Icestorme, Thale

  When Chrystianna arrived in Thale, she paid a courtesy call to Morganna and then she found Zane. She handed him a small pouch.

  "I thought you might need this. The situation has changed and I understand you probably have an urgent need for in person discussion," she said simply before leaving him to find her children.

  Zane frowned slightly at her back and opened the pouch. Inside were portable paper bridging arrays and a larger five-person bridging array that could be affixed to any surface. He raised his brows. "I need a room and four Drakes," he told Marius.

  Marius was surprised to see the portable arrays. It seemed they still didn't quite understand this magic spell. He gestured for a soldier to summon the Drakes and took Zane to his office. It was an office built for Dragons, so it wasn't small. Zane immediately commandeered the desk and began pinning letters with his bold and unrestrained hand writing. By the time he finished writing, the four Drakes arrived with a series of cracking sounds.

  They flew around to decelerate before perching obediently nearby. They wore whiteish armor signifying that they were military Drakes. Zane folded five portable bridges into each letter and sealed them. He summoned a Drake and put a letter in the pouch and sent him on his way. He repeated this three more times.

  He then found a place in Marius's office to affix the larger spell. The paper glowed and burned away, leaving only the spell on the floor. There were only twenty single-person spells included with the large one, so he assumed it only had the power to transport twenty people.

  "Have someone wait here and escort our guests to the war room when they begin to arrive," he instructed Marius as he left the office.

  Marius bowed to his back and agreed. He left the office to arrange the guards.

  --

  Sunfyre, Varmur

  The capital city of the southern continent of Emphyralis, Varmur, was on the west coast. In all the world, only the capitals of Varmur and Myrkir were close together. On an idyllic coastal beach was a magnificent white sand castle topped with giant seashells. This was Sunfyre Palace. Within Sunfyre Palace lived the Duchess of Sunfyre, Elektra Sunfyre and her younger brother Nicodemus, the Chancellor of Sunfyre.

  Assisting the Sunfyre Clan was the Brightstar Clan. The Brightstar Clan wasn't the original protectorate family of Sunfyre, but they'd stepped up when a vacancy was created. Declan Brightstar was the current Commander General of Sunfyre, in charge of all the military matters. He was also a Gold Dragon. He assisted the former Deputy Commander General until he was about fifty and took over as the Commander General.

  He was a tall man with long golden hair, and warm blue eyes. He had sunkissed skin and long pointed ears. He was dressed in a casual uniform as he was overseeing some training in the afternoon. Everyone knew that soon troops would be sent to Thale. The Bridge to Thale had already been built in Sunfyre. When the Bridges in Thale were ready, they'd been sending troops and supplies.

  Declan had no qualms about Zane being in charge of the operation. When he was still just a small soldier, Zane was already the High Sentinel of Myrkir. Deck wasn't much younger, but after all, his family had been merchants, not soldiers. He had to learn everything from scratch. Zane was born into his role and helped lead the world to oust the Dragon Hunters from Emphyralis.

  He was surprised when a Drake from Thale appeared in front of him. "Urgent letter for Commander General Brightstar," the Drake informed him.

  Declan held up his arms to let the Drake perch on it. He retrieved the thick, sealed letter and gave the Drake a coin. The Drake bowed its head and then jumped off of Declan's arm, flew in a circle and disappeared with a crack.

  Delan looked at his name scrawled on his letter. He recognized Zane's handwriting in an instant. He called over the ranking officer and put him in charge before making his way back to his office within the Palace with the letter. He sat at his desk and unsealed the letter with his identity token.

  He was first surprised by the portable spells. He read the letter with a serious expression. With a frown, he burned the letter and put away the spells. He left his office. "Ready four people for a trip to Thale. I'm going to see the Duchess," he said as he passed by. He boarded a porter to travel to the administration area of the Palace to meet with the Duchess of Sunfyre and inform her of his impending emergency trip to Thale.

  --

  Silvermoon, Silubra

  Ysandar Thorindale was the acting Knight General of Silvermoon. He was an old Elf. He'd been the Second Knight of Silvermoon under the Morningstorme family for at least three generations. When the former Knight General died of the Plague and Elias Morningstorme was taken off world, he was appointed as acting Knight General.

  He was aware he was an efficient tool man. He was always content with that. His experience and leadership were there. That was part of the reason why Chrystianna had never been in a hurry to find a replacement. The other was that she always held the position open for Elias to return, and later for Darius when he was ready.

  Ysandar was ready to retire but he was determined to hold on until Darius was ready and he found a trustworthy replacement for him. He was already old, and though it barely showed on his eternal face, hair that was brown was streaked with gray and a long beard hung to his chest.

  He was attending to a few things when the Drake from Thale appeared. He raised his eyebrows. He already knew Chrystianna had taken off to Thale in a hurry. He supposed this had something to do with it. Ysandar had been very much in favor of Zane heading the operation. In the more than a hundred years since the Plague, he'd worked closely with him a number of times. Ysandar considered himself a very good tool man.

  After opening the letter, he left the office to make arrangements to head to Thale to discuss the situation.

  --

  Wyntercrest, Isaz

  On the southern snowy plains of Isaz was the Wyntercrest Spire. It wasn't only one spire, there were numerous ones. In one of the spires was located the military offices of the First General of Wyntercrest. Ulrik Icebridge was a Sapphire Dragon who ran his military with water tight precision.

  He was well qualified to take on the operation in Thale. However, he eventually agreed to defer to Zane. It was nearing the end of the day and time for him to go home. He was tall and pale with steady blue eyes. His brown hair was cut short and neat. He just had to sign off on a few reports beforehand.

  A Drake appeared suddenly. Given the time, no one would send a Drake suddenly if it weren't important, and given the Thale regalia, Ulrik had no doubt it was important. After tipping the Drake, he opened the letter and read it. He had a calm reaction. He put away the portable arrays. He stood and left his office. He knew his sister and her wife well, they'd both be working at this time, finishing up before going home.

  His younger sister, Marytza, was married to the Marchioness of Wyntercrest, Isolde Wyntercrest. She was the Chancellor of Wytercrest. He had to inform them of his impending early trip to Thale. He summoned his second in command to make arrangements before leaving the office to find them.

  --

  Treestar, Vedanta

  In the Bronzewing Residence located within Treestar Court in the capital city of Vedanta, all was quiet except for the night shift guards on duty. As the easternmost continent, night had long fallen. The Master General Pierce Bronzewing had long finished even his late work and gone to sleep.

  The crack of the Drake arriving woke him. He blinked bronze colored eyes and focused on the Drake that flew around a moment before landing on his desk nearby. "Urgent message for Master General Bronzewing," he Drake, dressed in Thale regalia reported.

  The Bronze Dragon sat up in his bed and dragged a hand through his short flaxen blonde hair and stretched his hawk-like wings. He stood. The man was tall, well built with bronze skin and well defined facial features. He was a Bronze Dragon with Hunter's Intuition. Next to Zane, he was the one of the most decorated soldiers of the Hunter Wars.

  He walked to the Drake, tipped him and took the letter. He opened the letter after the Drake disappeared again. He also knew that a letter from Thale in the middle of the night was probably not a good thing. After reading the letter, he burned it. He tapped the call stone on his desk. "Mina Ironclaw," he said. The stone glowed and hummed until a face appeared above the stone.

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  A slightly pale bronzed face, dark bronze eyes, and coppery red hair that was pulled into a braid. "It's late. What happened?" she asked. She was the head of the all-women Bronze Dragon bodyguards of the Marchioness of Treestar, the Viragatri.

  "I can't explain on the stone, but come to Avalon's office with Sorcha. I need to borrow her for a while," he said. Even though the Viragatri were ostensibly bodyguards, they were a deadly, well trained group. They also undertook assignments regular military couldn't. It was only appropriate for the second-in-command of the Viragatri to accompany him to Thale.

  The Vigatrix and the Military Guild had a friendly rivalry, but they were also collaborators. They all worked for the betterment of Vedanta.

  Mina didn't ask anymore questions and ended communication. Pierce put away the potable transfer spells and dressed. He knew that Mina's people would wake the Marchioness. All he had to do was meet in her residence.

  --

  Illuminated Library, Isaz

  News of the attack at Icestorme was beginning to spread through various channels. Diamond Dragons were among the few types of Dragons that were able to fly to Thale because of the ability of their scales to render them invisible. They managed to avoid detection by simply not being seen.

  With the ability to become invisible, and photokinesis, Diamond Dragons were more known to be knowledge keepers. They documented the world.

  The Illuminated Library was their most important place. Located within the northern icecaps, the Luminous Glaciers, it was a massive building full of books and chronicle crystals documenting the world. Somewhere within the Library was the only shrine to Ansi, the Lord of Mystery and God of Illusion, the patron deity of the Diamond Dragons.

  It was also the home of two different organizations, the Seekers Sect and the Keeper's Collective. The Keepers run and manage the Illuminated Library. The Seekers collect knowledge around the Emphyralis, and other worlds. The Curator is the elected head of both organizations and the Illuminated Library.

  The current Curator was a man named Clarion Mirrorshard. He received a report from a Seeker about the attack. He received a chronicle crystal that recorded the sequence of events. The Seeker was a young girl, a new initiate who recently passed her first assignment. She wasn't trained to fight, so she had to hide and catch the attack.

  Clarion tapped his fingers on his desk as he watched the recording. He made a quick decision. He made a copy of the recording and called for two people.

  Diamond Dragons weren't typically warriors, but that didn't mean they couldn't be. Before he died of the Plague, Gwyn Frostgem was a legendary warrior among not only their kind, but in all Isaz. Two people came to his office after a while.

  Both were warm skinned, white haired, light eyed Diamond Dragons. They wore white, slightly sparkling leather and cloaks. One was a tall and lean man. The other was a small and slim girl. Other than body types, their faces were eerily similar. Clearly related. Onika and Oberon Starsong were well trained stealth fighters. They were technically mercenaries, but often worked for the Curator.

  They gave him short bows. "Curator Mirrorshard," they greeted in unisom.

  The Curator nodded to them. "Go to Thale and present yourself to Ulrik Icebridge to be utilized however he needs. Deliver this to Zane Darkwynde in case it was useful to rewatch what happened," he explained and put a chronicle crystal on the desk.

  Onika frowned slightly. "Why go to Thale to find General Icebridge?" she asked.

  Her answer was a slight smile. "He'll be there," he assured.

  Onika was familiar enough with Clarion to know that when he was being mysterious, he wouldn't tell them. They had to find out on their own. She resisted an eyeroll. Clarion had been a childhood friend of their older brother and she knew him well.

  "Then we'll head to Thale," she stated and took the crystal and put it away. "Let's go," she said to the silent Oberon and turned to leave the Curator's office. He nodded to Clarion and followed his tiny sister as she strode away with her shiny cloak billowing behind her in a dramatic fashion. He really didn't know how she did it. His cloak never billowed like that.

  --

  Silvermoon, Silubra

  Chrystianna spent the night in the Silvermoon Official Residence for a night with her children. The next day, Delia returned to the team after staying in the healing pools for the night. When they were ready to leave, Morganna and her three sons escorted them to the Icestorme-Silvermoon Bridge. They gave their good-byes, and they returned to Silvermoon

  They didn't know, or perhaps only Christiana knew that several high level people arrived in Thale in the middle of the night. Chrystianna had her strengths, meddling in military matters was not one of them. She had her part to play so she didn't insert herself where she wasn't needed. She'd read the reports to keep abreast of the situation.

  After returning to Silvermoon, Britiana, Darius and their team rested for a couple of days before preparing to visit New Bienskurr and moving on to Cruinog. The day they were to go to New Bienskurr, they had to meet with Delaney at Crowley House.

  Crowley House was a former property belonging to the larger Silvermoon Clan that had reverted to Chrystianna when the Plague killed the original owner. Therefore, the grounds were large because it was built to facilitate multiple Dragons.

  Delaney met the two siblings and their team in the backyard of Crowley House. She greeted those she was familiar with then looked at Isa curiously. Britiana felt no complications introducing them. Isa nodded to her politely.

  "So, how are we traveling?" Delaney asked. She knew Dragons didn't like people riding on their backs in most cases and three members of this team didn't fly. "Airship?" she wondered. She'd traveled on airships several times and found it a lot more interesting than airplanes from Terranthea.

  "Something like that," Britiana answered with a mysterious smile.

  Darius gave his sister an exasperated look. "Mom gave a private airship," he explained and took it out from his storage. It wasn't a large craft, about the size of a luxury yacht Delaney had seen before. "New Bienskurr isn't far. We'll be there in less than an hour," he explained. Aman jumped aboard to lower a boarding ramp.

  Delaney nodded. She'd been on Emphyralis for over a month, but she hadn't seen much of it yet. Mainly just certain places in the capital cities. She was looking forward to seeing more of Silubra.

  Britiana laughed slightly, not caring that her brother ruined her fun. "Let's get aboard," she said and hooked an arm around Delaney's and pulled her up the ramp. Isa, Imre, and Darius followed them up. The other members of the team would be flying alongside.

  Aman and Imre put away the boarding ramp and entered the pilot house. There was a slight hum and a glimmer as a protective barrier formed over the deck. The small airship lifted off the ground and quickly ascended. The other guards quickly transformed and flew around the ship in a protective formation.

  Delaney quickly moved to the side of the vessel and looked over the edge, watching the House and the grounds get smaller and smaller. Soon they began moving and she could see more and more of Silvermoon. She'd taken airships to Myrkir before, so it wasn't a new site but still quite awe inspiring.

  The wind whistled along the vessel as it moved. The dome blocked out most of the fierce wind from the speed of the vessel but allowed a small, pleasant breeze in. Soon they were above the Eternal Mountains.

  Silvermoon was built against the Eternal Mountains, so the blue-gray stone wasn't new to Delaney, but she still marveled over the sheer size of the snow capped peaks that stretched on endlessly, dividing the landscape of Silubra.

  Instead of going across as one would when traveling to Myrkir, they began to travel along the mountains in the southerly direction. In the distance, Delaney could vaguely make out what seemed to be flying people.

  "Are those Quartz Dragons?" she asked. She remembered vividly seeing a Quartz Dragon flying into Silvermoon Keep with his young daughter on his back when she first came to Emphyralis. They'd both had beautiful feathery wings like a barn owl's.

  The Dragons could see them, but the distance was too far to sense an aura. "Could be. Many Quartz Dragons live in the peaks of the Eternal Mountains," Britiana answered. "Could also be Udara'un. They also tend to make homes in higher altitudes," she added.

  Delaney was a bit curious at this word. "Udara'un?" she asked. "Is it a type of Elf?" she asked, remembering that Sariya was called an Eoduun, and they sounded similar.

  "Hmm. Sky Elves. We have a Sky Elf ancestor to thank for our wings and hollow bones," Britiana answered easily watching the winged folk play in the air in the distance.

  Delaney wasn't sure what to say to that. She couldn't even begin to wonder how genetics worked with a race of people who could transform into Dragons. They watched until the people were distant spots and then could see them no longer.

  "There are many types of Elves?" Delaney finally asked. She knew about the Eoduun, but most of the Elves she'd seen so far were the same as she'd seen on other worlds.

  Britiana nodded. "The most common Elves you'll see are Kaaduun, Forest Elves. They have green blood, pale features, and blond, red, or brown hair.

  "Eoduun, like Sariya, have purple blood, dark skin, and either black, white, or yellow hair. Less populous are the Huaese'un, Gray Elves, also called Succubi. They have blue blood, gray skin, black, brown, or red hair.

  "Neeru'un, are Water Elves. They also have blue blood, but it's different than Huaese'un blood. They're commonly called mermaids. They have the ability to live in water and on land.

  "Edari'un are Desert Elves in Varmur. Kyaru'un, Frost Elves that live in arctic regions in Isaz and Thale. There are a few other types, but exceeding rare," she explained to the rapt audience that was Delaney.

  It seemed Emphyralis really was a rich and diverse world, which made the hate groups springing up even more bizarre. But, she supposed, where there are people, there is hate. She knew that better than anyone being a black witch in her geographical region on Terranthea where a lot of prejudice existed.

  They chatted a bit more and soon, they could spot a settlement in the mountains made up of paved roads connecting the central "village" with many secluded houses within the mountains. It was New Bienskurr, home of the Earthborne on Emphyralis.

  --