Wrath of the Empire

I. Well, It's Very Simple

"Well, it's very simple," I began.

~~~~~

It was almost an entire year after the 

~~~~~

"Wait!" Isabel shouted. "I'm going to write all this down so that someone in the future can read it and learn of how we defeated Infernas. All I need is an interesting title and we can begin."

"What does it matter?" Alphonse asked as Isabel ran over to another part of the chamber, picked up a blank leather book  and a pen, and ran back over. "Who's going to read it?"

Talon snapped his metal fingers. "I've got it! Wrath of the Empire will be its name."

Isabel nodded and scribbled Talon's suggestion down on the front of the book. She flipped to the first page and looked at me attentively, ready for me to begin again.

So I did. 

"Well, it's very simple," I began.

~~~~~

It was almost an entire year -- perhaps more, that's a little unclear -- after the defeat of the matadors and the escape of Infernas -- an event that people were already calling the Bull-Rock War. The Rangers, and by that I mean all the Rangers from the mainland, which excluded the Wayland Rangers, had decided to all take a gathering. In just a week or two after the gathering, we would be going to see Raq Shinn's inauguration, where he would become Sol Prima in place of his uncle. 

That was right, Hoz Shinn had died shortly after the ending of the Bull-Rock War. Something from Infernas had gotten into his core and slowly turned him into ash. Raq had had a few months for grieving, but he knew that he needed to maintain the strength and morale of the Wayland Rangers, so he had immediately chosen to take the gleaming mantle and lead the Waylanders at the age of eighteen. I almost felt sorry for him, but I knew that to lead his half-dragon brethren into battle was something he had always dreamed of.

All the Rangers were seated within a few moments. After those moments, the grand councilor called out the name of each Ranger Corps., from the Outland Rangers to the Badland Rangers, and both the Woodland and Highland Rangers in between. The grand councilor then acknowledged that the Deadland Rangers no longer existed, and he called the gathering to order. He began to speak about the first rule of business that was to be addressed to the Rangers, and that was to defeat Infernas before he struck again.

However, the grand councilor was sadly interrupted by someone that burst in through the double doors behind us all.

Everyone turned to the person that had just entered.

The person had elected to be inconsiderate and stay mounted on their horse as they entered the building. The horse itself was the slightest bit larger than normal, its hide completely black with cracks of fire seeping from seemingly random places, as well as having a burning tail and mane. The horse had eyes that made it appear as if it was wild, but anyone could tell by its behavior that it was completely controlled.

As for the rider, they were wearing a full suit of armor that was a platinum blue with silver trim. They had a pipe on the top of their helmets, and out of that pipe plumed violet fire. The rider held on to their horse's reins with their left hand and held a scroll in their right. 

"Pardon me, Rangers," the Scorch Knight uttered, glancing across the entire room of assembled warriors and the powerful magicians that stood in the balcony above them. "But my Emperor has sent me with a message that I'm afraid must be given promptly. See, the scroll is marked 'urgent.'"