The Dark King of Kotalis

Chapter 5

For the first time since he became king, Callum feels like he's doing something meaningful. Mobilizing troops to the borders and the Breach was something important to the future of humanity. Kotalis isn't going to let themselves be bullied anymore. A crown guard enters the large double doors. "My King, Lord Viren requests an audience."

Callum smiles. His father needing to see him meant good news. "Let him in. And give us some privacy, if you please." The room empties itself while Viren enters with an aura of pride around him. "I assume you managed to come up with something."

"That I did." He places down a satchel he brought in with him. "I admit, combining science and magic was a stroke of genius on your part, son. Allow me to present," he brings out what looks like a potion bottle with an orange light inside it, "an arcanum in a bottle." He brings out a strange contraption from the satchel. "And what the engineers call a "gun". Care to join me in the training grounds to see how it works?"

The training ground is full of soldiers, fine tuning their skills in preparation for their transfer to the Xadian border. Many hesitated in their activities when Calum passed, those making conversation going silent. Word of Opeli's condition had obviously traveled quickly. That's good.

They soon come upon the targets and find General Amaya surveying the soldiers. Callum calls out to her when he catches her eye, signing at the same time. "Aunt Amaya, good to see you. How are the troops?"
Amaya's eyes linger on Viren for a moment before she starts signing, Gren providing the translation for others. "The troops are fine, but I'm more concerned about you," she pauses to consider her next words for a moment, "My King."

Callum waves away the formality. "Please, no formalities. We're family. And if you're concerned about the," he gestures at his own face "upstairs situation, there's no need. I feel great. Actually, it's great you're here, me and Viren have something to show everyone." Amaya nods and begins clearing the troops with Gren's help.

Viren stands at the standard distance from one of the targets. He holds up the gun for everyone to see. "This is called a gun. And this," he holds up the flask with the orange light, "goes here." He folds the gun in half at a hinge and slots the flask into it and folds it back. He points at some gears. "This is the safety. It stops the gun from going off by accident." He flicks a switch attached to the gears. "After turning off the safety, simply point," he takes aim at the nearest target "and shoot." He presses the trigger, similar to a crossbow, a ball of orange light moving faster than the eye can blink and hits the target dead center, exploding and sending the flaming pieces all across the grounds.

Many soldiers are startled back by the sudden destruction, but Callum can only smile, appearing borderline feral. "Oh yes, now that's what I'm talking about! Viren, you're a genius!"
Callum turns to Amaya. "You reported Sunfire elves at the border?" When she nods, he smirks and calls out to Viren. "Have anything that might work against Sunfire elves?" The High Mage replaces the orange flask with a pale blue one and fires at a new target, completely encasing it in ice. "Perfect~. Let's get these soldiers armed and trained and ship em out!" He turns back to his aunt. "Capture as many of those elves as you can and imprison them. They might be useful."

Heading back into the castle with Viren following beside him, Callum asks a few questions. "How quickly can we make more guns?"
Viren holds his head high. "I've constructed a series of golems for that exact purpose, My King. Every soldier we send to the borders will be armed and ready."
Callum nods. "Good. Now for the tricky part. As painful as it is for me to say, Kotalis' army won't be enough against all of Xadia, even with our magic and guns. We need numbers. We must call the Pentarchy to order."

Callum arrives at the meeting point for the pentarchy along with Viren and his escort, but a guard stops them. "Halt! Dismount, disarm and proceed alone to the meeting point!" Callum gets down from his horse with an annoyed grimace and reluctantly hands over his dark stone. The Soulfang curled inside his collar goes unnoticed.