The Asterian Dream

XIX: The Siege of Vestulia

The rain had intensified into a downpour. The rain beat down upon the landscape in sheets, but that did not stop the hordes of Draekon soldiers from marching. Greydor, dressed from head to toe in armor of black iron, lead the soldiers through the night, pressing ever closer to their destination. His torch was the only light that guided them through the darkness. 

After several hours of marching, Greydor stopped, his men stopping along with them. He turned to face them.

"Strike camp. We need to be well-rested for the battle that will soon be at hand," he shouted. The soldiers quickly obeyed and began setting up their camp, with Greydor supervising them. He occasionally stepped in to help a group that was having a hard time getting their tent up thanks to the pouring rain and harsh winds. Soon, all the tents were up and everyone had taken shelter. Greydor was lying in his own tent, struggling to sleep with the sounds of the storm all about him. After what he could only guess to be at least an hour, he finally drifted off to sleep. However, for the first time in years, his rest was not dreamless.

His dream found him upon a tall mountain overlooking the Citadel. Looking about, he saw his childhood companions all around him, running and playing as they did all those years before. A young Amethyst was carefully watching over them, making sure not a single child was harmed. Then, a black-scaled Dragonborn followed by a blue Morak approached her.

"Come on sister, loosen up," the young Greydor said to Amethyst. "We can take care of ourselves. Why don't you try having some fun yourself?"

"My duties come before anything else," Amethyst replied. "Why if I do not watch, someone may-" 

She was interrupted by Fasela gently poking her side with the blunt end of a sharpened stick. "Come on, I found this incredible meadow just up the bluffs. I wanna show you!" Fasela said, excited. 

Amethyst looked back over at the rest of the children before reluctantly nodding. "Very well, but if anyone ends up hurt this is not my fault."

Fasela grabbed her hand and began leading her away quickly. "Great! Now let's get going, I wanna show you the view before the sun goes down!" The two of them then took off higher up the mountain.

The young Greydor considered following them, but just then another Dragonborn child grabbed his arm.

"Hey Greydor, we're playing army and our commander is doing a terrible job. Could you take over?"

Greydor smiled and nodded. "You don't have to ask me twice, I'll show you how to organize properly." He then grabbed Fasela's sharpened stick she left behind and went off to join the rest of the children.

The older Greydor sighed, feeling overwhelmed at all the memories which were flooding into his mind. He turned to look back out at the view but suddenly found himself in a fancy ballroom. He immediately recognized it as a wedding party for one of the rich families of the Citadel that he had attended years ago. This time, he was looking upon a more mature version of himself. He was dressed in all his royal attire, conversating here and there with people he knew. Rather bored by all the pompous finery, he was about to leave when he was approached by a younger Fasela, dressed in a beautiful blue and white ball gown. 

"Hello 'your highness'" she said, heavy sarcasm in her voice. 

Greydor chuckled. "Having about as much fun as I am at this party hmm?" he said.

Fasela rolled her eyes and nodded. "I don't understand how all the royalty even bothers attending these stupid parties, don't they get tired of it?"

Greydor sighed. "It's all about optics for them, how they look to everyone else. I don't see the point but to each their own."