost level of the city. The pilgrims paid homage to a part of the claw of Krystfallen said to have been chipped off during his last battle.

The claw chip was a hard steel-gray in color, with bluish white streaks, as if it has been hit by lightning. It’s as big as a great shield, lending some truth to the stories that the dragon form of Krystfallen was bigger than a castle. It was protected by an energy field and displayed in the middle of what had once been the palace courtyard.

Priests milled about the holy relic, chanting prayers. Temple guards, wearing white vestments over their armor, pressed back the crowds that wanted to get a glimpse of the claw chip. A pair of mages dressed in the deep crimson of the city guards floated above the pilgrims, alert and ready to act at the first sign of danger.

Outside the temple, merchants peddled figurines of the Dragon Emperor in his human as well in his dragon form. Food stalls lined the sidewalks to cater to the influx of people into the city. Stalls serving local delicacies lined the open streets, their scents wafting through the crowds, enticing potential customers.

Not all of the visitors to the city were pilgrims; there were also numerous tourists who wanted to have a taste of Krysperium cuisine, watch the dance and musical shows, combat tournaments, even beast-taming challenge; dozens of events were held all throughout the city to celebrate the day Krystfallen has sacrificed himself to stop the Blighted Multitude.

“Ugh, can everybody just quiet down,” Aileen Fahllyr grumbled as she pulled her bed covers over her head.

She wanted to enjoy another hour of sleep before she begins her duty patrolling the temple. She worked overtime the day before so that she could sleep in a bit longer today.

But her wish was not granted. Grunts, roars, and thunderous footsteps filtered into her room.

So much for a peaceful sleep, Aileen thought as she jumped off her bed.

She went to her window and looked out. Her room was located on the third floor of the outer temple, directly in front of the temple square. Beasts of burden called groofs stomped their six hooves as they pulled the cages of roaring monsters that will be used in the beast-taming challenge into the plaza in front of the temple. It seems all the beasts had an agreement not to let her sleep.

She rubbed her eyes and tried to focus on the enraged creatures inside the cages. She had been looking forward to the beast-taming event and had already planned to watch it, even if it meant sneaking out of the temple and skipping on work.

“Wow, they even brought an Armored Halkor Tusker!” she exclaimed. “The officials are really pulling all stops for this festival.”

The festival coincided with the upsurge of the mana node powering the city that happens once about every five hundred years. It would be the first time that the city will witness such an event. Most likely, it would result in several mana streams that would make the empire more prosperous.

The coming of age ceremony of the princess heir apparent would be the climax of all the festivities. The royal family probably wanted to attract a great deal of attention to the ceremony as well, especially since she was their only child.

Aileen did not care for the actual reason why roaring beasts were not letting her sleep. She went out of her room to begin her day.

The Fahllyr family’s ‘official’ task was to guard the remains of Krystfallen, said to have been brought back by their ancestor, Alluverius Fahllyr, and entombed beneath the Temple, but it is more or less just a ceremonial function. Chroniclers never recovered official documentation of the legendary tomb. Researchers scoured the temple for the past few hundred years; multiple secret rooms and passages were discovered, yet none of them contained the fabled remains.

The actual duty of their family was to guard the crux rune controlling the citywide sigil put in place by KrystFallen and the additional magic formations built during the reign of Emperor Malvar to cover the expansion of the city.

The crux rune was originally located in the throne hall of the former palace, but it was transferred after the Siege of Krysperium. At the least they say it was transferred for Aileen does not have any idea where it was. The current location was known only to a select few of the Fahllyr family. The sigil controlled the mana dome that could stop a hit even from an Arch Magus. It also controlled the numerous defense towers protecting the city and regulated the flow of mana from the mana node on which the city was built.

The mana was then coursed throughout the sigil, powering the city’s defenses, the prestigious Milla Lyceum, the training grounds, the manaforges, the central teleportation array, the royal palace, and other structures, even houses of some nobles.

Aileen trudged her way towards the great hall. She was still in a foul mood from being robbed an hour of sleep. She didn’t even use the portals but rather took the stairs going down. Teleporting gives her headaches.

“Yo, Ai. Did you see the Halkor outside?” Her cousin Darl walked out of the great hall. Like most of the main family, he has auburn hair and piercing grayish blue eyes. He leaned on the door, pushing it open. His arms carried a tray laden with food and a pitcher of water.

“Yeah, the grakker woke me up!” Aileen looked at the tray. “You’re bringing food to Quill? Tell her to come down and eat here. She should get used being around people.”

“Come now. Don’t be so hard on her. She’s just on the shy side. She’s not like you, Miss I-want-to-be-a-hero-and-save-everyone.”

“I haven’t said anything about being a hero. And Quill should at least be comfortable with working with her family.”

“I’m just helping her adjust. Quill’s a bit of a recluse even when she was still with her parents,” Darl replied.

Aileen wanted to tell off Darl from helping Quill. The Fahllyrs did not reach the status they have today by shutting themselves in their own rooms. But she knew that Darl would not listen to her anyway so she just frowned at him.

“Fine, fine. I’ll tell her to come down next time. Just don’t lecture her if she does.” Darl chuckled. “You might scare her into hiding forever.”

He walked down the corridor towards the central portal room.

“Hey! I haven’t lectured anyone!” Aileen protested, but Darl was already too far away to respond. She sighed and entered the great hall.

Two stone dragon statues flanked the heavy oaken doors leading to the hall. The symbol of Krystfallen, two dragon hands clutching the mythical Orb of Perdition, was engraved at the end of the hall at the back of the high table by the dais. Tapestries and banners weaved with the Fahllyr coat of arms lined the grey seamless walls.

During the reign of Krystfallen, dozens of heroes dined in the great hall. Now, the fledging warriors of the Fahllyr family occupied only one long table. Their loud chatter came to an abrupt stop as they spotted Aileen coming.

All of them stood up and gave a slight bow.

“Good morning, my lady,” they greeted in unison.

“No need to be so formal.” Aileen grabbed a couple of breakfast rolls and exited the great hall.

She was the third child of the current family head. The younger trainees were all stiff and polite when she was around. She was not in the mood today to deal with the uptightness of her juniors. Only Darl and a few other senior trainees spoke normally with her.

“Good thing that Darl's not around,” she mumbled to herself. Aileen did not miss the irony in the situation. Right after lecturing Darl on the importance of being comfortable around family members, she herself did not stay and ate with the juniors.

She winced. She really was lecturing people.

She assured herself that didn’t have time for chit chat since she's starting her duty early. She was just being a good role model for the younger generation. She quickly finished the food she carried and headed directly towards the armory as if to further affirm her excuse for not joining her relatives for breakfast.

Even with her high status, she was not spared the requirement that everyone in their family should guard the temple for one year before they are formally assessed of their combat affinity. Afterward, they will be either sent to Milla Lyceum for specialization in magic or if they have more potential in physical combat they are sent to the Great Horn Stronghold managed by their family for spirit binding with the powerful beasts of the eastern frontier.

The children of the Fahllyr family initially trained in their own estates. They were also educated in a wide range of subject matter, including politics, diplomacy, even navigation, preparing them for great positions in the empire in their futures. After reaching the age of fourteen, they were sent to the temple to master the secret arts of their clan until they were assessed at eighteen.

Aileen, however, finished the course even before her one-year mandatory patrol requirement. She served for two years in an army battalion under the command of her elder sister. She was only supposed to serve for one year and then return to the temple on her seventeenth birthday just in time to fulfill her family tradition of guarding the temple, but her army unit participated in the pacification of the Ghalzite tribes which took longer than expected.

When she got back to the temple, she hoped that she will be exempted from guarding the temple since she was already 18 years old and has completed her military tour with great honors. However, her father insisted that it should stay in the temple for a year since that was the family tradition.

Besides her patrol duties, she has volunteered to teach her younger relatives. She also took some supplemental courses from Fahllyrs who have retired from active military duty. But most of the time, she just practiced alone, always honing her skills to make her family proud. For a Fahllyr, excellence is mediocrity.

Aileen donned her battle armor. It wasn’t a Powercore Amor that full-fledged Fahllyr warriors used, but it was still a high-class armor slotted with mana crystals. It contrasted deeply with her innocent face. She looked like a damsel in distress that mistakenly wore the armor of her rescuing prince. She tied back her long wavy hair as it sometimes it gets caught in the steel collar of the armor.

The Fahllyr Bloodline was blessed with strength beyond mortal men. They also have exceedingly large mana capacities, high wind and fire element affinities, and can easily bind with spirits. Even with her light frame, Aileen was not in any way inconvenienced by the weight of her heavy armor, which would normally render a grown man immobile.

A head with an upturned nose and a mischievous smile poked inside the armory.

“G’morning, Aileen! It’s your turn to patrol the lower levels. We’re going to help the soldiers securing the beasts outside.”

“Jel! No fair, it’s your turn!” Aileen exclaimed. “I want to go outside too.”

“I know you just want to see the Halkor”

“And I know you guys aren’t really going to secure them anyway,” Aileen retorted. “The beasts are already locked up and the city guards and mages are enough to restrain and transfer them to the arena next door.”

Jel with her pixie-like grin innocently replied, “We are securing them! It’s just that we are going to let them stretch their legs a bit, and sort of wrestle them to the arena’s holding enclosures.”

“Old man Gregory isn’t going to let you do that with the Halkor,” Aileen said, referring to the captain of the city guards.

“I know. We’ll just play- I mean secure the other beasts,” Jel said happily. “And as for you,” –she lightly tapped Aileen’s armor- “you get the lower levels.”

“Just assign some junior to do the lower levels”

Jel stuck out her tongue. “Come on, you only have less than a couple of months left for your duty anyway. You get the boring stuff.”

“There’s nothing going on in the lower levels for the last hundred years,” Aileen said, “and it will stay the same for the next hundred years.”

“Come on Ai, it’s family tradition. Even your awesome Devastator Knight elder brother went through this,” Jel said. She knew that Aileen wanted to surpass her siblings.

“Fine”

“Hey, don’t get angry. I took over your turn last time, ‘cause you skipped out to watch the tournament!”

“I’m not angry. Just really bored doing stupid patrols.

Jel placed her hand on hips. “Choose, either you patrol the lower levels or you get to deal with the crowds in the courtyard.”

“The lower levels, I guess,” Aileen said, her shoulders dropping.

“Thanks!” Jel hugged Aileen, their armors clanked loudly. Jel happily skipped towards the entrance hall, seemingly oblivious to the weight of her heavy armor.

Jel has a high status even if she was from a branch family because she was considered a genius not only in combat but also in constructing seal formations. She was, unofficially, the head of the trainees- who, by default, was the one considered strongest among them. Even if Jel will not use her seals in combat, Aileen was not entirely certain she could beat her. Jel was too crafty; her playful nature hid how devious she can be.

Aileen stomped out of the armory. If she had the power to travel back in time she will find the dimwit who started the idiotic family tradition of guarding a tourist attraction and kill him. This immense waste of the potential of warriors from the most powerful martial noble house bordered on criminal. She respected tradition, but this is just idiocy.

At least, she only has to endure two more months of pointless patrols. No one has ever attacked the temple since the Siege and no one probably ever will. The crux rune has been moved and everyone knows the real body of Krystfallen was not inside the temple, except the hopeless religious fanatics that insist that it was.

She doesn’t even believe that her ancestor Alluverius brought back the said body or that the claw chip was really from the great Emperor, although she agrees that it is from a dragon. Nevertheless, she doesn’t voice her opinions since it would surely cause some heated debate.

The only things that can even be remotely interesting inside the temple were the secret rooms, but they were located in the inner temple and she’s not allowed near them anyway.

With her sword swinging by her side, she proceeded to the portal room. There were no stairs connecting the lower levels with the rest of the temple, only portals. A peculiar design, but there’s probably a strategic reason behind it, Aileen reasoned.

The lower levels were full of empty rooms, except for the bottommost floor, which was simply a large hall with a huge painting of the Dragon Emperor in his human form on the wall. She doesn’t know what the rooms were used for during the reign of Krystfallen. They were probably full of scrolls containing elaborate seals that he was famous for constructing.

She heaved a sigh as she stepped on the portal. She was sure that the others were having fun with the ferocious beasts outside. After she’s done here she would go out and catch some fights in the arena, she consoled herself. She gritted her teeth and braced for the incoming headache.

In a flash of light, Aileen was teleported to the lower levels.

Below the lowest part of the temple, an unreachable chamber grumbled to life. A hundred feet of bedrock separates it from the rest of the temple. No portal in the entire temple can connect to this chamber.

A minuscule flicker of light disturbed the aged darkness inside. The light sparked once more, this time, brighter. Then, the flashing became constant, almost as if mimicking a heartbeat. Suddenly, it sped up, until it became a steady glare, illuminating the entire chamber.

It was a circular room, with pitch black walls, ceiling, and floor. The light came from an orb floating in the middle. The orb slowly descended towards a notch in the center of the floor.

The orb of light nestled on the notch. Lines of light rushed out from the orb and raced across the floor, tracing elaborate symbols and designs. The lines crept up the walls, following predetermined pathways programmed hundreds of years in the past. When it reached the ceiling, the threads of light weaved an intricate seal covering the entire ceiling, and finished by converging at the center of it.

The orb of light began to float once again. As it ascended, whole slabs of the floor begun moving, opening a hole.

A coffin emerged from the opening. It was made out of an unknown metal and gilded in gold. Four beasts were carved in high relief on the corners of the coffin. Various seals were drawn along the sides of the coffin. At the bottom of the coffin, under the foot, the words “ANHU DURAN NISHI DAIHKAN” were etched.

A meticulously carved dragon sculpture rested on top of the lid. It hid its head beneath one of its wings and its barbed tail coiled around its body. The seals etched on the coffin glowed blood red.

The lid slowly moved. A voice rumbled through the chamber.

“Who dares disturb my slumber?”