[Imperial Palace — Royal Dining Chamber — Continuation]
"My... Lady..."
Ravian’s voice echoed through the chamber as he struggled to call Seyra, but the words barely escaped his throat. He could see her sitting amidst the seven magnificent beasts, yet he could not bring himself to take another step.
The air had become unbearably heavy.
Ravian dropped to his knees, one hand braced against the sandstone floor as he fought to draw breath. Beside him, Ishtar’s sword slipped from her trembling fingers and struck the tiles with a sharp metallic clang.
Even Malik Zayrakh Azrath had been forced to his knees, his golden ornaments rattling softly as he struggled against the invisible pressure crushing the chamber.
None of them could move and could speak, and for the first time in the recorded history of Eshkaran, seven elemental guardians stood manifested before human eyes at the same time.
The white leopard’s silver gaze swept across the chamber.
Flames rippled along the crimson tiger’s body, while the sapphire serpent coiled around the pillars, its scales glistening beneath the trembling bronze lamps.
The emerald lion stood like a mountain carved from living stone, and the golden stag’s radiant antlers illuminated the ancient carvings upon the walls.
The shadow wolf watched from the darkness, its low growl vibrating through the floor, while the pale crane remained motionless, its translucent wings suspended in an unnatural stillness.
Seven guardians, seven elemental authorities, and every one of them had gathered around a four-year-old girl who possessed no detectable Aether Core.
Zayrakh’s fingers dug into the floor.
Impossible.
The first elemental contracts, the sacred inscriptions describing the Twin Divine Dragons, and the fragments of history that scholars had spent generations trying to decipher never had he encountered a record of seven guardians appearing together, yet they stood before him now, and they were protecting Seyra.
"W-What..." Ishtar tried to speak, but her voice faltered beneath the suffocating pressure. She forced her head upward, her gaze fixed on the little girl. "My Lady..."
Seyra did not respond.
Her small figure remained motionless in the center of the chamber, her violet eyes darkened by the tears she had struggled to hold back. The seven beasts began to move, their enormous bodies shifting with a strange, almost reverent purpose.
The white leopard approached first, lowering its head beside her.
The crimson tiger moved to her other side, its blazing mane casting red light across her tear-streaked face. The sapphire serpent uncoiled from the pillar and glided across the floor, while the emerald lion stepped forward with a rumble that made the bronze vessels tremble. The golden stag lowered its antlers, and the shadow wolf circled behind her.
Last came the pale crane... Its long wings opened soundlessly, then, one by one, the seven guardians moved closer, encircling Seyra until their immense forms concealed her from view.
Ravian’s eyes widened.
"No... My Lady, please—"
He tried to crawl forward, and the pressure increased.
His chest tightened, and his palms slid against the smooth stone as he struggled to remain conscious. Ishtar reached toward him, but even she could do nothing more than brace herself against the floor.
Zayrakh felt his Aether Core convulse.
Azhar roared within their bond, and for one terrifying instant, the Malik felt the ancient guardian of Fire recoil as though something immeasurably greater had turned its attention toward the palace.
His breath caught.
Then—
WHOOSSSHHH!
A violent gust swept through the chamber.
The bronze lamps extinguished simultaneously. Curtains billowed toward the ceiling, and the golden dust scattered across the floor rose in a spiraling cloud. The seven guardians dissolved into streaks of silver, crimson, sapphire, emerald, gold, and shadow, while the pale crane vanished into a flash of light so brief that Zayrakh could not tell whether it had moved at all.
The entire chamber shuddered, and then—silence, an absolute silence.
For several heartbeats, no one moved.
The suffocating pressure had disappeared so suddenly that Raviel collapsed forward, coughing as air rushed back into his lungs. Ishtar drew a ragged breath and immediately reached for her sword. Zayrakh remained on his knees, his chest rising and falling as he tried to comprehend what had just happened.
The lamps were dark, the curtains had fallen still, the bronze vessels rested upon the table as though nothing had disturbed them, and the seven guardians were gone.
Ravian lifted his head; his gaze swept across the chamber, the broken tiles, the abandoned honey cake, and the overturned goblet, and then the empty space at the center of the room.
His face drained of color.
"My Lady...?"
He pushed himself upright, looking behind the table, beneath the carved archways, and toward the curtained alcove where servants sometimes waited during royal meals.
"My lady Seyra?" There was no answer; he staggered to his feet. "My Lady?"
Ishtar was already moving. She rushed toward the far side of the chamber, pulled aside the heavy crimson curtains, and searched the adjoining alcove. Finding nothing, she turned toward the doors and shouted for the imperial guards.
"We need to search the palace!"
Ravian nodded, and behind him, Malik Zayrakh slowly rose to his feet.
His knees ached from the pressure, but he barely noticed. His attention remained fixed on the empty chair, his amber eyes narrowed as his mind raced through every possibility.
Had the guardians taken her? Had they transported her somewhere beyond the palace? Or had Seyra herself vanished along with them?
The last possibility was the most disturbing.
A four-year-old child with no detectable Aether Core had caused seven ancient guardians to manifest within his palace. They had ignored his commands, resisted his elemental authority, and disappeared in a manner no scholar could readily explain, and now the child herself was gone.
Zayrakh slowly curled his fingers into a fist.
Whatever had happened in this chamber was no ordinary elemental disturbance. If the word reached the temples, the high priest would demand answers. If the noble houses learned that seven guardians had appeared around Vaerun Veyrath’s adopted daughter, every ambitious family in Eshkaran would begin searching for her.
Some would seek to worship her and seek to control her, and the most dangerous among them would attempt to destroy her before she could become a threat.
Malik could not allow that chaos to spread, not after what he had done to a child who wanted him as her other parent.
"Whatever happened here," he said, his voice cold and controlled, "must not leave this chamber."
"Your Majesty..." Ravian swallowed. "With all due respect, I cannot obey that order."
The chamber fell still. Zayrakh’s gaze sharpened.
"Choose your next words carefully."
Ravian bowed his head, but he did not retreat.
"I will gladly accept whatever punishment Your Majesty deems appropriate. However, Lady Seyra is the daughter and heir of House Veyrath. The Azram entrusted her safety to us, and she has disappeared from the imperial palace under our watch." His voice trembled, but he continued. "I cannot conceal this from her father."
Zayrakh looked at him and recalled Seyra’s word.
I wanted you to be my other parent.
His jaw tightened.
He had wanted to keep the incident secret because the truth would invite questions he could not answer. Yet there was another reason he could not bring himself to admit.
Vaerun would ask what had happened to his daughter, and Zayrakh would have to tell him that Seyra had disappeared after crying in his presence.
"Find the child and inform me the moment she is safe."
Zayrakh’s voice carried the weight of an imperial decree, but Ravian did not respond. He bowed stiffly, his expression pale with worry, then turned and hurried out of the chamber.
The heavy bronze doors closed behind him.
Silence settled over the royal dining chamber once more.
Zayrakh remained where he stood, his gaze lowered to the broken honey cake abandoned on the table. A few crumbs lay scattered across the embroidered tablecloth, and a small smear of honey glistened beneath the light of the restored lamps.
Such a trivial thing, yet he found himself staring at it longer than he should have.
"I...I never knew she wanted me to be her other parent."
He had just seen her as a obstacle to me removed, but he had never considered that she might have been imagining a place for him in her family.
Zayrakh turned toward the lattice windows, the golden rooftops of Eshkaran gleamed beneath the moonlight, while the distant ziggurats rose above the city like silent witnesses to the deeds of kings.
"I overstepped my boundaries," he murmured.
The admission tasted bitter.
He had spoken to Seyra, as he might have spoken to a troublesome noble who had forgotten the limits of his station.
His fingers curled against the windowsill.
For ten years, he had struggled to make Vaerun acknowledge him, yet he had failed to recognize the simple affection Seyra had offered without hesitation. She had wanted him to stand beside the man he loved, not to compete with him for power or possession, and he had crushed that hope with a handful of careless words.
Zayrakh closed his eyes briefly.
"Foolish child," he muttered, though the words held none of their usual contempt; he opened his eyes and looked toward the dark horizon beyond the palace gardens.
"Or perhaps the fool was me."
***
[Azrath Desert — The Outer Dunes — Same Time]
GROOOOOAAARRRR!
The monstrous roar tore through the desert, scattering flocks of carrion birds from the blackened cliffs.
A towering beast lunged through the swirling sand, its enormous jaws snapping shut where Vaerun had stood a heartbeat earlier. Its hide resembled overlapping plates of dark bronze, scarred and crusted with sand, while thick horns curved backward from its skull. Blood streaked its flanks, and its red eyes burned with the mindless fury of a creature driven beyond reason.
Vaerun moved without hesitation.
His boots slid across the loose sand as he twisted aside, raising his sword to intercept the beast’s next strike. Claws scraped against steel, releasing a shower of sparks that vanished into the dusty air.
The impact drove him back several steps, his silver eyes narrowed.
"Persistent creature."
The beast answered with another deafening roar.
Behind it, the remains of the battlefield stretched across the dunes. Several monstrous bodies lay scattered between the rocks, their dark blood soaking into the sand. The air reeked of iron and something foul that clung to the back of the throat.
Vaerun tightened his grip on the sword, a current of air gathered around the blade, so thin and sharp that the drifting sand split before it. The beast lowered its head and charged, its massive body shaking the ground beneath its feet.
Vaerun waited until the last possible moment, then he stepped forward.
SHRAAAASH!
His sword flashed through the creature’s neck and across its armored torso in one fluid motion. The wind followed the blade, cutting through hide and bone with terrifying precision.
For an instant, the beast continued forward.
Then its body split apart, the two halves crashed into the sand with a heavy, earth-shaking thud. Dark blood sprayed across Vaerun’s robes, streaked his cheek, and spattered the silver guard of his sword.
The desert fell silent.
Vaerun stood among the settling dust, his expression unchanged. He flicked the blood from his blade, though the dark liquid continued to drip from its edge.
A moment later, two figures emerged from the haze.
Captain Kharzen arrived first, his armor coated in sand and his breathing heavier than usual. Captain Nareza Veyr followed close behind, her crimson cloak torn at the hem and a fresh scratch running along the edge of her cheek.
Both stopped when they saw the fallen beast. Kharzen looked at the two halves, then at Vaerun.
"Azram," he said after catching his breath, "that was the last one."
Nareza wiped the sweat from her brow. "We have searched the surrounding dunes and eliminated every beast we encountered. None remain within the immediate territory."
Vaerun examined the monster’s severed head. Its jaw remained open, exposing rows of jagged teeth, while its red eyes had already begun to cloud.
"Search once more, check the ravines and the western passage. I want confirmation that nothing remains hidden beneath the sand."
Kharzen straightened immediately.
"Yes, Azram."
Nareza, however, remained beside the carcass, studying the creature with a frown.
"It is difficult to believe they crossed the imperial border in such numbers, these beasts are known to gather in remote territories during their mating season. They should never have ventured this far into Eshkaran."
"Yet they did."
Vaerun wiped his blade with a cloth taken from his belt.
Nareza glanced toward the distant dunes. "The tracks suggest they were fleeing something. Their movements were erratic, and several abandoned their usual hunting patterns. If they were driven from their territory, we may need to investigate what disturbed them."
Vaerun’s gaze shifted toward the western horizon.
The desert wind swept over the dunes, carrying fine grains of sand across the darkened ground. Beyond the ridges, the sun had begun its descent, staining the sky in shades of copper and burnt gold.
"Include it in your report, record their number, the direction from which they came, and every unusual sign you observed. I want the report completed before we return to the capital."
Nareza bowed.
"Understood, Azram."
She turned and departed toward the waiting imperial soldiers, calling for a final inspection of the ravines.
Vaerun sheathed his sword, though a thin trace of blood remained along his jaw.
’I should get something for her.’
His gaze drifted toward a cluster of pale desert flowers growing between two rocks. Their delicate petals had survived beneath the harsh sun, sheltered by the stone.
’I wonder how much chaos she has created?’