Karaan continued to practice his magic. He got quite the hang of it, the only problem was casting it with an actual spell. This would make using the actual spells much easier he didn't need conversion runes, but he still needed coding runes and directional runes. No one has ever tried using a spell with just coding runes, it was thought to be impossible. But Karaan had already done the impossible more than a few times. He told off several kings to their face as a commoner, acquired a new form of magic, tamed a dragon, made friends with fairies, freed half elf slaves, created the largest single corporation to ever exist, conquered a country with only a small group of people, and probably most impressive of all defeated a trained army of more than five thousand with under a thousand untrained villagers. So accomplishing the impossible was becoming a fairly normal occurrence for Karaan. When he thought about it he thought "Maybe I should just unite the entire world under one banner while I'm at it, elves, fairies, dwarves, humans, and even dragons all being considered equals." He laughed at the thought. Anyone would, but unbeknownst to him this wasn't just a mere childish dream. No, it was his mere childish dream. He continued to practice Primal magic and once he reached a point where he could use it somewhat well he began practicing using it with various combinations of runes. He did this to no real avail. He had accomplished more control over the primal magic its self, but that was it. The winter months came to an end and the library's first floor was almost finished. Karaan and Letholdus decided not to go the cheap rout, they would request the help of dwarves. But not quite yet, first Karaan needed to set up positive relations with the kingdom to the north. Unfortunately, not long after sending Zevesda out to arrange a meeting date she came back with a message. The northern kingdom hadn't just declared war, but attacked one of Karaans cities. Karaan wasn't unhappy by this though. This wasn't a full scale war, they had sent just over 2,000 troops and they were currently being held off by the border guard. The border guard wouldn't last very long, and under normal circumstances they would give out long before reinforcements could arrive. Even so that number was quite small. The reason probably being that the country that was attacking was currently in the middle of another war. Karaan didn't know the reason for this unannounced attack but this country had effectively made enemies with every other country below the dwarvish mountains. The king must have been an even larger idiot than the previous king of this country. This made Karaan wander how that king hadn't already been conquered, they had been at war for almost four years now with the other country. While the majority of battles were minor skirmishes it would still weaken them drastically. Perhaps they felt that attacking Karaans country in its weakened state could provide fruitful in the future. What they obviously didn't expect was a very angry white mage, and a dragon now over 50 feet tall. Radluc had grown quite a bit in this time and could now breath fire, it was much weaker than a normal dragons, and he still couldn't fly. But his size alone made him a threat. It would seem that he entered a growth spurt. Letholdus said that this would make sense considering how competitive and territorial dragons are. A dragon that grew slowly after moving out of the forest would be a setting duck. Radluc was now growing into his full potential. He wasn't there yet but Letholdus predicted that he should be considered an immature minor dragon in less than two years. Karaans advisor asked if he should notify king Seamus, the king whom he had formed a peace treaty with. Karaan told him not to. In fact other than the fact that one of his villages had been attacked and there would obviously be casualties, this was a perfect opportunity for Karaan, not only would he completely solidify his rule, but he would prove his military power to the other countries in the south. That way neither one would dare anger him again, this was perfect. Karaan gathered up the best troops he had along with several of the best healers, most of which were former half elf slaves. And they all gathered on top of the now towering Radluc. They set off. Since he had grown larger his strides had grown larger as well. He could now travel just as fast now without any white magic, as he could with it when they visited the previous king. After gathering on top of Radluc the advisor made sure to mention "This is a bad idea." Karaan replied "We've overcome much worst odds. This time I have trained solders with me, besides I have a new trick that I want to try out. You take control while I'm gone, I give you permission to act on my behalf as long as you don't go making any new laws or sentencing otherwise innocent people to death. Save those decisions to me, but then again you're smart you know what you can and can't decide." He bowed to show that he acknowledged this command and Karaan set off. Radlucs back was filled with people screaming. Karaan cast his spell and Radluc jolted much faster than before, the city passed by their eyes as if it were never there in the first place. Several people were crying as they ran through the fields. They watched large landmarks pass as if they weren't even there. Landmarks in the distance that could be used to travel and stay on a straight path for several days were in and out of vision in a matter of minutes. In less than five hours they came to and went around the next city. This is just when everyone was starting to calm down. But as they passed the next city they realized exactly how fast they were traveling. This was at least a two-week journey on foot, but in only five hours thy had already passed it. Before they reached the ten hour mark they had stopped and reached their destination. They saw the soldirs barricading the edge of town, at first the soldirs were surprised to see them, but then relief filled their faces. Karaan had brought nearly fifty people with them. Of which included at least 20 of the most able solders in the kingdoms army. As they dismounted everyone bowed to their king, one that they now held much respect for. They filled Karaan in on the situation, they noticed the approach of the enemy soldiers just in time. They were prepared when they attacked. By prepared he meant that they had evacuated everyone and requested backup. The city was lost. Luckily it took a lot of effort to build a city and farms so it was rare for a king to raze an enemy city. At least in this region. It would be a common practice in the north, but here they would just hold it until the new borders are solidified. They were planning to wait until backup arrived before pushing forward the attack. They were holding the city as a base as of now, but they would be moving within a day or so. They all looked up at Radluc. The commander remarked "I heard that you had a dragon, but they spoke of it as if it were a small dragon." Karaan merely replied "It is, it should be a few more years before it is able to fly and breath fire properly. It is hardly half the size that it should grow." The stunted guard merely gasped at the words that came out of Karaans mouth. This enormous beast would grow larger, it could already stand above the house of most nobles in this region, and that's just standing on all fours. Karaan said "We will press the attack first thing tomorrow. Do not worry if we damage the buildings, I will cover the coast of any repairs. We will show this king that we are not to be trifled with. The guard looked at Karaan and said "With the town guards and the border guards and the men that you brought we still number less than 400, can we really take an army of 2,000?" Karaan replied "Normally, no. But I have a trick up my sleeve, if it works then it will make our army of 400 easily the equivalent of an army of 8,000." The guard captain in charge of this small force asked "Is that really possible?" Karaan merely smiled replying "Yes, we traveled here from the capital in less than a day. I am a man who makes the impossible possible. We will do it." The guard captain couldn't do anything but sigh. He knew there was no way that Karaan was telling the truth. However, he wanted to try. He wanted to confirm the rumors that this man and his small group single handedly took down an army of 5,000. The captain gave up his tent to Karaan and the others and they discussed a battle strategy. As they discussed the strategy that they would use, more specifically the formation the captain could only think one thing. The tent was filled with Karaan, his group, and several other experienced solders and healers. There were about twenty in all. Most of them thought the same thing "This man is horribly selfish." Karaan was suggesting, no he was commanding a formation that would put them at an even larger disadvantage. One where he was in the center on top of the dragon, that in all rights should be on the front line. And the others form in a circle around him. While it was true that the king should be protected, using a formation like this put him above everyone else, it was begging the enemy to defeat them, leaving Karaan last. But Karaan assured them over and over that he had a plan, they were forced to go along with it. Unlike simple villagers who didn't understand anything about battle formations these experienced solders knew that this was an absolutely terrible formation. They disagreed with it completely, but none of their advice was being taken in the least, it made them wander why they were even here in the first place. They all went to sleep feeling a great load on their shoulders. The next morning they awoke bright and early and got in formation, they walked until the opposing army sounded the horns signaling them to take formation. Karaan prepared himself. This hadn't worked yet, but he was sure of himself this time. He had gotten so close before, it just had to work. The enemy army began preparing for them to charge, they were holding the town, they had the defensive advantage. Karaan took a deep breath the solders looked up to him wandering what he was doing. The most experienced solders were in the center, that made this formation seem even more selfish. But for some reason they didn't get an air of selfishness radiating from Karaan. No they felt a calm confident air. As if they greatly outnumbered the enemy troops. Karaan raised both hands over his head his palms flat facing the sky. A large white spell circle appeared, it looked strange, none thought it was stranger than the mages present. Even Letholdus hadn't seen this before, even though he helped create it. It didn't seem to do anything at all. It slowly fell to the ground following Karaans hand movements. Karaan at this moment looked like a man engulfed in his studies, or more accurately like a machine that had only one purpose. He was completely concentrating on this. It wasn't due to the spell but even seeing this raised the spirits of the solders. Karaans eyes began to glow, his hair, then his skin. The spell circle now on the ground did the same. Strange lights like streams began flowing from Karaans hand, they touched the circle on the ground and everything turned white. The guards felt powerful, no powerful isn't a good word to describe it they could feel their abilities being multiplied. Even Karaan was affected. But that wasn't necessarily good. He was in the center and the magical power began overflowing from him the spell doubled, in power, doubled again, and again, and again, and again. Over and over, these solders had become super humans. Then Letholdus cast a spell that knocked Karaan off of Radlucs back. The solders around him instantly raised their swords to him and he quickly shouted "He had lost control idiots, now charge!" Before they could move the others had already figured it out. Sarah, Zevesda, and Archer all shouted "Charge!" even Radluc jumped over the crowd and before they knew it he was in the city crushing people like ants beneath his feet. The solders didn't need time to think, their perceptual ability's had already maxed out. So to say that they could think much faster than normal. They charged without hesitation and before their enemy's even realized that they were charging several solders had already reached the other side of town. They were cutting down their enemy's as if they were cutting down strands of grass standing there not even reacting to them. They all found this weird but they accepted it and continued. In reality even in their heavy armor they were moving as such a speed that their enemy's appeared to not even be moving. By the time they the enemy's had been reduced to fewer than a hundred they signaled retreat, it took fewer than ten minutes and they quickly finished them off not leaving a single solder in their wake. They all remembered Karaans words. He wanted to use them as a demonstration that he was not to be messed with. They had done just that. Karaan was still unconscious. The knight captain asked "What's wrong with him?" Letholdus said "The only thing I can think of is that he somehow lost control of the spell. Right now his body is flooded with too much magic. The first time he did this it was similar, but this time I stopped him earlier so he should be fine within a day or two." Hearing this the knight captain said "The last time he did this, so the rumors are true. You're group took out an army of 5,000." Letholdus just replied "Yes. At first we wanted to keep this trump card a secret for as long as we could, we cant stop rumors though. But now is time for a demonstration. We will not allow another country to simply oppose us. Tomorrow you will refortify the city and we will travel to the capital of that kingdom. We will have this kings head and show that we are not to be trifled with. We didn't ask for war, they did. We're just going to finish what they started." All of the solders here were amazed. They brought healers with them just in case there were injuries. But they didn't expect nearly this much power from that spell. They slept well that night, everyone there knew that even if this country wanted to send reinforcements they would be weeks away at the least. Karaan didn't wake up the next day so they decided to wait on him. They worked on rebuilding some of the cities and sent messengers to the people who were evacuated that they could return. Karaan awoke some time that night. Seeing everyone sleeping he just went back to sleep. He awoke early the next morning feeling quite refreshed. Letholdus asked him "So you blacked out again?" Karaan answered "No I remember everything. I cast the spell and it worked perfectly, but it multiplied my own power and even the amount of magic that I had so I cast it again and again. But each time it multiplied its own power and before I knew it the multiplicity was out of control. I had cast the spell five times before I could blink... Thank you, if you didn't stop me I may have ended up hurting myself pretty bad." Letholdus asked "So do you think you can control it?" Karaan replied "That shouldn't be a problem, I just have to take it easy until I know my limit." Letholdus smiled and asked "So how are you doing?" Karaan replied "Well I'm still under the effects of the spell I can still feel it, not much but it's still there. Something I leaned is that it also increases my magic pool capacity temporarily. If I focus on that..." Letholdus interrupted him "Then what? The rest of us will pass out too? Don't forget that the rest of us are also absorbing that magic, not as much as you, but even so, if you increase the amount that you can hold but not the rest of us then it might work against you." Karaan couldn't help but to agree. Increasing his own would be quite difficult, but hundreds of people at once was just impractical to say the least. "Well how long was I out?" Letholdus replied "About two days." Karaan said "Not bad, ok. Then we will send a messenger. The capital will be moved to the capital city of this kingdom. That might be a little impractical, and it may earn some rebuke, but I believe it to be the best option, we will be closer to the dwarves, we can equip our solders with dwarven gear." That's right, Karaans men weren't just out numbered but many of the solders on the opposing side were wearing dwarven made armor and using dwarven made weapons. The fact that they even stood a chance was amazing. That's not saying that they whipped them out without hardly a scratch on Karaans side." They gathered on Radluc once again after sending out the messenger, they told the Advisor to transfer immediately." This was a large area to rule so Karaan told the advisor to set up a temporary representative in this region. They would appoint a permanent one later. The new library and collegiate would be transferred to the new capital where they would higher Dwarves to build it. They gathered once again on Radluc and went off. Karaan cast a basic strengthening spell. He didn't deplete his magic pool at all, it was currently at 300% and slowly decreasing. They expected to reach the next town within seven hours, a little after noon. Radluc however ran fast enough to cut an entire hour off of their journey. They walked through town as if they owned it, they would in a few minutes. They walked up to the castle, none of the guards even tried to stop this massive dragon, they decided to make a show of force. Karaan cast his spell again and Radluc simply walked through the stone walls of the castle as if they were walls of mud. He didn't appear to use any force whatsoever. They walked directly into the royal chambers and there sat the king, close by was another pudgy, familiar face. One without a right arm. He squealed as he fell to the floor. Karaan walked up to the king, another young man wearing a crown. It disgusted Karaan. He said "You dare to attack me." The young king replied confidently Karaan reached up to grab his crown but he grabbed Karaans hand holding a dagger to his throat. None of them flinched "You seem cornered what now." Karaan replied with a red angry face "What insolence, you dare threaten me! Bow down now and I will make your death quick and painless." The soldiers guarding this room didn't make a move. The young man simply laughed "You aren't in the position to be telling anyone to bow right now." Karaan asked "Why did you attack me? I assume that it had something to do that imbecile quivering over there?" The young man angrily said "You are in no position to be calling anyone an imbecile! You are the idiot for attacking me so directly!" after a short pause to regain his composure he continued "Yes he has been my friend for some time now. I attacked you in order to draw you out here. It seems everything is going exactly according to my plan." Karaan laughed "What a childish reasoning. If you had said that you had some kind of agreement then I may have spared you a painful death. But now..." The boy pushed forward as if to cut Karaans throat but he couldn't his hand wasn't budging. No it wasn't obeying him. His sword fell to the ground and his hand went limp. He looked over to see Karaans hand against his wrist. Where did that come from? He asked himself, seeing it closed tightly and covered in red. The crunching sound was obvious. Karaan had broken his bones. Normally such a task would be impossible for Karaan. Or so it would seem. Even his magic couldn't heal his condition, or even improve it. However, Karaan wasn't relying solely on magic, but a trick that Albaf had taught him once. The bones in the arm are thinnest just before the wrist and can be crushed with some ease. If one knows where to apply pressure that is. While Karaan would normally be too weak for this, most knits could do it with ease. And the magic gave Karaan the boost that he needed. He young man tried to back away but Karaans hand wasn't budging. Karaan then took his other hand and grabbed the young man's crown. He then tossed it backward into Radlucs mouth, who happily enjoyed the treat. Karaan said to the young man "You are lucky that my dragon does not enjoy the taste of idiot. He fears that it may be contagious." The boy shouted "Knights do something, stop dawdling around and do something!" Karaan looked over as armor clanged. He saw a knight bowing down and another, the one at the end of the row still bowing but with a hand out as if to prevent an invisible person to stay still. In fact he was directing the other knights not to act on that order. Karaan asked him pushing young man back "Who are you?" He replied "I am the guard captain of this castle your majesty." Karaan asked "You disobey your king?" The man replied "No, you are my king." The young man shouted "Yasuri! You dare betray me now?" Yasuri replied "No, you betrayed yourself. It is as his majesty Karaan says. Your stupidity brought this fate upon you. You dare to challenge he who took down an army of five thousand and tames a dragon. You are an idiot beyond compare! Both myself and Weismann tried to warn you against these actions. But you denied us. So we will now deny you! Karaan you are the obvious victor, even if we were to fight against you it would only end in a dishonorable death defending an idiot. I ask that you allow us to make up for this grievous mistake." Karaan looked at the young man." The boy got up and tried to run, but another knight detained him and the previous king of Karaans country." Karaan asked Yasuri "You mentioned a Wiseman. Who is that?" He replied immediately "Yes, that is the knight captain. He is currently off fighting another battle." Karaan with a little relief asked "And how goes the battle?" He replied "We have recently taken two cities there is one more standing between our current post and the royal capital. Karaan replied "Good. This Wiseman sounds like an experienced leader." Yasuri replied "Yes he is not the best below the mountains. But assuming that you killed the captain of your kingdom he would be the second best in below the mountains." Karaan was now interested, it was obvious who had the best. Karaan said "Good, I am indeed in need of experienced individuals to lead my men. You and he will do very nicely." Yasuri asked "While we are on the matter of war, may I inquire as to the fate of those two thousand that opposed you?" Karaan replied "I set an example of them, not a single one lives. However, their death will not be in vein. Spread the word. We will have a public execution. This boy who sent who sacrificed two thousand men for his friend. Both he and his friend will be sacrificed for the sake of their country. There will be a public execution in the town square in five hours. Just before the sun sets... now to figure out how they will be executed. Beheading I suppose." Chain them up. Both young men struggled to get free but the knights were too much for them. Karaan said to the chubby one "You had a second chance to live. I gave you my lenience and you spend it like this? You will not get a third. Not from me. You had better hope that a deity is on your side! Perhaps you will find peace..." He spit at Karaans feet. Karaan ignored it and walked off. But when he turned around and saw Radluc it hit him. He turned back around "These two. I did not give them permission to die such a painless death like beheading. They will be burned alive, by dragon fire." They both looked at him in distress as they struggled even harder. "Tie them up in the square, my dragon will follow you. Do not worry he is not impatient. If either of them try to escape then he will crush a few more bones. The execution will go on in five hours inform the people. Oh and make sure there is a twenty foot area all around. Dragon fire is quite hot. Both boys looked at Karaan with torment and disbelief in their eyes. The guard captained replied "Yes immediately!" Karaan looked at the funny dressed men on the stage. He looked like jester, he wore a strange hat it was tall and round, around it was a band of several colors. His hair was a deep red, though not a natural red, it had been stained that way somehow. His hat was black matching the thick jacket and short pants that he wore. Under his jacket he wore a blue checkered sweater. He had a short pink cape draped around his back that matched the ping embroidery on his jacket, and the pink pokadot cuffs around his wrists. His pants had white stipes leading down to black socks and once again pink shoes. He help a short staff that was the same color as his hair and had a metallic statue resembling a vox with open wings at the top. In the middle of the pink band around his hat was attached a large gold coin. He was strange in every sense of the word. Karaan asked "Are you a jester or an advisor?" He replied "I am the royal advisor and financier." Karaan said "Good, see to it that my dragon is well fed the meat can be raw, but feed him until he is done eating, he deserves it, he has worked hard lately. Also send out a messenger to ask for a dwarf called Agast. King Karaan is asking for him, that should be enough to get his attention. From what I hear word spreads fast among dwarves, let's see if that's true. Bring me five chairs and set them in a row beside my throne. Also dinner will be early today. I don't care if it is a little sloppy, it will take place an hour before the execution. I will not blame the chef for any mistakes or anything left out. However, anything that is not suitable to feed me shall not be fed to my dragon, unless the only reason it is not suitable is because it is not cooked properly. My dragon can cook himself if he wishes. Though warn the chef that he will begin cooking for a dragon as well after today, a shaw every day. The dragon is to be treated as I would be, and he will not put up with intolerance. He will not harm anyone without reason, however if he does I will assume that he had reason to do so. So try not to displease him." The man quickly bowed and walked began walking off then Karaan interrupted his strut and asked "How good are you as an advisor?" He replied "I am decent, I will not say that I am the best. As good as any other I suppose. However, I poses the ability to manage finances as well. Karaan said "Good then you will be my new personal advisor, what is your name?" He said "My name is Lawrence, Macrotri, Beta." Karaan chuckled "Even your name is weird. But if you do a good job then you do a good job. Send word that my previous advisor remain in his post as well. I sent a message telling him to come here immediately, I didn't think that I would meet you. I should have thought of that possibility. Either way the southern part of my country will need an advisor. I would like to send you, however having a skilled advisor by my side would do more for me than having him far away." Lawrence bowed and replied "Immediately, is there anything else?" Karaan said "Yes, while I'm at it, have my laws implemented in this country as well starting tomorrow, I assume you know what I speak." He replied "Yes it is my duity to keep up with foreign affairs. It will be so." Karaan said "No I change my mind, have them implemented now, announce to all the guards that they shall be carried out immediately. All half elves will be seized from their masters and brought here, I will not give anyone time to flee. Or I will give them as little time as possible. We can work out the rest of the matters later. This will be my main priority." He bowed and aske "And the war?" Karaan said "I will deal with that tomorrow, this is today's business. Get to it." Lawrence bowed and did as he was told. After the two kings were transported out of the room Karaan looked at the others let out a large sigh. "I cant believe I have to deal with this again." Sarah spoke up "You're doing the right thing. Besides, you're officially king of the single largest country in the world, well as far as land goes." Karaan laughed hearing this. In reality he knew that as far as population, or number of cities goes his kingdom was average at best. That's because of the poor growing conditions in this region, it was unable to properly support food crops required to maintain a high population. It wasn't long before someone brought chairs into the room and lined them up as he had asked. They all sat there. They had heard about Karaans friends and his strange policies. No one questioned them. They sat and waited until dinner was ready. Half elves were brought into the castle all day. Karaan told them that they were free, if their previous owner asks to employ them then they can accept, otherwise they would be treated similarly to humans. They had heard rumors of a benevolent king like this, but none of them actually believed it. Karaan told them of his other policies and they were quite over joyed. It wasn't long before dinner came. It was a normal dinner. Most nobles didn't show up so Karaan invited the half elves to dine with him. They were nervous at first but slowly accepted. After dinner it was about time for the execution. Karaan made sure that his appearance was appropriate and took everyone to the town square. They stood around and with the help of the guards made a circle twenty feet on each side of the boys. Both boys looked quite nervous. Radluc sat up as if he were himself a king. He sat upright with obvious pride and power, everyone could see that. Karaan walked up his tail and back to his head which stood still even with Karaan standing on it, chances are he didn't even notice Karaans weight standing on his head. Karaan holding a golden scepter and dressed in the most luxurious clothing that he could find pointed his scepter at the king and shouted "This child sacrificed 2,000 of his solders! He sent them against me actively knowing the outcome. Why did he do this?" He moved the tip of the scepter to point at the other boy "It was for his best friend. Because his best friend asked him to attack me. After I had the lenience to spare his life!" Holding the scepter straight up into the air. "I did not get a single scratch in this battle. Of all of my 400 men that participated the only one to receive any harm did so because he lost his footing and tripped. Thus these 2,000 solders. Your solders! Your family! Were sent against over whelming odds for naught. All because of a small boys selfish request. And another's acceptance of that request. He sacrificed your family, your protectors, for his friends request. So I will today sacrifice them both for this country. However, not all may see this from my point of view. I did not receive any harm in this battle at all, neither did any of my men. So I ask you the people. Would you let this Kororori, fattened from his selfishness live? Show me, any who wishes for him to live speak up now!" No one made a sound. Not even the young man tied up next to them. They were both tied to large wooden posts stuck out of the ground. While wood was a valuable commodity in the south this couldn't be helped. Karaan then said "Then just to be sure, any who wish for him to be a sacrifice for this country. Speak up now!" Almost everyone shouted something, "I"!, "Me!", "Yes!", "Go!", "Good!", "Do it!" or some variant. Karaan smiled and calmly said "Not yet." Now his scepter was once again pointed at the young king. "This boy. Those who wish to forsake him and serve me. Obey me and my laws, no matter what they may be. Those who wish to sacrifice this king for a new king speak up now!" Everyone shouted. Not as loudly, there were obviously a few objections. But the decision was anonymous. Even so "Any who object?" One man in the back shouted "I!" Everyone turned to face him. Some of these people who had done so looked beyond furious. Someone shouted "Sacrifice him too!" Karaan replied "No, everyone has the right to their own opinion. However, I will tell you. The populace has spoken. If you will not accept my rule and my laws then leave this town now and go to another kingdom. Otherwise you will bow down before me! Everyone now bow!" Everyone kneeled before Karaan, everyone except for his friends. They had discussed this ahead of time. This was their way of showing that these people did not have to obey him, that they held that much power and should be respected as equals to Karaan. The people looked up and it set in just as Karaan had hoped. They all knew that the rumors were true. Even the man that objected bowed. Karaan walked back and sat on Radlucs back as he stood up on all fours. He looked down at the two quivering wannabe kings. Karaan cast a spell and raised his head taking in a deep breath. He lowered it and let out a fiery roar. "ROWAR!" The two were engulfed in flames and seemed to disappear in an instant. It was as if they were never there in the first place. Where they once were stool a pool nearly twenty feet in diameter. It was a glowing pool of orange, red, and black. Most people knew this color. It was similar to that of melted steel. But there wasn't any steel here and it wasn't above the ground. It was a pool of melted earth. The fire had been so hot that it turned the boys into ash in an instant. Karaan knew this would happen. Even though he promised a painful death he couldn't give one to children, he could scare them and make it look painless. But in reality this death would have been even less painful than a beheading. The dragon fire was hot enough by its self to kill in an instant. Add Karaans magic to boost that and it would have vaporized their entire bodies before they had the chance to feel any pain. Karaan walked back up to Radlucs head as he sat down and raised his head high "From this day forth a similar fate will consume any who oppose me. If you do not agree with my laws or methods then you are free to leave my country. Spread the word!" The next day Karaan ate breakfast and they all gathered on Radluc once more. He took the guard captain with him. They rode for half the day. It took nearly eight hours to reach the battle field at full speed. The guard captain ordered a temporary retreat back to the cities that they were holding. Karaan Introduced himself to the knight captain saying "I'm glad to have you." He instantly knew the situation when he saw the dragon. This person was his new king. He bowed and introduced himself. Karaan sat and talked to him for the rest of the day. Then the next day he set out early in the morning for the capital city of the next kingdom. He waltzed in as he usually does with Radluc and the others following him. He barged into the throne room and said to the king "I wish to speak to you." The king knew who he was right away and ordered all of the non-essential personnel to leave. Karaan walked up and handed him a sheet of paper. It contained conditions to a peace treaty with Karaan. It contained all of the conditions from his previous treaty and the king would receive the two cities that had been taken. Karaan said "These are the conditions, do you accept them?" The king replied "How can I? These are ridiculous. We're giving you all of this for nothing!" Karaan replied "No you are giving me all of this for two cities." The king replied "Those cities were mine to begin with." Karaan replied "They were mine when I came in to rule." The king said "They're worthless. They're damaged and have no residents." Karaan rebuked "Find fix them and find some. I could just keep them." The king said "I can't accept this." Karaan wasn't in a good mood so he replied "Listen, I have captured two kingdoms by walking into the throne room and ripping the kings crown off of his head, then feeding it to my dragon. Would you like to be the third? Of course I could turn around defeat your army then come back here, it would take a day at most." The king asked "Are you threatening me?" Karaan just said "Yes." The king sighed and said "Well I suppose these two cities are more than I could hope for in an actual negotiation anyway. It appears that you aren't up for negotiations. I don't like these conditions but I don't seem to have a choice so I'll accept them for now. Hopefully we can hold proper negotiations another day." Karaan replied "Yes. Then I would like to ask you to send someone with a seal to speak on your behalf. I will drop them off on the battlefield on my way back." The king asked "How long should that take?" Karaan confidently replied "A few hours at most. I apologize for my rude behavior but I am in a very impatient mood as of late." The king replied "I can see why, I suppose in your situation I would be as well." They shook hands, the king wrote a letter and stamped it with his royal seal then gave it to one of his messengers that was well known. That way it wouldn't be questioned. Karaan told him to hold on tight and they set off. It was just as he said it only took a few hours to reach the battle field. The messenger departed and gave the letter to the troops. It ordered them to take the two cities back, but told them that there shouldn't be any resistance. If there was to retreat until further notice, not to take hostile action. They said that they would set out the following day. Karaan notified them that it may be a little while before his troops leave the southernmost city, he would only be visiting one in order to save time. He asked them to give the southernmost city a week for the troops to depart. They all knew that it shouldn't take a week but if anything were to happen it was possible that it could take up to a week or more. They agreed. The captain asked "If it takes longer can we send a messenger to you directly?" Karaan replied "I'll have my army holding the northern city retreat to the southern city then they will all ertreat back to their main posts together. It shouldn't take more than a week. If it does then you have my permission." They thanked Karaan and he left. Just as he said he went to the northern city, informed them of the situation and ordered them to the second city and then their original posts. Some of them didn't have original posts so he ordered them to spread out and spread the word about his new laws pertaining to half elves and to seize anyone who tried to disobey those laws. He wrote several letters and stamped them with his royal seal. The knight captain and guard captain stamped them as well for reassurance. Karaans seal could easily be over looked as a fake, and while it would be stretching it the knights seal or guards alone could be argued the same. But both together could not. After seeing them off Karaan and the others started back to the castle. They took their time, they didn't want to rush Radluc too much, so it took them a little over a week to get there. Still much faster than a hoarse though. They reached the castle without any problems. Karaan began invoking his laws in the new kingdom. At first there was some resistance but the lowered taxes made and overall reduction in work load satisfied the people enough to accept. The only problem was the church. In each country there is a large church in the capital that communicates with all of the smaller churches in each town and makes the major decisions. But the two churches didn't agree at first on Karaans policies. This caused a lot of problems for Karaan. Especially because if they wanted to do so the church in this kingdom could effectively boot Karaan out of the castle. Karaan could obviously fight this decision but fighting the church was not a wise thing to do. Karaan met with the church officials along with several other church officials from his original royal city and after more discussion the church finally agreed to the new teachings. This taught Karaan a valuable lesson though. This centralized system could be a problem in the future. But then again it wasn't a problem that he had to deal with for now. Karaan After about a month Marnie arrived at the new castle. She brought some things with her that she knew Karaan would want. One of the items was a tree that he had forgotten about. It was the one that he was gifted by the fairies. It had been transplanted into a larger pot and placed in his throne room as decoration so he had actually forgotten about it until now. Seeing it and remembering that it was not only a gift from the fairies but a dragons bane tree. One that was sought after by dragons he decided to have it planted in the courthouse of the future library. He had debated whether or not to turn the other castle into the collegiate, but he decided to build it in this city so that he could benefit from the knowledge himself and help to advance the knowledge directly. However, using the old castle was still an idea that he accepted as a temporary solution until the new one is built. They hired several mages specifically to search for books and to send them back to the library. It was only another month before Karaan received an unexpected visitor. Agast had showed up to answer his call. He bowed to the new king and asked "How may I serve you your majesty?" Karaan laughed "You seem a little older?" Agast replied "Well humans do live long lives and age pretty slowly." At first Karaan thought that this statement was strange. Shouldn't he be saying that Dwarves live short lives. Then again after a little more thought compared to other animals there were few that lived as long as humans. Karaan had always thought of humans as living medium lives but thinking about it from Agasts point of view, he was probably right that the human life span was a long one. Karaan chuckled and said "I have a proposition I wish to discuss with you." Agast replied "I'll do my best." He had the grin of a greedy dwarf about to make a fortune on his face. Karaan said "First I wish you to negotiate on my behalf with the dwarves, of course you will receive compensation for this. I wish to build a large building. The dwarves would best for this job so I wish for them to build it. I wish for it to be a large complex with a tower in the center. We've already gotten a basic layout, the dwarves can handle the rest." Agast replied "You understand that such an undertaking will be expensive yes?" Karaan replied "I have the budget of three kingdoms. I think I will be able to afford the coast of a little dwarvish labor. Agast couldn't do anything but grin saying "If that's all then please give me a copy of the lay out and I will negotiate for you immediately." Karaan smiled "No there's something else. I wish to create a new trail through the dwarven mountains. The grin on Agasts face turned to a frown as he asked "Why is that?" Karaan replied "I wish to create a way for half elves to come into my country through the mountains. Of course I will pay for each one." Agast replied "I'm sorry but that isn't a feasible idea." Karaan asked "I would be willing to pay generously." Agast replied "That isn't the problem. The thing is, even if we did create such a trail it would take more than a full year to transport anyone across." Karaan asked "But we passed through so quickly." Agast said "Yes that is a well established trail. But it's built through the thinnest part of the mountains. Inorder to go through any part into your country even the shortest trail would take over a year. You would be expected to pay for guidance, supplies, and anything else needed for more than a year for every individual. If money were no issue at all then it would be very possible. However, I don't see this kingdom being able to cover such a coast for very long. Even the coast of building the trail would probably drive you into bankruptcy. The only reason the one you travelled on even exists is because the humans themselves built it. While it would be a simple task to build the trail it would take many, many dwarves. I could estimate that building the trail alone would be about 400 platinum pieces, that's not including maintenance or anything else. I'm sorry but I don't see any kingdom affording that." Karaan replied with a disappointed look on his face "Yeah you're right." Agast smiled saying "The building alone will be quite the undertaking. I'm sure if you offered a generous enough price then it would be no problem at all guaranteeing the safe travel of half elves through the existing path. That would take them into another country. But I'm sure with you're money and negotiation skills, you could work something out." Karaan smiled and said "I was hoping to avoid that. But if you can really assure the safe passage through the mountains then I will definitely take that into considertation. Depending on how well you negotiate for me I will be sure to give you a generous bonus. Agasts face lit up hearing that. This man had the money of three kings, when he said a generous bonus he had to be talking at the very least gold, maybe even platinum. Agast excitedly bowed and said "I will do my absolute best." A large bright smile appeared on his face. He asked Karaan "Is that all that you need me for?" Karaan replied "Yes. You may talk to Letholdus about the future plans for the library.
YOU ARE READING
A Tale of Fortunes Cross
FantasyThis is the story of Karaan a young magic-less merchant, in a world filled with magic and magical creatures. It was party inspired by "Spice and Wolf" But is by no means a "fan-fic". Karaans adventures takes him throughout a wonderful, enormous cont...
