A Different World Chapter 4
Kevin was seated on the side of a fountain inside of the great garden. The fountain was made from smooth stone, perhaps marble, and was polished to a perpetual shine. In the center stood a statue of a long dead Dragonmaster, water poured out from the sword that it raised to the sky.
The fountain was probably beautiful. Hell, the entire garden was probably the most beautiful place in all of Lunar, but Kevin was not in the mood to appreciate beauty. Ever since he had arrived with Michael, Ruby, and Lucia things had gone straight to shit.
The mage wondered briefly if it was some sort of blasphemy to think of phrases that contained words like ‘shit’ while in the holy garden of the god. He finally decided that Ghaleon himself would probably agree with him on this one: the state of Lunar was shit.
Or at least it would be Kevin thought to himself. Ghaleon had confirmed that a being known as Zophar had indeed been responsible for the catastrophe on the Blue Star, and the consensuses after their meeting with Ghaleon was that he was indeed on Lunar. He was after all not on the Blue Star anymore (according to Lucia anyway), and it explained why the monster population had increased so sharply in recent years.
It also meant that they had only seen the tip of the ice burg. The monster outbreaks around the world were nothing compared to what Zophar would unleash. Soon nowhere on Lunar would be safe. Kevin let out a deep sigh and slumped his shoulders. Zophar had no doubt learned that Lucia had come to Lunar by now. He knew that they were aware of his presence. He would make the first move. Strike before they could prepare.
That’s what everyone was trying to do right now. Prepare for Zophar’s first strike. Regal and Maxillius were present for the council with Ghaleon, but they had both left to prepare the guild. Likewise Michael and Ruby had left to Meribia so they could prepare the army.
It seemed to him that he was the only person left on the fortress. This wasn’t true of course. Ghaleon’s Fortress was bustling with soldiers and clerics alike. The other dragons had been summoned as well. Nyreo the Blue Dragon was somewhere in the garden keeping to himself, while the Black Dragon Lash was more than likely gallivanting around with the troops or putting on some kind of comedy show. That one didn’t take anything seriously.
Nall was so far a no show. Which wasn’t too surprising, and to be perfectly honest Kevin didn’t really care if that stuck up bastard of a dragon decided to drag his smelly ass in. Kevin had about as much use for Nall as Michael did, and that wasn’t a whole lot.
Kevin wished that he could be doing something, anything really. All of his friends and peers were out preparing for the war while he waited patiently (or in this case impatiently) behind. He had felt so exited earlier in the day, but now he felt like trash. Part of him wanted Zophar to hurry up and attack, another part of him dreaded the moment when it all would start. But for now all he could do was sit around and stew in his anxiety.
* * * *
Michael and Ruby landed back on Ghaleon’s Fortress only six hours after leaving. They had alerted every major city in Lunar. Starting with Meribia and Eyuuka in the west, and then moving eastward. These cities had sent their own messengers out to the smaller communities so that they too could raise whatever militia that they had.
“We’ve done all we can,” Ruby said after returning to her human form.
“I know, I just hope that its not too little too late,” Michael replied.
Almost as soon as the thought left his mouth a soldier sprinted up to them. “Its started, sir! I’ve received reports of attacks from all over Lunar!”
“Calm down,” Michael told the soldier who looked like he was about to feint. “What’s the situation.”
The soldier was very pale. He shook his head and then said, “Bad. Armies of monster have invaded almost every major city in the world. It all happened so fast…all the reports…they all came at once. The whole planet’s been plunged into war, sir.”
Michael took a deep breath to steady himself. “Go back and make sure every one is ready. The fortress could be attacked at any moment.”
The soldier snapped a quick salute and then ran off. Michael shook his head. He suddenly felt dizzy, things were happening too fast. He was about to summon the dragons to him when he saw them running toward him, behind them was Kevin.
“We’ve heard the news,” Kevin said. “What do we do now?”
“Yeah, Boss Man. What’s the plan,” Lash Black asked.
“As for the monster attacks we have to hope that the people of Lunar can fend for themselves. We’ve got to find Zophar and eliminate him. By now Ghaleon should have been able to pinpoint his location.”
The three dragons and Kevin all nodded. It was a simple plan really. Brutally simple when it came right down to it.
“Finding me won’t be necessary.”
The voice that said these words was not a human voice. It was distorted and somehow horrible to hear.
Michael spun around to face the speaker, there was no one there. But at the far end of the fortress’s open deck there was a great dark spot. It was like the air in that place had decided to stop reflecting light. Energy flowed from that spot. Dark energy that was so immense that it terrified him. “Zophar,” he said. It was not a question. There was no doubt that the presence that inhabited that dark spot was the infamous Zophar.
“Like I said: Finding me won’t be necessary.” The voice repeated. Zophar had arrived.
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