Not a Hero

Part 10: The Empire

The palace of the Lyzin royal family was enormous like the king's castle in Asbaratus, and the walk to the throne room was one giant hallway that humbled those passing through. All along the hallway were towering pillars that further intimidated Oliver and Drodin as they were talking, headed for an audience with Empress Mys.
"I still don't understand why would this Empress have her son labeled a criminal," said Oliver.
"It doesn't matter right now. We just came here to warn them about the book. We shouldn't get too involved in this when we're already doing something in Visterra. Me and Holt are still trying to teach those new druids the basics, and you and Aster still have to do something with your castle other than keeping it all for yourselves."
"But what if something is going wrong with this place? An empress calls her son a criminal, and nobody wants to tell us anything about what he did. Then, he goes all the way to another land and tries to steal a powerful artifact that nobody wanted to touch. Doesn't that sound a little fishy? We might need to look into this and stay for a while."
"Why are you so intent on leaving Aster alone?"
Oliver became a little nervous. "What are you talking about? I'm not trying to leave her alone. This just seems like it could be a very serious problem, and we should fix it."
"You can't lie to me. You were the one who insisted we leave her to come here, and now you're trying to pull us into an excuse to stay away from her. Plus, Holt taught me how to detect lies by listening to your pulse."
"You can hear my pulse?"
"Apparently druids can detect all living things and can hear faint signs of life like a pulse or photosynthesis."
"What does photosynthesis sound like?"
"Like whistling. Stop trying to change the subject! Why are you trying to avoid Aster?"
Oliver sighed and said, "Yesterday, she asked me about getting married."
"Is that all? It's been months, and you two seem to really love each other with all your heart. Why are you scared of committing to her?"
"I'm not scared of committing to a life with her. I love her. But, I've always ran away from girls. I'm scared of what might happen afterward. I don't know how relationships work here, but on Earth, fifty percent of marriages end in divorce. I don't want that to happen between me and Aster, and I'm not just saying that because she could kill me."
"So you don't have faith in your relationship?"
"I don't have faith in me. If anything were to happen, I'd totally blame myself for it. Even now, I know it's my fault for running away and leaving her. If she can't forgive me, I couldn't blame her."
"Oliver, I don't know what to say. I think you need to go back to her and tell her that it was all your fault. When she forgives you, and believe me she will, you'll get back together and live happily ever after."
"Do you really think so?"
"That woman may have a fuse shorter than a breath and extremely violent tendencies, but I think you've given her more than enough reason to trust you and believe in you."
The sound of a gong interrupted the conversation as it echoed throughout the great hall. Oliver and Drodin were already at the end of the hall, where a grand set of doors to the throne room stood. The same emblem was etched into the doors, a flaming wing. Aster could have pushed the door open, but Oliver and Drodin had to wait on account of their strength being nothing compared to hers. Indeed, the doors opened on their own by magic placed on them, and the pair continued into the throne room where the first thing they saw was the Empress seated on her golden chair, wearing black and gold royal attire with a jeweled mask over her eyes.
"Welcome to Lyzin." said the Empress.
Oliver and Drodin bowed at her grace. Oliver addressed the Empress, "Thank you very much for giving us the audience. This message will but only take a second your majesty."
"Will you not first speak your names? As you are a stranger in my home, it should be common knowledge to begin with introductions."
"Right! My lady.... Mys! I am Oliver the.... Scholar and this is Drodin the Archdruid. We hail from across the sea and come bearing a message!"
"He's an archdruid you say?"
Drodin answered for Oliver. "Yes, I am. I can transform into a dragon."
"That will be useful to know. Thank you. I am the Eighth Empress of Lyzin. I am Mys of the house Stique. What reason do we have the pleasure of your visit?"
Oliver continued the conversation. "We are from um.... A province in Visterra that protects a certain artifact of power. We protect it because it is a cursed item that invokes its master to perform evil deeds, and it is extremely powerful. In the wrong hands, it could unleash chaos and destruction on the whole world. We have already warned the city of Asbaratus, and now we are here in the great city of Lyzin to warn the people of the great danger that comes with that book."
"Book? We of Lyzin have only ever heard of one such artifact that was in the hands of the foreign king Pristime, and he seemed to use it for good. Is this a different artifact?"
"Yes, it is. This one contains the power of evil and death, a power that should not be used by anyone."
"You waited until the embargo was lifted just to come here and explain this to me?"
"Actually, we were the ones who brought the emblem from Phanto's body."
"Is that so?" asked the Empress. "Tell me everything you know about Phanto's death."
Oliver started sweating. "I um.... It was a grisly killing that had nothing to do with me."
Drodin added, "That's correct! We weren't even there when the walking tree swallowed his body whole."
"Then how could you tell it was a walking tree that killed him?"
Oliver said, "There were blood and guts everywhere! Only a walking tree could create that kind of carnage."
"Well, which was it? Did he die in a gory fashion, or was he swallowed whole?"
"Okay, we were there when it happened, but it was not our fault! He made the mistake of trying to steal the book we were just warning you about, and the walking trees are simply enforcing the will of the forest trying to keep the book in safe hands where it belongs."
"Phanto tried to steal it from you? Interesting. Tell me, how much power does that book actually contain? How does it work?"
"We don't know. As far as we do, it works like written spells on arcane paper, but none of it disappears no matter how many times it's used."
"Do you mean to say that it contains an infinite amount of dark magical energy?"
"Yes, but it is evil and will force its master to perform evil deeds otherwise they die."
Empress Mys sighed at the information. Then she called, "Guards, take them to the dungeon!"
A group of guards surrounded Drodin and Oliver and grabbed hold of them. Oliver had no magic to fight back, and Drodin was still too weak to transform. All they could do was struggle and yell out, "What the heck is going on!?"