Deathless

Deathless Chapter Five: Negotiations

Chapter Five: Negotiations

It was a popular urban legend among those who dwelt in its proximity that the Dragonskeep, the center of Arlenian might, had once been the site of a dragon’s lair.

The legend goes that over nine hundred years ago a ferocious, terrifying dragon called Raldthorn terrorized the Kingdom of Raldbak, a primitive kingdom whose warriors refused to face the dreadful reptile in combat, for their king, Isenord, declared that Raldthorn was merely a manifestation of the wrath of the gods themselves. He forbade anyone to lay a hand on the ravaging beast, and soon, the kingdom was brought to its knees.

A trail of devastation and ruin followed the dragon as it burned and slashed and stomped its way through the lands, burning forests, trampling crops, and slaughtering the citizens. The people cried out to Isenord, that he may send his army to bring down Raldthorn. But the king did not deviate, and stubbornly refused to face the dragon in combat, even if it meant that his own kingdom would crumble to the ashes. He was convinced that the dragon would leave only when the gods were convinced that the people of Raldbak had received what was due to them.

It was only when the king’s son, Arlenis, went against his father’s wishes and took arms against the dragon. It was a legendary battle, Arlenis versus Raldthorn. Arlenis, wielding only a steel blade and a burning courage within him, faced up against the wrath of the gods themselves. And prevailed.

For Arlenis, following a ferocious clash of might that lasted six days, outlasted the dragon, and sent his smoldering body down into the abyss from whence it came. From the ashes of the dragon’s lair, Arlenis sentenced his father into exile, for high treason against the people of Raldbak. Arlenis then led a revolution against his father’s regime, and with the will of the people behind him, ousted his father from the throne.

And from the ashes of the old kingdom of Raldbak. Arlenis founded the Empire of Arlenia, as it came to be known. And Arlenis built the capital of the city, Ninquelen, on the very site where he slew the dragon Raldthorn, on the dragon’s lair itself.

And so from the dust and debris of old Raldbak came a shining new utopia Arlenia, an empire far greater than any the world has seen before.But little did they know, that the time came once more when a dragon dwelt in the Dragonskeep, and his name was Iepenel the Merciless.

Vanya had heard the tales of Iepenel’s wrath, how he willingly sent soldiers to their deaths to achieve a simple goal, how he tortured prisoners he took from the rebels for days on end for information, until even the strongest failed to resist the pain. Iepenel was an man who lacked empathy, and the most dangerous position for a man like him was seated upon a throne.

And as she walked into the brightly lit throne room, with sunlight streaming through the windows high above, she began to wonder what this dragon of sorts wanted to do with her and her companions.

Fercen led them through the vast hall, where kings and emperors have spent their days for nine hundred years. Iepenel, an intimidating, muscular man, not unfamiliar with the toils of combat, with skin the color of freshly tilled soil, eyes the color of emeralds, and a bushy, brown, forest of a beard. But Vanya knew that under his seemingly harmless exterior lay the burning wrath of a man who would do nearly anything to get what he wanted.

Standing beside Iepenel were three other men, a tall, man with graying hair in decorated armor and a blade sheathed in an ornate scabbard, a younger man with full, thick, jet-black hair who looked like a younger version of the older man, and finally, an elderly, balding man with hair the color of freshly smelted steel. Fercen proceeded to stand alongside the emperor’s accomplices.

As was the custom, Vanya, Lindale, and Sirya knelt before the Emperor, much to the despair of Sirya, who hated bending her knee to any but herself. A sharp glance from Lindale fixed that, thankfully.