Legacy of the Dark Sage

Raelia leaned back on her bed with furrowed brows.

"Lord Null," she repeated, her voice laced with disbelief as she sighed. "I still find it hard to believe that we are indebted to Ames’s family."

Alta fell silent as she shared the same sentiments. Apart from that, she had trouble believing that Kyran was the person The Emperor was after and the black mage she pursued back in the unnamed plane.

"...Lady Raelia," Alta started after a short pause. "Are you really planning on returning to The Emperor’s side after you’ve recovered?"

After Alta answered every one of Raelia’s questions, the latter expressed her intentions of returning to The Emperor’s side. Alta could not voice her disagreement because Raelia’s work for The Emperor was part of the Blade Dancers’ agreement to show their loyalty.

To be more precise, the Blade Dancer’s agreement with The Emperor was to provide him with their best talent and work as part of his Elite. When the previous mage from the Blade Dancer Clan grew too old to help The Emperor, Raelia, a promising talent during that generation, replaced him.

Raelia was still a great help to The Emperor. As a matter of fact, she was the captain of her own squad. Her authority was far lower than that of Deus and Midnight, who served as the Head Aide and Deputy Aide of The Emperor, but it was enough for her to order the dispatch of mages from other clans under the Solis Clan.

Considering Raelia’s position in The Emperor’s Elite, Alta could understand why she wanted to return. However, the fact that The Emperor destroyed her clan should have voided the agreement binding her to him. In Alta’s opinion, there was no reason for Raelia to return.

"I want to confirm His Majesty’s intention for what he did to the clan," Raelia replied, shaking her head before adding, "I am still skeptical about what that person told the elders and the Clan Head regarding soul threads. I can’t trust his words because he is not the Soul Emperor.

Until I get definite proof that His Majesty had intentionally released his magic to destroy the clan, I will give him the benefit of the doubt."

"But that’s...." Alta stopped short of what she was about to say.

When she explained what had happened, she refrained from telling Raelia about Cyneah. Alta promised to keep Cyneah safe and to start with that; she had to ensure that no one else should know about her—at least, not without the Dragon Emperor or Kyran’s permission.

Raelia looked at Alta and narrowed her eyes, "Is there something you have not told me?"

Alta sighed and shook her head, "I’m sorry, Lady Raelia. It’s just that... I feel uncomfortable knowing of your patience and loyalty to The Emperor. Regardless of his intentions, don’t you think he should have already clarified the situation by now and stopped the rumors circulating among the other clans? Yet even then, you wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt..."

Raelia did not respond. To be honest, she was very mad when she heard her clan got caught in the middle of a crossfire when The Emperor confronted Ruin and the Void Master. But she could do nothing but reign in her anger. This was because there were so many versions of the truth of what happened, and each sounded more absurd than the other.

The only rumor she deemed possible had been the one she told Ames. But even then, she was not entirely convinced.

In any case, Raelia only wanted to give her clan a chance to be in The Emperor’s good graces again by giving him the benefit of the doubt and confirming the truth. She knew that if Clan Head Geir or Elder Zigor knew what she was thinking, they would allow her to make her decision. She never once doubted that the two older men would be angered by it.

Alta had a different take on the matter, though. After being around Kyran and observing his interaction with the clan’s head, elders, and executives, she was sure that they would be disappointed with Raelia’s train of thought.

Nonetheless, Alta could not blame Raelia because she had been working with The Emperor for a long time, and it would not be impossible for her to develop a deeper loyalty toward him than her clan by then.

"Don’t worry, I will not tell His Majesty about that person and the clan—."

"He can extract one’s soul thread, Lady Raelia. How sure are you that he will not demand that you surrender your soul thread just to confirm your intentions."

"Just because your soul thread was taken doesn’t mean His Majesty will demand the same with me. Remember that your soul thread was also taken as a punishment for being incompetent."

Alta clenched her fist but did not try to refute Raelia because it would be pointless. She heard the latter could be very stubborn. But this was more than being stubborn. Raelia simply did not believe what others said unless she saw or learned of it herself.

Raelia studied Alta’s face before saying with a bitter smile, "You look annoyed. I’m sorry if I offended you. But everyone else in the clan appeared to be indebted to that person, and I believe someone should be levelheaded to ensure they would not be deceived."

"...I understand."

In the end, Alta decided to end the discussion. However, she made a mental note to tell Kyran about Raelia’s thoughts because she had a bad feeling. Besides, Lady Ames allowed Raelia to enter the Dragon Plane and recuperate. If Raelia ended up implicating the Dragon Clan once she returned to The Emperor’s side, they had to prepare countermeasures.

"Don’t worry," Raelia added before closing her eyes. I will tell Ames my intentions. Also, if His Majesty truly intended to destroy the clan, I will ensure that she and the Dragon Clan are not implicated."

"..."

Alta chose not to comment on Raelia’s last attempt to assure her because she noticed something from her words.

Raelia did not seem to want to accept Kyran and his people.

*

Aillos agreed to use the separate complexes around Ames’s mansion so that everyone from the Lower Realm could have proper lodgings. Initially, Ames planned to transfer them to her villa, which was quite a distance away from the Main Palace. This was also to ensure that the other dragons would not know about them.

She even said that Kyran could just set up a warp terminal or transportation array from the villa to the new Array once it was ready for them to use.

However, Aillos reminded Ames of his intentions of announcing her other family’s arrival in the Higher Realm and the truth of the situation there during the Grand Gathering of Dragons. Once, he announced that having them stay in the Main Palace was better than having them stay in the villa.

Besides, Ames’s villa was not big enough to accommodate everyone.

Ames, Aron, and Cade were busy having everything ready in the main palace for the next few days. At the same time, Aillos and his aides, who were not helping out in the new Array, were also busy with the upcoming Grand Gathering.

One afternoon, Cade could not help but notice the quilins’ busy building, which appeared to be a dome in an open space behind the main palace.

"Will there be... an exchange of some sort during the Grand Gathering?" Cade asked Ames.

The two of them, with Aron, were inside Ames’s office in her chamber. They were busy organizing the things that Aillos told them to do.

Ames looked at Cade from her seat, pausing for a bit from reading some documents.

"An exchange, huh?" she smiled wryly before returning her attention back to what she was reading. "It was nothing formal like that. During Grand Gatherings, dragons tend to get a little excited, and a request for a spar happens all the time. The dome is there to cater to that."

"Request for a spar..." Aron’s expression turned grim as he thought of something.

Ames’s face distorted as she guessed what he was thinking.

"I’ll make sure that Father tells everyone not to send out spar requests against you and the others."

"If you do that, everyone will just see us as an eyesore even more," Aron said.

"True," Cade agreed, chuckling. Let them request it. We’ll just play by the gathering’s rules."

"But—."

"We’ll just keep Kyran out of it," Aron also chimed with a wry smile. "If that boy received any request... we’ll likely end up infuriating the others."

He turned to Cade and said bitterly, "I love my grandson, but after everything that happened, I find him quite good at provoking others— intentionally or not."

"I agree, too."

Not one to save his son’s face, Cade agreed with his Father’s assessment of Kyran.

"You two don’t seem worried about your relationship with the dragons worsening at all."

"I don’t want to be rude, Lady Ames. But it’s not like they have any good feelings about us in the first place," Cade said.

"That’s true... but as long as they understand your situation..."

"There is no need for you and Lord Aillos to build up our image among your people, Lady Ames," Aron told her with a smile. "In fact, a certain level of discord can be helpful."

Ames did not say anything because she understood where Aron was coming from. In fact, during the first few years after her Father united all the dragon tribes, conflicts surfaced almost every day. In the end, those conflicts shaped the tribes’ relationship, and now they were all united.

Considering this, it might be helpful if the dragons and quilins requested to spar with the Regis and Kyran’s people and grew to understand them. By doing so, they could build good relations in the long run.