Chapter 48: Revelation

  Excerpts from Brief History of Xoth

  The Six Heroes

  The last war with Hastur started twenty-five years ago. With the aid of his army of demons, allies, and hordes of monsters, Hastur unleashed a brutal and violent war that reached every corner of Xoth. After five years, Hastur was on the brink of victory in his conquest.

  In Xoth's darkest hour, six heroes rose up to fight back against Hastur. The group of heroes consisted of Niala and Delix Ryezious of the Naga race, Axel Jordfodt of the Dwarven race, Evaline Acer of the Elven race, Leo Ordata of the Feline Beastkin race, and Ayil Obria of the Lilin Demon race. These six heroes spearheaded a resistance movement against Hastur and his forces. After a year, their forces managed to repel Hastur's forces back to Almawt.

  During the battle in the Almawt capital, the six heroes fought against Hastur in order to end his reign permanently. No one knows what transpired during the fight, but the heroes were presumed killed in battle as they were never seen again. They were partially successful in their fight as Hastur was severely wounded and has isolated himself from the events of the world outside of Almawt.

  Excerpts from Thunder's Recommendations Report

  ->A discussion needs to be held about the role of magic in the justice system

  Reason: There are many magic spells that can be used in many steps in our justice system. Everything from investigation, to apprehension of criminals, the courtroom and so on. While it will bring a lot of good, there are many spells that operate in a grey area of the law and can be considered violations of privacy and due process. Scrying spells can be used to spy on people without the usage of electronics. Truth spells can be used to force people to only tell the truth. These spells' roles in our justice system needs to be debated and addressed so our justice and law enforcement system will be ready for the merger.

  VVVVVV

  "Y-You're an elf," Sylmae muttered.

  "Indeed I am," Tep replied.

  "How...?"

  Tep smiled again. "I'll tell you all the full story, but there is one more person we need to invite."

  Tep approached Tom and asked, "You have the Prayer skill, do you not?"

  "How do you know about that skill?" Tom demanded.

  "I was the one responsible for spying on you all. I am well aware of the conversations you've had with Kara. I want you to call her."

  "Okay, but you won't be able to hear her."

  "That is why I asked you all to come here. Call Kara and watch."

  "Kara, can you hear me," Tom called out. "We have a situation."

  "I have her," Tom said.

  "Perfect." Tep touched one of the pillars of Stonehenge and green lines of light appeared from where he touched. The lines of light spread out and soon these lines formed symbols that appeared on each pillar.

  "What the..." Vivian muttered.

  "When Stonehenge was first built, it was used as a place of worship and celebration. Its builders believed this was a place of power. Little did they know, Stonehenge contains traces of Mythril. It can be used to enhance the power of certain magical spells. If my theory is right... Tom, please touch Stonehenge."

  Tom did as he was told. The monument reacted and a structure of light started to form in the center of the monument.

  "My theory was right," Tep said.

  The shape of light took form of a female humanoid body. The female form looked around like she was confused. She then looked towards Tom.

  "What is... I'm... here?" she said.

  "Kara?" Tom asked.

  "I'm... yes. It's me. Hello, Thomas."

  "Oh my goddess," Reia said under her breath.

  "Literally in this case," Kara giggled. "I'm so glad to see you all."

  "Likewise, Kara," Tom said.

  "I'm afraid your joy won't be for long," Tep remorsefully said. "I brought you here Kara because I need you to remember so everything can be explained."

  "Remember?" Kara repeated.

  "I was once a High Priest of yours, Kara," Tep said. "I lost most of my abilities when I came here so I needed Tom to call you here." Tep approached Kara and said to her. "I'm going to cause you more pain than what is forgivable. Centuries ago you were given a warning."

  Kara shook like she was electrocuted. "No..."

  "A warning from the Creator."

  "No, please!"

  "About a coming Darkness."

  Kara collapsed to her knees and grasped her head while blubbering, "No, no, no, no!"

  "What the hell are you doing?" Tom roared. He grabbed Tep's shoulder.

  "You're hurting her!" Sylmae yelled.

  "She needs to remember everything so we can move forward!" Tep yelled back. "So you all can fight back." He turned back to Kara. "You closed off those memories, only allowing certain people to remember for you and to remind you from time to time so the warning can live on. You now need to remember now, and permanently."

  Kara cried out before she collapsed to the ground. She was in a fetal position while sobbing. Tom crouched near her and tried to comfort her. He was about to place a hand on her, but she jumped up and hugged him. Tom was surprised that he could feel her. Kara continued to cry into Tom's shoulder. Tom only returned her hug and rubbed her back.

  Tom could only hear "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry" from Kara.

  "Kara, what happened?" Tom asked.

  "It's my fault," she sobbed.

  "What's your fault?"

  "The Dragon War," Tep answered for her. "I can take over for the moment, but I do need her direction soon enough. Please continue to comfort her, Tom. As an ex-High Priest, it pains me to see my Goddess in this state. Please gather around."

  Reia, Vivian, Tala and Sylmae stood near Tom and Kara while they eyed Tep with resentment and anger.

  "Centuries ago, Kara had received a warning from the Creator," Tep said. "The Original God. The Great Architect. The First Force. Whatever you wish to call it. It gave Kara a warning of a Darkness that was spreading in the multiverse. This Darkness was consuming everything it touched. The Creator feared that this Darkness would continue to exponentially grow until it was consuming universes faster than they were created. The Creator knew that Kara's universe was next, so It warned her to try and prepare for its arrival. Kara in turned decided to try and warn her main world of life. Xoth. My world. However, the way she went about it caused unforeseen catastrophe."

  "What did Kara do?" Tala asked.

  "She warned the first sentient race that came to be. Her... favourite children. The Dragons. Kara told them about the Darkness that was coming and that they needed to prepare to fight back and protect the world. The Dragons misinterpreted what she told them and believed that she wanted them to take over Xoth so they could have a force to use to fight back against the Darkness."

  "That almost seems like they intentionally misinterpret what she said for their own gains," Tom mused.

  "People in power are always looking for ways to expand it. The Dragons, with Kara's message corrupted, forwarded that message towards their kind. This started the Dragon War. A war so devastating that Kara disowned the Dragons."

  "Disowned?"

  "She cut off her presence to them. Like your universe's god did to you Humans."

  "Humans are cut off?"

  "Yes. Quite interesting. Your god doesn't interact with you Humans at all."

  "Did the Humans do something bad in the past?" Tala asked.

  Tep scoffed. "Hardly. As far as history is concerned, Humans are, naturally, no more violent than most sentient races on Xoth. No, I theorize that your god is simply more frugal than Kara."

  "Frugal?" Reia repeated. "What do you mean by that?"

  "Right, you all wouldn't know how gods work," Tep muttered. "How do I explain it? Okay. It takes energy for a god to interact with a universe. Imagine if every time you said hello to someone, it took an hour off of your life. A god's lifeforce is tied to their universe. The more energy they use, the closer to death they and their universe gets. Your god is probably making sure this universe lives as long as possible. A frugal god. I'm getting off track. The Dragon War. Cut off from Kara, the Dragons took it as the ultimate insult. The war went from 'fulfilling the goddess' word' to destroying everything she held dear. Our people were overwhelmed by the Dragon's sheer strength. They were intelligent, strong and powerful with magic. We didn't stand a chance. Our people made a desperate plea to Kara for help in the war. It was then Kara and I came up with a summoning ritual. This ritual would summon great warriors from another universe. Your universe."

  "Our universe? Why?" Tom asked.

  "Luck. Your universe and our universe are connected thanks to an unknown natural phenomenon. This creates a very thin barrier between our universe. So thin that creatures and people can cross over the barrier by accident through cracks that can temporarily form. We used this phenomenon to summon great warriors from your universe. The ritual managed to summon an entire platoon of soldiers from the Roman army."

  "You summoned Humans?" Tom gasped.

  "We summoned Humans." Tep repeated. "Specifically, we summoned a hundred of them. These Roman soldiers were commanded by a brilliant tactician by the name of Lucius Artorius Castus."

  Tom stared at him with his mouth agape."Y-You serious?"

  "Who's this... Lucas Arterius Cactus?" Vivian asked.

  "Lucius Artorius Castus," Tom corrected while in shock. "The man is a legend. In Human myth and legend the man is also known as King Arthur Pendragon. The supposed first King of England."

  "Human legend doesn't even come close to doing that man justice," Tep continued. "He was brave, intelligent and honourable. We became fast friends and, after some convincing, they helped us in our war. With their unique armour and red clothing, the Romans eventually went by the name of the Crimson Warriors. They introduced new tactics and weaponry that we Xothicans never dreamed of. They turned the tide against the Dragons and soon we were able to push them back to their continent."

  "But the Crimson Warriors disappeared when they left for Tanin," Vivian said. "What happened?"

  "We had the advantage," Tep continued. "We had manpower, airships and magical tools and artifacts. The Dragons were beaten into submission until they were on the brink of extinction. We came across the last colony of Dragons. In all my life, I have never seen Dragons in despair. After all the war, bloodshed and even the loss of his own men, Artorius made the decision to spare them."

  "He... spared them?" Tala muttered.

  "The Dragons are still alive?" Vivian yelled.

  "They are still alive," Tep said. "Though Artorius made each of them swear a Dragon Oath. An Oath that a Dragon must abide by or it would bring them unbearable shame. The Oath was that the Dragons were not allowed to leave their lands until Humanity came to them for help, they would then be bound to assist Humanity whenever it needed. They also cannot attack Xoth again for their own gain. With the help of the Dragons, I managed to do a reverse summoning and I sent Artorius and the Crimson warriors back to Earth. I accidentally got sucked up in the ritual by mistake and came along with them. The sad part was that when we returned, the world was much different than what Artorius remembered. Time moved faster on Earth. When we returned, he found that the Roman empire had fallen. Everything he had was long gone."

  "Wait, wait, wait," Tom interrupted. "That would have been centuries ago. How could he still be alive? How could you still be alive?"

  "We had many artifacts with us. One of them was the Alchemist Grail. If you place a small container of a fluid inside its base, it will fill up the grail with that fluid and will continue to refill. A fluid we placed inside the grail was Dragon Tears. Dragon Tears have the ability to rejuvenate a person and bring their youth back. I believe this artifact has its own legend among your people as both the Holy Grail and the Fountain of Youth... So without the Roman authorities, Artorius, his soldiers and I travelled northward from Africa. We saw how much of Europe was in shambles without the Roman empire. Eventually we found ourselves in Britannia. It was there Artorius discovered his new purpose. He wanted to bring order to Britannia and eventually the world. We all believed in him and so we adopted new names and began that quest. Artorius adopted the name of Arthur Pendragon and I became Merlin Ambrosius. Using our military tactics and artifacts from Xoth, we were able to unite the many tribes of Britannia and formed the basis of a country that would eventually become a superpower. Sadly, it would not last long. Arthur had fallen in love with a woman by the name of Gwenhwyfar and married her. That relationship came to a tragic end when Arthur's closest friend and ally, fell in love with her. She in turn fell in love with him. I believe this was the start of Arthur's change. He had ordered the capture of the two. What he didn't expect was that Lancelot and Gwenhwyfar had supporters. This caused a civil war which only broke the man further. The constant betrayals made him more paranoid and as the years went on, he watched everything he built get torn apart."

  "That's so sad," Tala muttered.

  "It really is," Tep said. "After the war, Arthur and I left Britain and wandered eastwards. All the other Crimson Warriors, at this point, were dead. We had no goal. He was broken and I had no where to go. Over the years, we made certain discoveries that altered our perspective. We found sightings and references to creatures of Xoth. We even found other Xothican relics. With our discoveries Arthur realized that Humanity needed to prepare for the Dragon Prophecy."

  Tom and the others were curious of what exactly this prophecy had to do with them, but they tried to keep their interruptions to a minimum.

  "Arthur learned from his previous attempts at leadership and realized something. It is far easier to manipulate Humanity and its history from the shadows. If you put yourself in the spotlight, you can be taken down if you go too far or anger the people. By having proxies and agents to serve him in the public, they can take the fall while he can remain in power. Thus Umbra was created."

  "Umbra?" Sylmae repeated.

  "Means Shadow in Latin. Imperium ex Umbra. Rule from the shadows. With his organization, Arthur manipulated Humanity on every level. Politics, culture and technology. He ensured that technological progress returned to Europe so that the world as a whole could move rapidly forward. Humanity's adaptability and technological prowess is its greatest advantage against the dangers of Xoth. While making sure Humanity moved forward with technology, Arthur also made sure that wars were a constant issue."

  "Why the hell would he do that?" Reia yelled.

  "War keeps Humanity ready to fight and it breeds innovation. Especially when it comes to weaponry and defenses. Umbra made sure that not only Humanity-advancing technology developed, but war technology did as well. This plan worked well enough until the twentieth century. The world could not handle world war after world war. And it definitely couldn't handle a possible nuclear war. So threats were reduced. No longer superpowers but terrorist cells and backwards third-world countries. Despite being no real threat to any Western country, Umbra had the news and social media play up the threat that they posed to the world. We got the best of both worlds. Wars were fought constantly against enemy forces that did not pose any drastic threat against the developed world, and the developed countries spent billions towards their military and R&D. To this day, Umbra retains its extensive influence all over the world using methods such as bribery, assassinations, and societal manipulation through social media."

  "Okay, really appreciate the history lesson, but you still haven't explained why Arthur is so obsessed with us and tried to kill Tom," Vivian impatiently said.

  "It all comes down to the warning that Kara gave the Dragons," Tep explained. "The warning that later became the Dragon Prophecy." He pulled out a hand-held device that displayed a holographic image of a red stone tablet that was carved with various images. "This was created by the Dragons. It predicted that our worlds would eventually merge and that the Darkness would be unleashed."

  "Who are those people there?" Sylmae asked.

  Tep smiled. "Well, they're you."

  "Us?" they all repeated.

  "Yes, you," Kara said after finally recovering. She looked to Tom and said, "I'm sorry. The memories were extremely painful."

  "It's alright," he said. "Can you stand?"

  "Y-Yes, I can. I remember you, Tep. You were a traveling monk who became a High Priest around the time the Dragon War began. When the people of Xoth begged for helped, I, in turn, begged this universe's god for aid. I used some of my power and he used some of his power to create a bridge which allowed the Romans to cross over."

  "The prophecy, Kara," Tep reminded.

  "Right!" Kara almost jumped in place as her thoughts snapped into place. "I was given a warning about a coming Darkness by the Creator and I in turn warned the Dragons about it so Xoth could organize and prepare for it. They did two things I didn't expect. One was they declared their intention to conquer the world. The other was they had their seers use their magic to see into the future and understand the best way to destroy the Darkness. I don't know what they saw, but I do know that it was terrifying enough that it killed the seers. Before the seers died they spouted off a prophecy. The full power of the Darkness will be unleashed when two worlds collide. Heroes chosen by the Creator will be given the power of the elements of life so they can oppose the Darkness. These Heroes will be led and supported by one of many bloods. Only through the Nephilim, can the Heroes discovery their power."

  "There's... a lot of unpack there," Vivian said.

  "What does that mean exactly?" Reia asked.

  "You four are what we would call 'Elementals'," Kara clarified. "The Creator has endowed each of you with the power of an element of Life. Fire, Water, Ice, Wind, Physical, Toxin, Plant, Ground, Lightning, Spirit, Light and Darkness. Each of these elements play a role in Life's existence. It will be through these elements that Life will fight back against the Darkness. This power, however, requires a key. A Nephilim. The Nephilim plays the role of guide, teacher and supporter. With the life blood of many running through their veins, they hold great strength and are a physical embodiment of Life."

  Kara looked towards Tom.

  "M-Me?" Tom said as he pointed towards himself. "I'm a Human. Isn't A Nephilim supposed to be a person born from the union between a god and Human?"

  Tep chuckled at Tom's ignorance. "I'm afraid what a Nephilim actually is, was somewhat distorted over Human history. Remember when I said that the barrier between our universes is thin? And that creatures and people can cross over? Earth has been hosts to Xothicans before. Sometimes these Xothicans were hunted down as monsters. Sometimes they were worshipped like gods due to their magical powers. Egypt and Aztec would be the most well know cultures with Xothican worship. Not content with living alone, many of these stranded Xothicans interbred with Humanity. Over time, these people became known as Nephilim. In fact, at least one percent of the Human population could qualify as a Nephilim. You, however, are different."

  "Different how?"

  "You are the descendant of all Xothican races. We ran a DNA analyzes on your blood and the blood of the other test participants. We found all the genetic markers. Naga, Dwarf, Elf, Demon, Orc, and all of the subraces of Beastkin and Demons."

  Tom saw a notification window pop up.

  "That is why you were chosen to take the test," Kara continued. "Your genetic connection to Xoth made it easier to connect to you. Despite my memory loss, I subconsciously knew to fulfill my role to fulfill the prophecy."

  "Do gods have a subconscious?" Tom asked.

  "Don't interrupt. Each of the other ninety-nine participants had the same condition. You are the one of many bloods who is to guide and support the Elementals. Tom, I need you to unlock their power."

  "How do I do that?" he asked.

  "Place your hand on their back and call for it. Anything will do."

  Tom turned to the others who were listening to the conversation with great interest.

  "Do any of you...?"

  "I'll take the boost," Reia said as she stepped up. "I always knew our Unknown titles meant something. Now we know. We are destined to save the world."

  "Maybe think this over more than not at all, Reia?" Sylmae somewhat growled. "This is beyond everything we agreed to. We were supposed to just help fight against some monsters. Help teach the UNDF. Now, we are being asked to fight against some force that even a god can't fight against. What are we supposed to do? We didn't ask for this!" Sylmae's hands were shaking. "I-I don't want to risk losing any of you in this fight."

  Sylmae was close to panicking when she found both of her hands held. Vivian held one hand and Tala held the other.

  "None of us asked for this," Vivian said. "And I don't want to lose any of you either. I love each of you with all of my heart and the thought of fighting in a war and possibly losing any of you fills me with dread. But we don't have the privilege to say no. Whether we wanted it or not, we have been chosen to protect everyone. But this isn't a burden for any one of us alone. We are in this together."

  "We'll protect each other," Tala said. She gave Sylmae a kiss on the cheek. "We can do this."

  Sylmae couldn't help but giggle. "Hell must have frozen over if Tala has more guts than me."

  "Hey!"

  "Okay, let's do this. Tom, you better take responsibility."

  "You know I will," Tom said with a smile. "Let's do this."

  Reia approached Tom and turned around. Tom placed his hand on her back and said, "I call upon your true power. Come forth Elemental!"

  A force of energy burst outwards from Reia that made everyone in the area stagger. Reia fell to her knees and her eyes lit up with green energy. Everyone recovered themselves and Tom, Tala, Sylmae and Vivian rushed over to Reia who appeared to be in a trance.

  "Reia, are you okay?" Sylmae cried out.

  "Come on, Reia," Vivian pleaded while snapping her fingers. "Back to reality."

  The energy in Reia's eyes dimmed and soon her eyes were back to normal. She regained her consciousness and she smiled. "What a rush."

  "Are you okay, Reia?" Tala asked.

  "I'm good, I'm good," Reia said while out of breath. "It was like having the greatest adrenaline rush of your life. I feel great. I feel... strong. Like really strong."

  Various windows appeared in front of her eyes.

  "Oh, ho, ho, baby!" Reia yelped in excitement. "I got a bunch of great skills and my stats have been boosted. I feel so powerful right now."

  "Let me have a look!" Vivian pleaded. "Identify." Vivian took a few minutes to read over Reia's stats. "Holy shit! I want some of this! Tom get to it!"

  "You could add a please," Sylmae scolded.

  Vivian cowered slightly after Sylmae's comment. She looked up with almost puppy-dog eyes at Tom and said, "Sorry. Got a little excited. Could you please unlock my powers?"

  "Gladly," Tom said.

  With Vivian's powers unlocked, Tom went to Tala.

  With Tala's abilities released, the only one who remained was Sylmae. She nervously approached Tom. Tom placed his hand on her back and released her power.

  Each of Tom's companions were on their knees trying to catch their breath from the power up. Tom turned to Tep and said, "I still have a lot of questions."

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  "Then please ask them," Tep said. "I'll answer what ever question you have."

  "If we're so important, why did Artorius try to have me assassinated? And what exactly did he plan to do with the girls?"

  "Well, there is both a logical reason and a personal reason. Logically, you are a threat to him and Umbra. He could try to convince or force you to join him, but we don't know every skill you possess so that was deemed too risky. Having the Fast Travel ability also increases the difficulties of dealing with you."

  "And the personal?" Tom asked.

  "Simply put, he was jealous of you. After everything he has done for Xoth, he felt slighted by Kara that not only was he not given access to the SYSTEM, but he wasn't selected as a participant to its acceptance test."

  "But why eliminate Tom," Vivian asked. "Tom is supposedly a Nephilim and, according to you, is necessary for us to gain our abilities."

  "Artorius is also a full-blooded Nephilim like Tom," Tep replied.

  "Of course he is," Tom mumbled.

  "He couldn't just assassinate Tom in a simple manner," Tep continued. "His resistances make it difficult to use more subtle methods like poison or a brake line being cut. So your death had to be set-up over weeks. We had to chip away at your reputation. We had hundreds of thousands of bot accounts on social media spread rumours about you and your companions. Most of them centered around sexual abuse and such. The purpose of these rumours were to subliminally create doubt in the populace. When we got pictures of you acting intimate with your companions, it made our job that much easier."

  "You released those images!" Sylmae growled.

  "Not me personally some other member of Umbra. Those images were the final straw. By then people were connecting the dots we set up for them. With the outrage we created, we expected the UNDF would try their best to deal with PR and would set up an interview with the Xothicans. Considering the situation you were in, it made sense to hold separate interviews. This was the opportunity we were waiting for. With the vitriol on the internet over Tom, it was easy to find a patsy to take the blame for Tom's assassination. We framed a MIT drop-out by running a hacking program through his computer to make it look like he summoned a fleet of drones to airstrike your home. At the same time, we would have an agent pick up your companions in a car. A scent-less gas would be released in the rear-end of the vehicles that would knock them out. While they were passed out, they would be branded with a slave brand and would be under complete control of Umbra. With them, collecting the other Elementals would be made easier and guarantee Umbra's future control. After branding, they would make another televised appearance and mourn the loss of Tom."

  "Jesus Christ, that's fucked up," Tom muttered. "Good thing I gave them a password to know if I sent anyone their way."

  "So that's what happened!" Tep exclaimed while pounding his fists into the palm of his other hand. "Your safety concerns for your companions made things easier. I was worried that I would have to break them out of containment before they were branded. This puts us in a very advantageous situation. As far as Artorius and the world knows, Tom is dead and the Elementals are missing."

  "Why did you turn on Arthur?" Tala followed up with. "You said you were friends for centuries but here you are."

  "Arthur WAS my friend. I admired and respected him. Despite all that, I cannot ignore the kind of person he has become. The years have tainted him. He has become more paranoid and recent events have only pushed him further towards insanity. Recently, Artorius made contact with Mordiggian."

  That got everyone's attention.

  "M-Mordiggian?" Tala muttered.

  "Artorius created a false alliance with Mordiggian and plans to observe him in hopes of gaining useful information to destroy him and Hastur. Unlike Artorius, I can detect magic. Artorius is severely underestimately Mordiggian's capability and craftiness. The situation is made even worse since Artorius told Mordiggian where Hastur's son is."

  Tom's face scrunched up and his right hand contorted in form as he struggled to extend his index finger to point at Tep. "S-Stop right there. Hastur's son? Hastur's son is on Earth?" Tom turned to Kara. "I thought you were watching over dangerous transfer to Earth? How did Hastur's son get through?"

  "I don't-" Kara tried to get out.

  "He was here long before the test," Tep interrupted. "How he came to Earth is still unknown. We theorize that it was accidental. Hastur's son, Ithaqua, came to Earth centuries ago. In that time, he weakened and slowly went mad as he had no access to Soul Axes. In that time, he abandoned that name and eventually adopted a name that was given to him by Native Americans. Wendigo. Mordiggian has made contact and given him Axes to recover. To make matters worse, Mordiggian has killed and replaced Samuel Hawke with Wendigo."

  "Oh, god damn it!" Tom cursed. He then looked over to Kara. "Uh, no offense."

  "None taken," Kara said.

  "We're going to have to deal with him after we deal with Artorius," Vivian said. "As far as he knows, we don't know, so we have time."

  "But didn't we meet with Hawke?" Tala said. "We all checked his Status. It stated it was him."

  "I'm afraid Artorius helped in concealing him," Tep explained. "Umbra has a vault filled with Xothican relics, artifacts, tools and weapons. This includes rings that can hide or modify a person's Status. Artorius uses this ring as well. That is why you didn't know that Hawke was Wendigo or that Lucas Draig is Artorius."

  Tom sighed in frustration. "It's obvious in retrospect. He's barely hiding who he is. Draig meaning dragon and Lucas as another form of Lucius."

  Tep nodded.

  "So our groundwork has been laid out," Sylmae said. "We first need to kill Artorius and then we go after Hawke."

  "I'm afraid it's a lot more complicated than that," Tep said. "Killing Artoius is easier said than done. He has a small army and magical tools at his disposal. Even at your level, it would be nigh impossible to defeat him. His largest asset is his suit of armour and sword. His armour was made for him by some of Xoth's greatest blacksmiths. They made it from Dragon scales and bone. When not in combat, the armour is stored in a ring. The armour greatly enhances his stats and has extremely high resistance to all damage types. We didn't have the SYSTEM during the dragon war, but I would estimate its resistances around fifty to sixty-five percent."

  "Jesus Christ..." Tom muttered.

  "That's not the worse part. His sword makes Artorius, more or less, invulnerable. Created by an elven weaponsmith by the name of Lalu Nimue. This sword, in its base form, is no more powerful than a regular iron sword. Its special ability, however, allows it to absorb the strength of anything that it kills. As you can imagine, after centuries, it is unparalleled in power. It's probably one of the reasons why he thinks he can handle Mordiggian."

  "How do we handle a weapon like that?" Reia asked.

  "At the time of creation, Lalu realized the power this sword held. Not wanting this power to remain unrivaled, she created another sword. 'Excalibur will be known as the sword of war and Clarent will be the sword of peace,' she said upon finishing her creation. As Excalibur gets stronger, so does the Clarent. If you can strike Excalibur with Clarent enough times, it will destroy both swords."

  "Please tell me you know where it is," Tom said.

  "I do. Lalu entrusted the sword to me, however, I hid it away. I did this at a time when I believed in Artorius' mission and wanted to keep it safe. I gave it to an elven colony in Iceland."

  Tom sighed loudly and said, while pinching the ridge of his nose, "Of course there is."

  "There's other Xothicans on Earth!" Vivian exclaimed.

  "And they're Elves?" Sylmae said.

  "Indeed. Really a fascinating case. Several Elven colonies were teleported to Earth centuries ago. They are probably more similar to ancient elves than they would to modern elves, Miss Lyvan. They are a careful and somewhat xenophobic bunch. They have been attacked by Humans in the past and so they do everything they can to avoid detection by Humans. I helped in this endeavour such as providing them with magical relics to cast fields of invisibility to hide their towns and civilians."

  "How do we find them?" Tom asked.

  "In two days there will be a full moon. Go to Hafnarfj?reur and then to Hellisgerei Lava Park. The largest Elven settlement is east of there. The entrance to the settlement is there and will glow under a full moon. I will provide you the coordinates. It is out of the usual line of sight."

  "So to recap our steps," Vivian said. "Find Elves. Get sword. Kill Artorius. Kill Hawke."

  "That's about the gist of it," Tep said as he reached into his pocket. He pulled out a USB key and handed it to Tom. "Take this. It contains all the information you need. Places to go and everything about Umbra. It also contains the record of every member of Umbra. It's not enough to take out the head of Umbra, with this, you can take down Artorius and Umbra in one go."

  "Thank you, Tep," Tom said. "Tell me. Where do you go from here?"

  "My current position is tenuous at best. When that list of Umbra members gets out, they will be quick to find out that I was the one who leaked it."

  "Why would they believe that?" Tala asked.

  "Because I kept my name off of it. I'd rather not have the whole world hunt me down. If I remain free, I can provide you with Intel support. Mordiggian is still out there. Artorius was unable to watch him all the time and so he has been able to act unhindered. I'm afraid Mordiggian is the biggest threat to our world at the current moment."

  "Do you know his true goal?" Tom asked.

  Tep nodded. "As a front he has been spreading chaos all over the world. He is semi-capable of controlling where creatures cross over to Earth to help spread fear. Your actions have extremely angered him. He needed this fear to provide him with cover while he robs graveyards and build obelisks."

  "Obelisks? Graveyards?"

  "Necromancy requires bodies," Kara jumped in. "It's Mordiggian's specialty. Xothicans cremate their dead so it makes it difficult to use Necromancy except on dead animals. Earth has many graveyards and Mordiggian must be gathering bodies to create an army."

  "Well, that's just great," Tom sarcastically moaned. "And the obelisks?"

  "They are tall blue and black magical structures created by Soul Axes. They are used to cast extremely powerful magic."

  "Wait!" Reia yelled out. "They are blue, black and tall? Are they shaped like that building in Washington D.C.? What was it called? Washington Monument."

  "They are," Tep replied.

  "Before I came to this world I saw one in the mountains. I think the weird storms came from them."

  "Then you know exactly what they looked like. Good. Mordiggian is building them on Earth to speed up the merging process."

  "That's why we are losing time," Tom stated as a realization. "We can't allow this to happen. We need all the time we can get to prepare."

  "I'll try to find locations, but I would suggest using doppler radar and our weather satelites to find unusual weather patterns." Tep pulled out a small hand-size device. "I will be taking my leave."

  "Tep, thank you for everything."

  "Don't thank me yet. I still... have a lot of sins for make up for. I'll keep in touch and provide support when I can." Tep pressed a button on the device and vanished.

  Everyone turned to Kara.

  "How are you holding up?" Tom asked.

  "I-I'll make due," Kara replied. "I can't stay here long as it is draining my power but there is a few things you all should know. Tep mentioned before how I'm losing power over time."

  "Yeah," Vivian replied.

  "The merger is the point in time when I lose the last bit of my power."

  Tom felt his heart drop.

  "You're dying," Tom said.

  "No!" the others cried out.

  "It's okay," Kara assured them. "I lived a good life. I watched life on Xoth flourish and have seen so many great people go on to do great things. Tom, I need you and the Elementals to protect this universe. Upon coming to my universe, Hastur has been draining my power. Over the course of a few centuries, the billions of stars in the skies died out. I don't want that to happen here. It's far too beautiful."

  "Hastur is responsible for that!" Tom yelled. "I thought your universe was older and near the end of its life."

  "I'm afraid that isn't true. You can understand how big of a threat Hastur is now. You all must get stronger. There is one more truth you all should know. It's your parents." Kara gestured towards Reia, Sylmae, Vivian and Tala.

  "Our parents?" Tala said.

  "Their real identities. Your parents are the Heroes."

  Their jaws dropped.

  "Reia Zyer. Your parents were Delix and Niala Ryezious. Vivian. Your parents were Axel and Astrid Jordfodt. Tala. Your parents were Leo and Nia Ordata. And Sylmae. Your parents were Evaline and Wernet Acer."

  Tom saw tears come from their eyes. They choked up and were weak in their knees.

  "Hey, hey, hey," Tom cooed as he embraced them.

  "All this time," Sylmae choked. "All this time, we thought we were cursed. That we were abandoned by our parents."

  "Your parents loved you all with all their hearts," Kara said. "We worked together to keep your presence and the presence of all Elementals hidden from Hastur from the world to keep you all protected until you were old enough to fight. I have provided enough power so you can all see them one last time."

  "When they get their third class," Tom said.

  "That's right. After that their spirits will move on."

  "We need to reach level fifty as soon as possible!" Reia said.

  "There's so much I want to say to them," Vivian said.

  "And you'll all get the chance," Tom said. "We'll work our asses off to get you all to level fifty."

  "Thank you, Tom," Sylmae said.

  "With your names out there along with your Fame, Mordiggian probably knows who you all are," Kara warned. "It's going to be even more dangerous from here on."

  "Thank you for the warning," Tom said. "There's one more thing that you haven't answered yet. The sixth hero. Ayil Obria. We've had no interaction with her in the spirit world."

  "That's because she isn't dead. She was the only one who survived the confrontation with Hastur. Where she went from there is unknown to me. I know this may sound obvious, but when our worlds merge, I'd recommend finding her. She may have useful information concerning tactics in fighting Hastur."

  The energy of Kara's form started to dissipate.

  "I shouldn't stay much longer," she said. "This place uses a lot of my power."

  "I'll speak to you again," Tom said.

  "I look forward to it," Kara said before disappearing. The glow from Stonehenge dissipated.

  Tom looked to his companions and saw their eyes were red from tears. "Are you all going to be okay?"

  Tala nodded with a forced smile on her face. "We're just really happy to finally know everything.."

  "I'm glad. It's been a long day, let's go home," Tom said as he teleported everyone away.

  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Character Stats:

  Tom Everett

  Spoiler: Spoiler

  Reia Zyer

  Spoiler: Spoiler

  Beginner Level 1

  Sylmae Lyvan

  Spoiler: Spoiler

  Tala Mau

  Spoiler: Spoiler

  Vivian Terrabane

  Spoiler: Spoiler